Chapter 323 Prince Su learns that Luo'er is missing!

The visitors made rustling noises and whispered among themselves.

"That damned Lei! That day we clearly saw him sneaking back with a bag, but he disappeared inside..."

"Our family searched for two days before finally finding this agency."

"So, there was a secret room hidden here that we didn't even know about."

"There must be something fishy going on here!"

"I'm going to see what treasures you've hidden today!"

A figure crept in stealthily.

Li Qinglu felt the long-lost light and couldn't help but raise her hand to shield her eyes.

After getting used to it, I lowered my arm and met another pair of eyes.

This man was none other than Eunuch Wu, the chief steward of Prince Su's residence.

Before Eunuch Wu could even let out a scream, he was knocked unconscious by a stick from behind Sha Lei, right before Li Qingluo's wide eyes.

Sha Lei stepped forward and stuffed another pill into Li Qingluo's mouth. Then, without saying a word, he stuffed Eunuch Wu and Li Qingluo into two burlap sacks respectively.

Before Li Qingluo could faint, she vomited up the pill she had just swallowed amidst the jolting.

She had just caught her breath when she heard a servant ask Sha Lei a question curiously.

"Guard Lei, you've just returned, why are you going out again without resting?"

What is this?

"Do you need my help?"

Sha Lei: "No need."

"This belongs to His Highness. If you don't know about it, don't ask. And don't mention it to anyone else! Understand?"

The attendant replied tremblingly, "Yes. I will clear the way for you."

Sha Lei: "...Alright. Let's take the path where no one will see us today."

Li Qinglu had a bad feeling, and sure enough, after taking only a dozen steps, she was put on the ground.

Seizing the opportunity, Li Qingluo quickly used her last bit of strength to pull out the silver chain hidden in her clothes around her neck.

Hanging from the chain is a solid silver lock, which can be opened to reveal a sharp, miniature knife.

This was Li Qingluo's last little self-defense item, but fortunately, Sha Lei didn't find it and it wasn't confiscated.

She ripped open the sack in front of her with a knife and looked up to see Sha Lei killing the servant who had led the way for him and dragging him into the bushes.

Seeing this, Li Qinglu thought to herself: As expected! He killed them to cover it up!

Li Qingluo had no time to lament for the servant; she crawled out of the sack herself, using both her hands and feet.

Hearing the noise, Sha Lei turned his head and saw that Li Qingluo had regained her freedom. He immediately drew a throwing knife from his waist and threw it—

Li Qing rolled on the ground, narrowly avoiding the attack.

Then he picked up the throwing knife from the ground and ran away.

Although she was so weak from hunger that her hands and feet were trembling, she still managed to hold on to her last breath and disappeared from Sha Lei's sight around a corner.

Sha Lei stormed away, not expecting that Li Qingluo had left him a backup plan, so he couldn't even tie her hands and feet.

However, in this Prince Su's mansion, apart from the four of them—Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning—who else did she think could save her?

Today, only he returned to the Prince's Palace.

His Highness is still in a village fifty miles outside the city.

Therefore, no matter what she does today, she cannot escape her own grasp.

Sha Lei took the soft whip from his waist, first threw Eunuch Wu into the nearby room and locked him up, then quickly chased after the direction where Li Qingluo had disappeared.

Li Qinglu ran all the way, searching for the person.

She opened her mouth several times, but still couldn't make a sound.

Moreover, the Prince Su's mansion was like a maze; she wandered around and soon completely lost her way.

It wasn't until she ran to a dead corner of a courtyard that Li Qingluo finally bumped into a few old women and servants.

They were also quite startled when they saw her.

Who are you?

The old woman shouted and came over with a broom.

At that moment, Sha Lei also came looking for them with a long whip.

Upon seeing this, Li Qingluo quickly shot an arrow and rushed behind the old woman.

Sha Lei's eyes flashed coldly: "This is a female assassin who intended to harm Your Highness. She has already killed one person in the West Garden. If you want to live, you'd better all get out of here!"

The old woman screamed in terror, and Li Qingluo actually picked up the Thunder-Slaying Flying Knife and brandished it at the old woman's neck.

The old woman was so frightened she almost cried: "Guard Lei, save this old servant... I don't want to die..."

Although Li Qingluo couldn't speak, she still gave Sha Lei a cold sneer.

Li Qingluo led the old woman backward.

Even though she was already in a dead end, she never thought she could escape his grasp so easily today.

She reached out and pinched the old woman's waist hard.

The old woman let out a terrible scream.

Before long, the once quiet courtyard was filled with servants.

Wasn't he trying to kill him to silence him?

If you're so capable, kill all the slaves in Prince Su's mansion who saw you today!

Whether it was murder or not, this commotion is quite significant.

Seeing her scheming, Sha Lei's eyes flashed with contempt: "Is this all you're capable of without him?"

The "he" here naturally refers to his own master, Prince Su, Duan Rongshi.

He always believed that the Li family's daughter's success today was all thanks to Duan Rongshi's help.

Therefore, without Prince Su, she was nothing.

Li Qingluo stubbornly bit her lip, glaring hatefully at Sha Lei.

It seems that even he himself could not refute the contempt shown towards him.

Where else can you run to?

With a fierce shout, Sha Lei raised his long whip and pounced on Li Qingluo.

The old woman let out a scream, covering her face in terror.

However, Li Qingluo did not use her as a human shield. Instead, the moment the whip lashed out, she pushed the old woman against the wall.

The heavy impact caused the old woman to faint on the spot.

Li Qingluo raised her hand and caught the long whip, her arm instantly going completely numb and losing all feeling.

She quickly realized the situation and dropped the throwing knife in her other hand, surrendering without resistance.

Sha Lei swiftly tied her hands and feet.

His sharp, cold gaze swept over the servants filling the courtyard.

These servants, even if they were all killed, would not be a problem.

The problem was that two of the servants were actually from His Highness's courtyard.

If His Highness were to suddenly replace someone he is used to, it would surely arouse His Highness's suspicion...

Sha Lei suppressed the murderous intent in his heart.

"Your Highness has been overwhelmed with worries and troubles lately due to the flood control efforts."

"Anyone who dares to gossip about what happened today and let it reach His Highness's ears, lest he become annoyed and irritated, will be punished!"

Everyone trembled in fear: "Yes..."

Li Qingluo was put back into the sack.

To prevent her from causing any more trouble, Sha Lei once again simply knocked her unconscious.

What Sha Lei didn't notice was that Li Qingluo's hand, which had been struck hard by his whip and lost all feeling, was hidden behind his back. Because the blood on the index finger hadn't yet dried, it had already left specks of crimson on his waist...

The torrential rain in Nanjing finally stopped completely on the afternoon of the fourth day.

Thanks to the remarkable flood control efforts, although many houses outside the city were damaged, the number of people who lost their lives due to this natural disaster was much lower than in previous years.

Moreover, thanks to the timely repairs and the continuous efforts of the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of War, a considerable amount of farmland and crops were saved.

Although floods are still flowing everywhere, dams are still collapsing, and mudslides are still occurring from time to time.

However, the Ministry of Water Resources has already gotten back on track with disaster relief efforts and is proceeding with various disaster relief orders in an orderly manner.

The Crown Prince and Duan Rongshi returned to the capital one after the other.

This was the first major event the Crown Prince accomplished after regaining his position.

The credit for the achievements was mostly attributed to him.

Although the people from the Water Department were dissatisfied, Duan Rongshi suppressed their anger.

"If he wants it, give it to him."

"He is my elder brother. How could I possibly steal his credit?"

"Let's just pretend it was all his doing; I don't care."

Yin Qi, the Minister of Water Resources, escorted Prince Su to the city gate. Upon hearing Prince Su's words, Yin Qi could only suppress his anger.

"Your Highness has made great contributions to flood control over the years. Every flood control effort is clearly your achievement, yet it's always given away to this person or that person..."

Duan Rongshi stared at him.

"Your Majesty can make it belong to whomever you wish, don't you understand?"

Yin Qi choked, speechless.

Duan Rongshi was about to ride his horse into the city gate.

A figure who had been watching for a long time at the city gate saw him and immediately ran over anxiously.

"Your Highness Prince Su! Your Highness Prince Su—"

"I am Wu Quan from General Xiuli's residence. Does Your Highness still remember me?"

Zhuiyu and Lengdian exchanged a glance.

Could something have happened at the General's Mansion?

Why are the people around the girl waiting here?

Duan Rongshi hadn't slept much for several days.

He was already exhausted, but when he saw Wu Quan appear, his heart skipped a beat for no reason.

But what urgent matter does she have to attend to?

Even when her grandmother had her accident, she went to Guiyuan first, never as urgently as she is today to send someone directly to the city gate to wait for his return.

Something happened to her!

He leaned forward involuntarily: "I remember you. But what has happened?"

Wu Quan: "Your Highness, our young lady has been missing for several days."

"We beg Your Highness to lend a helping hand and help our General Xiuli's mansion find the young lady!"

"The old lady said that she must see him, whether he lives or dies!"

Duan Rongshi's expression instantly became somewhat out of control, his face filled with disbelief: "What did you say?"

Who's missing?

Wu Quan cried, "It's our young lady, Your Highness! Our young lady went to Guiyuan that day, and later went to the Jinling government office."

"He was chased out of the prison by Vice Minister Qu in Jinling, and after confronting the Qu family, he disappeared on his way home!"

"Not only that... Que'er and Granny Deng have also disappeared without a trace."

"To this day, there has been no news of the three of them!"

Zhuiyu and Lengdian were also shocked.

"How is this possible?"

Why don't you come and find His Highness right away?

Wu Quan: "These past few days, everyone leaving the city gates has had their waist tokens and travel permits checked. Unless it's something urgent, the city gate guards are all on high alert, not allowing anyone to enter or leave at will, saying it would disturb the government's flood control efforts."

"Although we went to look for His Highness, we missed him every time."

"Our men can't even launch a large-scale search outside the city, and the girl doesn't even know if she's alive or dead—"

"Your Highness, we beg you! For the sake of the old lady's past service on the battlefield, where she fought and sacrificed her life for the country and its people, please save our young lady!"

Wu Quan knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly.

He was covered in blood after just a few blows.

Duan Rongshi's face was gloomy and dark, and his heart had never been so turbulent and urgent.

With a shout of "Giddy up!", the black horse galloped into the city gate like lightning.

Upon seeing this, Zhuiyu immediately shouted, "Everyone, head to General Xiuli's mansion for reinforcements!"

Then he and Leng Dian quickly pulled Wu Quan out and chased after him.