Chapter 223 Muddy Waters

Whether in her past life or this one, Li San Niang has never ridden a horse.

She was pulled onto the horse by Qiu Xiang, who had already mounted it. Originally, Li San Niang said she wanted to sit in the back so she could hold Qiu Xiang and feel safer.

But Qiu Xiang said, "If Third Sister is sitting behind me and a hidden arrow comes at her, how can I save her?"

Therefore, Li San Niang was sitting in Qiu Xiang's lap at this time, and Qiu Xiang told her to hold onto the saddle rings on the saddle to maintain her balance.

Following Di Renjie and his companions who were running ahead, they arrived at the most bustling street in the West Market in just over fifteen minutes.

However, the street was under lockdown at this time, and pedestrians inside could not get out, and people outside could not get in.

Of course, Di Renjie's waist token was useful; the title of Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review was absolutely effective in Chang'an.

Xu Jingzhen, who followed behind, almost couldn't get in. It was only after Di Renjie waved to the soldiers that Xu Jingzhen was allowed to enter.

Li San Niang was helped off her horse by Qiu Xiang and followed the crowd in. The brightly lit street was filled with groups of people, and although they did not look scared, they were worried.

I learned from the soldiers nearby that the Turkic prince Hatami had been searching the streets for nearly half an hour with over a hundred servants after learning from his servants that the young princess Aymu had gone missing, but he still hadn't found anything.

It was the street constables who received the news from the people and contacted the Imperial Guard. After a servant who spoke Chinese came out to communicate with Prince Hatami, the news was reported to the Jingzhao Prefecture.

The Jingzhao Prefecture dared not act on its own initiative, so it directly reported to the Dali Temple and the Honglu Temple. However, there were more than one such incident tonight. The Honglu Temple, hearing that it was just a minor princess from a foreign tribe, did not pay much attention to it, saying that they were too busy and to rely more on the Dali Temple.

Therefore, Di Renjie, who was then in charge of the Dali Temple, had no choice but to accept this task.

Although she was just a minor princess, the Turkic king's tribe was still very useful for the stability of the Tang Dynasty's borders.

Furthermore, given the previous Turkic rebellion, the relationship between the Temple Gate and the Temple Gate was indeed ambiguous, making it even more crucial to properly handle the case of the missing princess.

The people on the street were only stopped from wandering around; they were not silenced.

The people of the Tang Dynasty, or rather the people of Chang'an, were inherently very proud.

At this moment, they were indeed obedient and did not wander off, but that was only because of the armored and armed Imperial Guards, not because they were afraid of this so-called Turkic prince.

There were no whispers at all; the people around were openly discussing the disappearance of these children. Who dared to commit such a heinous act in Chang'an today? What was their purpose?

Li San Niang followed Di Shaoqing to a teahouse with many tables set up on the street in front of the shop. There, she saw a man with a full head of braids, a high nose and deep-set eyes, sitting there in a grand manner.

If I'm not mistaken, this must be the Turkic prince named Hatami.

When Di Renjie came forward, the prince recognized Di Renjie's red round-necked robe and stood up to greet him. However, the prince's greeting was that of a Turkic tribe, which involved striking the left chest with the right fist, a gesture that looked similar to the etiquette of Tang Dynasty warriors.

Li San Niang watched as Di Renjie sat down opposite the prince, and then she, along with Xu Jingzhen who had arrived later and Di Renjie's two deputies, stood behind Di Renjie.

“I can understand the prince’s act of sending his servants to block off this street and keep the people of Chang’an here in such a grand manner.”

But, Prince, you really are not qualified.

When Di Renjie saw that the prince's advisors were about to speak, he raised his hand and pressed them down before continuing, "But I know that the prince's actions were rash in his haste. My desire to find the little princess as soon as possible is the same as the prince's."

Therefore, Your Highness, please tell me in detail what happened before and after the young princess's disappearance, so that we can find her as soon as possible."

These words left the person speechless and forced to swallow their anger.

With a glance from the prince, the man standing behind him, who appeared to be an advisor but was actually of pure Han Chinese descent, stepped forward and began to speak clearly.

According to this person, after watching the fireworks display in the imperial city, the princess and the prince parted ways with the prince because the prince had to have a banquet with others. The princess then went to the West Market with her servants to watch the amusement park performance.

The young princess and her entourage arrived at the West Market at 7:45 PM, and by the time they finished watching the performance, it was already close to 9:00 PM.

At this moment, the servants beside the young princess suggested that they should return to the post station to rest, but the young princess had never seen such a prosperous capital city before, and she ignored their advice and continued to stroll along the streets.

I walked less than half a street and bought a lot of miscellaneous trinkets and snacks.

When the young princess saw that there were red berries for sale, she stood aside and waited for her servants to line up to buy them. Suddenly, a masked man in black appeared out of nowhere, picked up the young princess, and leaped onto a nearby rooftop and ran away.

The guards accompanying the young princess naturally gave chase. They lost track of him at times, but eventually caught up with the man in black at the street corner.

In the end, they managed to capture the man in black because of their numbers. However, before they could even ask where the young princess was hidden, the man in black swallowed poison and committed suicide on the spot.

The young princess was still not found.

That's why the servants rushed to the restaurant and found the prince feasting with others. The prince then brought the hundred or so servants he had brought with him to the West Market to block the people's way of looking for him.

The Turks were convinced that their little princess must have been hidden somewhere in the West Market by the men in black!

They searched the street for nearly half an hour, turning many shops inside and out with utmost care, but still couldn't find even a trace of the little princess.

Even after his advisor finished speaking, the Turkic prince looked at Di Renjie and asked, "Minister Di, can I still bring the Moon Goddess's daughter back to the grasslands?"

The young princess's name is Aymu, which means "daughter like the moon" in their language.

Di Renjie did not answer the prince's question. He lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then turned to ask the four people behind him, "What do you think?"

Li San Niang stood at the back and listened to the whole thing, but she had many questions in her mind.

First, how did the Turks determine that the man in black they captured was the same man in black who had abducted the young princess?

Why couldn't it have been other assassins from the Temple Gate who were passing through West Market and were captured by them?

Or they might simply be members of a criminal gang.

Secondly, how did the Turks determine that the young princess was definitely hidden in the West Market by the man in black? Or that she was hidden in the shops on both sides of the street?

Thirdly, she is a princess!

She seems to be a very favored and useful princess, otherwise she wouldn't have come to the Emperor's Birthday Festival with the Turkic prince.

Such a distinguished person would certainly have no shortage of guards around him.

Even if the man in black were to act unexpectedly, Li San Niang did not believe that he could really just jump onto the roof and run away with the little princess.

Were the armed guards who were present at the scene not doing their part?

Then, the princess's guards didn't find her, but they did capture the masked man in black who had tried to abduct her.

This just doesn't make sense.

So, there must be something wrong with this!

"Thank you for informing us, sir. We will discuss it and give you a reply as soon as possible."