Chapter 743 Safe Return

As dawn broke, Gu Jiao and her group finally emerged from the woods.

Only then did they realize that they were in the exact opposite direction from where they had come in.

Mu Qingchen gazed ahead and said, "Cross over that field ridge and you'll reach the official road. Keep going south and you'll see a post station."

Where there are post stations, there are carriages and horses.

The horse that Gu Jiao brought out from the Imperial Preceptor's Hall was so tired that Gu Jiao didn't even ride it anymore.

Mu Qingchen's guards led the horses, Gu Changqing held Xiao Jingkong in his arms, and Mu Qingchen held the little princess in her arms.

The group continued on their journey.

However, a small incident occurred while crossing the paddy field ridge. The young princess suddenly had difficulty breathing and couldn't catch her breath. Before long, her face turned pale and her lips turned blue.

"Let me see." Gu Jiao walked over, leaned in and listened to the little princess's heartbeat and breathing.

The sudden closeness made Mu Qingchen's breath catch in her throat.

He glanced at the little princess in his arms, then at Gu Jiao's face so close to his own, and couldn't help but cough lightly: "How is she?"

"It looks like an asthma attack." Gu Jiao took out her first-aid kit from her waist, opened it, and took out a bottle of asthma inhaler. "Little Princess."

The young princess opened her eyes and looked at Gu Jiao with distress.

Gu Jiao picked her up, found a place to sit down, shook the aerosol can, and then pulled out the stopper: "Exhale first, then hold it in your mouth. I'll tell you when to inhale, then you inhale. Don't spit it out after you've finished inhaling."

The young princess nodded weakly.

It is said that long-term illness makes one a doctor. The little princess, who suffers from asthma, has been taking medicine since childhood, and her cooperation in treatment is higher than that of other children.

"Exhale," Gu Jiao said.

After the young princess exhaled a long breath, Gu Jiao put the nozzle into her mouth and pressed the switch on the aerosol spray: "Inhale. I'll count to ten, then you exhale."

The young princess obediently held the nozzle in her mouth, feeling uncomfortable but only looking at Gu Jiao.

“…Ten, all done,” Gu Jiao said.

The young princess let out a long breath.

"Are you feeling better?" Gu Jiao asked her.

The young princess took a few breaths: "Huff... huff..."

Not feeling any discomfort, the young princess opened her eyes wide in surprise.

Did she recover so quickly?

The royal physicians regularly treated the young princess, and in addition, the King of Yeonsan and the King of the Kingdom had taken excellent care of her over the past few years, so her asthma attacks had become rare.

Gu Jiao suspected that the princess had inhaled some allergen in the forest, which caused her acute attack.

"What kind of medicine is this? It works so well!" In the past, it would take a long time for the little princess to recover from an attack. The imperial physician said that she could not recover every time, so prevention was the main focus, and they tried their best to prevent her from having an attack.

Gu Jiao asked, "Is this a highly effective medicine for relieving asthma?"

Mu Qingchen asked, puzzled, "You still have this kind of medicine on you?"

Shouldn't martial arts practitioners carry wound medicine, hemostatic medicine, and antidote pills?

"Didn't you tell me that the young princess has asthma?"

Ever since Mu Qingchen mentioned it, she has kept a bottle of asthma inhaler in her first aid kit.

Mu Qingchen gave Gu Jiao a deep look, then suddenly fell silent.

"Go and fetch some water," Mu Qingchen said to the guard.

"yes."

There was a stream on the path they had just walked along, probably the same stream they saw deep in the forest, which meandered all the way to the vicinity.

Mu Qingchen was about to carry the little princess over.

The little princess clung tightly to Gu Jiao's neck, refusing to let go: "I want Teacher to hold me! Your body is so hard! Teacher's body is so soft! Like—"

Gu Jiao covered her little mouth and said to Mu Qingchen, "I'll carry you."

Little one, don't go too far with rubbing your chest.

"Young master! Young master!"

The guard returned in a hurry.

When Mu Qingchen saw that he hadn't gotten any water, she knew something had happened.

"What's wrong?" Mu Qingchen asked.

The guard said, "I went to fetch water and ran into people from our family and the Mu family on my way."

The Su and Mu families.

Gu Changqing had no good feelings towards the ten great families. If one of them came, he was prepared to cut them down; if two came, he would cut them down in pairs.

Mu Qingchen looked towards the back of the woods, frowned, and seemed to struggle with her thoughts. Finally, she said to Gu Jiao, "You guys go first, but don't go along the ridges. The ridges are too wide and you'll be easily spotted. Take a detour and go out from the other side of the woods, or I'll take them back first, and you can come out later."

It's not easy to get him to say something like that.

Deep down, he didn't believe that the Mu and Su families would do something like snatching the little princess away, but... he couldn't explain why, he just felt that letting them leave first was the right thing to do.

Perhaps he already had a suspicion deep in his heart that he didn't want to face.

"Then we're leaving." Gu Jiao turned around, holding the little princess. "Goodbye, Mu Qingchen."

The young princess obediently waved and said, "Goodbye, Mu Qingchen."

Gu Changqing followed, carrying Xiao Jingkong.

The two walked a few steps east and entered the woods.

Even from a distance, you can still hear their conversation.

"Qingchen, what are you doing here? Did you find any clues?"

"Second Uncle, no, but I heard that the young princess has already returned."

"What? You went back?"

"Yes, I just ran into an injured guard, I don't know whose he is. He said he saw someone leading the little princess out of the woods and walking away from the edge of the field. The little princess is safe and sound."

"Then we've really come all this way for nothing... I wonder if it's too late to catch up now..."

Mu Qingchen looked at her second uncle, disappointment slowly creeping into her eyes.

...

After swaying in Gu Jiao's arms for a while, the little princess fell asleep again.

Gu Jiao looked at the little boy in her arms and said, "I never expected that the disappearance of a little guy would bring out all sorts of monsters and demons."

Gu Changqing said, "The ten great families have always been at odds, and this day was bound to come sooner or later."

At first, everyone was jealous of the Xuanyuan family's dominance and wished they could get rid of them as soon as possible. But after the Xuanyuan family really perished, everyone wanted to become the next Xuanyuan family.

Gu Jiao asked, "By the way, how did you end up here?"

Gu Changqing said, "It was Xiao Heng who informed me."

He had originally planned to go out of the city to see Gu Yan, but Xiao Heng caught up with him when he reached the inner city gate.

Gu Jiao: "Did you tell him you were going to leave the city?"

Gu Changqing: "No, he guessed it himself."

Gu Jiao raised an eyebrow: "My husband is so smart!"

Gu Changqing's face darkened.

The forest was backed by mountains, so the light was poor, and the two walked very carefully.

Gu Jiao then asked, "By the way, is everything going smoothly with the Crown Prince?"

Gu Changqing said, "Successfully."

Gu Jiao grunted, "He just trusts the people sent by the underground martial arts arena so easily?"

Gu Changqing explained, "He gave me a kind of poison, and I have to take the antidote once a month, otherwise I will die."

Gu Jiao looked at him and asked, "You drank it?"

"Hmm." Gu Changqing nodded and looked at Gu Jiao. "I think you can solve it."

Gu Jiao: "I don't think I can solve it."

Gu Changqing: "..."

Gu Jiao's ears twitched, and she turned her head to look into the depths of the woods to the southeast: "There seems to be some movement over there."

Gu Changqing gazed at him intently and asked, "I heard it too. Shall we go take a look?"

Gu Jiao thought for a moment and said, "Then let's go take a look."

Gu Changqing carried Xiao Jingkong in one arm and wrapped his other arm around Gu Jiao's waist, using his lightness skill to carry her over.

The two, carrying the child, hid behind a large tree.

About a hundred paces away, a young man in a Taoist robe was fighting two masked men in black, and standing at the scene of their fight was a handsome young man...

“It’s Feng Wuxiu and Daoist Qingfeng,” Gu Jiao said softly.

"You know him?" Gu Changqing asked in a low voice.

Gu Jiao nodded: "I've seen Master Qingfeng in the Imperial Preceptor's Hall, and I've seen Feng Wuxiu's portrait in the Library... How come Feng Wuxiu looks even younger than in the portrait?"

Feng Wuxiu is twenty-three years old this year, but he looks less than twenty in the portrait. Now that he has met the real person, he looks three years younger.

Feng Wuxiu's age was not a lie; he simply had a naturally youthful appearance.

Master Qingfeng was fighting fiercely with the two men in black. The men in black seemed to be no weaker than Qi Xuan in martial arts. The two of them together were like Qi Xuan 2.0.

Gu Jiao sighed, "The Yan Kingdom really has a plethora of experts... Who do you think will win?"

"That Taoist priest." Gu Changqing gave the answer almost without hesitation.

Both men in black unleashed their deadly attacks, but Master Qingfeng's moves were actually somewhat restrained. To prevent his internal energy from affecting Feng Wuxiu nearby, he had broken each of his attacks into two separate moves—

One move is used to defend against enemies, and the other is used to deplete one's internal energy in a certain direction.

This was the first time Gu Changqing had seen such a fighting style, and it broadened his horizons.

"Hmm." Gu Jiao stared intently. "It seems Mu Qingchen was right. Luckily, we didn't run into this Taoist from the Feng family."

"The battle is almost over, let's go." They were only halfway through the fight, but Gu Changqing had already figured out how many moves it would take for Daoist Qingfeng to finish off the two men in black.

...

Gu Jiao and Gu Changqing returned to the Imperial Preceptor's Hall at noon.

Both children were awake and had eaten at the inn, but they were still dirty and looked rather pitiful.

Gu Jiao couldn't examine their injuries closely at night. It wasn't until they got into the carriage that she discovered they all had bruises and abrasions of varying degrees, all from bumps and falls on the road.

Xiao Heng had been waiting at the entrance of the Imperial Preceptor's Hall for quite some time.

Gu Changqing and Gu Jiao got off the carriage carrying the child.

Xiao Heng strode over and looked at the two pitiful little ones, his eyes turning cold.

He looked at Gu Jiao and Gu Changqing: "Are you two alright?"

"fine."

She and Gu Changqing were actually unharmed on this trip, only the two little ones suffered a great deal.

"Let me take him." Xiao Heng reached out and took Xiao Jingkong from Gu Changqing's arms.

For the first time ever, Xiao Jingkong didn't protest. Although his face was sour, his body language betrayed him.

He nestled obediently in Xiao Heng's arms, breathing in Xiao Heng's scent.

He came to our home when he was three and a half years old. Two years have passed, and he has become deeply dependent on Gu Jiao, as well as Xiao Heng.

Just like a child loves their mother the most, but wouldn't dislike their father.

Xiao Heng looked down at the little guy clinging to his chest: "Were you scared?"

They don't even have the energy to cause trouble anymore.

"No, I'm not," Xiao Jingkong snorted. "I'm just tired."

He can still argue with himself, so there shouldn't be any major problems.

Xiao Heng chuckled: "Alright, you're tired, I'll let you rest today."

"I'm not doing my homework."

"good."

"And give them candy too."

"Can."

Xiao Jingkong's big, black grape-like eyes darted around.

It was rare for my brother-in-law to be so understanding, so I decided to try and get myself another little benefit.

Xiao Heng could easily see through his little scheme, and pinched his cheek, saying, "That's enough, or I'll confiscate everything else too."

Xiao Jingkong's face darkened instantly.

He really is a bad brother-in-law!

Xiao Heng suppressed the upturned corners of his lips and said to Gu Jiao, "I'll take Jingkong to take a bath first. If anyone asks, I'll say that he acted bravely and saved my aunt. I need to let this little benefactor stay at the Imperial Preceptor's Palace for a few days."

That's a good reason.

"There's a question I've been thinking about for a long time: shouldn't I call her 'Auntie'?" Gu Jiao asked.

Xiao Heng smiled gently and said, "The eldest grandson of the emperor is surnamed Shangguan. According to the custom of the Great Yan royal family, those with the same surname are called aunts."

Gu Jiao suddenly realized: "Oh, I see. Then I'll escort the little princess back to the palace first."

Xiao Heng looked at the little princess who was clinging to Gu Jiao's neck and wouldn't let go, and said, "No need, the king is on his way."

Speak of the devil and he appears.

The king had also heard the news that the little princess had been sent back to the palace, but he waited for a long time without seeing her, so he came to the Imperial Preceptor's Hall to inquire about the situation.

Upon learning that the young princess was in the Qilin Palace, he rushed over without saying a word.

"Your Majesty, please slow down!" Zhang Dequan could barely keep up!

Your Majesty, do you still consider yourself young at your age?

Aren't you afraid of falling?

"Minor Snow!"

The king's voice arrived before he did.

The little princess lifted her head from Gu Jiao's arms and looked expectantly towards the door.

The moment the king rushed inside, the little princess burst into tears: "Waaah—Your Majesty...a bad guy is trying to capture me..."

Since it was inconvenient for Gu Changqing to show himself, he left after dropping Gu Jiao off.

They were in the side room next to Shangguan Yan's. Apart from the little princess, only Gu Jiao, Xiao Heng, and Xiao Jingkong were in the room.

The king looked at the two disheveled children and instantly flew into a rage!

Gu Jiao didn't mind adding fuel to the fire: "This morning, the little princess had an asthma attack, and her condition was very critical."

The king looked at the little princess who was crying so hard she could barely breathe.

The young princess sobbed, nodding, "I can't breathe...it hurts so much..."

The king asked with concern, "Are you still having trouble breathing?"

The young princess shook her head, choking back tears: "There aren't any anymore... My teacher gave me medicine..."

The king ordered Zhang Dequan to take the two children next door to get something to eat.

He then looked at Gu Jiao, who was also somewhat disheveled, with a complicated expression, and said in a deep voice, "Did you find the little princess?"

Gu Jiao answered bluntly: "Yes."

The king asked suspiciously, "How did you find it?"

You suspect me of embezzling?

Gu Jiao said, "I have an eagle, and it found it."

The king was skeptical: "Your eagle can find people?"

“I’ve been trained,” Gu Jiao said.

Yeah, right.

Gu Jiao thought to herself.

“I’ve seen that eagle,” Xiao Heng said. “The two children have seen it too; the eagle recognized them.”

The king trusted Shangguan Qing quite a bit, so he didn't dwell on it anymore and instead asked Gu Jiao, "Where are the people who kidnapped the little princess?"

"I didn't see it," Xiao Heng said first.

Gu Jiao said without changing her expression, "Yes, I didn't see them. The two children escaped from where they were being held and went into the woods. I found them in the woods."

"I understand."

The king then went next door to ask about Xiao Jingkong and the little princess.

The little princess was only four years old, and the clues she could provide were limited. She only remembered being captured time and time again, but she couldn't recall what those people looked like at all.

Xiao Jingkong remembered the appearance of the vendor and the man in black, as well as the appearance of the Dong family head and others, but Xiao Heng had just told him to say that he did not remember or did not see clearly.

Zhang Dequan said, "Your Majesty, the two children are still young. They were so frightened, it's normal that they can't remember clearly."

The king left the Qilin Palace with a gloomy expression.

As Gu Jiao watched the king's departing figure, she asked Xiao Heng, "Why did you insist that Jingkong and I not say anything?"

Xiao Heng pulled her hand and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear: "Because even if I told you, there wouldn't be enough evidence, and the major families might join forces to bite me back."

Gu Jiao asked, "So, we're just going to leave it at that?"

Xiao Heng smoothed her temples: "No. The little princess has suffered so much this time, and almost lost her life. The king will not let it go. Those who are scheming behind the scenes will soon realize that they have overestimated their abilities."

...

The library, third floor.

The king and the Grand Preceptor sat facing each other, drinking tea.

The Grand Preceptor poured tea for both the King and himself: "Does Your Majesty truly intend to do this?"

The king said solemnly, "That's right."

The Grand Preceptor smiled faintly, picked up his teacup and took a sip: "It was agreed that the Grand Preceptor's Hall would not interfere in court affairs, participate in power struggles, or concern itself with the affairs of aristocratic families."

The king said earnestly, "I am not ordering you as the ruler of a country, but as an old friend asking for your help."

The Imperial Advisor paused in his tea-drinking motion: "Ye Qing."

Ye Qing stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Disciple is here."

The Imperial Advisor asked, "What time is it?"

Ye Qing replied respectfully, "It's just past noon."

The Grand Preceptor said calmly, "At the hour of You (5-7 PM), I will meet the mastermind behind the abduction of the young princess."

Ye Qing's expression turned solemn: "Disciple obeys!"

The last two days, tickets are being cleared out.

(End of this chapter)