Even the crown prince is getting a marriage of convenience? Why are you in such a hurry to stop bein

"Don't panic. Xiao Lie is a hostage. He needs the Emperor's permission to leave the city."

"He's definitely still hiding in the capital."

After discussing it, the second prince and the fourth prince decided to keep it a secret for the time being.

They split into two groups and searched the city with all their might, determined to dig Xiao Lie out even if it meant digging three feet into the ground.

At this time, Shen Qinglan had already sold off everything she couldn't take with her from the capital.

She waited anxiously for Princess Yuhua at a villa on the outskirts of the capital.

They agreed to meet before noon today.

But Princess Yuhua was nowhere to be seen.

"Could it be that she's encountered some kind of trouble?" Shen Qinglan worried. The emperor had already realized what was happening and detained Princess Yuhua.

If Princess Yuhua's life were used to blackmail Xiao Lie... Shen Qinglan dared not think any further.

Yunxiu noticed her unease and comforted her, "Miss, there's no need to worry. With a clever and intelligent woman like the Princess, and the Empress Dowager backing her up, who would dare stop her from leaving the capital?"

Even so, Shen Qinglan's heart was still in turmoil.

After waiting anxiously for another hour, Princess Yuhua finally arrived in a hurry with two personal maids.

Her eyes were red and swollen; it was clear she had been crying.

Shen Qinglan looked at her and guessed that she must be reluctant to part with the Empress Dowager and the Prince.

"We'll be back soon." Our departure is only temporary.

Princess Yuhua gradually returned to normal, saying, "At this age, it's easy to feel sentimental about spring and autumn."

"I'm fine. Let's set off while it's still early."

She feared that things might change if she waited too long, and that the emperor might send people to catch up with them.

"The whole city was under martial law after I came out." Princess Yuhua knew that Shen Qinglan was able to contact Xiao Lie. "I had my people inquire and they said that the Emperor had ordered the Second Prince and the Fourth Prince to surround the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion and arrest people."

"Quickly find someone to deliver this message to Xiao Lie, and tell him to be careful on the frontier."

Since such a large-scale operation has been carried out in the capital, it's likely that the emperor has also sent people to the frontier to arrest the Duke of Zhenguo.

Shen Qinglan frowned. He figured that if the emperor could send two princes from the capital to capture Xiao Lie, he must also be taking action against the Duke of Zhenguo on the frontier around the same time.

She didn't know if it was too late to send a letter to Xiao Lie.

"Wait a minute, something seems off." Shen Qinglan was about to arrange for people to hurry after Xiao Lie when she remembered that there was something wrong with what Princess Yuhua had just said.

Xiao Lie instructed the steward and Sixteen to secretly notify the servants of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion to evacuate together.

Shouldn't Lin Wan'er and the others still be at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion?

"Then why did your men report that there wasn't a single living creature left in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion?"

Hearing Shen Qinglan say this, Princess Yuhua also fell into deep thought.

What about Lin Wan'er, the servants in her courtyard, and the other miscellaneous servants in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion?

Where have they all gone?

"Should we send someone back to investigate?" Princess Yuhua was undecided.

Shen Qinglan pondered for a moment, "Don't worry about that. Maybe Lin Wan'er and the others found out that Xiao Lie and the others were missing and were worried that the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion was doomed, so they ran away as well."

"When Xiao Lie left, he didn't intend to take the women from his backyard with him, and we don't need to care about their whereabouts."

All she knew was that the situation had changed and she had to keep moving forward.

If the emperor sends men to arrest them and they run into them, it will be difficult to escape.

"We'll change course and avoid all official roads." Shen Qinglan's original departure route involved passing through official roads several times.

But this meant that the official road was absolutely impassable.

Just as Shen Qinglan was preparing to replan her route, Seventeen arrived at the villa on the outskirts of the capital with several Shadow Guards who had been evacuated from the palace.

"The Crown Prince anticipated that something would happen in the capital, so he specially sent me to escort you two to the frontier." Seventeen and Shen Qinglan discussed briefly and decided to take the new transport route they had previously used.

They were all born into wealthy families, and aside from some hardships on the road, they didn't experience much else.

"Miss Shen, the Crown Prince said that the Emperor has sent people to contact several generals guarding the cities in the Northwest." Seventeen, traveling in a carriage with Shen Qinglan and Princess Yuhua, said, "The Crown Prince has already sent people to assassinate them."

Princess Yuhua gasped in shock; she had never imagined that the Emperor and the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion would end up like this.

Did the emperor absolutely have to kill them?

Princess Yuhua was puzzled. "What is the purpose of my imperial uncle's visit to those generals guarding the northwest?"

"Now that the armies of the Southern Barbarians and the Northern Di are pressing on our border, small skirmishes break out from time to time."

"Why is my uncle, the Emperor, instigating a civil war at this time?"

If the Duke of Zhenguo were to be surrounded by the army assembled by the emperor at this time, the Southern Barbarians and Northern Di would be laughing in their dreams.

Once the Duke of Zhenguo is bound and unable to fight, the 200,000 troops guarding the border, plus 150,000 reinforcements, will not be able to defeat the 500,000 enemy troops.

Moreover, she heard that in order to eliminate the powerful enemy, the Duke of Zhenguo, the Southern Barbarians and the Northern Di had sent an additional 300,000 troops, who were on their way.

Princess Yuhua felt extremely uneasy. "Are we going to have our country destroyed and our family ruined?"

Shen Qinglan glared at Princess Yuhua, "No one can do anything to the Duke of Zhenguo, and we, these centuries-old aristocratic families, are not to be trifled with."

"Besides our Shen family, hundreds of other families have already rushed to the frontier fortress." These people are all on the side of the Duke of Zhenguo.

It was Shen Qinglan who stepped forward and, using Xiao Lie's name, persuaded them to contribute manpower and resources.

Princess Yuhua was extremely anxious because this was the first time she had encountered such a situation.

"Princess, please don't worry too much, or you'll collapse before we even reach the border," Shen Qinglan said again to comfort Princess Yuhua.

For some reason, after hearing Shen Qinglan say those few words, Princess Yuhua's heart finally calmed down.

"I wonder if Xiao Lie has reached the border yet?" Princess Yuhua muttered to herself, and then, feeling so tired, she leaned against Shen Qinglan and fell asleep.

At this moment, Xiao Lieli rode his steed alone, speeding towards the military camp.

He managed to shorten the journey from two days to one, which was originally expected.

"Lie'er?" Xiao Tianze had just killed a minister sent by the emperor with his sword. "Why are you here?"

"Grandpa, the emperor wants to exterminate us all."

Although Xiao Lie had already made preparations, he was still uneasy. "The emperor has also sent people to try to persuade several other armies to come and attack us together."

"All the ministers sent out by the emperor were assassinated by my men."

Even so, Xiao Lie's brows remained furrowed. "But we can't necessarily intercept all the people the emperor sends on the way; there will always be some who slip through the net."

"We need to prepare for the worst."

Xiao Tianze looked up at the sky and sighed, "Lie'er, if Heaven truly intends to destroy my Xiao family, then we cannot escape it either."

"But at the very least, we must die on the battlefield fighting the enemy."