Chapter 727 Your Highness, you must keep your word.
A large group of people walked in from the cave entrance.
Leading the procession were General of the Cavalry and Lady Ruan, followed closely by Zhao Sanniu, with the King of Qin walking beside him. Behind them were many soldiers from the garrison and the King of Qin's confidants.
"The fire on the ground is still warm." A look of surprise appeared on the General of the Cavalry's face. "Zhuzhu is here, she must be here!"
Madam Ruan looked around, her face showing fragile panic: "But there's no one here... and the fireworks signal is slightly different from our Ruan family's, it might be someone else's signal... I was wrong, I shouldn't have been so unreasonable, I shouldn't have embarrassed Xiao Zhuzhu in front of so many people. If anything happens to Zhuzhu and Sui Shuren, I won't live anymore..."
“With my mother here, they will definitely be safe!” Zhao Sanniu’s voice was incredibly firm. “I have a feeling that my mother is nearby. Let’s split up and look for her.”
He clenched his fists, his eyes were bloodshot, and countless blood vessels were visible in the depths of his eyes.
Not only him, but everyone present stayed up all night, searching the outskirts of Beijing for an entire night, but to no avail.
Originally, the King of Qin was not alerted. He went to Lady Sui's residence for a meal, but learned that Lady Sui had gone to the outskirts of the capital to garrison troops. So he followed her and found out that Lady Sui and the daughter of the Ruan family had disappeared together. He immediately summoned the Imperial Guards to search for them.
With so many people searching together, we still couldn't find it.
The King of Qin squinted and said, "When we came up here just now, there were some shallow footprints. That means someone came to this cave before us. Could it be the people who kidnapped them?"
Madam Ruan had thought of this long ago, but she dared not say it aloud, as if it would come true if she did. Her face turned pale, and she collapsed into her husband's arms.
"Madam Ruan, there's no need to worry." The King of Qin twirled his fingers. "I've already sent men to trace the footprints. Even if we can't save Sui Shuren and Miss Ruan, we must find the person behind this and see how I tear him apart piece by piece..."
"Your Highness, you must keep your word!"
A sweet, charming voice came from the deepest part of the cave.
Madam Ruan turned around abruptly and rushed over: "My dear Zhuzhu, you're alright, I'm so glad you're alright... Sui Shuren is alright too, it's such a relief. Sui Shuren, I'm so sorry, if I hadn't asked you to go after little Zhuzhu, you wouldn't have encountered this..."
Just as Cheng Wanwan was about to speak, a figure rushed over and hugged her tightly: "Mom, I'm so glad you're alright, sob sob sob..."
King of Qin: "..."
Zhao Sanniu was about the same height as him. A grown man, he was actually holding his own mother in his arms and crying in her arms. The scene was simply unbearable to watch.
Cheng Wanwan was also quite helpless, and patted her son's back: "Okay, don't cry, Mom is fine."
Zhao Sanniu had held on all night, but now that his nerves were relaxed, he naturally broke down and cried uncontrollably. His wailing could be heard throughout the huge cave.
"Oh, Zhao Jingyu, how can you, a grown man, cry like that?" Ruan Mingzhu rolled her eyes, speechless. "Sui Shuren didn't cry at all after freezing and starving all night in the cave. She was finally rescued, and now she has to comfort you, a grown man who's eight feet tall. It's not easy being a mother like Sui Shuren!"
Zhao Sanniu stopped crying instantly.
He hastily wiped away his tears, intending to curse back, but then realized that this was no longer Ruan Cheng, but a young woman.
He could only ignore Ruan Mingzhu's words and fussed over Cheng Wanwan, "Mother, are you still cold? Here, put on my clothes. I still have some dry food on me. Mother, eat a few bites to fill your stomach first..."
He took off his outer clothes and draped them over Cheng Wanwan, then took out a dirty cloth bag from his waist and took out a dry biscuit.
“These dry biscuits are hard to swallow.” The King of Qin walked over and took a food box from his attendant. “Inside are some soft and delicious snacks. Lady Sui, please have some.”
Cheng Wanwan looked up at the King of Qin and saw the bloodshot eyes, the dark circles under his eyes, and the light stubble on his lips. It was clear at a glance that the King of Qin had indeed gone to great lengths to find her.
She said, "Thank you, Your Highness."
This was the first time the King of Qin had received a genuine thank you from Cheng Wanwan. He stepped forward, intending to continue to show his concern, but Zhao Sanniu subtly pushed him aside.
This young man was tall and strong. When he stood in front of Cheng Wanwan, she was completely protected in front of him, and the King of Qin could not get close at all.
Cheng Wanwan smoothly changed the subject: "Aren't Si Dan almost anxious to death?"
"I didn't dare tell Si Dan about this," Zhao Sanniu scratched the back of his head. "Si Dan is about to take the imperial examination, and I didn't want him to worry. Besides, even if he knew, there's nothing he could do..."
"You did a great job," Cheng Wanwan praised. "Don't tell him when you get back, so he won't be distracted."
She ate while talking and quickly regained her energy.
Nguyen Minh Chu also ate quite a lot, her mouth stuffed full, looking just like a squirrel.
After we finished eating, we prepared to go down the mountain.
"Wait a moment," Cheng Wanwan said. "Jingyu, take all the young soldiers out. Also, please ask the Prince to have his men leave."
The expressions of the General of the Cavalry and the King of Qin both turned serious.
The fact that Sui Shuren is taking this so seriously suggests that something important has happened. Could it be that the person who made this move is someone of extraordinary status?
The soldiers and imperial guards in the cave quickly withdrew, leaving only the Ruan family of three, Cheng Wanwan, and the Prince of Qin.
“His Highness just said that the flesh of the person behind this should be cut off piece by piece, and I’ve kept that in mind,” Ruan Mingzhu said first. “Once the people His Highness sent to track the footprints return, we can compare the clues and find out who is behind this. Now, let’s talk about something more important. Sui Shuren, please.”
Cheng Wanwan turned around: "Please follow me, everyone."
Ruan Mingzhu quickly followed, reached out and turned the mechanism, opening a crack in the stone wall. Cheng Wanwan blew on a tinderbox and led the way inside.
Upon seeing the numerous chests and boxes at the back of the inner room, the General of the Cavalry and the King of Qin immediately stepped forward and opened one of the chests. Without Cheng Wanwan's prompting, the two of them immediately noticed the markings on the weapons.
"Why would He Hanhai, a mere civil official, have so many weapons made?" The General of the Cavalry was filled with disbelief. "These weapons are far superior to those used by the garrison. They're clearly not forged by the imperial court; they must be privately made! A second-rank official privately making a large number of weapons—is this... a rebellion?"
Madam Ruan hurriedly spoke up: "Even if the He family wants to rebel, they need someone to support them. Now that the Crown Prince's position is secure, and the second, third, fourth, and fifth princes are all insignificant, which one can the He family support?"
The King of Qin's face suddenly turned cold.
He seemed to have thought of something, and his expression turned even more grim.
He threw the knife into the chest and said, word by word, "This matter must be kept secret for now. It must not be told to anyone outside of this place. I will go to the palace first to report to my elder brother."
After putting the weapons away untouched and leaving the secret chamber, they called for people to clean up the cave before heading down the mountain.
The snow had stopped by now, but the snow was still very deep. Zhao Sanniu carefully helped Cheng Wanwan walk for half an hour before they finally reached a place where they could take a carriage.
"Thank you so much, Lady Sui," Madam Ruan said sincerely. "I will definitely bring Zhuzhu to your door to express my gratitude another day."
Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "Perhaps it was I who implicated Miss Ruan, so Madam Ruan doesn't need to be so polite."
Madam Ruan didn't say anything more, but she was convinced in her heart that it was Sui Shuren who saved her daughter; otherwise, given her daughter's carelessness, she would never have survived in the deep mountains and forests...
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