After waiting for an hour without seeing the three female guards catch up, Old Zhou waved his hand and said, "Let's go, we won't wait any longer."
The Zhou family traveled for another half a day before stopping at nightfall.
At midnight, Jingjing and Xiaoxiao caught up, covered in injuries. Zhao Guihua quickly got medicine to treat their wounds.
"It's okay, I just lost a lot of blood, but I can manage," Xiao Xiao said optimistically.
Jingjing was also pale, but she didn't faint. She said in a low voice, "I'm fine. I can continue my journey tomorrow."
"It's good that you're alright," Zhao Guihua said with a hint of relief, but then asked, "Where's Tangguo? Why hasn't Tangguo come back yet?"
Xiao Xiao's face stiffened. "Has Tang Guo not returned yet?" Tang Guo had been the first to leave, and Xiao Xiao had specifically told her to stay on the main road so she wouldn't get lost.
Jingjing said expressionlessly, "That silly girl is probably lost. She doesn't know the way."
"Erfu and Sifu, you two go back the way you came and look for it, but don't go too far. You should be back in half an hour at most." Zhao Guihua was worried about Tangguo, but she secretly didn't want anything to happen to her son.
Old Zhou wanted to go with them, but he knew he couldn't leave. He had to stay behind to protect his wife and children, so he just muttered, "Be careful, and come back quickly."
An hour passed in the blink of an eye, and the two brothers, Zhou Erfu and Zhou Sifu, still hadn't returned. Zhao Guihua was so anxious that she was practically blistered from her mouth. "Husband, why don't you go and check on them? The two children can't be in any danger."
Old Zhou was also anxious. He lit a torch and was about to go look for them when he saw the two boys rush back quickly. They weren't empty-handed; each of them was carrying a wild rabbit.
"I told you to go find someone, but you went to catch wild rabbits instead. Are you itching for a beating? You're all grown up and can't you tell what's important?" Zhao Guihua was relieved to see that they were alright, but her anger couldn't be calmed down. She chased after the two brats and gave them a good beating.
The two boys immediately begged for mercy, "Mom, don't pull our ears. We looked all the way here. We just caught the rabbit on the way. We just went a bit too far, so we were slow to come back."
Zhao Guihua poked their heads again in annoyance, then ignored them. She was exhausted and needed a break.
"Mom, didn't you find the candy?" Xingxing was very sad. She should have brought the candy with her. She was so naive, she knew she wouldn't be able to find her way. If she escaped and survived, that would be fine, but if she was caught by the men in black, then she was doomed.
"Candy is strong and runs fast, she should be fine. She just got lost. Sigh, she's a poor child." Zhao Guihua hugged Xingxing, not knowing how to comfort her.
Star and Candy were good friends. When Candy went missing, Star was definitely the saddest. But Candy was a guard, and her duty was to protect the Zhou family's safety.
At the Gu residence, Wu Lianlian's face turned grim after hearing the report from Steward Gu. "Twenty people were sent out, and only five returned alive. What about the Zhou family? Did none of them die?"
Butler Gu frowned and stammered, "According to the report from the people who came back, the Zhou family seemed to know that they would be there last night. When our people chased after them, they were doused with honey water, which then attracted thousands of wasps. All fifteen people were stung to death by the wasps."
The five people who returned were not spared either, and their heads were stung and turned into pig heads.
Wu Lianlian's eyes seemed to be filled with venom, which was chilling. She said in a gloomy tone, "They are lucky. They have escaped several times. It must be the help of God or some strange animal. I am now almost certain that the little girl is the real princess. She is a lucky star. She is indeed different from ordinary people. She is very lucky and has a great life."
"Madam, what should we do next? Should we continue sending people to hunt them down?" Butler Gu asked for instructions.
Wu Lianlian walked to the window and pondered for a while before speaking, "Let's put the pursuit of the princess aside for a few days. The prince will arrive at Quanshui Mansion in ten days. Let him make the decision then. I have no choice. If we continue to provoke him recklessly, I'm afraid all the people under my command will be lost."
Without anyone in charge, how can you expect the prince to take you seriously? If you end up like that stupid woman Ye Yingtao, leaving yourself as a commander without any troops, the prince will definitely not forgive you.
"Although all those who kidnapped the princess eventually died, I heard some rumors that every time those assassins tried to harm the princess, various unexpected things would happen, as if some mysterious force was preventing them from hurting her. Later, no one knew where those people took the princess."
At that time, the prince was being pursued by the imperial court and had no time to deal with that matter. By the time he finally escaped the pursuit, all the assassins who had kidnapped the princess were dead. They had gone to great lengths but hadn't found the princess. Now it seems that the little girl ended up in the south and was picked up by the Zhou family," Wu Lianlian said.
Butler Gu had one thing that puzzled him: "Madam, since the princess is still alive, why doesn't she go back to the palace? Why is she running away with the Zhou family?"
“There is something fishy about this matter. Perhaps we should send someone to Yegou Village to investigate.” The more Wu Lianlian thought about it, the more necessary it seemed. She hadn’t been sure if the little girl from the Zhou family was a princess before, and thought she just looked like one, so she hadn’t investigated further.
Aside from the prince, only Shui Li Niang had seen the princess in person. They hadn't seen her at all and only relied on the portrait sent by the prince to identify her. Anyone who looked similar was killed, regardless of whether they were real or fake. If someone looked similar, they would never leave a survivor.
Everyone else was easily eliminated, but the Zhou family was not only impossible to kill, but their pursuers also died for various strange reasons.
Recently, Wu Lianlian has been experiencing a series of misfortunes. Gu Yiqiao has gone missing and has not yet been found. Fu Jiasheng is being severely tortured but will not utter a word. Master Gu is taking the matter of his eldest son's disappearance very seriously and has stopped going out to do business recently, saying that he will wait until the eldest son is found before making any further decisions.
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