Zhang Debang thought for a moment and then spoke:
"The emperor fled with his entire family, so it's impossible for him to do it in a big way. He must be among the refugees. We should be looking for them now, not chasing after them."
I think they must still be behind us. Let's go back and search carefully; we're sure we'll find them.
Sullivan nodded. He thought Zhang Debang's analysis made sense. It seemed that the only option was to head back and search slowly.
Since the emperor and his family were caught in the middle of the refugees, they must not have gone very far.
At this point, six or seven days had passed since the emperor fled the capital. Based on the speed at which the refugees were moving, their approximate location could be calculated.
Next, Sullivan began a serious search, paying particular attention to those who fled in groups, with their families in tow.
One day, Wu Gang was leading the emperor and his family on their journey when they discovered a group of officials ahead of them, carefully searching for something in the crowd.
They rarely saw government officials along the way, but the appearance of so many officials at this moment made them feel that something was wrong.
Judging from their official robes, they should all be officials from the capital. Needless to say, these people are definitely suspicious; they might even be foreigners in disguise.
The fake officials were still some distance away, so Wu Gang immediately evacuated the emperor's entire family, instructing each guard to take several princes and princesses with them and leave quickly.
After finishing these tasks, Wu Gang wiped the sweat from his forehead, and the people had already arrived beside them.
At this time, Wu Gang only had two carriages with him, carrying the empress and imperial concubines, as well as several young princes and princesses. If the foreigners questioned him, he could say that he was a member of their family and perhaps he could get away with it.
These people came up to Wu Gang; they clearly had the faces of foreigners.
Wu Gang secretly rejoiced that he had taken timely measures to avoid being exposed.
These barbarians approached Wu Gang but found nothing unusual. They glanced at the two dilapidated carriages beside him, said nothing, and prepared to leave.
Suddenly, a voice rang in Wu Gang's ears.
"Old friend, how have you been?"
The voice was so familiar that Wu Gang was terrified; it was Zhang Debang's voice.
"You two know each other?" Sullivan asked.
"Your Majesty, this man is none other than Wu Gang, the Left Prime Minister of the Northern Dynasty."
In the Great Northern Dynasty, the Left Chancellor held a higher rank than the Right Chancellor, but the situation is different now; Zhang Debang is not afraid of Wu Gang at all.
Sullivan was overjoyed to discover that the old man fleeing from danger was actually the Left Chancellor of the Great Northern Dynasty. This meant that the Emperor was right beside him, perhaps even in one of these two carriages.
"My apologies, my apologies. So you are Prime Minister Wu. May I ask if the Emperor is with you?"
As expected, these people came for the emperor, who had already gone to Narcissus Village, a fact they were completely unaware of. This might be good news.
"Who are you?" Wu Gang asked.
“I am Saliwen, the King of Nanyuan of the foreign kingdom. If Prime Minister Wu hands over your emperor, he will be credited with the greatest merit and can continue to serve as the Left Prime Minister of the court. What do you say?” Saliwen offered up the bait.
"The day you stormed the capital, I escaped with my family. The emperor should be in the palace; you should know that."
“Prime Minister Wu, don’t play dumb. You were with the Emperor that day, and you escaped with him through a secret passage that night. You haven’t forgotten that, have you?” Zhang Debang said.
At this moment, Wu Gang was furious. This shameless scoundrel had actually become a lackey of the foreign country. He really wanted to tear Zhang Debang to pieces.
“Prime Minister Zhang, what do you mean by that? I also have a family to support. Why can’t I escape and instead stay with the Emperor?”
"Who's in the carriage? Can we take a look?" Zhang Debang asked.
"The women in the carriage are my female relatives. Does Prime Minister Zhang really insist on checking them?"
"How can we know if the Emperor is in the carriage without checking? If it is indeed Prime Minister Wu's family, His Majesty will consider letting you pass."
At this point, Zhang Debang had confirmed that the emperor was in the carriage. To avoid embarrassment, he stepped back, fearing that he would be scolded if he saw the emperor.
"Look who's in the carriage!" Sullivan instructed the person next to her.
Several people immediately stepped forward to check the situation inside the car. Wu Gang tried to stop them, but was stopped by the others.
The doors of the two carriages were opened, and apart from the woman and the child, they did not find the person they were looking for.
Sullivan was stunned. The emperor wasn't in the carriage. Could it be that the Left Chancellor Wu Gang wasn't lying?
"Your Majesty, I'm not lying to you. These are all my family members. I don't want to be prime minister anymore; I just want to escape. Please let my family go," Wu Gang pleaded.
"Pull them all out of the carriage and search it thoroughly. I don't believe the Emperor isn't in the carriage."
Sullivan was a little exasperated; he didn't want to see his hopes dashed.
Immediately, several people stepped forward and dragged the women and children off the carriage, causing the princes and princesses to panic and cry out for their parents.
Finding nothing in the carriage, Sullivan was completely bewildered. He looked at the woman and child who had gotten out of the carriage and said, "Prime Minister Zhang, come here and see who these people are?"
Zhang Debang rushed over, and when he saw the women, he was stunned.
"Your Majesty the Empress," Zhang Debang blurted out.
Sullivan was thrilled. Now that the Queen had been found, the Emperor must be nearby, perhaps even in the vicinity.
"Prime Minister Zhang, please introduce them to me. Who are they?"
"Zhang Debang, you traitorous scoundrel! The Northern Dynasty has treated you well, yet you willingly become a lackey of the barbarians, betraying your master and saving Rong. How can you face your ancestors?" the Empress roared.
Zhang Debang was so scolded that he kept backing away. Fearing that something might go wrong, Sullivan immediately ordered someone to gag the Queen.
At this point, the Empress wanted to curse again, but she couldn't utter a single word. Only then did Zhang Debang speak:
“Your Majesty, the one who is swearing is the Empress, the others are all imperial concubines, and these children must be princes and princesses,” Zhang Debang said.
"Your emperor's family consists of only these few people. Are there any other people?"
"The emperor's family consists of more than a hundred people. They should be scattered among the refugees. We still need to continue searching."
Sullivan immediately ordered that Wu Gang and the women and children be taken into custody and escorted to the capital.
Next, he led his men to continue searching for the emperor and other members of the royal family.
Because Wu Gang had more than twenty guards disperse and take the royal family members away, with each guard only having a few people with them, the target was greatly reduced.
Aside from the Empress and a few imperial concubines, Zhang Debang didn't know any of the other concubines, let alone the young princes and princesses.
Because Sullivan's goal was to find the Emperor and his ministers, and he paid little attention to the other members of the royal family, most of them escaped, and only a few were captured.
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