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◎Thinking of Xu Jin, his life has been truly unlucky…◎

The Marquis of Quzhou had a complex relationship with civil officials and strategists like Sima Hong; she both respected and was wary of him. She knew very well that these roughnecks couldn't outsmart someone like him.

In particular, Sima Hong was a rare genius, whose wisdom surpassed that of Bi Gan, a talent that appeared only once in a century. So when he appeared outside her mansion, her first thought was that her family had been targeted by Sima Hong. However, she thought that her family was upright and honest, so she was not afraid.

Most importantly, he said he already knew who had kidnapped Qi Gu, and Sima Hong wouldn't lie; he came for Chen Zhan.

Qu Zhouhong breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that it was official business. Besides, the most urgent thing was to find Qi Gu. So he asked, "Does Lord Sima really know who kidnapped Qi Gu?"

Sima Hongdao said, "My men are already on the man's trail, and I believe we'll have clues soon."

"So, Lord Sima sent people to keep an eye on my family just because of Chen Zhan's matter?" Although Marquis Quzhou was wary of Sima Hong, as a female marquis officially appointed by the court, she could not tolerate Sima Hong spying on her residence at will.

"Lord Quzhou, rest assured, I have no ill intentions towards your household. As subjects, we should share the burdens of the Emperor and Empress, don't you agree?" Although it was a question, Sima Hong spoke frankly.

Looking at the man before him, Marquis Quzhou saw that he was upright and selfless, and that he was so handsome and unparalleled. His attitude was neither humble nor arrogant. He was still the aloof and cold young master of the Sima family. The Sima family had always looked down on them, the royal family and nobles. The only thing that could make them pay attention to was the country and the people.

Qu Zhouhou finally lowered her guard. She was a decisive person, and immediately took out the strip of cloth from her sleeve and showed it to Sima Hong. "This was received by my mansion an hour ago. It says that Qi Gu is in his hands and that my husband should bring Chen Zhan to Qingsong Mountain outside the city at 9 am tomorrow, or else Qi Gu will be killed."

Sima Hong took the note. He was certain that Song Shi, Chen Zhan's personal bodyguard, had abducted Qi Gu.

It's likely that this person secretly infiltrated the capital not long after they returned. The Guangshun Marquis's residence and Qigu Ying had long been targeted by this person. However, it's astonishing that this person even knew so much about the news in the palace...

Thinking of this, Sima Hong's expression turned slightly cold. He said something to Marquis Qu Zhou, and Marquis Qu Zhou's face darkened upon hearing it. "Everyone praises Sima Langjun as a man of outstanding talent and unparalleled wisdom. Now I see that Sima Langjun is indeed as brilliant as the stars and the sun and moon. The praise from the world is indeed well-deserved! I would like to thank Sima Langjun on behalf of Qi Gu and my husband."

After saying this, Marquis Quzhou boarded the carriage, and in the darkness, the sound of hooves clattered as it headed towards Changyang Palace.

Not long after Marquis Qu Zhou left, Atai said, "My lord, Afeng has found traces of Song Shi."

Where is he hiding?

"He's right outside the Commandant's residence." Atai thought to himself, "This guy is really bold. He actually dares to return to the capital at this time. He's incredibly arrogant!"

Upon hearing Atai's words, Sima Hong immediately realized something was wrong; he wasn't going to exchange Qi Gu for Chen Zhan!

He immediately ordered, "Atai, have Afeng keep a close eye on Song Shi, and also convey my order to the Court of Justice that no one is allowed to enter or leave the dungeon where Chen Zhan is being held, especially the Marquis of Guangshun!"

Sima Hong thought of the note that Marquis Qu Zhou had just shown him. The cloth strip was very rough. This kind of cloth was commonly found in the homes of commoners in the south of the city, and it was not used for writing, but mostly for clothing or fur coats.

The strip of cloth was not very regular, as if it had been haphazardly torn from somewhere and two lines of writing were written on it in ink.

This person also clearly stated that Chen Zhan was currently being guarded and interrogated by Marquis Yuan Kuai of Guangshun.

Sima Hong took A Xiang with him, saying, "Now we'll take the men and head to the south of the city." Qi Gu must have been hidden in the south of the city by Song Shi.

In the south of the city, strong and sturdy soldiers held torches, illuminating the darkness. It was already curfew, and there wasn't a single pedestrian on the road. The soldiers searched house to house, especially those old, dilapidated houses that were uninhabited, which they simply broke down and searched.

Time passed slowly, and Sima Hong, riding on his horse, watched as the thick fog of the night was gradually dispelled by the sound of searching soldiers banging on doors and by torches.

Suddenly, a loud shout rang out: "Stop! Who's lurking around like that!" Ah Xiang grabbed a young man, pulled him up by the back of his neck, and brought him to Sima Hong.

Sima Hong frowned slightly. "Who are you, and why are you here?"

"Lord Sima, spare my life! I really don't know anything! I'm innocent! I'm so unlucky! I really didn't kidnap the princess! I'm really not an accomplice in kidnapping the princess!"

The man recognized him. Sima Hong dismounted, and A Xiang brought a torch to illuminate the man's face. He saw that the man had many external wounds on his face, which looked like they were from being punched, and there was dried blood on his forehead. Sima Hong felt that the man looked somewhat familiar. "You are... Xu Jin, the youngest son of Physician Xu?"

"That's right, that's right! Lord Sima remembers me, waaaah~" The man was so excited, tears welling up in his eyes, that he completely forgot his situation as a suspect in the kidnapping of the princess.

"Lord Sima, it's so good to have met you! I'm innocent..."

It turned out that this person was the young man who had been hit by the flowerpot earlier that day. After Fulian was ordered to take the man to the nearest clinic, Hongyan rushed over to tell her that the princess had gone missing.

Honghu was lured away by the children and didn't know how the princess disappeared. Fulian looked at the young man who was covering his head with hostility and immediately ordered him to be tied up. Honghu was not spared either, after all, the fact that Honghu was lured away by the children was also very suspicious to her.

If it weren't for the need to send Hongyan to the palace to inform the Empress, Fulian would have tied her up as well.

So, the unfortunate man who was hit by the flowerpot was personally questioned by Fulian. Fulian sent people to investigate the man's background thoroughly and finally confirmed that he was not an accomplice in kidnapping the princess. He was just the unfortunate youngest son of the Xu family, the imperial physician in the palace, and a passerby who went to Chunyu's pastry shop to buy cakes.

Fu Lian blamed herself, slamming her large, bear-paw-like hand on the clinic's desk. "Why such a coincidence, of all days!"

Xu Jin and Hong Hu trembled with fear, both afraid that the large hand would land on them.

After receiving the Empress's order to search the capital, Fulian left without looking back.

Meanwhile, the unfortunate Xu Jin was at a loss in the clinic. He had already learned from Fu Lian and the others that because of him, the eldest princess, who had just returned to the palace, had gone missing. He trembled with fear, thinking that his life had been truly unlucky...

His father was a highly skilled imperial physician, so from a young age he aspired to become a beloved physician like his father. However, when he was twelve, he was preparing a medicine and nearly poisoned himself during the trial. If his father and brother hadn't discovered it in time, he would have lost his life.

From then on, he developed a psychological trauma from practicing medicine and had no choice but to abandon it and pursue literature, hoping to learn the Four Books and Five Classics and sell them to the emperor. However, he did not expect that his talent for reading was also very average. Most importantly, he had three teachers, all of whom died for various bizarre reasons. Who would dare to recommend someone like him for an official position? That would be asking for more heads to be chopped off.

In his grief and indignation, Xu Jin had no choice but to abandon his literary pursuits and take up martial arts. He was already fifteen years old at the time. Having heard of his glorious deeds, many good martial arts masters dared not accept him as a disciple, so he had to learn from wandering knights. However, these knights were homeless, and their teaching was inconsistent, sometimes sporadic. Despite this, he persevered for two years. Then, hearing that the imperial court was conscripting soldiers, he went to participate. But during the competition, his arrow missed its mark, hitting the examiner's buttocks. This meant that the path to military service was forever out of his reach!

That's why he came to his favorite Chun Yu Pastry Shop today in a bad mood, wanting to buy some pastries to treat himself and show filial piety to his parents. Unexpectedly, while buying pastries, he was so unlucky that he was hit on the head by a flowerpot. That was bad enough, but it also led to the princess being kidnapped.

Thinking back on his experiences over the past ten years, Xu Jin, who had been a scholar for several years, had naturally heard of Sima Hong's great name and greatly admired the genius Sima Hong. Overwhelmed with sorrow, he couldn't help but burst into tears in front of Sima Hong without any regard for his image.

In the capital, Physician Xu, this unlucky fellow, was quite famous. Therefore, even Ah Xiang's usually expressionless face couldn't help but crack. They were professional subordinates, usually able to hold back their laughter unless they truly couldn't. Ahahaha~

Sima Hong glanced at A Xiang, whose smile faded. He asked, "Then how did you end up in the south of the city? This is too much of a coincidence."

Xu Jin wiped away his tears. "Lord Sima, it's like this. I know that the princess was kidnapped because of me, and I feel very bad about it. So I thought I should do what I could. Based on the position where the princess was standing at the time, I judged that the best escape route for the kidnappers was to the south of the city. I wanted to send the message to the strong princess's maid, but I couldn't find her, so I had to come here myself."

"Have you found any trace of the princess?"

Xu Jin looked a little embarrassed and said, "Not for now."

Ah Xiang stood aside, thinking to himself, "This young master Xu, don't you know how unlucky you are? The princess won't thank you if she knows you came to see her."

Sima Hong also looked at the man with a strange expression. "Fine, I'll have someone send you back."

Just then, a servant came to report, "My lord! It seems we've found where the princess is hidden!"

Sima Hong ignored Xu Jin and followed his subordinates to a dilapidated house. The courtyard was obviously uninhabited, but the door of one of the houses that had not collapsed was locked with a brand new padlock.

Ah Xiang stepped forward, drew the knife from his side, and with a loud "bang!", the lock on the door was split in two.

Sima Hong pushed open the door, and inside... there was no one there!

Looking around, all I could see in the dilapidated house was a conspicuous solid wood chair lying to one side, with two bundles of rope next to it.

Ah Xiang picked up the rope and handed it to Sima Hong. There were still some dried bloodstains on it. Looking at the broken candlesticks on the ground, he realized that Qi Gu had been tied to this sturdy chair and had used the candlestick fragments to grind the rope through! Sima Hong stroked the bloodstains on the rope, his eyes dark.

"The window! The window has been smashed!!" Xu Jin, who had followed us in at some point, shouted, pointing at the smashed window.

[Author's Note]

Xu Jin: I'm just incredibly unlucky.

Sima Hong: I will find you no matter where you are, north, south, east, or west.

Fu Lian: What bad luck!

Ah Xiang: Hahahaha [laughing and crying emoji]

Qi Gu: Xu Jin, retreat, retreat! [Cracks open]

I've re-bugged and modified it.