Chapter 554 He Comes (1)

Luo Tan was found in a nearly abandoned alley west of Dingjing. The alley connected to several other alleyways, making it incredibly difficult to find. It was only thanks to one of the city guards on Azhi's side, who was incredibly familiar with every nook and cranny of Dingjing, that they were able to discover Luo Tan's whereabouts.

However, even though Luo Tan was found, the situation was far from reassuring. She had been stabbed deeply in the waist, near her abdomen. The wound was extremely deep, and it took quite some time to find her. By the time she was brought back to the Shen residence, she was already dying.

Several doctors arrived, but looking at Luo Tan's injuries, they simply shook their heads, saying there was no hope of recovery. Shen Xin was so angry that he almost drew his sword. But Luo Xueyan said, "Since they're all mediocre, let's take Ah Xin's invitation and ask the imperial physicians to come to the palace! Aren't all the doctors in the Imperial Hospital capable of bringing people back to health? Whoever can cure Tan'er will be rewarded handsomely by the Shen family!"

Shen Qiu ordered his men to take Shen Xin's letter to the palace to invite the imperial physician. Everyone gathered in front of Luo Tan's bed. Luo Xueyan's eyes were red and she said, "Who did it? How could they be so cruel!"

Luo Ling's eyes were heavy. Luo Tan was his cousin, and now her life or death was unknown, so he was naturally distressed. However, what was even more disturbing was that although Luo Tan had been found, there was still no news of Shen Miao's whereabouts. Luo Tan had suffered such a fate, and the other party had shown no mercy, clearly a ruthless and vicious person. What exactly would happen to Shen Miao? No one dared to think.

The Shen family's soldiers searched Dingjing City relentlessly, but they couldn't find a single clue. It was as if those people had vanished into thin air. They had already searched the homes of ordinary people and even the streets and alleys, but they couldn't search the official residences. Even if they wanted to, they didn't have the power to do so.

An eerie silence fell in the room.

Shen Miao had no idea what was happening outside. When she woke up, she didn't know what time it was.

Her hands and feet were tied and she couldn't move. Shen Miao slowly opened her eyes. The other party forgot to cover her eyes, perhaps because he felt it was unnecessary.

This was an empty secret room, with a desk, a cabinet, and a bed inside. It was unclear where it was. It looked like a secret room in someone's mansion. Shen Miao couldn't even move, and could only watch quietly.

There was no sound outside, nothing could be heard. Shen Miao had been knocked unconscious earlier, and she had no idea what had happened. She didn't know if Luo Tan had escaped, or if he had delivered the message to Xie Jingxing.

Chen Xin was now a figure everyone in Dingjing feared, especially with the envoys from Qin and Daliang still present. Because Emperor Wenhui relied on him, his status had risen steadily. Furthermore, with his military power now reclaimed, ordinary people wouldn't dare to touch him. Yet, someone had acted so thoughtlessly, so audaciously and recklessly. Shen Miao could guess who it was with a flicker of her brain. Who else but Princess Ming'an would resort to such crude and ruthless tactics?

But she hadn't expected Princess Ming'an to find help so quickly in Dingjing. Clearly, Princess Ming'an wouldn't do it herself, and even Huangfu Hao wouldn't allow such a foolish move. And the person who had abducted her that day had somehow blended in with the Feng family's guards, knowing something about the family and apparently knowing all about her and Feng Anning's whereabouts. Especially since they'd driven their carriage so quickly, ditching the Feng family guards and entering a deserted alleyway, everything clearly indicated one thing: the helper Princess Ming'an had found was intimately familiar with Mingqi's routes and clearly a native of Dingjing.