Chapter 22 Falling into the bandit's nest

Seeing this, Song Ci hurriedly stepped forward and said to her father: "Father, my daughter has some important matters to discuss with Mr. Jiang now." After that, without waiting for her father's response, she pulled Jiang Lingzhou to the side quickly.

When they were alone, Song Ci let go of his hand and asked in a low voice: "Jiang Lingzhou, what are you planning?"

Jiang Lingzhou smiled, his expression relaxed and cunning: "Think about it, you want to get married and I want to get married. Instead of living with others, isn't it better for us to know each other well?"

"You are simply perverted!" Song Ci glared at him. Although he was a little shaken in his heart, he was still unwilling to agree easily.

Seeing this, Jiang Lingzhou continued: "Don't worry, listen to me. We can get engaged first and avoid the limelight. When the time is right, we can find an excuse to cancel the engagement without delaying each other. In this way, you and I will be relieved, isn't it the best of both worlds?"

These words made Song Ci a little moved. She pinched her chin and lowered her head to think for a moment, and felt that this was indeed the best way at the moment.

"Okay, deal." Song Ci finally nodded, raised his palm, and faced Jiang Lingzhou. Seeing

this, Jiang Lingzhou raised a smile at the corner of his mouth and raised his hand to high-five her.

The two who usually confronted each other suddenly returned to the main hall with smiles on their faces.

"Father, I am willing to marry Mr. Jiang."

Song Qing was shocked. His sister hid in the land temple a few months ago to escape her relatives. Why is she so happy now?

Unlike his brother's gloomy expression, the university scholar looked relieved and laughed along his beard: "I said, you two are a perfect match."

The two smiled at each other in a fake way, and the engagement was successfully completed.

Although Li'an City is large, the noble families have their own circles, and the news of the engagement between the university scholar's mansion and the commander's mansion quickly spread.

"What!" The spring breeze blew the threshold, and Ye Wanwan was leaning on the railing to enjoy the flowers. Unexpectedly, she heard this news and was shocked.

He should have been engaged to me! If he hadn't been engaged to me, why would he have run away from home? How would the story progress? How would he have successfully survived the tribulation? How would he have returned to the fairyland!

Ye Wanwan was so anxious that she kept jumping up and down, and she had no intention of watching. She went straight back to her boudoir. With a "bang", the carved door slammed shut, startling the copper bells under the eaves.

She wanted to drink some tea to calm down, but she put the teapot down in annoyance as soon as she picked it up, and kept pacing in the room.

The development direction of the Tribulation Book was deviating more and more. If Li He could not successfully survive the tribulation this time, not only would he have to re-enter the cycle of reincarnation, but I'm afraid that his thousand-year practice would also be wasted.

In order to get the story back on track, Ye Wanwan decided immediately - to run away from home!

She neatly and secretly packed some clothes and gold and silver jewelry, and put the scissors next to the dressing table into her pocket.

The bell rang three times, and the moon was hidden in the heavy clouds. She pushed open the carved window lattice, jumped out of the window in the night, and left the Prime Minister's Mansion through a path where no one passed by.

...

The envoy of Qi State had indeed received the carrier pigeon. When he unfolded the plain paper, he saw a line of sharp handwriting: "The hostage of Qi State is now in my hands. If you want to save your life, reply to the letter and trade."

This was Qi Youan's attempt to test him in the name of a bandit. The whole country knew that the hostage was robbed during the escort and was stranded among the people. Rong

State pretended to search for him, but in fact he was indifferent, so that he had been struggling in the black market for many years.

If the envoy replied, it could prove that Qi State still cared about the safety of the prince. If he ignored it...

he was betting on whether the envoy was useful. Unfortunately, he lost the bet after all.

The envoy of Qi State only took it as his responsibility to maintain diplomatic relations between the two countries. The life and death of the orphan of the previous emperor was not within his responsibility.

Even if he was really kidnapped, rescuing him rashly might cause trouble. With the idea that less trouble is better than more trouble, the envoy actually burned the secret letter and pretended not to have seen it.

During the days of waiting, Qi Youan gradually realized that he had found the wrong person. Sure enough, he still had to start by getting close to the royal family of Rongguo.

While he was thinking, he suddenly heard a panic outside the door: "The third lady is missing!"

Then the people in the whole mansion were panicked like ants on a hot pot, wanting to turn the Prime Minister's Mansion upside down to find Ye Wanwan.

Qi Youan's eyes sank, and then he pushed the door out to join the search.

The most proud person at this moment was Ye Liyu. She leaned against the pillar, her fingertips wrapped around the handkerchief, and her eyes were filled with unconcealable joy. She wished that the man would just disappear and never come back.

Although Ye Wanwan was usually spoiled and willful, she had never run away from home. Why would she be so out of character now?

Although it is said that no one knows a child better than his mother, the eldest lady was also confused, and quickly found her daughter's personal maid Yunting to interrogate her.

Yun Ting's voice trembled as

she said, "Yesterday, the young lady heard that Mr. Jiang of the Duwei Mansion was engaged, and her face changed immediately. After returning to her room, she closed the door and refused to come out. This morning, I knocked on the door and waited, but no one answered. After opening the door, the young lady was nowhere to be seen." Qi Youan stood in the shadow of the corridor with his arms folded. When he heard this, the corners of his lips curled up with a hint of sarcasm .

Everyone looked at each other and couldn't help but think that Ye Wanwan liked Jiang Lingzhou, but couldn't get him, was trapped by love, and ran away in shame and anger.

"Ridiculous!" The Prime Minister slammed the table and stood up, and the teacup jingled. "If this matter gets out, how can our Ye family save face?" He immediately ordered to block the news and search secretly.

Qi Youan left the house in the name of looking for someone. When the black sleeves passed the vermilion threshold, a dark light flashed in his eyes.

At this time, Ye Wanwan, who was dubbed as "the infatuated and resentful woman", was walking leisurely on the mountain trail. The spring sun shone through the new leaves, casting mottled light and shadows on her shoulders.

The bandits would definitely not appear in the city, and would most likely appear in the suburbs or the mountains, so she sneaked out of the city and disappeared into the mountains and forests.

The spring was chilly, and the remaining snow reflected the cold moon. Ye Wanwan took out the flint, and the faint flame flickered in the night. Just as she was about to find a place to stay, she suddenly saw two dark shadows blocking the road in front of her.

"Where are you going, young lady?" Two burly men approached with a grin, and the smell of alcohol and sweat hit her face.

Ye Wanwan was so startled that she took a few steps back, but her back hit a wall of flesh. Before she could scream, she suddenly felt a pain in the back of her neck, and her eyes were spinning, and she fell into endless darkness in an instant.

When she woke up again, she felt something passing in front of her in a hazy way. She opened her eyes completely and saw a naughty boy hooking his fingers on the jade pendant that used to hang around her waist.

Ye Wanwan was tied to a chair and could not move. There were a group of rough gangs around the boy. This should be the bandit's lair. What surprised her was that, unlike the fierce old man she expected, the leader of this bandit's lair was actually a young boy.

"Boss, she's awake." Yu Qing turned around and looked at Ye Wanwan mischievously. Then he pinched the girl's chin hard, picked up the jade pendant and asked viciously: "Is this your jade pendant?"

Ye Wanwan recognized that it was the jade pendant given to her by the third prince, and she always carried it with her.

Seeing the fierce look on the face of the man in front of her, she nodded honestly even though she didn't know what he meant.

"Heh." The boy sneered. Under the candlelight, his eyebrows and eyes were full of sarcasm: "This is an object in the palace. Are you still a princess?"

Ye Wanwan didn't expect that the bandit leader was so sharp-eyed. Could he have been a member of the palace? The doubts in her heart were covered by the disguised fear on the surface.

"I...I'm not a princess. Someone gave it to me."

Yu Qing casually checked her bag. The gold, silver and jewelry inside symbolized that she came from a wealthy family.

"Since she is not a royal daughter, it saves a lot of trouble." Then he turned his back and ordered, "Kill her."

Several burly men approached her with a grin. The light of the knife reflected their hideous faces. Ye Wanwan could even smell the blood on the blade.

Facing the approaching shadow, Ye Wanwan was really panicked this time and begged for mercy: "No! No! I... I am the daughter of the Prime Minister. If you let me go, I will give you a lot of gold."

Yu Qing turned his back to her without even moving his shoulders.

Seeing the steel knife raised to her head, Ye Wanwan suddenly raised her face and cried, "This jade pendant was given by the third prince! He and I... are in love with each other! If you hurt me in the slightest, he will lead the imperial army to flatten your bandit nest!"

"Stop."

The blade condensed at Ye Wanwan's neck, and the coldness penetrated into her skin, leaving a blood mark as thin as a hair. Cold sweat slid down the back of the knife, and the stinging sensation spread belatedly.

Seeing the blade withdrawn, Ye Wanwan panted violently, and the lotus pattern on her chest rose and fell violently with her breathing.

She thought that the bandit leader seemed to be quite interested in the royal family, and in a hurry, he brought up the third prince, which was really a good bet.

Yu Qing suddenly leaned over and approached, and the black iron wrist guard brushed her cheek. His breath was like the tongue of a poisonous snake, and the cold air with the smell of rust drilled into the cochlea: "So it's Rong Zhenyan's man. Tell me, will he really take risks for you?"

Ye Wanwan nodded hurriedly, her black hair sticking to her forehead covered with cold sweat. Although she didn't know what grudge the two had, saving her life was the most important thing at this moment.

"Okay." Yu Qing stood up, and the black cloak rolled like night fog in the candlelight, "I say, you write."

The moment the hemp rope was untied, purple marks had already appeared on Ye Wanwan's wrist. She quietly wiped the cold sweat from her palms on the corner of her clothes, and the brush was trembling when she picked up the pen.

"The bandit camp trapped me, and I will go to the red leaf tree at the foot of Qingyun Mountain at noon tomorrow. If I see any followers, I will kill them immediately."

Ye Wanwan wrote down these awkward words word for word, and Yu Qing was satisfied and asked his men to send them to the Third Prince's Mansion, then turned around and left, trapping the girl alone in the room.

Finally, he managed to get away with it. Since the Third Prince has a shallow relationship with him, he might not be able to risk his life to save him. He should pray that Qi Youan would come to the rescue as soon as possible.

...

At this time, the "bear" who was highly expected was sneaking between the roofs in the cover of night. Qi Youan's black clothes fluttered, and he flew over the patrol lights like a night owl, and nimbly climbed into the study of the Qi envoy.

The embassy is no less guarded than the Prime Minister's Mansion. There are always guards patrolling outside. Qi Youan dare not turn on the lights and can only read the books in the moonlight.

While reading, he learned that Rong and Qi are now in harmony and friendship on the surface. After his royal brother usurped the throne, he ceded land in exchange for a ceasefire, and now he has given Rong five cities.

He secretly hid the map of Rong in his sleeves, but never found the envoy's badge.