The next morning, the steward of the Prince Yong's mansion opened the gate to order someone to clean the entrance. Three horses galloped over and stopped right at the gate. The steward was so startled that he backed away. After the horses were steady, he cautiously went forward to check and saw that two people had fallen off their horses and were lying on the ground, while one person remained motionless on the horse.

The man had a badge from the Prince Yong's mansion on his waist, and the steward immediately recognized him as one of their own. He hurriedly called for servants to come and rescue him. They managed to carry him through the gate with great difficulty, only to find that the man had old wounds that had reopened due to the haste of their journey. The official immediately sent someone to report to the Fourth Prince.

It turned out that this man was one of the guards that the Fourth Prince had sent to protect Hongli. In that fierce battle that day, they fought a bloody war against the men in black, suffering heavy casualties, with only three surviving. All three were seriously injured and unable to move easily. Fearing that showing themselves would not only prevent them from finding Hongli but also attract the attention of the men in black, they could only hide to heal their wounds while searching for Hongli's whereabouts.

Unfortunately, the three of them still couldn't find Hongli. After their injuries had healed a little, they planned to send a carrier pigeon to report Hongli's fate, but all the carrier pigeons they carried were killed by the men in black, so the message couldn't be sent out. The three of them had no choice but to send one of them, who was injured, to ride back to the capital at top speed while avoiding the men in black. He barely survived and finally made it back to the Yong Prince's Mansion.

After the Fourth Prince met him, he reported to the Fourth Prince in detail the news that Hongli had been assassinated, escaped, and gone missing.

The Fourth Prince had already suspected something was wrong with Hongli, as he hadn't sent any news for half a month. Hearing this, he anxiously asked, "You said Hongli escaped? Is he safe now?"

The man immediately knelt down and kowtowed, his words filled with self-reproach: "This subordinate deserves to die. I failed to protect the Fourth Prince. I returned with this life to inform Your Highness that the Fourth Prince is in danger. I beg Your Highness to grant me death; this subordinate has no complaints!" The Fourth Prince merely waved his hand: "You may all go and rest well..."

Seeing this, the man was speechless and could only kowtow fiercely: "Your Highness, I deserve to die, I deserve to die..."

Fourth Master waved his hand, but said sternly, "No one is to reveal what happened today to anyone else, or they will be executed on the spot!"

After the man left, the Fourth Prince fell into deep thought. He pondered how to find Hongli's whereabouts and who else he could contact. He had originally planned to enter the palace, but now he had no desire to do so.

When it was time for dinner, the Fourth Prince remembered Lanqin's words about worrying about Hongli, so he went to the South Courtyard.

Lanqin then ordered someone to boil a bowl of ginseng soup and bring it over. After testing the temperature, she handed it to the Fourth Prince and said with a smile, "Your Highness, why didn't you go to court today?"

Fourth Master's eyes darted away, but Ma remained calm and replied with a smile, "You're incredibly clever; there's nothing I can hide from you. I'm just a bit tired today because I've had a lot of chores to do!"

Lanqin listened with her head bowed in deep thought, and said, "Yes, in the past, there were many things that could be entrusted to Hongli to do, but now that Hongli is away, I don't know if he is doing well. Since Hongzhou came back, Hongli has been alone and has not sent any letters for several days. I am very worried." The Fourth Prince put down his bowl and spoon, took Lanqin's hand and stroked it.

"Your Highness, I haven't been sleeping well these past few days. I keep dreaming about Hongli, as if I'm being chased by something and calling for help, but when I wake up I realize it's just a dream!" Lanqin said weakly.

The Fourth Prince comforted him, "Look at you, Hongli isn't a filial son. Besides, he's on the Emperor's orders to hold banquets for the elderly in various places, and he has guards protecting him. He'll be fine!"

This book comes from