Under the night sky.

There was only one torch in the courtyard, and the light was very dim.

Xie Xian was brought before a man in his forties by two people.

A group of people chattered in a language Xie Xian couldn’t understand. Her fear spread rapidly, and she couldn’t help trembling all over.

“I’ve inquired—tomorrow at dawn, the city gates will open for one hour.” The man said in a low voice. “In Great Jin, there’s a phrase called ‘luring the snake out of its hole,’ which basically means luring us out. Even knowing it’s a trap, we must take this opportunity to leave through the city gates. Do you all have confidence?”

A man said in a rough voice: “Just knock her unconscious and stuff her in a hidden compartment of the carriage to take her out.”

“Ha, you think you’re so smart, treating everyone else as fools. Those officials and soldiers will definitely thoroughly search the carriages—you’re just delivering your head on a platter.”

“We still need to make her cooperate obediently, disguising as a family of three going to visit relatives in another place.” The man pondered. “Put a human skin mask on her and dress her up as a boy.”

“Getting her to obediently comply isn’t hard at all!”

“Slap!”

Xie Xian stood there when suddenly, a vicious slap landed on her face.

That person grabbed her collar and slapped her back and forth several times.

She was beaten dizzy, seeing stars.

But she stubbornly bit her lips, enduring without crying out.

“Enough, don’t hit her face.” The leader spoke up. “If you ruin her face, people will see something’s wrong at a glance. Don’t create trouble for yourself.”

The only person from Great Jin present walked before Xie Xian and said with a smile: “Tomorrow morning, I’ll take you out of the city. At that time, no matter who asks you, just say your name is Chen Cai, you’re six years old, and you’re going to Qingzhou to visit your seriously ill maternal grandmother. Do you remember?”

Xie Xian shook her head: “No—I’m not Chen Cai. I want to go home to find my father. Let me go—I want to go home!”

She absolutely could not agree to these people’s demands.

If she handled things well here, these people would definitely spare energy to deal with Changsheng and Shiyun.

She had to stall for time. The longer she delayed, the more opportunity Changsheng’s father and mother would have to find this place.

“My father is the Crown Prince. You captured me—my father won’t let you off!” Xie Xian cried out. “Let me go, and I can beg my father to spare your lives… mmph!”

The man grabbed her by the throat.

“You little brat, daring to threaten me! So what if your father is the Crown Prince? Didn’t we still capture his daughter!” The man sneered and grabbed Xie Xian’s hair. “I’ll ask you one more time—will you cooperate or not!”

Xie Xian struggled violently: “No—I won’t…”

Since these people wanted to take her away, they definitely wouldn’t kill her. As long as she didn’t cooperate, she could hold these people back and stall for time…

“Someone come, teach this girl a lesson!”

An old woman walked out of the room, taking out a small cloth bag from her clothes containing silver needles.

She pressed Xie Xian to the ground, took out a thin, small needle, and slowly pushed it through Xie Xian’s scalp.

Xie Xian’s whole body turned cold with terror. The intense pain made her unable to help screaming out in agony, as if she were about to die.

Just like that, one needle was pushed into her head.

“Little County Princess, if you don’t cooperate tomorrow, your head will be full of needles, and you’ll become an idiot afterward. Will you be good?”

“Let—let me go!” Xie Xian cried loudly. “My father won’t let you off…”

That old woman picked up a second needle, found the acupoint, and pushed it in once more…

Just then, a small lackey hurried over: “Boss, bad news—those two children escaped and even killed one of our men!”

“What?! What a useless thing, damn it!” The leader cursed loudly. “Arrange for some people to chase them. Also, we can’t stay in this place—knock her unconscious, quick, change locations!”

Everyone in the courtyard became busy.

Xie Xian was knocked unconscious, stuffed into a burlap sack, and thrown into a carriage.

The group had just opened the rear gate of the courtyard preparing to evacuate when they saw firelight in the distance—it was the search team approaching.

At this time, every household was shut tight behind closed doors, yet this group was traveling by carriage—extremely suspicious. The search team headed directly toward them.

The leader lowered his voice: “I’ll hold them off. You quickly take the County Princess and run. You must bring the County Princess back alive to the Dongling Kingdom!”

As soon as he finished speaking, from the carriage behind him, a black-clothed person picked up the child, leaped onto a horse, and with a loud shout, the horse galloped out like a gale.

“Quick, stop him!” Chengxu shouted. “You few, quickly go notify His Highness the Crown Prince!”

While speaking, he pulled the reins and swept past the leader, chasing the horse ahead.

The curved blade in the leader’s hand slashed across the belly of Chengxu’s horse. The horse let out a miserable cry.

“You’re not allowed to fall!” Chengxu kicked the horse’s belly. “If you fall, you’ll die here. Follow me in pursuit, and I’ll get an imperial physician to treat you and have you credited with great merit!”

The horse had no choice but to keep going, following Chengxu in pursuit. But having been injured after all, it couldn’t run fast. Chengxu watched helplessly as the horse carrying the child ahead disappeared from sight.

At this very moment, Chu Yi and Yun Chu were searching in the west of the city.

Two manor soldiers rushed over at top speed: “Your Highness Crown Prince, Crown Princess, Chief Cheng has discovered suspicious persons in the east of the city—they fled in this northeastern direction!”

In Chu Yi’s mind, all the major roads, minor roads, and alleys in the capital where horses could run immediately appeared.

While thinking, he had already pulled tight the reins.

Just as he was about to speak, Yun Chu said: “Looking at the route he fled, he’ll ultimately either go to Hua’an Road or be blocked in Meihua Alley. I’ll go to Meihua Alley—you go to Hua’an Road. Hyah!”

Without waiting for Chu Yi’s response, she rode her horse toward Meihua Alley.

Chu Yi arranged for two-thirds of the people to follow Yun Chu. The remaining people went with him, taking a shortcut straight to Hua’an Road.

This was the longest road in the capital, a necessary route to many places. Because of the nighttime search, there wasn’t a single person on this bustling street.

“Clop clop clop!”

He heard the sound of hoofbeats approaching.

He waved his hand, and everyone entered an alert state.

The man carrying Xie Xian was from the Dongling Kingdom and was the second-in-command of this gang. He had just emerged from an alley when he sensed something was wrong.

But there was nowhere else to go in the surrounding area. To reach their second hideout in the capital, he had to pass through this road.

While riding the horse, he vigilantly observed the surroundings.

Suddenly, an arrow came flying through the air.

His body suddenly bent low, dodging the arrow. Then he grabbed the burlap sack from the horse’s back and said in stiff, unpracticed Great Jin language: “I want to see whether your arrows are faster or my blade is faster!”

He took his long blade and cut open the burlap sack, revealing a little girl wearing a dress.

The little girl’s dress was very dirty, her hair disheveled covering her face, her whole body limp and soft as she was grasped in the opponent’s hands. One look was enough to know she had suffered greatly.

Chu Yi’s breathing suddenly caught.