When Will General Come Marry Me?

>All four gates were strictly guarded. 

If only Qi Nanke went in alone, would be easier, so he said, “I’ll go take a look first.
Stay here and don’t go anywhere.”

Du Ci also knew he would only be a hindrance.
He nodded and whispered, “Be safe, go and come back quickly.”

Shortly after Qi Nanke left, a white horse galloped up the mountain.
A man stood under the gate with a letter in hand and shouted, “Open the door! Master Kong sent news! The people Third boss brought out have been killed!”

“What?!” 

“Who has the gall?!”

“Quickly report to Big boss!”

A commotion ensued at the gate.
The heavy entrance slowly opened.
Du Ci observed from afar and saw rows of heavy crossbows, assault wagons, and hook carts.
All kinds of heavy weapons used to siege were arranged into lines.

Discovering siege weapons in a place not too far from the Royal City, it was hard not to make connections. 

Assuming this was really a group of bandits hiding under the wings of the higher-ups, for what reason would they need to go to  war? Unless, the people holed up in this hideout were not bandits but actually soldiers!

Du Ci’s eyes fell on the white horse walking through the gate and noticed the rider was dressed in a different style than others.
The pouch tied around his waist had a small plum blossom embroidery on it.
Previously, it was inconspicuous, but when the bright torches hit the golden threads and reflected a distinctive sparkle, Du Ci’s eyes were drawn to it.

His pupils shrank abruptly.
Before his head could think, he walked around the tree, stepped into the open, then fell forward with an “Oops,” and dropped the white jade flute in his sleeve.

The man on horseback immediately turned around and drew his sword: “Who’s there!” 

An archer on the watchtower also drew an arrow and aimed it at Du Ci.
Du Ci’s back was soaked in cold sweats.
This was a risky move, but he had to gamble on such a rare opportunity.

Du Ci raised his pale face and shouted arrogantly, “Insolent!”

The archer was ready to shoot, but the man on the horse suddenly spotted the white flute rolling on the ground and widened his eyes: “Stop!”

He roared loudly. 

Rushing over on horseback, he picked up the flute and carefully scanned the surroundings before pointing his sword at Du Ci on the ground: “Where did you get this flute from?!”

Du Ci grabbed the flute and glared, “This is mine!”

The man lowered his head, appearing to be in deep thoughts.
Suddenly thinking of something, he exclaimed in astonishment, “Little Prince?”

Du Ci stared at him warily, “Who are you?” 

The man rolled his eyes, got off his horse, then kneeled and saluted Du Ci, “This lowly servant didn’t know the little prince was coming.
I deserved death.
Begging the little prince for forgiveness!”

The people in the hideout heard it, and all came out to see, “What? What? This is the little prince in Royal City?”

“Sure worthy of being raised in luxury.
He looks pretty good!”

“Is that really the little prince?” 

Du Ci glanced at the crowd and frowned, “Who are you? How do you know this prince’s identity? Where is this?”

The man tried to sound him out first, “Your Highness, you don’t know where this place is?”

“Don’t know!” Du Ci stood up, patted the hem of his clothes, and raised his chin haughtily, “Why should this prince know where this is?”

The man smiled and replied, “This is Mountain Zhang, and this place is…the local patrol camp in Mt.
Zhang.
May I ask what made the little prince come here so late at night…?” 

Du Ci said: “This prince is looking for someone.
I just looked and searched, and then I was here.”

The man obviously didn’t believe it.
They had stationed people along the mountain road, but no one saw Du Ci.
How could that be possible?

Knowing the man wouldn’t believe it, Du Ci already thought of a way to back it up, “This prince came from the Northside.
There is a teashop at the foot of the mountain.
It has some fake wine jars hanging at the door and a black dog tied in front.”

Du Ci was dragged through the most arduous path by Qi Nanke.
On the way, he secretly memorized everything along the route, now they finally had some uses. 

The man heard this and thought in his heart: It turns out the little prince just got lucky.
That path has extremely rough terrains so they didn’t arrange any guards there.
That was why he wasn’t spotted.

The man scrutinized Du Ci from head to toes.
When Du Ci stepped out from behind the tree, he deliberately fell and rolled in the dust.
Right now he looked just a little shabby, but it was enough to fool the other’s eyes.

The man said: “Who is your highness looking for? This lowly servant can send people to help find the person.”

Du Ci smiled until his eyes became two crescent moons: “This prince is looking for my husband!” 

Mountain bandits: “??”