Chapter 592 - 595: A Rival Show

Chapter 592: Chapter 595: A Rival Show

What followed was a long and tedious journey.

The Mid-Autumn Festival was fast approaching.

Originally, Li Ji had planned to spend the festival with Manman and their son, eating mooncakes, admiring lanterns, and enjoying a happy reunion.

But now, he could only watch the group ahead from a distance, unable to get close, yet unwilling to leave.

He had already had Li Xun sent back to Tianjing.

At first, the boy had refused to leave, crying and throwing a tantrum. If he weren’t too young to win a fight against Li Ji, he probably would have started a brawl with his own father.

In the end, Li Ji had to use force to subdue him. He tossed the boy onto a horse and ordered his men to take him away.

To this day, Li Ji could still remember the boy’s heart-rending cries as he departed—

"If you don’t bring Mother back, I won’t acknowledge you as my father anymore!"

Of course, Li Ji was going to bring Manman back.

Even if his own father was the one who had taken Manman, he wouldn’t let the matter rest.

After traveling day in and day out, Hua Manman had lost all track of time, so much so that she didn’t even realize the Mid-Autumn Festival had come and gone.

By the time they finally entered Longdong County, winter had already begun.

Unlike Tianjing, Longdong County was in the southeast. It rarely snowed in winter, but the temperature was still very low.

Hua Manman had changed into a thick, padded jacket, her hands tucked into her sleeves. She wore a heavy cloak, its hood pulled over her head. Her mouth and nose were buried in a scarf, revealing only a pair of large, bright eyes.

The wind howled, making it difficult to start a fire.

They could only wash down dry rations with cold water.

As she ate, Hua Manman listened to Ai Yi’s report.

"According to our investigation, Prince Yu hasn’t appeared in public for a long time.

We don’t know if he’s genuinely too ill to see anyone or if he’s already long dead.

Lu Kai is now in control of the Yu Royal Mansion.

He has not only taken command of Prince Yu’s fifty-thousand-strong Southern Garrison Army but is also aggressively conscripting troops throughout Longdong County.

On top of that, Lu Wanqing, the second young lady of the Yu Royal Mansion’s main family line, has also assembled her own force.

They’ve been very active in Longdong County lately, clashing with Lu Kai’s men on multiple occasions. It looks like Lu Wanqing intends to go head-to-head with Lu Kai."

Lu Kai seizing power was within Hua Manman’s expectations. What she hadn’t anticipated was Lu Wanqing also emerging at this time.

In her memory, Lu Wanqing had always been quiet and rather hostile toward her—just a difficult young girl. Now, she actually had her own power base.

’That’s really something!’

Li Liao looked at her. "Are you going to meet with that sister of yours?"

Hua Manman shook her head.

She was an imposter, for one. Even if she really were Lu Wanqing’s sister, given their terrible relationship, Lu Wanqing most likely wouldn’t give her the time of day.

’Why should she go looking for a snub?’

Li Liao didn’t press the issue, finishing the rest of the steamed bun in his hand in a few quick bites.

"Let’s move out."

The group continued on their journey.

To avoid arousing suspicion, they had split up their party after entering Longdong County.

They had agreed to rendezvous in Lingxi City in five days.

Lingxi City was the seat of the Yu Royal Mansion.

Hua Manman and Li Liao were now on their way to Lingxi City.

They were disguised as a merchant caravan there to purchase goods, their entire party numbering over seventy people.

They inevitably encountered government checkpoints along the way, where Li Liao claimed to be the caravan’s owner and Hua Manman his son.

Not every local official had met the Heir of Prince Yu. Even those who had had only seen him from a great distance, and couldn’t have made out his features.

Hua Manman was currently bundled up from head to toe, looking like a fluffy bear with only her eyes visible. There was no way anyone could recognize her.

In addition, Li Liao was generous with his Silver, so they passed the inspection smoothly.

The carriage traveled along the main road.

Hua Manman looked out the carriage window. She saw many commoners traveling with their families in tow, carrying their belongings on their backs. They all scurried along with looks of panic, as if being chased by tigers.

Before long, they were stopped by another checkpoint.

Soldiers with sabers sat by the checkpoint, inspecting every traveler who passed through and demanding a toll per person.

This was already the fourth checkpoint they had encountered that day.

It was normal to have checkpoints on a main road, but not this frequently.

Even Hua Manman could tell something was wrong, and so could Li Liao, of course.

Ai Yi went forward to sweet-talk the soldiers.

The soldiers initially wanted nothing to do with him, not until he secretly slipped a silver ingot into one of their hands.

The soldier weighed the ingot in his hand, and the stern look on his face vanished, replaced by a wide grin.

What followed was a picture-perfect scene of harmony between officials and civilians.

However, as soon as the caravan had passed, the soldiers’ faces reverted to impatience. They began barking orders at the commoners, demanding they hurry up and pay the toll.

Hua Manman stuck her head out of the carriage window and looked back to see an old man get kicked to the ground by a soldier.

The old man didn’t dare fight back. After being kicked several times, he scrambled to his feet, ignoring the pain, and frantically kowtowed to the soldier, begging him to be merciful and let his family pass.

But not only did the soldier refuse, he seized the gray-haired old man, intending to send him to the barracks.

Behind him, an old woman and two children cried and screamed, trying to hold onto the old man, but a soldier struck them on the back of the head with the flat of his blade, knocking them unconscious from the pain.

The carriage drove farther and farther away.

The cries grew faint, until they disappeared completely.

Hua Manman had seen similar sights more than once.

This sort of thing happened near almost every checkpoint.

The commoners who couldn’t afford the toll were stopped outside the checkpoints. No matter how they wept and pleaded, the soldiers remained unmoved.

If they caused too much of a disturbance, they would receive a vicious beating.

The root of the problem was Lu Kai’s order for mass conscription after he seized power.

According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, conscription was originally limited to able-bodied men between the ages of fourteen and forty. Special exemptions were also made for cases such as only sons or men who held official titles, allowing them to avoid military service.

But the number of conscripts Lu Kai demanded was enormous, and to meet their quotas, local officials began rounding people up by any means necessary.

It didn’t matter if they were old or young, the sole heir for three generations, or even if they held an official title.

As long as you were male, you were seized and forced into the army.

This not only tore countless families apart but also had another dire consequence—

It was the middle of the autumn harvest, but with all the men seized by the government, only the elderly, women, and children were left in each household. They lacked the physical strength to bring in the harvest in time, and much of the wheat and rice ended up rotting in the fields.

This meant their entire year of hard labor had gone to waste.