Clip-clop, clip-clop...
After nightfall, several mounted soldiers escorted a carriage toward the hunting grounds outside the city.
Wearing a round-brimmed hat and disguised as a guard, Xie Jinhuan followed at the rear, scanning the vast wilderness dotted with lights. Coal Ball also scouted the land from high above, searching for any opponents who might be there.
Huo Yi, round-faced and thickly bearded, sat inside the carriage. Unaware of how many heavyweights he had brought along as bodyguards, he still wore the apprehensive look of someone "entering Chengdu alone." Whenever a figure appeared in the wilderness, his backside clenched...
Xie Jinhuan could hardly be called relaxed either. Something was bound to happen on this trip. At the milder end, Huo Yi's intention to assassinate the king might have been exposed, and Chaochitai wanted to seize the opportunity to eliminate this rebellious bastard. There would certainly be troops lying in ambush at the hunting grounds.
The more serious possibility was that the Demon Path had made plans to eliminate him. In that case, not only would experts be hidden in the shadows, but Yang Huaxian and the others were almost certainly lying low as well. If anything happened, it would definitely be no small affair.
For this reason, Xie Jinhuan remained utterly alert, watching for every stirring of the wind and grass.
Not far behind him, Empress Dowager Guo had also disguised herself as a female guard and rode alongside Big Ice Lump, Sister Bu, and Ling'er. Ye Yunchi had some trouble getting around, but fortunately, "A Piao-brand Autopilot" was quite reliable, so she was accompanying them too.
However, after the tea-serving incident at noon, Ye Yunchi seemed less trusting of the Autopilot. She remained on tenterhooks the whole way, afraid that becoming the fifth concubine would not be enough, and she