"How is it? Have you found the young lady?" Seeing that the servants who were sent out had all returned, Liu was already extremely anxious. Regardless of her weak body, she hurried up to ask.
The servant lowered his head and whispered, "We searched the entire capital, and even went to the suburbs, but there was no sign of the young lady."
"What?!" Liu frowned and finally fell down due to exhaustion.
Seeing this, the Marquis quickly subdued Liu and turned to tell the people around him, "Hurry up and go find the princess. If you can't find the princess, don't come back!"
"Yes!" After receiving the Marquis' order, everyone left the Marquis's mansion overnight.
“Madam, can you still hold on?” As the day was about to dawn, everyone in the Marquis’ Mansion waited for Shen Qingqiu all night, but there was still no good news.
Liu's tears were almost dry, and her pale face looked like a fragile piece of porcelain. She shook her head weakly, "I will wait here for Qingqiu to come back. She has always been so brave and smart, she will be fine."
The Marquis sighed, put his arm around Liu's shoulders and said, "Qingqiu is blessed with a long life, she will be fine, but you haven't slept all night and you were frightened last night. I am really worried about your health. What if Qingqiu comes back and you collapse, how can I explain to her?" He held Liu's shoulders with both hands, asked her to face him, and said, "I will help you go back to your room to rest for a while."
Liu's tears instantly fell like beads from a broken string. She shook her head and said, "No, I must wait until Qingqiu comes back. Lord, if something happens to Qingqiu, what should I do? What should I do?"
The Marquis frowned helplessly. Over the years, the Huns have repeatedly provoked the imperial court. Last night, the Huns entered the capital and attacked the Marquis's people. It seems that a war between the two sides is inevitable.
Now that they have captured Shen Qingqiu, if they want to use this as an excuse to start a war, Qingqiu will probably be in great danger. However, he dare not let Liu know what he is thinking.
Within one day, the Marquis' Mansion used all its manpower but still failed to find Shen Qingqiu's whereabouts. It was certain that she had been taken to the Xiongnu.
Seeing that Liu refused to eat or drink, the Marquis felt helpless.
"My Lord, what should we do now?" Shen Qingqiu had been missing for a day and a night, and Tu Jiu was also very worried.
The Marquis sighed and said, "It seems that the court must fight the Xiongnu." He looked up at Liu, who had been sitting on the rattan chair for a day and a night, and said, "You take care of her at home. I will go to the palace to report this matter to the emperor."
"Yes, sir."
——
"Lord Gu, why are you here at this time?" asked the emperor's close eunuch.
The Marquis nodded and said, "Please tell the eunuch that I have something important to discuss with the Emperor."
The eunuch looked inside the door and said in embarrassment, "Your Majesty, you have come at a really bad time. The Emperor reviewed memorials all night and has just gone to bed. He ordered me not to let anyone in. I dare not disobey the Emperor's order."
"This..." The Marquis was in a dilemma. Why did it have to be at this time...
"Lord Gu?" A cold voice came from behind. Lord Gu looked back in the direction of the voice and saw the Ninth Prince Gu Yanwei walking slowly towards him in a plain robe.
"Ninth Prince." Marquis Gu bowed.
"You don't have to be so polite, Lord Gu. I wonder what business it is that brings you to the palace at this time?"
The Marquis looked towards the Emperor's bedroom and knew that the Emperor would not wake up at this moment. At this moment, the only one who could help him was the Ninth Prince in front of him.
"Ninth Prince, may I have a word with you?"
"Lord Gu, I saw you frowning just now, what happened?"
"Ninth Prince, the Xiongnu broke into the capital last night and kidnapped Qingqiu."
"What?!" Upon hearing Shen Qingqiu's name, the Ninth Prince raised his voice unconsciously.
"Last night, I went to Xuji Restaurant with the people in the mansion to have dinner, but I didn't expect that a few Xiongnu people broke in. We fought with them, and Qingqiu led them away to protect us. But from last night to now, we have not found Qingqiu's whereabouts."
The Ninth Prince was always indifferent and would not show too much emotion to outsiders, but at this moment, the old marquis clearly saw anger and anxiety on his face.
"These Huns have repeatedly provoked the court over the years. This time, they even broke into the capital and assassinated important officials of the court. It seems that they have provoked us by taking the princess away. We must fight the Huns."
Marquis Gu nodded. "If they took Qingqiu away just to start a war, then Qingqiu is at least safe now. Ninth Prince, we should report this matter to the Emperor as soon as possible!"
The Ninth Prince nodded and said, "My Lord, you stay here and wait for my father to wake up. The Huns are brutal and brutal. The princess once helped me. I will go save her first." With that, the Ninth Prince was about to leave.
Marquis Gu stopped him and said, "Ninth Prince, if you go now, wouldn't that mean you are accepting their declaration of war?"
"Whether we should fight this battle or not should wait until Father wakes up, but the princess cannot wait any longer."
"But if you bring people over, you will definitely alert the Xiongnu, or even fall into their trap, allowing them to use this as a bargaining chip to threaten the imperial court. Ninth Prince, don't act rashly!"
"No." The Ninth Prince turned around, with a firm look in his eyes that Marquis Gu had never seen before in the eyes of the usually cold Ninth Prince. "I'll go alone."
"What?" Marquis Gu couldn't believe that the Ninth Prince could do so much for Shen Qingqiu.
"My Lord, the princess once saved me from danger. I cannot ignore her now. If I take people with me, it will certainly alert the Xiongnu, and then neither of us can come back. I will go alone, and you stay to discuss with my father how to fight the Xiongnu. Under the current circumstances, a battle with the Xiongnu is essential. Give me three days. If we don't come back within three days, then we will turn the passive situation into the active one and attack the Xiongnu."
"But……"
"No buts, Lord Gu, remember what I said."
Watching the Ninth Prince go away, Marquis Gu could no longer wait, and walked past the eunuch outside the door and broke into the Emperor's bedroom.
At this time, on the other side, Shen Qingqiu slowly opened his eyes in the darkness.
"What is this place?" She slowly regained consciousness and replayed what happened last night in her mind. At this moment, she heard a harsh sound from the wooden door and a beam of light suddenly shot into the room. Shen Qingqiu closed her eyes uncomfortably.
"Hurry up and eat." A soldier rudely threw a bowl of food in front of him. It took Shen Qingqiu a long time to adapt to the dazzling light and slowly opened his eyes.
At this moment, she regained consciousness. She was captured by the Huns and should be in the Huns' territory at this moment.
Looking at the soldiers in front of him, Shen Qingqiu knew that this battle between the imperial court and the Huns was inevitable.
Shen Qingqiu ignored the soldiers in front of her, silently picked up the food on the ground and started eating it in big mouthfuls. She had not eaten a single grain of rice since last night, and she was already so hungry that she felt dizzy, let alone put up any resistance.
Seeing such a calm captive for the first time, the Xiongnu sneered and said, "Women from the Central Plains are indeed extraordinary. Even after falling into such a situation, they still have the mind to eat."
As Shen Qingqiu ate her meal, she raised her head and glared at them. What was the point in being anxious? These people would not let her go. Moreover, since they targeted Hou Mansion last night, they must have known her identity. If they wanted to use her as bait, she would definitely not die for the time being. In that case, she might as well feed herself quickly so that she would have the strength to find a way to escape or wait to be rescued.
"Eat, eat quickly and well. I don't know how many times you can eat a meal like this again." With that, the two soldiers walked out and closed the door. The room fell into darkness again. Shen Qingqiu put down the bowl and fell asleep silently.
The moment the soldiers closed the door, she looked outside. There were heavy soldiers guarding outside. Moreover, the Huns were located in the desert. It was almost impossible for him to escape on his own. But in the Huns, who could help him?
As he was thinking, Shen Qingqiu fell asleep again without realizing it.
After a day of traveling, the Ninth Prince finally arrived at the Huns' camp. Looking at the Huns' territory not far away, the Ninth Prince frowned tightly, "It seems that the Huns have been prepared for a long time."
He looked at all the tents not far away and was in a dilemma. With so many tents, where would Shen Qingqiu be imprisoned? Just when he was in trouble, he suddenly remembered a skill that Shen Qingqiu had taught him.
While he was half asleep, Shen Qingqiu vaguely heard bursts of light and beautiful music.
After a long time, she suddenly opened her eyes, "Gu Yanwei? Why is he here?" The voice in the distance was still ringing, and no one knew that this was the code used by the two of them to convey information.
This was the first time Shen Qingqiu trusted someone so much. She frantically searched for something on the ground, and finally she touched a leaf. Along with the music outside, sounds slowly overflowed from Shen Qingqiu's tent.
In the silent night, accompanied by the chirping of cicadas, the leaves blown by the two people intertwined and swirled in the air, until the sound gradually died down after a long time.
The Ninth Prince put down the leaf. After a long moment, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, which he himself did not even notice.
"I never thought that what you taught me could play such an important role at this time. Shen Qingqiu, you saved me in the dark."
Shen Qingqiu, who had put down the leaves on the other side, also laughed and breathed a long sigh of relief. To be honest, if no one helped her in this situation, she really couldn't think of any way to save herself for a while. The arrival of the Ninth Prince made her feel so relieved. Since coming to this place, besides Marquis Gu, she once again trusted a man so much.
After knowing the tent where Shen Qingqiu was imprisoned, Gu Yanwei looked in the right direction and headed towards the target carefully.
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