Beside the carriage lay a middle-aged man who looked to be around forty years old. He was dressed in fine clothes and was probably the wealthy merchant from Jiang Chuanshuo. His throat had been slit with a knife.
A woman lay beside him; judging from her attire, she was likely the wealthy businessman's wife. Beneath her, she was tightly embracing a little girl, presumably the couple's daughter, who was also deceased.
There were very deep tire tracks on the ground, indicating about four or five vehicles, but these vehicles had disappeared, meaning the wealthy merchant's valuables must have been stolen.
The footsteps on the ground were disordered, indicating a fight had taken place. Unfortunately, apart from the wealthy merchant and his family of three and the more than twenty guards he brought, no bodies of the bandits were found.
Either they were highly skilled in martial arts and none of them were killed, or the bandits took their bodies away.
Apart from that, there seem to be no other clues.
Lu Xiaoyun pulled out an arrow to examine it. It was a very ordinary arrow with extremely rough fletching, and the materials used were also average. There were no markings on it.
The sky gradually darkened.
The people from the mortuary in the capital will come and collect these corpses soon.
Lu Xiaoyun looked around and ordered, "Return to the manor."
The twenty-odd guards obeyed orders and immediately gathered around Lu Xiaoyun.
“Master, there is still someone alive here, a maid.” Xi Yi suddenly shouted.
He was examining the body when a weak hand grabbed his ankle and then let go. When Xi Yi looked down, he realized from her attire that she was a maid.
Lu Xiaoyun immediately went over, thinking that perhaps this maid knew some clues about the bandits.
Xi Yi squatted down, but saw that her hand had fallen limply to her side again, so he quickly checked her breath.
The maid's breath was extremely weak, her pulse was barely perceptible, and she had been slashed several times, with some wounds still bleeding.
Xi Yi said, "Master, she is seriously injured and barely clings to life. I'm afraid it will be difficult to save her."
Lu Xiaoyun also stepped forward to take a look, and said to Xi Yi, "Stop the bleeding first. Take her back to the manor quickly and let Ayan treat her. Be careful not to let anyone find out."
This maid is a key witness; perhaps Ah Yan can save her life.
Xi Yi tore off the clothes of a nearby corpse and wrapped them around the bleeding wound on the maid's body, then picked her up and hurriedly left.
After everyone left the Prince An's residence, Li Feng and another maid carefully moved Zhu Yu into the room.
After being exposed to the sun for more than an hour, and with his serious injuries still not healed, Zhu Yu felt extremely tired and somewhat dizzy.
But when he lay down in bed, he couldn't fall asleep. He felt a vague unease in his heart. Lu Xiaoyun had never dealt with this kind of thing alone before.
And from her words, we also learned that the "modern" world she lived in was extremely peaceful, and the people lived in peace and contentment.
Two hours passed, and it was already getting dark. Zhu Yu's unease grew stronger.
"Li Feng".
"Miss." Li Feng pushed open the door and entered. "Miss, would you like some water?"
"What time is it?"
It's almost the end of Shenshi (3-5 PM).
"Have the prince and the others returned to the manor?"
"Not yet, Miss. You asked me to keep an eye on things, and I had someone go to the gate every incense stick's time. They just came to report that the Prince and the others haven't returned yet."
It's so late, why hasn't Lu Xiaoyun come back yet?
Whether we find any clues or not is secondary; what if we encounter any danger?
What if these bandits return?
This group of bandits must have come from the Luohe area. They had already formed a small force, and the imperial court had sent people to suppress them, but they moved from one place to another, showing extreme cunning.
They dart about here and there, hiding deep in the mountains, making them extremely difficult to eradicate completely.
Those bandits were vicious and ruthless, causing immense suffering to the people wherever they went. In order to seize their property, they even slaughtered countless civilians.
He shouldn't have let her go; she doesn't even have a trace of martial arts skill.
He regretted it.
Zhu Yu was in a panic: "Quickly, go and call Wu Chuan here."
"Miss, the Prince is not at home. Is there anything he needs to do by summoning Lord Wu? Perhaps I can convey his message to him."
Wu Chuan is a man, and it is against the rules for him to enter the inner courtyard. How could Miss meet with Wu Chuan in private? If this were to reach the ears of Consort Duan, who knows what kind of trouble it would cause.
Zhu Yu, impatient, endured the pain in his body and shouted loudly, "Enough with the nonsense, go now!"
Li Feng was startled. What's wrong with Miss this time? Last time, she already told Consort Duan that Feng Yan and Consort Duan had an affair. Why does she want to see Wu Chuan now?
Miss, you really can't take any more of this kind of physical exertion.
Zhu Yu retorted angrily, "What are you still standing there for! You can't order me around anymore, can you?!"
Li Feng trembled. Seeing that his mistress's eyes had suddenly turned cold, he dared not ask any more questions and immediately ran towards Yunmei Garden.
Wu Chuan was dutiful and responsible, standing guard at the entrance of Yunmei Garden like a statue.
"Lord Wu," Li Feng said, panting heavily.
"Miss Li Feng, what's wrong? What's the matter? Why are you running so fast?"
"Miss, Miss..." Li Feng gasped for breath as he ran towards this place, having swallowed a bellyful of northwest wind, and now his throat felt extremely dry and hoarse.
Wu Chuan's expression changed. Could it be that something had happened to the princess? The princess was not the same as before; the master cherished her dearly.
But the master was not in the mansion.
Ignoring the tearing pain from the whip wounds on his back, Wu Chuan used his lightness skill to run towards Feixue Garden before Li Feng could finish speaking.
By the time Li Feng caught his breath, Wu Chuan was nowhere to be seen.
Li Feng had no choice but to run wildly towards Feixue Garden again.
In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Wu Chuan had already arrived at the entrance of Feixue Garden. Just as he reached out to push the door open and enter, he suddenly stopped. He was too rash. Why hadn't he learned his lesson? This was, after all, the princess's room. What was he doing, a mere bodyguard, barging in like this?
So Wu Chuan stood outside and asked, "Your Highness, are you feeling unwell? Should I go and invite Mr. Lu over?"
"Wu Chuan, you immediately take three hundred guards to Xizi Forest and bring the prince back."
Wu Chuan: "..." I don't understand.
"Hurry up and go, are you waiting for your master to get into trouble!" Zhu Yu raised his voice, and because he spoke too fast and too urgently, he coughed violently, and his wounds also felt waves of pain.
Wu Chuan's expression changed. He realized that Xi Yi had only gathered twenty guards from the Prince's Palace. If they were to encounter those bandits head-on, something bad might really happen.
"Yes!" Wu Chuan took off running outside, not even bothering to think about how the princess knew her master would be in trouble.
In no time, more than three hundred guards from the Prince An's mansion had gathered and rushed straight towards Xizi Forest.
Not long after Wu Chuan left, Li Feng, panting heavily, returned. She immediately went into the house and said urgently, "Miss, Lord Xi is back, carrying a person covered in blood."
A person covered in blood!
Zhu Yu's mind went blank for a moment, and his blood rushed to his head. Lu Xiaoyun, had something happened to Lu Xiaoyun?
Covered in blood? How could he be covered in blood? Are Jiang Chuan and Xi Yi useless? How come they couldn't even protect Lu Xiaoyun?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
