Chapter 623 - 626: Wanted Poster

Chapter 623: Chapter 626: Wanted Poster

Once their luggage was packed, the group left the inn.

Today was the first day of the new year. The shops along the streets were almost all closed, but there were plenty of pedestrians. They were all in family groups, carrying bags of all sizes, clearly on their way to pay New Year’s visits.

Hua Manman was sitting in the carriage, happily petting her cat, when she suddenly heard a commotion outside.

Yue Niang pushed open the carriage window to look out and saw a troop of government officers hurrying toward them.

The group of officers seemed to have received some urgent orders. They were acting aggressively, shouting harshly at the pedestrians on the road.

"Government officers on duty! Make way!"

Li Ji didn’t want any trouble. He raised a hand, signaling for everyone to move to the side and let the officers pass.

They thought that would be the end of it, but when their convoy reached the city gate, they found many more government officers stationed nearby.

Those officers were strictly inspecting every passerby.

Li Ji’s convoy was large, so there was no way to slip by unnoticed. They would have to undergo the inspection as well.

Hua Manman pushed open the carriage window to look out and immediately saw a wanted poster plastered on the city wall.

The wanted poster had obviously just been put up. The text and the drawing on it were very clear.

The wanted poster stated that the Regent King had committed treason and rebellion, and had absconded to escape punishment. Anyone who could provide clues to his whereabouts would be rewarded with fifty taels of silver. Anyone who captured him, dead or alive, would be rewarded with one thousand taels of silver.

Beside the text was a portrait, and the person drawn was none other than the Regent King.

The man in the portrait had long, narrow eyes, a high-bridged nose, thin lips, and deep, defined facial features.

It might not have been a perfect likeness, but it was at least forty to fifty percent similar.

Hua Manman’s heart clenched.

She immediately looked at Li Ji.

Li Ji had obviously seen the contents of the wanted poster as well.

While the people ahead were still being inspected one by one, Li Ji dismounted, pulled open the carriage door, and ducked inside.

Hua Manman lowered her voice and said nervously,

"Why would the court issue a wanted poster for you?"

Li Ji’s expression was grim. "Someone must have taken advantage of my absence from the Capital City to pin the crime of treason and rebellion on me."

Although he was the Regent King and held great power in the court, those who disliked him were as numerous as ox hairs, and quite a few wanted him dead.

When he learned that Manman had been kidnapped, Li Ji had immediately chased after her, leaving Tianjing.

Because he had left in such a hurry, he hadn’t had time to arrange everything properly in the Capital City.

This gave his enemies an opening. They planned to take advantage of his absence from Tianjing to pull the rug out from under him.

Time was short. Hua Manman had no time to think it over and quickly said,

"You should change your clothes quickly, so you won’t be recognized."

A proper disguise was a delicate task that couldn’t be done in a moment. Li Ji had to swallow his pride and say to Hua Manman,

"Let me borrow some of your clothes."

Hua Manman immediately took out a set of women’s clothes for Li Ji.

Seeing that he was about to change, Yue Niang tactfully pushed open the carriage door, climbed out, and sat on the shaft.

The government officers inspected people one by one, only letting them pass after they were cleared.

When it was the carriage’s turn, the officers said gruffly,

"Everyone out of the carriage!"

The driver and Yue Niang, who were sitting on the shaft, got down one after another.

Yue Niang curtsied to the officers and said in a soft, delicate voice,

"Our family’s two young mistresses are in the carriage. One of them has caught a cold, and the doctor said she mustn’t be exposed to the wind, lest her illness worsen. We would be grateful if you gentlemen would be lenient."

After speaking, she slipped a silver ingot into the hand of one of the officers.

The officer weighed the silver in his hand and was quite satisfied.

Moreover, the group’s attire was quite refined, indicating they were not from an ordinary family. The officers didn’t want to offend them too much, so their attitude softened.

"In that case, there’s no need to get out. But we still have to take a look inside the carriage."

Yue Niang quickly agreed.

She proactively opened all the carriage windows.

Through the wide-open windows, the officers could see the scene inside the carriage clearly.

Two young women were sitting inside. One of them, due to her discomfort, was leaning back with her eyes closed, resting. She was covered with a thick blanket, her face turned to one side, revealing only half her cheek. Her long hair cascaded down over her shoulder.

Against the contrast of her jet-black hair, her complexion appeared even paler.

The other young woman was taking care of her.

Seeing the windows open, that young woman gave a slight nod to the officers outside.

"I’m sorry, my older sister is ill. You can ask me any questions you have."

The officers asked a few routine questions.

"Where are you from? Where are you going? What is your place of origin? Do you have a road guide?"

Hua Manman answered fluently.

"We are all from Shangjing. We just visited relatives in Longdong County and are on our way back to Shangjing. Here is our road guide, please take a look."

She handed over a road guide.

The officers took the road guide, opened it, and after confirming there were no issues, returned it to her.

The carriage passed through the city gate without any further trouble.

Hua Manman closed the window.

Li Ji, who had been leaning against the carriage wall pretending to rest, immediately opened his eyes.

He sat up straight, removed all the pearl hairpins from his hair, and wiped the white powder from his face.

It was a rare sight to see the dignified Regent King in women’s clothing. If it were any other time, Hua Manman would have definitely seized the opportunity to tease him.

But now, with her mind preoccupied, she was in no mood for jokes.

She found Li Ji’s clothes and had him change back into his men’s attire.

Hua Manman asked, "Who is trying to harm you?"

Li Ji said coldly, "There are only three people who can convict me and order a warrant for my arrest: the Crown Prince, the Empress Dowager, and the Saint."

Hua Manman asked, "So, you’re saying one of them wants to harm you?"

But Li Ji calmly uttered two words.

"Not necessarily."

Hua Manman didn’t understand.

Then she heard Li Ji add,

"It’s also possible it isn’t just one of them."

Hua Manman’s heart instantly clenched again.

If all three of them wanted Li Ji dead, then his current situation was truly dire, besieged on all sides.

Then, Hua Manman thought of Li Xun, who was far away in the Celestial Capital, and she grew even more uneasy.

"Gou Dan will be all right, won’t he?"

Li Ji analyzed calmly.

"With his maternal grandmother and Princess Rouwan there, they should do everything in their power to protect Gou Dan and keep him from harm.

"And even if they can’t protect Gou Dan, and he gets captured...

"...those people won’t do anything to him for the time being.

"Because as long as Gou Dan is in Tianjing, I will have no choice but to return.

"They only need to set up numerous checkpoints on the necessary routes to Tianjing, and they can lie in wait to ambush me.

"At least until I’m caught, Gou Dan will be safe."

Hearing this, Hua Manman didn’t feel relieved at all. Instead, she became even more worried.

"It’s too dangerous for you to return to the Capital City this time. Why don’t you stay here? I’ll find a way to go back and rescue Gou Dan by myself."

’After all, in everyone else’s eyes, the Regent Queen is already dead.’

’No one knows my current identity. It should be very simple to sneak into Tianjing.’

But Li Ji rejected her proposal outright.

"I can’t let you put yourself in danger alone."