“Prince Ye has gone missing.”

“Prince Ye’s gone missing? When did this happen?”

“It happened a while back. I heard the Emperor’s been searching for him this whole time.”

Nearby, the chatter of a few townsfolk caught Feng Jiu’er’s attention.

She took the teacup Zhao Yusheng handed her, frowning, and shook her head.

Zhao Yusheng nodded slightly, glanced past Feng Jiu’er’s shoulder, and said nothing more.

“Do you think the pirates the magistrate mentioned have anything to do with Prince Ye’s disappearance?” the man in white robes said in a low voice.

“Who can say for certain?” the man in gray robes said, picking up his teacup and shaking his head.

“I heard a while back that Prince Ye went missing, and the Emperor’s been secretly searching for him ever since.” the man in black robes said, glancing at the other three at the table.

“And I heard that even now, the Emperor still hasn’t found Prince Ye.”

“So where exactly did Prince Ye go?” the man in blue robes asked, setting down his teacup.

“Who knows?” the man in gray robes shook his head again.

“Wasn’t it said before that the Fourth Princess had returned? The Emperor even had her choose a consort, and it caused quite a stir.” the man in white robes said.

“Then somehow nothing more came of it, and now there’s word that Prince Ye’s gone missing.”

“Do you think Prince Ye’s disappearance has anything to do with the pirates the magistrate mentioned?”

“Prince Ye’s martial arts are formidable — how could mere pirates possibly be his match?” the man in black robes glanced at the man in white.

“Still, Prince Ye’s disappearance is definitely real. Just a few days ago, my son-in-law, who works at court, was still talking about it.”

“Here you go, your dishes are ready.”

The waiter’s voice pulled Feng Jiu’er and Zhao Yusheng back to attention, and the two of them looked at the food being set down.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zhao Yusheng noticed something move. His gaze fell on the compass, and his expression shifted at once.

Feng Jiu’er, sensing the change in Zhao Yusheng’s demeanor, looked at the compass too.

The compass, which had been still all along, now showed a faint tremor.

“It didn’t move at all back on the street, so that means it’s in that direction.” Zhao Yusheng glanced toward the interior of the food stall.

Feng Jiu’er nodded and picked up her bowl and chopsticks. “Let’s fill our stomachs first.”

Zhao Yusheng nodded and said nothing more.

In less than a quarter of an hour after the food arrived, the two of them had cleared the table and left the stall.

Zhao Yusheng bought a horse, and the two of them rode together, turning onto a small path behind the food stall.

Once they left the main street, all around was either forest or open fields, with no one in sight the whole way.

Feng Jiu’er sat behind Zhao Yusheng, holding the compass.

It was a horse they’d only use once and then abandon, so Feng Jiu’er certainly had no wish to buy another.

Now that they’d arrived in the Phoenix Clan’s territory, there were still many places they’d need money, so it couldn’t be wasted.

“Jiu’er, how is it? Is the compass shaking harder now?”

“Yes.” Feng Jiu’er, holding the compass and sitting behind Zhao Yusheng, nodded. “If this method works, the direction should be correct.”

“Good.” Zhao Yusheng pulled the reins tight. “Hyah!”

Feng Jiu’er looked at the figure in front of her, then after a moment asked quietly, “Zhao Yusheng, did you hear what those people were saying just now?”

“Mm.” Zhao Yusheng nodded. “Jiu’er, do you believe the person who took Prince Ye wasn’t Feng Qiongcang?”

“The person who took my father was slender, more like a woman — it definitely wasn’t Feng Qiongcang.” Feng Jiu’er said, lowering her head to look at the compass, her tone growing somewhat heavy.

“But is this matter really unrelated to Feng Qiongcang?”

“Jiu’er, don’t dwell on it too much. If it wasn’t Feng Qiongcang, mightn’t that actually be good news?” Zhao Yusheng’s voice rang out.

“Think about it — Feng Qiongcang is currently the most formidable person in the Phoenix Clan. Rescuing Prince Ye from his hands certainly wouldn’t be easy.”

“But if it were someone less powerful than Feng Qiongcang, wouldn’t things be a bit simpler?”

“We can’t fully trust what those men said either. In a few more days, once all the brothers have landed, we’ll go look for Prince Ye together.”

Feng Jiu’er frowned and looked ahead.

What Zhao Yusheng said wasn’t unreasonable, but if the person who’d taken her father wasn’t Feng Qiongcang, then who could it be?

Feng Jiu’er and Zhao Yusheng found the formation’s source and successfully broke the Wusheng formation.

By the time they returned to that same bustling street, it wasn’t the first time Qiao Mu and Jian Yi had come back to buy grain.

To avoid drawing the enemy’s attention, the four of them each bought another batch of grain separately before disappearing into the street once more.

The group split into two paths, heading toward the cliff where they’d land, finally reuniting at the cliff’s edge.

Qiao Mu and Jian Yi loaded their grain onto the boat, then went back ashore.

With Zhao Yusheng around, Feng Jiu’er didn’t carry any grain herself, only two light bags of buns.

Once Jian Yi got off the boat, Zhao Yusheng climbed aboard.

“Jiu’er, come up and rest a while.” Zhao Yusheng reached out a hand to Feng Jiu’er from the boat.

Just then, everyone heard the sound of hoofbeats almost at the same moment.

“Not good, someone’s caught up to us.” Feng Jiu’er turned back to look at Jian Yi and Qiao Mu.

But Jian Yi and Qiao Mu didn’t immediately retreat — instead, they strode forward and lifted up a patch of reeds.

Only then did Feng Jiu’er and Zhao Yusheng realize that during the time they’d been away breaking the formation, Jian Yi and Qiao Mu had already gathered this much grain.

“Jian Yi, Qiao Mu, throw it over.” Zhao Yusheng called out softly.

No one wanted to abandon grain they’d worked so hard to bring out.

The brothers were still starving on the ship — the grain here wouldn’t be enough for everyone, but it would let them all have at least some porridge.

Qiao Mu and Jian Yi tossed the grain onto the boat sack by sack, paying no attention to the approaching troops.

Feng Jiu’er watched the grain being thrown over and didn’t intervene either.

The two on shore threw, the two on the boat caught.

The four of them worked together seamlessly, and the grain on shore was quickly all loaded onto the boat.

A dozen or so men in black suddenly leaped up together, flying toward Qiao Mu and Jian Yi.

Qiao Mu and Jian Yi moved faster than they did — both leaped lightly aboard, and the boat sped off at once.

By the time the men in black reached the cliff’s edge, the small boat carrying the four of them and a load of grain had already pulled away from the coast.

Feng Jiu’er glanced at the approaching ships in the distance and sent a palm strike toward the cliff’s edge — the men in black, even at that distance, cried out one after another and collapsed.

And the small boat carrying the four of them sped on even faster.

Before long, the boat had outrun all the pursuing ships and left the coastline far behind.

The orange-red sun was gradually sinking toward the sea’s surface — night wasn’t far off either.

Before sunset, the fully loaded boat finally caught up with the fleet.

To keep their fleet from being discovered, Zhao Yusheng took a different route.

It cost them some time, but at least it spared them some unnecessary trouble.