Exile? A mad, wicked woman empties the national treasury to escape famine.

Seeing Xiaolan's confident expression, Ji Yunshu chuckled. Since Xiaolan was willing to do it, she was too lazy to do it herself.

Although Xiaolan's cooking skills are not as good as hers, she has cooked quite a few meals over the past few days, and the taste is still just right. Since Xiaolan wants to try, let her try.

"Alright, then I won't do it. Just prepare a meal for the prince when he returns."

Inside the room, everyone discussed the events of the past two days, and Ji Yunshu also recounted Xie Moyao's trip to find Wang Zheng.

The group of people discussed things together for a while, eating and talking in a very harmonious atmosphere, with laughter occasionally drifting out from the courtyard.

The surrounding area was covered in snow, but the snow on their roof had all melted because they were cooking over a fire, and wisps of smoke rose from the roof, filling the air with the aroma of cooking.

Just as Xie Lin had said, not far away, many people in the village were looking towards their house.

Occasionally, someone would walk past their yard carrying two fish, and upon hearing the cheerful laughter coming from inside the house, a hint of envy would flash in their eyes.

Meanwhile, in Liancheng, earth-shattering changes have taken place in the past two days.

The county magistrate's house was robbed, and the county government office was burned to the ground. For the past two days, Bao Taishi has been extremely busy, and has been ordering his men to seal off the entire Liancheng and search for the thieves.

Xie Moyao changed his clothes and walked down the street. From time to time, government officials and yamen runners would hurry by on the road. To avoid too much trouble, he avoided these people.

Liancheng is very large, and he didn't know where Wang Zheng might be in Liancheng. He could only search for Wang Zheng's whereabouts by going from house to house in the city.

Meanwhile, in the post station, in the Second Prince's room, a man dressed as a guard was kneeling in front of Chu Jingrui.

Chu Jingrui was sitting by the window at the moment. After two days of reflection, his mood was no longer as agitated as it had been in the past few days.

Liu Zi stood beside him, head bowed. Chu Jingrui sat in a chair, his fingers tapping idly on the table, his eyes fixed on the teacup on the table, occasionally glancing out the window at the hurried pedestrians on the street, his face ashen.

"You just said that Wang Zheng might have already arrived in Liancheng?"

"Replying to the Second Prince, according to the information gathered below, this is the case."

We went to their village to ask, and they said that Wang Zheng had indeed returned to the village before, but after learning that his family members were no longer in the village, he also left.

The villagers didn't know his exact whereabouts, only that he might come to Liancheng. If they were judging by the dates, he should already be in Liancheng by now.

Listening to the report from his subordinates, Chu Jingrui felt a rare moment of pleasure, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

"Alright, now that we know the person has most likely arrived in Liancheng, let's focus our search on Liancheng from now on."

With so many of us in Liancheng, plus the manpower given by the King of Nian, finding someone shouldn't be difficult.

In addition, we also sent a message to Nian Wang, instructing him to have his men fully cooperate with our people in finding Wang Zheng's whereabouts!

Now that he's already in Liancheng, he doesn't believe Wang Zheng can still fly!

Once Wang Zheng is found, he can take care of Xie Moyao as well.

If he can deal with Xie Moyao, his father will definitely love him even more.

Perhaps in a moment of joy, they'll simply pass the throne to him.

The guard kneeling below nodded.

"Yes, sir. I'll take care of it right away!"

After speaking, the guard bowed and slowly withdrew from the room.

After the guards left, Liu Zi stood there for a moment, then whispered:

"Second Prince, should we inform the First Prince about Wang Zheng's whereabouts in Liancheng?"

As soon as Liu Zi finished speaking, Chu Jingrui sneered.

"What kind of brain do you have? Do you think my good brother doesn't know about this?!"

His subordinates, Xiao Wu and Xiao San, are no pushovers either. They also have over a thousand men that I got from Prince Nian. Finding someone is a piece of cake for them!

Maybe he's already received the message and instructed his subordinates to do it. Why would I need to talk to him?

Fortunately, he doesn't know Wang Zheng. Even if he walked right past him, he might not be able to recognize him.

I'll draw a portrait of you later, so the men under my command can see it and secretly investigate Wang Zheng's whereabouts.

Don't lose that portrait, and don't let it get out of my sight. If my good brother finds out what Wang Zheng looks like, I'll skin you alive!

Chu Jingrui's expression was indifferent, but his tone was frighteningly cold.

Liu Zi stood aside, not daring to say a word.

He had served the Second Prince for many years and knew that although his master always seemed to be smiling, he was far more ruthless than the First Prince.

"Yes, I understand. I will inform my men that anyone who dares to leak even the slightest information will be killed without exception."

Chu Jingrui nodded, his expression softening slightly, his gaze falling on the heavy snow falling outside the window.

"By the way, has there been any news from the border? How is the matter going?"

"Reporting to the Second Prince, news has come back from the border that people have been dispatched to set off in the last two days."

His Majesty also supports this matter, which is why there are quite a few people here this time. They are all at the command of Your Highness, the Second Prince.

Once the troops arrive, Second Prince, taking over Liancheng shouldn't be a problem.

"Oh, really? How many people did Father send this time?"

When I wrote to my father last time, I told him that for a mere Liancheng, we didn't need to send too many people; sending ten or twenty thousand would be enough.

Liu Zi paused for a moment, then, thinking of the letter he had just received, he took it out of his pocket and handed it to Chu Jingrui.

"Your Highness, this is a letter from the capital. I dared not open it rashly, so I brought it to you. There were too many people around, so I couldn't take it out."

Chu Jingrui took the letter and glanced at it sideways. He saw that Liu Zi was holding a letter with the envelope intact. He took the letter from Liu Zi and opened it. It was his father's handwriting.

Chu Jingrui glanced at the contents of the letter, then chuckled arrogantly.

"Didn't I write to my father, telling him not to send too many people over?"

In his letter, he actually told me that he had sent 50,000 troops over. Tsk tsk tsk, a whole 50,000 troops! How could he mobilize so many people?

It's just a small city, 20,000 men are enough. No matter how capable the Prince of Nian is, would he dare to keep a large number of private soldiers?

I have 20,000 men under my command, which is enough to force Prince Nian to hand over the city lord's seal of Liancheng. Father Emperor sending so many people is simply a waste of their talents!