"Have you found the whereabouts of the princess?" Zhang You thought of Qiao Si running away alone, and didn't know whether he escaped or not, so he couldn't help but feel worried.
Chunhua had a complicated expression. "We haven't found her yet. We've already searched the outer edges of the forest, but there's no clue. Now it seems the princess must have escaped deeper into the forest."
Zhang You noticed that Chunhua was wary of the two guards, so he leaned close to Chunhua and asked in a low voice, "Judging from their clothes, aren't they from our mansion?"
"After Jingzhu went back, the news of the princess' disappearance spread, and each government office sent people to help symbolically." Chunhua said quietly, but they all knew that these people were not just here to help, but mostly spies.
They didn't continue the conversation, in order to avoid talking too long and arousing their suspicion, and began to lead them to continue looking for Qiao Si's whereabouts.
The moonlight was faint, and the temperature in the forest grew colder. An hour had passed, and they still hadn't found any clues. While Zhang You and the others were searching in the north of the forest, Dongmei and Qiuyue happened to meet them.
In a corner where no one paid attention, they looked at each other. Looking at Dongmei's eyes, Zhang You felt relieved. They remained expressionless and continued searching under Dongmei's leadership.
They had actually anticipated Qiao Si's distress, but when she lost contact, it was so sudden that none of their plans came into play. Fortunately, they knew she was fine and everything was proceeding as planned, otherwise their efforts would have been in vain.
The Qiao Palace was now on the brink of ruin. A prominent family like theirs, once in decline, would only face further attacks from others. Therefore, Qiao Si had been mulling over a countermeasure. The Qiao Palace desperately needed an opportunity to turn things around, and after much deliberation, Qiao Si decided to join the fray.
The conflict with Li Xianyu that day was intentional, intended to provoke her into attacking her in an occasion like today. Qiao Si wanted to make this matter so big that everyone in the capital knew that Prince Qiao's mansion was being bullied, and so big that the emperor would have to let them go.
This is a risky move of retreating to advance, and it is also the premise for Qiao Si's next action.
Qiao Si needed to use this opportunity to hook up with the Second Prince Li Guanghan. Now the two of them were together as they wished. They just needed to wait for tonight to pass and "coincidentally" bring people over to discover the two of them, so that they could arrange their marriage naturally.
Admittedly, this approach is unethical.
Li Guanghan is also innocent.
But in the whole court, he is the only one who can help Prince Qiao's Mansion.
The dog emperor was extremely suspicious and most of the good ministers in the court were framed and killed.
Crown Prince Li Yuanzhuo is just like his psychotic father, with unpredictable moods.
The second prince, Li Guanghan, is kind-hearted and low-key. During the years that Qiao San has been in the capital, he has taken good care of him.
On New Year's Eve that day, she also met him through Qiao Duzhou's introduction. Since then, she has had this idea in her mind.
Qiao Si also hesitated whether to drag him into the water.
She had investigated him and knew that he had a childhood sweetheart, Yao Yushu, the daughter of Imperial Tutor Yao. They had been close friends since childhood, but Li Guanghan was a low-key person, and except for those familiar with him, no one else knew that they had reached the stage of discussing marriage.
If possible, Qiao Si didn't want to interfere with them, but she always had to make plans for the Qiao Palace...
When Zhang You heard about this, she also felt it was inappropriate. However, given their current situation, they needed a break...
Since returning to the capital, their lives have been restricted in every way. Not only are they alienated by the aristocratic families in the capital, but they are also under constant scrutiny from the mansion. They have to play their roles every day without realizing it.
Originally, Qiao San planned to send someone to secretly protect Qiao Si, fearing that she would really be harmed by the madman Li Xianyu, but Qiao Si did not want to take the risk. If the secret guards of Prince Qiao's Mansion were exposed, the dog emperor would only want to get rid of them as soon as possible, so she was alone.
Fortunately, Qiao San's men were reliable and had already lured Li Guanghan over. Now, everything was going as planned, and they only had to wait until tomorrow...
Zhang You and the others pretended to continue searching. Another two hours had passed, and it would soon be dawn. Zhang You glanced at the sky and exchanged a glance with Dongmei. Dongmei quickly approached them, saying worriedly, "You've all worked so hard. We've searched here for so long and still can't find anything. We should go over there and look again. The princess is still waiting for us." She was like a maid worried about her master. Although the others were tired after searching for so long, they couldn't just give up, so they reluctantly agreed.
Chunhua looked at their reluctant expressions, rolled her eyes quietly, and complained in a low voice: I should have taken them for a few more rounds just now.
Her voice was not loud, but it was loud enough for Zhang You and Qiu Yue beside her to hear.
Qiuyue approached Chunhua and winked at her, "Together?"
Zhang You knew at a glance that Qiuyue was goading Chunhua again. She shook her head helplessly and looked at the two of them, "Stop it. They're just like that. Do you think you can teach them a lesson?"
After spending so many years with them, Zhang You has a good understanding of them. Even though she's just complaining now, she might have already figured out how to teach them a lesson.
Qiuyue heard her words and knew that she didn't want to cause any trouble, so she shrugged helplessly and said, "Okay, okay, let's not do it."
Dongmei intentionally led them towards Qiao Si. After walking for a quarter of an hour, they came to a place with lush vegetation. The people behind them were tripped by tree roots that were blocked by weeds on the road. They kicked the tree roots a few times in anger.
Zhang You looked at them and understood. They must have chosen this place on purpose. She looked at Chunhua and Qiuyue. They were smiling, as if to say, "They didn't do it." Zhang You shook her head helplessly.
After walking for another half an hour, they saw a faint fire in the distance. Dongmei shouted loudly, "Princess! Princess!"
The sound attracted two other groups of people in the woods, one was the team led by Qiao San, and the other was the team led by Wei Nian.
Dongmei looked at the figure in the distance and could see the bright red dress. She ran over excitedly. Zhang You and the others followed closely behind, running over anxiously.
When they arrived, the situation became a little awkward.
Li Guanghan and Qiao Si were standing together. It seemed that they had been alone all night. When Wei Nian approached, he didn't know how to start the conversation. He just kept his eyes on Qiao Si, as if waiting for her to speak first.
Zhang You and the others were the second to arrive. As soon as they arrived, they rushed to Qiao Si and carefully checked if she was injured.
"Princess, are you injured? Why are your clothes still wet? Did you fall into the water? Did you catch a cold?" Dongmei's voice was urgent enough for people around to hear.
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