In the middle of the night, Qingyan followed Yin back to the Yuelai Inn. As they approached the inn, Erlu heard some noises in the courtyard and became tense. He gave Etuhun a look, signaling him to take men to protect the Fourth Prince and his wife. He would first lead his shadow guards to sneak into the courtyard.

Both of them were from the Dragon Guard and had undergone rigorous training.

"Master, something may have happened at the inn. Erlu has already returned!" Ertuhun reported to Yin from the side.

Inside the carriage, Yin held the sleeping Qingyan in his arms. His heart skipped a beat. They had played quite late. Before leaving, they had told Yin that they were worried things might not be peaceful that night and asked the guards to be extra vigilant.

"Wait a while before going back, have everyone stop first!" Yin felt something was strange; they had finally managed to go out for one night, and now this trouble had arisen.

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of a carriage came from afar. Etuhun quickly ordered his men to surround the Fourth Prince's carriage. The sound of the horses galloping from behind sounded somewhat like the warhorses being trained at the Xishan Camp. Etuhun did not relax his guard until Yin's guard, Jierkunbi, came into his sight, at which point he completely let his guard down.

"How come it's you? Did Prince Zhi and his wife also go out?" Etuhun relaxed halfway. At least, there were no masters in the courtyard. Even if they were online, it could still be explained.

Jirkunbi nodded. Songkriyirha was making a fuss about finding the Fourth Prince's wife, so the master and the princess had no choice but to take her out. They just came back.

"Yes, why did you stop here!" Gilkunbi was very puzzled. The Fourth Prince hadn't gone back either, so what was going on with the sounds coming from inside the courtyard?

The two exchanged a glance, and Gilkunbi quickly turned his horse around and reported back to Yin, urging him to find a solution as soon as possible.

"Master, it was the Prince Zhi's family. There is no Master in the inn!" Etuhun's report reassured Yin. They left through the back door of the inn, which prevented them from being spotted by the people watching outside. This could be considered a blessing in disguise.

Yin woke Xiao Guai up, knowing that she would inevitably need to step in later. All the inn's staff had to be checked one by one, as they had previously found a loophole.

"Little darling, there's a problem at Yuelai Inn." Yin whispered in her ear, and Qingyan immediately opened her eyes, her little face still slightly sleepy.

"Fourth, what?" Qingyan was dumbfounded. Another problem?!

Yin shook his head. The specific situation would only be clear after investigation, but it was a fact that someone had intruded.

"Let's go inside first, and let Big Brother take Songkelierha to rest!" Qingyan felt that startling the little girl meant that the adults were incompetent.

"No, everyone must stay together until things are clear and things are clear." Yin refused outright.

Although Qingyan was also thinking of Songkelierha's best interests, now that the two brothers could not bring the danger back, they had to deal with it on their own.

"Si Si, let them into the inn!" Qingyan walked to a basin of water and wiped her face. The water in the basin was already cold, which instantly dispelled her sleepiness.

"Su Peisheng, come in!" Yin commanded.

At this moment, Yin stepped out of the carriage, rode his horse around the carriage and entered the inn first. He cautiously looked around the inn. The people of Erlu had lit all the lights around the walls, and every corner of the huge five-courtyard house could be seen clearly, as if it were daytime.

"Fourth Prince, His Majesty asks you to come in later!" Jirkunbi came to the side of the carriage and accompanied it as it slowly entered the courtyard.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Erlu cleaned up all the traces of the fight. When Qingyan got off the carriage, she could still smell a faint smell of blood in the air, which made her feel uncomfortable.

Water had been splashed on the bluestone path in the courtyard, as if all traces had just been cleaned up. As soon as Yin Genjue Luo got off the carriage, she knew that they had escaped a disaster.

"Little darling, thank goodness you went out. The little girl insisted on looking for you, otherwise we would have been trapped here!" Yin Genjue Luo was extremely frightened and was determined to investigate this matter thoroughly. Such a large-scale operation could not have been organized by just one or two people.

Qingyan squinted her eyes. Yuelai Inn was her source of information, but now, these places had become places for those people to cause trouble.

The innkeeper and his staff stood there waiting. In a corner of the hall, several men in black were tightly bound and guarded.

"Master, these people were the masterminds behind the trouble. I've detained them, and the rest have been dealt with." The shopkeeper replied respectfully.

Yin and Yin sat in the upper seats, while Qingyan and Yingenjueluo Shi sat in the lower seats. They couldn't help but feel a little worried.

"When did you arrive?" Qingyan and Yin left immediately after returning at noon.

Yin's family was about to have dinner, so they left with Songkelierha.

"The Prince Zhi's family left less than an hour ago, and these people sneaked in. At first, it was just a few rascals who came to the door. We servants focused our attention on the front door, allowing them to slip in through the back door." The shopkeeper was relieved that his masters were not there. By the time they noticed, the people were already close to their courtyard.

In fact, there were quite a few people in black, numbering around fifty or sixty.

Su Peisheng stepped forward and removed the half-covering veil. Erlu stepped forward and looked at the five people kneeling on the ground. They had no identification on them, so it was obvious that these people were assassins. It was impossible to determine which mansion they were sent from.

Erlu felt that these people must have been secretly trained. All their skills were one or two tenths similar to those trained by the Dragon Guards. It was probably because some of the slaves who were dealt with had escaped.

Qingyan was exasperated. Why couldn't she escape the men in black's pursuit? Did everyone who came in here sneak in dressed in all black?

She tilted her head to look at the few 'zongzi' (rice dumplings). None of them had any injuries on their faces, and their eyes were empty, as if they were wooden figures being manipulated.

etc!

Suddenly, a strange thought flashed through Qingyan's mind: could these people be puppets controlled by someone?

"A real person?!" Qingyan's voice broke the silence in the hall.

“It’s a living person!” Si Si said succinctly.

"Empty eyes, like a puppet!" As Qingyan finished speaking, Yin and Yin both fell into deep thought. Their focus was on the clothes or anything on the person that could prove their identity, and they neglected to observe these people.

Yin stood up, took Qingyan's little hand, and walked over together. With an inquisitive look in her eyes, she walked to the 'zongzi' under his protection. Qingyan carefully observed them and believed that her feeling was correct.

"Fourth Prince, let Imperial Physician Yuan come over. We need his help." Qingyan couldn't make a final decision. She had once consulted some esoteric books, which said that Manchu and Mongol shamans possessed a kind of witchcraft that could control people's thoughts and actions—something she found utterly absurd. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read at m.qidian.com.)