The carriage at the door was already prepared, and Ye Jiu instructed Ying Chun to assist Ye Qingzhi onto it first. Lin Songhan, knowing his place, directly sat next to the driver on the side of the carriage.
Ye Jiu and Qin Zhou lagged behind by a step, and seizing the opportunity, Ye Jiu said, "If you want to leave the Royal Residence, I can help you."
"No need. The current life of eating, drinking, and having fun is enough, without any pressure. I am quite satisfied. If one day I want to leave, I will surely ask for your help, elder sister." Qin Zhou replied. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦•𝘯𝘦𝘵
She wanted Qin Zhou to leave, not because he was an eyesore in the Royal Residence, but because she truly didn't wish to see him waste his life away.
But since Qin Zhou himself was unwilling, she couldn't force him.
What Ye Jiu didn't know was that even if Qin Zhou wanted to leave, he likely couldn't do it as easily as she thought.
Although Qin Zhou was not the blood of the War King, this matter hadn't been exposed. In the eyes of outsiders, he was still an abolished princely heir.
Therefore, as long as his identity wasn't publicly known, the old Emperor wouldn't be at ease with him, and the consequences of his identity being revealed were not something they could bear.
The land under heaven belongs to the kings. In the capital city, with his father protecting him, the old Emperor wouldn't act too excessively even if he was displeased with him.
However, if he left the capital city, what awaited him could be a corpse exposed in the wilderness, and by then, a simple explanation of bandit attack wouldn't prompt anyone to truly care about his fate!
As for returning to the Ye Family, it was something Qin Zhou had never considered.
Even though they were his biological parents, there had been no contact, so there was no real familial affection to speak of.
Moreover, his current situation was a trouble, and returning to the Ye Family would create a whole new explanation externally, and might even bring trouble to the originally peaceful Ye Family.
From a young age, Qin Zhou never had great ambitions. He wasn't clever enough, learned everything slowly, and had to endure ridicule from those around him, as well as pressure from his mother, who wanted him to succeed.
When he was still the princely heir, he thought that one day he could give up the title and leave the War King's Residence to live freely.
Now, the title was lost, but the desire to leave the War King's Residence and the capital city remained merely a luxury in his heart.
He quietly sat in the carriage, looking at Ye Qingzhi sitting properly across from him. In terms of seniority, this girl was his niece.
Although she often came to the Royal Residence to find Ye Jiu, and they inevitably met a few times, they had never really interacted, much less spoken a few words.
The carriage moved smoothly along and stopped in front of a tavern.
The street was already bustling, waiting for the grand arrival of the War King and his entourage, and the tavern boxes on both sides of the street had been occupied by various madams and young ladies. Without early reservations, seats were truly hard to come by.
As for this tavern where Ye Jiu directly arrived, it was her own property. For convenience, she reserved a window box for herself, ensuring she never lacked a spot no matter when she came.
Directed into the box by the attendant, due to insufficient soundproofing, they could still hear the noise from outside.
After waiting for a long time, the person they were expecting still hadn't arrived.
Ye Qingzhi, a bit bored, leaned on the table and sighed, "Brother Wenyu has been in the army for several years now and hasn't sent a letter in half a year. I wonder how he's doing."
Ye Jiu had some news about Ye Wenyu, knowing that he was doing well.
However, before she could speak, the crowd outside suddenly became bustling.
"The War King is here, the War King is here…"