Master Kang was completely baffled, as was the Fourth Prince.
However, people certainly don't just disappear into thin air. After all, Hongye is gone. Although Master Kang and the Fourth Prince, two men, didn't carefully check what Li Tiao and Hongye had lost.
However, there were obvious signs that the house had been ransacked.
Therefore, it is clear that Li Tiao's disappearance was not a matter of vanishing into thin air, but rather a premeditated act.
After thinking for a long time, Master Kang asked, "Fourth brother, this is your house. The person disappeared in your house, and you don't have a single clue?"
The Fourth Prince also looked deep in thought, his head bowed.
"I ask you, besides the front and back gates, does your house have any other gates?"
He suddenly looked up at Master Kang, but the Fourth Prince still found it hard to believe.
"It seems like it's possible?" Kangxi asked.
"Yes, Father Emperor, there is such a thing, but Li Tiao is unaware of it." The Fourth Prince had previously discussed with Li Tiao the idea of arranging for her to leave, thinking that she would leave quietly through the secret passage so that the guards at the door would not notice.
However, since he couldn't reach an agreement with Li Tiao, the Fourth Prince naturally wouldn't tell her the location of the secret passage.
“You may not have said it, but Li Tiao lived in your courtyard for quite some time before we found out. How do you know she didn’t notice?” Kangxi asked the Fourth Prince.
"Father, I think if she knew, she would have run away long ago."
"She ran away a long time ago? Before we found her, she thought this place was very safe, so of course she wouldn't run away. Now..." Kangxi's anger was obvious: "It's too late to say anything now. Go and see where that place you said Li Tiao doesn't know is."
The Fourth Prince took Li Tiao to the woodshed, where there was a hidden door under a pile of weeds.
I thought Li Tiao wouldn't know, since the secret passage was near the woodshed, which is usually a place no one goes. And although Li Tiao isn't delicate, she's not the kind of person who would go to the woodshed.
However, when they arrived there, as soon as they opened the door, they saw that the place that was originally piled with weeds was now in complete disarray.
There's no need to look at anything else; Li Tiao ran away quietly from this place.
The Fourth Prince was in a terrible mood after all this was discovered in front of the Emperor.
"Where does this secret passage connect to?" Master Kang asked.
After the Fourth Prince revealed the location of the other exit of the secret passage, Master Kang immediately sent people to search for it, but to no avail.
"Does she still know where your residence in the capital is?" After failing to get any information from the guards, Kangxi asked the Fourth Prince.
"Replying to Father Emperor, no, she doesn't even know."
"I remember when I assigned you your residence, Li Tiao was still your concubine. Did she know about your farm in the suburbs?"
"Father, she doesn't know, but I think even if she did, she probably wouldn't go to those places."
In fact, the Fourth Prince had no desire to discuss with Emperor Kangxi where Li Tiao might go, given Emperor Kangxi's feelings for Li Tiao...
"Where do you think Li Tiao might go?"
"Your Majesty, I do not know."
"But I think she'll need to find a place to stay..." Kangxi muttered to himself, then stopped asking the Fourth Prince and sent people to search the area near the other exit of the secret passage, making sure to search every inn, house, and shop.
The Fourth Prince remained silent, pondering where Li Tiao might have gone. In his view, the fact that Li Tiao was able to hide in this house showed that she had put in considerable effort to avoid being found and had taken unconventional paths.
This time... the Emperor ordered him to find Li Tiao at another exit of the secret passage, but the Fourth Prince thought it would be difficult to find her.
However, Li Tiao probably won't leave the capital. The only place she can go now is an inn, but if she's in an inn, it will be much easier to find her.
Li Tiao shouldn't be that stupid.
What if someone helps her?
The Fourth Prince quickly summoned Su Peisheng: "Have someone keep a close eye on the Eighth Prince's side, especially the inn run by the Ninth Prince."
"Yes, sir."
Although the Fourth Prince thought that Li Tiao probably wouldn't go to the Eighth Prince, he figured he might as well try anything. If someone had told him that Li Tiao was hiding in his house, he wouldn't have believed it either.
But Li Tiao deliberately chose an unconventional path and hid in the Fourth Prince's "territory".
As a former informant of Lao Ba, it's not impossible for Li Tiao to ask Lao Ba for help.
Of course, this was the Fourth Prince's idea. After searching for so long based on this idea, there was still no news of Li Tiao.
With the day of Emperor Kangxi's personal military campaign fast approaching, the Fourth Prince had no choice but to entrust the task of finding Li Tiao to his subordinates.
He originally intended to entrust this matter to the thirteenth prince, but considering the thirteenth prince's attitude towards Li Tiao, the fourth prince was a little uneasy.
Out of concern, he left the capital with Emperor Kangxi.
"Eighth Brother, where did Li Tiao go?" In fact, it wasn't just the Fourth Prince and Emperor Kangxi who were looking for her; the Eighth and Ninth Princes were also searching for Li Tiao.
"I don't know. So much time has passed, and it seems like we still don't have a clue."
"Eighth Brother, do you think it's possible that Father or Fourth Prince has already found Li Tiao and secretly hidden her away? Or perhaps Second Prince found her and killed her, which isn't impossible," Ninth Prince speculated.
"The fourth brother's men didn't even spare the two of us brothers. They've been keeping an eye on us. Do you think the Crown Prince won't have someone keeping an eye on him too?"
If the Crown Prince had indeed found Li Tiao first, he wouldn't have been able to hide it from the Fourth Prince at all.
Then there's the Emperor. He's so fond of Li Tiao; I really can't think of any other reason besides wanting to take her as his concubine.
If the Emperor finds Li Tiao, he should directly bestow the title upon her and let her stay peacefully in the palace. That would be the safest thing to do. After all, once she becomes an empress, even if the second son wanted to kill her, he would have to think twice.
Nobody knows where Li Tiao is right now. Finding her and killing her would be the best opportunity, which is why the Fourth Prince looked so preoccupied when he left the capital.
The Ninth Prince said, "Eighth Brother, if that's the case, what if we're lucky and find Li Tiao? What should we do then...?"
After making a throat-slitting gesture, the Ninth Prince said, "We should keep a close eye on her and let her help us. After all, she was able to predict that the Fourth Prince would replace the Second Prince, so Li Tiao must be more than just a pretty face."
After thinking for a moment, the Eighth Prince said, "If Father Emperor hadn't been involved in this matter, it wouldn't be impossible to find a way to hide Li Tiao and let her work for us."
But now the Emperor's feelings for her are... unpredictable, so there's no need for us to get involved.
There's a saying that goes, "Man proposes, God disposes."
Now that Father Emperor knows that Li Tiao said the fourth prince could replace the crown prince, do you think Father Emperor will let such a statement come true?
"Not necessarily. If Father Emperor's mind were so easily changed, then the Second Prince wouldn't have been made Crown Prince at birth."
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