When Qinghe saw the person in front of her, he was a complete stranger, but the other person recognized her.
Her eyes were wary as she took two steps back to create distance between herself and the man: "Who are you?"
The guard stepped forward: "It's not that Miss Qinghe doesn't recognize me. I've been protecting you in secret. But I'm in a hurry to see the Emperor. Please inform him on my behalf, Miss Qinghe."
"Tell me what it is?"
"The eldest princess has been kidnapped by a group of men in black, and her whereabouts are currently unknown."
Upon hearing this, Qinghe hurriedly ran into the house. Di Jingcheng and Azi were having their meal when Qinghe interrupted them.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, something terrible has happened. The Eldest Princess has been kidnapped by assassins and her whereabouts are currently unknown."
Upon hearing this, Azi was shocked and grabbed Di Jingcheng's hand: "What happened?"
Di Jingcheng put down his chopsticks and squeezed Azi's hand reassuringly: "Don't get agitated, take care of yourself first."
He then turned to Qinghe: "The prefect's mansion is heavily guarded. What are those imperial guards doing? Besides, they are protected by secret guards. How could this be?"
"Your Majesty, the guards responsible for protecting the Princess are already outside."
"Let him in."
The guard in black entered, clasped his hands in greeting, and knelt on one knee, saying, "Greetings, Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Empress!"
"Your Majesty, the Princess has been kidnapped by thieves. There were two groups of people at that time, which gave them the opportunity. We have already sent men to pursue them!"
Di Jingcheng sat on the edge of the bed, lost in thought.
"Was it the one we encountered on the way?"
"Your Majesty, we initially thought it was one group of people, but we have now discovered that it is two groups."
"Liu Xinqi's men have been eager to make their move, and the other group is likely either Yang Mingyue or someone from the palace. Have Cheng Er go with you to investigate. Deploy all the Imperial Guards from the Prefect's residence and have Prefect Liu send men to search the southern border. You must rescue the Princess!"
"Your servant obeys!"
Cheng Er rushed over upon hearing the commotion, and upon seeing the guard, knew something was wrong: "Your Majesty!"
"Cheng Er, you and he go back to rescue the Princess. Write a letter and secretly send it back to Prince Yuan in the palace. Be extremely careful!"
"Your Majesty, I obey your decree. However, this means that Your Majesty and the Empress will be without anyone to protect them."
"Don't worry, we won't be in any danger here," Azi said.
Di Jingcheng nodded: "Chief Sun is still here. Let's set off immediately and say no more."
"yes!"
Cheng Er listened to the guard recount the events in detail, and the two returned to the Nanzhou Prefectural Governor's Mansion as quickly as possible.
Emperor Jingyuan was reviewing memorials in the palace. There were many court affairs to attend to, but he always slept late into the night. Just as he fell asleep this day, a secret guard appeared at his bedside: "Prince Yuan, His Majesty has a secret letter."
Di Jingyuan immediately sat up, lifted the curtain and took the secret letter. He was shocked to learn that Di Jinghan had been kidnapped.
"This servant takes his leave." The guard slipped away; he had other matters to attend to.
Emperor Jingyuan immediately issued a secret order to search for the eldest princess throughout the country. Searches began almost everywhere, and government officials checked people daily. The people thought something major had happened and were unaware that the eldest princess had disappeared. With officials coming to their doors every day, they lived in constant fear.
After seven days of searching, there were still no results; not even a trace of the assassin or Di Jinghan could be found.
Ever since Di Jinghan was kidnapped that day, she had been unconscious. When she woke up, she found herself completely weak, which meant she had been drugged. Moreover, she was bound with rope and lying in a dimly lit room, having no idea where she was or what time it was.
The pampered princess had never experienced anything like this before. She looked around in fear, but there was no one there. She had no idea how many days she had been imprisoned. Just as she was about to faint from hunger, the door was finally opened from the outside.
A veiled woman dressed in plain clothes walked in, followed by two men in black. Di Jinghan shrank back in fear. The three were backlit, so it must have been daytime outside; she couldn't see their faces clearly.
She guessed that the two men in black were the ones who kidnapped her that night, and that the woman in the lead was the mastermind.
When the woman spoke, although she deliberately raised her voice, Di Jinghan still felt that she had seen it before, but she was so dizzy that she couldn't remember who the voice belonged to.
"Don't let her die. Things are getting tense outside. Lock her up here for a few days." The leading woman looked at the disheveled Di Jinghan and felt a surge of satisfaction. She had finally caught this arrogant and domineering princess. She was going to make her suffer!
"Remember to send her some food, but not too much, just plain porridge will do." The woman thought that the noble and precious Di Jinghan would definitely look down on plain porridge with only a few grains of rice, but she was going to suffer. She would torture her properly after things calmed down.
She gave Di Jinghan a mocking look, then turned and left. She had to hurry back; Prince Yuan was investigating very strictly recently.
Di Jinghan was untied. She looked at the rough bowl of white porridge on the ground, which was covered in dust. She didn't really want to drink it, but she was so hungry that her stomach ached.
She closed her eyes, then opened them again after a while, looking weakly at the dark, mushy porridge, her mind in turmoil.
Hunger ultimately triumphed over dignity. Di Jinghan laboriously crawled to the bowl of porridge, her eyes filled with longing for food. She slowly reached out and grabbed the edge of the bowl, but because she had no strength, most of the white porridge spilled out.
She suppressed her mental and physical discomfort, gagged a few times, and began to drink the porridge with her eyes closed. She had barely taken a sip, before she could even swallow, when she immediately clutched her chest and gagged again—the porridge had gone bad.
Di Jinghan burst into tears of grievance. When had she ever suffered like this? She had always been a pampered princess since childhood. Royal brother and sister-in-law, please come and save her! And her second royal brother, she missed them so much! And her Ning Hui.
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