The imposing man crashed to the ground, and the mountain rocks seemed to tremble, just like Lin Hao’s violently shaking heart.

Fortunately, that embrace lasted only an instant before Qi Shuo released his hands.

“Are you alright?” He tried his utmost to restrain his emotions, but his voice still trembled.

Lin Hao’s expression was dazed.

She had been fine before, but now she had a problem.

What was going on with the Heir of Prince Jing?

“Heir, how did you come here?” After recovering, Lin Hao squeezed out a sentence.

“Qiong’er went back to report. Both the General’s Manor and the Prince’s Manor sent people out to search for you.” Qi Shuo opened his hand—in his palm was a crabapple pearl hairpin. “I found this on a tree branch and searched my way here.”

Lin Hao glanced at the crabapple pearl hairpin: “I dropped it.”

While feigning unconsciousness, she had taken advantage of the two men’s inattention to drop a pearl hairpin, hoping to secure one more thread of hope for herself and her sister. She hadn’t expected the one who found it would be the Heir of Prince Jing.

Qi Shuo lowered his eyes, staring at the imposing man on the ground, killing intent surging in his gaze: “I came too late.”

Lin Hao smiled and shook her head: “I never imagined we could be found this quickly.”

“Um… did the Heir come alone?” Lin Chan asked, suppressing her shock.

She didn’t want to break this strange yet harmonious atmosphere either, but dragging a man was too exhausting.

“Miss Lin, you weren’t injured, were you?” Qi Shuo’s face appeared to have recovered its composure.

Lin Chan found it somewhat amusing.

If she had really waited to be rescued, by the time the Heir of Prince Jing thought of her, she would probably be stone cold. From this, it was clear Second Sister held an unusual place in the Heir of Prince Jing’s heart.

“Thanks to Second Sister’s early preparation, we escaped. Isn’t the search party with the Heir?”

“We split into many groups to search for you. I could move faster alone, so we separated.” Qi Shuo bent down to lift the imposing man.

Lin Hao spoke to stop him: “Let me do it.”

Qi Shuo looked at her.

Lin Hao pointed at the person on the ground: “They abducted us in broad daylight. If people see we were rescued by the Heir, who knows what speculations might arise. It’s better if Elder Sister and I bring them back ourselves.”

After thinking briefly, Qi Shuo understood Lin Hao’s meaning.

“How long will they remain unconscious?”

“About one hour.” As Lin Hao spoke, she reached out to drag the imposing man.

“Wait a moment.” Qi Shuo spoke up and pulled Lin Hao’s hand over.

The young lady’s hand was soft and fair, but her palm was covered with bloodstains.

Qi Shuo’s thin lips pressed tightly together as he took out a white handkerchief to wrap her wound.

“There’s no need.” Lin Hao pulled her hand back.

If others saw this, they might question how there would be time to attend to such things in this situation.

Qi Shuo gripped her hand: “No need to be so thorough. If we don’t treat it, you’re the one who suffers.”

And it pained him too.

Lin Hao silently allowed Qi Shuo to bandage her palm, able to feel her eldest sister’s curious gaze that she could barely contain.

“Done.” Qi Shuo released her hand, picked up the imposing man, then reached for the shorter man. “Miss Lin, give me this person too.”

Lin Chan couldn’t help but look toward Lin Hao.

Qi Shuo carried one in each hand, dragging them outside while explaining: “I know the approximate location of the search party nearest here. When we get close, I’ll give them back to you.”

Lin Hao hesitated somewhat: “Dragging two people is quite exhausting…”

Qi Shuo’s steps paused, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

Was his sickly image so deeply rooted in A’Hao’s heart?

Lin Chan also said: “That’s right, Heir, we can do it ourselves.”

Although it seemed the Heir of Prince Jing particularly cared about Second Sister, he did have a heart condition after all. If he overexerted himself, that would be troublesome.

Qi Shuo fell silent, then quickened his pace dragging the men.

From behind came Lin Chan’s voice, deliberately lowered: “Second Sister, can the Heir of Prince Jing manage this?”

Qi Shuo: “…”

With someone bearing the burden ahead, Lin Hao and Lin Chan were much more relaxed. Lin Chan had a bellyful of questions she wanted to ask her sister, but constrained by Qi Shuo’s presence, she could only suppress them. She spoke about the two men: “Second Sister, do you think these two were targeting Prince Wei?”

“Most likely.”

Lin Chan slowly shook her head: “I can’t quite understand it. Prince Wei is just an idle prince—what benefit is there in going after him?”

There was no competition whatsoever between the Crown Prince and Prince Wei. Others had even less reason to provoke the Emperor’s precious son.

“I can’t figure it out either at the moment.”

Qi Shuo suddenly spoke: “I received news that the Crown Prince’s left hand can’t grip things—it’s essentially useless.”

Lin Hao and Lin Chan immediately showed surprise.

Lin Chan thought perhaps the Crown Prince, having lost the use of his left hand, felt threatened by Prince Wei, leading to today’s events. The waves in Lin Hao’s heart were even more turbulent.

In her previous life, the Crown Prince who supervised the state clearly had a perfectly good left hand!

Like her teacher entering the palace, this was another thing different from her previous life.

“We’ll discuss it in detail later.” Qi Shuo cut off the topic, stopped walking, and pointed in a direction. “Going from this direction, you should quickly encounter people searching for you. I’ll wait until you’ve reunited with them, then circle around to find you.”

Lin Hao nodded: “Mm.”

Qi Shuo threw the two men to the ground and quickly disappeared among the vegetation.

Lin Hao and Lin Chan each dragged one man, heading in that direction.

Compared to Lin Hao who managed fairly easily, Lin Chan found dragging the shorter man somewhat laborious. Before long she was panting and covered in sweat.

For the first time, she felt regret: “If I’d known, I should have followed Grandfather in martial training like Second Sister.”

Lin Hao thought of the dissatisfaction she’d seen in her father’s eyes when she practiced horse stance as a child.

She didn’t care about it.

Physical hardship allowed her to pass long, silent hours and still hear Grandfather’s hearty laughter.

Lin Hao’s silence made Lin Chan realize her mistake.

She shouldn’t have mentioned Grandfather—Second Sister had especially deep feelings for Grandfather.

“Second Sister, is that the sound of footsteps?” Lin Chan changed the subject.

Lin Hao also heard chaotic, hurried footsteps.

The wind was strong and the grass low—they could see a group not far away walking in this direction.

“Elder Sister, hold on a bit longer.” Lin Hao dragged the imposing man and quickened her pace.

Someone sharp-eyed in the group cried out in surprise: “Look over there—isn’t that the two young ladies from the General’s Manor?”

Quite a few people looked over at the sound, somewhat hesitant: “Can’t be, right? Weren’t they abducted by evildoers?”

These two young ladies clearly had freedom of movement—they were just walking rather slowly.

Wait!

As the Lin sisters drew near, everyone saw the people being dragged on the ground.

Two men—one still had black cloth covering his face, while the other’s black cloth had fallen off somewhere, revealing his true appearance.

Were these… the evildoers who had abducted the two young ladies from the General’s Manor?

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Because this scene was too bizarre, they momentarily forgot to speak.

Qi Huan happened to be in this group. Watching the Lin sisters, his words came out tangled: “Miss Lin, Miss Lin—”

Lin Hao’s eyes reddened, showing an expression of relieved burden: “Thank goodness! We finally encountered people. Are you here to rescue us?”

Everyone’s expressions were complicated.

Originally yes, but looking at the situation, it seemed unnecessary…

Qi Huan was extremely curious: “Second Miss Lin, these couldn’t be the people who abducted you, could they?”

Right at this moment, the imposing man woke up.

“You wretched girl—”

Lin Hao delivered a hand chop to the back of his neck and nodded to Qi Huan: “It’s them!”