Did Xu Yuqing take the wrong medicine?
Why was she constantly praising her? Those who didn't know would think she liked her that much, and that they were so close.
Through Xiao Hei, Huangfu Yue listened to the commotion in Xu Yuqing's carriage for a while longer, but all she heard was Xu Yuqing incessantly praising her, saying how wonderful she was in every way, and expressing regret, regretting that she shouldn't have treated her that way before.
The more Huangfu Yue listened, the more she wanted to laugh.
Although she didn't know why Xu Yuqing's attitude had made a 360-degree turn and why she was saying those things, her words sounded fake no matter how she heard them.
She highly suspected that Xu Yuqing had discovered Xiao Hei.
Although the people in the prince's mansion didn't yet know that Xiao Hei could speak human language, when they were eating lunch, her grandmother had asked why Xiao Hei was missing, and she had answered her grandmother, implying that Xiao Hei was intelligent and could understand human language. Therefore, everyone in the prince's mansion now knew that Xiao Hei understood human speech.
If Xu Yuqing discovered Xiao Hei, she would be afraid that Xiao Hei would tell her what she said, so she had been constantly praising her from the moment she arrived.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt it was likely that Xu Yuqing had discovered Xiao Hei's existence.
Since Xu Yuqing had discovered Xiao Hei's existence, there was no need for Xiao Hei to continue following Xu Yuqing's carriage and listen to whatever Xu Yuqing had to say. After all, it was all praise for her, and it made her feel a little nauseous to hear it, because she knew it was all false.
"Xiao Hei, you don't need to stay with Xu Yuqing anymore. Go ahead and scout the path," Huangfu Yue commanded.
"Yes, Master." Xiao Hei immediately obeyed, flapped its wings, and shot off in an instant.
Xu Yuqing didn't realize that Xiao Hei had flown away and continued to praise Huangfu Yue. The usually astute Jiang Shangyun, however, noticed it immediately.
He originally wanted to tell Xu Yuqing, but then he changed his mind and swallowed the words that were already on the tip of his tongue.
Let Xu Yuqing continue to praise Huangfu Yue. Hopefully, the more she praised, and the more she got used to it, the more she would habitually praise Huangfu Yue in the future... although this was unlikely.
Xiao Hei flew extremely far. After leaving Xu Yuqing's carriage, it had already flown a mile away. It saw a troop of officers setting up roadblocks and checkpoints. A couple walked past and were immediately stopped.
"Halt!"
"Officer, I need to take my wife back to her maiden home to visit relatives. Her maiden home is in Shanshu County, sixty miles ahead. Please be understanding and let my wife and I pass." The stopped husband immediately bowed to the officers and pleaded with a smile.
"Take your wife home. All towns within a five-hundred-mile radius of the capital have been sealed, including Shanshu County where your wife's maiden home is. Even if we let you pass, you won't be able to enter Shanshu County." The leading officer waved his hand.
"What! All towns within a five-hundred-mile radius of the capital have been sealed?!" The couple exclaimed in shock.
"Mm," the leading officer nodded.
"How could this happen? Why have all towns within a five-hundred-mile radius of the capital been sealed? Did something major happen?" the husband hastily inquired.
"It seems you still don't know about the theft of the national treasury!" the officer said, looking at him with some surprise.
"The national treasury was stolen? Good heavens!" the husband was extremely shocked, and his wife beside him was also extremely shocked.
"It seems you really don't know! Where are you and your wife from? Where do you live?" an officer standing nearby interjected. "The news of the national treasury being stolen has already spread like wildfire. How come you don't know?"
"The Emperor ordered all towns within a five-hundred-mile radius of the capital to be sealed in order to catch the villain who stole from the national treasury. The official decree has already been sent to all towns within a five-hundred-mile radius via carrier pigeon... All towns within a five-hundred-mile radius of the capital should now be filled, and the people living in those towns should already know about the theft of the national treasury," an officer said with a look of confusion.
"Reporting to the officers, my wife and I don't live in the towns, but in a village not far from here. Our village is behind a mountain, so the news is a bit blocked. That's why we didn't know about the theft of the national treasury, and that the Emperor ordered the five-hundred-mile radius around the capital to be sealed to catch the thief," the husband said.
"So that's how it is. Hurry back to your village. Don't leave the village for this period of time. Just stay in the village honestly," the leading officer instructed.
"Yes." The couple nodded together, bowed to the leading officer, and turned back the way they came.
"Boss, why didn't you thoroughly question that couple? See if they had any suspicious behavior," a soldier asked the leading officer, looking at the backs of the couple as they left.
"Didn't the superiors say that the Emperor not only ordered all towns within a five-hundred-mile radius of the capital to be sealed, but also ordered checkpoints to be set up on all major and minor roads within a five-hundred-mile radius of the capital, to strictly investigate passing pedestrians, arrest all suspicious individuals, and interrogate them thoroughly to see if they were hiding the villain who stole the national treasury, or people who knew information related to the theft of the national treasury?" The leading soldier rolled his eyes and reached out to tap the soldier who was asking him, "Are you blind, or are you an idiot? Do that couple look suspicious? That couple looks like honest, hardworking people at first glance. They could never be involved in the theft of the national treasury."
Neither he nor his subordinates noticed that all their words and actions were being monitored.
Xiao Hei, flying above them, had a look of deep worry in its eyes and said to Huangfu Yue, "Master, you've seen and heard everything, haven't you? It's not good!"
Huangfu Yue let out a soft "Mm," her willow eyebrows slightly furrowed.
"Master, I didn't expect that not only were all towns within a five-hundred-mile radius of the capital sealed, but checkpoints were also set up on all major and minor roads within a five-hundred-mile radius of the capital, and officers would strictly investigate passing pedestrians. If you come and are stopped and investigated by the officers, you might be exposed. You look quite suspicious," Xiao Hei voiced its concerns.
"Even if the officers here don't find anything wrong with you and let you pass, it's hard to guarantee that the officers at the next checkpoint won't find something wrong with you. Even if you pass the next checkpoint smoothly, there's still the next one, and the one after that." Who knows how many checkpoints there will be later, hundreds, or even thousands? Eventually, there will be a checkpoint that finds something wrong with you. Although I believe that with your abilities, Master, you will never be caught by those officers, and you will surely be able to lead the people of the Dai Wangfu to escape, but if those officers report it, and the superiors order everyone to be apprehended, it will be terrible."
"You don't need to worry. I've already thought of a solution. Go and follow that couple back to their village. I will bring the people from the prince's mansion to find you," Huangfu Yue commanded.
She had already relaxed her brows and appeared calm and composed again. Her mind always worked quickly, and while Xiao Hei was expressing its concerns, she had already devised a plan.
"You're going to take the people from the prince's mansion to the village where that couple lives, Master?" Xiao Hei immediately guessed the reason behind Huangfu Yue's command to follow the couple, but couldn't understand why Huangfu Yue would take the people from the prince's mansion to that village.
"Sort of, but not exactly," Huangfu Yue replied.
"What do you mean?" Xiao Hei was utterly perplexed. What did it mean by "sort of, but not exactly"? It sounded like a riddle.
"As you said earlier, we all look quite suspicious. If we go through the checkpoints and are stopped for investigation, the possibility of exposure is very high. Therefore, I don't plan to take the people from the prince's mansion through the checkpoints. However, we can't stay here either. The investigation is so strict now, I'm afraid some officers will patrol the roads and search for suspicious people and discover us. So, I'm thinking of taking the people from the prince's mansion to the outskirts of the village where that couple lives. Didn't the husband say earlier that their village is behind a mountain? I want to take the people from the prince's mansion to hide behind the mountain. It's secluded there, and there shouldn't be any officers searching."
"After everyone in the prince's mansion has fallen asleep at night, I will cast a spell to collect all of them into the Qiankun Bag, and then I will go through the checkpoints in stealth. I will go through one checkpoint after another all night, and when dawn breaks, I will find a secluded place where officers won't patrol or search, and then I will release the people from the prince's mansion from the Qiankun Bag and let everyone rest in place..."
"Then, after day passes and night falls, I will collect everyone into the Qiankun Bag again, and I will go through the checkpoints in stealth. When dawn breaks, I will release the people from the prince's mansion. During the day, we will rest and not travel, and at night, I will go through the checkpoints in stealth, and travel alone..."
"If we do this for several consecutive nights, once we are outside the five-hundred-mile range of Beijing's blockade and checkpoints, then I will lead everyone to travel normally." Huangfu Yue explained her devised strategy.
This method wasn't exactly a great one, but it was the only one she could think of at the moment. Earlier, she had planned to move everyone into the passenger van after they had fallen asleep at night and drive them overnight, trying her best to lead everyone out of the blockade zone before dawn. Who knew that that damn emperor would order checkpoints to be set up within a five-hundred-mile radius of the capital? This made it impossible to implement her previous plan of driving the passenger van.
She could only go stealth herself; she couldn't make the passenger van stealthy. With checkpoints all along the way, it was impossible to drive the passenger van continuously. It would be too troublesome to drive for a few minutes, encounter a checkpoint, have to get out of the car to collect the car into space, and go through the checkpoint stealthily. After passing the checkpoint, she would take out the passenger van again and continue driving, only to encounter another checkpoint a few minutes later, and then have to get out of the car to collect it into space and go through the checkpoint stealthily. Just thinking about it was unbearable.
It was better not to drive the passenger van at all. She would just fly stealthily all the way, and keep the people from the prince's mansion in space all night. However, to prevent them from waking up and discovering the existence of space, she would have to drug them, so that they would never wake up in space. Fortunately, the medical system could provide any medicine, including medicine that could make people fall asleep for an entire night.
"Master, your method is good," Xiao Hei felt that Huangfu Yue's idea was feasible.
"It's alright."
"At that time, I'll accompany you on the night journey."
"Okay."
"I'll go chase after that couple now. Master, follow me, keep track of the road, and bring the people from the prince's mansion to follow immediately."
"Okay."