"who?"
The second prince's cold voice came from the room.
Uncle Zhou hadn't seen the second prince for a long time, and when he heard this familiar voice, tears suddenly filled his eyes.
"Your Highness, this is an old slave."
The next moment, the door creaked open, and the second prince appeared in front of Uncle Zhou in his regular clothes.
When Uncle Zhou saw that the second prince had lost so much weight, he was so distressed that tears rolled down his face.
"Your Highness, you have lost weight."
The second prince looked haggard, and was equally shocked when he saw Uncle Zhou on crutches.
"Uncle Zhou, your legs?"
Uncle Zhou's face was full of shame. At this time, the second prince had already helped Uncle Zhou into the house.
Seeing that there was no one around, Uncle Zhou threw away his crutch and immediately knelt down heavily towards the second prince, making a loud "thud" sound.
"Your Highness! This old slave is incompetent, and the operation in Beijing has failed miserably!"
The second prince lowered his head and looked at Uncle Zhou who couldn't help but kowtow to him, and couldn't help but look bitter.
"Uncle Zhou, was your leg... injured that night too?"
Uncle Zhou straightened up his upper body, tears streaming down his face. He nodded ashamedly, not even daring to mention Zhufeng's name at this moment.
The second prince's brows showed signs of fatigue, but he still leaned over and helped Uncle Zhou up.
"Uncle Zhou, get up. The wound on my shoulder is not fully healed, so I can't use any strength."
Uncle Zhou wanted to kneel down again, but when he heard what the second prince said, he immediately stood up with difficulty for fear of involving the second prince's wounds.
"Uncle Zhou, Beijing now relies on you to take charge of the overall situation. You came here at this time, but what happened?"
The second prince was calm after all, his voice was deep and there was nothing unusual about it at this moment.
He said that after that sleep, he would adjust his mentality.
Uncle Zhou's face suddenly became anxious when he heard this, and he immediately nodded, "Your Highness, it is indeed urgent! I can't contact Chu Rou anymore!"
The second prince was about to sit back on the couch when he suddenly stood up after hearing this, "What!"
He only learned about Aunt Rou's existence last year.
At that time, he was banned from the clan mansion because of the Dragon Boat Festival incident involving Yu Zhaoyi, and was at a disadvantage in front of the prince.
At that time, Uncle Zhou suddenly brought news that he had found an old friend of his mother's concubine, named Aunt Rou, and that he had trained many dead soldiers under his command, who could be of great use.
Uncle Zhou seemed to have just learned about Aunt Rou, because he still remembered Uncle Zhou's surprised and happy expression when he told her about it.
It was only then that he was truly sure that his mother-in-law, whom he had never met before, was playing a big game of chess!
"When did it happen?" the second prince asked with raised eyebrows.
Uncle Zhou did not dare to be careless and said frankly: "Old slave and Chu Rou have agreed to contact each other every half month, rain or shine."
"On April 28th, Chu Rou was supposed to meet the old slave, but the old slave waited in the inn until dark and didn't even wait for her to come."
"The old slave felt uneasy, so he sent someone to the Huguo Temple on the second day to find out what was going on. Only when he arrived did he find out that the Huguo Temple had already closed its doors to refuse guests!"
"The old slave sent people to detour to the back mountain, but found that the entire Huguo Temple had been tightly surrounded by a force, and no one could enter or leave!"
"Your Highness, this old slave knew something was wrong, so he rushed over quickly. Please make your decision!"
The second prince frowned upon hearing this.
Obviously, something must have happened to Aunt Rou.
And those in Beijing who have this ability are either the prince or the Qiao family!
But what puzzled the second prince was how did the prince or the Qiao family find the Huguo Temple?
He only heard from Aunt Rou that their stronghold was at Huguo Temple, and he had never even been there.
Logically speaking, Huguo Temple is an excellent cover. Even if Qiao Tianjing was assassinated in the southern suburbs, it would be difficult to suspect Huguo Temple, right?
The second prince had doubts in his mind and asked.
Uncle Zhou's eyes flashed slightly when he heard this, and he hesitated for a long time, unable to explain why.
When the second prince saw this, he suddenly became angry.
"Uncle Zhou, at this critical moment of life and death, is there anything else you can't say? Is there something you and Aunt Rou are hiding from me?"
Uncle Zhou was agitated by the second prince's stern tone. He immediately did not dare to hide it anymore. He clutched his sleeves and said uneasily:
"Presumably...it must be an oversight on the part of the Tzu Chi Bureau, which allowed people to take advantage of it."
"Tzu Chi Bureau?"
There was a hint of surprise on the second prince's face when he heard this. He really didn't expect this answer.
After the mother-in-law passed away that year, Aunt Rou disappeared. Uncle Zhou always thought that Aunt Rou was facing a disaster and flew away.
Unexpectedly, Aunt Rou took over the order from her mother-in-law during her lifetime and secretly trained him to die for him.
When he learned about this power, he was filled with joy. He didn't expect that his mother and concubine had worked hard to pave the way for him long ago.
But what does this have to do with Tzu Chi Bureau? Tzu Chi Bureau is not a place to take in abandoned babies——
With his thoughts at this point, the second prince suddenly widened his eyes slightly and looked at Uncle Zhou in disbelief.
The second prince's shocked expression seemed to irritate Uncle Zhou.
Could it be that in His Highness's heart, Yong Kingdom is more important than their Northern Kingdom?
Those are just some abandoned babies, what do they count? Furthermore, His Highness is of pure Northern blood!
After all, Uncle Zhou didn't dare to speak so directly. He organized his language and said with some seriousness:
"Your Highness, I didn't dare to tell you before because I was worried about you..."
"Your Highness, you must know that when Qiao Zhongguo's cavalry entered the Northern Kingdom, how many people in the Northern Kingdom were destroyed and displaced!"
"Chu Rou just adopted some abandoned babies and let them be used by us."
"Your Highness, you should be facing our Northern Kingdom. You are the princess's child and the blood of our Northern Kingdom. We are all trying our best for you, Your Highness!"
Uncle Zhou stared at the second prince, expecting to see unhesitating recognition on his face.
But the second prince was stunned for a long time.
All for him...
He had heard this sentence countless times since he was a child.
He has used any means to achieve his goals, whether it is using women or using various conspiracies.
When he ordered Zhufeng to take action against the Qiao family's youngest daughter, he completely let go of his last conscience and bottom line.
He told himself in his heart that it was all for the throne, for the life of his mother and concubine, and for everything that countless people had given for him!
But...isn't all this enough?
When Uncle Zhou saw that the second prince had not responded to him for a long time, he couldn't help but feel panicked and said quickly:
"Your Highness, you must not hesitate! We have come this far!"
"Don't forget, the princess did not hesitate to die just to give you a chance of life!"
"Countless of us have gone on and on, step by step, all in order to send you to the position of co-owner of the two countries. If you feel compassion for a few abandoned babies in the Yong Dynasty, then what are so many warriors from our northern country who sacrificed for you? "
Uncle Zhou was in a state of agitation. He had already been exhausted physically and mentally from the long journey from the capital.
He was already panicking during this period, and Chu Rou's loss of contact almost made him mentally shattered.
Almost all the old friends who followed the princess and those who were close to the Yong Dynasty were gone. If the army at Huguo Temple was also wiped out, he really would have no old friends anymore.
Uncle Zhou felt that it was time to tell the second prince his life experience.
He couldn't accept that His Highness's heart was inclined towards the Yong Kingdom in the slightest, because His Highness was a true Northerner!
