Chapter 232 Search

By the time Xiaowu and Xiaoliu realized they were in trouble and rushed to the small house in the backyard with the shopkeeper, Zhong Min and Xier had disappeared. There were no signs of a struggle in the house, and the doors and windows were not damaged at all, but they had disappeared without a trace.

The little maid waiting outside was still there. She just said that the lady inside told her not to go in to help. She didn't hear any noise. She was wondering why no one came out for so long. She originally thought that it might be because it was more particular and it took more time, but she didn't expect such a thing to happen.

"Tell me quickly, where did my master go?" Xiao Wu pulled the little maid over and asked, "Has anyone else been here just now? Have you been here all the time, or have you left?"

The little maid was frightened by Xiao Wu's appearance and couldn't even speak clearly for a moment: "I, I, I don't know. I've been waiting in the yard the whole time. I didn't see anyone come in, nor did I see the young lady come out. I, I really don't know."

As he spoke, Xiao Liu had already quickly checked the room. He said to Xiao Wu, "Oh no! Something might have happened. There's a lingering smell of smoke in the room. Someone might have come in through that window and taken the princess away!"

This time, Xiao Wu no longer hesitated. He reached out and took out a flare from his arms and threw it directly into the air. After a while, more than a dozen secret guards rushed in from outside and surrounded the place in an instant.

"You, immediately notify the commanders defending the city to seal off all four gates. From now on, no one is allowed to leave the city until the princess is found!" Xiaowu quickly dispatched his men: "You, seal off the teahouse and conduct a thorough inspection. Don't miss any clues. And you, bring back all the people involved for interrogation! Xiaoliu, return to the palace and mobilize the troops. Search the entire city and make sure to find the princess!"

Seeing this, the shopkeeper beside him had already collapsed on the ground in fear. He had never imagined that the young lady just now was actually the princess that Prince Mu was about to marry! What should he do now? What should he do? Not to mention himself, he was afraid that even the lives of his entire family would be in jeopardy.

Everything that happened at the moment put everyone in the most nervous state. At such a time, in Muzhou, under the noses of so many secret guards, someone actually kidnapped the future princess. It was really too rampant!

At the same time, the confrontation between King Mu's army and the imperial army entered the final battle. Just when Xiao Liu personally ran to find Xiao Mingzheng to report the news, the imperial army had already been defeated and withdrew from the camp in several groups, fleeing towards the capital.

The siege of Muzhou, which lasted for more than half a year, was finally lifted. The court suffered heavy losses from the recent military defeats, which severely damaged the morale of the army and gave Xiao Mingzheng a good opportunity to counterattack and expand.

Just as the entire army was celebrating, Xiao Mingzheng suddenly spotted Xiaoliu approaching in a hurry, and immediately had a bad feeling. Seeing Xiaoliu's expression was not right, he glanced at the other generals beside him, who seemed to be concerned. So, with the exception of Luo Jiaxing, Xiao Mingzheng had the other generals withdraw to their respective posts.

"Xiao Liu, what are you doing here at this time?" Seeing that there was no one else around, Xiao Mingzheng said, "Go ahead and tell me. There are no outsiders here now."

"Your Highness, something bad has happened to the princess!" Xiao Liu saw that everyone else was gone, so he hurriedly reported Zhong Min's disappearance to Xiao Mingzheng. It was naturally difficult to say it in front of so many people before. After all, the matter of the princess was not a trivial matter. At this critical juncture, it must not be made known to the entire army, as this would easily shake the morale of the army and cause some unnecessary trouble.

"What did you say? What happened to Min'er?" Xiao Mingzheng's heart was empty. He almost couldn't stand still. He could hardly believe his ears.

Xiao Liu, filled with shame, told the truth about Zhong Min's disappearance, then said, "I have failed in my duty. Please punish me, Your Majesty!"

"It's already this late, will punishing you be of any use?" Luo Jiaxing, who was standing by, was also extremely anxious. This was truly a bolt from the blue. They had just won a great victory, but they didn't expect Zhong Min to be in trouble. "Have you sent anyone to look for him?"

"We've sealed off all four gates and sent people to search the entire city. I think the princess should still be in the city, but we don't know where she's hiding yet. Those people acted extremely carefully. They must have had an insider beforehand, otherwise they wouldn't have known the princess's whereabouts, let alone set up a trap in the teahouse in advance."

"This prince doesn't want to hear any of this. This prince just wants to find Min'er right away!" Xiao Mingzheng clenched his fists, his palms almost bleeding from being pricked by his own nails. "No matter the cost, you must bring the princess back to this prince without a scratch!"

"Your Highness, please calm down. In my opinion, the people who kidnapped the princess are most likely the same ones from last time. The most important thing right now is to organize our forces and find their hiding place before they can move the princess out of the city. Once they leave Muzhou, I'm afraid it will be even more troublesome!"

Although Luo Jiaxing was also extremely anxious, he also knew that nothing could help him now. The only thing that mattered was finding Zhong Min as soon as possible. Fortunately, the war had already been won. Otherwise, suffering on both sides would only add fuel to the fire.

After a surge of emotions spread, Xiao Mingzheng forced himself to suppress his worries and anxieties. After thinking for a moment, he immediately handed over the remaining military affairs to Luo Jiaxing, and then immediately took his men back to search for Zhong Min's whereabouts.

Watching Xiao Mingzheng hurriedly leave with his men, Luo Jiaxing couldn't help but sigh heavily. Zhong Min's disappearance weighed heavily on his heart. With victory in sight and her wedding to the prince just five days away, she hadn't anticipated such a problem.

Although Xiao Liu said that the four gates were sealed immediately after the incident, the fact that those people dared to act at this time and place meant that they had already devised a complete and thorough relocation plan. Even if Xiao Mingzheng returned with his men and searched Muzhou City several times and dug deep into the ground, he might not find anything.

Luo Jiaxing was deeply concerned that Zhong Min might have been moved out of the city. If that were the case, finding her would be incredibly difficult. On the other hand, Luo Jiaxing had absolute faith in Xiao Mingzheng. No matter what, no matter how difficult it was, even if there was not a single clue, he would do everything he could to find Zhong Min!

Unfortunately, Luo Jiaxing's guess was correct. Three days passed, and Xiao Mingzheng led his men to search every corner of Muzhou City, but they did not find any trace of Zhong Min. Even those who kidnapped Zhong Min did not leave any trace at all.

The teahouse owner was completely unaware of the situation, and it was clear that the new waiter who had soiled Zhong Min's clothes was part of the conspiracy. Unfortunately, the waiter disappeared after the incident, and the information provided by the teahouse owner about the waiter's reservation was completely false. It was obvious that everyone had been deceived by the waiter from the beginning.

But what puzzled Xiao Mingzheng was that it was absolutely impossible for a waiter alone to know Zhong Min's whereabouts, so the real problem was still in Prince Mu's Mansion. In other words, there were spies in Prince Mu's Mansion, and these people took action after careful planning and arrangements. Everything was premeditated long ago.

As time passed, there was still no news of Zhong Min. Xiao Mingzheng knew that those people must have taken Zhong Min out of Muzhou through various means. He no longer hesitated and mobilized his intelligence organizations across the country to track down Zhong Min's whereabouts.

Just as Xiao Mingzheng was desperately trying to find Zhong Min, she finally regained consciousness and discovered that she and Xi'er were locked up in a strange room. She was still feeling dizzy and could not recall anything except that she and Xi'er had been captured.

"Xier...Xier..." Xier was still asleep. She subconsciously reached out to help Xier, but found that she had no strength at all.

No wonder she wasn't tied up or anything like that. In her current state, even if the door was opened for her to leave, she wouldn't have the strength to move.

Xier slowly woke up, in a similar condition to Zhong Min. Her entire body felt limp and she had no strength at all. "Min'er, where are we?"

Zhong Min shook his head, his voice very weak: "I don't know, I guess he was caught."

Just as he finished speaking, he saw the door outside was suddenly opened, and then two or three maids walked in. Without saying a word, they supported Zhong Min and quickly fed her food and water, with indifference on their faces.

Zhong Min turned her mouth away, not wanting to eat. Right now, she just wanted to figure out what was going on: "Who are you and why are you arresting us?"

"Don't ask so many questions, just eat quickly. Otherwise, you'll have to sleep for a few days without food or water." The man replied impatiently, and then didn't care about anything else and stuffed food into Zhong Min's mouth.

Zhong Min had no strength left, and she was starving, so she had to force herself to eat. From what the man had said, she estimated they had been unconscious for several days. She tried to recall what had happened, and figured their captors must have given them some kind of drug to keep them comatose, only occasionally waking them up to eat something to prevent them from starving to death.

She didn't know how many days she had been captured, nor did she know who sent these people or where they were taking her. But she knew in her heart that Xiao Mingzheng must have known that something had happened to her, and the entire Muzhou was probably in chaos.

Xier, like Zhong Min, was forced to eat. The two did not even have a chance to communicate with each other. They could only look at each other to encourage each other.

After eating and drinking, those people helped Zhong Min and Xier to meet their physical needs, and then cleaned up. Then they reached out and pressed the acupoints on Zhong Min and Xier's bodies. After a while, Zhong Min and Xier fell asleep again.