novelraw Chapter 442 - 325: Life Is Worth Living (Part 3)
Chapter 442 - 325: Life Is Worth Living (Part 3)
Among the common people, especially at the Southern Border, the calls to vindicate the Xiao Family and the Pingnan Marquis from those years have been growing louder.
Rong Heng knew that as his identity was restored, and as Prince Xiang’s influence gradually expanded, these calls would only grow stronger.
By then, even if only to pacify him, the confiscation of the Pingnan Marquis Mansion would be re-investigated, and the Xiao Family’s grievances would soon be redressed.
What he cared about now was... when would Gu Lan come to see him.
As agreed before, once the Young Master Gu finished celebrating the Old Madam’s birthday in the Capital City, he would find an excuse to hurry over to Yinzhou.
Wei Junzhuo could decide to mobilize his troops at any moment, and Gu Lan would eventually have to come to the Southern Border again. Prince Xiang and the Pingnan General need to balance each other, and Rong Jing wouldn’t let him act like a local emperor in the Southern Border alone.
Such matters of acting first and reporting later, after doing it once or twice, Rong Jing couldn’t do anything about Gu Lan.
Now that the Old Madam’s birthday banquet had passed for ten days, if Gu Lan hurried, he could appear in front of him at any moment.
Thinking about this, Prince Xiang could not sit still.
As a result, all the officers and soldiers in Yinzhou discovered that their prince had been acting a little off these past few days.
First, he had an argument with Princess Changle and sent her to Tongzhou to inspect the military defenses. Then, every day, he pressured General Tang Zhan to make grilled fish for him, and finally... the prince, who used to not leave the military camp or the command tent for ten days or half a month at a time, had been following General Suyi around on daily patrols and was flamboyantly parading around in regal Python Robes.
The unusual behavior of Prince Xiang made the entire border army of the Southern Border tense, causing them to train exceptionally hard over the past few days.
Rong Heng had transferred Rong Baoyi to Tongzhou to inspect the military defenses because Rong Shuo and Li Furong, along with the entourage including Old General Li Qing, had returned to their ancestral home in Tongzhou to retire. He allowed his niece to reunite with her parents and grandfather’s family.
On the third day after Rong Baoyi’s departure, Rong Heng was waiting not for Gu Lan, but for Wei Chengyuan.
Like before, Yuan burst in swiftly without waiting for anyone to announce him.
"Why are you here? Where’s Gu Lan? Did anything happen in the Capital?"
Rong Heng looked at the man who barged into his king’s tent, his heart shuddered, and he instinctively glanced behind Wei Chengyuan.
Gu Lan was not there,
his heart sank.
Wei Chengyuan looked disheveled, his handsome face covered with dirt and mud, yet his dark golden eyes burned intensely as they stared at Rong Heng.
The two stared at each other, and as Wei Chengyuan gasped for breath and sized up Rong Heng, the tension in his demeanor gradually eased.
"Scared the hell out of me, Lanlan was in such a rush to ask me to find you, I thought you were dying, and rushed over here to mourn you," Wei Chengyuan said in a low voice.
Rong Heng: ?
Wei Chengyuan didn’t know what exactly happened at the Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, because in his impression, he was playing with Wei Lan at the Xie Family when Nan Shiqi suddenly rushed over, informing him to come to the Southern Border to deliver a message to Rong Heng on behalf of Lanlan.
Normally, Wei Chengyuan would have risked everything to go to the palace to protect Gu Lan, but Nan Shiqi’s message was delivered with urgency, arriving minutes before the imperial guards surrounded the Prince Mansion, and Shiqi even pulled out the Jade Pendant given by Gu Lan to hand it to Rong Heng.
—Thus, Wei Chengyuan’s already muddled mind couldn’t process anything else and instinctively thought something was about to happen to Rong Heng in the Southern Border and rushed there day and night.
So much so that Wei Chengyuan didn’t even know that shortly after leaving the Capital City, Rong Jing had the imperial guards lock down the Yan Capital city gates, with anyone entering or leaving the Capital requiring extremely stringent searches and identity verifications. Even Shiqi was trapped in Xie Yun’s house and hadn’t left until now.
Rong Heng fixed his gaze on Wei Chengyuan, his heart racing, his breathing half a beat slow.
He controlled his voice, calmly asking:
"Of course, I’m fine. Lanlan asked you to find me? What happened, Wei Chengyuan, tell me everything you know."
Presumably, everything should be fine... Rong Heng thought.
Although Wei Chengyuan appeared in haste, there was no grief or panic written on his face, nor was he wounded, indicating no one was after him.
Moreover, Wei Chengyuan seemed relieved after seeing him.
If something had happened to Gu Lan, he wouldn’t have looked like this... no, if something had happened to Gu Lan, how could Wei Chengyuan have come to the Southern Border to find him? He would have raced over with a sword drawn.
Probably, Gu Lan had been delayed for some reason and couldn’t come to the Southern Border, so he sent Wei Chengyuan to inform him?
No matter, he could wait, even if Gu Lan did not come, it wouldn’t matter.
Rong Heng tried to convince himself until Wei Chengyuan placed the Jade Pendant he gave to Gu Lan into his palm.
"Lanlan asked me to give this to you," Wei Chengyuan said breathlessly, his eyes bright, "Nan Shiqi said the imperial guards have surrounded Dingyuan Marquis Mansion, Lanlan can’t get away for the moment, she has a message for me to tell you."