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Глава 59

On the third day, when the lanterns were lit, Wu Zichu returned home dejectedly. After much deliberation, he slowly walked toward Zhan Zhao's residence in Kaifeng Prefecture.

The lamplight was warm, and Zhan Zhao was leaning against the bed, with a collection of poems beside him. The pages were brand new, indicating that he did not read it often.

"Brother Zichu, please sit down. Forgive my rudeness, I cannot..."

“We’re brothers, no need for such formalities.” Wu Zichu sat down casually, poured himself some tea, and then chuckled when he saw the collection of poems in Zhan Zhao’s hand: “Liu Qiqing, you’re the Liu Yong who was ordered to write poems, right? Why are you reading his poems?”

Zhan Zhao smiled faintly, a hint of embarrassment in his voice. "I've been having some free time these past few days, so I'm just flipping through it." In fact, he had specifically borrowed this collection of poems from Mr. Gongsun, saying it was to pass the time while recovering from his injury. As for why he specifically wanted to read Liu Yong's collection, Mr. Gongsun didn't ask further, given Liu Yong's considerable fame in his time.

Wu Zichu was preoccupied and didn't dwell on it. After finishing his tea, he said seriously, "Today is the third day. By now, Prince Ning and the others should have arrived in the capital. Could they be on their way..."

He didn't say anything more; he didn't want to utter anything unlucky.

Zhan Zhao knew exactly what he wanted to say. The same thought had been lingering in his mind for the past few days. Although he tried his best to get rid of it and distract himself, three days and nights had passed since the sun rose and set, and there was still no news from them. How could he feel at ease?

No matter how much it is delayed, we should arrive in the capital by tomorrow at the latest.

If it's tomorrow... he took a deep breath: then something bad has probably happened.

Seeing that he remained silent, Wu Zichu became somewhat anxious and said with regret, "If I had known, I shouldn't have left Prince Ning that day."

Just as Zhan Zhao was about to speak, Zhao Hu's loud voice came from outside, rushing in: "Brother Zhan! Brother Zhan!"

Hearing that Zhao Hu's tone was different from usual, Zhan Zhao straightened up, his eyes fixed on Zhao Hu who had just entered—"Brother Zhan, a young lady has come in, saying she is Bai Baozhen's daughter..."

Wu Zichu jumped up from his chair, exclaiming joyfully, "We've finally arrived! Now we can rest easy!" He grabbed Zhao Hu, "Is Prince Ning also outside?"

Zhao Hu shook his head: "There was a young master with her, but it shouldn't be Prince Ning. That young master seems to be blind."

Upon seeing that he was blind, Zhan Zhao was taken aback. Could it be Xiao Chen? "Where is Miss Mo?"

Zhao Hufu shook his head: "I didn't see her either."

Could they have gotten separated? Anxious, Zhan Zhao grabbed his outer robe from the bedside and struggled to get out of bed. Zhao Hu quickly stepped forward to stop him: "Brother Zhan, don't forget, Master Gongsun forbids you from getting out of bed!"

"It's okay, my leg is much better now."

"It takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone or tendon, you..."

Zhao Hu wanted to dissuade him, but saw Zhan Zhao already donning his outer robe and staggering out, so he had no choice but to hurry after him. Wu Zichu followed closely behind.

Author's Note: A huge thank you to the ladies who wrote long reviews for Lion! Knowing that my writing is appreciated and heartwarming is truly a happy thing. At first, I didn't understand why only one piece was included in the long review section, but then I realized that Jinjiang requires reviews to be over 1000 words to be considered long reviews—it's so inhumane! In Lion's heart, there's no difference in word count; it's all about the warm happiness. Thank you again!

Chapter Forty-Seven

In the outer hall, a frail, pale, and haggard woman was sitting and resting, while a man leaned against the table beside her, looking impatient. It was Bai Yingyu and Xiao Chen.

"Lord Zhan!" As soon as Zhan Zhao entered the room, Bai Yingyu quickly stood up. Seeing him seemed to immediately calm her down.

Before Zhan Zhao could speak, Wu Zichu hurriedly asked, "Where is Prince Ning? Isn't he with you?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Chen turned to Zhan Zhao, his face deathly pale, and slowly said, "So, Xiao Qi hasn't returned yet?"

"What exactly happened?" Zhan Zhao asked in a deep voice.

Bai Yingyu bit her lip: "We ran into assassins in Zhangjiadian on the outskirts of the city and got separated. What if they..."

Xiao Chen remained silent for a long time, then suddenly turned to leave. Bai Yingyu quickly grabbed him, saying anxiously, "Brother Xiao, I know you're worried about Xiao Qi, but your eyesight is poor. How will you find her? Besides, the city gates are already closed..."

Before she could finish speaking, Xiao Chen forcefully shoved her hand away, but then another person grabbed him tightly.

"Brother Xiao, wait a moment, I'll go with you." It was Zhan Zhao's voice.

Zhan Zhao then turned his head and ordered in a deep voice, "Zhang Long and Zhao Hu, please each lead two teams of constables and follow me out of the city."

"yes."

Zhang Long and Zhao Hu accepted the order and left.

“I’ll go with you too.”

Wu Zichu stepped forward, sword in hand, and frowned, saying, "So, Prince Ning is with Xiao Qi?"

“That should be it.” Bai Yingyu frowned as she recalled the situation. “I remember Xiao Qi tried to distract them by driving the carriage away. At that time, His Highness Prince Ning hadn’t even gotten out of the carriage yet.”

Wu Zichu couldn't help but sigh: Prince Ning, when will you change your slow and sluggish nature?

“I’ll go with you too,” Bai Yingyu said softly.

"Absolutely not!" Zhan Zhao categorically rejected the idea. "The assassins are most likely after you. You are not allowed to leave the Fengfu government office before the case is closed."

The moon was bright and the stars were few. As Zhan Zhao and his party left the east gate of Kaifeng, the road towards Zhangjiadian was very quiet, unlike during the day. Crows rose and fell as horses passed by, and a few phosphorescent lights could be seen flickering in the distance.

After traveling nearly two miles, they still hadn't found any trace of Ning Jin and Mo Yan. Zhan Zhao reined in his horse, dismounted, and squatted down to examine the tire tracks on the ground. Unfortunately, this road was a major thoroughfare into the capital, and countless carriages and horses had passed through during the day, leaving countless tire tracks and hoofprints that were impossible to distinguish.

Zhan Zhao hesitated for a moment, then said, "Let's split up. Zhang Long, you head from here towards Zhangjiadian and search the surrounding area. Zhao Hu, come with me to Zhangjiadian. Brother Zichu, Brother Xiao, you..."

"I'm searching the area with Zhang Long," Wu Zichu said quickly. He figured that since the attack happened at Zhangjiadian, Ning Jin was unlikely to still be there at the time, but rather on his way into the city.

Xiao Chen tugged on the reins and said calmly, "We might find clues if we go back to Zhangjiadian." He meant that he would go back to Zhangjiadian with Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao said no more, mounted his horse, and headed towards Zhangjiadian.

Zhangjiadian was an extremely small town, with a population of no more than a hundred, so it only had two constables. At this moment, these two constables were also troubled: they were hesitating whether they should report the chaos that had occurred in the town at midday.

The sudden arrival of Zhan Zhao and his entourage startled them. Hearing that this fourth-rank imperial bodyguard, whom they had long heard of but never met, had something to ask them, they quickly dressed and went to Zhan Zhao to answer his questions.

"Those three outsiders arrived in town two days ago. They paid the innkeeper for five days' rent and asked him to keep an eye out for girls with Suzhou accents, saying they were waiting for a relative. Little did they know they wanted to kill her. Sure enough, around noon today, a few guests arrived, one of whom was this young master..." The older constable pointed to Xiao Chen next to Zhan Zhao.