"Waaah, don't hug me, don't hug me!" Xingxing burst into tears. She had tried to hold back, but her stinky second brother insisted on talking to her, making her lose control of her emotions.

"Don't cry. You can come back after things in the capital are settled. You can come back whenever you want," Zhu Lin comforted her softly.

"But the capital is so far away. I don't know how long it will take to get there, or how many days it will take to go and come back." Xingxing became more and more upset as she spoke.

Yes, the capital is so far away. You were so young a little over a year ago. How did you manage to come all the way from the capital to the south? How much hardship did you endure along the way?

The boy's heart ached whenever he thought about it. If he grew up sooner and figured out where the little girl was born, he could find her sooner, protect her, and prevent her from suffering so much.

Amnesia isn't all bad; at least you forget the bad experiences.

Over the next few days, Zhu Lin and the five Fu brothers were busy trying to distract Xingxing and make her happy, and gradually she calmed down.

In ancient times, transportation was so isolated. There were mountains and wilderness everywhere. To travel from one prefecture to another, the journey was not only long, but it often took ten days or half a month to encounter a village.

Although there are many rivers and boats in the south, the waterways in the north were unstable at that time, and one could not directly reach the capital by boat. After docking in the prefecture city with its well-developed waterways, one still had to travel by carriage for more than ten days.

Zhu Chumo had consulted the oracle and found that when Xingxing was kidnapped, she traveled south by land. He had roughly calculated her route, so Zhu Lin thought he would take her along that route again, hoping it might help her remember something.

Of course, he also mainly wanted to see where she had been and what she had experienced.

So Zhu Chumo went to a place and had to have his fortune told again to ensure the accuracy of the route. He had no choice but to do so because his junior brother was supervising him. Sigh, he should have known better than to ask for trouble and try to predict the route after the princess was kidnapped. Now he deserves to suffer.

"What kind of hellhole is this? The whole village was wiped out. What's so great about a ruined village?" Zhou Erfu looked at the dilapidated village in front of him and cursed under his breath.

Zhu Lin didn't tell him, of course, because this was a place where Xingxing had once been. She was kidnapped by Prince Gong's men and brought here. She didn't know if anyone lived in this village when the black-clad assassins brought her here.

"Hmm, why does this place look so familiar?" Xingxing scratched her head, trying hard to remember, but couldn't recall anything, and her head was still slightly aching.

Forget it, there's nothing to think about.

No one else heard Xingxing's mutterings, except for Zhu Lin and Zhu Chumo who exchanged a glance. It seemed the little girl still remembered something. No rush, there's still a long way to go, she'll remember eventually.

"Why did we detour to this abandoned village?" Zhou Erfu really couldn't understand. "We're not in a hurry to rescue people. If we dawdle like this on the road, by the time we get to the capital, it will be too late."

Zhou Sanfu glared at him. Second Brother should change his bluntness. He dared to compare the Empress to daylilies.

Zhu Chumo glanced at Erfu with a cryptic look, naturally not telling him that everything was under his control, the Empress would be safe for the time being, and they would definitely be able to reach the capital and rescue her before the Empress's poison took effect.

Whether the Empress would suffer or endure hardship during this time was neither within his consideration nor within the scope of his junior brother's concern.