Lanqin looked towards the door as if she had seen a relative, and sure enough, it was Ling Feng. Although she was a little embarrassed in her current state, she couldn't care less about that now.
"Who are you? My cousin hasn't even spoken yet, why are you being so fierce!" Qiaoxian was startled when she saw Ling Feng staring at her with a fierce look, but she still forced herself to move closer to Dong Erkui.
"Master, are you alright?" Ling Feng walked past her without even glancing at her, heading straight for Lan Qindao.
Lanqin quickly straightened her collar and hair, which Qiaoxian had just pulled, then coughed a few times and asked in surprise, "Lingfeng, how did you find this place?"
"Master, thanks to this hairpin!" Ling Feng took out a sparkling cherry blossom hairpin from his pocket.
Lanqin looked down and saw that it was indeed the hairpin she had given to Dong Erkui to pawn.
“Brother Dong, how did you run into Ling Feng? He’s from my family.” Lan Qin said, picking up the gold hairpin.
So, Dong Er Kui told Lan Qin, as well as Aunt Dong and Qiao Xian, about his chance encounter with Ling Feng. It turned out that Ling Feng had been unable to see the prefect at the prefectural government office and, having no other option, was wandering around the area. Dong Er Kui happened to pass by, and the gold hairpin he was carrying slipped from his lap and fell to the ground, where Ling Feng saw it. When he picked up the hairpin, intending to return it to Dong Er Kui, he was startled to discover that the hairpin was unusual.
Ling Feng assumed Dong Er Kui had stolen it and almost got into a fight with him in the street. After a long explanation, Ling Feng finally learned that Lan Qin was actually in the prey's house—a completely unexpected turn of events.
So, Ling Feng told Lan Qin about his trip to the prefectural government to mobilize troops after he and Fourth Master separated. Several days after they parted, Lan Qin finally learned of Fourth Master's whereabouts from Ling Feng.
"You mean, Master was captured by them and taken to the mountain?" Lanqin finally realized that he was on Wudang Mountain, and she was no longer so panicked.
"It should be. Master has been worried about you, but it's fortunate that you weren't caught. It's just that I haven't seen the Prefect, so I can't mobilize any troops," Ling Feng said.
Hearing this, Qiaoxian finally believed what Lanqin had said, so she hid behind Dong Erkui and dared not show her face again.
"Er Kui, you said you went to the city, but did you buy anything?" Aunt Dong asked.
"I bought them, they're all in the yard. As soon as I came in, I heard you all making a fuss here. Mother, how could you let Qiaoxian be so rude to that lady!" Dong Erkui said.
Now Aunt Dong completely believed what Lanqin said and felt guilty for how she had treated Lanqin earlier. She quickly said, "Mother, you misunderstood. I didn't know about your agreement with that lady."
"Qiaoxian, go home right now. Don't cause trouble here," Dong Erkui scolded Qiaoxian beside him. He could tolerate her shrewishness before, but at this moment, she had almost broken her promise to the person who could help him take revenge, and he couldn't help but speak up.
Qiaoxian never expected her cousin, who never got angry with her, to say such a thing. She immediately burst into tears, saying to Aunt Dong, "Aunt, look at my cousin!"
Lanqin found Qiaoxian truly despicable and didn't want to speak up for her, but seeing Aunt Dong's predicament, she didn't want the old woman to feel bad, so she said, "Brother Dong, now is not the time to blame her. Why don't you take your cousin home first? I'll discuss with Lingfeng what to do next. If you send her away now and something happens on the way, Aunt Dong will worry."
When Aunt Dong heard Lanqin say this, she quickly nodded and said, "Yes, yes, Er Kui, you personally escort Qiaoxian back. Talk to your uncle and aunt properly, and when your wedding date with Qiaoxian arrives in six months, we'll have a proper wedding ceremony."
Qiaoxian felt relieved after hearing her aunt's words and no longer harbored any hostility towards Lanqin. She then said, "Cousin, Qiaoxian has misunderstood that Madam Lanqin. Please don't be angry."
When Dong Erkui saw Lanqin come out to mediate, he stopped blaming her. He gave a few instructions to Aunt Dong, telling her to treat Lanqin and Lingfeng well, and then escorted Qiaoxian home.
After Lanqin led Lingfeng to the room where he was temporarily staying at the Dong family's residence, he saw that his concubine was living in such a simple room and immediately said, "If the master knew that his concubine had suffered, he would definitely blame me. Moreover, I think it would be better for the concubine to come with me to Ezhou County. Once there, I will find a good inn for her to stay in, and you can wait there in peace while I mobilize troops to rescue the master and the others."
"Ling Feng, it's already this late. I've been captured by those Taoist priests, do I still care about where I live? The most important thing now is to rescue me and Si Hua Shui Ling as soon as possible."
“Yes. I have waited at the prefect’s gate many times, but his advisor has said that the prefect has not returned from his inspection tour,” Ling Feng said.
"This is just shirking responsibility. You've already produced my official credentials, yet they still disregard the comfort of a prince. They're incredibly audacious. It seems these places are too remote, far from the emperor's reach, that they don't even respect the imperial court," Lanqin said indignantly.
"Then what can be done? The prefect is ignoring us and making excuses to avoid us. Why is that? Logically, if he saved the prince, he would have made a contribution. But why is he making excuses to avoid us and disregarding the prince's feelings?" Ling Feng asked.
"So, what do you think this Prefect of Ezhou is really thinking? I think there are only two possibilities. First, he is my lord's political enemy, so he turns a blind eye and a deaf ear to his safety. Second, he has some connection with the Wudang Mountain Taoism, so he is deliberately delaying his meeting, which means he may have taken some action," Lan Qin said.
Upon hearing this, Ling Feng nodded and said, "What the concubine says is quite right. So what do we do now? The prince and the others have been detained for seven or eight days."
"They shouldn't be in any immediate danger; they've just been locked up by those Taoist priests. They probably haven't figured out what to do with them yet," Lan Qin said. "Or perhaps they already know who you are, and are currently struggling with how to handle this situation!"
"They won't lay a hand on the prince?" Ling Feng asked.
“They wouldn’t dare, otherwise they would bear the responsibility of killing a prince. Their leader must have thought this through. If they dare to oppose you, then they are undoubtedly making an enemy of the court,” Lanqin said.
"Consort, shall we go up the mountain like this to demand our people back?" Ling Feng asked.
“No, let’s wait a bit. There are some unspeakable secrets hidden in Wudang Mountain. It will take some time to figure them out,” Lanqin said.
"Consort, shall we just wait like this?" Ling Feng asked.
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