Imperial Capital 48. Adventures of a Copycat

In a remote alley somewhere in the capital, a carriage was parked quietly. The coachman had long disappeared, and the area was surrounded by people. The man in the lead was wearing an inconspicuous grey outfit, with long messy hair covering half of his face. The other half of his face looked stiff and fierce. A single eye emitted a cold and malicious light, and even though the setting sun was still emitting a faint warmth, it still gave off a chilling coldness when it shone on the man.

"Come out!" the man's voice sounded sinister. For a long time, there was no movement in the carriage. As if he was getting impatient, the man sneered and said, "If you don't come out, I will shoot you. I know the people inside are not dead, so get out."

After a moment, a pretty girl lifted the curtain and slid down from the carriage. Then she and another pretty girl helped a pale girl down. There was a feather arrow stuck under the girl's right shoulder, and the place covered by her left hand was already red. "You... who are you?"

The one-eyed man sneered, his vicious eye flashing with a vicious light, "Is this the future princess of Prince Ding? That crippled Mo Xiuyao is really lucky to have such a beautiful woman willing to marry him even though he is only half dead!"

Qingluan stood in front, protecting the two people behind him, "Since you know our identities, how dare you be so rude?"

The one-eyed man laughed slyly and said, "Others may be afraid of Mo Xiuyao, but I am not. Besides... is there anyone in the capital who is still afraid of him?"

Ye Li looked at the man straight in the eye, "Does your Excellency have a grudge against Prince Ding or against the Xu or Ye families?"

The one-eyed man was startled, then he laughed wildly again, "Mo Xiuyao's woman? Interesting! I have no grudge against Mo Xiuyao, nor against the Xu and Ye families. What do you think?" Ye Li said, "So you are looking for trouble by taking advantage of others? I will give you double the amount of advantage you have received."

"You?" The one-eyed man stared at Ye Li, as if assessing the credibility of her words. "I took 20,000 taels of silver from someone and wanted to kill you. Can you afford it?"

Ye Li nodded, "If you let us go, I'll give you 40,000 taels."

"Why should I believe you?" The man's one-eyed eye suddenly shrank, staring at Ye Li fiercely. No matter who it is, 40,000 taels of silver is definitely a sum that is enough to tempt people. The eyes of the people around him also began to float, but they did not dare to act rashly without the one-eyed man's words. Ye Li said calmly: "If you don't believe it, you can let my girl go back and get the money. One hand gives the money and the other hand lets the girl go, and neither of us owes anything. And... I don't think you intend to kill me. I only ask you not to hurt us."

The one-eyed man's eyes twitched fiercely, staring at Ye Li and asked, "Do you think I dare not kill you?"

"If you really wanted to kill me, you could have just shot us to death with random arrows."

"Okay, Mo Xiuyao's woman is indeed different! You! Go back and get the money. If others find out, or if you don't see the banknote at the scheduled location, be prepared to collect your lady's body."

Qingyu, who was pointed at, shook her head violently and said, "I don't want to leave! Let the young lady go back and we will stay."

The one-eyed man sneered, "Do you think I believe that the lives of two girls are worth money?"

Qingyu gritted her teeth and said, "My young lady is injured. I know a little about medicine. Let Qingluan go back."

"The injury is not serious. If you come quickly, you won't be able to treat your lady's injury in time. Get lost!"

"Qingyu, you go first." Ye Li said softly. Qingyu bit her lip and nodded heavily, saying, "Qingluan, take good care of the young lady."

Qingluan nodded, turned around and took over Qingyu's support for Ye Li. Watching Qingyu stumble and run away, the one-eyed man pointed at the two people beside him and said, "Follow that girl and get the banknotes back. As for you... do you want to leave on your own or do I ask someone to invite you to leave?"

"We'll go on our own."

They were kidnapped, and Ye Li looked at the situation helplessly. Of course, it was a miracle that a group of bandits could kidnap a future princess from the emperor in the capital. Moreover, the group moved out of the capital at a very fast speed and came to a steep mountain a hundred miles away from the capital. It was obvious that they were indeed kidnapped by bandits, because this was a bandit camp.

Perhaps because Ye Li was still worth 40,000 taels of silver, they were not thrown into a gloomy dungeon, but were locked up in a rather simple little house. When the door was closed, Qingluan hurried to the door and leaned against it to listen to the noise outside, then walked up to Ye Li and whispered, "Miss, we are so far away from the capital, can Qingyu find us?"

Ye Li put down her left hand that had been pressing on her right shoulder and took the arrow off. The arrow entered her right chest diagonally and didn't hurt Ye Li at all. The blood on her clothes was just the red rouge and the bottle of potion that Qingyu brought with her. "He didn't intend to let Qingyu come back at all, he just couldn't bear to part with the 40,000 taels of silver." Qingluan was shocked, "Miss, are you saying... they're going to kill people to silence them after taking the money?" Ye Li nodded and smiled to comfort Qingluan, "Don't worry, those two people are no match for Qingyu. She will be fine." The worry on Qingluan's face didn't disappear at all, and she looked at her young lady helplessly. She wasn't worried about Qingyu at all, she was worried about how they could escape. The master and the eldest son entrusted the young lady's safety to them, and now the young lady has been captured by bandits and they can do nothing about it. They are so useless!

"There are too many of them. It's not your fault." Ye Li smiled and said, "Please help me bandage my wound."

Qing Luan nodded, lowered her head, pulled off a piece of cloth from the sleeve of her clean undershirt, and bandaged Ye Li's "wound", while asking: "Miss, do you know who wants to harm us? Could it be Madam?"

Ye Li shook her head and said, "She is short of money recently, so it is unlikely that she would take out 20,000 taels to let someone kidnap me. And it is easy to find out." The most important thing is that the other party obviously did not intend to kill him, so either the other party was not afraid of her revenge, or the other party was someone she would never expect, and there was no way to retaliate against him. Therefore, it should not be Wang.

Qingluan frowned and said, "But Miss didn't offend anyone."

Ye Li was silent in thought. He had kidnapped her, but he didn't intend to kill her. Then... once the news that she was abducted by bandits spread, her reputation would be ruined. "Marriage."

"What?"

"Some people don't want me and Prince Ding to get married smoothly." Ye Li said lightly.

"King Li!" Qingluan said hatefully.

Ye Li shook her head, "Maybe, but not necessarily." No matter how stupid Mo Jingli was, he should know that if anything happened to her, Mo Xiuyao would look for him first.

"Then...what should we do now? Qingluan opened the door and the young lady took the opportunity to escape."

Ye Li shook her head. This place was at least a hundred miles away from the capital. If it was really for her marriage with Prince Ding as she guessed, the news of her being robbed would have spread as soon as she left the capital. If she wanted to leave the village alone, it might not be difficult, but even if she went back now, it would be useless. So, it would be better to stay and maybe there would be some unexpected discoveries. "Rest for a while and talk about it later."

"Yes, miss."

Dingguo Palace

"Your Highness!" The palace's chief steward came in anxiously. Seeing Mo Xiuyao's face, he didn't have time to salute and hurriedly said, "Your Highness, something terrible has happened."

Mo Xiuyao raised his head sharply, "What happened?"

"Just now, someone came to report that a rumor suddenly spread outside, saying that Miss Ye San was kidnapped by a flower thief--" The sudden cold gaze made the butler stop talking. The butler shuddered and looked at the man sitting in the wheelchair with some trepidation, "My Lord..."

Mo Xiuyao closed his eyes for a moment, then suddenly opened them and asked, "What's going on?"

"I don't know what's going on. One of my subordinates went out to buy things for the prince's wedding, and heard the news spreading everywhere. He thought something was wrong and came back to report to me. I didn't dare to delay, so..." Mo Xiuyao raised his hand to interrupt him and said, "Immediately send someone to the Shangshu Mansion to see if A'li has returned. Another person should immediately check A'li's whereabouts after leaving the palace, as well as the situation in the palace!"

"Yes, I'll go right away!" The steward didn't dare to stay for a moment. He turned around and walked out the door, disappearing quickly into the corridor.

"Ajin, inform Feng San that no matter what method you use, I don't want to hear any more rumors in the capital." In the silent study, Mo Xiuyao said lightly, but the murderous aura in his voice made people feel terrified.

"yes."

"Your Highness." The steward who had just left appeared at the door.

"What?"

"Master Xu has just sent someone to deliver a letter, asking you to come to the Xu Mansion's villa as soon as possible to have a talk."

Mo Xiuyao lowered his eyes, "This king understands."

In the main courtyard of the Xu Mansion, Qingyu fell into a chair powerlessly. The sleeve of her left arm was torn, and the bright red blood stained half of the sleeve. The two men sent by the one-eyed man to follow her were unconscious on the ground. Xu Hongyu sat on the first seat with a gloomy face, and Xu Hongyan and Xu Qingchen sat below him. Xu Qingze and others stood aside, and their faces were particularly ugly as expected. "What about the rumors outside?" Xu Hongyu asked in a deep voice.

Xu Hongyan said, "Someone spread it on purpose. According to Qingyu, it took less than an hour from the time Li'er was captured to the time the rumor spread throughout the capital."

"We've sent people to search secretly everywhere in the capital. But... I'm afraid Li'er is no longer in the capital." Xu Qingchen frowned.

"How could the emperor allow so many people to abduct two weak women? What are the guards in the capital doing?" Xu Qingfeng was furious.

Xu Qingchen frowned and said, "Let's talk about this later. Can't these two people be woken up?"

Qingyu said, "I have been intoxicated with agarwood, and she should wake up in a quarter of an hour." She originally wanted to lead the two men back to the Xu family, but she didn't expect that one of them was so alert that he saw through her plan and wanted to kill her to silence her. She had no choice but to spend a lot of effort and time to knock the two men out, and then inform the eldest master. But she didn't expect that in such a short time, the news that the young lady was abducted would spread throughout the capital.

"Since you can't wake them up, leave it to me." A faint voice came from the door. Everyone turned around and saw Mo Xiuyao, dressed in plain clothes, sitting in a wheelchair with a calm expression, staring at the two unconscious people on the ground. Behind him, the silent A Jin walked in, pushing a wheelchair.

"Your Majesty." Everyone stood up, and Mo Xiuyao raised his hand, "Let's focus on business, so forget about the formalities. Ah Jin."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Ah Jin walked forward, flicked his right wrist, and a thin long whip appeared in his hand. The tip of the whip had small barbs that sparkled coldly in the candlelight.

"Snap—" The long whip hit the unconscious body on the ground fiercely. With a ripping sound, the barbs on the whip tore off a piece of clothing along with the skin and flesh. In the stunned eyes of everyone, A Jin mercilessly whipped down again, "Snap—"

“Pah—”

After only five lashes, a groan of pain came from the ground, and one of them opened his eyes first. What greeted him was the long whip coming towards him like a poisonous snake, "Ah!"

“Pah—”

“Ahh…”

"Help, spare me. Spare my life...ah!"

Mo Xiuyao leaned against the wheelchair, his expression calm, "Tell me, where is the person you captured?"

"No... I don't know. Prince, please spare my life... Prince, please spare my life!"

“Pah—”

"Ah, it hurts... No, Your Majesty, please spare my life. I really don't know..."

"I just want to know the whereabouts of the person you kidnapped. Tell me, and I'll spare your life." Looking down at the person on the ground, Mo Xiuyao's eyes were calm. The person he was staring at couldn't help but tremble and groaned, "I... I really don't know." Mo Xiuyao nodded, "I admire your courage, and I hope your courage can keep you alive." The wheelchair slowly moved to the side of the person on the ground. The person stared at the person who was getting closer and closer to him, and a trace of ecstasy flashed in his eyes. The moment Mo Xiuyao approached him, he suddenly jumped up and rushed towards him. But the person in the wheelchair was obviously faster. The person fell to the ground just before he touched him. Then Mo Xiuyao quickly tapped all parts of the person's body with a weird method. Then there was a series of creepy snapping sounds accompanied by extremely miserable screams. The person who had been rushing over like a tiger had fallen beside the wheelchair like a rag. Mo Xiuyao took the handkerchief handed over by A Jin and slowly wiped the right hand that had just touched the person, while looking sideways at the other person on the ground, "Now, are you willing to tell me the answer?"

Everyone's eyes fell on the pile of rags on the ground. It was truly a pile of rags. The tall man was twisted and shrunk at a very strange angle. It was as if all the bones in his body disappeared in an instant, and he lay on the ground soft and lifeless. But what was even more frightening was that this man was still alive.

The youngest Xu Qingyan shuddered at the scene in front of him and hid beside Xu Qingfeng without leaving a trace. Now he didn't feel safe following his fourth brother, as his third brother was the best among the brothers.

The man who was still unconscious began to tremble, "Please…Please spare my life…Prince, please spare my life…"

"Where is the person you kidnapped?" Mo Xiuyao asked.

"Not in the capital. Boss... Boss left the capital as soon as he caught the man..."

"Where did you go?"

"Wuwu... I really don't know. The boss said that our village is not safe, and we will move to another place after we commit suicide. I... I have never been there..." A tall and strong man was so scared that he burst into tears, it was so miserable.

"Then tell me where you were originally."

"Outside the capital... Sixty miles away is Black Cloud Peak. Woohoo... Lord, please spare my life..."

"Give them to Feng San and see what else we can get out of him. Get ready immediately, I am leaving the city."

"Yes." A Jin put away his whip, picked up a man in each hand and walked out. The slender young man didn't feel any difficulty carrying two strong men twice his size, and walked out briskly.

In the simple room, Ye Li and Qing Luan were lying on the bed and sitting on a stool beside the bed, closing their eyes and resting. Although she closed her eyes, Qing Luan's face still had a look of shame and uneasiness. She secretly glanced at Ye Li who was sitting on the bed leaning against the wall and resting, and whispered: "Miss, lie down and rest for a while. Qing Luan will be watching." Ye Li opened her eyes and looked at her, smiling slightly: "Rest for another half an hour. You must find a way to leave here tonight." Qing Luan's eyes widened in surprise, "How can that be possible? Miss should leave first. Qing Luan knows that Miss is not a weak woman who is powerless. Qing Luan will lead those people away for Miss, and Miss will definitely be able to get out by herself."

Ye Li shook her head and said, "I will be fine if you go out. If I disappear, they will definitely kill you."

"That won't work either. I can't leave the young lady alone." Qingluan said stubbornly.

Ye Li looked at her firmly, "When you go back, you can find someone to rescue me. They seem so fearless, and it may be hard to find them where we are now." Qingluan's mind was in a mess, and she looked at Ye Li hesitantly. It seemed that obeying the young lady's orders was the right choice, but she didn't know why she felt uneasy. Ye Li smiled and said, "Don't worry, I am the young lady, right? Big brother asked you to listen to me, do you want to disobey my orders?"

"Miss..." Qingluan was at a loss and could only look at Ye Li with tears in her eyes.

Ye Li looked at her and said softly, "Qingluan, be good, you must leave here tonight. Maybe, later... you will meet some unexpected people."

"Miss!" Qing Luan looked at Ye Li in horror.

"Be good, don't be afraid. Miss, I have a way to get out of this situation by myself. Go down the mountain quickly to ask for help. You also want us to go home early, right?" Ye Li smiled and coaxed, and Qingluan finally nodded solemnly.

"Bang!"

The door of the room was kicked open from the outside. Qingluan quickly jumped up from the bed and stood in front of Ye Li, staring at the two burly men who suddenly broke in with vigilance, "What do you want to do?"

The person in the front stared at Ye Li, who was protected by Qing Luan, with a lustful look and said with a smile: "Is this the third young lady of the Ye family? The most talented woman in the capital this year, the fiancée of Prince Ding?"

The person following him was obviously a small follower, who smiled and said, "Second Chief is right. This is the young lady that the Chief brought back."

The second village chief rubbed his hands together and said with a wicked smile, "Brother, what do you mean by this? Why are two such beautiful women imprisoned here?"

The little follower was startled, then remembered what his boss had told him, and quickly said, "Second leader, these two beauties cannot be touched."

The second village chief snorted and said, "Who else in Guiyun Mountain can I not touch?"

"This... this young lady is worth 60,000 taels of silver. The village chief has instructed that Miss Ye, in particular, must not be touched."

"Sixty thousand taels?" The second village chief's eyes lit up with greed. His eyes fell on Ye Li, then returned to Qingluan, and said with a smile: "Okay, for the sake of sixty thousand taels, I'll let her go. Then this girl will belong to this village chief. Although she is not as pretty as that one, she is much better than those ugly freaks in the village." As he said that, he rushed to Qingluan.

"Qingluan, take action!"

Ye Li stood up suddenly, quickly bypassed Qingluan and the second leader who rushed over, and knocked the little guy standing behind him unconscious. Qingluan did not delay, and her seemingly petite body seemed to be extremely powerful. She punched the opponent in the abdomen, then nimbly turned over and landed behind him, raised her hand and chopped him behind the neck. The tall and strong man immediately fell to the ground without even a groan. Ye Li had quickly closed the door behind him.

"Miss."

Ye Li nodded in appreciation. The little girl had great potential. "Okay, don't delay. Do you remember the way down the mountain?" Qingluan thought about it and nodded. Although the bandits had blindfolded them when they went up the mountain, they ignored the fact that Qingluan was a martial artist with extraordinary hearing. Although he couldn't remember it completely, he should still remember the approximate direction. Ye Li said, "I guess this village is newly built. Neither the institutions nor the defenses are too strong. You should be careful. Let's go."

"Miss, be careful."

Ye Li nodded, repeatedly promising her own safety. After sending Qing Luan away, she looked back at the two people still lying on the ground, leaned over and took out the hairpin on her head and pierced a few inconspicuous acupuncture points on the two people's bodies. Then she sat back on the bed and closed her eyes to rest.

Ye Li sat quietly on the bed, listening attentively to the noise outside. The mountain village was quiet at night, and it was obvious that Qingluan had not been discovered. Ye Li breathed a sigh of relief. The Qinggong that could successfully follow Mr. Fengyue should be trustworthy, right? As long as he was not discovered within half an hour, half an hour would be enough for Qingluan to leave this mountain full of ghosts or returning clouds.

"Bang!" The simple door was kicked open from the outside again, and the door panel began to sway with difficulty because it could not bear the gravity.

The one-eyed man rushed in first. He was stunned when he saw the person on the ground and Ye Li sitting safely on the bed. However, surprisingly, he did not get angry. Instead, he waved his hand and called a few people to carry the person on the ground out.

"It seems that I still underestimated you. Where is that girl?" The one-eyed man stared at Ye Li and asked.

Ye Li sighed helplessly in her heart. She was discovered in advance. She hoped that Qingluan could get down the mountain safely. "Didn't you see it? She ran away." The one eye narrowed suspiciously and stared at her, "Why didn't you go with her? Or did that girl betray her master and run away? It's amazing that a girl could escape from the village quietly."

Ye Li looked at him. "A group of bandits could kidnap two people without any hesitation under the emperor's feet. I am also surprised."

The one-eyed man snorted and said, "The people I sent to follow your girl to get the money haven't come back yet. What do you think happened to them?"

Ye Li shook her head, looking bewildered.

"It seems that your girl is a master. Maybe she has already gone down the mountain to find reinforcements. What do you think you need to do to save your life before the reinforcements come?" The one-eyed man stared at the calm girl in front of him. Ye Li raised his hand helplessly and stroked the carefully bandaged shoulder, saying: "Maybe you can consider taking a sum of money from me and running away. I think your two men didn't come back because they wanted to do something bad to my girl. Since you know that my girl is a master, you should also think that getting another one will not be too bad. So, our deal can actually continue."

"It seems that Miss Ye likes to use money to solve problems?" the one-eyed man sneered.

Ye Li shook her head. "You just accepted money from others to embarrass me, didn't you? Since the other party didn't want to buy my life, I think your goal has been achieved. I believe that by tomorrow, the whole capital will be full of rumors that Miss Ye San was kidnapped by bandits. And you just spent some money to prevent me from suffering any substantial harm, and you will not violate the deal with the other party. Why not kill two birds with one stone?"

"That sounds plausible."

"Someone told me that any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem. I won't default on your debt this time. I'll give you the money as soon as I get out of here, and I can even pay a deposit first." Ye Li said with a smile.

"What if I don't agree?" the one-eyed man narrowed his eyes.

Ye Li said calmly, "If I die, the Ye family, Xu family, and Dingguo Palace will do their best to encircle and suppress you. If I am still alive, I will consider using all my property, perhaps including the dowry of the Xu family and the betrothal gift of Dingguo Palace, as a reward to hunt you down. I will not take your life, but I will give you one thousand taels if I can cut you once. How many people do you think will accept it?"

The one-eyed man's mouth twitched. "Very vicious. But only if you can find me."

Ye Li smiled more calmly, "Someone from Tianyi Pavilion owes me a life."

The mocking smile on the one-eyed man's face finally froze completely, and the viciousness in his one-eyed eye gradually dissipated, revealing a sharp edge. Although he still had that terrifying face, he instantly gave off the aura of a superior.

"As expected of Mo Xiuyao's woman, she is truly extraordinary."

Ye Li smiled bitterly, "It's just to save my life. Maybe you are willing to show your true face? To be honest, I don't like talking to people wearing masks." The one-eyed man stared at her in surprise, "You can see that? I thought my disguise skills could already confuse the real with the fake." Ye Li said, "I guess I am more sensitive to these things. I think there is still some difference between a human skin mask and a real face, right?"

The one-eyed man rubbed his face in disgust. "We were in such a hurry. This is a defective product. Since you know someone wants to ruin your reputation, do you know what the other party asked for?" Ye Li looked at him. "I'd like to hear the details."

The one-eyed man walked to the side and sat down, staring at Ye Li with a teasing look in his eyes, "The other party wants to... destroy your reputation. Pay attention, they really want to... destroy you."

Ye Li's eyes turned cold, "It's a woman."

The one-eyed man raised his eyebrows in surprise. Ye Li frowned and said, "Only women like to use such vicious tricks against women."

The one-eyed man shrugged and said, "I will never tell you who the other person is. Aren't you afraid?"

Ye Li looked at him seriously, thought for a moment and said, "You don't intend to do this, do you?"

The man nodded and laughed loudly, "I have to admit that Mo Xiuyao does have a keen eye. At least he is much better than that idiot Mo Jingli. I really don't have this plan. After all, I don't intend to really piss off Mo Xiuyao for a few tens of thousands of taels of silver."

"You know Mo Xiuyao." Ye Li pointed out.

The one-eyed man did not deny it, he stood up and said, "We can go now. Miss Ye San, let's go get the money I deserve, and then I'll send you home. What do you think? I estimate that Mo Xiuyao will be here in an hour or two, and it's not safe here." Ye Li stood up with him nonchalantly and asked, "What about the people in your village?" The one-eyed man turned around and gave her a twisted smile, "You don't think I'm really the bandit leader, do you? Don't worry, although I'm not the bandit leader, this village is definitely full of bandits who have done all kinds of evil. It's their bad luck to fall into Mo Xiuyao's hands."

"Didn't you kill the original one-eyed village chief?" Ye Li followed the man through the crude houses. On the way, the bandits who occasionally passed by on patrol saluted the one-eyed man. When they saw Ye Li following behind him, they smiled at him in a tacit understanding. "The guards here are really not that good. No wonder Qing Luan didn't alarm the people in the village at all."

"You actually know this? It's really not that great. If it weren't for my help, these idiots would never get out of the capital and would be caught." The one-eyed man replied, "That greedy guy is sleeping soundly in his room. He actually wants to monopolize all the bounties. I always make money myself, leaving others with no money to make. When Mo Xiuyao comes, he will be the perfect scapegoat. What do you think of this idea?"

Ye Li nodded nonchalantly, looking at the road ahead that was getting increasingly remote, "Shall we leave from here?"

The man nodded, "Don't worry, as long as I get the money, I will definitely send you back to the Ye family unharmed." Just as he was about to raise his hand to fiddle with the mechanism, some strange noises came from far down the mountain. Ye Li remained calm, but the one-eyed man's face immediately changed, and he cursed, "Damn it! How could he come so fast?" After saying that, he immediately gave up the original road and dragged Ye Li to run in another direction.

"We're not going to take the secret passage anymore?"

The man said, "It's not safe to go through the secret path, and it's too roundabout. We might get caught." Listening to the sound gradually approaching from afar, but there was still no movement in the village. It was obvious that the people who came were all masters, and the group of people in the village didn't even notice their traces. The man pulled Ye Li and ran to the back mountain, "There is another road in the back mountain. Although it's a bit dangerous, it can lead directly to a valley. Mo Xiuyao will definitely not be able to find it in a short time."

"But I..." Ye Li said.

"Don't worry, I'm pretty good at Qinggong. I can still go down with you."

"But I want to cheat on my debt!" Ye Li said with a smile.