Seeing the woman frantically running back with her head covered, the man quickly grabbed her arm and stopped her, asking, "What are you doing?"

The woman replied emotionally, "I'm going to the West Garden to find Yan'er; she must still be there."

The man angrily said, "If you go there so recklessly, you'll not only fail to save her, but you'll also get yourself killed!"

The woman said with great worry, "At this point, I can't worry about anything else. Yan'er isn't like me; she grew up surrounded by the young ladies of the mansion and has never experienced anything like this. Right now, she's probably hiding in some corner crying, she must be terrified. I have to save her! Let me go..."

As the woman spoke, she reached out with her other hand to try to pry open and break free from the man's hold, but she couldn't budge him an inch.

At this moment, the man's hand trembled violently, and he scolded, "Your impulsiveness is completely useless. Can you please calm down and let me finish what I have to say?"

The woman seemed genuinely intimidated by the man's stern expression and instantly fell silent.

The man finally released his grip, letting out a sigh of relief. "I told you, she should still be safe. I saw Long Ye today; he stayed home alone all day and didn't go out. Nothing happened at the Xiaolong Society either. But what's most suspicious right now is this silence, an unprecedented silence. I've thought about it, and there's only one possibility..."

"What is it?" the woman asked anxiously.

The man gave her a deep look and said, "Clearly, they didn't know each other at first, but bumped into each other by chance in the front yard. The reason they fell into the pond must be that they were accidentally discovered and did this to avoid being captured. The West Garden is located at the very back of the Xiaolong Society, and the back gate is extremely well-guarded. They definitely couldn't escape. They had no choice but to return along the same route, trying to find me to hide in, but I..."

The man is now increasingly realizing how careless he was to have allowed the two men to be caught right under his nose.

He stood with one hand behind his back, gazing at the seemingly calm lake that was actually brewing a storm, for a moment, before continuing:

"As I hurriedly left to investigate in the front courtyard, they must have been discovered by Long Ye's men. Long Ye was afraid that people would find out he had also captured a tea-brewing maid while capturing the assassin, and that the gang leader would be furious with him later. So he ordered his men to keep this news completely secret. If I'm not mistaken, they must have been secretly imprisoned by Long Ye in a very secluded place that few people know about..."

Before he could finish speaking, the woman stared at him in astonishment, her eyes wide, and said anxiously, "What? Yan'er has been secretly imprisoned? But she's just a tea-brewing maid! Didn't Chief Long order that no one is allowed to touch us without his permission? Could it all be a lie? I almost believed he wasn't a complete bandit!"

"From what I can see, Chief Long is indeed no ordinary bandit. It's just that Long Ye has always outwardly obeyed but inwardly disobeyed Chief Long's orders," the man explained, exhaling a breath of stale air.

Upon hearing this, the woman immediately knelt down before him, pleading, "Please, save her, save Yan'er! She absolutely cannot be harmed! Otherwise, I..."

The woman was clearly unwilling to continue speaking, nor dared to think any further, and simply kept kowtowing to him one after another.

The stern-faced man quickly helped him up, saying confidently, "Don't worry, with me here, as long as we keep an eye on Long Ye, nothing should happen. The most important thing right now is that we must find the secret place where they are being held as soon as possible!"

At this point, Ruoxi finally understood why the two guards had stopped her from going up the mountain so early that morning. It turned out that something so serious had happened in the West Garden last night.

After a moment's thought, she picked up her horse, lowered her head, and stepped onto the suspension bridge, hurrying back towards the stone gate of the Xiaolong Society on the other side of the lake.

Just as he passed the two guards, he suddenly stopped and glared at them fiercely. The younger guard then stuck out his tongue at the older guard, seemingly helpless, before quickly following after him.

Knowing that the two had followed, Ruoxi walked on without turning her head, glancing sideways at the older guard behind her and asking in a deep voice, "You must know where those two people are being held, right?"

Unexpectedly, the older guard blurted out without even thinking, "I don't know."

Ruoxi seemed to have anticipated that the older guard would deal with her this way, so she turned her head to the younger guard behind her and said, "So it seems you don't know either?"

The young guard didn't dare to make a sound anymore, and just obediently followed with his head down.

"Hmph..." Ruoxi stared at the imposing stone gate in front of her, sneered, and as soon as she got off the suspension bridge, she leaped onto her horse and galloped away along the lakeside.

"Young lady, it's getting late. Let's hurry back! If we go any further, we'll reach the forbidden area of ​​the Swift Dragon Society!"

"We can't go any further, young lady, young lady..."

Upon seeing this, the two guards hurriedly shouted warnings at her back, but Ruoxi clearly couldn't hear a sound from her at all.

Helpless, the two had no choice but to quickly mount their horses and give chase.

When they reached the lakeside, they saw Ruoxi lost in thought, casually watering her horse. The older guard finally breathed a sigh of relief and stood behind her, saying with concern, "It's late, young lady, don't get so close to the lake, be careful not to slip."

Upon hearing the sound, Ruoxi immediately snapped out of her daze, snorted, dropped the reins, and went to the other side of the lake to continue gazing at the water in a daze.

So much has happened today; it's truly a case of 'one wave after another.' Now, facing this tranquil lake, she begins to sort out her thoughts.

She stood there for a moment, then suddenly began to stroll casually along the lakeshore. But after only a few steps, her foot slipped, and just as she was about to fall, the older guard rushed towards her with lightning speed and pulled her away from the lakeshore.

Startled by the fall and the pull, all the knots in Ruoxi's heart seemed to be instantly unleashed, and she became furious, shouting angrily at him, "Even now, you're still not going to tell me?"

Staring blankly at Ruoxi's eyes, which were already filled with uncontrollable rage, the older guard remained calm and said, "I have nothing to say."

"Fine, you won't talk, huh? Then from this moment on... I'll... I'll be grounded, go on a hunger strike, I'll starve to death, and see how you explain that to Chief Long."

Ruoxi was clearly at her wits' end with this incredibly stubborn man. She hadn't expected Long En to have such a loyal subordinate; it was truly his good fortune. So, she angrily uttered those harsh words and rode off on her horse.

...

At midnight, even in the city, it's already a time when it's hard to see anyone on the streets anymore.

As if afraid that the sound of his horse's hooves would disturb the sweet dreams of the sleeping people, Long En suddenly appeared slowly on the street, leading his horse and turning into an inconspicuous alley in the south of the city.

Even long before reaching the alley, the air was already filled with the enticing aroma of wine. As the saying goes, "Good wine needs no bush," and this was the location of Zuixianfang, a renowned establishment in the south of the city and even throughout the entire Western Qin Kingdom.

Long En's original plan for this trip was simply to visit an old friend at Xiqin Academy.

Unexpectedly, thinking that there were no women in the Xiaolong Society, the three women must be lacking in supplies, he detoured into the city and wandered around during the day, buying a lot of cosmetics, clothes, jewelry and other daily necessities for women.

Since he wouldn't receive the hairpin he ordered until later the next day, he took the opportunity to visit the wine shop.

Everything at the distillery was basically entrusted to a manager in his forties. At this moment, the old manager of Zuixian Distillery had been busy all day as usual, and his back was aching. He was about to close up shop and go to the backyard to rest when he caught sight of his boss leading his horse, carrying large and small bags, looking travel-worn. He quickly smiled and went down the stone steps to greet him: "Oh, boss, why are you so late today?"

However, Long En did not reply to him, but asked to himself in confusion, "Shopkeeper, what kind of wanted criminal is being hunted in this city? As I walk along, I see that every street and alley is covered with images of people."

As the shopkeeper took the reins from his hand, he said enthusiastically, "Oh, boss, you don't know, that's not a wanted criminal notice at all! It's the Qin Prince's Mansion in the east of the city offering a reward to find their missing female physician!"

Long En stepped over the threshold and sat down in his familiar corner. He chuckled and exclaimed in surprise, "The Qin Prince's mansion is searching for a female physician. The reward must be quite generous, right? Heh... But speaking of which, why has Prince Qin, Xuan Yuanhan, become increasingly eccentric these past few years? It's just a mere female physician, yet it's worth such a grand search all over the world? If it weren't for the fact that everyone in the entire Lingkong knows he's a cold-hearted prince who doesn't get close to women, they would definitely think that Prince Qin is also a lovelorn man!"

Soon, the innkeeper tied up the horse, unloaded the package into the house, and served tea while saying with a smile, "That's right. It's said that anyone who can find this female doctor or provide information about her whereabouts can have anything they want."

“Oh? The King of Qin is not usually such an irrational person. Could it be... there is some other hidden story?” Long En was about to blow away the few tender green tea leaves floating on the teacup he was holding when he heard this and suddenly said.

As the shopkeeper brought over several thick ledgers from the counter, he said with great interest, "Hehe... Now the whole of Lingkong knows about this matter concerning the Prince of Qin's mansion, and there are all sorts of rumors circulating."

"Oh? So what are people saying?" Long En seemed quite interested in it as well.

Just as the shopkeeper was about to speak, Long En gestured for him to sit down beside him, and so the shopkeeper began to talk about it with great relish...