Tang Dynasty: To win Yang Guifei, they asked Emperor Xuanzong to die.

Chapter 140 The king’s heart is unpredictable

Dawn had passed, and the eastern sky was beginning to lighten.

Li Mao concealed his tracks and hurried back to the large house of the one-eyed man.

Dawn was breaking, and people in the mountain stronghold were gradually waking up from their hangovers, no longer able to act as smoothly as they had the night before. Li Mao silently prayed that Xianglan was safe and sound, and quickened his pace.

"Pandan!"

Fortunately, when the door was opened, One-Eyed was still lying unconscious on the bed.

Xianglan sat by the bed, looking at him calmly.

There was no fear or panic in her eyes, but rather a faint smile.

"You've finally come. I knew you could succeed and that you would come back to save me," Xianglan said softly. "The sleeping potion you gave me last night worked very well. Look, he still hasn't woken up."

Li Mao nodded and breathed a sigh of relief: "It's good that you're alright. Come with me and leave this place quickly. Don't worry about the others; I've already arranged for people to escort them back to Xianyang."

Xianglan nodded and stood up.

At this moment, Li Mao suddenly turned around and walked closer to the one-eyed man who was sleeping on the couch.

He told Xianglan to close her eyes, then with a swift stroke, he ended the bandit leader's life!

“This man will always be a threat if he stays. We’re going to take some men up the mountain to suppress the bandits soon. If he’s alive, he’ll definitely be an obstacle. It’s better to kill him sooner rather than later.”

After killing the man, Li Mao turned around expressionlessly and left with Xianglan.

Unfortunately, they hadn't gone two steps when they encountered the early-rising bandits.

"Halt!" the bandit shouted, his eyes wide. "Where are you going?"

Although Xianglan and One-Eyed had already gotten married the night before, in the eyes of the bandits, she hadn't yet been transformed from a kidnapped hostage into their sister-in-law. Seeing Xianglan leave the room with a man dressed as a bandit but whose face was unfamiliar, they were naturally uneasy.

Xianglan reacted quickly. Before Li Mao could speak, she adopted an arrogant posture and shouted, "How dare you! Your elder brother and I had our wedding last night, and now I am your sister-in-law. I'm just going to the toilet, what are you little brothers staring at for? Believe me or not, when your elder brother wakes up, I'll have him gouge your eyes out!"

So fierce and bold, unlike a noble concubine in the palace, she has the air of a bandit's wife.

The bandits were startled and quickly lowered their heads, not daring to say another word.

Xianglan had some bruises on her body that she had deliberately made herself to create the illusion that she had consummated her marriage with the one-eyed man the night before.

Li Mao secretly admired her acting skills and reactions.

The rest of the journey went relatively smoothly, since no one dared to look at the "sister-in-law" who had just spent a night with him.

However, the escape is never smooth sailing. Just as the two were about to escape the mountain stronghold, someone shouted, "The stronghold was attacked at night! The villains killed our leader and caused many of our men to die or be wounded. Catch them! Don't let 'Sister-in-law' and the villains get away!"

"Stop! Stop!"

"If you don't surrender now, we're going to fire arrows!"

Threatening shouts came from behind.

Li Mao pulled Xianglan along, and the two of them ran even faster.

Immediately, arrows rained down on them.

Li Mao swiftly shielded Xianglan behind him, drawing his sword and swinging it, the long blade forming a barrier in the air. However, even the most careful maneuver can slip up, and an arrow pierced his shoulder, instantly staining his clothes crimson with blood.

"Your Highness Prince Shou, you're injured!" Xianglan exclaimed, tears welling up in her eyes.

Li Mao, enduring the pain, whispered, "Don't stop, keep running!"

Xianglan gritted her teeth, and Li Mao, though injured, did not hold her back at all; the two of them ran desperately down the mountain together. In the end, they were not captured by the leaderless bandits and disappeared into the dense forest.

……

Ten days later, in Xianyang City.

Li Longji had already arrived safely under the protection of Guo Ziyi and other guards.

He regained his imperial majesty and demeanor, and apart from a hint of fatigue still showing between his brows, he looked no different from when he sat on the dragon throne in Chang'an.

At this moment, a member of the Imperial Guard rushed over, knelt down, and said, "Your Majesty, Prince Shou has returned with Miss Xianglan. Prince Shou was injured and has been bandaged by the imperial physician. Miss Xianglan has also rested. Would Your Majesty like to summon them separately for an audience?"

Xianglan was, after all, a member of the palace, and in principle, it was inappropriate for her to be with Li Mao.

Li Longji frowned slightly and said calmly, "We are now outside Chang'an, so there's no need to adhere to those palace rules. I'm tired too, so just have them come in and give their answers."

The guards obeyed and left. A moment later, Li Mao and Xianglan entered the room.

There was no imperial palace in Xianyang City; instead, a large, seven-courtyard mansion, requisitioned from a royal merchant, was used as the temporary residence for Li Longji and his entourage. Although not as magnificent as the imperial palace, it was still quite luxurious.

"Your subject greets Your Majesty." Li Mao bowed respectfully.

Li Longji gave him a cold glance and said nothing more.

He turned to Xianglan and asked, "You were the most favored by that one-eyed bandit in the mountain stronghold, and it's said that you even became his wife. Now that you've managed to escape from the stronghold, you must have suffered a lot, right?"

Emperor Li Longji was furious when he heard that Consort Liu had almost been defiled.

Thinking of Xianglan, I felt that she must have lost her chastity, hence this question.

As a fellow man, Li Mao naturally knew what that filthy old man Li Longji was thinking, and quickly explained, "Xianglan risked her life in the bandit stronghold yesterday to help us hold off the bandit leader, which was a great achievement. She was quick-witted and only pretended to marry the one-eyed bandit, but actually drugged him and nothing happened all night."

The implication was that the emperor should not be suspicious, as Xianglan's chastity was still intact.

But Li Longji clearly didn't believe him, his eyes showing suspicion. However, Li Longji still didn't say much, but finally shifted his gaze to Li Mao and slowly said, "You did well, go and rest."

Li Mao and Xianglan exchanged a glance and saw the disappointment in the woman's eyes.

However, they knew that further discussion was pointless at this point, so they could only obediently retreat.

After leaving Li Longji's courtyard, Li Mao immediately whispered to Xianglan, "Don't be sad. Father is a cold-hearted person. He doesn't trust me, his own son, let alone you. When you return to the palace, be prepared to lose favor."

Xianglan smiled and said, "I'm not afraid of losing favor, but when I think of the reason why His Highness sent me to the palace, I feel that I have let His Highness down."

"Why talk about that now?" Li Mao hurriedly said, "You've been a great help this time. I won't ask you to be my spy anymore. If you want to leave the palace, I'll help you find a way."

After Li Mao and Xianglan left, Li Longji fell into deep thought.

He recalled that along the way, a lieutenant beside Li Heng would occasionally mention the Prince of Shou's interest in Xianglan, which made him increasingly suspicious.

Is there really something going on between my son and Xianglan?