POW camp

"Wow, it's so beautiful!" Mina got out of the carriage and was stunned by the magnificent and brightly lit buildings in front of her. She muttered in her mouth, and suddenly remembered something, and hurriedly pulled the calm-looking young man beside her, " Cousin Lanwei, I... can I wear this outfit? Will it be too ordinary."

"No." Lan Wei smiled lightly, his eyes were very gentle.In order to show her seriousness, she even looked at Mina carefully from top to bottom, "It's very beautiful, and all the people here combined can't compare to you."

"Bad cousin." Mina blushed and complained pretending to be reproachful, "It's said that you are old-fashioned, but you can also say flattering words."

"It's not flattery." Lan Wei smiled, which softened the sharp edges and corners on his face, "In my eyes, you are much more beautiful than those so-called beauties from the upper class." He stretched out his hand, making an invitation gesture, "Come on, have faith in yourself."

"En." Mina nodded emphatically, tried her best to pretend to be a lady, put her slender hands in Lan Wei's palms, and walked into the brightly lit banquet hall with her head held high.

This was a celebration banquet for the royal family of the Ole Empire to celebrate the great success of the Battle of Congling. All the dignified figures in the imperial capital came, and there were lavish clothes and shadows everywhere.Mina's eyes were not enough to see, she looked left and right in amazement, grabbed Lan Wei and asked this question, Lan Wei answered them one by one with a good temper.

Lan Wei comes from a humble background and has never been able to integrate into the upper class of the imperial capital, not to mention he is young and has no achievements.But after the Battle of Congling, no one dared to underestimate the acting successor of the Lan Group. He was wearing the purple battle robe bestowed by the Queen a few days ago, and the Knight Medal of Silver Star and Purple Heart on his chest was shining brightly. These are rare honors.People with a keen sense of smell seemed to have seen the signs of the Lan Group's comeback from Her Majesty's actions, and the bright future of Lan Wei's bright future, so they came over to greet each other.

Lan Wei was as cold and indifferent as usual, occasionally answering a sentence.At the beginning when he was squeezed out, kept alone, and ridiculed, he was not embarrassed; now that he is the focus, he is not proud.Such flattery and humiliation made many people underestimate him, and their words showed a lot of respect.

"Dong dong dong" three sounds of the scepter hitting the carpet, followed by the singing officer's loud voice: "The crown prince is here."

Everyone immediately quieted down and stood in their positions.The crowd formed a semi-arc, facing the golden gate on the right.Not long after, two guards opened the door, and the Crown Prince walked in slowly. He smiled and waved to everyone.Mina's eyes widened, and she whispered excitedly: "Wow, the crown prince is so handsome!" She didn't hear Lan Wei's response, and turned her head to see that Lan Wei was bowing to salute, not just him, everyone Everyone was bending over and bowing their heads, making themselves stand out when they were standing stupidly.She was taken aback and bent her knees in a panic, but tripped over the long skirt and almost fell.Lan Wei lightly held Mina's arm and whispered, "Be careful."

Flo walked along the red carpet, glanced at the guests, and stayed on Lan Wei, seeing him carefully supporting the seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl next to him.Unexpectedly, Lan Wei, who has always been a loner, would come with a female companion today.The smile on Flo's face remained unchanged, he stared at Lan Wei for a moment, then retracted his gaze, stretched his arms forward, and lifted them up in a vain manner, and everyone fell flat.

The ceremonial official said loudly: "The dance party begins!" The music echoed, first the elegant and deep timbre of the cello, and after a solo, the violin echoed gorgeously, deducing the cadenza of the duet of the big and small violins.Everyone looked at the crown prince, waiting for him to dance.In the past, Miss Beth from the Hill family, or Miss Bonnie from the Morty family, and Miss Hisense from the Rollins family took turns, but Miss Beth was the majority because her family was stronger, and some even said that the Crown Prince She has been listed as the No.1 choice of the imperial concubine.

This not only involves the happiness of the three girls, but also the honor of the three major families. Only the Lan Group is alone and unable to participate, and everyone is watching eagerly.

Unexpectedly, the crown prince walked straight past the three women, came to Lan Wei, and asked, "Captain Lan Wei, can I invite you to dance?"

This move was beyond everyone's expectation, everyone was dumbfounded, even Lan Wei, who was always as immobile as a mountain, was slightly taken aback. His first reaction was to resist, but he immediately understood that he must not resist at this time.But it can't be easily agreed, this is simply pushing yourself to the forefront, and it is the extremely publicized form that Lan Wei hates the most.

Lan Wei's brains turned quickly, and he almost immediately found an excuse that he thought was very appropriate: "Your Highness, I didn't come alone, my female companion..."

"Oh?" Flo raised his eyebrows, and didn't feel displeased with Lan Wei's attitude at all, but instead asked: "Then, this is..."

Lan Wei stabilized his mind and said: "This is the cousin of the officer, Miss Mina."

Flo looked at Mina and showed a charming smile: "Miss Mina, I would like to borrow your dance partner for a while, can I?" Mina's heart was pounding, her face was flushed, and she stammered: "When...of course."

"Thank you." Flo nodded politely, and handed Lieutenant Lan his hand.Lan Wei took a deep breath, knowing that he would not be able to escape this test no matter what, so he held Flo's hand and said in a low voice, "Yes, Your Highness."

The two came to the middle of the hall and started dancing.Mina hadn't recovered from the intoxication yet, watching them embrace and dance, she murmured as if sighing: "It's so good, how wonderful." A hand stretched out, followed by a polite voice: "Miss, Can I ask you to dance?"

When Mina raised her head, she met a pair of gentle eyes, her face turned even redder, and she asked in a whisper, "Then your female companion..."

"She allowed it. I'm Lieutenant Colonel Hill, you can call me Hill."

Lan Wei is still cold, even though he and the crown prince are close at hand, they can hear each other's breathing clearly.He just stepped out step by step according to the rules, not as if he was dancing, but as if he was walking in a guard of honor.

Flo shook his head helplessly and said, "Captain, your dance steps are too stiff."

"I'm really sorry for disappointing you." Lan Wei blocked back forcefully.Flo laughed lowly: "How come, I am already very happy that you are willing to dance with me."

Lan Wei remained indifferent, ignoring the ambiguity in the crown prince's words.

"Like it?" Flo asked.

"what?"

"My birthday present to you."

Lan Wei was silent.He had long forgotten what gift, and never opened it, let alone liked it or not.But he didn't want to lie, so he could only keep silent.Fortunately, Flo didn't delve into this, and said after a while: "Actually, I have something important to tell you." He leaned forward, and pressed his lips to Lan Wei's ear.Lan Wei felt that this posture was extremely weird, and was about to dodge backwards, but heard Flo softly say: "It's about Lan Ting."

Lan Wei froze all of a sudden, his dance steps got out of order, and he stepped on Flo's foot.He stepped back quickly: "I'm sorry, Your Highness."

Flo shook his head, and pulled Lan Wei into his arms again: "This song is not finished yet."

"sorry".Lan Wei calmed down and asked, "Can you tell me what's going on?"

"No, not yet. I just danced the first dance. If you and I walk away immediately, others will be suspicious." Flo smiled. "It seems that we have to dance for a while before we can find a chance to leave."

"Jump for a while longer?" Lan Wei frowned, searching for Mina's location involuntarily.

"Don't worry." Flo pointed to the side kindly, reminding Captain Lan, "She's over there, it looks like you've been abandoned." Captain Lan tilted his head, Mina and Hill were talking happily, innocently The big eyes are full of admiration.

While Captain Lan was distracted, Flo pulled him closer and hugged him tightly.Captain Lan was startled at first, then angry, and just about to refuse, Flo let go. The hug was so short that it didn't even last a second, it was just like an illusion.The music stopped abruptly just when Flo let go. Flo took a step back and bowed to salute. Lan Wei had no choice but to return the salute, but heard Flo whisper: "After an hour, the first room on the left on the second floor." He He gave Lan Wei a meaningful look, then turned and walked away.

Mina flew back excitedly like a butterfly, and seeing Lan Wei looking at the crown prince's back, his face was slightly red, and there seemed to be a trace of shameful anger in his clear and bright eyes, he asked in surprise: "Cousin, are you okay. Lan Wei took a deep breath, regained his composure, and said, "It's okay. Let's dance."

An hour later, the crown prince left the banquet hall first, and another 10 minutes later, the Lanwei excused himself to go to the bathroom, asked Mina to take a rest, and went up to the second floor by himself.

The entire second floor was quiet, not even the guards were seen, and all the lights in the corridor on the right were turned off, and it was dark.Only the left side was lit, and the long corridor illuminated was like a purposely left invisible end road, quietly waiting for Lan Wei.

Lan Wei walked to the end step by step, hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and gently knocked on the door: "Your Highness, Lan Wei is here under orders." No one answered, and no sound was heard.He pursed his lips and pushed open the door.

The room is not as bright as imagined, the big chandelier on the roof is still dark, only a small desk lamp on the desk emits a faint light.The curtains were drawn tightly, thick as a wall.Dim lighting, closed space, especially the person standing behind the desk in the room, made Lan Wei feel a kind of depression.He suddenly felt a sense of crisis, like a beast who suspected that there was an extremely hidden trap ahead but was lured by the bait. He felt that he should leave immediately, but he couldn't worry about Lan Ting's safety after all.Lan Wei stood there without moving, but Flo unexpectedly didn't rush him, and lowered his head, not knowing what he was looking at.

After a long time, Lan Wei finally made up his mind, he took a step forward and called, "Your Highness."

Flo raised his head, as if he had just noticed Lan Wei walking in, and smiled softly: "Come here."

Lan Wei felt a little angry deep in his heart, but he couldn't help it.Before getting to know the crown prince, he had never met such a person, who was able to make such a threat so calm and natural, yet still affectionate, and what was even more hateful was that he could not refuse.He took a few steps to the desk and said coldly, "I'm waiting for your order, Your Highness."

He wanted to put on a posture of refusal, but it was a pity that Flo's next sentence moved him: "Come and see, this is the escape route prepared for Lan Ting."

Lan Wei couldn't help but leaned forward to take a closer look. There was a map spread out on the table, and some special locations were marked with very small characters.Flo pointed out one of them with his index finger: "Here is the prison where Lan Ting is held." Then he moved his finger upwards: "Here is an abandoned warehouse, which used to be a prison probably a few years ago, but something happened. One thing, the enemy will transform this place and turn it into a warehouse for office buildings."

"What happened?" Lan Wei keenly grasped the meaning of Flo's words.

"Prison escape." Flo's expression was serious and serious, with a businesslike look, without any jokes, which made Lan Wei gradually relax, "There used to be an air-raid shelter under the prison. During the construction, a place was left to facilitate the workers. Unexpectedly, a prisoner noticed the entrance and exit. He gathered other people, dug through there, and fled. Later, he was caught and interrogated by a prison warden named Morton, who confessed the location of the tunnel. According to the confession, the enemy The tunnel was blown up. This matter is not glorious, and it was well hidden, but our intelligence personnel still drew the road map of the tunnel. At that time, the bombing was not complete. If more people were sent, it would be non-stop , can still be dug out as soon as possible.”

Lan Wei pondered for a while: "But digging a tunnel requires making a lot of noise, won't the enemy notice it?"

"We don't need to worry about these." He stared into Lan Wei's eyes, and said earnestly, "Lan Wei, according to the rules, this kind of thing should not be reported directly to me, as long as the person is rescued, I will let you know the details. Generally, don’t ask. Because this will bring a lot of pressure to the intelligence personnel, sending this map over will take unnecessary risks.” He paused, and continued, “However, the person to be rescued this time is Lan Ting. , the only heir of the Lan family, there must be no mistakes. Besides, it's because..." He suddenly smiled and didn't continue.

Lan Wei jumped in his heart, deliberately ignored the unfinished meaning of the crown prince's words, and changed the subject bluntly: "Yes, if we hadn't received the deployment of the enemy's defensive forces in Congling sent by the intelligence personnel, we would not have been able to obtain that battle so easily. victory."

Flo nodded and pointed to the map: "At night, Lan Ting will escape from the prisoner-of-war camp through this tunnel. But there are guards guarding the air-raid shelter, so you must go out from the place closest to the prisoner-of-war camp, and there will be intelligence personnel guarding there , change him into ordinary people's clothes. Avoid the night patrols from here, and go straight to the north gate, where a team of soldiers guarding the city will arrange for our people, and he can be released easily. There is a big river in the north , someone will pick up that night, take a boat to the other side, and lie dormant in that village. There is just a small port, and there are many boats and people coming and going, and the people are complicated, so it is easy to hide. The enemy will not find Lan Ting's in the next morning. They ran away, but they must have thought that he was going to flee to the border of Ole country, and would run to Congling in the southwest. They never thought that Lan Ting was actually hiding in the north. When the wind passed, Lan Ting would arrive as a wanderer A cargo ship was used as a coolie to carry goods, and the ship appeared to be heading east, but when it went out for more than a hundred miles, it would turn north, then east, and finally south, returning to us.”

Lan Wei stretched out his finger and flicked on the map, imagining how Lan Ting went all the way.It can be said that the plan passed on is relatively detailed, but there are too many unknown variables in it, which are beyond their control.What if the soldiers guarding the city change their guard?What should I do if the river floods due to heavy rain and cannot pass through?Or, what if the tunnel cannot be dug from the beginning?

Lan Wei cared so much for this cousin that he was worried about gains and losses.He focused on the map, his thick brows furrowed slightly, his face was shrouded in bright yellow light, and there was an indescribable softness.Lashes droop, not too long, but thick.The nose is straight, and the light-colored lips are tightly pursed, looking resolute and rigorous.

It was the first time that Flo got so close to Captain Lan, and it was when the other party was unprepared.In the past, this captain, who had always kept his duty, had to keep a distance of more than three steps from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince no matter what.Flo has to admit that this captain who exudes a cold abstinent aura has an irresistible temptation for him, even if he dodges clumsily and unwillingly in his eyes sometimes, he is cute.

Flo softly corrected Captain Lan's small mistake: "It's not here, it's here..." He touched the map with his fingertip. "Is that so?" Lan Wei asked in surprise, "I just said that it's here—" He pointed in another direction, his slender fingers with well-defined knuckles.Flo grasped his hand, but before he could feel the temperature of the other's skin, Captain Lan was startled and suddenly withdrew his hand.Lan Wei suddenly took a few steps back, overwhelmed with shame and indignation, and said in a deep voice: "Your Highness, please respect yourself!"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he knew that the words were too serious, and it was not at all the tone that a subordinate should have for a superior.An embarrassing silence spread in the study, neither of them spoke.

Only then did Lan Wei realize that the other party was the crown prince, the most noble existence under one person and above ten thousand people in the Ole Empire.Mrs. Lien's warning to him reappeared in his mind: "You have to be careful with that person. The war is about to end. I heard that the crown prince has shown signs of dismantling the power of the four major families. Our Lan's army is the weakest, for sure. Bear the brunt of it. Captain Lan, you can't give him an excuse..."

The royal family has absolute privileges in the Ole Empire, especially they rule the country with the military, and the hierarchy is strict. The superiors will never allow any resistance from the subordinates, even if it is a "no".Lan Wei knew that he should apologize, and should humbly kneel at the feet of the crown prince, begging his forgiveness to show his loyalty.But he couldn't open his mouth, he felt humiliated, he stubbornly turned his eyes aside, not looking at the face of the crown prince.

There was a long silence.Lan Wei gritted his teeth quietly, he did feel a little regretful now, he was always calm and self-possessed, so he could completely avoid it as if nothing had happened.It can only be said that the crown prince's attitude towards him has always been too gentle, so that he let down his vigilance and forgot his identity.

"Let's go here." It seemed like a century had passed before the crown prince spoke. His voice floated down from the top of his head. It was faint, and there was no sound of joy or anger. "It's important, don't let the third person know."

"Yes, Your Highness." Lan Wei said the three words with great difficulty, he waited for a while, and seeing that the crown prince didn't say anything, he bowed and stepped back.

In the hall, the melodious melody was still flying skirts, and the bright lights made Lan Wei a little dizzy.Mina ran over and saw that his expression was not good, and asked worriedly, "Cousin, are you feeling well?"

Lan Wei shook his head: "It's okay, would you like to dance with me again?" Mina happily took his arm.

Hill purposely approached Mina, but got no useful information from this innocent little girl, danced two dances, and then let go.However, no matter whether he was dancing, drinking, or talking, he never left Lan Wei from the corner of his eyes. He watched him leave and saw him appear again.Hill casually picked up a glass of wine, swayed into the dark as if he was drunk, summoned his guard, and ordered in a low voice: "Go and check on the crown prince and Captain Lan, they must be discussing What plan, figure this out."