Ning Yan performed a divination for Lord Zheng's daughter, and after repeated calculations, she confirmed, "Lord Zheng, your daughter has been harmed by a villain, and her death is inevitable!"

Zheng Da had just stood up when his legs gave way again.

"Don't rush, the Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Evolution is forty-nine, and one of them is the Human Escape."

Although your daughter was destined to die, you arrived at the Imperial Preceptor's residence early and managed to save her life.

The master divined that she would die at every step, and the only way out was in the east, at the hour of Si (9:45 AM).

You immediately take your men to guard the east gate. If you spot anyone suspicious, arrest them immediately.

If you can save Miss Zheng in time, her fortunes will turn around; otherwise, you and your daughter will never see each other again in this life.

Lord Zheng's heart pounded with fright. He quickly thanked Ning Yan and ran outside without even saying goodbye. His usual composure and competence were nowhere to be seen, showing how anxious he was.

...

After leaving the Imperial Preceptor's residence, Lord Zheng hurriedly returned home, where his wife and three children were anxiously waiting for him. "Quickly, quickly take the people and come with me to the East Gate to rescue your sister."

All three sons were present, and the men and horses were prepared. A quarter of an hour later, they headed straight for the East Gate.

Lord Zheng didn't sleep all night because he couldn't find his daughter, and this morning he even took leave. He stayed up until Chenshi (7-9 AM) before knocking on the gate of the Imperial Preceptor's mansion. By the time he arrived at the East Gate, it was already late Chenshi.

Fortunately, there was still some time before the time the Imperial Advisor had mentioned, and he was determined to save his daughter.

Some of the soldiers guarding the city recognized Lord Zheng and took the initiative to come forward and inquire.

Lord Zheng was afraid that if he said too much, the villains would escape, so he only said that he was waiting for someone at the door and told them not to worry about it and to go about their business.

Time passed second by second, and Lord Zheng kept wiping the sweat from his brow.

At this moment, a covered mule cart arrived at the city gate and lined up to pay to leave the city.

But there were quite a few people leaving the city today, so they had to wait a while before it was their turn.

The guards guarding the city came over and asked, "How many people are in the carriage? Lift the curtain so I can take a look."

The coachman, with his honest and simple appearance, explained that while it normally only cost one coin per person to leave the city, he proactively took out a string of copper coins and stuffed them into the soldier's hand. "Sir," he said, "there are only two women in the carriage. This is a bit inconvenient, you see..."

In the past, if this happened, the soldiers guarding the city would let it pass.

But today there's a high-ranking official of the third rank standing at the city gate, so how could we not conduct a thorough inspection?

The guard didn't even dare to accept the money, and pushed the coachman's hand back, saying, "Stop talking nonsense. It's just a matter of taking a look at a few heads. Don't cause us any trouble."

The coachman had no choice but to lift the curtain and let the soldiers see for themselves.

There were indeed only two women inside. One was an older woman, and the other was not clearly visible because she was being held in the older woman's arms and appeared to be fast asleep.

"Is there anyone hiding under the seat?"

"Look at what the sir is saying, it's just a penny, it's not that serious, it really isn't!"

The guard also thought it was unlikely, after all, this man had just tried to give him a hundred coins.

Little did they know that this very action had alerted the Zheng family father and son.

"Alright, you can leave the city after paying the money."

The inspection and payment processes are separate.

After the check-up, you can go to the front to pay.

The driver breathed a sigh of relief after passing the inspection, drove the cart a few more feet, and then got off to pay the fare.

Just as he was taking out his money, several figures darted out from the city gate and snatched him from the carriage!

The middle-aged woman on the bus was caught off guard when the girl in her arms was snatched away!

The people queuing to leave the city exclaimed in shock, "My God, they're robbing people right here in the street!"

The young man who had tried to kidnap the person didn't run away. He cried out, "Dad, catch them! It's them!"

The speaker was the third son of the Zheng family, young, strong, and intelligent. He cleverly avoided mentioning a single word about his sister, only talking about arresting people.

The Zheng family had already received instructions, and before the master could speak, they stepped forward and tied up the coachman and the old woman in the carriage, even gagging them.

The head guard at the gate was completely bewildered. It wasn't until they caught the man that Young Master Zheng stepped forward to explain, "The runaway slave from the manor stole my mother's jewelry and also kidnapped my mother's personal maid. My brothers and I came to the city gate to guard the place in search of the stolen goods, and we didn't expect to actually find the person."

"Sorry for troubling you guys, please take this money and buy yourself a cup of tea."

It's my own sister who's going to be lost, and for the sake of her reputation, I can't possibly hand these two over to anyone else.

After finishing his words, Young Master Zheng hurriedly returned to his residence with his men. Lord Zheng glanced at the time; it was exactly three-quarters past 9:40 AM.

The Zheng family quickly returned to their residence, where the family physician examined Miss Zheng and discovered that she had only been given a sleeping potion. After taking the antidote, she woke up.

She was arrested yesterday and suffered a lot. She was slapped in the face and whipped twice. When she woke up and saw her family, she burst into tears.

Only then did Lord Zheng mention what the Imperial Advisor had said: "My daughter is straightforward and unyielding. If we fail to save the child today, the Imperial Advisor's words may truly come true!"

Madam Zheng said, "Hurry up, prepare another grand gift to thank the Imperial Preceptor. My daughter's life was saved by the Imperial Preceptor. Starting tomorrow, I will set up a longevity tablet for the Imperial Preceptor."

The old imperial advisor was also formidable, but not to this extent.

He can make all the flowers bloom to celebrate the emperor's birthday, summon wind and rain, and now he has saved her precious daughter. This is no ordinary imperial advisor; he is clearly a deity.

The three young masters were still shaken. They never imagined that their sister would almost be lost forever after just one trip. In truth, they should thank the Imperial Advisor properly.

"The gift is easy to prepare, but I want to wait until my daughter is feeling better before taking her with me."

Madam Zheng's eyes lit up. "You're right. Our daughter has escaped death. Let the Imperial Advisor take a look. If she can give us a word of guidance, it might benefit her for the rest of her life."

Lord Zheng nodded: "Then it's settled. The Imperial Advisor said our daughter has been wronged by villains. I'll go and interrogate those two audacious people. If I find out that someone is deliberately trying to harm our daughter, I will definitely not let it go."

When someone is in their own home, they don't need severe torture; just a beating with a board can make them want to confess their entire family history.

"My lord, spare our lives! We'll confess! We were paid to kidnap Miss Zheng. She's the eldest son of the Vice Minister of Revenue."

From what he said, he had taken a liking to Miss Zheng and asked his sister to act as matchmaker, but Miss Zheng refused. Enraged, he hired us to smuggle Miss Zheng out of the city, intending to imprison her on his estate.

"Once the deed is done, then we'll go to propose marriage..."

Lord Zheng was furious and wanted to kill someone.

That evening, they smuggled the mother and child out of the city, found a river of moderate size, slashed their faces, tied stones to them, and sank them. (End of Chapter)