Chapter 738 The Ten Great Families (Two Updates)
The disappearance of the young princess is no small matter; even the Imperial Preceptor's Palace has been mobilized, not to mention the major aristocratic families.
The powerful families mobilized their elite forces to try and find the young princess and make a great contribution.
The Han family's desire to search for them was particularly strong.
In the flower hall, Old Master Han said with a solemn expression, "Zhang Feng and the others have failed in their duties this time. If we do not redeem ourselves by finding the young princess, the king will blame us, and the Han family will be in trouble."
The Han family has already lost a mine because of the assassination attempt on the eldest grandson of the emperor, and they cannot be punished by the emperor a second time.
Han Lei had just returned from the palace. In the room, besides him and Old Master Han, there was also his legitimate younger brother, Third Master Han.
Third Master Han was a scoundrel who had spent the entire night in his concubine's room last night. He was listless and dispirited, which infuriated Han Lei.
In terms of competence, ten of the third brothers combined are not as good as the second brother. According to his original intention, the third brother should have been sent to take the blame for Han Ye.
At least the Han family only lost a good-for-nothing!
But because he is the eldest son of the old lady, he can enjoy the fruits of the family's labor without having to work hard or contribute to the family!
Han Lei glared fiercely at his younger brother, and it took a lot of effort to resist the urge to slap him to death.
"Father," Han Lei said, suppressing his anger, "there's something fishy about this."
Old Master Han placed his hands on the handle of his cane, his eyes like those of a hawk: "Never mind whether it's strange or not, only by finding the little princess can the Han family be saved!"
Han Lei cupped his hands in greeting: "Understood, Father. I will take men to look for it right away."
Old Master Han said meaningfully, "Remember, it must be a member of the Han family who brings the young princess back!"
Han Lei understood: "My son understands."
"And you too!" Old Master Han looked at Third Master Han with a heavy expression.
Startled by his father's scolding, Third Master Han stood up abruptly, wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth: "I...I...I'll go too!"
Grandpa Han said with exasperation, "Where are you going! Stay home and behave yourself! Don't step out of the yard for the next few days!"
Third Master Han was about to cry.
Why are you confining him to his home again?
Han Lei summoned Chu Nan and asked him to go to the military camp to select a group of the best Black Wind Cavalry. He wanted to personally lead the Han family's cavalry to find the people.
"Father."
Just as Han Lei was about to leave, Han Ye rode up on horseback.
Han Lei looked at Han Ye's pale face, then at his feet tightly wrapped in gauze, and frowned: "Your injuries haven't healed yet, why did you come out?"
Han Ye endured immense pain, his face pale, but his eyes were incredibly resolute: "Father, let me go find him too."
"Nonsense! How are you going to find them like this? Didn't the doctor tell you to rest and recover carefully? If people find out that your Achilles tendon is severed and both your legs are useless, do you think you can still keep your current position?"
Han Lei's words were like a sharp knife piercing Han Ye's heart.
Gu Changqing's sword strike was deadly, almost ending his martial arts career.
A ruler will not give important positions to a useless person.
In order to prevent the king from discovering this secret, he could not even seek treatment at the Imperial Advisor's Palace!
He couldn't accept the fact that he had become a useless person!
He can still mount a horse!
You can hold a gun! You can wield a sword!
Han Lei understood that his proud and arrogant son could not accept this heavy blow, so he softened his tone and said, "Ye'er, stay at home and I will find a way to cure you."
"Is that so?" Han Ye's tone was somewhat nonchalant.
Han Lei was anxious to convince his son, so he said seriously, "It is said that Xuan Yuanli's tendons were once severed by the people of Jin, but wasn't he cured by a divine doctor?"
A flicker of emotion crossed Han Ye's eyes: "Is it the Imperial Advisor?"
Han Lei shook his head: "No, the Imperial Preceptor Hall hadn't been built yet back then, so I don't know who that divine doctor is. But if the rumors are true, then your father will definitely find him for you! I will spare no expense to have him heal you! Even if it means my Han family has to support him forever, I will accept it!"
This was the first time Han Ye had felt his father's unreserved concern for him through his eyes.
Only my second uncle used to do that.
Han Ye said in a low voice, "It's been decades, who knows if that person is still around?"
Han Lei held his shoulders and said, "Ye'er, don't say such discouraging things. You are the heir of the Han family. You can't give up on yourself."
Han Ye said, "I know I was wrong, Father."
Han Lei smiled with relief: "Go back and recover quickly. I'll take care of everything outside."
Han Ye was carried back to his own courtyard by the servants.
He lay on the wicker chair by the door, gazing at the scene in the courtyard.
Qi Xuan patted the mosquitoes off his body and said to Han Ye, "Alright, don't worry, I'll go find it for you."
Han Ye said, "Thank you, Master."
Qi Xuan put his hands behind his back and sighed, "As your master and disciple, I don't want to see your family suffer."
Han Ye pondered for a moment, then suddenly called out to him, "Master."
Qi Xuan asked, "What is it?"
Han Ye said blankly, "I heard that Xiao Liulang is the little princess's teacher. Do you think he will let go of this opportunity to make a contribution?"
Qi Xuan raised an eyebrow: "You want me to find the little princess before him?"
Han Ye lowered his eyes and crushed a small mosquito that had fallen onto his leg: "I hope that if Master encounters him, he will kill him for me."
Qi Xuan smiled and said casually, "Okay."
In the purple bamboo grove of the Imperial Preceptor's Hall, Yu He carried a box of chilled food to the small bamboo house in the grove.
The disciple, who was kneeling quietly at the door of the main hall, said, "Grand Preceptor, Yu He has brought some sweet soup to relieve the summer heat."
The Imperial Advisor said wearily, "Let him in."
"yes."
The disciple lifted the bamboo curtain in the main room and nodded to Yu He.
Yu Hemai stepped inside, leaving his shoes on the steps. Wearing a clean white pajama, he slowly walked in on the wooden floor.
"Master," Yu He bowed.
In the Imperial Preceptor Hall, only the Imperial Preceptor's personal disciples are qualified to call him "Master," while other disciples respectfully address him as "Great Imperial Preceptor."
Yu He looked at the tortoise shell on the table and asked cautiously, "Master, are you performing divination? Why is the hexagram like this?"
As a direct disciple, Yu He had learned some knowledge, and the divination results on the table clearly indicated that the divination had failed.
But isn't that strange?
Is there really a divination master in this world that cannot be performed?
The imperial advisor said regretfully, "I cannot calculate her divination result, no matter how many times I try."
she?
Could Master be referring to the young princess?
That's right. Only the young princess is in trouble. At this critical juncture, there's no one else that Master should repeatedly consult the oracle about.
Yu He said with a smile, "It must be because it's too hot. Master, would you like to take a break before we start calculating?"
The Imperial Advisor sighed, "It has nothing to do with the weather; I've been calculating this for many years."
Master, you're exaggerating. The little princess is only four years old.
Yu He knelt down opposite the Grand Preceptor, opened the food box, scooped out a bowl of chilled mung bean soup, and presented it with both hands: "Master, here you go."
The Imperial Advisor took the drink, drank a sip, and said no more.
...
In a side room of a courtyard, a man in black and a vendor who had just had his injuries treated stood respectfully in the center of the room, with a man in a gray cloak standing in front of them.
The weather was hot and humid, so the man lowered the hood of his cloak and took off his mask.
He glanced at the two of them and asked, "Is everything settled?"
The vendor said, "The person has been arrested."
The man in black added, "We just arrested one more person."
The vendor was speechless. "Would you die if you didn't say something?"
"What do you mean by 'arresting one more'?" the man asked, frowning.
The vendor hurriedly pointed to his injured thigh and said, "He's the young princess's classmate. He came along on his own and bit my leg, I can't shake him off! But please rest assured, sir, we've already gotten some information from the young princess. He's just a poor kid, he doesn't even have parents, he only has an older sister studying at the academy next door. Even if he dies out there, no one can take care of him!"
The man scoffed, "That's for the best!"
The man in black hesitated for a moment before carefully saying, "Master, what about the young princess... are you really not going to give her anything to eat? It's already afternoon, and she's been hungry for half a day."
The man said calmly, "Let her suffer a little, so that the king will feel more sorry for her and be even more furious."
The man in black muttered, "I hope he doesn't starve himself to death."
The man said indifferently, "You won't starve to death in a day or two, just remember to give you some water tonight."
Man in black: "...Yes."
In the woodshed, two little kids were squatting in the corner.
"Jingkong, I'm hungry," the little princess said, her eyes brimming with tears.
Xiao Jingkong had been awake for a while. He listened carefully to the sounds outside and asked her softly, "Are you still hungry?"
"Hmm." The little princess nodded, looking aggrieved. "Candy doesn't keep you full."
Little Jingkong inherited his great-aunt's true skills and had a habit of hiding snacks. In his purse, he hid a few pieces of osmanthus sugar and a small bag of candied fruit.
The little princess had just complained of being hungry, and he had already given her most of the food, leaving only three pieces of candy and two candied fruits.
Xiao Jingkong gave her another piece of candy and a candied fruit: "That's all we can give you. We don't know when we'll be able to go home yet, so we'll save the rest for you to eat tonight."
"Mmm." The little princess nodded obediently, grabbing a candied fruit with one hand and an osmanthus candy with the other.
"Why aren't you eating?" she asked.
Little Jingkong patted his little belly: "I'm fat, so it's okay if I skip a meal."
After thinking for a moment, the young princess handed him the larger-looking osmanthus candy: "Here, you can have this."
She can't keep eating all the time, while Xiao Jingkong doesn't eat anything.
This little bit of candy isn't even enough to fill a gap between my teeth.
—This is what Jingkong, who used to have to fight with the young monks for food to get a full meal, thought.
"You eat it." Xiao Jingkong stuffed the candy into her mouth.
"Mmm..." The little princess's mouth was stuffed full.
Oh my, osmanthus sugar is so delicious.
Xiao Jingkong had exceptional hearing; he could tell that no one was in the courtyard at that moment.
He looked at the young princess: "Xiaoxue, shall we escape?"
The little princess, who had just stuffed a candied fruit into her mouth, puffed out her cheeks and stared at him blankly like a chubby squirrel: "How do I escape?"
Xiao Jingkong arrived at the door. The door to the woodshed was a double door, locked with a brass lock on the outside, and there was a narrow crack in the door.
Xiao Jingkong was a child; his frame was small, and he was so chubby that he could be squeezed together. In a flash, his little hands grabbed something and slid out through the crack in the door.
Then I heard the lock click twice; the brass lock had been pried open.
The little princess exclaimed with starry eyes, "Wow! Jingkong, you're amazing!"
Jingkong also thinks he's amazing.
“I learned it from my brother Chengfeng,” he said.
"Who is Brother Chengfeng?" the little princess asked.
My current "older sister" —
Xiao Jingkong said, "He's an older brother. I'll introduce you to him another day."
"Okay, okay!"
The young princess was so amazed by Xiao Jingkong's amazing skills that she completely forgot how dangerous their task was.
Xiao Jingkong pushed open the door of the woodshed, led the little princess into the courtyard, and found a suitable spot to climb over the wall.
He said to the young princess, "There is a tree here. We'll climb up the tree first, and then we can get over the wall."
The little princess lowered her head, fiddled with her little fingers, and said in a very low voice, "But I can't climb trees."
Xiao Jingkong thought for a moment, then ran back to the woodshed and came out with a rope.
"Grab the rope, and I'll pull you up."
The young princess said, "I can't catch it."
Xiao Jingkong: "..."
"Alright, then we'll just have to tie you up for now."
Xiao Jingkong tied one end of the rope to the little princess's waist and the other end to his own.
He then swiftly climbed the tree, jumped onto the wall, and pulled the young princess up with him.
An ordinary five-year-old child doesn't have his strength.
He practiced basic skills every day, which laid a very solid foundation. He also practiced the boxing techniques taught to him by Little Chicken Monkey, which greatly improved his physical fitness.
"I'll put you down now." Xiao Jingkong tightened the reins and slowly lowered the little princess to the other side of the wall.
After the man in black and the vendor came out of the main house, they both tugged at their clothes.
It's so hot.
Sweating profusely.
The vendor said, "Go quickly and check on how the young princess is. The woodshed is so stuffy, she might faint from the heat."
The two went to the woodshed together.
To their surprise, they discovered that the lock had been pried open and the two little ones inside the house were gone!
The man in black's expression changed drastically: "Who let them go!"
The vendor frowned and said, "Release them? This yard is full of our people! You should ask who rescued them!"
"Damn it!" the man in black gritted his teeth. Suddenly, his ears twitched, and he glared at the top of the wall. "Who goes there!"
The vendor leaped onto the wall and looked around, spotting a rope in the grass not far away.
It was the rope from their woodshed.
The man in black climbed over the wall and approached the vendor: "Have you found anything?"
The vendor looked ahead at a vast field of sorghum taller than a person, and finally found a child's footprints in a very hidden muddy puddle.
Judging from the direction of their toes, they were heading towards a sorghum field.
The vendor said coldly, "Chase them!"
The peddler and the man in black chased after them to the sorghum field.
"Jingkong, why did you run towards the sorghum field just now? And why did you step into the puddle with my shoe?"
"This is a smokescreen, also known as a deception tactic, to make them think we went over there, when in fact we came this way!"
The two little ones darted into the woods.
Jiaojiao will definitely come looking for him.
Before that, all he needed to do was find a place to hide himself.
...
The men in black and the vendors searched the entire sorghum field before realizing they had been tricked.
There was nothing in the sorghum field!
There was no one in sight, not even a trace of someone hurrying past!
Furthermore, the vendors realized an even more infuriating problem: "No one came to rescue them; they ran away on their own!"
The man in black asked, "What makes you say that?"
The vendor scoffed, "If someone had really discovered that courtyard, do you think no officials would have come to search it after all this time?"
The man in black suddenly realized.
The vendor's eyes gleamed with malice: "It must be that brat! Once I catch him, I'm going to kill him!"
The two chased after him into the woods.
The forest was filled with towering trees, their branches and leaves providing ample shade, making it much cooler than outside.
As the man in black walked, he said, "Actually, we don't necessarily need to find the young princess. It's fine if other noble families find her. Anyway, our goal isn't to gain merit in this matter."
The vendor said, "We can do without this credit, but we must ensure that the Han family doesn't get it either! If they find the little princess and atone for their sins, then what's the point of everything we've done!"
The man in black said thoughtfully, "That makes sense."
The vendor chuckled and said, "At the very least, we can't let the Han family benefit from this; it would be best if we took all the credit ourselves."
As they talked, the two walked further and further away.
A middle-aged man in his early forties, accompanied by a guard, swooped down from a century-old sycamore tree.
The middle-aged man looked at a large tree across the way: "Master Yang, isn't it hot up in the tree? Why are you hiding there?"
There was a moment of silence on the tree branch, and then a man in his fifties dressed in dark blue brocade robes was led back to the ground by two guards.
He greeted the middle-aged man in a nonchalant manner: "Master Dong."
The middle-aged man, addressed as the head of the Dong family, smiled and looked around in all directions: "Everyone, come out. There are a lot of mosquitoes in this forest. It's not worth getting bitten while hiding behind a tree."
As soon as he finished speaking, three more men, accompanied by their guards, came out from either the trees or behind them.
The head of the Dong family smiled and glanced at the three men: "Lord Chen, Lord Du, Brother Feng, and young Feng."
The first three are about the same age as the Dong family head, all in their prime, while the Feng family head is only twenty-three years old, making him the youngest family head among the ten great families.
It wasn't that he was particularly capable, but rather that all the elders of the Feng family had passed away, leaving only him and his elder brother to depend on each other and support the family, which was on the verge of collapse.
The head of the Dong family smiled kindly and said, "It seems that everyone has been watching them since they entered the forest. So you must have all heard what they said just now. I might as well give you a hint: the man dressed as a peddler is a master that the Mu family hired from an underground martial arts arena a few years ago. He is very skilled in lightness skills."
Lord Chen said, "So this was done by the Mu family. The Mu family wants to deal with the Han family?"
The head of the Dong family smiled and said, "That seems to be the case at present."
Lord Du asked, "Why did the Mu family do this?"
The head of the Dong family smiled and said, "Wanfei just had an accident, and then the Mu family took action against the Han family. Doesn't anyone think there's any connection between these two things?"
Lord Feng's temper flared up: "Just say it directly, that Consort Wan was framed by Consort Han!"
The Dong family head's smile remained unchanged: "You said it, I didn't."
"You—" Lord Feng choked.
Among the ten heads of the family, the head of the Dong family is a well-known smiling fox.
Talking to him is the easiest way to fall into a trap.
The head of the Dong family smiled and said, "Apart from the Mu family, the Wang family, the Su family, and the Han family, all the other prominent families have arrived. I have a suggestion, and I wonder if you would like to hear it."
Lord Feng hated this kind of thing the most; he could say a few words and it would be like he was saying several farts: "Just say what you have to say!"
Spit it out!
The head of the Dong family swept his gaze over everyone: "The Mu family is related to the Wang and Su families by marriage. If something happens to the Mu family, it will be difficult for these two families to extricate themselves from the situation. Even if they are not angered by the king, they will certainly not get any benefits."
Lord Feng was thoroughly annoyed with him: "What exactly are you trying to say?"
With his hands clasped behind his back and a broad smile, the Dong family head said, "The Mu family's abduction of the young princess is a capital offense, and the Han family's failure to protect her is also a dereliction of duty. But these alone are not enough to bring down the two families. But what if... I mean, what if... something happens to the young princess? Will these two families... still be able to survive?"
Lord Du frowned: "You mean—"
The smile of the Dong family head gradually turned sinister: "What I mean is, instead of the six of us fighting tooth and nail for the credit of finding the little princess, why not take down the Mu and Han families and divide their power among ourselves? This way, we can avoid hurting each other and everyone can benefit."
The oldest person present, the head of the Yang family, laughed: "Smiling fox, you really are ruthless."
The head of the Dong family glanced at him and said, "The Han and Mu families are juicy targets. Don't you want a piece of the pie? The Black Wind Cavalry, the Supply Battalion... we contributed back then, but why can't we, the major families, get a share of the Xuanyuan family's military power?"
The woods suddenly fell silent.
Indeed, they paid a heavy price to overthrow the Xuanyuan family, but in the end they didn't get any military power.
It's one thing for the Nangong family to get the lion's share, since they are all military men, but why did the Mu family, who have been scholars for generations, get assigned to the supply battalion?!
They were not convinced!
The people in the woods began to get restless.
"I'm leaving." The youngest patriarch, Feng Wuxiu, turned and left without any interest.
The head of the Dong family narrowed his eyes, gazing at Feng's handsome back, and asked with a cold smile, "Young Feng, did you agree or not?"
Feng Wuxiu waved his hand: "I didn't agree."
The head of the Dong family threatened, "Then you can't just leave like this."
Feng Wuxiu glanced at him out of the corner of his eye: "If you can stop me, then go ahead and try."
The head of the Dong family's guards gripped the hilts of their swords.
Suddenly, a young Taoist priest dressed in a blue robe descended from the sky, like an unshakeable deity, shielding Feng Wuxiu behind him.
Everyone was taken aback.
Patriarch Yang exclaimed in disbelief, "Daoist Qingfeng!"
Despite his young age, Feng Wuxiu's aura was in no way weak: "I don't care what you do, and I won't report you, but my Feng family is determined to take credit for this!"
Even if all the experts present joined forces, they would not be a match for Qingfeng, this Taoist priest... Patriarch Dong smiled.
He said, "I was just joking, why take it seriously? Alright, let's see who can rescue the little princess first!"
It was so close! That wretched Feng Wuxiu has completely messed things up!
"Brother, let's go," Feng Wuxiu said to Daoist Qingfeng.
(End of this chapter)
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