Chapter 483: Returning To The Capital
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
As night fell, the courier station was also shrouded in infinite darkness.
In the darkness of the night, a thin figure carried a food container and walked
to the back courtyard where the prisoners were being kept.
When the guard saw someone approaching, he went forward wanly and hollered, “Who is it? Don’t come close.”
Zhou Xiangrong raised her head and said, “The Empress told me to bring them food. Her Imperial Highness said that she would be bringing them back to be punished. Before that, they must not starve to death.”
Zhou Xiangrong had been traveling in the same horse carriage as Su Ying for the past few days. The guard knew that Su Ying trusted her, so he didn’t think too much about it and let Zhou Xiangrong go past him straightaway.
Zhou Xiangrong first distributed the food in the food container to the other prison carts before finally coming to Wei Zhongming.
She placed two steamed buns and a plate of side dishes into the cart and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “My Lord, we are entering the capital city tomorrow. In order to ensure that everything goes smoothly, what else are you hesitating about? Who else can you trust besides me?”
Wei Zhongming clenched his teeth and didn’t say anything.
Zhou Xiangrong was not in a hurry either. She said softly, “My Lord, you have already fallen into such a state. Why should you care about the lives of other people?”
Wei Zhongming suddenly raised his head and said icily, “You’d better keep me safe, or else you won’t be able to live well!”
“Don’t worry, my Lord. I won’t disappoint you.
Wei Zhongming looked around and confirmed that the guard was not paying attention to them before whispering to Zhou Xiangrong.
Zhou Xiangrong left with the food container in satisfaction after listening.
As soon as she left, Su Ying and Xiao Jin returned.
A minor official at the courier station had prepared a sumptuous meal and delivered it to Su Ying and Xiao Jin after they returned.
“Zhou Qing, this is for you. Take it.” Su Ying took out a flower ornament crafted with pearls and placed it in Zhou Qing’s hand.
Zhou Qing was very pleasantly surprised when she saw the pearl flower ornament. Her Imperial Highness had actually brought something for her when she went out.
“Thank you, Your Imperial Highness.”
Su Ying waved her hand nonchalantly and drank the pork rib soup in one gulp.
“Sleep early tonight. We’ll enter the city as soon as the city gates open tomorrow.”
“Yes, Your Imperial Highness.”
At night, Su Ying couldn’t fall asleep even though she was very tired. She thought back to the last time she left the capital city. In the blink of an eye, it had been a few months. She wondered if the children had gained weight, lost weight, or grown taller.
Xiao Jin had lost so much weight. As for Aunt Zhao and the rest, they probably thought that she was dead too. They must have felt terrible during this period of time.
As if he could sense her troubled thoughts, Xiao Jin hugged her and comforted her softly. “Don’t let your imagination run wild. You’ll see them tomorrow.
“Mm-hmm.”
Su Ying closed her eyes and leaned into Xiao Jin’s arms before gradually falling asleep.
At the same time, the capital city had also received news of Su Ying’s return. However, there were still many people who felt that the news was fake. In their opinion, the possibility of survival after falling from that damn place was almost zero.
Almost everyone suspected that this so-called empress was created by some faction to deceive the Emperor. Yet, the strange thing was that the city gate was already crowded with people before dawn.
Without exception, these people were all the civil and military officials in disguise!
Although they didn’t believe it, they were all curious. What kind of person was this impostor empress? She had the guts to enter the palace so boldly? Was she not afraid of being seen through?
Before dawn, Su Ying was woken up by the commotion in the courier station.
When she opened her eyes, Xiao Jin was already gone. She rubbed the spot between her eyebrows and sat up to stretch her muscles. She made some noise to signal to Zhou Qing she could enter the room.
“Did someone arrive outside?”
“Yes. I heard that the commander of the Imperial Guards has arrived.
Su Ying wasn’t surprised that Jiang Yang had arrived.
After Su Ying finished washing up, Zhou Qing served breakfast.
There wasn’t much variety, but the quantity was large.
As Su Ying grabbed a bun and munched on it, she heard familiar footsteps coming from outside the door. She raised her head and saw Xiao Jin outside.
“Your Imperial Highness, the Imperial Guards have already brought the phoenix carriage.”
He made such a big fuss?
When he saw the quizzical look in Su Ying’s eyes, Xiao Jin nodded slightly at her. This was exactly what he wanted.
He wanted to let all those people who wished for Su Ying to die know that the Empress who almost sacrificed herself for the kingdom was still alive!
For Su Ying, it didn’t matter either way as long as she could return to the capital city.
After Su Ying ate her fill, Zhou Qing walked in with a resplendent phoenix robe and gestured for Su Ying to change into it.
Since Su Ying was taking the official phoenix carriage, she had to put on the appropriate appearance.
Su Ying spread her arms and allowed Zhou Qing to fuss around with her body. At the end of the session, she placed the heavy phoenix crown on Su Ying’s head, and the dressing-up was finally completed.
Zhou Qing picked up the rouge on the dressing table and was about to apply it on Su Ying, but Su Ying stopped her. “You can leave this out.” Su Ying was still young, and her face was rosy and lustrous. There was no need for her to put on these things. She only told Zhou Qing to give her lips a touch of red lip color as a token gesture.
After packing up, Zhou Qing lowered the beaded veil on the phoenix crown and helped Su Ying walk out of the courier station.
Jiang Yang, who was waiting outside the entrance, immediately knelt down and bowed when he heard the commotion.
“Your humble official hereby greets Your Imperial Highness.”
Jiang Yang had never doubted Su Ying’s identity. Even if others were deceived,
His Majesty would never be fooled.
“You may rise.”
The indifferent and icy tone was definitely that of the Empress.
Jiang Yang stood up, but he still sneaked a peek at Su Ying against palace protocol. His gaze collided violently with Su Ying’s ambiguous-looking glare. Jiang Yang immediately understood that look. Her Imperial Highness was asking him if his skin was itching for a beating!
This was, without a doubt, Her Imperial Highness in person!
“Your Imperial Highness, this way please.”
Su Ying turned to look. This lineup was truly huge. The guards who came with her yesterday had all been replaced, and now, all the guards were Imperial Guards. At a glance, she couldn’t see the end of the formation.
Zhou Qing helped Su Ying onto the phoenix carriage. The phoenix carriage was huge, even bigger than the carriage they had traveled in before.
Zhou Xiangrong walked out of the courier station and looked at the phoenix carriage, which was resplendent and extremely luxurious. Her eyes revealed a look of longing, but she quickly restrained her emotions. She pretended that she didn’t know anything and walked up to the phoenix carriage with the intention of getting into it. However, she was stopped by the Imperial Guard.
“Who are you?”
Zhou Xiangrong instinctively raised her head to look at Su Ying. I serve the Empress by her side.” She wanted to get on the phoenix carriage.
Su Ying’s hearing was good, so even though Zhou Xiangrong spoke softly, Su Ying still heard her.
“Miss Zhou is the Young Miss of Marquis Bo An’s Residence. How can she be someone serving me? I don’t need anyone to serve me. Miss Zhou can just sit in the horse carriage at the back.”
Zhou Xiangrong’s face stiffened, but she could only acknowledge the order and walk towards the horse carriage at the back.
just as she was about to board the horse carriage, she turned back to look at the phoenix carriage once more, and the determination in her eyes became even stronger.
Rays of golden light filtered through the clouds and shone on Su Ying’s phoenix carriage.
Jiang Yang mounted his horse and galloped to the front of the convoy. “Let’s go.”
The army of Imperial Guards was simply too impressive. As they passed through the surrounding towns and villages, the commoners all gathered around to gawk in astonishment, wondering just which important figure was able to command such a huge formation.
“This… this is the phoenix carriage. It’s the phoenix carriage! Is it the Empress?”
“Isn’t the Empress already dead?”
“As long as the Emperor doesn’t hold a funeral, the Empress is still alive! Otherwise, in the entire capital city, who else would be qualified to sit in such phoenix carriage?
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