Chapter 224 Slacking off

At a table and chairs set up in front of another shop some distance away from the Turkic prince and his group, Li San Niang and Di Renjie sat down.

What do you think?

Di Renjie frowned and asked the group.

Li San Niang didn't directly voice her questions. She first looked at Xu Jingzhen and saw that Xu Jingzhen was also frowning and silent.

It was the captain of the Imperial Guard who had come with them who spoke first: "Minister Di, there's something wrong with this Turkic prince."

It is an affirmative sentence, not an interrogative sentence.

Seeing that Di Renjie didn't object, the team leader swallowed hard, thought for a moment, and continued in a low voice, "Judging from their behavior, they're probably in cahoots with the Temple Gate, deliberately wasting our time here to give that damned Holy Son time to escape."

Di Renjie neither nodded nor denied, but instead turned his gaze to Xu Jingzhen.

Xu Jingzhen also spoke in a low voice, only audible to those nearby, "It should be as Captain Zhao guessed. However, the little princess should indeed have been hidden and not taken away."

But we have no choice but to suffer this loss in silence.

On the surface, the Turkic tribes are currently friendly nations, having come to Chang'an to celebrate the emperor's birthday.

Right now, finding the young princess is the key.

Li San Niang noticed Di Renjie's probing gaze and spoke up: "I share the same thoughts as Xu Sanlangjun and this Captain Zhao."

The Turks' words revealed a scheme, but as Xu Sanlangjun said, we had no choice but to enter into it.

"Minister Di, I think we should ask the servants who accompanied the young princess back then, and see if we can find any clues."

After everyone had discussed it, the official behind Di Shaoqing went to communicate with the Han Chinese advisor, and then three foreign servants, two women and one man, were brought before Li Sanniang and the others.

"This is the person who was by the princess's side back then. Please feel free to ask me anything, Lord Di."

Xu Jingzhen stepped forward: "Tell me in detail everything that happened after the little princess left the capital. Tell me carefully! Don't miss a single step, and tell me according to the time."

After an older woman stepped forward and bowed, she lowered her head and explained the time to Li San Niang and the others in detail.

"...After leaving that troupe, I advised the princess that it was getting late and she should return to the post station. The princess refused and continued strolling around the street," Li Sanniang pointed to the largest troupe building at the very beginning of the street, "starting from that troupe."

Seeing many people queuing to buy the red berries, the princess thought they must taste delicious, so she instructed Nilu—the young woman pointed to the girl behind her who looked quite young—" to have Nilu go queue up and buy some."

The woman paused for a moment before continuing, "Nil went to queue up, and Ali and I waited by the princess's side."

The woman then pointed to the man named Ali who had followed them.

“Nilu had only taken two steps forward when suddenly a masked man in black descended from the sky, grabbed the princess around the waist, and jumped onto the roof.”

The woman then led Li San Niang and the others to the spot where hawthorns were sold, which was only a hundred paces away from the teahouse.

When Li San Niang first heard that it was about selling hawthorn berries, she suspected that it might be the hawthorn berries sold by Li Kui and Wang Gui.

And it turned out to be true.

When Li Sanniang looked at Wang Gui, a short and thin man with a cloth bag slung over his shoulder, in the crowd that was blocked by the crowd, she really felt that everything was fate.

Li San Niang turned to the woman and asked, "What happened to the princess's guards after she was snatched away?"

The woman paused for a moment after hearing Li San Niang's question, and looked up at Li San Niang before lowering her head to reply: "The princess doesn't like too many people following her. Ni Lu, Ali, and I grew up with the princess since we were little, so we were allowed to come along. The guards are waiting not far away."

Seeing that Li Sanniang was expressionless, the woman continued, "When the princess was abducted, I immediately shouted, and the guards not far behind me chased after her."

Li San Niang nodded and didn't ask anything more.

Then, Li San Niang and the others followed Di Renjie to see the body of the man in black who had committed suicide.

He had no markings, no items on his body that could prove his identity, and wore only the most ordinary black cloth clothes.

However, Li San Niang noticed that Di Renjie was examining the black-clad man's boots closely.

Li San Niang then went over and squatted down to take a look. She couldn't see anything, but she smelled a strange odor.

Li San Niang thought about where she had smelled this scent before, and then connected it with what the woman had said earlier. Suddenly, a bright idea flashed in Li San Niang's mind.

Got it!

Li San Niang had a better idea of ​​where the man in black had probably hidden the young princess.

When Di Renjie saw the knowing look on Li Sanniang's face, he immediately realized that asking Li Sanniang for help today was truly a wise move.

After examining the body, the group gathered together again.

"Tell me, what are your thoughts?"

This time, Li Sanniang spoke first: "If I'm not mistaken," Li Sanniang looked up at Xu Jingzhen, because she felt that with Xu Jingzhen's intelligence, he should have guessed it as well.

"It's a troupe!"

"They're just putting on a show!"

Di Renjie understood perfectly as the two men simultaneously declared they were performing a troupe act, but the captain was puzzled.

Li San Niang whispered, "Since they have dealings with the Holy Temple Sect, it must be a setup, just as Xu San Lang Jun said. The disappearance of the little princess is just to keep you all occupied."

So, just as they said, the young princess was indeed hidden in the West Market by the men in black.

Xu Jingzhen continued, "But this matter should only be known to the Turkic prince and the Han Chinese advisor, or at most, the maidservant beside the princess."

So they did search the streets, but they just couldn't find it.

Then, Di Renjie and his men led their soldiers directly to the acrobatic troupe. Following Li Sanniang's directions, they indeed found the little princess, who appeared to be asleep, in a prop box in the back room of the house, where the acrobatic troupe kept their props.

Of the three servants accompanying the young princess, the one named Nilu suddenly rushed to the edge of the alley, crying out in Turkic, though Li San Niang couldn't understand what she was saying.

However, I guess it must be the Turkic name of this little princess.

With trembling hands, Nilu touched the little princess's nose; there was warmth, she was still alive.

Of course they're alive; this is just a setup.

Li San Niang stepped forward and told the older woman that she was a female doctor. The woman then said something to Ni Lu and stepped aside.

Li San Niang went forward to check on him and found that he was in the same condition as Xing Xiao Lang, having been given medicine and fallen into a deep sleep.

"He should wake up by tomorrow morning, nothing to worry about."

The rest was just official business. Di Renjie's two assistants went to communicate with the Turkic prince and the Han Chinese advisor who had just arrived.

The team leader was puzzled as to how Li San Niang and the others had found the box in the prop room of the acrobatic troupe.