Chapter 595
Chapter 595
Xu Heming, who had originally been struggling desperately to wake up, could no longer lie still after hearing those words.
Without a second thought, he opened his eyes. How could Zhiwei marry someone else?
“Ah!”
Xu Heming suddenly opened his eyes wide, startling Zhang Yanchu.
“What happened?”
Hearing Zhang Yanchu’s cry of surprise, Xu Chuan rushed into the room without bothering about anything else.
What he saw was Xu Heming lying there with his eyes open.
However, although Xu Heming’s eyes were open, his expression seemed somewhat dazed.
“P-Prince?” Xu Chuan called out cautiously.
“Xu Heming?” Zhang Yanchu also called him by name without ceremony.
“Your Highness?” Xu Chuan waved his hand in front of Xu Heming’s eyes.
Xu Heming instinctively frowned at the hand fluttering before him.
“Prince An?” Zhang Yanchu frowned at his reaction and called out again.
“Xu Song?”
After a long while, Xu Heming finally called out somewhat stiffly.
“Your Highness, Xu Song has gone to fetch the physician. Is there anything you need?”
Hearing Xu Heming’s voice, Xu Chuan finally breathed a sigh of relief and hurried forward to ask.
Seeing that Xu Heming had awakened, Zhang Yanchu also let out a long breath.
Otherwise, he truly would not have known what to do.
“Prince An, you’re finally awake,” Zhang Yanchu said.
Xu Heming merely looked coldly at Zhang Yanchu. He remembered now—it had been Zhang Yanchu who told him that Zhiwei was going to marry someone else.
“Who is Zhiwei marrying?” Xu Heming asked slowly, but everyone in the room heard him clearly.
“You heard me wrong.” Zhang Yanchu rubbed his nose awkwardly.
He had deliberately said that earlier because he wanted to see whether Xu Heming would wake up.
He had not expected Xu Heming to actually regain consciousness.
Not only had Xu Heming awakened, he was now demanding to know whom the Princess Consort of An was going to marry.
“Your Highness!” Xu Song hurried to the bedside when he saw Xu Heming sitting up, so excited that tears filled his eyes.
“Your Highness, you’re finally awake!”
“The patient? Where is the patient?” The elderly physician, who had followed behind him, asked with a frown.
“Doctor, he’s here. Please examine him,” Xu Chuan said, quickly ushering the physician inside.
After carefully examining Xu Heming, the physician said, “This gentleman is not suffering from anything serious. He merely needs plenty of rest.”
The old physician was somewhat puzzled. The young man who had come to summon him earlier had described the situation as though it were much worse. Yet this gentleman seemed perfectly fine.
“Doctor, please examine him again. My master really is all right? He was unconscious the entire time before this,” Xu Song said, still uneasy. He grabbed the old physician and wanted him to check Xu Heming once more.
“I have already examined him. He is fine. His body is simply a little weak, so he needs to recuperate properly,” the old physician said.
“Thank you, Doctor!”
Once Xu Song was certain that Prince An was safe, he finally relaxed.
“When did General Wen arrive?” Xu Heming asked, looking at Zhang Yanchu.
“He arrived first thing this morning. He also told me just now that you had gone out to deal with something.” Zhang Yanchu pointed toward Xu Chuan.
“Your Highness, please forgive me!” Xu Chuan hurriedly dropped to his knees before Xu Heming, lowering his head. He did not know how to explain why he had done such a thing.
“What is the situation outside now?” Xu Heming did not have time to investigate who was right or wrong. He wanted to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.
After all, he wanted to find Li Zhiwei as soon as he could.
“Prince Zhennan’s men are still facing off against us, but they may still think we are up in the mountains. The reinforcements haven’t arrived yet,” Xu Song quickly reported.
“General Wen, I may have to trouble you to go to the Northwestern military camp and bring back reinforcements.” Xu Heming looked at Zhang Yanchu.
“I’ll leave at once!” Zhang Yanchu nodded. Knowing how serious the matter was, he did not delay.
“General Wen, Deputy General Fang already set out for the Northwestern military camp earlier, but our reinforcements still haven’t arrived. I’m not sure whether something went wrong somewhere,” Xu Chuan said hurriedly, frowning.
“Fang Sheng doesn’t have the tiger tally. It would probably be difficult for him to mobilize the soldiers at the camp,” Zhang Yanchu said after thinking for a moment.
He, too, was puzzled. Fang Sheng might not be able to mobilize a large force, but he should at least have been able to gather a small unit.
Since no reinforcements had arrived, someone had likely obstructed him.
“General Wen, we must resolve this as quickly as possible. At present, our external threats are not limited to the Qinling Kingdom. There is also the Blue Bay Kingdom. Every day we delay increases the danger,” Xu Heming said solemnly as he looked at Zhang Yanchu.
“Prince Tang, I understand. I’ll gather the men immediately. You must make sure everything here is kept safe,” Zhang Yanchu said before leaving.
The room was once again left with only Xu Song and Xu Chuan.
Both men looked at Xu Heming with concern. They wanted to say something, but neither knew where to begin.
“Xu Song, Xu Chuan is one of our own,” Xu Heming said slowly.
“Yes. I shouldn’t have suspected Xu Chuan,” Xu Song said at once.
“Your Highness, this is not Xu Song’s fault. If I were in his place, I would have suspected myself as well,” Xu Chuan said after a moment’s thought.
“Mm. Go back to Lu City immediately,” Xu Heming instructed Xu Chuan.
“Your Highness, Xu Mu, Cuihua, and Cuyue are by the Princess Consort’s side. Please let me stay and help you,” Xu Chuan said, somewhat unwilling to leave him.
“You’re going to look after the Princess Consort,” Xu Heming insisted.
He had especially remembered the two soft, childish voices he had heard in his mind.
He had also heard Zhang Yanchu say that Zhiwei was pregnant.
“Tell Zhiwei that I’ll take care of things here as quickly as possible and go to the capital to bring her back,” Xu Heming instructed him again.
What Xu Heming did not know was that Li Zhiwei was still unconscious.
Zhang Yanchu also knew nothing about Li Zhiwei’s condition.
Meanwhile, Fang Sheng was leading a large force over the mountains.
“I’m telling you, Deputy General Fang, where exactly is that little woman of yours?” Deputy General Zhou had followed Fang Sheng back and forth several times and was now thoroughly impatient.
“Deputy General Zhou, I’m sorry. I was so anxious that I temporarily forgot where she lived.” Fang Sheng offered an apologetic smile.
Inwardly, he thought, If you don’t want to follow me, then leave already.
The last thing he wanted was to bring Deputy General Zhou’s men along to rescue Prince An.
“Could it be that he’s planning to take them somewhere to do something against military orders?” Deputy General Zhou thought. There was definitely something suspicious about Fang Sheng!
He did not believe Fang Sheng’s story about some “little woman” of his.
“How could that be? I’m going to take back my wife!” Fang Sheng said with a perfectly straight face.
He was truly at a loss as to when he would ever manage to shake off Deputy General Zhou and his men.
“Who would live in such a desolate wilderness? And why haven’t I heard even a word about you getting married? Could it be that you made up some little woman on the spot to deceive General Liu?” The more Deputy General Zhou spoke, the more convinced he became that this was exactly what had happened.
“How could I lie about something like that?” Fang Sheng immediately protested.
“If you don’t want to come with me and help me seize my bride, then go back. Once I bring her back, I’ll return and report myself to the general.”
With that, Fang Sheng led his men away first.