It turns out that Shen Jing had been secretly monitoring King Jing.
Enraged, Prince Jing pointed at Chen Jing's face and said, "Judging others by your own petty standards, a woman as narrow-minded and malicious as you is not worthy to be the mistress of my Prince Jing's mansion."
After saying this, King Jing got into his carriage and left.
As soon as the carriage left the west gate, Cuiwei got into the sedan chair and whispered, "Miss, Jade has indeed been kidnapped."
"Have we reported it to the authorities?"
"The report has been submitted. As instructed by the young lady, it states that Miss Hongyu has gone missing, and Emerald went to Prince Yan's residence to search for her but has not yet returned. We request the government's assistance in finding Miss Hongyu and Emerald. Constable Gu has led men to Prince Yan's residence to search."
Chen Yu nodded, but her heart was still pounding with anxiety.
Having just left Dali Temple, she feared that Yan Wang would kill Hongyu, so she had Emerald disguise herself as Hongyu and return to her residence in Qinghe County first. The real Hongyu had already left with Brother Zhao of the Beggars' Clan.
The reason she reported the matter to the authorities was simply to rescue Emerald from the clutches of Prince Yan. To this end, she took Cuiwei to the yamen to wait.
------
Yan Wang arrived at the torture chamber.
Hongyu was found tied to an iron frame and had fainted.
He drew the guard's sword, removed Hongyu's face mask, and a face covered in pustules came into view.
It doesn't seem to be red jade?
"Go and turn her right wrist over."
The guard trembled all over, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward, turning Hongyu's right wrist over through the handkerchief.
Upon closer inspection, the Prince of Yan noticed no pustules or red moles on the wrist. If he wasn't mistaken, it must be jade.
In order to retrieve the letter, he begged the official to spare Hongyu's life. But in the end, Hongyu escaped!
If I'm not mistaken, Hongyu must have secretly left behind the letter he exchanged with Prince Hong last year, which contained questions about how to deal with the Crown Prince and how to eliminate Bai Yehua.
If this letter were to leak out, the authorities would likely execute him.
He kicked the guard to the ground and ordered sternly, "Go to the dock, intercept all the ships, capture all the women, and remember to leave them alive."
"Isn't Prince Yan afraid that someone will report this to the authorities?"
Yan Wang scoffed. Before he abducted Hongyu, he ordered his men to take Kang'er away. If anyone accused him of arresting people without authorization, he could use Kang'er as a shield.
"If anyone asks, just say that the eldest son of the Prince Yan's mansion has gone missing and the villains have fled to the dock. Even if the emperor finds out, he will definitely think that Hongyu kidnapped Kang'er and fled to Jiangnan."
The guards left immediately.
At this moment, another guard came to report, "Your Highness, the constables went to search Your Highness's residence and said that Miss Hongyu is missing and her maid Feicui is also gone."
Who reported it to the authorities?
"Mu Chenyu's maid."
"Ha! I am unwilling to be her enemy for the sake of Yu Lang and the child, but she is meddling in other people's business and covering Hong Yu's escape."
"What does Prince Yan mean? Should we kill this maid?"
"Let her go before she wakes up. Mu Chenyu is protected by Prince Jing and the Sixth Prince; it would be too early to harm her now."
------
Hai hour (9-11 PM).
Shen Yu got up and walked out of the yamen. Suddenly, she saw a carriage speeding by, and a bag was left behind.
When the constables stepped forward and opened it, they found that it was the missing jade.
Jade returned safely, and Red Jade escaped. Chen Yu's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, could finally be put to rest.
She helped Emerald into the carriage when suddenly, a constable shouted, "Look! Flames are shooting up over there at the dock; it looks like there's a fire!"
"Go put out the fire quickly!"
Chen Yu was terrified, thinking that some people would be burned, so she grabbed the yamen's medicine box and rushed to the dock.
When Shen Yu arrived at the dock, she saw that the soldiers had pulled a burning passenger ship to the shore, extinguished the fire, and carried out three bodies from it.
Just as she was about to step forward to check, King Yan rushed over, pointed at the soldiers, and ordered, "Stop the onlookers and don't disturb the scene. Where is the coroner? Quickly examine the body."
The coroner had arrived with the constables and stepped forward to examine the body.
A guard stepped forward and reported, "Your Highness, we have searched all the passenger ships but have not found any villains. However, for some reason, this passenger ship suddenly caught fire."
King Yan nodded in confusion. He had only ordered people to capture Hongyu and take her back for interrogation, not to kill her beforehand. Could it be that the fire was just an accident?
He stepped forward. The coroner had finished his examination and bowed to report, "Reporting to Your Highness, there is one male corpse and two female corpses. The preliminary judgment is that the male corpse is the boatman. One tall female corpse is wearing a token, while the other petite female corpse has no belongings on her body."
When Yan Wang took the token, he saw that it belonged to Cheng Yuan.
That petite female corpse should be Hongyu. Hongyu usually loved to wear red jade hairpins and red jade earrings, so why is there none of them?
Just as he was wondering, a woman's cry shocked everyone: "Please, sir, let me pass! The boatman is the father of my child!"
To determine whether the petite female corpse was Hongyu, King Yan summoned the woman for questioning.
"Tell me everything you know. If you intentionally conceal anything, you will be severely punished."
The woman knelt down, weeping bitterly, “My lord, my husband’s name is Zhang Han. At the hour of Xu (7-9 PM), I came to fetch my husband to go home. There happened to be two young ladies who wanted to take a boat, saying they were going to Jiangnan to visit relatives. My husband was initially unwilling, but when he heard that the young ladies were willing to give him a thousand strings of cash, he agreed.”
"What do those two young ladies look like? Did they really give your husband a thousand strings of cash?"
"Both girls were wearing veils; one was tall and imposing, the other petite and delicate. Surprisingly, they had no money. The petite girl gave me a hairpin and a pair of earrings, telling me they were worth over a thousand strings of cash. So I took them to a pawnshop to inquire about the price, and the shopkeeper asked for a thousand strings. I hurriedly returned to the dock to tell my husband, who agreed to set sail. Who knew this would happen..."
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