You can't say that Shen Jiaojiao really ran away, right?

The Third Prince felt a rare sense of uneasiness in his heart.

Shen Jiaojiao knew too much about him. If this woman completely lost control, it would be like a sword hanging over his head, making him unable to sleep or eat.

Because, you never know when this sword will fall.

The person who went to investigate was obviously exhausted. Every breath he exhaled was a white mist, and he was so cold that he couldn't speak clearly. "There is no trace."

"At this time of year, the water in the cold pond is enough to freeze anyone to death. If they want to escape, they will have to swim a long way in the cold pond. Shen Jiaojiao is in poor health and she can't hold on for that long."

The third prince frowned, "But she is from Nanchu and knows how to swim."

Can't be compared with the landlubbers in the north.

The subordinate was stunned, "Even if you can swim, you can't last that long, right?"

"There are no traces on either side of the cold pond, upstream or downstream. Most likely, they died inside the cold pond."

He looked towards the cold pond with a serious expression.

No one dares to go near this place in summer.

What's more, it's winter.

For the landlubbers of Northern Qi, this place was a dead end. No one was willing to approach it, let alone go down to look for someone.

If you can't find it, you can't say anything.

Anyone who goes down to look for someone will surely lose half his life, or even die there for sure.

The people of Northern Qi had a deep-seated fear of the cold pond.

Finally, the third prince could only say, "Then let's go back first."

It is not easy for him to support people, and he is not willing to let these people jump into the cold pond for Shen Jiaojiao and become a waste.

But the emperor asked him to capture Shen Jiaojiao, but he failed to find her.

This matter is not easy to handle.

Thinking of this, the Third Prince gave an order, "Find a piece of clothing that is the same as what Shen Jiaojiao was wearing at the time, and pretend that we found a piece of cloth on the shore, and the person must have sunk to the bottom."

"Father won't ask anyone to search."

He looked at the dark water in the cold pond, and a suffocating chill surged into his heart.

This place is weird.

In winter, water freezes in other places but not here.

In the summer, the water in other places is warm, but here it is still freezing cold.

This seems like a stagnant pool of water.

But it is clearly flowing downwards, and it will become warm when it reaches the lower reaches. Only this half section is freezing cold all year round.

It's really puzzling.

But this thought only flashed through the Third Prince's mind, and he took his men back to report.

…

Ruyi met him on the way to Mu's house.

The third prince looked exhausted, as if he had just worked hard outside, and was pretending to ask the city defense soldiers patrolling on the road.

"I have only been away for one day, why is it that the whole city is already in mourning?"

He widened his eyes, looking nervous and surprised, "Who's in trouble?"

The acting is quite realistic.

Because the city’s defenses were strengthened in the past two days, passing pedestrians and carriages needed to be checked, so Ruyi was also stuck in one place.

She looked at the third prince and felt it was somewhat ironic.

But there was no sign of anything unusual on his face.

The city defense army was not as high-ranking as the Third Prince, so they could only answer seriously: "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was assassinated, and the Emperor ordered a city-wide patrol to capture the murderer."

"how so?"

The third prince staggered, as if he was completely unaware of this matter.

After a brief moment of shock, a look of grief appeared on his face, "Who on earth wants to kill my eldest brother?!"

If Ruyi had not seen his true face, if she had not known about the dirty things between him and Shen Jiaojiao, she would have believed it when she saw his expression.

Everyone in the Royal Family is acting.

To be precise, everyone in the court was acting.

Outside, you can't see their true faces at all.

This is what Ruyi felt most deeply recently. She just watched quietly and didn't say much.

The city defense army responded to the Third Prince's words, "We are still investigating. We don't know the details. If the Third Prince wants to know, he may have to go to the palace to ask the Emperor, or find Lord Fang, the Minister of the Dali Temple."

The Third Prince looked grim and gave a stern order, "Patrol carefully and make sure to find the murderer who murdered our eldest brother!"

"I will skin him alive myself!"

“…”

No one spoke, they just made way for him.

The third prince rode his horse, passed through the blockade of the city defense army, and walked inside.

Ruyi took out the evidence from behind to verify his identity.

Afterwards, we crossed the blockade.

Unexpectedly, the third prince in front of her suddenly turned around and looked at her, "Where are you going, Princess Zhaoyang?"

“…”

Ruyi took a deep breath and said without hiding anything, "I'm going to visit Sister Mu. She helped me before, and I want to go and thank her."

In fact, Mu Rushuang came to visit her this morning.

At this moment, Rong Yan had just left to take care of the affairs of the court.

She also wanted to go to the Mu family and give Old Man Mu another acupuncture treatment, so that the medicine would work better and he would get better faster.

The Third Prince's eyes flickered and he nodded, "Indeed, you and Miss Mu have had a good relationship since childhood."

As he spoke, he changed the subject.

His eyes fell on Ruyi's face. "The last time I saw you at Gu's house, I thought there would be no follow-up after you and Gu Qinghua broke off the engagement, but I didn't expect that your father and several young masters of the Shen family would do such a cruel thing."

"Thanks to your cleverness, I was able to escape the disaster of Hantan."

The third prince looked at her with mixed feelings.

He originally thought that once Shen Ruyi died, it would take some preparation to bring down the Shen family.

Unexpectedly, the Shen family was brought down by Shen Ruyi.

The speed was so fast that even he, the mastermind behind the scenes, was caught off guard.

Now, Ruyi has become the imperial seal holder and will soon be accompanying his father.

The third prince wanted to win him over.

"I heard that you will be entering the palace soon. The palace is not a safe place. It is full of turmoil, open and covert struggles, and it all revolves around the emperor."

"If you run into any trouble in the palace, you can ask my mother for help. She will do her best to protect you."

Without waiting for Ruyi to answer, he continued, "I will tell my mother about this matter when I enter the palace this time."

During the whole process, Ruyi didn't have time to interrupt.

He said it all by himself.

I thought that Ruyi didn't interrupt because she herself had no chance of entering the palace and was uneasy, so she didn't reject his olive branch.

Unexpectedly, after he finished speaking, Ruyi spoke calmly, "The Third Prince also said that I must accompany the Emperor when I enter the palace. Is there anyone in the palace who wants to kill me?"

"Do you want the country's fortune to decline?"

"Or are you coming for the Emperor?"

"If you have any, please let me know, Your Highness the Third Prince."

"After all, if I, a mere Ziwei Fuxing, die, it's just death, but if it comes for the emperor, then things will be troublesome."

"After all, he is your father."

"You don't want to see anything happen to him, do you? Besides, the Crown Prince has been assassinated, and the situation is tense. Who knows if there are still people who want to harm the Emperor?"