Sanniu was closer to Ah Man than Erniu, and the quickest to react. She shouted, "Sister Ah Man," and ran after her. Although she had been practicing martial arts with Jian Ning, she was still only four years old. How could her short legs possibly keep up with the speeding carriage?
When the carriage rushed to the entrance of the alley, five or six people wearing Yue Kingdom costumes, with sheepskin bags hanging from their shoulders and water bags on their waists, turned from the front gate of the Huo Mansion. One of them was a skinny old man with a black boat-shaped hat tilted on his head. Walking next to him was the man that Pei Xiyuan had sent back to Yue Kingdom to report the news.
"Sister Ah Man! There's a kidnapper, catch him..."
The man suddenly saw a carriage rushing towards him. The little girl chasing after it looked familiar. He instinctively wanted to stop the carriage, but the old man pulled him back and said, "Don't meddle in the affairs of the Yan people."
He paused, and the carriage had already jumped out of the alley and ran to the street on the right. The people living in Dongcheng District were either rich or noble, and there were many carriages coming and going. Sanniu chased to the entrance of the alley and found something wrong. Without saying a word, she turned around and ran back, shouting for her mother.
When Erniu started chasing Sanniu, she also chased Sanniu. Seeing Sanniu turn around and run back, she was stunned and ran back as well, shouting, "Mom, this is terrible! Sister A'man has been captured!"
The maidservant who followed them woke up from a dream and shouted, "It's terrible, Master! Master..."
Jian Ning and Ding Youtian were sitting on the kitchen porch, picking vegetables. They heard a faint noise outside. Jian Ning stood up, picking vegetables, and looked out. She was just wondering if Erniu and Sanniu were fighting again when she saw the maidservant following Ah Man stumbling over, her face full of panic. She hurried down the porch and took a few steps to meet them. "Did my two girls fight again?"
The maid shook her head and ran towards the moon cave door crying.
"Mom!" Erniu ran over, "Oh no, Sister A'man, she, she's been kidnapped by bad guys!"
"What?" Jian Ning threw the bean pod in her hand and ran two steps before she heard Sanniu shouting. Sanniu arrived before her voice did, "Mom, carriage! The kidnapper in the carriage has kidnapped Sister A'man!"
"My wife!" Ding Youtian kicked over the basket of bean pods in a hurry. He chased after Jian Ning and shouted, "Let's go find Brother Qiu first. If we chase him, the carriage will have already gone far away!"
The whole Huo Mansion was in chaos. A dozen servants picked up their weapons and ran out of the mansion behind Huo Jincheng. Maids and old women ran around in the yard. Cai Bo was so anxious that he was running around. Suddenly, he shook his body a few times, then opened his mouth wide and looked up at the sky.
In mid-air, a huge creature carrying Jian Ning flew out of the Huo Mansion in an instant. This scene not only shocked the people in the Huo Mansion, but also the people in the capital who saw this scene. Many people knelt down on the spot. Even many years later, some people mentioned that Princess An Ning's flying snake brought them spiritual shock!
Ah Man disappeared without a trace, like a drop of water in the ocean.
The usually docile Qiu Ge couldn't smell her scent, and he was so frantic that he kept wagging his tail and hissing in the air. The prince reacted immediately after hearing the news, pretending that an assassin had sneaked into the East Palace to assassinate him. He took the opportunity to take out the token and handed it to Wei Dong, asking him to take the guards out of the palace in the name of catching the assassin and guard the four city gates.
That night, Jian Ning also released three drones to search inside and outside the city, but they could not detect any trace of Ah Man.
At night, a crowd gathered outside the Prince of Pingnan's mansion. Huo Jincheng, along with the guards from the Eastern Palace, the servants from the Grand Tutor's residence, and his own household, surrounded the palace with torches in hand. Jian Ning then led Qiu Ge to knock on the door, claiming that an assassin had been seen infiltrating the palace and was concerned about the princess. They intended to lead their men into the palace to search for the whereabouts of Wang the Shopkeeper and Ah Man.
Concubine Min initially ordered the doorman not to open the door. It was Concubine Li who helped the princess over, and Duan Yu personally went forward to open the door on the princess's orders.
Jian Ning heard the princess' voice outside. Afraid that Brother Qiu would scare the princess, Jian Ning patted its right head, made a gesture to stay put, and then stepped inside.
"Mom, are you okay? Didn't it scare you?"
The princess looked a little confused. She grabbed Jian Ning's hand and said, "You call me mother, you are..."
"Mother, I'm Xinning, Duan Xinning! I heard that an assassin had sneaked into the palace. Commander Huo and his guards were searching the city for the assassin, so I brought them here."
"Sister, since there are assassins, why not have them check around so that Miss can rest assured and not worry about your safety and sleep uneasy when she returns home? What do you think?"
Concubine Li had heard from the servants in the mansion that the young lady of the Huo Mansion had been kidnapped. When she saw Jian Ning bringing people here late at night, although she didn't understand why, she knew that Jian Ning would not harm the princess or any of them, so she actively cooperated with her.
Concubine Min's face showed no expression, as if she didn't care. Jian Ning glanced at her and said to Concubine Li, "Auntie, please take my mother back to the palace to rest. I'll be there soon."
Concubine Li nodded, "Sister, let's go."
The princess looked back every few steps and looked at Jian Ning from time to time. After Concubine Li helped her turn around the corridor, Jian Ning went out and called Brother Qiu in.
After searching the entire palace, they couldn't find either Shopkeeper Wang or Ah Man. Although Jian Ning had expected this, she still felt disappointed. She glanced at Huo Jincheng, who looked gloomy, and whispered, "Let's go to Prince Yong's Mansion again. Don't be too anxious. Ah Man is quite clever. I believe she'll have good luck."
Huo Jincheng waved to the captain of the guards beside him, indicating that they should withdraw from the Prince of Pingnan's Mansion.
"Aren't you going to see the princess?" He asked with a frown when he saw Jian Ning leading Brother Qiu out.
"It's more important to find Ah Man. I'll come over here tomorrow."
Outside Prince Yong's mansion, the lights were on brightly, and the soldiers and servants were standing on both sides. Prince Yong was sitting leisurely at the door of the mansion, with tea sets beside him. He was sipping tea leisurely, and it was clear that he was not allowed to enter.
When Jian Ning and Huo Jincheng arrived, they wanted to search the house with the same excuse. King Yong glanced at Huo Jincheng and Jian Ning and said, "Don't worry about my safety. Go back to where you came from."
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of hurried horse hooves echoed on the street. A moment later, a group of palace guards arrived. The first one shouted loudly, "Propagate the emperor's oral order! Propagate the emperor's oral order..."
When they got closer, the guard jumped off his horse and conveyed the emperor's oral order to Prince Yong. The emperor ordered that no one should refuse the guards of the Eastern Palace from entering to search for the assassin for any reason. The reason why the emperor passed down this oral order was because the empress and the tutor were concerned about the safety of the prince and knelt down to beg the emperor, pleading with him to order a house-to-house search for the assassin in the city.
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