Vaguely visible among the crowd were people dressed in coarse linen clothes, looking like ordinary commoners, moving swiftly through the masses—except they carried gleaming long blades in their hands. The common people panicked and ran in all directions, making the crowd even more unbearably congested. The cries of children, the curses of people being knocked down, and the sounds of assassins’ blades slicing through skin were incessant.

“Heavens!” Tong’er’s face turned pale. “Someone is killing people!”

“Don’t be afraid,” Jiang Li said calmly. “The City Guard troops are nearby. When they hear the commotion, they’ll rush over immediately.” Just as she finished speaking, their own carriage suddenly stopped and moved no more. At the same time, a scream came from the coachman.

Tong’er was so frightened she trembled, but still reached out to shield Jiang Li behind her. Baixue said, “Miss, we can’t stay in the carriage. The manor’s carriage is too conspicuous. We need to hide…”

The carriage curtain was suddenly yanked open. A strange middle-aged man appeared abruptly before them. His eyes gleamed with malice, holding a curved blade. In one swift movement he leaped onto the carriage. Tong’er screamed and pushed Jiang Li down from the carriage, then rushed forward herself. The blade swung over. Jiang Li only saw Tong’er’s arm block forward, and a line of blood blurred her vision. Baixue, with her tall build, blocked the entrance, saying, “Miss, run first! Go hide somewhere nearby!”

The man’s gaze flickered. In the moment Jiang Li and the blade-wielding man’s eyes met, Jiang Li suddenly understood—this person was coming for her! She glanced at Baixue and Tong’er still in the carriage. The man indeed abandoned Baixue and Tong’er and came toward her instead. Jiang Li bit her teeth and turned to run into the crowd.

The crowd was filled with wailing and crying everywhere. The ground was covered with trampled blood—it was simply like hell on earth.

The City Guard troops arrived quickly. But in just the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, those people immediately dropped their curved blades and swiftly escaped. Because they wore ordinary commoners’ clothing, it was impossible to distinguish them clearly. Now with people everywhere, for a time the City Guard troops could do nothing about them and could only watch helplessly as they disappeared into the crowd. When they finally managed to catch one person in the act of committing violence and had just subdued him, before they could escort him for interrogation, the man suddenly clenched his teeth tightly. A trace of fresh blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. He slowly collapsed, breathless.

He was actually a death warrior with poison hidden in his teeth. Once captured, he would bite through the wax pill and commit suicide. No one could extract their truth.

“What’s going on?” The leading City Guard commander was furious. “Can’t even catch one person! These people are death warriors—why would they harm ordinary commoners for no reason!”

A subordinate beside him asked, “Could it be the Xirong…”

“Impossible! The Xirong people were driven deep into the desert by General Jinwu back then. They can’t amount to anything now. How could they come to Yanjing? Besides, the common people said these people look like Northern Yan natives. If they were Xirong people, you could tell at a glance. How could they easily blend into the crowd?”

“No matter what, sir, pacifying the common people is urgent,” the subordinate said.

Crying sounds were everywhere. Those common people had been walking on the street perfectly well today—there were even street vendors, idle folks drinking tea in teahouses. Then inexplicably this group of people appeared among them, hacking and killing indiscriminately. In just this short time, who knew how many lives were lost. Many people had also been separated from their relatives in the chaos. Right before them was a mother with disheveled hair who had lost a shoe while running, but she couldn’t care about that now. She cried while calling her child’s name.

Tong’er collapsed by the carriage. The moment the assassin charged into the carriage, Tong’er had used her own arm to block the blade swinging toward Jiang Li. Now her wound was still bleeding. Baixue tore off a corner of her own skirt to bandage it. Tong’er had already fainted from the pain. Baixue temporarily placed Tong’er in a relatively safe place. With City Guard troops watching nearby, nothing should go wrong. However, she herself was still worried about Jiang Li, not knowing where Jiang Li was now.

The City Guard troops were now stationed at the scene. The uninjured common people had all immediately gone home. The injured had also been sent to nearby medical halls. Only those who had lost relatives or been separated from them still remained at the scene. But there were far fewer people than at the beginning—at least at a glance, one could distinguish who was who.

Baixue walked while looking around in all directions. She didn’t dare call out Jiang Li’s name, so she could only call out loudly, “Miss! Miss!”

There were quite a few others similar to her, so her calls weren’t the most conspicuous. But this short stretch of street—if Jiang Li had escaped, she couldn’t possibly have left this area. She would definitely hear Baixue’s voice. Moreover, the Jiang family’s carriage was still in place. Though the coachman was dead, as long as Jiang Li saw the carriage, she would follow the sound to find them.

But… no. There was no answer from Jiang Li.

Baixue refused to give up and called out two more times in succession. By now, aside from the families of those who had died, there were almost no people left. Even those separated from relatives had all found them. Baixue’s appearance attracted the attention of the soldiers. A young guard asked Baixue, “Miss, who are you looking for?”

“My young miss…” Baixue said anxiously. “She… she was also in the crowd just now. We got separated. Big brother, can you help me find her?”

The young soldier said, “This street has been searched thoroughly. All the missing people have been found. You’re saying your young miss still hasn’t been found? Your manor’s young miss is…”

“Searched thoroughly?” Baixue’s heart turned ice-cold. She couldn’t help but step back twice.

……

Early in the morning, Ye Mingyu had begun having the manor’s cooks bustle about.

Since yesterday, those responsible for shopping had begun speculating what good dishes to make today. Every time Jiang Li came, Ye Mingyu always wished he could bring out the best things for her. Although there were no women in the Ye manor, they still needed a cook. Appetite was a major matter in life. Besides, his family had sent him to Yanjing to properly take care of his nephew’s food and clothing, right?

Moreover, their family didn’t lack silver—they had plenty.

The table was already filled with a dazzling array of dishes. Those who didn’t know might think it was some old madam’s birthday banquet, such a bountiful spread. Ye Shijie had also returned to the manor. Haitang supported Xue Huaiyuan as he walked out.

Ye Shijie asked, “Hasn’t Jiang Li arrived yet?”

Ashun shook his head. “The gatekeepers are watching. Still no movement.”

“Strange,” Ye Mingyu said. “That girl A’li is usually most punctual. She’s even afraid of making us wait for her. Why has she been delayed so long today? If we wait any longer, the food will get cold.”

“Could something have happened?” Ye Shijie frowned.

“Bah, bah, bah,” Ye Mingyu knocked his head once. “Is that how you talk about your cousin? Besides, what kind of place is this? Yanjing, right under the emperor’s feet. Your cousin is also the eldest miss of the Jiang family. What could happen? In broad daylight—could she be kidnapped?”

“Yanjing also has bandits,” Haitang couldn’t help saying.

“What bandits? Our family is the biggest bandits. Who dares out-bandit us? That would be showing off in front of experts. Who dares bandit us—that’s like disturbing the earth on Taisui’s head. I, Ye Laosan, give one order, and all the brothers throughout the jianghu can help me…”

“Alright, alright,” Ye Shijie couldn’t stand listening anymore and interrupted him. “Why don’t we send someone to the Jiang family to ask if Jiang Li has been delayed by something and can’t come?”

Hearing this, Ye Mingyu’s expression also became tense. “That’s quite possible. The Jiang family is full of messy affairs. Could it be that A’li has been bullied at the Jiang family again? Why don’t I go take a look? I’m quite worried.”

Just as he finished saying this, Ashun, who had been squatting at the entrance, suddenly returned and said, “Master, someone from the Jiang family has come!”

He said “the Jiang family” rather than “Second Miss Jiang.” The several people at the table were all startled. This meant Jiang Li truly couldn’t come. Could something have happened?

Ashun brought the Jiang family’s servant into the room. The servant also looked like he had rushed over in great haste. His clothes still had dust on them, as if he had fallen several times on the road. His face was covered in sweat. As soon as he saw people, he opened his mouth: “Third Master Ye, our young miss has had an incident and can’t come!”

“An incident?” The several people in the room were all startled. Xue Huaiyuan also frowned.

“What incident?” Ye Mingyu said in his gruff voice. “Did Jiang Yuanbai bully her again?”

Ye Mingyu was a jianghu man after all. When facing Jiang Li, he was all smiles, but when facing others, his bandit air showed layer by layer. The scar on his face also made people wary.

The servant shook his head repeatedly. “No, no. Second Miss left by carriage for the Ye manor early this morning. On the road, she encountered bandits killing people. In the chaos, the miss disappeared and can’t be found now. The master has gone crazy and is having soldiers search all of Yanjing!”

“What!” Ye Shijie also stood up.

“What bandits killing people incident?” Xue Huaiyuan asked.

The servant said, “This lowly one doesn’t know very clearly either. I just heard that half an hour ago, on a road not far from here, a group of people suddenly appeared. That group wore ordinary commoners’ clothing, mixed in the crowd shouting and killing, killed over a dozen people. When they finally caught one murderer, he swallowed poison. This lowly one heard people say those people were death warriors, but no one knows what they came to do.”

Xue Huaiyuan asked again, “How many people went missing like Miss Jiang?”

The servant’s face looked extremely ugly. “Only our young miss.”

As these words came out, the expressions of several people in the room varied. Ye Mingyu was so anxious he drew the blade from his waist in one motion and cursed, “Damn it! That girl A’li couldn’t have been kidnapped, could she?”

“This is bad.” The speaker was Xue Huaiyuan. Several people in the room looked toward him. Xue Huaiyuan said in a deep voice, “These people are death warriors. They must have come with a purpose. But I heard they only injured ordinary common people. If it were to create chaos among the people, they could have worn more panic-inducing attire, caused more casualties, then committed suicide. But they needed to blend in among ordinary commoners, which shows it was to facilitate escape. This indicates they still needed to accomplish their objective. From beginning to end, only Miss Jiang went missing, which shows their target was Miss Jiang. They came for Miss Jiang. Those dozen or so dead commoners were merely sacrificial decoys to kidnap Miss Jiang.”

Xue Huaiyuan’s voice was very gentle, unhurried, but the words he spoke were chilling. Ye Mingyu frowned. “Really? But A’li is Jiang Yuanbai’s daughter. Who in Yanjing would dare deliberately go against Jiang Yuanbai?”

But Ye Shijie said, “Master Xue is right.”

“Is Miss Jiang really in danger? Who could have done this?” Haitang couldn’t help asking.

“In Yanjing, there are very few who dare move against the Jiang family. Actually, it’s quite simple to guess. Nine times out of ten, it’s either Consort Dowager Liu or Prince Cheng. Of course, there’s also the Right Chancellor, but the Right Chancellor has no reason to target a girl like Jiang Li specifically, so Consort Dowager Liu and Prince Cheng are most suspect,” Ye Shijie said.

Xue Huaiyuan nodded. “Correct.”

“Prince Cheng and Consort Dowager Liu? Is there any evidence to directly settle accounts with them?” Ye Mingyu said impatiently.

“This is only our speculation, Master Ye,” Xue Huaiyuan said. “Right now the most important thing is to find Miss Jiang’s whereabouts, not take revenge. The Jiang family has extensive power in Yanjing. To ensure safety, they will definitely try to send Miss Jiang out of the city. I think we should carefully question people and horses passing through the city gates.”

Ye Mingyu slung his blade onto his back. “I’ll go call the brothers over!”

“I’ll go out and take a look,” Ye Shijie said. “At the City Guard, I also know a few people. I’ll go talk to them. Master Xue, please stay at the manor. Once we get any news, please take charge here, Master Xue.” Ye Shijie instructed.

“Alright,” Xue Huaiyuan answered. “Please be careful with everything.”