Chapter 1380: A small inn on the border
After eating the peach blossom pastry, Shi Li yawned at the moon outside the window and felt sleepy again.
My body is still not in good condition. I have eaten so many good things to nourish myself, but because the cold poison has not been cleared, I am still very weak. I wish I could sleep for ten or eight hours a day to feel comfortable.
She never puts herself in a difficult position. When it's time to go to sleep, she just lies down and falls asleep. Nothing is more important than her health.
But this night was not peaceful.
Yuan Shang arranged Ah Heng to stay in the smallest room on the first floor, and told him that the good rooms were for guests, so he had to live here.
A little impatience will ruin a big plan, so Ah Heng could only grit his teeth and endure it.
Lying on a wooden bed with only a thin mattress, Ah Heng kept listening attentively to the movements outside.
He waited patiently until he could no longer hear anyone talking or moving, then quietly got up and walked outside. Based on his memory from the day, he found the door of Zhou Lingyu's room and knocked twice.
The person inside seemed to have expected this and calmly shouted "Come in".
The room was brightly lit, and Zhou Lingyu was writing at the table, looking elegant and noble.
Hearing the door open, Zhou Lingyu put down his brush and looked up at Ah Heng, smiling and nodding, "Uncle."
Ah Heng, also known as Zhou Heng, is the second son of the current emperor. The crown prince died a few years ago, and Zhou Lingyu is the only bloodline left, and everyone calls him the emperor's eldest grandson.
In fact, these two are extremely noble people in the imperial city, but now they have appeared in the border desert at the same time.
Zhou Heng even pretended to have amnesia in order to stay in the inn.
Zhou Heng snorted, and said with a fake smile: "I thought Your Highness no longer recognized me as the Emperor's uncle?"
"Uncle, you're joking. But you've taken so much pains to disguise yourself, how can I have the nerve to expose you?" Zhou Lingyu responded with a smile, but there was sarcasm in his words.
Of course, the two of them did not appear in such a remote place for no reason.
Things started a month ago.
His Majesty is in good health, and no one dares to think too much about the future.
But a month ago, news gradually spread from somewhere in the palace that His Majesty was not in good health as before. He was just pretending nothing had happened in front of others, but was already weighing the successor in private.
Your Majesty has few children. Apart from the deceased crown prince, there is only one prince, Zhou Heng, and one Princess Tai'an.
If we really have to choose an heir, then Zhou Heng and Zhou Lingyu have the best chance.
Being born into a royal family, it is impossible not to be tempted by that position.
Both the eldest grandson and the second prince wanted to find someone to speak to his majesty on their behalf. Later, somehow, they found out that his majesty had been secretly exchanging letters with the people in this inn, so they couldn't help but come over quietly to investigate.
After all, everyone knows that His Majesty is unemotional, and anyone who can maintain long-term relations with him must not be an ordinary person.
One of them pretended to be a scholar with amnesia, and the other pretended to be a passing merchant.
He also thought that his external identity was flawless.
But after a whole day, neither of them figured out with whom His Majesty had been exchanging letters.
Could it be the young proprietress of the inn?
Zhou Heng and Zhou Lingyu tested each other again and found that the other party didn't know much more than themselves, so they felt relieved, thinking that they might still be able to gain the upper hand.
Therefore, on the premise that everyone has their own concerns, they tacitly agree not to interfere with each other and to do things based on their own abilities.
After seeing Zhou Heng off, Zhou Lingyu quietly called several of the advisers who were accompanying him to his side, wanting to hear their opinions.
Several people looked at each other, unable to say anything insightful.
Zhou Lingyu didn't show it on his face, but he was extremely unhappy in his heart.
Every time this happened, he couldn't help but think of the time when he was a child and followed the prince. He had met the prince's counselors, who could always speak eloquently whenever the prince asked questions.
It can be said that the strategist played a great role in the fact that His Majesty was able to appoint the Crown Prince as the Crown Prince and rely on him very much in the early years.
Unfortunately, the prince passed away later and the strategist resigned and left.
When he thought of this, Zhou Lingyu couldn't help but sigh. If he hadn't been so young at the time, he would have kept the counselor to assist him.
Unfortunately it's too late to say anything now.
After sighing, Zhou Lingyu was about to turn off the lights and go to bed, but he heard the sound of fighting coming from the roof.
His eyebrows couldn't help but jump violently.
He didn't bring many people with him this time, and this place is only separated from the Fuso tribe by a desert, so please don't let anything unexpected happen!
The fight on the roof at this moment had nothing to do with him.
Yuan Shang's room was next to Shi Li's bedroom. Now that Xuanyuan Lin was not around, he had to sleep with one eye open. When he heard a noise on the roof, he jumped out of the window and found a masked man in black trying to get into Shi Li's bedroom.
The two men immediately started fighting, which was heard by Zhou Lingyu.