The moon is bright tonight, but the stars are sparse, and the wind is light on the river bank.
Chen Luo held a lantern in his hand, stood on the shore, held onto the bamboo railing, and looked anxiously into the distance.
King Yan had already checked all the carriages and horses on the land, and arrest warrants were distributed to all the city gates. The soldiers searched for the person based on the portrait, but they could not find any trace of Shen Que.
A living person can't just disappear out of thin air.
Therefore, Xie Shiguan suddenly became suspicious of him and checked all the secret agents under his command. If he could not get the answer from them, he would torture them. Fortunately, Shen Luo was popular, and those secret agents who did not know would deny it even if they were beaten to death, while the one who knew would deny it until his death and would not say anything.
But the prince didn't believe it, and turned the relationship between these hidden lines upside down. Finally, he found out that one of the hidden lines had been to Tongzhou Ferry by carriage not long ago.
He went to the ferry at this critical moment, saying that he had prepared some gifts to send back home, but it was not a festival, why would he send any gifts back? And he hurried all the way there, if he really wanted to send a gift, he shouldn't be in such a hurry.
Xie Shiguan then concluded that the mute had escaped by water, so he issued an order to stop the ship and all the locks were closed. All officials, sailors and passengers on the ship had to disembark and be inspected.
Shen has been missing for more than half a month. If he had traveled by water, he should have reached Huai'an by now.
Chen Luo and Shen Xiangzhi heard the news, one because of the order from King Yan and the other because he was worried about what happened to Shen Que, so they both rushed here on fast horses.
The two men had been waiting at the Huai'an Chaoguan Pass for half an hour when they suddenly heard a little commotion coming from downstream. Chen Luo was already frightened and anxious, and when he heard the noise, he could no longer stand still. He jumped on his horse and urged it to run downstream.
Seeing this, Shen Xiangzhi followed them. Several canal transport soldiers who had just landed on the shore were also rushing towards them. When they saw the official uniforms on them, they hurriedly reported: "Sir, two sirs!"
"Someone jumped into the river downstream," the soldier shouted. "There were quite a few people. They heard the sound of people falling into the water, one after another, and we couldn't stop them!"
Shen Xiangzhi frowned: "Did you send anyone to fish it out?"
"We've already sent a small boat down, but how can we see the people in the water in the dark? There are so many people in the water, we can't save them all..."
Without waiting for him to finish, Chen Luo immediately urged his horse to continue to rush down, and then stopped abruptly at the noisy shore, dismounted, squeezed through the crowd, and shouted at the dark river: "Aque!!!"
But who would respond to him?
Chen Luo was so anxious that he took off his boots and planned to go into the water to save people, relying on his good swimming ability. The canal transport soldiers who had landed on the shore earlier reached out to pull him back: "Don't do that, sir. The water looks calm, but it's very dangerous down there..."
An anxious Shen Luo threw his hand away: "Get lost!"
Just as he was about to jump into the water, Shen Xiangzhi, who was chasing him from behind, grabbed him by the collar and shouted angrily, "Are you crazy?! Do you think this canal is the hot spring of the royal palace? You didn't even see the shadow of Shen Que, and you jumped in so hastily to die?"
"With his temper, he must have gone into the water," Chen Luo's face flushed with anxiety, "He's not a good swimmer, and besides..."
Besides, he didn't say anything. He didn't even dare to tell Shen Xiangzhi about this matter. He just wanted to let it rot in his stomach.
Chen Que was afraid of water to begin with, and now she was pregnant. If she really fell into the water, wouldn't that be a dead end?
Shen Xiangzhi ignored him, tied his hands with a horsewhip, and handed him over to the clerks on the shore for custody, leaving him there shouting Shen Que's name heartbreakingly.
Then he turned around and ordered the soldiers on the shore: "Send a few more boats over."
"Sir, there are only a few vacant boats here, and they have all been requisitioned. The large and small boats parked on the river are also not idle, and they are all helping to rescue people."
Shen Luo's roar was so loud that the soldier had to lean over to Shen Xiangzhi's ear to speak.
After listening to it, Shen Xiangzhi raised his hand and slapped Shen Luo in the face, saying sternly: "You useless guy, what's the point of shouting? I shouldn't have brought you here, you embarrassing thing, shut up!"
Shen Luo's head tilted due to the slap, and he felt a stinging pain on his face, and he came to his senses.
The river was turbulent, how could he find Shen Que by himself? Shen Luo was just worried and confused, but now he was forced to stop and stopped wanting to jump into the water.
Seeing that he had finally calmed down, Shen Xiangzhi dared to step forward and untie the restraints on his hands, and then said: "Don't make trouble, come with me to the nearby ferry and borrow some boats to rescue people."
Shen Luo nodded hurriedly.
The two men mounted their horses again and continued to rush towards the next ferry.
Looking at the bottomless river, Shen suddenly felt a natural fear in his heart. He clung to the edge of the boat with his knuckles and refused to jump into the water.
"I'm with you," Danxin, who was standing beside him, suddenly said, "I also escaped. If I were caught and sent back, I would be dead. It's better to fight to the death and find a way to survive."
"Jump now, it will be too late if you delay any longer." The cold wind on the river surface suddenly picked up, but Shen heard her urging in a low voice.
Shen Que was still hesitating when he heard a stern voice behind him: "What are you two doing standing there? Don't you know you will be questioned when you dock?"
"That's him," someone suddenly muttered in a low voice, "I think the person in the portrait is clearly him, and he's said to be a mute, so doesn't that make sense?"
"Catch him quickly! The arrest warrant says that if you catch him alive, you will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins!"
Before they could finish speaking, Danxin grabbed his arm, and the two of them gritted their teeth and fell into the turbulent river together.
The people on the other boats heard the noise of them falling into the water and were also confused. The unidentified passengers were already panicking, and following their lead, they jumped into the water one after another.
The scene suddenly became chaotic.
Even though the weather was getting warmer, the water was still freezing cold. As soon as he entered the water, he began to shiver almost uncontrollably.
The river water rushed into his ears and nose impatiently, and the feeling of powerlessness and loss of control made him panic uncontrollably.
But he remembered what his master had taught him, that he must not panic in the water, so he held his breath, tried to relax his body, and let his heart pull him along with the current.
When Xie Shiguan arrived, it was already three days later. There were many big and small things happening in the court during these days. The young emperor was unable to take on the responsibilities, so everything had to be handled by him.
They rode fast all the way and saw Chen Luo sitting by the river from afar, looking as if he had lost his parents.
When they saw him dismount from his horse, the palace guards, clerks and soldiers who had arrived on the shore earlier all knelt down.
Xie Shiguan looked down at Shen Xiangzhi and asked, "Where is Shen Que?"
Shen Xiangzhi lowered his head and did not agree immediately.
"Where are the people?!" Xie Shiguan stepped on his shoulder, frowned, and raised his tone.
He usually smiled, and his expression never showed. Even when he was extremely angry, there was no emotion in his eyes.
However, at this moment, Shen Xiangzhi clearly sensed the uncontrollable anger in him.
He gritted his teeth, withstood the unspeakable pressure, and answered in a low voice: "Your Highness, all the ships on the canal have been checked, and no sunken ship has been found. Only a sailor on a merchant ship said that he had seen the person in the portrait."
"Bring them up here."
As soon as he finished speaking, someone brought the crew members up. When the men saw Xie Shiguan's crimson official robe, their legs went weak and they fell to their knees.
Shen Xiangzhi turned to them: "This is His Royal Highness Prince Yan."
"Your Majesty?"
"Long live Your Highness, long live Your Highness!"
The highest official these people had ever seen was only a clerk at the Banknote Office. Only the helmsman had seen the person in charge of the Banknote Office, but he was only an official of the sixth rank. Compared with the big shot from the capital in front of them, he was nothing.
These people huddled together, not daring to speak, so Shen Xiangzhi had no choice but to remind them, "Tell the prince again what you reported that night."
The group of people were so timid that they had to push the helmsman out. The helmsman didn't even dare to raise his head, and his voice changed when he opened his mouth: "Everyone on the boat has seen him before. He is a mute, with a pretty face and some kung fu skills."
"It should have come from the north. It boarded the ship in Tongzhou. It has been hiding in the cargo hold and rarely comes out."
"That night, several people saw him. He was standing by the boat, but he didn't turn back when they called him. Just when they were about to catch him, he pulled the girl into the water..."
"Several people," Xie Shiguan suddenly said, his eyes smiling again, "can't stop him alone?"
The man at the helm was so weak: "I can't stop him. Who could have thought he would jump so fast? I immediately asked people to cast nets to catch him, but the water was too fast and it was dark, so no one could see clearly. We didn't catch anyone, but we did catch a few fish..."
Xie Shiguan smiled upon hearing this, and said with his thin lips slightly opened, "It's useless, just jump into the river."
He just said a few words and immediately someone took the crew members away, and kicked them all into the river regardless of their screams like ghosts and wolves howling.
These people have been sailing for years and are all good swimmers. They swam back to the shore soon, but were kicked into the river by the clerks while grinding their fingers.
Then His Highness’s eyes fell on Shen Xiangzhi again: “They didn’t stop him, they didn’t catch him, what about you?”
Shen Xiangzhi tensed up unconsciously, and whispered, "That day, I, along with the clerks and soldiers, rescued quite a few people, but there was no sign of Shen Que."
"I have had people fish in this river for three days and nights, and only found these..."
As he spoke he opened a cloth bag, inside of which was a purse and a pair of loafers, both dry, with a layer of mud and sand and a few dried water stains on them.
Xie Shiguan recognized this purse. Chen was a frugal man. This purse was already very old, but he had never changed it.
After just one glance, Xie Shiguan withdrew his gaze and asked the same question: "Where are the others?"
"The transport soldiers fished out a male corpse downstream this afternoon. The body was so swollen that it was unbearable to look at, and the face was bitten beyond recognition by the fish and shrimp in the water. I and others are really not sure..."
After hearing what he said, Xie Shiguan laughed, but there was a chill in his eyes, and the more he laughed, the more creepy he became: "Carry it up."
Shen Xiangzhi bowed down and said: "The corpse is really, really not very elegant, I am afraid it disturbs your Highness's eyes."
Before he could finish, Xie Shiguan half leaned over and hit him on the side of the face with the whip. His eyes were calm, but his blow was ruthless: "Lift it up, don't let me repeat it for the third time."
Then the male corpse covered with white cloth was lifted up, revealing a pair of feet that were swollen and white from blisters at the uncovered end of the stretcher. Only one short boot was left, which was torn by the swollen feet and hung loosely on the boot.
Chen Luo, who was kneeling in the outermost circle, couldn't help collapsing when he saw the stretcher. He had not slept for three days. There was a dark spot under his eyes and his eye sockets were red, but he couldn't bring forth tears.
I couldn't hold it in any longer and a few low sobs rolled out of my throat.
Xie Shiguan was annoyed by what he heard, so he whipped him on the cheek with a whip and said, "Shut up!"
He immediately lifted the white cloth. Shen Xiangzhi was not lying. The body underneath was indeed unsightly. Only a human shape was left, but it didn't look like a human at all.
Not only the clerks and soldiers present, but even the royal guards could not help but cover their mouths and vomit.
But Xie Shiguan remained calm, bent down and looked carefully.
No, no, it’s not him!
He had kissed and touched every inch of the mute's flesh. Even if the mute had changed beyond recognition, he could still recognize him.
This person is not him, definitely not him!
Xie Shiguan laughed and kicked the stretcher down. The people carrying the stretcher were caught off guard and almost fell into the body.
Seeing this, Shen Xiangzhi raised his head and said, "The body has just been salvaged and the coroner has not yet examined it..."
Before he could finish, Xie Shiguan interrupted him: "No need to check."
"Keep looking," the smile in the prince's eyes fell a little, "Even if he is really dead, I will dig three feet into the ground to find his remains."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
