Ying Wu didn't respond immediately, and Xu Yixing almost suspected he hadn't heard. He was about to ask again when he heard him say, "We can't report it to the authorities. If they capture us alive, they'll definitely expose you, the female military advisor, and then the pursuers will definitely find out."
"You're right, I overlooked it." Xu Yixing counted his fingers helplessly. It seemed that he could only wait until he was safe and sound before thinking about how to remind the local authorities to continue suppressing the bandits. "How long will it take us to reach Miaozhou?"
"The trip has been going smoothly recently. If we continue at this speed, it will probably take another two months." Ying Wu touched the old horse pulling the cart. He didn't dare to buy a too conspicuous one because he wanted to match his status. Now it was walking slowly, so it was at this speed.
"Doesn't that mean we can arrive by the end of July or early August? That's great. My baby is due around the end of September, so we'll have plenty of time to hire a midwife and a doctor."
Ying Wu didn't respond. This was the ideal scenario. Miaozhou was cold, and it would probably start snowing in September. By then, they would need to find a suitable place to stay before preparing for the rest of the matter. Ying Wu was confident in his disguise skills. The corpse he had painted looked even more like the real thing. As long as his master wasn't checking and suddenly opened his eyes, he could guarantee that the problem wouldn't be discovered.
The carriage moved at a moderate pace, and some pedestrians hurried past on the road. However, when they saw a man carrying a coffin, they would walk away quickly to avoid being contaminated by bad luck, which was exactly what the master wanted.
Lu Anyuan finally got the clue he'd been searching for, but it wasn't from Chao Jianyi. As soon as he left the capital, he began to venture into the mountains, digging for herbs everywhere, acting like a herbalist. The people following him didn't bother him, just keeping an eye on what was going on.
"Where did you find it?" Lu Anyuan touched the silk clothes and immediately recognized that they were the clothes worn by the servants in the prince's mansion.
Qin Li said, "It was a theft case reported in Yuan County. It said a man took a hundred taels of silver note to a bank to exchange for cash. However, the banker didn't think he looked like someone who could easily take a hundred taels, so he sent someone to secretly follow him and report it to the authorities. This piece of clothing was found in the man's luggage."
Yuan County was the largest county north of the capital, the last county entering the capital and the first county leaving. Now that he had discovered this clue, he naturally brightened up: "What did the local officials find out?"
"That man was a peddler. He admitted that he picked up these things while passing by a house on the edge of Yanshan Mountain. He said he wanted to use the money as an excuse to get water, but the houses nearby were empty. He bravely searched the house and found this. However, he didn't dare use it in Yanshan Mountain. When he arrived in Yuan County, he took out one and tried to withdraw money, but he was arrested. By the way, Your Majesty, Yanshan Mountain is 20 miles away from Xiaoxi Town..."
"This isn't considered stealing!" Lu Anyuan stood up suddenly and said, "Qin Li, I need to leave the palace for a while and will be back soon. You stay in the palace to support me."
Qin Li knew that he could not persuade the emperor, so he walked out in small steps, pretending that he did not see that the emperor wanted to change into casual clothes.
After galloping all the way, they finally arrived at Yanshan. Lu Anyuan looked up and saw that the mountain was not very high, but if Yixing climbed it, it would probably be very hard. . . He shook his head fiercely and drove this absurd idea out of his mind: Lu Anyuan, Lu Anyuan, no one wants you anymore, who are you feeling sorry for?
"Ada, did the thief we caught in Yuan County reveal anything new?"
"Yes, I've asked them in detail. Wrapped in the clothes was a travel permit and a stack of banknotes, worth ten thousand taels. They're all here." Ah Da arrived before Lu Anyuan and had already gathered all the evidence, handing it over. "But the person who wrote the document burned it, saying they were afraid it would be discovered. He can't read, so he doesn't know the name written on it."
"Hmph!" Lu Anyuan flipped over the banknote. Isn't it ten thousand taels? He goes out with so much money, and he is not afraid of being robbed by bandits!
"What about the mountain families? They can't possibly not know where the money came from, right?"
"He was captured by bandits."
"Puff! Cough cough cough cough!" Lu Anyuan really wanted to slap himself. Was he really kidnapped by bandits? Otherwise, why would they leave the money behind? "Bandits... where is the stronghold?"
Ah Da was a little worried: "It's on Yanshan Mountain, but... when my subordinates came to check this afternoon, they found that there was a forest fire on the mountain. The whole village was burned to death..."
"What?" Lu Anyuan almost vomited blood. Could it be? "Go up the mountain."
Sure enough, in the shade of the mountain, they saw a group of houses that had been burned to the ground, with a row of corpses lying on the ground.
"Have these people been checked? Are there any young women?" Lu Anyuan spoke a little hurriedly and almost bit his tongue.
"We've checked, and there are young women there, but they're probably not the Crown Princess. They're probably local villagers. They've been dead for about two weeks, but it's in a remote area, so no one found them."
"But that doesn't make sense." If she hadn't been in danger, Yixing wouldn't have left the money lying around in the mountain dwellers' homes. The people here were clearly kidnapped by bandits, so Yixing must have been captured before. But Yixing wasn't among the bodies. She'd escaped and naturally gone to get the money. How could she just leave it there?
Ah Da had the same idea. "Could it be that the Crown Princess wasn't captured by the bandits, but simply hid the money under that person's pig trough? Or maybe she escaped from the bandit's lair, but when she went back to retrieve it, it had already been stolen?"
Lu Anyuan narrowed his eyes, feeling unhappy. "Check every place in the town and on the mountain where someone could be hiding. I want to know where she went!"
"yes!"
The master gave the order, and Ah Da Nature carried it out wholeheartedly. After a thorough investigation, he finally got some news in the middle of the night.
"Master, the searchers in charge of the mountains haven't reported back yet, but the people in charge of the villages and towns did find something wrong. About two weeks ago, a very beautiful woman came to the brothel in this city, but she left after only three days."
"How come the brothel here is actually a charity house, allowing girls to leave at any time?" Lu Anyuan said calmly. This was the first time he heard of this.
"Of course not. The madam of Cuihong Court said that the woman was good at music. She recommended herself to Cuihong Court. Seeing her beauty and talent, the madam signed a contract with her and arranged a place for her to live. She was told that she would only be allowed to receive clients after her training was completed. But she disappeared on the third day."
"Is there a portrait?"
"Master, please look." Ah Da took out a scroll painting. It can be seen that the madam really has high hopes for this girl. Even the painting book is made of high-quality paper. She must be expecting her to make a lot of money.
Lu Anyuan lost interest after just one look. No matter how much she changed, she couldn't look like Yixing. Besides, there was no way Yixing would come to a brothel. She wasn't particularly good at music. "Then why didn't you report her disappearance to the police?"
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