542 A Tyrant General
Lóng Wei looked at the princes, who had gathered at the request of Qiu Mu.
“Why did Brother Mu call all of us?” Xiaoming asked.
“Cha Ying has run away,” Qiu Mu informed them. They were all shocked except Lóng Wei. He had seen Cha Ying in a male outfit, but because that matter did not concern him, so he did not tell about it.
“Why did Cha Ying run away? Wasn’t she supposed to marry Brother Mu? What happened that she suddenly decided to run away?” Zhang Xi asked.
“She did not want to marry me,” Qiu Mu said. “After what her family did, she decided to stay unmarried for a while for her mother and younger brother, who is still in an academy. I think Kang Xi forced her to marry me which made her take such a decision,” Qiu Mu stated with a worried look.
“Why did Prince Mu call all of us here?” Lóng Wei questioned.
“I want the help of all the princes,” Qiu Mu said.
“I am afraid, but I can be of no help. I have to find Qizhen in ten days,” Lóng Wei asserted and stood up to leave when Qiu Mu stopped him.
“Why ten days? Weren’t we supposed to start the search from Dongqing city?” Qiu Mu inquired while furrowing his brows together.
.....
“Father will take the matter into his hand if we are unable to find Qizhen in the next ten days. Brother Mu can search for Cha Ying with the other princes, but sadly, I cannot help him,” Lóng Wei stated and turned to leave when Qiu Mu asked him to stop.
“Aren’t you supposed to involve me in this?” Qiu Mu asked him.
“What is more important to you? To find Cha Ying or this mission to find Qizhen?” Lóng Wei questioned him.
“Brother Lóng Wei, both tasks are important for Brother Mu. We can help you as well in finding Qizhen,” Xiaoming intervened.
“But Prince Mu has to choose one of them. You cannot fulfill two tasks at once. I can solely find Qizhen. Brother Mu should focus on finding Cha Ying,” Lóng Wei asserted and walked away.
“He always acts as if he is our elder,” Zhang Xi remarked and looked at the other princes who did not say anything.
“Brother Mu, Miss Kang cannot run away that easily from the capital. Someone must have noticed her. She ran in an attire which is easy to grab the eyes. A noblewoman gets attention faster than normal people,” Mingquan asserted.
“Huang Xi and the others asked the locals about it, but it seems she disappeared in thin air,” Qiu Mu said and frowned.
“What if Cha Ying ran away wearing an attire in which she was unrecognizable,” Xiaoming opined. “She knew that the search would begin right after she would be disappeared from her house. There is a possibility that she wore a male attire.” The princes agreed with his opinions.
“I should check in the local shops. She must have purchased the dress from any of the shops in the market,” Qiu Mu said and thanked Xiaoming. He was unable to think that way. Tianjie told Qiu Mu that he would apany him and even Zhang Xi joined them.
They left the room leaving behind Xiaoming and Mingquan.
“Brother Lóng Wei is troubled these days. He even got wounded today while catching the spy,” Mingquan told Xiaoming.
“A spy? Whose spy, Brother Mingquan?” The Crown Prince asked.
“Qizhen’s spy, Your Royal Highness,” Mingquan replied.
“Does Brother Mingquan know about Qizhen?” Xiaoming asked and then sighed. “Did Brother Lóng Wei share anything about this with him?” He was curious to know.
“Brother Lóng Wei hardly shares anything with me despite I am his closest brother,” Mingquan proudly said. “However, I know a few things about him.”
Mingquan wanted Xiaoming to help Lóng Wei. Earlier he had met Li Hua, who shared with him the tense situation of Lóng Wei. She told him that Lóng Wei had doubts if the princes would help himplete his vision or not.
“I would like to know about those few things, Brother Mingquan,” Xiaoming said.
“Your Royal Highness, Qizhen was a kind king. Our father overthrew him and killed many of the innocent people that time,” Mingquan asserted.
Xiaoming was shocked to hear Mingquan. He was not ready to believe it. In his eyes, his father, Qiu Zedong, was an ideal person. But such a big thing Mingquan would not say without any base. He must have found out this from someone.
“How could Brother Mingquan be sure about it? How did he find out about this?” Mingquan questioned.
“Late Eunuch Gao Bing told me,” Mingquan lied to Xiaoming. Because he could not tell the entire truth to the Crown Prince at once. “We all know why he was executed. Because he was loyal to Qiu Qizhen. I had met him a day before his death as I was also curious to know about the matter between our uncle and our father. Then, he told me,” Mingquan exined well to the Crown Prince.
“Did he tell something more?” Xiaoming asked. “Why would Father kill a kind person and take away so many lives?” He frowned.
“Eunuch Gao Bing said that Father was a tyrant general. Since we all were very young at that time, so we do not even know if it is true or not. Also, we used to live in the Eastern Province, so no such news evere to us. A bloodbath urred before we all came to this pce. Father hated the poprity of the uncle among the people. Now, Qizhen has returned to take his revenge, which is bothering our father.” Mingquan told everything to Xiaoming which was never known to him.
“Eunuch Gao Bing might have lied about it, Brother Mingquan,” Xiaoming said.
“I also did not believe his words, but the recent events have forced me to believe them. Uncle Ye Yujin died because he took the life of a noble family who served the previous king. I myself have searched about it and found out that Eunuch Gao Bing was right. I am scared for Brother Lóng Wei’s safety. What if Qiu Qizhen targets him? He killed one of his spies. The enmity between our father and uncle should not cost any of our lives.”
Mingquan’s words left a deeper impression on Xiaoming’s brain. He contemted for some time and asked Mingquan to tell him about the family that Ye Yujin killed.
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Dear Readers,
I have started the regr updates in “The Second Husband” story. I’ll appreciate if you give the story a read once.
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