Clouds and Moon Shadow

Chapter 383 Prince An Training a Private Army?!

Gu Qingyue reached out and helped Yue Ling up. "You should go back quickly too. Make sure you can meet up with Yu Mo and the others and hide them well. This is your next task."

"Yes," Yue Ling said, then left the room and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Come in," Gu Qingyue called out helplessly as she saw Yue Ling leave and Jiang Wan and Zhu Qing peeking in from outside.

"Master, are you alright?" Jiang Wan began touching Gu Qingyue all over as soon as she entered, completely forgetting the difference between master and servant.

Jiang Wan was one of the maids that day, and she was really worried before she was rescued.

Her main concern was that Cui Shuming might be arrested and killed if mistaken for Qin Shi, and she was also worried that her master would be captured while disguised as a guard and suffer.

Jiang Wan was worried for several days until Gu Qingyue entered Feiyuexuan that evening, and only then did she feel relieved.

"I'm fine. Quick, I need to take a shower. I'm exhausted."

There were only the three of them, the mistress and her servant, in the room. Gu Qingyue didn't care about her image anymore; she was truly exhausted. She hadn't slept for more than two days, so how could she not be tired?

When Zhu Qing saw Gu Qingyue slumped in the chair, disregarding her image and unwilling to move a finger, she couldn't help but tear up.

She realized it was all because she was incompetent, didn't know martial arts, and couldn't help her master. She wiped her eyes and quickly ran towards the small kitchen.

Gu Qingyue woke up again at noon the next day.

Gu Qingyue felt that this was the most restful sleep she had ever had in her life, and she was so tired that she didn't even have a dream.

After lunch, she secretly went to the courtyard and saw that the five people had been safely brought back, along with Liu San. Almost all the relevant people were there.

Speaking of Liu San, Yue Ling immediately lowered her voice and told Gu Qingyue what he had said. Gu Qingyue couldn't help but smile. Hehe, interesting! So interesting!

Gu Qingyue was very satisfied. She instructed Yu Mo and Yue Ling to hide the person well, and then she left the courtyard again.

As expected, Gu Qingyue met Mu Yun Chu in the backyard of He Tai Feng.

With a smile on her lips, Mu Yun Chu took Gu Qing Yue's hand and led her into the courtyard.

Gu Qingyue was actually a little curious as to why Prince Kang and Mu Yun Chu always came to this small courtyard when they visited He Tai Feng.

Judging from his appearance, he's a regular here.

Because she had never seen the shopkeeper come in.

It's quite strange that the innkeeper didn't come in to greet such a distinguished guest during their meal and tea.

Are you familiar with the owner here?

Gu Qingyue asked curiously.

“We’re very familiar, very familiar,” Mu Yun Chu said with a slight smile.

"This is my second brother's shop," Mu Yun Chu said, ruffling the little girl's hair before sitting down.

Upon hearing this, Gu Qingyue's eyes widened.

"What? It's Prince Kang's restaurant? This largest restaurant in the capital belongs to Prince Kang?"

Mu Yun Chu nodded: "This shop used to belong to my maternal grandfather's family. Ever since... the shop was auctioned off by the government. A few years ago, my second brother secretly bought it back from someone else and opened He Tai Feng."

Gu Qingyue had nothing to say, she could only silently raise her hand and give Mu Yun Chu a thumbs up.

Since she returned to the capital, she has heard many rumors.

Everyone is speculating about who the real owner of the lucrative Hop Tai Fung is.

Nobody knows.

Most people guessed that it might be the property of a powerful official or a high-ranking official in the capital, but it seems they were all wrong!

The boss is much more powerful than that high-ranking official.

"Ah Yue, what are you thinking about?" Mu Yun Chu called out when she saw Gu Qing Yue give a strange thumbs-up and then seem a little distracted.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just came to ask about the situation over there. What's in that ravine? Is it a private mine?"

Remembering the important matter, Gu Qingyue quickly asked.

According to Jiang Luo, Gu Qingyue guessed that it might be another illegal mine, and that Prince An might be secretly making money by forging weapons behind the emperor's back.

“No, they are training private soldiers,” Mu Yun Chu said with a serious expression.

"Prince An is training a private army?!" Gu Qingyue was shocked!

This is a capital offense, punishable by death!

Has Prince An gone mad? Is he planning a rebellion?

"How many people? How are they now?" Gu Qingyue approached Mu Yun Chu, lowered her voice, and her eyes shone like the sun outside.

Mu Yun Chu nodded slightly, "About seven or eight hundred people."

Gu Qingyue frowned. She remembered that Jiang Luo said the number of people was at most one or two hundred, maybe seven or eight hundred?

"So many? Hidden in the mountains? Is he courting death? So close to the capital, how dare he hide a private army?" Gu Qingyue rubbed her chin, feeling that Prince An couldn't possibly be that stupid.

“What your men saw weren’t soldiers. That ravine is an entrance; they are the gatekeepers.” Mu Yun Chu’s expression was grave.

"Then what should we do? Should we tell the Emperor?" Gu Qingyue thought about the relationship between Mu Yun Chu and the Emperor and felt that it wouldn't be good to say it directly.

“I told you, I’ve already sent word to the garrison near Qianshan Town that I have people there. They will lead a group to investigate and have the garrison report back to Father,” Mu Yun Chu paused, “Father may not believe what I’m saying.”

They might think he deliberately framed Prince An.

That mountain range happens to be under the jurisdiction of Qianshan Town, and the nearby garrison often patrols that area.

The garrison was mainly composed of troops protecting the capital region.

If an unidentified soldier training base is suddenly discovered in that mountain range, then Prince An is doomed!

If Prince An and the garrison in Qianshan Town were actually in cahoots, with the garrison providing cover for them, then we'll have to think of other ways.

"With Prince An's brains, would he train a private army so close to the capital? Could it be the Crown Prince's private army?" Gu Qingyue asked again, lowering her voice secretly.

She remembered that Mu Yun Chu had said that Prince An supported the Crown Prince and belonged to the Crown Prince's faction.

Mu Yun Chu shook her head slightly: "It's hard to say whether the Crown Prince knows or not. If he doesn't, then it's Prince An's private army."

Gu Qingyue continued to stroke her chin: "If so, what does he want to do? Is he incredibly audacious? Even if he wanted to practice, he should have done it further away, near the capital?"

Gu Qingyue was puzzled. According to what Mu Yun Chu had said before, Prince An was quite clever when the old emperor was vying for the throne. Why did she always feel that Prince An had a big problem lately?

Has her persona changed? Or is she actually less concerned about the emperor and just wants to do whatever she wants?

For example, the very clever Prince An actually secretly trained a private army near the capital.

For example, agreeing to a mysterious person's request to kill the Qin family.

If she were Prince An, sending someone to assassinate Lady Qin would have been a quicker solution, wouldn't it? Why would she need to cooperate with a woman like Lady Liu?

Thinking of this, Gu Qingyue decided to go see Madam Liu in person, as some things should be settled.

"How do you know he doesn't have private soldiers in other parts of the Great Chu?" Mu Yun Chu asked solemnly, rubbing his fingers and narrowing his eyes.

Upon hearing this, Gu Qingyue stood up. "That makes sense! However, you shouldn't get involved in these matters for now. Let those who need to worry about it take care of it. I need to see Madam Liu. I'll be going now."

"Liu Shi? Your aunt?" Mu Yun Chu asked curiously. Why did she go to see Liu Shi? What happened?

"Hmm," Gu Qingyue said, only then realizing that Mu Yun Chu was unaware of what had happened inside the Duke's mansion, nor did she know that the incident at Ci'en Temple was related to Liu Shi.

Thinking of this, she sat down again.