Rebirth: The Journey of an Heiress-Chapter 582 - 579: Disposal_1

The deputy glanced at the sentinel still kneeling outside the tent, waved his hand, and signaled the sentinel to retreat.

After seeing the sentinel retreat, General Fu Ruoxi’s deputy walked over to Fu Ruoxi, lowered his voice, and said, "General, the Crown Prince is the heir. The Emperor is unconscious. The Crown Prince can act on behalf of the Emperor. The Crown Prince’s orders are the Emperor’s orders!"

Fu Ruoxi, caught in a dilemma, suddenly calmed down in an instant...

If the Crown Prince came this time to have him lead troops to the Capital City with him, he could show his loyalty to the Crown Prince by agreeing. Along the way, he would follow the Crown Prince with his troops back to Dadu City. By then... if the Empress had the upper hand, he could seize the Crown Prince and ensure King Xin’s succession.

If the Empress did not have the upper hand, he could claim that the Empress had sent him a secret message to escort the Crown Prince back to the city to prevent any unforeseen events, thus saving the Empress’s life.

In this way, he could advance or retreat as needed.

Thinking of this, Fu Ruoxi made up his mind and said to his deputy, "Go gather the commanders and follow me out of the camp to welcome the Crown Prince."

"Yes!" Fu Ruoxi’s deputy replied, clasping his fists, and hurriedly left the commander’s tent.

Fu Ruoxi clenched his fists tightly and paced back and forth in the main tent for a few rounds, then stopped in his tracks.

He needed to send a message to the Empress. If he didn’t, given the Empress’s determined character, upon seeing him lead troops with the Crown Prince back to Dadu City, she would surely think he decided to follow the Crown Prince and abandoned their loyalty, fearing the Empress might do something irreversible.

Sending a message was too risky. If intercepted... he would be doomed.

Not sending a message, he feared the Empress would be in danger.

Hesitating for a moment, Fu Ruoxi suddenly ordered to the door, "Bring the person who just delivered the message!"

"Yes!"

Fu Ruoxi went behind the desk and knelt, took out the special paper used for sending urgent military reports to Dadu City, and wrote down four characters: "Wait for the opportunity." He placed it into a message tube. When he raised his head, he saw the person sent by the Empress was already outside the tent.

The Empress’s loyal guard had rushed day and night from Dadu City. After delivering the message, he barely had time to eat before collapsing to sleep. Now abruptly woken up, he was still groggy.

"Come forward!" Fu Ruoxi put the message tube into a cloth bag and looked at the kneeling guard in front of the desk, "This message must be delivered to Dadu City as soon as possible, directly into the hands of your Mistress. Depart immediately! Be quick!"

The man’s eyes were bloodshot and he looked haggard, but he still respectfully took the cloth bag from Fu Ruoxi: "Yes!"

Fu Ruoxi couldn’t use his people because any movement would alarm the people at Anping Camp. Moreover, his people delivering the message would be unlikely to reach the Empress directly and would have to go through the Fu family first.

This matter must not be known to the Fu family. Otherwise, his clever mother would surely deduce what the Empress intended. She might even think the Empress was using his past guilt to force him to rebel and might report the Empress to the Eldest Princess.

So even knowing that the Empress’s person was extremely exhausted, Fu Ruoxi had to use him.

Watching the Empress’s person leave, Fu Ruoxi breathed a slight sigh of relief and mustered his spirit to leave the camp to greet the Crown Prince.

Fu Ruoxi, with his helmet under his arm, came out of the main tent and shouted loudly, "Beat the drums! Muster the troops!"

·

As they neared Anping Camp, the Crown Prince suddenly called out hoarsely to Bai Qingyan: "Princess of Zhen!"

Bai Qingyan slowed her pace and rode alongside the Crown Prince: "Your Highness, do you have orders?"

Slowing his pace, the Crown Prince turned his head to Bai Qingyan and said, "A month ago, when General Fu was still in Dadu City, I visited my father in the palace. I saw from afar the Empress’s close palace maid escorting General Fu out of the palace. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but with the capital city on the verge of chaos, Fu Ruoxi... we must be cautious!"

The Crown Prince didn’t tell Bai Qingyan the whole story. He later checked the records of those who entered and exited the Imperial Palace that day and found that after seeing the Emperor, Fu Ruoxi stayed in the palace for another half an hour.

The Crown Prince did not speculate that the Empress might have anything with Fu Ruoxi. He guessed that the Empress might have had her palace maid seduce Fu Ruoxi, given that Fu Ruoxi held Anping Camp in his grasp.

Previously, the Crown Prince merely paid attention. But now, with the Emperor unconscious and the Crown Prince not in Dadu City, the capital’s situation could change at any moment, so the Crown Prince had to be cautious.

"Princess of Zhen!" Old Fang, severely jolted by the galloping, adjusted his helmet, gritted his teeth, and maneuvered his horse beside Bai Qingyan, whispering urgently, "Your Highness and I initially thought that as long as Fu Ruoxi was far away in Anping Camp, we just needed to be on guard. But now that the situation in the capital has changed, if Fu Ruoxi indeed has some entanglement with the Empress’s maid, he might be controlled by the Empress. My meaning is... in a while, please find an opportunity to kill Fu Ruoxi, and have the Crown Prince personally take command of the troops!"

The Crown Prince only told this to Old Fang, not even Qin Shangzhi or Ren Shijie knew. If not for the Crown Prince growing increasingly uneasy as they neared Anping Camp, he wouldn’t have told Bai Qingyan.

Bai Qingyan tightened her grip on the reins and, seeing the group of riders emerging from Anping Camp in the distance, raised her hand and shouted, "Halt!"

Two thousand light cavalry from Dengzhou stopped in unison, their movements synchronized.

Startled, the Crown Prince and Old Fang quickly reined in their horses.

Bai Qingyan reined in her horse, her cold gaze sweeping towards Old Fang, causing chills to run down his spine.

Old Fang also saw the cavalry emerging from the camp and, growing nervous, shouted loudly, "Quick! Protect His Highness!"

"No need to panic, Old Fang!" Bai Qingyan looked ahead calmly, "There are at most two hundred riders from Anping Camp, likely coming to greet us!"

After speaking, Bai Qingyan turned to the Crown Prince, clasping her fist with the reins and whispering, "Your Highness, Fu Ruoxi commands Anping Camp and has made numerous contributions. Rashly killing him might disrupt the morale of the troops. I have already instructed Lu Ping to intercept anyone heading towards the capital or Anping Camp. If no one delivers a message... then let’s have Fu Ruoxi return to Dadu City with us and figure it out on the way!"

"What if someone tries to send a message to or from Anping Camp?" Old Fang asked urgently.

"If someone delivers a message, Lu Ping will intercept it. Then, the Crown Prince can seize Fu Ruoxi’s command, escort him back to the capital, and after safely arriving in Dadu City, call for records of Fu Ruoxi’s entry into the palace and confront him with the Empress’s maid. Handle it according to the law. However, unless absolutely necessary, we must not kill Fu Ruoxi to avoid disrupting the army’s morale." Bai Qingyan turned her horse closer to the Crown Prince and Old Fang, "Your Highness, fairness is essential to win the hearts of the people, especially now. You must gather the loyalty of all the soldiers at Anping Camp."

"Princess of Zhen, are you concerned that... killing Fu Ruoxi would cause an uprising?" Old Fang asked.