"He must be alive!" Huo Jincheng, who had been silent the whole time, turned to look at Jian Ning. "At the beginning of the year, rumors spread throughout the streets of the capital that the Southern Prime Minister had appeared in spirit. In the middle of the night, someone saw him wandering the streets wearing the rags he wore during the parade. There were more than one or two sightings."
"The rumors spread like wildfire, becoming increasingly intense. Later, rumors began to circulate that Nan Xiang had no intention of treason. Others also said that the man who died in the stone chamber after the prison fire was not Nan Xiang. This was because Nan Xiang's left foot was unusual, with six toes, but the charred body in the stone chamber had normal toes."
"We also managed to get hold of the files from that year and reviewed them. This suspicious point was also noted in the files, but for some reason it was suppressed."
Jian Ning and Ma Fuquan looked at each other, and then Ma Fuquan sent her a message to tell her that Blind Liu did have six toes on his left foot.
Wei Dong sighed, "The only one who could suppress this matter is the Emperor. I think the Emperor knew that Nan Xiang was wrongly accused, so he fled and told the public that it was Nan Xiang who died. This is how the case was suppressed."
Huo Jincheng continued, "Later, I left the capital under the pretext of preparing a birthday ceremony for the Emperor. I secretly tracked down the Southern Prime Minister and discovered that Prince Yong's Mansion had also dispatched a large number of personnel to investigate. During this time, several times when we were in danger, someone secretly helped us and led us all the way to Dazhou County."
"So you concluded that if he is alive, he must be in Dazhou County, right?" Ma Fuquan said.
"Is there a better explanation?" Huo Jincheng asked back.
Jian Ning smiled slightly. "Maybe it was a misleading move to deliberately lead you to Dazhou County. In my opinion, you might as well look in the opposite direction. Maybe you can actually find him, as long as he is really alive."
"If Feng Qingzi hadn't chased me, I might not have been 100% sure. They are brothers and know each other better. There are only a handful of people in this world who can deal with Feng Qingzi. My master is one, his fellow apprentice Nanyangzi is one, and there are not many others."
Huo Jincheng finished speaking and turned to look at Jian Ning. "If my guess is correct, the old immortal cultivator who saved you and defeated Feng Qingzi is most likely his junior fellow apprentice, Nan Yangzi."
"No, no." Jian Ning waved her hands hurriedly. "The old man looks old, but he's probably no older than fifty. He has very small eyes. Oh, and here on his neck..." She pointed near the right shoulder blade, "There's a huge tumor. He doesn't look anything like the one in the portrait."
Ma Fuquan also said, "There are many hidden masters in the world. I was fortunate to see some of them when I was young and went out to learn from a master. I realized that there are always people better than you. Most of the hidden masters are unwilling to be tainted by the world. They will only show up occasionally when friends and relatives come to them and they have no choice but to come out to help. Otherwise, it is not easy to see them."
The two sang the same tune, aiming to dispel Huo Jincheng's belief that Nanyangzi had appeared in Dingjia Village. Little did they know, Huo Jincheng had a stubborn streak and was always willing to go against others. When he wanted to go to the farm to see the foal being born, his parents forced him to go to the general's mansion. He therefore resisted the marriage between the two families and never looked at Duan Xinning with a straight face.
In order to go against his parents, he later secretly got engaged to a foreign woman named Hua. It was the same now. The more they said that Nanyangzi was not in Dazhou County, the more he wanted to find Nanyangzi in Dazhou County. He even had a vague feeling that Nanyangzi might be hiding in Dingjia Village or other nearby villages.
After all, Dingjia Village always gave him the feeling that there were hidden dragons and crouching tigers in it, and even the abducted Duan Xinning might be Jian Ning.
He is more optimistic about Dingjia Village.
Glancing at the Ding family's second-in-command and Huo Ye, Huo Jincheng said, "Are you two here specifically to accompany Shi... Little Shi, or do you have something else important to report? If so, feel free to tell us. We're not outsiders here."
The Second in Command said, "I do have something important to report. According to our spies in Prince Zhao's mansion, Prince Zhao was most likely killed by Feng Qingzi a few days ago. Someone in the mansion saw him go to the secret room to meet Feng Qingzi, and he hasn't been seen since. There was also a coachman who sent Feng Qingzi and his apprentice out of the mansion early yesterday morning and hasn't returned since. Later, Feng Qingzi's second apprentice, Yang Wuqi, drove the coach back."
Wei Dong frowned, "What a guts! Prince Zhao is still a prince, no matter what. He even dared to kill a prince. His life is really coming to an end!"
"Where is Yang Wuqi?" Huo Jincheng looked at Wei Dong. He remembered that someone had reported at noon that some of the palace soldiers had gone down the mountain, wearing ordinary people's clothes. Since there was only one person going down the mountain, their people did not follow him.
"He should have been taken to the town government office." Ma Fuquan heard Tian's story about Old Ding's family. Yang Jinyu also took over the conversation. "Several yamen runners did bring someone back from Dingjia Village today. Grandpa ordered the shop assistant to deliver medicine to Wu Fengfu, and they bumped into him."
"This person cannot be kept." Huo Jincheng finished speaking, and Ma Fuquan said, "I will go to the town government office now."
"I'll go with you." Wei Dong said, "He's Feng Qingzi's apprentice. It's not that I look down on your martial arts. The immortal cultivators are not something ordinary warriors can deal with. Your wife is pregnant now, so we can't afford any mistakes. Let's go."
"Brother Ma, be careful." Jian Ning reminded.
"Don't worry, no matter how strong he is, he can't be stronger than Feng Qingzi." Ma Fuquan waved his hand and strode away with Wei Dong.
"Jin Yu, do you have something to ask me by coming here at this time?" Jian Ning had wanted to ask him for a long time, but seeing that he had not said anything, he guessed that what he asked was not an important matter, so he did not ask him in a hurry.
"Yes, but it's not a serious matter." He told Jian Ning about Ding Gui's situation. "Because his family said they were from Dingjia Village, but there is a clinic here, they chose a faraway place instead of one close by. The child's injury is also strange. I don't know what hidden weapon hurt him, and he himself can't explain it clearly. Xiao Shi and the others happened to be here, so I came along and asked Master for advice."
"They are from your master's family. The injured child injured Dabao, and his injuries were caused by Dabao using the hidden weapon I gave him to protect himself."
"No wonder the lights in the clinic are on. Is Dabao okay? I'll go check on him."
"I'll write another letter to inform my father about Prince Zhao." Huo Jincheng stood up and instructed his men, "You two wait here and take the letter away. Huo Ye, go back and get some rest. When you wake up tomorrow, set off to deliver the letter to the capital and come back after the New Year."
Xiao Si was about to follow Yang Jinyu out when Jian Ning stopped him, "Is Dajun okay? Are you still studying?"
"Not very good." Xiao Si shook his head. "He seems like a different person now. He must continue to study. If his father doesn't send him to school anymore, I will support him."
"What about Lu Huaian? How is he?"
Xiao Si spat and said bitterly, "What can he do? If he wasn't so narrow-minded, my third sister and nephew wouldn't have gotten into trouble! Just wait and see, within a year or two, he'll definitely marry someone else! What a jerk! Our family has cut off all ties with him and won't have any contact with him anymore!"
Jian Ning's eyes dimmed. Few stepmothers in ancient times were tolerant. She couldn't help but worry about Da Jun. What about the child?
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