The man on horseback also noticed that there was something wrong with the grassland. He looked around and saw that the large grassland in front of him was like this, as if it had been crushed by some huge monster.
To be on the safe side, he raised his arm, signaling to stop. Yunniang immediately picked up Ah Man and squatted down. Ah Man cooperated very well and even put his arm around Yunniang's neck. Shopkeeper Wang, who was watching from the side, twitched his eyes. This scene touched upon an old memory that had been buried for many years in his heart.
He squatted beside Yunniang, staring at Ah Man, but the face of Xin Ning appeared in his mind. At that time, Xin Ning was just like Ah Man in front of him. After knowing that he had deceived her, she still called him Uncle An.
If it weren't for his two nieces, he really couldn't bear to hand her over to Taoist Feng to make pills. When he learned that Duan Xinning was still alive, he was still skeptical. How could someone who was taken by Taoist Feng to make pills run away to the countryside, get married, have children, and become a miracle doctor?
Shopkeeper Wang still hasn't figured out how Duan Xinning escaped from Taoist Feng and ended up in Dingxian Village thousands of miles away?
The man, an experienced roamer, dismounted and surveyed the area carefully. While he had no idea what had trodden the grass, his experience told him something was amiss. He decisively abandoned Prince Yong's original westward route. He had Yunniang and Ah Man ride on the horse, then cut off a piece of his robe, tore it in half, and tied it around his shoes. He ordered Shopkeeper Wang to do so, then had him lead the horse while he followed behind, using branches to erase the hoof prints. After circling a large circle, he turned west and returned to the north.
Jian Ning and the others were heading from north to west, one in front of the mountain and the other behind the mountain, and they missed each other perfectly.
Fortunately, Qiu Ge's sense of smell was extremely developed. The night wind blew away the smell of the special spices made by Manager Wang, and Erniu's scent was revealed. He found the Juanhua that Ah Man had thrown away.
"This is Jiajia's. Man'er and her changed it in the carriage this morning." Jian Ning took the flower from its mouth and handed it to Huo Jincheng.
"There's a pile of horse manure here. Although it's cold, it's not completely dry yet and is still soft. It won't last more than an hour." Wei Dong found a pile of horse manure in front of him and said as he wiped his fingers with a handkerchief.
"It seems that what Brother Ding said is right. They really went back and followed the horseshoe prints." Huo Jincheng strode forward with a torch in hand. Thinking that Ah Man had been here an hour ago, his blood boiled and he walked with brisk strides.
Brother Qiu jumped even faster than him and flew up directly. When they caught up with the road that Jian Ning and Ding Youtian had taken before, Jian Ning and Ding Youtian looked at each other. They both thought in their hearts, if they had known this would happen, they would not have stayed here. Maybe they would have bumped into each other.
"Hey, why are the horseshoe prints gone?" Wei Dong exclaimed.
Several people shone torches around but couldn't see any horse hoof prints. "It can't have just disappeared. No horse hoof prints would be fine, but how come there aren't even any footprints?"
There was no village or shop in this area. Wei Dong frowned and asked, "Could it be that I have reached the sky or the earth?"
Seeing Ding Youtian staring at the grass with his chin pinched, Jian Ning followed his gaze to the grass that had been trampled by Brother Qiu, and suddenly realized, "Did they realize something was wrong when they got here, so they erased all traces?"
Ding Youtian nodded, "I'm afraid that's probably the case."
"Brother Ding, please think about it quickly. Where will they take Man'er?" Huo Jincheng asked urgently.
"It's impossible to return to the capital. Daybreak is almost here. Without the carriage, they can't go far in an hour or so. So, let's split into three groups. My wife and I will go north. Jincheng, you lead the men to chase west. If you see a village, stop and look for it. Uncle Wei will lead the men to the south. Let's chase them separately."
As soon as he finished speaking, Brother Qiu took off into the air. Seeing this, several people hurriedly ran forward behind Brother Qiu. Weidong jumped a few times like a big bird and soon disappeared with Brother Qiu.
Those guards of the Eastern Palace all had some martial arts skills, but Ding Youtian was the only one who had no martial arts skills at all. After running for a while, he began to breathe heavily and was so tired that he could not catch his breath.
"Don't run. Rest here for a while. I'll ask Brother Qiu to pick you up later. I'll go first." Jian Ning said as he pointed his toes and leaped forward.
Ding Youtian didn't try to hold on. He was really exhausted after not sleeping for most of the night.
"We found a purse, Jincheng, come and see if it's Man'er's." Weidong followed Brother Qiu and found the purse thrown away by Ah Man. After confirmation by Huo Jincheng, it turned out that it was not Ah Man's but Yunniang's.
"What a bitch!" Huo Jincheng threw his purse to the ground in anger. Thinking of Yunniang, he couldn't help but feel hatred. He spared her life out of kindness because she had followed him when she was seventeen or eighteen years old. She was still his woman after all. But he didn't expect that she would repay him with evil. At this moment, he wanted to chop her into pieces.
Jian Ning picked up the purse and opened it. Inside were a few copper coins that Meixiang had lent to Yunniang. Later, Concubine Min gave her silver, and the remaining few coins had been lying quietly in the purse, unused. Jian Ning saw that the purse was made of brocade and looked very clean. Since Qiu Ge had found it, it must have belonged to Yunniang.
She asked Qiu Ge to go back and pick up Ding Youtian. Qiu Ge smelled a familiar scent on the copper coin, so he spat out his tongue and refused to leave for a while.
"What's wrong? I asked it to pick up my husband, but it stared at the purse and refused to leave. Is there something strange about the purse?" Jian Ning said, throwing the purse back to Huo Jincheng, "Take a closer look."
Huo Jincheng felt a little disgusted and didn't want to touch Yunniang's things anymore. He wanted to throw the purse away again, but suddenly he had an idea. He reached in and took out a copper coin. He remembered that Yunniang said that day that she was staying in a black shop and her jewelry and the little silver she had exchanged for money were stolen. So where did the copper coin in the purse come from?
She colluded with Concubine Min's siblings. If they gave her money, it wouldn't be just a few coins, right? At the very least, it would be a small amount of silver. He looked at Jian Ning, "She hasn't been back to her parents' home. She's been staying in a black shop late at night. The silver she exchanged for her jewelry was stolen. Who do you think gave her these coins?"
Jian Ning was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then looked at Brother Qiu, "Could it be that you know?"
Brother Qiu raised his head and looked at Jian Ning. There was a familiar smell on the copper coin, but he didn't know who it was, so he was not sure whether he should nod or shake his head.
"Forget it." Jian Ning looked at its silly and cute appearance. Ah Man was not here, and she could not communicate with Brother Qiu. The most urgent thing now was to find Ah Man as soon as possible. "Go and pick up my husband first, go quickly."
Jian Ning waved her hand, and Brother Qiu left.
"Oh, I see." Just as Qiu Ge left, Jian Ning suddenly thought of Meixiang. "Most of these copper coins were given to her by Meixiang. Meixiang lives across from us. Her uncle Pei Xiyuan rented the house across the street."
"Meixiang?" Huo Jincheng's face darkened. "So, the Chinese were also involved during those months?"
"Then will they go south?" Wei Dong asked.
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