The group left the capital.
Considering that Song Wan Yue was still young, Xiao Zheng did not travel fast.
After walking unhurriedly for four or five miles, Song Wan Yue lifted the curtain of the carriage and called out to him, “Uncle Xiao.”
Xiao Zheng urged his horse forward.
Song Wangyue said, “Let’s go faster, it’s okay to be bumpy.”
Xiao Zheng gave the order, the driver raised his whip high and the horses sped up, arriving at a small town at ten minutes past noon.
The town was close to the capital and was very busy, with people coming and going in the streets and shops lining the sides, shouting and hawking in unison.
Xiao Zheng asked the coachman to slow down, looking for a place to rest his feet, but before he could find one, he saw a carriage and horses coming from the other side of the town, with a mahogany coffin being pulled by the carriage at the head, followed by another carriage and a dozen people on horseback.
The street was very narrow, and with many stalls on either side, two carts and horses could not run parallel at the same time.
If he had encountered this situation at any other time, Xiao Zheng would have ordered people to give way, after all, the dead are the greatest, but when he saw the faces of the people riding behind him, he told Song Wan Yue’s carriage to stop and instructed the carriage pulling the skeleton behind him to move forward.
The two carriages soon came up against each other.
Wu Jin, who was used to being arrogant, saw that a carriage was in the way and immediately urged his horse forward, “Which one of you has no eyes, can’t you see this is ……”
Before he finished his sentence, he saw Xiao Zheng, who was urging his horse over, and paused.
“Brother Wu ……”
Xiao Zheng nodded politely.
Wu Jin gritted his teeth as he listened.
Having been implicated by the abolition of King Qin, Xiao Zheng had no hope of inheriting the title. Wu Jin was happy for as long as he could at first, and there were several other times when he deliberately blocked up to Xiao Zheng and watched him salute respectfully with great glee.
Now that he has been relegated to the rank of commoner, Xiao Zheng no longer treats him with the same respect he once did.
Words squeezed out from his teeth, “Xiao Zheng, don’t you know that the dead are the greatest?”
“Naturally, I do know, so I would also ask Brother Wu to give way.”
“You ……”
Thinking of Consort Shu’s instructions, Wu Jin forced down his anger, “Xiao Zheng, you and I are both considered to be dignified people, if we start a conflict we will be laughed at by others, give way and return the carriage, I will accept your favour and treat you to a drink when we return to the capital.”
“I’m afraid I can’t, these two carriages are pulling the bones of one hundred and twelve people from the Gu family.”
Wu Jin’s face changed.
There were murmurs from the onlookers.
The story of the Third Prince and the Duke of Qi burning the Gu family had long since spread, and they had all heard of the Emperor’s punishment of the Duke of Qi and the Third Prince, but they had not expected the two sides pulling the skeletal carriages to face each other today.
Xiao Zheng’s voice carried an intimidating pressure, “One hundred and thirteen against one, does Brother Wu think it is my turn to give way, or yours?”
Wu Jin’s hand on the reins tightened, his anger almost burst through his head, but he suppressed it again, now the Wu family was in the limelight, the slightest thing would be magnified by people, he could not lose his mind.
He stared at Xiao Zheng and slowly raised his hand. The dozen of people riding behind him stepped backwards, followed closely by the carriage in the middle and then the carriage pulling the coffin in front.
As they took a step back, the carriage pulling the skeletons took a step forward.
They kept retreating until they reached the entrance of the town before stopping and watching Xiao Zheng and his group pass, before waving their hands in indignation and about to grit their teeth and order the men to move forward.
“Stop!”
A clear, crisp voice issued from the carriage.
Wu Jin jerked back.
The carriage there stopped and Song Wan Yue opened the curtain and peeked out from inside, as if she didn’t see him, and said to Xiao Zheng, “Uncle Xiao, I’m hungry, we’d better go back inside the town to eat something before we rush.”
A rush of blood rushed to Wu Jin’s head, and without thinking, he ran towards Song Wan Yue and spurred her horse over to him.
“Get out of the way!”
Wu Jin roared in anger.
Xiao Zheng blocked without moving, “What does Brother Wu want to do?”
Wanting her life!
These words were just about to come out of Wu Jin’s mouth when his attendant urged his horse forward and called out to him, “Young master! It’s getting late, we won’t make it to the capital before dark if we delay any longer.”
He looked at Song Wan Yue with anger and hatred for several times before turning his horse around and leaving.
Song Wangyue hooked her lips.
Xiao Zheng told the crowd to stop and left a few people to guard the carriage, he led a few people to take Song Wan Yue back inside the town, found a stall, ordered a few bowls of wontons and some burnt cakes, and asked one of the people who came with him to deliver the burnt cakes to the people left outside the town.
“He is Wu Jin, the son of the Duke of Qi.”
Xiao Zheng said.
“Guess, still have the brains to know not to start a conflict with us.”
“This is not his usual way of acting.”
With a sister who was a noble consort and the only heir to the Duke of Qi, Wu Jin usually acted in a high profile, even if he was down and out now, he would not be so tolerant.
“Naturally, someone is giving him ideas behind the scenes.”
“You mean ……?”
The corners of Song Wan Yue’s mouth slowly hooked up, “Doesn’t Uncle Xiao think that one punished the Third Prince too painfully?”
The third prince was the most favored prince, and it was reasonable to say that even if he had made a big mistake, the emperor would cover it up, so how could he send someone to the sh*tless Youzhou with just a piece of paper from Song Si?
Xiao Zheng narrowed his eyes.
The stall owner brought up the wontons and several people quickly finished eating them. They went back to the carriage and continued their journey until it was dark, passing another town in the middle of the afternoon. Seeing that it was still early, Xiao Zheng had the people continue their journey and had not yet reached another town when it was dark.
Xiao Zheng urged his horse to walk over to Song Wan Yue’s carriage and felt a little guilty, “Yue’er girl, we may have to sleep out in the open tonight.”
Song Wan Yue lifted the carriage curtain, she had been to and from the capital several times and knew where there was a small town, she had deliberately not given Xiao Zheng any information during the half afternoon.
She looked at the bright moonlight with an innocent look on her face, “I haven’t spent the night from outside yet, it’s just the right time to experience it tonight.”
Xiao Zheng lost his smile.
He thought that he was still a child and would show his childish side from time to time.
“I remember that five or six miles further on, there is a small forest, we might as well go to the edge of the forest to spend the night.”
Xiao Zheng ordered him to hurry up, and after walking five or six miles, he saw a small forest.
Xiao Zheng told the men to stop, unloaded the horses, loosened the reins and let them graze at will.
The guards who came with him went to the woods to collect dry wood and build a fire, took branches and skewered dry food and roasted it over the fire.
“I’ll do it.”
Song Wangyue sat by the fire, twirling the branches every now and then, and in a short while, the fragrant smell emanated.
Everyone gulped in unison, even Xiao Zheng couldn’t hold back, he never knew that dry food could be roasted to such a fragrant smell.
“You guys are in for a treat, my skill in baking dry food is a ……”
Never finished speaking, dozens of black-clothed men scurried out of the woods and ghostly lunged towards them.