Dugu Jingyao is reborn as Li Chu's beloved

Chapter 386 Why Didn’t the People in the Yunnan Palace Return to Yunnan?

Why, after a month at the Yunnan Palace, were Dugu Xin, Dugu Moyan, and Liu Jingyue still in Chang'an? They were under the pretext that they were still haunted by the daylight abduction of Dugu Jingyao and Liu Jingyue, and were reluctant to leave, so they planned to stay in Chang'an for a while longer.

Actually, although this was part of the reason, outsiders only knew one side of the story. The second reason was that the Emperor and the Crown Prince had become wary of Shi Siming, and since the Emperor had now seen An Lushan's true face, he had asked Dugu Xin to stay in Chang'an for a while longer to act as a deterrent.

For the Yunnan Royal Palace, there was a third reason: they were afraid that if An Lushan still had the intention of rebelling, then their most likely way to succeed was to get the help of Dugu's army.

Even if Dugu Jingyao had not married into the royal family, the Yunnan Palace would not have supported them because Shi Siming kidnapped Dugu Jingyao and Liu Jingyue.

The fastest way is to obtain the Qilin Order and force the Yunnan Palace to support them.

However, as they expected, An Lushan still had the intention of rebelling, so Dugu Jingyao asked Li Chu to secretly spread the news that the Shen Mansion had the Qilin Order, and if the Dugu family saw the Qilin Order, they could do a favor for the holder.

When the An family heard the news, they felt that this was indeed easier than asking Dugu Xin for help directly.

An Lushan also thought of a simple and crude method. He went to the house and interrogated the person. If the person refused to hand it over, he would just kill him. After all, he was just a sixth-rank censor. What was there to be afraid of?

However, when An Qingxu heard about this, he quickly went to An Lushan and volunteered, "Father, I'm familiar with Shen Zhenzhu of the Shen Mansion. We're childhood sweethearts. Could you let me try to get the Qilin Order from her first?"

Upon hearing this, An Lushan felt that it was a method worth trying. After all, it would be best if there was no bloodshed. Otherwise, if a murder occurred, there would be many things to deal with, which would be troublesome enough!

However, he never really trusted his second son. He even heard that An Qingxu unilaterally liked the girl named Shen and she seemed to have no interest in him.

But it's better this way, so that he can see clearly that the girl doesn't like him. With his son's stubborn nature, he will definitely agree to kill someone himself to get the order.

After some thought, An Lushan nodded slightly and said, "Okay, I'll give you this chance. Remember, if you don't get the Qilin Order back, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

An Qingxu, however, was determined to win, and he went to the Shen residence early the next day. The servants at the Shen residence also knew An Qingxu, so when they saw him coming, with some gifts, they went up to greet him warmly, saying, "Mr. An, please come in. I'll go and invite the young lady."

An Qingxu nodded, still looking like a graceful young man. He followed the servant's instructions to the main hall and waited for Shen Zhenzhu to arrive.

Sure enough, Shen Zhenzhu arrived not long after, but she was accompanied by a guard, who was a guard of Dugu Moyan named Heifeng.

An Qingxu saw that she was followed by a guard, and Shen Zhenzhu had been keeping a relatively long distance from him. He couldn't help but frown and asked, "Zhenzhu, why are you so far away from me? We have been friends since childhood. How could I hurt you?"

Shen Zhenzhu smiled awkwardly and said, "Haha, Second Brother An, don't think too much. It's just that you and I are both grown up now, and men and women shouldn't be intimate with each other. We can't do it like we were kids anymore."

An Qingxu frowned even more when he heard this and asked, "Zhenzhu, do you think I would take advantage of someone's misfortune?"

Shen Zhenzhu quickly shook her head and said, "No, no, I believe Second Brother An won't do that."

An Qingxu's brows relaxed a little. He took two steps towards Shen Zhenzhu and said, "Zhenzhu, I have something to tell you. Let him go out first." Then he glanced at Heifeng.

Heifeng would not listen to him. He listened to Dugu Moyan. If anything happened to Miss Shen, wouldn't his master skin him alive?

Shen Zhenzhu thought for a moment and said, "Second Brother An, I should ask him to stay away. Wasn't it said a while ago that Princess Guangping and Princess Yining were kidnapped? My parents were scared, so they spent a lot of money to hire a guard who stays by my side."

Hearing this, An Qingxu thought that he couldn't force Shen Zhenzhu too much, so he said, "Okay, just let him stay away."

Seeing that An Qingxu agreed, Shen Zhenzhu breathed a sigh of relief, and An Qingxu sat back in his seat. He took a sip of tea and said, "Zhenzhu, you've been out playing for so long, don't you miss me when you come back?"

Shen Zhenzhu was stunned at first, then smiled and said, "It's really fun outside. I almost don't want to go home."

An Qingxu also laughed when he heard this and said, "I didn't expect you to be so playful. In that case, how about I take you out to play in the future?"

Shen Zhenzhu was stunned by his words again: "Isn't this inappropriate?"

An Qingxu said nonchalantly, "What's the big deal? You're unmarried, and I'm unmarried. If anyone says anything, I can just marry you."

Shen Zhenzhu thought he was joking: "Brother An, stop joking. I have always treated you as my brother!"

Upon hearing this, An Qingxu's hand holding the teacup paused. Seeing that something was wrong with him, Heifeng immediately became alert, his sword ready to be unsheathed at any time.

Unexpectedly, An Qingxu just put the teacup on the table and said, "But I like you, don't you know?"

Shen Zhenzhu was about to say something, but An Qingxu was afraid she would say something that would hurt him again, so he interrupted her and said, "Forget it, let's not talk about this for now. By the way, Zhenzhu, I heard your family has something called a Qilin Token. Does it look nice? Is it in the shape of a Qilin?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhenzhu immediately remembered Dugu Moyan's warning to him: "Zhenzhu, the An family is likely to target your Qilin Order. This is why Yao'er and I sent people to protect your mansion."

Shen Zhenzhu said unsurely, "Second Brother An and I have known each other since childhood. He has always treated me very well. It shouldn't be..."

Seeing her like this, Dugu Moyan said, "Look, you hesitated, which proves that the An family may indeed reach out to the Shen family."

Shen Zhenzhu lowered her head and said nothing. Dugu Moyan stroked her shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Zhenzhu. I will accompany you no matter what happens. I will leave Black Wind to you. If An Qingxu comes, the people I left in your house will also inform me. I will come as soon as possible."

Shen Zhenzhu then raised her head and looked at Dugu Moyan. She suddenly felt a sense of security and nodded, saying, "Okay, I'll remember. I'll stay away from him."

Seeing that Shen Zhenzhu didn't reply, An Qingxu called out twice: "Zhenzhu, Zhenzhu..."

Shen Zhenzhu finally came to her senses and said, "Ah? Second Brother An mentioned the Qilin Order? I've never heard of it, nor have I seen it."

An Qingxu asked doubtfully, "Really?"

Shen Zhenzhu pretended to be righteous and said, "Yes, what's wrong? Second Brother An doesn't believe me?"

An Qingxu naturally couldn't say he didn't believe it, so Shen Zhenzhu asked, "Why are you asking this, Second Brother An?"

An Qingxu simply said, "I'm just curious. Besides, I've heard that this Qilin Order can get someone from the Dugu family to do something."

Shen Zhenzhu shrugged and said, "I've never heard of this thing, so naturally I don't know anything about it..."

Seeing that Shen Zhenzhu refused to confess, An Qingxu wanted to kidnap her so that even if his father wanted to kill someone to obtain the order, Shen Zhenzhu would be safe. However, if the guard did not leave, it would be difficult for him to do so.

So she said, "Pearl, we haven't been out together for a long time. Why don't we go for a walk outside?"

Shen Zhenzhu felt something was wrong, so she made an excuse and said, "This... Second Brother An, it's not that I don't want to, but I have an appointment with my sisters and they will be here soon. It's not a good time to leave, right?"

Didn't An Qingxu know Shen Zhenzhu yet? So he asked, "Is it Miss Murong? She's familiar to us all. How about we go to Baicaotang together to find her?"

At this time, Heifeng said: "No, the master and the mistress have ordered that the young lady should not go out recently. If she does go out, I will accompany her throughout the trip."

An Qingxu wanted to kidnap Shen Zhenzhu, so how could he possibly let her accompany him the whole time? So he said, "Go ask Uncle Shen and Aunt Shen. They know that Zhenzhu and I have known each other since childhood. I will just protect her safety. Besides, aren't Su Ci and Hong Rui accompanying us?"

Both Shen Zhenzhu and Heifeng felt something was getting off-kilter. Shen Zhenzhu only hoped to delay until Dugu Moyan arrived. So she said, "Su Ci, go ask my mother if I can go out with Second Brother An."

Su Ci went, but after waiting for a long time, Su Ci still didn't come back. An Qingxu suspected that she had gone to inform the police, so he said, "Zhenzhu, do you think I can't protect you?"

Shen Zhenzhu said, "Not really. It's just that the Princess of Guangping and the others were abducted in broad daylight last time. They must have been followed by many people when they went out. They were not spared. You are alone... or let Heifeng follow?"

An Qingxu always felt something was wrong, so he stepped forward and grabbed Shen Zhenzhu's hand and was about to go out, but Heifeng stepped forward to stop him. After the two exchanged a few moves, Dugu Moyan finally arrived and kicked An Qingxu to the ground.

An Qingxu stared at Dugu Moyan fiercely and asked, "Who are you?"

Dugu Moyan brushed off his clothes and said, "I am the prince of Yunnan."

An Qingxu was annoyed that he should have cut the Gordian knot and taken Zhenzhu away directly, but it was too late. After he stood up, he wanted to continue to pull Shen Zhenzhu's hand, but Shen Zhenzhu hid behind Dugu Moyan.

An Qingxu roared, "Zhenzhu, are you plotting against me?"

Shen Zhenzhu said, "I didn't plot against you. It was you who wanted to take me away."

An Qingxu knew he was in the wrong, so he left a message: "Prince of Yunnan, right? Just wait for me!"

After An Qingxu left, Dugu Moyan looked at Shen Zhenzhu several times, and only felt relieved after confirming that she was fine.

After that, he wanted to stay in the Shen Mansion in person every day, but after repeated persuasion from Shen Zhenzhu and Dugu Xin, he gave up the idea.

On the other hand, after An Qingxu returned and told An Lushan about the situation, An Lushan was furious: "Aren't you confident? Not only did you not see the Qilin Order, you were also injured. What a shame!"

Although An Qingxu was filled with hatred, he still said patiently, "My son is useless, but he did bring back useful information."

An Lushan looked at An Qingxu suspiciously and asked, "What news?"

An Qingxu continued, "The Shen family has people from the Yunnan Palace. They are probably already acquainted with each other. Or perhaps their Qilin Order has already been used. And with the people from the Yunnan Palace here, it will be impossible for us to steal the order quietly."

An Lushan heard this, and this was indeed useful information, but not good news, so he said: "Father knows, you should go back and reflect on your mistakes!"

Upon hearing this, An Qingxu turned around and left.

So this is why, although An Lushan and his men did not take any other actions, Dugu Xin and his men did not leave Chang'an.