Ning Dao Covered with Snow

Chapter 267 Siblings cannibalize each other
After breakfast, Xiao Ke and Xiao Wang went to the village chief's house in the heavy rain.

Inside the main hall, Yan Ciwan was playing tossing pots with Xiao Yun and Xiao Ting, while Li Chengge and Du Lingzhou were sitting next to them playing chess.

Due to limited conditions, they used pottery jars instead of pots and bamboo sticks instead of arrows.

Yan Ciwan had just thrown the last bamboo stick in his hand into the pottery jar when he heard footsteps approaching. He looked up and saw Xiao Ke and Xiao Wang walking in.

The two brothers took off their straw hats and raincoats.

Du Lingzhou, who was scratching his head over the chessboard and not knowing what to do next, was perked up when he saw them coming back. He immediately stood up and asked excitedly, "Didn't you say you were going to say hello to the leader of the Great Pavilion and then come back? Why did you take so long to come back?"

Xiao Wang said: "We not only met the Grand Chamberlain, but also Prince Ning and Fu Hui."

When Li Chengge heard the name "King Ning", his brows slightly frowned, but then quickly relaxed.

Du Lingzhou knew that Prince Ning was the second son of the current saint, that is, the second prince, but he didn't know who Fu Hui was, so he asked about his doubts.

"The son of Ding'an Marquis Fu Zheng. He used to work in the Jinwu Guards, and later became a personal guard beside Prince Ning. When Prince Ning left Chang'an for the Northern Capital, he followed him. I heard that he is now a judicial officer in the Northern Capital."

Seeing Yan Ciwan was looking at him, Xiao Wang added two more sentences.

"Fu Zheng is now serving as the General of the Left Guard, responsible for commanding the Left Golden Guard. He accompanies the Saint and protects his safety, and is deeply trusted by the Saint."

Yan Ciwan had heard of Fu Zheng's name when he was in Xizhou. This man came from a low-level military household and climbed up step by step with his military merits. Now, at only forty years old, he has become the number one military general in the court and is a very powerful figure.

Du Lingzhou's fingers crackled, his eyes sparkling. "It is said that Ding'an Hou is the best martial artist in the world, so his son must be no less skilled, right?"

Li Chengge knocked on the chessboard and reminded, "Hey, you haven't finished your game yet! Hurry up and make the next move!"

Du Lingzhou pretended not to hear and walked out while saying that he was going to challenge Fu Hui.

Li Chengge saw through his little thoughts at a glance and raised his voice to question him.

"Are you afraid of losing to me, so you want to run away?"

Du Lingzhou was immediately furious when his thoughts were exposed, and he retorted loudly, "I don't want to run away! I just want to compete with Fu Hui. It won't be too late to come back and play chess with you after I finish the competition."

Li Chengge sneered: "You are a lousy chess player. You want to run away when you see that you are going to lose. With your character, you still want to compete with the son of Marquis Ding'an? Ha, you are really asking for trouble!"

"How dare you look down on me?!"

"It's normal for a defeated opponent to look down on you."

Du Lingzhou was so angry that his face turned red, as if he was about to explode on the spot.

Xiao Que walked over to the chessboard, took a look, and said with a smile: "Du Erlang, you haven't lost yet. If you move here next, there may be a chance of a turnaround."

When Du Lingzhou heard that he still had a chance to win the game, he immediately stopped being angry, sat back down, and played according to Xiao Qi's instructions.

This time it was Li Chengge's turn to be unhappy. He said to Xiao Xie, "A true gentleman watches chess without saying a word!"

There was a copper kettle on the small stove. Xiao Wang picked up the kettle and poured two bowls of hot tea, giving one to his brother. While drinking tea, Xiao Xie temporarily got out of the entanglement between Du Lingzhou and Li Chengge.

After drinking the hot tea, they felt much better.

Xiao Yun and Xiao Ting stepped forward to greet their father and sixth uncle.

Xiao Xi touched their heads and asked, "Where is your mother?"

Xiao Yun answered truthfully: "Aniang and Madam Chao are drying clothes in the west wing."

Because of the continuous rainy days, everyone's clothes were a little damp and uncomfortable to wear, so Jiang Tingyue, Liu, Chaolu and others took out everyone's clothes to dry.

Xiao Qi let the two children continue playing while he went to talk to Jiang Tingyue about something.

After Xiao Xi left, Xiao Yun and Xiao Ting continued to play the game of pitching pots. Yan Ciwan had already thrown all the bamboo sticks in her hand, so she sat aside and watched the two children play.

She saw Xiao Wang sitting down in the empty seat next to her, so she asked him.

"Why are Prince Ning and Fu Hui here?"

"They didn't say it, but I can roughly guess that they are here for the Five Gods Religion."

Yan Ciwan became more and more curious: "What did the Five Gods Sect do again?"

"Do you remember the Five Gods Sect's rampant human trafficking in Yizhou?" Xiao Wang saw her nod and thought that her serious listening to him was quite adorable. He smiled and continued, "Brother said that the Yizhou government found clues on the black market and discovered that all the young and strong men who were kidnapped were sent to Jingzhou."

Yan Ciwan didn't understand: "What are you going to Jingzhou for?"

"Jingzhou is close to Beidu. I once heard from my master that Beidu is located at the throat of the Daye Dynasty and is where the country's destiny converges. That place is next to Yunzhou, and Yunzhou used to be the Northern Turks."

Yan Ciwan was shocked when he heard this, and asked in a low voice: "Could it be that the Five Gods Sect is planning to start an uprising in Beidu?"

"At the moment, it seems that this is possible."

"This matter is of great importance. I wonder if the court has already known about it?"

Xiao Wang said slowly: "This should be the reason why Prince Ning appeared here. Prince Ning was originally the second prince. He and the current prince were both born to the queen, but the relationship between the two brothers was not very harmonious. In the early years, when the prince had not yet been appointed, the second prince had almost broken up with the eldest prince in order to compete for the position of heir. The saint did not want to see his two sons killing each other, so he issued an order to appoint the eldest son as the prince, and then appointed the second prince as Prince Ning, and divided Beidu and Yunzhou into his fiefdom. Since then, Prince Ning left Chang'an and has been staying in Beidu."

Yan Ciwan thought that the vassal kings were not allowed to leave their fiefdoms without imperial decree, but the fact that Prince Ning appeared here and was staying with the people from the Inner Guard Palace showed that the saint had obviously allowed him to leave the Northern Capital.

Thinking of what Xiao Wang said earlier, she speculated, "Prince Ning discovered that the Five Gods Sect had unusual movements in the northern capital, so he came back to report to the Saint?"

Xiao Wang nodded, indicating that his guess was consistent with Yan Ciwan.

Yan Ciwan fell into deep thought. If she were the King of Ning and found someone was making small moves in her territory, she would first order people to thoroughly investigate Beidu and find out the whereabouts of the Five Gods Sect. It would be best if she could handle it herself. If she couldn't handle it, she would send someone to Chang'an to ask the saint to send people to help Beidu. No matter what, she would not leave Beidu easily, because once she left, there would be no one to guard Beidu, which would be equivalent to handing Beidu over to the Five Gods Sect.

Logically speaking, King Ning should not fail to understand this truth, but he still appeared here. What was his reason?
A bold guess emerged in Yan Ciwan's mind. Could it be that the situation in Beidu had become so bad that Prince Ning might encounter an accident if he stayed there any longer, so he had to flee Beidu with his confidants?

She asked softly, "When you saw Prince Ning, what was his condition like?"