Chang'an City, Imperial Palace.
Fang Xuanling came to Tai Chi Hall with Tang Jian's letter.
"Your Majesty, this is a letter sent back from the Prairie Royal Court. It is in the handwriting of Duke Ju."
Li Er took it and read it, and sneered: "They have such a big appetite. If it were before, I might actually discuss it and just pay some compensation. Now? No need to discuss it, see you on the battlefield."
Fang Xuanling handed over the handkerchief, "This is the token of His Highness the Crown Prince. The Duke of Ju could not judge whether it belonged to the Crown Prince, so he sent it back. Because the Turks did not allow the envoy to see the Crown Prince, the Duke of Ju could not judge whether it belonged to the Crown Prince. How is your highness? We can only pass the token."
Li Er took the handkerchief and looked through it carefully for a long time, "Handkerchief? I haven't seen it before. And it looks like something used by a woman, not like it belongs to Qian. Come, please ask the Queen to come over. In addition, the Prince of the East Palace is here The chamberlain is also called."
I asked a few people who were most familiar with Li Chengqian to come over and identify them one by one, but no one recognized him.
A chamberlain whispered: "This does not belong to His Highness the Crown Prince. Could it be that they got the wrong person? The one who was kidnapped was not His Highness the Crown Prince?"
Um?
"Bastard, who said His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was kidnapped?" Fang Xuanling angrily yelled.
But Li Er stretched out his hand to stop him, "Wait a minute. It may not be unreasonable. This is not Cheng Qian's token. No Turkic people have seen Cheng Qian. It is really possible that the wrong person has been kidnapped."
The queen said in surprise: "Then, so, Cheng Qian is fine? But... where is Cheng Qian?"
Forehead……
Yes, if it wasn't Cheng Qian who was tied up, who would it be? Where is the real prince?
There is no news so far. If the person in the grassland is not the prince, then the prince has been missing for so long, maybe... he has been fed to wolves, tigers and leopards. Wouldn't it be more dangerous? It would be better to be captured by the Turks.
Fang Xuanling hurriedly advised: "Not necessarily. Even if the Turks don't recognize His Highness the Tang Dynasty Crown Prince, they can't even mistake the man and woman. This handkerchief belongs to a woman, and the one the Turks tied must be a man. Not only do we have to make sure that His Highness's identity is Identity, the Turks are definitely more anxious to confirm their identity.”
"The fact that they dared to threaten us with conditions shows that they have confirmed that it is His Highness. Wei Chen thought that this handkerchief...may have been given to His Highness by a certain woman."
"Chengqian is young and has not yet agreed to marry him. Where can he get a female token?" the queen retorted.
"Maybe we got to know each other while traveling."
…
hiss……
Everyone was silent. If you think about it carefully, it is really possible.
Li Er waved away the rest, leaving only the queen and Fang Xuanling, "Could it be when we were in Luoyang..."
He didn't say the unpleasant words, for fear that the handkerchief was given by some oiran from Jinxiu Tower. The prince of a country fell in love with a romantic beauty. It would be embarrassing if word spread about it.
Because it belonged to her son, Queen Changsun looked at it very carefully, "This handkerchief... is small and exquisite, made of high-quality materials, and made of excellent workmanship. It is not something that ordinary people can afford. It should come from a big noble. If it is Cheng Qian. Yes, who gave it to him? He lived and slept in the open along the way, where do you know him...could it be?"
"Cui family of Qinghe?" The emperor and the queen looked at each other and exclaimed in unison.
Fang Xuanling pointed to the embroidery on the handkerchief and said, "The word Ning is embroidered on it. Your Highness once studied at the Cui family in Qinghe. Why don't you send someone to find out if there is a girl of the right age named Ning from the Cui family in Qinghe?"
Li Er motioned to Fang Xuanling to do it.
He turned around and laughed loudly and said: "The royal family once wanted to marry a girl with the fifth surname, but they looked down on us. I once asked people to test and ask in private, and wanted to propose a marriage to Cheng Qian, but they were also rejected arbitrarily. What about now? As expected of me, the daughter of the Cui family in Qinghe has taken the initiative to throw herself into my arms, what else will they say?"
Empress Changsun rolled her eyes and said angrily: "My son has not been rescued yet. Besides, you tried to test her in private but she refused. What if she refuses in person this time? If my son falls in love with a girl from the Cui family, then we can't Help him get married, how will it end?"
I, I...
Li Er murmured a few words and thought for a long time, but there was no good way. The queen was right, it may not be a good thing. Alas... this rebellious son is restless even when he goes out to study, and only causes trouble.
In the Luoyang camp, Hou Junji and Su Lie led an army of tens of thousands of cavalry and were ready to go. Zhang Shigui and Zhai Changsun led the Xuanjia Army on the side. Xiao Rui was mixed in among them, an inconspicuous personal guard.
Following Hou Junji's order, they set off collectively.
Xiao Rui looked around and sighed: "This girl Changle is really fooling around. She has gone to Luoyang to join the army, why doesn't she show up yet? Don't you know everyone is worried about her?"
The team traveled hundreds of miles in a day. Lao Gao, the chamberlain, caught up with Xiao Rui and said, "Prince-in-law, we followed all the way. We checked within a radius of five miles and found no trace of the little princess. Could it be that... the little princess was not following at all? Are we here?"
Xiao Rui's heart skipped a beat: "Now that Cheng Qian has not been rescued, if Chang Le is lost again, His Majesty will have to skin us alive. Go talk to General Hou, and our Xuan Jia Army will postpone our journey for a day. Think of countermeasures and find someone. . Now I dare not reply to His Majesty that the princess is missing. The war is coming, and His Majesty cannot be distracted."
At night, in the dead of night, Xiao Rui walked into an ordinary hilltop under the protection of Lao Gao and the secret guards.
In the dead of night, you can occasionally hear the chirping of insects and animals. Most animals are nocturnal.
Xiao Rui shouted into the air around him: "Xiao Changle, come out quickly. My brother-in-law has promised to take you to fight with him. He will not send you back to Chang'an. Stop hiding it."
…
I shouted several times in succession, but there was no movement except the echo of the mountains and forests.
Xiao Changle in the distance made a face and chuckled: "Brother-in-law is really good at lying, so I won't be fooled by you. If you show up now, you will definitely send someone to take me back to Chang'an. Even if you beat me to death, you won't go back. That's it." I will follow you secretly to protect you. When we get to the battlefield, hehe, you won’t be able to drive him away.”
Seeing no response, Xiao Rui rolled his eyes and changed his words: "Changle, come out quickly. If you don't come out, my brother-in-law will not go to the front line. He will go back to Chang'an directly. You can follow them to fight by yourself."
…
Still no answer.
The chamberlain Lao Gao was anxious, "What should we do? Could something happen to the princess?"
Xiao Rui shook his head and said: "Probably not. She is different from Cheng Qian. She has two strange beasts beside her. Dabai and Erhua once traveled with me for a year. They are very understanding of human nature and can't be hurt by ordinary people. In the mountains and forests, It is a king-like existence.”
"Sigh... It seems that this girl has been studying with Uncle Ge for a year and has become more capable. Ordinary methods can't deceive her at all."
Li Junxian said worriedly: "What should we do? We can't really turn back to Chang'an, right?"
Xiao Rui said helplessly: "My current body cannot withstand the fatigue of traveling back and forth. That's all, just follow if you want. Lao Gao, continue to search around. It's best to send someone to start from Chang'an and go from Chang'an to Luoyang." On both sides of the official road, the range is expanded to ten miles."
"Focus on searching for traces of a person having a picnic in the forest. Even if she doesn't change clothes, she must eat. It's impossible to eat raw bamboo with Dabai Erhua."
