Prisoner kidnapping
When I returned to Beijing, it was already the height of summer, especially in the south of the Yangtze River.
Today is a sunny day, the sun is shining brightly in the sky, and it is so hot that people are sweating all over.
Qi Qinghe fanned herself and ordered the servants to load all the things onto the carriage.
In the past few days, she had discovered that although they had been separated for half a year, she was very familiar with the identity of the Crown Princess and was becoming more and more adept at handling trivial matters.
Especially two days ago, after returning from Linyu County, the prince took her for a stroll in Yangzhou City, where they had tea, listened to opera, and took a boat ride to listen to music, which was quite enjoyable.
She also took this opportunity to buy many things, from silks and satins to gold and silver head ornaments, as well as some rare and novel gadgets. These were all gifts for the imperial concubine and Princess Shaoyao after she returned to Beijing.
She sorted out the things and belongings one by one, made a gift list, and sent someone to invite His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.
Qi Qinghe had already packed up. She took the cold tea handed to her by the maid, drank it all, took out a towel to wipe the sweat from her forehead, walked to the window of the convoy at the back, chatted with her mother, and glanced at Qi Qingyu and the little girl Qin'er.
It's strange to say, that night when they were on the boat, the river was sparkling, reflecting the bright lights on both sides. Qi Qinghe widened his eyes and looked carefully.
Suddenly, on the shore, among the crowds of people, I saw a familiar figure. Wasn't it Qin'er?
After finding the people and questioning them carefully, we learned that the little girl Qin'er had always followed the three people from the Qi family. Even when Qi Xu went to Yangzhou City to look for her daughter, she took Qin'er with her. Until that rainy night, her master was forced out of the city by the county magistrate. She did not have time to inform anyone and thus got separated.
Qi Qinghe regained consciousness and smiled. "Mother has been detained at the Qi family for so long and has never had a good time. This is a good opportunity. I will definitely accompany you to go shopping."
Qi Xu waved her hands and said with a smile, "I'm old and can't walk around anymore."
As they were talking, the prince arrived.
A convoy immediately set off back to the capital, and following the convoy was a prison van. Xiao Junqi's hands and feet were tied, and he was surrounded by top-notch guards. Swords were hung on their waists, and their hawk-like eyes were scanning everywhere to prevent anyone from kidnapping the prisoner.
The Fourth Prince returned to the capital before them because the case had been investigated and they did not travel with him.
Outside the car window with diamond-shaped panes, the blue sky is clear and the lush trees are receding into the distance.
Xiao Junbai put down a stack of documents and pulled the person who was looking out the window to sit down.
Qi Qinghe knelt upright for a while, only to feel numbness and soreness in his legs and feet, and the book in his hand no longer had any fragrance.
He simply sat down with his knees hugged, his head resting on them, and read the storybook.
Xiao Junbai sat cross-legged, motionless, turning page after page of documents in his hand, his hand holding the pen still steady.
The long journey was very boring.
Qi Qinghe flipped through the storybook several times and found it boring, so he moved closer to the prince, his head nodding along with his movements.
Xiao Junbai lowered his eyes to look at her, chuckled calmly, put down his pen and gently pinched her cheek. The delicate and smooth touch made him reluctant to let go.
Qi Qinghe broke away from him, sat up suddenly, rubbed her face, and muttered in dissatisfaction.
She turned slightly to the side, trying to move away, but out of the corner of her eye she saw an official document on the prince's desk. The handwriting was sloppily written in a familiar manner.
Qi Qinghe tilted his head back, thinking of all the people he knew, and then he remembered, "Is this... the handwriting of the Linyu County Magistrate?"
After returning from Linyu that day, the prince only said that the county magistrate was dead and said nothing more.
Since the prince didn't say anything, she could only ponder it secretly. Thinking about the county magistrate's expulsion of her from the city, she had a vague guess.
The county magistrate is probably doing things for money.
After all, dealing with her and making things difficult for her was just to distract the prince so that he could be taken down in one fell swoop. This makes sense.
Xiao Junbai nodded and handed her the official document. It was the county magistrate's coroner's autopsy report and the county magistrate's confession. There was nothing wrong with reading it.
Qi Qinghe was not familiar with these things, so she found it a little difficult to read. After she finished reading and pondered them carefully, she caught a glimpse of the prince, who was turning his head and staring at her without blinking.
Xiao Junbai asked, "What are your thoughts?"
Qi Qinghe's crow-feather eyelashes trembled slightly. She was stunned for a moment and then realized that His Highness was going to teach her a lesson and test her.
Realizing this, she sat up straight and told the official documents her guesses one by one: "The Linyu County Magistrate rarely interferes in local quarrels. If a quarrel reaches the government office, both sides will be punished with fifty strokes of the cane. He rarely takes sides..."
The county magistrate did not like to cause trouble and did not act in a high-profile manner. His wife and children were even less so. He was a rather inconspicuous person.
That night was indeed a bit abnormal. He was aggressive and never gave in. Combined with the confession of taking bribes, being bribed was the most likely guess. There were other guesses, such as he had a grudge against the prince and was seeking revenge for personal gain, or he was an eyewitness of some prince.
She couldn't see anything unusual in the coroner's autopsy results.
After she finished speaking, she raised her eyes and looked at the prince eagerly.
Xiao Junbai raised his hand, stroked her hair, and nodded slightly, "Not bad."
Qi Qinghe smiled happily with her eyes curved, and carefully put away the documents, but the prince held her hand and pointed at the coroner's autopsy.
Xiao Junbai looked at the black and white paper, and the smile in his eyes faded a little. "Write here, the neck is bruised and purple..."
He was just halfway through his words when he was interrupted by the chaotic noise outside the car window.
The next moment, the guard outside the car window came to report: "Your Highness and Majesty, the assassins are robbing the prisoners."
Qi Qinghe was startled and subconsciously looked over.
Suddenly, from the deserted forest, black-clad warriors jumped out, holding sharp weapons and fighting with the accompanying guards.
After a while, the sound of swords clashing and some puffs could be heard, followed by the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.
Qi Qinghe retracted his head, covered his heart, his face gradually turned pale, he turned his head to the side with a wry smile, lowered his head and said nothing.
Xiao Junbai embraced her in his arms and patted her back gently. The next moment, he took the bow and arrow from the corner of the carriage. His expression remained calm. "Stay in the carriage for now. Don't move."
Qi Qinghe watched helplessly as the prince, at his old age, lifted the bamboo curtain and disappeared.
She was the only one left in the carriage. She clutched her dress tightly and slowly closed her eyes, as if everything outside the carriage would fade away and cease to exist.
However, the sound is still there.
Screams, cries, the collision of sharp weapons, the sound of sharp weapons piercing the body, the thud of heavy objects falling to the ground, mixed with the exclamations of the guards.
"Your Highness, the prisoner is missing!"
Qi Qinghe gasped and slowly raised his hands to cover his ears.
At this moment, a fishy stench entered the nose, making one feel sick.
She suddenly opened her eyes, tears falling from her red pupils. She gently opened the car window a crack and looked outside.
Under the golden sunlight, the blood was particularly terrifying. The corpses were scattered in the jungle, mostly covered by weeds and thorns.
What comes into view is the constant flash of swords and sabers.
Xiao Junbai was on the other side, completely unaware of what was happening in the carriage. He drew his bow, with the sharp arrow pointing directly into the jungle. Supported by assassins on both sides, Xiao Junqi ran as fast as he could.
Xiao Junqi seemed to have some feelings and looked back, but the horror disappeared in an instant, replaced by hatred and resentment.
The sharp arrow flew out in an instant, breaking through the wind. Xiao Junqi was pressed down by the assassin beside him, and he escaped the disaster and disappeared in the mountains.
Xiao Junbai slowly put down his bow and swept it left and right.
There were only three or four assassins still standing, and most of the guards were around, so there was nothing to be afraid of.
At this moment, a heart-wrenching sound echoed through the mountains from the carriage.
Xiao Junbai's expression turned cold, and he immediately leaned over, lifted the curtain and walked in.
Inside the carriage, which had been clean a quarter of an hour ago, was lying against the window with his eyes open, the sword in his hand lying across the table, and the bloody wound on his forehead showed that he was dead.
The blood-stained inkstone fell, and Qi Qinghe hid in the farthest corner. Her hair was disheveled and her hairpins were gone. Her whole body was shaking, tears rolling down her face uncontrollably, and the bright red spots on her face were shocking.
When she saw His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, she threw herself into his arms as if she had seen a savior, crying breathlessly and speaking incoherently about what had just happened.
She leaned forward to look, but unexpectedly, when the man saw her, he came straight towards her, with bright red dripping from the edge of his sword and about to fall.
Unfortunately, the carriage is so small that the sword cannot be swung.
At this moment, Qi Qinghe didn't care about anything else. She picked up the inkstone on the table and smashed it down hard. In extreme fear, her hands lost strength and she actually smashed the man to death. Blood splattered on her beautiful face.
In a moment of panic, her hairpins fell down, and she suddenly realized that she had killed someone, and then she screamed.
Xiao Junbai understood instantly, half bent over and held the person in his arms, took a towel with his hand, wiped the blood off her cheek, and patted her gently with his palm to soothe her.
“…Qinghe? Qinghe?” Qi Xu’s panicked voice sounded outside the carriage. Qi Qinghe followed closely behind, calling her aunt to slow down and asking how her sister was doing.
Qi Qinghe was startled, then snapped back to her senses. She took the handkerchief, wiped her tears, and pretended to be nothing: "Don't worry, mother and daughter, I'm fine."
Only then did she realize that she and the prince were very close, their breaths intertwined and their noses touched.
Qi Qinghe blinked slowly, propped himself up and tried to move away a little.
Unexpectedly, the prince put his arms around her, preventing her from breaking free.
The person outside the car window was still asking.
Qi Xu listened to her daughter's words. Her voice was no longer as clear as before, but was filled with a hint of fear and lingering fear. "Qing He, how are you? Are you injured? Is it serious?"
Having said that, Qi Xu ignored the guards' obstruction and wanted to get into the car to see what was going on.
Cheng Xi cried out, and hurriedly pulled Qi Xu away, "Madam, don't panic. With so many guards here, how could the Queen be in trouble? Besides, His Highness is here, so don't worry, Madam."
Cheng Xi tried his best to persuade Qi Xu and Qi Qingyu to return to the carriage.
The guards collected the corpses in an orderly manner. The body in the prince's carriage was also carried away and buried shallowly in a forest.
This time, the assassination and robbery left only one prisoner alive, so the prison car was not wasted.
Qi Qinghe listened to the guard's serious report outside the car window and whispered softly with sobs, "I'm fine. Your Highness, please let me go."
After he finished speaking, Xiao Junbai hugged her even tighter, with no intention of letting go. He rested his head on her shoulder without saying a word.
The guard seemed to know the prince very well and retreated quietly without hearing any movement.
The sudden silence made Qi Qinghe feel even more uncomfortable, and the fingers that were grabbing the prince's sleeves curled slightly.
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