The location is in the western suburbs. Coincidentally, the location is the courtyard before Zhang Songling, and it is also the courtyard where Zhang Songling was killed by Fu San and Lu Zhu.
After the Zhang family collapsed, this courtyard was abandoned. It was originally a "private construction" and no one paid attention to it.
The courtyard was quiet and somewhat deserted. The scouts dispersed with knives, and the water surrounding the courtyard was tight.
The letter only stated the address, but did not include any specific circumstances, nor did it know how many people were guarding it.
Jiang Yuesheng didn't dare to be careless. After making a few gestures, the scouts climbed up the wall.
After observing for a moment, the scouts shook their heads, indicating that no one could be seen in the courtyard.
The courtyard door was ajar, Jiang Yuesheng kicked it open, and everyone quickly walked in, followed by Chu Qing.
There was someone in the house, and the sound of footsteps and kicking on the door alerted the people inside. A guy wrapped in a quilt and sniffing his nose came out.
Jiang Yuesheng's expression changed slightly, and he subconsciously pressed the hilt of his sword: "King Wu is indeed here!"
The scouts drew out their long knives one after another and surrounded the man, as if facing a formidable enemy.
He was about fifty years old, with an unkempt beard and disheveled hair. He rubbed his eyes and looked like he had just woken up.
Chang Chengke was a little puffy, neither majestic nor handsome, just... very ordinary, just like an ordinary rich man, with a rosy complexion and a sniffling nose, which was a bit funny.
"Is he King Wu?"
Chu Qing looked at Jiang Yuesheng with a somewhat distrustful expression.
Jiang Yuesheng had a wary look on his face and did not answer. Instead, he saluted Chang Chengke: "Jiang Yuesheng, the last general, has met His Highness the King of Wu."
"A sneeze."
Chang Chengke sneezed. Facing the scouts holding bows and knives, he wiped his nose and waved his hand carelessly: "Excuse me."
Chu Qing was so angry.
Is this a salute to you? This person must be stupid.
Chang Chengke wrapped himself in the quilt and asked, "Is Feng Luo dead?"
No one said anything, Chang Chengke's expression suddenly changed: "Dead?"
Jiang Yuesheng shook his head, and Chang Chengke's face showed an extremely inexplicable expression, which seemed to be a little lucky, but also a little disappointed.
Turning around, Chang Chengke went back to the house directly.
Jiang Yuesheng signaled to the explorers again, and the explorers used their scabbards to smash open all the windows, making sure that no one was in the house except Chang Chengke.
"You bastard, please close the windows tightly for me to freeze to death."
Chang Chengke inside the room roared, but still no one paid him any attention.
Chu Qing was a little confused about the situation. Why was there no one here except Chang Chengke? Even the elite border troops were not guarding here. Are they afraid that this guy would escape?
Chu Qing was full of doubts, and after winking at Fu San, he quickly entered the house.
Chang Chengke was squatting by the stove, warming himself by the fire, still wrapped in a thick quilt.
There is a teapot on the stove, and there are a lot of naan cakes and some frozen hard pickles next to it.
Turning his head and looking Chu Qing up and down, Chang Chengke squinted and asked, "Are you Chu Qing?"
"The commander of Qianqi Camp, Chu Qing, has met King Wu."
"How about following me? If I get a great treasure in the future, how about making you a general of the Zhu Kingdom?"
Chu Qing was speechless and didn't know how to answer this.
Chang Chengke sat back on the cold bed again, wrapped in a quilt, crossing his legs, shivering, and muttering something unknown.
Chu Qing frowned and looked at His Highness King Wu, his face full of questions.
He really couldn't associate the rich man in front of him with the King of Wu, or with Chang Chengke, the most competitive King of Wu when the Eight Dragons were fighting for the throne.
According to what he knew, the Supreme Emperor intended to pass the throne to his fourth son, but the number of people in the court who supported King Wu was the largest. If Tao Ruolin hadn't made the suggestion, the throne would have probably been given to the fat man in front of him.
.
In fact, until the emperor is now firmly on the throne, among the princes in the world today, the one who still poses a threat to the fourth son is Wu Wang Chang Chengke.
But Chu Qing couldn't figure out what kind of ability this friendly guy had to make the emperor and his ministers so fearful.
Not only does he not look like a prince, he even looks a little neurotic.
He sat cross-legged there, shivering, and muttering to himself. He didn't know what he was muttering in a low voice.
"His Royal Highness King Wu." Chu Qing tentatively said, "The Emperor invites you to enter the palace."
"Oh, okay."
One oh, one good. After saying that, Chang Chengke sniffed again, tightened the quilt and stood up without any unnecessary expression on his face.
As he stood up, Chang Chengke looked alert: "Riding?"
Chu Qing laughed dumbly: "Carriage."
"Is there a stove in the car?"
"have."
Chang Chengke smiled and then walked out, continuing to mutter as he walked.
"Why is it so cold in Beijing this year? I'll freeze to death."
Fu San glanced at Chu Qing, then quickly left the house and walked around the house.
The snow only fell this morning. There were no footprints behind the house or any other hiding places. It was clear that there was indeed only King Wu in this courtyard. At least before last night, only King Wu lived in the courtyard.
Everything in front of me shows that no one was guarding King Wu before last night.
Chu Qing only went to the British Palace at night, which ruled out the possibility that someone saw the Thousand Cavalry Camp surrounding the British Palace and came to report the news.
But since no one was watching, why didn't Chang Chengke run away?
The carriage was not big, so Fu San also got in in order to protect Chu Qing personally.
Chu Qing and Chang Chengke sat facing each other, the latter still wrapped in a quilt, looking extremely afraid of the cold.
Chu Qing took off the white fox fur and handed it to Chang Chengke.
Chang Chengke shivered and covered his knees.
Fu San lowered his head and added a few more coals to the stove.
Chang Chengke was a little curious: "How come there are no fireworks in this charcoal?"
"Smokeless carbon."
"Smokeless carbon?"
Chu Qing explained with a smile: "Twigs, sawn wood, grain husks, plant platycodon, crushed, dried and extruded, carbonized at high temperature and then fired. It only took a few days to make."
"Oh." Chang Chengke didn't seem to be interested. He yawned, tilted his head and closed his eyes to rest.
Chu Qing had many questions to ask, but he didn't know where to start.
Chang Chengke gave him the feeling that he was not like a prince, but like... an extremely ordinary ordinary person, just like a taxi driver. You can chat with him casually and he can even deal with you. Really
He doesn't look like a prince at all, he's not majestic, and there's no sign of a palace.
But the fact is that when the Eight Dragons seized the throne, most of the courtiers were optimistic about Chang Chengke, especially the civil servants, who almost supported this guy one-sidedly.
After thinking about it, Chu Qing asked: "How long has the prince been staying in that courtyard?"
"It's been a long time." Chang Chengke opened his eyes and said nonchalantly: "After those troops escorted me to the suburbs, I was alone...it must have been more than ten days."
Chu Qing and Fu looked at each other in confusion.
Two keywords, one, escort, and two, alone.
This means that Chang Chengke was not kidnapped. In addition, he was here alone all the time and could run away at any time, but he did not run away!