What about Xing'an?

Zheng Quchi suddenly asked a question.

It wasn't exactly "sudden"; her arrival in the dungeon was largely due to him.

Wang Zebang's heart skipped a beat. He quickly glanced at Wei Yao, who happened to be looking at him as well. After exchanging a gloomy look, Wei Yao finally spoke up.

"Reporting to Madam... Xing'an, he is dead."

Zheng Quchi was taken aback, slowly processing the words "he's dead." His brows furrowed suddenly, never expecting to hear this answer: "Dead? How did he die? Didn't I say to capture them all alive as much as possible, without any casualties?"

No, how could he have died so suddenly?

He doesn't look like one of those extras in a TV series who only appears in one episode and then dies.

Wang Zebang could only explain: "It was an accident. When we were arresting bandits on the beach, everyone else was imprisoned, but he stole a horse and tried to escape on his own. We chased after him while warning him, but he lost his footing and was thrown off the horse. His head hit a rock and he died on the spot."

After listening, Zheng Quchi remained silent for a long time, and finally found it hard to believe: "But it doesn't sound like an accident. He was willing to risk his life to save the eldest prince, but in the face of danger, he abandoned him and ran away alone? Also, his martial arts skills are not weak, how could he die so easily in an accident?"

Not only did Zheng Quchi not believe it, but Wang Zebang and Wei Yao at the time also did not believe it, thinking that the other party was planning to fake his death.

So afterwards they carefully investigated everything that seemed suspicious.

But after a thorough investigation, nothing seemed amiss, except that his death was exactly as planned, full of mystery and strangeness.

“He is really dead, that’s for sure.” Wei Yao was also confused, so this was the only way he could reply.

Zheng Quchi looked at the group of bandits who were imprisoned. When they heard the name Xing'an, they were genuinely angry and sad. Her eyes swept over the unfamiliar faces and finally settled on Ah San and Ah Qi.

They were also watching her, and after several days, she saw a completely different attitude in their eyes.

She had so many questions and doubts she wanted to ask Xing'an, including the silver ingot he had deliberately left behind. But now that he was dead, all the answers to those questions had become unsolvable mysteries with his death.

"This assassin is Yuan Xingzhou, the eldest prince of Ye Kingdom, isn't he?" she asked directly.

They pressed their lips together, trying to maintain their composure, but she caught the flicker and evasion in their eyes perfectly.

She then asked, "You have gone to great lengths to conceal his identity, not wanting him to be found by the King of Ye. Is this the late Queen's wish, or his own?"

The bandits replied defiantly, "Come at us if you want to kill or torture us. We won't reveal any information to you!"

Zheng Quchi did not feel offended. She calmly said, "I will not kill you, and I will also tell them to stop torturing you, because your punishments will have nothing to do with us. You will soon be handed over to the King of Ye's people."

The bandits' expressions changed instantly: "You're going to hand the crown prince over to the Prince of Ye?!"

"The feud between the father and son is none of our business, so naturally it should be handed over," Zheng Quchi said, seemingly uninterested in their affairs.

But the bandits panicked and shouted, "No, you can't send the prince back to Shengjing!"

Zheng Quchi chuckled to himself, thinking, "Who cares about you guys?"

“Okay, then tell me, why can’t we do it?” she asked.

Still stubbornly insisting: "..."

"Fine, I won't tell you then. I don't want to know anyway."

Zheng Quchi instructed Wei Yao and the others to take the eldest prince, Yuan Xingzhou, to the military doctor for treatment, making sure he was healed completely and leaving no hidden dangers. As for the matter of offending someone so badly... well, ignorance is no excuse, we can remedy that later.

——

Before Zheng Quchi could report the news of finding the eldest prince Yuan Xingzhou to the Shengjing Palace, they received an imperial edict from the Ye Palace the next day.

"What?! They want us to personally escort Princess Sheng'an and the bandits back to the capital? Aren't they sending anyone?"

Zheng Quchi became irritable after receiving the imperial edict.

Wei Yao quickly tried to soothe her, saying, "It's like this. The chief eunuch and the second-rank official sent here both perished on the way. The Prince of Ye was afraid that Princess Sheng'an would also encounter danger on the way back. In addition, these bandits are related to the disappearance of the eldest prince. The Prince of Ye requested that they be escorted back to the capital for investigation. It is a matter of great importance, so he requested that our Xuanjia Army personally escort them."

"But why is my name still on it?" Zheng Quchi protested.

"This..." Wei Yao indicated that he didn't know either. It couldn't be that the Prince of Ye was curious about her and wanted to see her.

...This possibility is not small.

Wang Zebang had just received an urgent report from the capital. After reading it, he was about to go find the general's wife when he heard her question as he entered the tent. He said, "Madam, this matter is probably not simple. Take a look at this."

He handed Zheng Quchi a letter.

Zheng Quchi reached out and took a look.

During the spring search, five states came to Ye to provoke conflict. They will conduct a military exercise and showdown with the Ye army in Shengjing. This exercise and showdown is crucial to the future of the Ye state. If they lose, there will be no way to reverse the situation.

The contents of the letter were shocking.

Zheng Quchi looked up: "I must say, the King of Ye is really daring when it comes to trouble. The Spring Festival will feature a military showdown between six kingdoms in Shengjing. Which five kingdoms will our Ye Kingdom face?"

Wang Zebang said with a deep expression, "Apart from Kucha, the other five countries all came with great force. In fact, the so-called military contest was a show of force and intimidation before the invasion."

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