“I’ve brought the Young Highness.”
Young Highness?! The guards’ expressions showed shock. The Third Prince was not yet married, and only the Crown Prince had one son who could be called Young Highness—the Imperial Eldest Grandson!
The Imperial Eldest Grandson was still alive!
The guards couldn’t help but stand up momentarily, leaning forward to look—
Xie Yanlai stopped them with a shout: “Be careful of deception!”
Below the city gate, besides that girl, there were indeed many fearsome people. They wore no military robes, nor did they have armor, but the swords, bows, and crossbows in their hands were terrifying.
“A’Jiu,” Chu Zhao called again. “I’m not deceiving you. Come and see.”
Xie Yanlai looked down at the girl, then suddenly put away his crossbow, turned and jumped down from the battlements, striding toward the city gate below.
“Hey, Yanlai—”
The guards were startled and called out hurriedly.
Xie Yanlai looked at them and said, “I’m going to take a look.”
He was going to look? He’d just said to be careful, and on the city wall he wouldn’t even let them lean forward to look, but now he was going to open the city gate and walk out to see—so it wasn’t dangerous then?
The guards’ expressions were complex.
“One must take risks to know whether something is dangerous or not,” Xie Yanlai said. He walked a few steps then stopped and looked at everyone. “You all guard the gate well. If this person has malicious intent, then you all fight—fight with everything you have, and then, let it be.”
He didn’t say “fight to the death to defend” again.
They couldn’t hold it.
There was no need anymore.
If he died, he died. These other people, having done their duty to the best of their ability, no matter which side ultimately prevailed, could keep their lives.
Xie Yanlai strode away and disappeared from the guards’ line of sight.
They all understood the meaning of his words.
“This boy!” one guard shouted through gritted teeth. “We agreed to defend the city together.”
Having said this, he looked at those around him.
“You all stay on alert. I’m also going to take a look.”
He then strode rapidly toward the gate below.
Behind him, the guards broke into commotion.
“Why should I stay on alert? I want to go too.”
“Don’t be chaotic! Everyone to their posts! You few come with me, the rest stay on alert.”
……
……
When Xie Yanlai reached the city gate, a whole group of people came rushing up behind him.
He frowned and looked back. About to say something, in the end he said nothing, and those people also said nothing.
The door bar was quickly removed, the heavy city gate was pulled open a crack, and Xie Yanlai was first to walk out. The others followed closely, and the city gate was immediately shut behind them.
“A’Jiu,” Chu Zhao spurred her horse to meet him. Sitting on horseback, she didn’t have to look up at him anymore, and said happily, “So you were here tonight. I thought you were outside the city, or at home.”
Xie Yanlai frowned. What nonsense was she talking about? They weren’t here to chat.
“I also didn’t expect you to come here,” he said.
Chu Zhao said no more—this wasn’t a place for small talk either. She showed him the child in front of her: “A’Jiu, look, this is the Young Highness.”
Xie Yanlai looked over. In the illumination of the torches, he could see a child who turned toward him following Chu Zhao’s movement.
The child’s complexion was pale, his small face pointed.
The Young Highness had always been raised in the deep palace, rarely venturing out, and even when he did, he rode in a carriage. As an outer imperial city guard, he had never seen the Young Highness’s true appearance.
“You’re his uncle, you know,” Chu Zhao said with a smile, her gaze moving between Xie Yanlai and the child’s faces.
Uncle—he was surnamed Xie, but in the Xie family, there was only one person who could be called uncle by the Young Highness. He, this person surnamed Xie, had never had the qualifications to meet the Young Highness.
But he recognized him at a glance—this child also had a Xie family face.