Prince Yan had probed him a few times, and when he talked about the mysterious disappearance of his family's personal guards, Xie Yizhi showed no surprise on his face, but when he asked about the whereabouts of the two, he still looked confused.
This means that he must have known about this matter, but as for the details, the other party did not reveal too much to him.
After sending Xie Yizhi away, His Highness turned back to the inner palace. While Chen was away, he planted a few red crabapples by the wall of the Lansheng courtyard. It was not yet the flowering month, and only a few flower buds had grown on the branches.
Xie Shiguan was so impatient that he rubbed the small flower bud. The newly formed bud was so fragile that it was broken and fell to the ground as soon as it was rubbed.
The several crabapple trees in the courtyard have been taken care of by the mute these days. His Highness was afraid of being discovered by him, so he used his feet to push the fallen buds into a corner and hid them.
"Aque?" He called Chen Que's name as he walked towards the side room.
But after pushing open the door of the side room, I only saw a wet nurse holding a baby inside, and the room was empty, with no one else in sight.
"Where is Shen Que?" he asked.
The nurse quickly replied, "When the young master was crying just now, the master came in to comfort him and then left."
"Did he say where he was going?"
The nurse shook her head, and then replied calmly: "Your Excellency knows that I don't understand sign language, and you don't like to talk to me on weekdays... I think you are tired and went back to your room to rest?"
Soon after, the maids and servants searched Lansheng Courtyard, the bedroom, and even Chongtai Courtyard, almost everywhere inside and outside the mansion, but they could not find any trace of the mute.
Xie Shiguan's face became more and more ugly. The personal maids in the inner court had all seen him go crazy up close. When they saw that the prince's face looked strange again, they were all terrified and hung their heads like quails.
"Where is Chen Xiangzhi?" His Highness gave a look to the Silla maid beside him, who immediately understood and hung a goose-feather knife on his belt with ease, "Go tell him that there is no need to search any further, as the man has already escaped. Gather the rest of the guards and follow me out of the palace to look for him."
Seeing that the matter was about to get out of hand, Yuanzhi, who had been hiding behind the servants, suddenly came out and then gritted his teeth and handed over a note.
"Your Majesty," he whispered, "Your Majesty just read this before leaving. He said that if he doesn't come back in an hour, he will hand this note to you..."
He couldn't even last an hour. If the person in front of him knew that he had such an important clue in his hand but was reluctant to give it out, Xie Shiguan would definitely eat him alive.
Sure enough, after he presented the note, King Yan didn't even look at it, but raised his foot and kicked him in the lower abdomen.
Yuanzhi subconsciously bent his body and took another half step back, but was still pushed half a foot away by the kick. His head tilted to the ground and he almost vomited bile.
At this time, Shen Xiangzhi suddenly rushed into the courtyard and reported to Xie Shiguan: "The guards have been arranged, half of the guards outside the palace will stay with the other half, and the horses outside the palace have been prepared. Do you want me to lead them, or..."
After saying this, he glanced at the little slave huddled on the ground and whispered, "Why don't you retreat quickly?"
Two servants with good sense came up immediately, lifted the boy from the ground, and took him to the back room.
No one took this little slave seriously. King Yan unfolded the note and after reading the contents, he said in a deep voice, "Go to Beiqu, Pingkangli."
However, Chen rode out on a horse. In broad daylight, Pingkangfang was inevitably less prosperous. Moreover, Beiqu was the area with the cheapest land price in the block. The alleys were small and crowded, and the shops were close to each other.
After he entered the alley, he kept his hand on the scimitar at his waist. He heard a very light sound of footsteps behind him, but Shen pretended not to notice. When the man approached, he immediately drew the sword out of its sheath and put the sharp blade against his throat.
The man behind him smiled awkwardly and took off his mask: "It's me, Shen Que."
The man was Eleven. He had lost a lot of weight in recent days, his cheeks were sunken, and there was a very noticeable blue color under his eyes.
Seeing clearly that it was him, the mute showed no intention of taking back the scimitar. Eleven frowned, looking somewhat confused. He whispered, "They forced me to deliver the note, but don't worry, they don't have many people. If you and I join forces, it won't be difficult to rescue Shen Luo."
Shen didn't know whether he believed what he said or not. He just opened his lips and asked silently: "Ge Zheng... is it you?"
Eleven was slightly stunned at first, then lowered his eyes somewhat dejectedly: "You guessed it, that's right."
He suddenly laughed bitterly, "I didn't want to do that, but he just happened to come out of the house at that time. When he saw me carrying Shen Luo, he came up to me. I was afraid that he would shout. If everyone was alarmed, wouldn't that mean all our efforts would be in vain?"
Although I had already guessed the general outline and was mentally prepared, the feeling was completely different when I actually heard it from his mouth.
When Shen Luo first met him, Eleven, who was the same age as him, often followed Shen Luo around. At first, the other guards more or less disliked him because he was a mute and felt he was boring, or they were jealous of his good fortune to become the personal guard of King Yan. In short, they didn't like to play with him.
But Chen Luo was willing to learn sign language for him and treated him as a normal person. As for Eleven... he was the second person among his personal guards who could understand his sign language.
Eleven is very dexterous with his hands. When they were young, everyone made clay carts, clay dogs, and horse rides together. Only his made the most realistic ones. He did not hide his skills and taught himself and Shen Luo step by step.
"You know what?" Eleven suddenly said without a beginning or an end, "I stopped gambling a long time ago. I never went to any card games organized by the hospital. I never got on any flower boat again, no matter whose it was."
"I saw him in a jewelry store that day. It was the first time I saw such a good-looking man. I thought he was a young lady. I used to think that I had to find a virtuous woman to start a family. But since I met him, I suddenly felt that men and women were not that important."
"After a few meetings, we became good friends. I thought that since His Highness loved you so much, he would agree with me and him." At this point, his voice suddenly choked up. "Who knew that the higher-ups would suddenly find out about this kind of people? I was only one day late in seeing him, and he was sent to the palace for education. When he came out, his voice, which was originally fine, was also damaged."
As he spoke, he tilted his head and looked inside through the lattice window on the wall. He saw a man sitting in the yard. He had an androgynous face and his eyes were covered with a layer of gauze.
At first glance, Shen Que felt that the person in front of him seemed familiar, but after a few more glances, he recognized that he was the maid who stood under the eaves with Xie Shiguan that day.
After His Highness explained it to him, he no longer took it to heart, so it was only then that Shen realized that this maid was the same as himself.
Eleven stared at him infatuatedly for a long while before he spoke in a hoarse voice, "He was not dumb or blind, and his hearing was good. It was just that because he was not pleasing to the eyes of His Highness, Xie Yao sent him to Beiqu. But when I found him, it was too late."
"I'm useless, I'm so useless," he pounded against the wall fiercely, "They also poisoned him. If I didn't obey them, he would die. He was pregnant. How could I, how could I watch him die?"
Shen was stunned by his words for a long time before he came back to his senses. He opened his mouth in a daze: "You, yours?"
Eleven seemed reluctant to answer this question, and turned his head away from his gaze: "I am the only grandfather of that child."
As soon as he finished speaking, a number of men in gray suddenly crowded in from the alley. Seeing this, Chen quickly flipped his hand, used the back of his knife to push Eleven away, then stepped on the stone frame of the lattice window to gain leverage and quickly climbed into the yard.
Since Eleven brought him to the front of the courtyard, it meant that Shen Luo was most likely here. However, Shen quickly kicked open several doors in the courtyard and finally saw Shen Luo in the last small room.
Chen Luo was currently tied to a wooden couch, with his mouth sealed tightly with cotton cloth. Without hesitation, he immediately cut the leather rope with a knife, and then tore off the cloth that sealed his mouth.
Chen Luo finally opened his mouth and shouted in surprise: "Watch out behind you!"
Shen turned around immediately and fired a row of hidden arrows from behind. Several men in gray fell down, but then more men in gray rushed into the house one after another.
"They drugged me, I can't walk fast," Shen Luo said hurriedly, "Don't worry about me, you go first!"
It was difficult to find Chen Luo, but Shen would never listen to him.
Quickly tearing off all the restraints, Shen carried him on his back without hesitation, then quickly knocked down a few men in gray, then broke out of the window and ran towards the alley entrance.
At this moment, Shen Luo caught a glimpse of the knife wound on his forearm, and said with anxiety and distress: "You are injured, Aque!"
Chen Luo had fought with these gray-clothed men before, and he knew very well that although their kung fu was not very good, they were very cunning. The blades of their knives were all smeared with poison, so if you were not careful and let them hurt you, you would be finished.
However, Chen only knew that Shen Luo was roaring behind him, but he had no energy to listen to what he was roaring. At the moment, these gray-clothed men were numerous and powerful, while he was alone and had to carry Shen Luo on his back. His chances of winning were very low, and he could only rely on the winding terrain here to fight.
But just as he ran all the way to the alley entrance, he ran into a group of men in gray. He was about to raise his knife, but his feet suddenly went weak and he began to feel dizzy.
In an instant, he fell to the ground with Chen Luo.
The gray-clothed man behind him soon caught up with him. The drug took effect and Shen collapsed to the ground. He tried several times but was unable to get up.
When Chen Luo turned around, he saw Eleven coming out of the dark alley. He was faster than those gray-clothed men and pressed a dagger against Chen Que's neck. He stared at him in disbelief and said hatefully, "How could you do that to him!"
Eleven's eyes were still red. Being stared at like this by Shen Luo, he was not angry, but just said calmly: "If you were me, you would do the same."
"Bullshit!" Shen Luo was furious, but his hands and feet were weak. There was nothing else he could do except glare at him. "I, Shen Luo, would never harm my colleagues even if I die..."
Eleven suddenly interrupted him: "If it was Shen Que who was killed by them, would you really not do anything to save him?"
Shen Luo suddenly stopped talking.
"You will too," Eleven's lips curled down, not only saying this to him, but also to herself, "I'm not the only one who is selfish."
After saying this, he turned his head and said to the gray-robed men, "Go and inform your master that I have captured the man. If you want him alive, you can exchange him for the antidote."
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