Dugu Jingyao is reborn as Li Chu's beloved

Chapter 523: Entering the Palace to Ask for Permission

About three days later, Dugu Jingyao received letters from Li Chu and Dugu Xin.

Dugu Jingyao sat at the desk and opened Li Chu's letter first. Li Chu's letter informed Dugu Jingyao that the Jinling prefect might be up to something. After reading the letter, Dugu Jingyao looked as if he understood everything, but he was also worried about Li Chu's situation.

So she wrote a letter back to Li Chu: "Donglang, please be careful and don't alert the enemy. I will report the situation in Nanjing to my father and ask him to allow my father to lead troops to support us."

After finishing the letter, he put the paper aside, then took out another piece of paper and wrote back to Dugu Xin: "Dad, I will inform Your Majesty of Li Chu's situation in Jinling, and ask that you lead the troops to station near Jinling in case of emergency."

Of course, in order to make people think that Dugu Jingyao was only writing a letter to Li Chu to express her longing, she wrote a separate letter to express her longing.

After the three letters were written and dried, Dugu Jingyao called Shijian and said, "Shijian, take these two letters to my brother and tell him to use the special mailing system of the Yunnan Palace to send the two letters to Jinling and Yunnan as they might be spotted if sent from the Chu Palace. Also, take this letter to Jinling at the post station."

Upon hearing this, Shi Jian understood what Dugu Jingyao meant. He then pretended to deliver something and sent the two letters to the Palace of the King of Yunnan, telling Dugu Moyan what Dugu Jingyao had said.

Dugu Moyan naturally understood, and he immediately arranged for Shadow to send the two letters.

Shi Jian left the Yunnan Palace and went straight to the post station to send the third letter.

When Shi Jian returned to the Prince of Chu's Mansion, Dugu Jingyao was playing with Li Shi and Li Ying who had just woken up. The two children were amused and giggled, and Dugu Jingyao's mood also eased.

Seeing Shi Jian return, Dugu Jingyao said to Li Shi and Li Ying in a negotiating tone, "The weather is nice today. Shi'er and Ying'er haven't been to the palace to see the Royal Grandfather and the Royal Grandmother for a long time. Let's go to the palace and pay our respects to them together, shall we?"

In reality, Dugu Jingyao was just looking for an excuse to enter the palace, but the two little ones seemed to understand. Li Shi nodded, and Li Ying nodded beside him, saying something that made everyone laugh.

However, Dugu Jingyao had to hurry. She asked the wet nurse to take care of Li Shi and Li Ying, and she also went back to her room to pack up before getting on the carriage to enter the palace.

Not to mention, Dugu Jingyao went there at the right time, as Emperor Suzong had just finished handling government affairs and came to Fengqi Palace.

When Suzong and the empress heard the maid announce that Dugu Jingyao had arrived with Li Shi and Li Ying, Suzong said with a smile, "Let them in quickly."

Dugu Jingyao also walked in with a smile on her face. Behind her was the wet nurse holding Li Shi and Li Ying, and the two little ones were also smiling.

Several people paid their respects to Emperor Suzong and the Queen. Emperor Suzong and the Queen had constant smiles on their faces. Emperor Suzong said, "Get up quickly." Dugu Jingyao thanked him and sat down below.

The Queen said, "I haven't seen Shi'er and Ying'er for a while. Bring them here for me to see."

Dugu Jingyao quickly apologized, "It's all my fault. I haven't been in the palace much lately."

When Emperor Suzong and the Empress saw the two little ones, their eyes were full of doting, so they naturally would not blame Dugu Jingyao. The Empress also said: "Now that Chu'er has gone to the south, you are in charge of the entire palace by yourself, especially since there are two pregnant ones. Naturally, you will be busy. How could His Majesty and I blame you?" Dugu Jingyao thanked her and sat back in her seat with peace of mind.

While Suzong and the empress were entertaining the two children, Suzong asked, "Jingyao, did Chu'er send you a letter home?"

Dugu Jingyao smiled and said, "My concubine came here today not only to pay her respects to the Emperor and the Empress, but also to deliver a letter."

Upon hearing this, Suzong asked Li Fuguo to go down and bring up the letter. After receiving the letter, Suzong reluctantly put Li Shi down and picked up the letter to read it. The more he read, the tighter his brows frowned. The queen occasionally looked up, thinking that something had happened to Li Chu, and her heart was also in her throat.

The Queen held Li Ying in her arms and asked, "Your Majesty, what did Chu'er say?"

Suzong knew the seriousness of the matter, so he ordered the servants to leave and had the wet nurse take Li Shi and Li Ying away. He also asked Li Fuguo and Madam Xu to go out and guard, not letting anyone else approach. Then he asked, "Is what Chu'er said true?"

Dugu Jingyao naturally knew he was asking her, so she said, "Father, this is also the prince's speculation. As for the evidence, we are still searching, but I have already asked the prince not to alert the enemy, so as to prevent Magistrate Du from having any undue thoughts."

Emperor Suzong looked at Dugu Jingyao with admiration and said, "Well, that's good. Don't worry, I will also order someone to assist Chu'er in this matter."

Dugu Jingyao first thanked him, and then said: "However, father, I have an unreasonable request, but I don't know whether I should say it or not." Suzong asked Dugu Jingyao to speak.

Because sending troops was a major undertaking, Dugu Jingyao knelt and saluted, saying, "I was afraid Your Highness would be in danger this time, so I asked Your Highness to bring a hundred Dugu soldiers with him. But now it seems that if the garrison there can be mobilized by Prefect Du, even if the Dugu soldiers can fight one against a hundred, they will be no match. Therefore, I dare to ask my father to bring five thousand Dugu soldiers to station near Jinling City, in case of emergency."

Suzong thought about it seriously: After all, Li Chu was his eldest son, and he still had high hopes for Li Chu. Although pushing the Li family to balance the situation in the court was just a balancing act of the emperor, he actually preferred Li Chu to be the crown prince.

The Queen and Dugu Jingyao were very anxious when they saw that Suzong had no response. They were afraid that Suzong would have concerns and would not let Dugu Xin lead troops to support him.

The Queen also knelt and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty, Chu'er is the apple of my eye. I beg Your Majesty's approval."

When Suzong saw the queen kneeling on the ground, he came to his senses and reached out to help the queen up. The queen would never threaten Suzong, as that would only make him disgusted, so the queen stood up with the help of Suzong's strength.

Suzong said, "Jiawan, don't worry. Chu'er is also my most valued son. I will naturally not leave him in danger." The Queen and Dugu Jingyao immediately breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

Emperor Suzong continued, "Today I will issue a secret decree to Dugu Xin, asking him to lead 5,000 Dugu family soldiers to station near Jinling. If anything happens to Chu'er, he can immediately send troops to support him. However, even if we rush them for 800 miles, it will take about three days to arrive."

Upon hearing this, Dugu Jingyao smiled and kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, Father. This matter is not a problem. I can send a letter home to Father to explain the situation and ask him to make preparations. Once the imperial edict is received, we can set off immediately."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Suzong nodded and said, "Okay, let's do it. I'll go back and draft the decree. Jingyao, you should also go back and write a letter to the King of Yunnan."

After Dugu Jingyao agreed, she went to the side hall to pick up Li Shi and Li Ying and took them out of the palace.