Chapter 127: Find the clues and soon the boss Jin they mentioned will come...
Soon, the boss they had been talking about, Jin, arrived. Seeing Yinzhen's expression, he became furious: "Didn't I tell you to catch the dog emperor? Who is this person?"
The two arrestees looked at each other in confusion and said awkwardly, "This is the only boat that capsized. We thought..."
The darker-skinned man quickly added, "But look at how he's dressed. If he's not the Dog Emperor, he's probably the Dog Emperor's son."
Boss Jin frowned, very dissatisfied, but he also knew that although this assassination attempt seemed to be grand, it was actually just a sham. Their real plan was to send people to sneak onto the boat, wait for an opportunity to capsize the boat, and then have someone who was a good swimmer take the people away from the "Underwater God" without anyone noticing.
They sent a lot of people, and these two were good swimmers, so it wasn't a loss for them to be able to bring back a prince.
Boss Jin looked at the two motionless people and asked: "Dead?" If they were dead, it would be of little use. They haven't even figured out their identities yet.
"No, he just choked on water. Just squeeze the water out." The person with lighter skin said quickly.
Boss Jin scolded, "Why don't you leave now? What if you die? What's the point of being dead?"
…
Qi Buchen slowly awoke, and before she could even register what had happened, her throat began to resonate, coughing non-stop. Amidst the violent coughing, she slowly remembered what had happened. She immediately tried to find Yinzhen, but instead, she overheard an unfamiliar conversation.
"Boss Jin, wake up!"
She didn't recognize this voice or this name at all.
"If you wake up, cover your mouth quickly! You'll attract more people later." The voice sounded very impatient, and she had never heard it before.
"Hmm! Hmm!" This... this sound sounded like someone's mouth was blocked, and it felt inexplicably familiar.
Before she could figure out what was going on, someone roughly stuffed a large ball of cloth of unknown purpose into her mouth. Unable to resist the physiological reaction, she vomited and tried to push the thing out with her tongue, but her tongue was tightly blocked by someone's hand. Then someone passed a piece of thin cloth over her mouth and tied it tightly at the back of her head, blocking the thing in her mouth tightly.
Qi Buchen dry-heaved for a while before he got used to the foreign object in his mouth. At the same time, he felt his body was wet, his hands were tied behind his back, and his feet were also tied.
Although her body felt very uncomfortable, without the intense stimulation, she was finally able to focus her scattered vision and look at the surrounding situation.
She was lying on her side, and the first thing she saw was the hard dirt ground. As her eyes moved upwards, she saw that the wooden walls had lost their original color and had become somewhat black. There were only two simple beams, and above that was the roof.
A voice came from behind.
"Boss Jin, how long do we have to wait here?" The person asking the question sounded a little nervous.
"Stop talking nonsense. I told you to wait, so just wait!" This voice should be Boss Jin, and his voice sounded a little irritable.
"Mmm." It was this familiar voice again.
Qi Buchen had a bad guess in her mind. She moved her body with great effort and wanted to turn around to take a look to see if it was as she guessed. But she was suddenly kicked in the leg with great force. She immediately curled up in pain.
"Stay quiet, or I'll kill you if you dare to move!" It was another voice I had never heard before.
"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!" Although the voice was vague, Qi Buchen heard anger in it. Her heart skipped a beat. It seemed to be the worst outcome. The voice was Yinzhen, and he should be treated the same as her.
"What are you yelling about? Just behave yourself!" The new voice cursed, accompanied by a muffled "puff puff" sound.
Qi Buchen was very anxious. Although she didn't hear Yinzhen's groan, she knew that Yinzhen was definitely kicked by the kidnappers just like him.
Ignoring the pain in her legs, she rolled with great effort and finally turned herself around. What she saw was Yinzhen's bloodshot eyes, which had been staring at her. The moment they saw her turn around, they burst into surprise and worry.
"Mmm." Although it was just a vague syllable, Qi Buchen still understood Yinzhen's worried inquiry, and tears came down.
Seeing Fu Jin's tears, Yinzhen became very anxious, thinking that Fu Jin was seriously injured. He ignored the kidnappers' warnings and moved to get closer to Qi Buchen.
The kidnapper who had just given a warning was very angry when he saw this: "I told you not to move, but you didn't understand me?!" He kicked Yinzhen one after another.
Yinzhen was covered in dirt, his face was covered in dust, his hair was disheveled, and his face was pale. He looked extremely miserable, but he moved towards Qi Buchen without saying a word, with red eyes.
Qi Buchen was very anxious. He mumbled something to stop the kidnappers, and shook his head frantically at Yinzhen, asking him to stop moving.
Yinzhen did not accept her meaning.
"Alright! Stop it! Do you want to call someone over?" Boss Jin's voice rang out, very angry. "These two people are useful. You beat someone up and you go to call a doctor?! Do you think we are not exposed fast enough?"
The kidnapper who was beating people stopped in dissatisfaction and glared at Yinzhen and the other man hatefully. He admitted that he did it on purpose. He just wanted to beat up these high-ranking officials in the past. Especially since this one was a prince, it would be even more exciting to beat him up.
The kidnapper who beat the man turned around and smiled flatteringly: "Don't be angry, Boss Jin, I just want them to behave themselves."
"It's better this way." Boss Jin glared at him warningly. Didn't he understand the thoughts of these people below him? They hated those who were high and mighty, but once they climbed up, they would only be even more excessive than those people.
Yinzhen finally moved to Qi Buchen's side and looked her up and down, the anxiety and worry in his eyes almost overflowing.
Qi Buchen blinked and forced herself not to cry. Yinzhen had reacted so strongly just because he saw her crying. Now the two of them were under the same roof and had to bow their heads. Should she keep a low profile, gather her strength, and wait for the opportunity?
She shook her head slightly at Yinzhen, and even curved her eyes to show a smile, indicating to Yinzhen that she was fine.
Yinzhen was worried she was feigning nothing, but after careful observation, he realized she didn't seem to be forcing herself to endure the pain, and he felt slightly relieved. But he couldn't be completely relieved. It was March, the weather was still cold, and they had both been in the water and hadn't changed their clothes. If they continued like that for too long, they would definitely catch a cold. If they developed a high fever, it would be the end of them.
No, we must find a way to escape quickly.
At this moment, there was a knock on the door. The three kidnappers inside immediately became alert. Boss Jin approached the door and whispered, "Who is it?"
"Boss, it's me." The familiar voice made Boss Jin breathe a sigh of relief. He opened the door and let the person in, then asked anxiously, "How is it? Where are the others?"
The newcomer shook his head and said anxiously, "I looked at a few places from a distance and saw that no one had returned. There was no sound of fighting at Slender West Lake anymore. They should have been caught!"
"How could this happen?!" Boss Jin was puzzled. "Not a single one came back?"
The new guy nodded affirmatively: "No, Boss, let's hurry up and leave! At least we have two gains this time, and taking them back will also be a credit. If we don't leave soon, the city gate will be closed and we will be finished."
Boss Jin was quite decisive and said immediately, "Take the people with you and go."
The newcomer went out first to explore the way. The two younger brothers quickly covered Qi Buchen and Yinzhen with sacks, then carried them up and followed behind Boss Jin, evacuating quickly along the road that had been explored long ago.
Kangxi stood on the shore with a very unhappy look on his face. The female relatives had already been sent away, and the princes who fell into the water were also taken nearby to change into clean clothes.
"Hasn't found it yet?" Kangxi's voice was suppressed. Although his anger was not obvious, it made people feel inexplicably scared.
Yinzhen, who had escaped the disaster by chance, was now in charge of the on-site defense. "Your Majesty, please calm down. I have already sent someone to find someone who is good at swimming. They will be able to go down and find my fourth brother soon."
Yes, the boat that the princes were on capsized, and everyone else was found, except Yinzhen and his wife. Now there are still a lot of people searching in the lake, but there is still no news.
Kangxi didn't say anything else, but the air pressure around him dropped significantly.
"Your Majesty, the assassin has confessed!" A soldier came running over. "The Fourth Prince might have been kidnapped!"
Kangxi stared at him: "Speak clearly."
The officer spoke rapidly, "Besides the men on the boat and the shore, we later captured a group of men in the water. I've inquired in detail. They weren't the same group as the ones shooting arrows from the shore or the men on the boat, and they didn't understand each other's missions. According to them, their mission was to see the boat capsize, dive into the water, and wait for an opportunity to find you and take you away."
"It's possible that the group of people on the boat made a mistake and capsized the princes' boat, but this group of people didn't know that. After seeing the boat capsize, they jumped into the water to kidnap people. Although they captured a lot of people at the time, according to the number of people they accounted for, there must have been a few who slipped through the net. These people must have kidnapped the Fourth Prince."
"I have already sent people to check out the several meeting places they told me about."
Kangxi said in a deep voice, "Yinzhen, lead the team to block the entire route and find these fish."
"Your son obeys your order." Yinzhen strode away.
Qi Buchen felt very uncomfortable being carried on their shoulders, especially since these people kept running and stopping. She felt that if it happened a few more times, she would vomit.
In this uncomfortable situation, the only thing that was on her mind was what to do? There were only a few clues left, and she was completely wrapped in a sack. She couldn't throw anything away, and she didn't have anything on her body to throw away.
Qi Buchen thought for a moment and got inspiration from the occasional drops of water sliding down his face.
Before Qi Buchen vomited, these people finally stopped. She felt herself being placed on a tilted wooden board, and then another person was put down beside her. She couldn't see clearly because of the sack, but she guessed it should be Yinzhen.
Then Qi Buchen felt her whole body covered by something, more and more, until it was so heavy that it almost made her unable to breathe.
Two men sat down above her head, and the tilted wooden board leveled out a bit. A hand groped its way in and stabbed the two men twice with a hard object. Boss Jin threatened, "You two better behave yourself, or I won't guarantee where this dagger will appear."
"Walk."
There was a soft crack of a whip, and the board moved.
Qi Buchen really wanted to make some noise to call for help, but she didn't know which road this group of people were taking, and she didn't hear any human voice.
Martial law was imposed in Yangzhou City. The people were silent as a mouse, closing their doors and hiding in their homes. They did not dare to go out, but the soldiers knocked on the doors of every house and searched indiscriminately like wolves and tigers.
Yin'e followed Yinzhi down the street and was a little displeased when he saw this scene: "Brother, tell them to be more restrained."
Yinzhen glanced at him and said, "Womanly kindness."
Yin'e held his breath, but he truly had no right to refute his elder brother. The city search had nothing to do with him; he had come along on his own initiative. After all, his fourth sister-in-law had just saved him, and now that they were both missing, he simply couldn't sit back and wait for news.
Yinxiang originally wanted to follow, but he was too young and was rejected.
After searching for a while, they still found no trace. Yin'e asked, "Brother, could it be that they have already escaped from the city?"
Yinzhen had also speculated this, but the Emperor had just survived an assassination attempt and would undoubtedly need heavy military protection. He also couldn't abandon the search at Slender West Lake. What if Yinzhen and the others hadn't been abducted? They still had to impose martial law and search throughout the entire area. Honestly, they didn't have enough manpower, and Yangzhou wasn't a major military base, so there weren't many troops stationed there.
Yinzhen thought for a moment and said, "Go back to the palace, gather your third brother and his guards, and search the city."
Yin'e cheered up and said, "Okay." He quickly ran back to the palace and borrowed everyone's private guards.
When he led his men to find Yinzhen, he overheard a yamen runner report: "...there are a lot of water stains in the room, and a few pearls were found in the corner."
Yin'e looked at the pearls carefully for a few times and said uncertainly, "They look a bit like Fourth Sister-in-law's." These pearls were very small and looked like they were embroidered on clothes as decorations, but as a brother-in-law, how could he stare at his sister-in-law's clothes, so he was not sure.
Yinzhen said decisively, "Send this pearl to the maidservant of the fourth son's family to identify it. No matter what, this house is highly suspicious, and the people living here can't possibly afford to buy pearls. Gather everyone and search around this house, focusing on finding the direction to the city."
"yes!"
Yin'e personally took Jin Bao and others to find the way out of the city. Thanks to the fact that the weather in Yangzhou was not hot today and the air was moist, they quickly found some traces of water that had not completely evaporated.
Everyone in the group was very excited. Yin'e said, "Fourth brother and the others were abducted from the water. Their clothes must be soaked. The assassins didn't change their clothes. These water stains must have dripped from them. Hurry, keep looking!"
Jin Bao also said: "Looking at the traces, they probably didn't have any vehicles, but were carrying the people directly."
I searched all the way, and although some of the distances were far, I could always find some tiny traces.
But the trace soon stopped at one place. This water mark was deeper than the previous one, indicating that the Ming people stayed here for quite some time.
"This place is not far from the city gate." Yin'e said in a deep voice, "They should have left the city."
Jin Bao looked around and frowned, saying, "They didn't dare to carry people out of the city openly. They must have disguised themselves. It must be a donkey cart. There are some straws here, which must have been left by them."
Yin'e did not delay and took his men to the nearest city gate to inquire. At this time, the city gate had already been closed, and the people guarding the city were now being guarded timidly on the side.
"Let me ask you, is there any cart loaded with straw leaving the city today?" Yin'e went straight to the point.
The soldiers guarding the city looked at each other in confusion, and then one of them, who was obviously the leader, replied, "Sir, a donkey cart loaded with straw did leave the city this morning."
Yin'e was a little angry when he heard this and kicked him: "Don't you think it's strange to transport straw out of the city?!"
The head soldier got up and kowtowed in fear and trepidation: "Please spare my life, please spare my life. That man said... He said... They were transporting straw into the city to sell, but we couldn't sell it. That's why we..." In fact, they didn't care why these people were transporting straw out of the city. They just wanted to collect the money. He made up this excuse on the spot. Having a decent excuse was much better than dereliction of duty.
"Hmph!" Yin'e snorted coldly, too lazy to bother with these pawns. "Which direction did they go?"
"Well..." The soldier leader didn't dare to say it. He lied and said awkwardly, "The men didn't notice it either."
Yin'e kicked him again: "Useless!" He turned to the soldier guarding the city gate and said, "Open the gate, I want to get out."
The soldier was in a dilemma: "Tenth Prince, closing the city gates is an imperial decree."
"You!" Yin'e wanted to kick the soldier, but since he was given an imperial decree, he didn't dare to disobey. He could only angrily say, "Go and ask my eldest brother to come over."
Yinzhen was ordered to take charge of the investigation of the assassin, and only he could open the city gate.
On his way here, Yinzhen heard about the clues being investigated here, so when he arrived, he was very clear: "Open the city gates. No one is allowed to enter or leave except for the officers and soldiers."
"Yes." The soldiers agreed and opened the city gate obediently.
Yin'e was upset, but the most important thing at this moment was to find his fourth brother. He asked someone to bring his horse and was about to leave the city, but was stopped by Yinzhi: "You stay in the city."
Yin'e was anxious: "Brother, I..."
"This is an order!" Yinzhen refused to allow him to refute and looked at Jin Bao. "I'll leave all those who left the city to you. I've had your wife's maid identify the pearl we just found. We can confirm that it was your master and his wife who were taken away. Can you find them?"
Jin Bao said solemnly, "I will do my best."
"It's not about trying your best, it's about bringing those people back!" Yinzhen said without question, "Go!"
Jin Baoyi bowed and hurried away with his men. Others had a way to retreat, but they, Yinzhen's personal guards, did not. If anything happened to Yinzhen this time, although they would not lose their lives, their official careers would end there.
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