Chapter 180: Urgent Letter

Baili Xian spoke with great urgency and even repeated his command twice, a behavior that appeared quite peculiar.

Hu Li was currently Baili Xian's personal bodyguard, and Hu Bugui had instructed him to obey any of Baili Xian's orders. Although he was quite puzzled, he followed Baili Xian's command and drove the carriage onto another path.

Afterward, Baili Xian kept the carriage curtain lifted, gazing at Jiangdong City with a complex expression. There was yearning in his eyes, as well as memories; the look in his eyes seemed not to be fixed upon a city, but rather upon a person.

Liu Ling'er had never seen this kind of expression before, and she felt bewildered at the moment, though she was even more curious as to why Baili Xian had made such a decision.

Xiao Zhen'er, sitting beside Liu Ling'er, wanted to speak several times, but Xiao Yixiao repeatedly signaled her with his eyes, eventually forcing her to swallow her words back down. However, from her constantly twisting body, Liu Ling'er could tell she had many things she was dying to say.

The carriage turned a corner, and from the roadside, Liu Ling'er caught sight of a household. A courtyard was enclosed by a branch fence, and inside the courtyard, a little puppy was frotting and chasing after a butterfly. Nearby, an old mother hen was scratching in the dirt while tending to a brood of newly hatched chicks.

What was even more eye-catching was a man lying on a bamboo recliner, smoking from a long-stemmed pipe, looking thoroughly content. Of course, the reason Liu Ling'er's eyes were drawn to him was that the man happened to see their carriage while smoking. Whether he caught sight of the two beauties, Liu Ling'er and Xiao Zhen'er, or not, his hand slipped, and the pipe bowl crashed heavily onto his thigh. The tobacco inside was still scalding hot, instantly burning him so badly that his leg began to twitch.

What was even more comical was that, perhaps due to his excessive reaction, the rocking chair gave a violent lurch, and the man lost his balance. With a squeak, he rolled right off the rocking chair, instantly throwing the courtyard into a chaotic frenzy of fluttering chickens and barking dogs, creating quite a lively scene.

Xiao Zhen'er, sitting alongside Liu Ling'er, also witnessed this spectacle, and immediately the two young women in the carriage clutched their stomachs and burst into giggles.

This laughter promptly caught Baili Xian's attention. "Ling'er, what are you laughing about so heartily? Share it so everyone can enjoy the amusement."

"It's nothing, just saw someone being all clumsy and exceptionally comical. But as for Your Highness the Wise Prince, why do you look so distracted? And why won't you let us enter the city? Could it be that Jiangdong City harbors some sort of taboo?"

Baili Xian immediately fell silent, lowering his head with a preoccupied expression. After a long while, he said to Liu Ling'er, "There are no particular taboos in Jiangdong City, but there is someone inside the city whom I cannot see right now. The timing is not right; seeing him would only bring him harm. In any case, if there is an opportunity in the future, I will explain it to you in detail."

Just as their carriage was gradually moving farther away from that cottage, the man who had fallen from the chair quickly scrambled to his feet with an incredulous look on his face. "That was the Wise Prince! How did he end up walking this way? Could it be he's looking for the Prince of Shun? No, I must report this matter to the Prime Minister."

He hurried into the house, picked up a writing brush, and scribbled a note on a small strip of paper. Then, he retrieved a homing pigeon from a cage inside the room, tied the paper securely to its leg, and tossed the pigeon out of the window.

The pigeon circled the rooftop once and then flew off in the direction of the Imperial Capital. Still feeling uneasy, the man wrote another note and released a second homing pigeon.

Liu Ling'er and her group did not stay at an inn. After traveling for a little over an hour, night began to fall. Fortunately, they were not far from Jiangdong City, and ordinary villagers could still be found here and there, so they directly sought out a family to stay with for the night.

Of course, they were not lodging for free; Liu Ling'er gave the family some silver, asking only that they prepare some hot water and meals. The family was exceptionally hospitable, specially having the wife cook a table full of lavish farmhouse dishes and bringing out their own home-brewed rice wine.

Truth be told, these country dishes paired with the homemade rice wine possessed a unique and wonderful flavor. Xiao Zhen'er ate until she declared it immensely satisfying, completely casting aside her Second Brother's repeated reminders to mind her decorum.

In the dead of night, Li Danqing was fast asleep when a servant frantically hammered on his door. "Prime Minister! Someone has sent a homing pigeon, and the message bears the urgent dispatch mark."

Li Danqing was sleeping comfortably and was instantly seized by a nameless fury upon being awakened in such a manner. He was about to shout for guards to drag the servant away and give him a beating, but upon hearing that it was an urgent message, he sat bolt upright in bed.

Throwing off the quilt and not even bothering to put on his shoes, he went straight to open the door in his bare feet. "An urgent message? Do you know where it came from?"

Startled by Li Danqing, the servant stammered, "It's a homing pigeon from Jiangdong City. When this humble servant heard the cooing from the pigeon coop, I didn't dare to sleep and came straight to report to the Prime Minister."

"Where is the letter? Have you opened and read it?" Li Danqing's eyes pierced the servant like swords; if the servant said a single wrong word, Li Danqing could take his life right then and there. Frightened nearly out of his wits, the servant took a deep breath and handed the paper slip tied to the pigeon's leg to Li Danqing. "How would this humble servant dare to open the Prime Minister's mail? Even if given three heads, this servant wouldn't dare do such a thing!"

Li Danqing snatched the rolled-up slip of paper and glanced at it; the knot was sealed tightly with no signs of having been untied. The fierce light in Li Danqing's eyes softened slightly. "Well done. Go to the head steward and collect ten taels of silver as your reward."

Upon hearing this, the servant was ecstatic, dropping to his knees and kowtowing repeatedly. "Thank you, Lord Prime Minister! Thank you, Lord Prime Minister!"

Li Danqing waved a hand. "Get down with you! Remember, next time a message like this arrives, bring it directly to me, no matter what time it is."

Returning to his bedroom, Li Danqing's concubine propped herself up on her elbows. "My Lord, you're still busy in the middle of the night! Quickly put on your shoes so you don't catch a chill in your feet!"

Li Danqing lit a lamp and turned back to say, "Can't you see I'm busy? Go back to sleep."

Having offered warmth only to be met with a cold shoulder, the concubine uttered an indignant huff, curled herself back into the blanket, and traced circles with her finger inside the bedclothes.

Li Danqing used a pair of scissors to cut the string. When he saw the words written on the paper slip, he sprang up from his chair and shouted toward the outside, "Someone, prepare the sedan chair! I must enter the palace to see His Majesty; I have an urgent matter to report."

With that, he first held the paper slip against the flame of a candle and burned it completely to ashes. Only then did he wake the concubine to help him dress and put on his boots. Although the concubine was extremely displeased, she dared not complain. As she went about her tasks, she mentally paid her respects to Li Danqing's ancestors, showering them with her most affectionate greetings over and over again.

When Baili Hai heard Li Danqing's report, he slammed his fist down upon the dragon throne.

"Well, well, Baili Xian, you truly are resourceful and quick-witted! No wonder the assassins sent out never caught sight of you—so you took the side roads instead! I should have thought of this earlier.

Fortunately, I have eyes and ears everywhere, and it's your own fault that you showed a flaw when you reached Jiangdong City. It is not too late to mend the fold even after some sheep have been lost; just wait for the relentless pursuit of the organization!"

Early the next morning, the household on the outskirts of Jiangdong City received the homing pigeon sent by Li Danqing. After removing the message and reading it, the person immediately wrote a reply. However, this time, the letter was not addressed to Li Danqing, but rather to one of Li Danqing's subordinates.