The entire imperial city was in a state of panic, with multiple groups of people mobilized simultaneously, all searching for someone.
They searched for the current emperor, the regent, and... Princess Duanrong, who seemed to have become uncared for by everyone after both the regent and the emperor disappeared.
The capital city of Yin, where doors were left unlocked at night, suddenly fell under martial law. The imperial city sent troops to search house to house, and checkpoints were set up one after another along the official roads. Merchants, travelers, and even refugees who could no longer linger near the imperial city due to the freezing weather and were preparing to migrate south all had to undergo layers of screening.
For several days in a row, Li Hua personally led the troops mobilized from Zhongli Zhengzhen and turned the entire imperial city upside down.
However, they could not find any trace of Gan Qiongying. Every time the men he sent out to chase after Gan Qiongying returned with news, it was that the other party had been killed in a car accident.
Boats capsized, vehicles crashed, and horseback riders encountered bandits...
Every time Li Hua received a message, it felt like he was being slowly tortured. In the end, he stopped those people from pursuing him too closely, and even if he spotted someone, he would only follow them from a distance.
He was afraid that if he chased too closely, one of the groups might actually be Gan Qiongying, and an accident might happen because of his pursuit.
For so many days, the only thing that sustained Li Hua's spirit was the fact that "his body was nowhere to be found."
No matter what kind of accidents happened to those people, Li Hua has not seen any bodies so far, which is the best news he has received.
These days he has lost his appetite and even forgets whether he has slept or eaten. He spends most of his time on horseback, and his legs have become numb and even lost all feeling due to the cold.
For five whole days... he caught up with almost all the people Gan Qiongying had sent out, but he didn't see any trace of Gan Qiongying.
He had prepared his baggage and carried it on his back at all times. As long as he found Gan Qiongying, he would not care about anything or ask anything, as long as Gan Qiongying was willing to take him with her.
But he couldn't find her.
Li Hua desperately wanted to calm down and seriously consider which group Gan Qiongying had followed, which route she had taken, and how she had evaded his pursuit.
But Li Hua couldn't calm down at all. His soul was frozen. He had fallen from his horse into the snow countless times in the past few days, and his lips were always bluish-purple, but a fire was burning in his chest.
The fuel for this fire is his soul, his unwillingness to accept defeat.
He couldn't calm down, and he couldn't stop at all. He was afraid that if he couldn't find Gan Qiongying again, he would really miss her.
Life is so short, and Li Hua dared not imagine whether they would have another chance to meet if they missed each other this time.
No matter how anxious he was, no matter how tirelessly he searched day and night, he could not find any trace of Gan Qiongying.
I can't figure out where she went.
On the morning of the fifth day, Li Hua rode his horse with his men, patrolling back and forth on the official road outside the city, numbly watching every passerby, trying his best to distinguish them by their figures and voices.
But no one... no one resembles Gan Qiongying.
"Young Master, you must rest." Sanjiu grabbed Lihua's reins and looked at Lihua, whose face was already blue from the cold despite wearing a cloak, making him look like a living corpse. He forcefully told him to stop.
The horse was pulled to a stop, and Li Hua looked down at San Jiu. In his eyes was a desolate snowfield, colder and more desolate than the world covered by heavy snow.
Sanjiu felt incredibly sorry for her master, and even began to hate Princess Duanrong in her heart.
He wanted to roar at his master. He had said long ago that the woman who was unwilling to give birth to his master's child, the woman who had never told the truth from beginning to end, was simply deceiving his master's feelings!
Sanjiu still doesn't think he did anything wrong. He genuinely cares about Lihua and would do anything for her, but Lihua hurts herself because of that woman.
Even now, Sanjiu dares not say a bad word about that woman in front of his master.
Because someone mentioned it once these past few days, saying that Princess Duanrong might have fallen off a cliff and died, Sanjiu will never forget the look in her master's eyes at that time.
Even just imagining it, Sanjiu felt that his master had followed that woman down the cliff once, and died with her once.
“There’s only one last group of refugees left. I’ll keep an eye on them,” Sanjiu said. “Master, go to that tent over there and warm yourself by the fire. Have at least a bowl of soup. Sweetie’s been cooking it for you all night.”
Li Hua's expression remained stiff and cold. Seeing that she couldn't persuade him, San Jiu couldn't help but raise her voice and say, "Young Master, you're being foolish! If you catch a cold and get sick, even if you really find Princess Duanrong, will she want you?"
Sanjiu didn't really have any hope. Princess Duanrong was extremely pampered and knew how to enjoy life. She would eat many dishes at every meal and even staying in the Prince Consort's mansion for one night was too simple.
How could she possibly mingle with the refugees? How could she possibly walk away from the capital with those filthy people in such freezing weather?
She must have used some method to cover her tracks on the very night she fled, and then escaped.
But his master refused to believe or give up, so Sanjiu could only accompany him to screen the refugees again and again, check all the passing merchants, and all the suspicious people with similar figures.
They went to every household in the city, even searching through people's cellars.
It was probably because the words "Princess Duanrong" and "don't want him" stimulated Li Hua's already frozen nerves.
He rolled his eyes and glanced at Sanjiu, then his hand, which was about to pull the reins, fell down, his pale, stiff fingers resting on his knees, as Sanjiu led the horse toward a makeshift tent in front of him.
At this moment, Dingzhen was leading the last group of refugees through the layers of screening checkpoints. Not far behind Dingzhen and the refugees were Gan Qiongying and Gan Lin, who had been disguised and even had their height altered by wearing boots with many layers of padding, mixed in with a group of monks.
The two of them disguised themselves as very ordinary. Gan Qiongying transformed herself into a young novice monk who was only a teenager. Liao Liao was right next to Gan Qiongying. He was already very young, and at this moment he looked the same height as Gan Qiongying. The two of them standing side by side looked like two boys of similar age.
At the very end of the line of monks, Gan Lin stood in a row with several taller monks. His appearance had also been altered, making him unremarkable. In addition, his robes had extra padding at the back, making his back appear less straight and more like that of a hunchback.
Gan Lin was very flustered, but when he saw Gan Qiongying calmly following the group without looking around, he quickly calmed down.
They had already heard about the situation in the capital city, having inquired about it with their shadow guards who had returned there. The palace was in complete chaos, and everyone was busy fighting amongst themselves.
There were more people looking for the regent, and Kang Wang Gan Li didn't want anyone to find the emperor and the regent, so he was frantically creating obstacles for this group.
The initial chaotic phase has passed, and the various groups have given up hope of finding the missing individuals.
Now is the perfect time for them to make their way out.
Gan Lin couldn't even recognize himself in the mirror today. Just like Gan Qiongying said, don't look around, just look at your feet and follow a group of monks.
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