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Fortunately, Princess Xinyang did not have depression, otherwise Long Yi"s behavior would provoke her into an episode sooner or later.
Princess Xinyang could certainly order Long Yi to put down, abandon, or throw away the prison cage. However, Long Yi seemed to have guessed his master"s inclination for giving orders as he simply dashed away with the cage in hand!
Leaving Princess Xinyang with only the back of his head, as if saying–– I’m gone, gone! I can"t hear you!
Yu Jin"s expression was hard to describe. She turned to Princess Xinyang, opened her mouth, and said, "Princess..."
Princess Xinyang kept a cold face and didn"t say anything, casually dropping the curtain.
The imperial capital was under strict security. Not only were exits from the city thoroughly checked, but entrances were treated the same way.
The city guards were on high alert. All of a sudden, a strong wind blew through, as if a shadow had flickered past them.
The guards exchanged puzzled looks.
"What just happened?"
"I... I don"t know, did you see something?"
"It"s like something pa.s.sed by, but it also seems like nothing."
The few of them looked towards the city. Where was there any figure on the empty streets? Could it be that their eyes were playing tricks on them? A collective illusion or something...
Soon, Princess Xinyang"s carriage arrived at the city gate. After inspecting her token, the city guards respectfully bowed and allowed Princess Xinyang"s carriage to pa.s.s.
Meanwhile, the imperial guards who had gone to pursue the a.s.sa.s.sins began to realize that the a.s.sa.s.sins might not have proceeded further. They returned along the way, and halfway, they discovered the "stolen" prison wagon and four "bailiffs" whose bodies had long been cold.
Another team of imperial guards found the unconscious real bailiffs in a thicket three miles away.
The bailiffs recounted their experience of being robbed after regaining consciousness.
"The prisoner escaped. Could it be, it was his accomplices who took the wagon?" One of the imperial guards asked.
A bailiff responded, "Impossible. That prisoner is quite an old fox. He doesn"t have any formidable friends."
Just then, the prisoner who had been released by the a.s.sa.s.sins obediently returned. From him, the imperial guards learned that there were four a.s.sa.s.sins. They seemed to have captured another person, disguising themselves as bailiffs to discreetly move the hostage right under the imperial guards" noses.
The prisoner didn"t get a clear look at the hostage"s appearance, but the imperial guards boldly guessed that the hostage was Xiao Liulang.
The a.s.sa.s.sins were killed, Xiao Liulang went missing. Who could have taken him away? And where?
"We"ve been guarding the official road all along, and we didn"t see anyone pa.s.sing by... Could it be... they returned to the capital?" Speculated one of the imperial guards.
The leader of the imperial guards said, "Have all the carriages entering the capital been thoroughly checked?"
One of his subordinates responded, "Two carriages haven"t been checked."
The leader of the imperial guards furrowed his brows, "Whose carriages?"
The subordinate replied, "Minister Zhao and Princess Xinyang"s carriages."
……
On Zhuque Street, the carriage stopped outside a residence, and Princess Xinyang and Yu Jin got out.
As expected, Long Yi had brought back the prison cage... or more accurately, the person inside the cage. He had removed the cheap human skin mask from his face, discarded the blood-stained prisoner"s clothes, and put on a dry set of garments on him.
The clothes were a bit small; not only couldn"t the lapel be fastened, but the sleeves and pant legs were also too short.
Long Yi placed the person on Princess Xinyang"s bed too.
Xiao Liulang"s breath was weak, and perhaps due to exhaustion or excessive blood loss, he had pa.s.sed out.
Princess Xinyang walked over with a faint expression but stopped just before crossing the threshold.
It was Yu Jin who briskly entered the room and glanced at the man on the bed.
She had no idea who the prisoner Long Yi brought back was, nor did she understand why Long Yi did this. After all, this was the princess"s bedroom. It would be disastrous if any dubious person were to lie down there.
However, as she approached the bed and saw the pale and handsome face that came into view, she was utterly shocked!
"Princess!"
Yu Jin came out, looking utterly stunned. She said to Princess Xinyang who had turned away at some point, gazing at the boundless night sky, "The person inside... the person inside, he... he is... he looks like... he... he"s..."
Yu Jin was practically at a loss for words. After stumbling through her sentences for a while, she finally took a deep breath and continued, "He"s the Hanlin official who looks like the Little Marquis that I mentioned to princess last time! No wonder Long Yi brought him back. Long Yi must have mistaken him for the Little Marquis! Princess, quickly go inside and take a look! It"s not Long Yi"s fault for mistaking him, he really looks so much like him! I almost suspect that the Little Marquis has come back to life! Their ages are similar as well... If the Little Marquis were still alive... he would"ve grown to be like this..."
Princess Xinyang remained silent.
"Princess, I"m not lying to you... he really..." Yu Jin"s words trailed off upon seeing the expression on Princess Xinyang"s face.
Princess Xinyang"s face remained as tranquil and aloof as ever, but her eyes held a complex mixture of emotions, as if intertwined with various feelings, yet notably lacking surprise.
All of Yu Jin"s words disappeared.
However, they quickly found their way back as Yu Jin regained her voice in a moment, "Princess, did you… already know?"
Yu Jin wanted to ask when Princess Xinyang had found out.
Was it during the time Long Yi hijacked the prison wagon, or had she known earlier?
Princess Xinyang turned and went to the adjacent study room.
Yu Jin reached the doorway, intending to follow inside, but she felt an immense sense of detachment and loneliness emanating from Princess Xinyang.
She didn"t want anyone to follow her into the room.
Yu Jin halted at the threshold, gazing at Princess Xinyang who had enshrouded herself in the depths of darkness. Her gaze flickered, and she asked, "Princess, is he the Little Marquis?"
......
Xiao Liulang was severely wounded.
Yu Jin went to a nearby medical hall and fetched a physician. The physician took one look at the injuries and bluntly stated that he couldn"t guarantee saving the patient"s hand with his medical skills.
This hand had been injured once, fallen upon once, and had been b.u.mped and jostled by the a.s.sa.s.sins many times. It wasn’t in a better state than if it had frozen for several hours in the snow.
The physician still had some professional integrity left and sighed, "I"ve heard that the physicians from Miraculous Hands Hall are highly skilled. They can even reattach severed hands. Perhaps you should go to Miraculous Hands Hall and find a physician there to have a look!"
Just as Yu Jin was considering personally going to Miraculous Hands Hall to fetch a physician, Gu Jiao arrived.
Gu Jiao had received news from the imperial guards. Her intuition told her that Princess Xinyang had saved Xiao Liulang. Whether it was Princess Xinyang herself or Long Yi who intervened, she didn"t know for sure.
Yu Jin was slightly surprised, "Young Miss Gu?"
Gu Jiao asked, "Is my husband here?"
Yu Jin looked puzzled, "Your... husband?"
Gu Jiao stated seriously, "The Hanlin official, Xiao Liulang."
Yu Jin found herself at a loss for words once again.
Her entire lifetime"s worth of surprise seemed to have been used up tonight.
Gu Jiao went to Princess Xinyang"s room. At this moment, she had no time to contemplate Yu Jin"s or Princess Xinyang"s psychological activities. She immediately examined Xiao Liulang"s injuries.
Just like in the dream, his right hand was injured. The location of the wound matched perfectly, but due to the other encounters he had during his journey, his injuries were even more severe than they were in the dream.
Now, she could finally confirm that the events in the dream happened earlier than expected.
What she couldn"t fathom was why they happened earlier.
Gu Jiao opened her medicine chest, took some disinfectant to clean Xiao Liulang"s wound, and the spot that had just scabbed over started to bleed once again.
Gu Jiao caught a whiff of the scent of blood.
She closed her eyes and began an arduous practice of self-control.Raz P."s Thoughts
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