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An old man in a blue robe stood outside the house. He was vigorous, with ink-black hair and a tall and straight body. The only thing that showed his advanced age was his face full of vicissitudes of life.
"Mr. Liu, please come in and talk."
The Prince of Tang stepped aside and motioned him to come in. The remaining fragments of the immortal map had already been hidden by him.
He told Jing Hou in Zetian Palace that he was not a disciple of Wanfa Xianmeng. This was a lie. In fact, he had entered this sect to practice, and this was no secret.
The Immortal Alliance had an alliance with his father, the King of Tang, and his going to the capital as a hostage was also the plan of his father and teacher. Therefore, his status in the sect is almost the same as that of an heir, and the old man in front of him is the protector arranged for him by the sect, his name is Liu Xinqing.
"I came here for the hunting event in Chang'an."
Liu Xinqing went straight to the point. Zhao Xuan was stunned and asked in confusion.
"Why do you care about this?"
In his eyes, today they were just going to have fun at Chang'an Garden, what serious business could there be?
"I reported back to Tang that Prime Minister Wei refused to give in to the advances of the powerful men from the Four Immortal Sects. The Alliance Leader and His Royal Highness the King of Tang believed that this was an opportunity, and they will soon send people to Beijing to assist us."
The Prince of Tang nodded. It was his idea to pass the news from the capital back. Now that the Immortal Sect and the Wei Party are confronting each other, they may be able to take advantage of the situation and achieve that goal.
"What does this have to do with the hunting in Chang'an?"
He was still confused. These two things were completely unrelated.
"I think that the Crown Prince of the East Palace is in a difficult situation right now, and it is a good time to win him over. This matter still needs to be handled by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Zhao Xuan couldn't help but curl his lips, obviously he had no good feelings towards the country's crown prince!
When he was young, he went to Luojing with his father and studied with a pair of sisters from a noble family. They could barely be considered childhood sweethearts. During that time, he kept calling them "sister" and his love was just beginning.
Who would have thought that when he arrived in Beijing three years ago, the girl he admired had become an unrivaled beauty and married into the Eastern Palace. She had become someone else's wife, and he had to call her "Crown Princess Sister". How could he be willing to accept this?
"I understand. If I see the prince during the hunt today, I will try to make friends with him."
The Prince of Tang said indifferently that he did not take the matter to heart. Life is only a hundred years long, why should we do something we don't want to do?
He always acts according to his own will. If he doesn't like it, he won't do it. Why force himself?
He is open and unrestrained, this is how he behaves.
'Why……'
Liu Xinqing sighed inwardly. He actually didn't expect Zhao Xuan to be able to make friends with the Eastern Palace wholeheartedly. He had other arrangements for today, but his plan could not be called decent, it could even be said to be a devilish method, so he didn't dare to tell His Royal Highness the Crown Prince about it.
He understood that although Prince Xuan looked lazy and had a reputation as a dandy, he never did anything despicable or dirty.
But, let him be the bad guy.
"Let's go to Chang'an Garden."
After packing up, Prince Zhao Xuan of Tang left the mansion with his bodyguard Liu Lao and rode towards the city gate.
"tread--"
The sound of horse hooves echoed on the quiet official road. The capital city was always filled with mist at dawn. The sky was still gray and the world was foggy.
When Zhao Xuan was leaving the city, a ray of brilliant morning light finally broke through the clouds, and he galloped towards the sun with great enthusiasm.
Soon, he ran into the lush and fragrant woodland.
"Your Highness, please come this way!"
Prince Xuan was brought to the gathering place by the Imperial Guards who were protecting the royal gardens. He chatted casually with the sons of nobles who came up to him to make friends with him, and looked around, but did not see the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace.
"Where is my brother Huan?"
Zhao Xuan asked, he actually addressed the crown prince as a brother, but no one dared to say that he was overstepping his authority, he was a member of the royal family, his biological father was a powerful vassal king, and the one who faced him was the powerless East Palace...
"His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has gone hunting."
A young man from a noble family responded respectfully, but when the prince was mentioned, he downplayed the matter.
"Oh?"
Zhao Xuan raised his eyebrows and looked back at the protector. His smiling eyes seemed to say: I also want to win over the prince, but I can't see him.
Liu Xinqing was speechless. He watched the Crown Prince draw his bow and ride his horse into the woods, but did not follow him.
With one step forward, he arrived at the forest deep in Chang'an Garden.
"Elder Liu."
A charming woman suddenly appeared and bowed to him.
"Miss Li, are you ready?"
Liu Xinqing looked at the beautiful woman in front of him, satisfaction in his eyes, and said in a deep voice.
"We only have one chance!"
He raised his hand, and a red exotic fruit appeared in his palm.
"If you plant this fruit, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince will fall in love with you."
Chapter 112 Your Highness, You Don’t Want to
A flying boat broke out from the darkness into the day.
The mountains, rivers and time seem to be going backwards and being left far behind.
The morning light shone like cotton wool on the handsome young man.
"How long will it take us to reach Beijing?"
Wei Buqi spoke softly.
His eyes were focused on the magnificent canyon ahead that they were about to cross, and his heart sank to the bottom of the valley.
Tianmen Pass is the only way to enter Beijing from the south. Ten years ago, the rebels of the Southern Frontier broke through Li'an Prefecture and marched straight in. The eldest son of Duke Shen led his troops to ambush the rebels here and fought to the death until dawn, buying time for the former emperor and Emperor Lingwu, who was then the crown prince, to escape. After passing this pass, there is still a long distance before you can see the southern city wall of Luojing.
"I will use all my strength to drive the flying boat, and it will arrive in three quarters of an hour."
Yang Shaocheng said in a deep voice.
"That's too late?"
The second young master of Wei thought to himself, he knew that the hunting in Chang'an would start at dawn, and now the hunting was already in progress. It would take him nearly half an hour to arrive, and anything could happen during this time.
……
"squeak--"
Zhao Xuan, the prince of Tang, galloped on his horse through the lush woodland. He clamped his legs around the horse's belly and raised his bow to aim at the two sika deer fleeing in front of him. He loaded the arrow and drew the bow, and the bowstring made a tense vibration.
He took aim and was about to release the arrow when he suddenly noticed that the running deer had a big belly. He paused for a moment and shot an arrow at the half-grown deer behind the doe.
The arrow flew through the air, and the little sika deer fell down, wailing continuously.
"good."
Prince Xuan nodded with satisfaction and ordered his followers to capture the deer that had been shot by an arrow so that they could have venison hotpot tonight.
He was satisfied with just one deer and couldn't eat any more, so he threw his longbow to his guard and went into the forest alone.
The sharp summer wind with the smell of earth blew on his face, and he squinted his eyes comfortably, enjoying the thrill of galloping. He liked riding horses and dreamed of riding a horse with his sister, the Crown Princess, one day.
"What does this smell like?"
Zhao Xuan suddenly tightened the reins, and the white horse under him stamped its feet. At this time, he was already deep in the mountains and forests.
He wrinkled his nose and suddenly smelled a strange fragrance that made him feel fascinated.
He had been to Chang'an Garden many times and was very familiar with the place, but it was the first time he smelled this orchid-like and musk-like scent.
"Am I going to have an adventure today..."
The Prince of Tang twitched his nose with interest, trying to find the direction where the fragrant breeze came from.
He sensed an inexplicable fruity scent mixed with the strange aroma and thought that some exotic fruits were ripening in the forest, which was probably a good thing.
There were not many small animals in the deep forest, and he believed that no one would come. He was not in a hurry, so he mounted his horse and circled in the forest, and finally headed deeper into the forest.
"His Royal Highness!"
Zhao Xuan followed the fragrance and a dense forest appeared before his eyes. He was feeling proud when he saw his bodyguard blocking his way.
"Mr. Liu?"
Liu Xinqing said seriously.
"Your Highness must not go any further."
Prince Xuan has always respected Old Liu. Upon hearing this, he pulled his horse and asked repeatedly.
"What did you find?"
Liu Xinqing groaned inwardly. His men had just found the prince and planted the fruit in the forest. Unexpectedly, the Crown Prince found it by accident.
He didn't dare to reveal his plan to others. If Zhao Xuan knew that he wanted to use medicine to control the crown prince, he would definitely not side with him.
In fact, the Tang Kingdom and the Wanfa Immortal Alliance are not really in the same boat.
"I saw a ripe Xiaoyao fruit falling in the forest ahead."
Old Liu said seriously, in a serious tone.
"Oh?"
The Prince of Tang was shocked. He had also seen fairy flowers like Xiaoyao Fruit in ancient books. This thing could arouse people's emotions, but that was not the main point. The terrifying thing was its bewitching effect. If a man and a woman practiced dual cultivation under the strange fragrance it emitted, they would most likely fall in love with each other.
He also heard that someone in the magic world used this fruit to create a secret technique that could change other people's thoughts silently, which was truly horrifying.
However, he was puzzled as to why such a thing would grow in Chang'an Garden.
"Don't worry, Your Highness. I have sent people to the forest to deal with it. You can go and have fun."
Liu Xinqing said calmly that the situation was still under his control.
"Thank you for your hard work."
Zhao Xuan had no doubts about it. He, as the prince, was the key to the alliance between Tang Kingdom and Wanfa Xianmeng. As the young master of a sect, the sect invested countless rare treasures in him every year. He did not believe that Old Liu, the senior master who had always protected him, would lie to him.
Without thinking too much, he turned his horse around and was about to leave. At this moment...
Bang! A loud noise was heard along with a woman's scream!