Chapter 162: The casualties of war 2 (1/2)

Some hours before the ambush, the Crown Prince's room at the Southern seaport watchtower.

A sudden knock on the door drew Zhongshan Ling's attention from the cargo record he silently read through. Whoever was at the door knocked twice and paused for some seconds, His eyes narrowed on the door as the knocking resumed. He was not expecting any visitors, he looked to his servant, Xie Fang standing beside his seat and nodded to the door.

Xie Fang nodded silently and without making any sound walked to the door, pulled his head out of its sheath and held it by his side. He kept it at the most easily accessible angle as he opened the door. His grip on the sword loosened as he came face to face with one of the Crown Prince's most trusted servants and the leader of their spy network Hanriu.

Hanriu noticed his sneaky actions as he pushed the sword back into the sheath but pretended otherwise. His lips curved up as he walked onto the room, Xie Fang didn't block him anymore, he stepped aside to let Hanriu in. The two men nodded briefly until he came face to face with the Crown Prince.

Hanriu performed the standard salute and held up a folded letter to the Crown Prince, ”Your highness, I have discovered the current location of the Noble consort's nanny”.

The Crown Prince's eyes immediately fell on the letter, Xie Feng rushed forward and took the letter from Hanriu's hands. He passed the letter to the Crown Prince and stepped back to stand at the Crown Prince's right.

Zhongshan Ling unfolded the paper and read through the content, which contained only an address and directions to get there from the watchtower. ”She is living at the village close by, how amusing. Here I was sending people as far as her hometown on the north when she was this close. It is only three and half hours away if we leave now we can get there by daybreak. I just need to ask her a few questions so we won't stay long”

”I will go inform your guard_”

”No need for that, I don't want to alert anyone. we will be gone only for a few hours tops, going with my four private guards will be okay”

”But it isn't to save, I think going with a complete team would be more preferable” Xie Feng argued but Zhongshan Ling dismissed his concern. Even when Hanriu supported Xie Feng, his opinion was also dismissed.

In the end, Zhongshan Ling left with a team of six alone. Before leaving an eagle was sent out to the tiger cub camp, the distance between the military camp and the village was short so Prince Du waited in the woods for Zhongshan Ling.

Meanwhile, at Zhongshan Ling's end, the Sun was high in the sky when he arrived at Nanny Chu's cottage. They were greeted at the door by Nanny Chu's son, after introducing themselves. They were led inside to meet Nanny Chu, the cottage was well furnished. The financials of the Chu family looked to be very good, which could mean one of two things.

Either Nanny Chu was given a hefty retirement fund or she was paid off by someone. Zhongshan Ling was leaning more to the later because of how quickly Nanny Chu Left the palace. Most times when an imperial concubine with a child dies, by right the children usually inherits a few of their mothers' servant but that wasn't the case with him.

Nanny Chu left as soon as his mother was buried, he didn't read more meaning into it until now. Back then he was satisfied with the excuse that she left because she was besieged by grief. Nanny Chu looked nothing like he remembered, which had nothing to do with just ageing.

Zhongshan Ling was led into a warm well lit room, Nanny Chu was seated next to the window. She stood as he walked in and attempted to give him a salute but he stopped her before she could.

Nanny Chu didn't sear until he was seated, she asked about his health. Completely avoiding any of his questions concerning his mother, Zhongshan Ling finally couldn't take it again and asked a more direct question.

”Aunt Chu, how did my mother die?”

The smile on her face fell, ”your_ Highness... You know how she died. Your mother was born prematurely_ she easily got sick. Sadly that last time.... She never recovered”.