Exile? A mad, wicked woman empties the national treasury to escape famine.

The drone was fast and had a wide field of vision. She flew a long way but still couldn't spot the Crown Prince and his entourage.

With no other option, she had to withdraw the drone. She wondered, "Could it be that the Crown Prince didn't come?"

Just then, in the village where they had been kidnapped by bandits, they vaguely saw a few figures. Ji Yunshu quickly piloted the drone, landed it on a nearby tree, and checked the situation in the village through the surveillance footage.

Several guards stood outside Uncle Wu and Aunt Wu's house. They were solemn, with swords at their waists.

They were clearly not ordinary guards.

Besides those standing at the entrance, one or two more would occasionally appear from other parts of the village; all the guards were dressed identically.

Just as Ji Yunshu was wondering whether she should fly the drone into the house to see if the person inside was indeed the First Prince, a person dressed in a dark brocade robe walked out of the house.

The people around him held torches, and Ji Yunshu zoomed in on the surveillance footage on the drone. The footage was high-definition, and even when zoomed in, it was still very clear.

The Crown Prince's face was transmitted through the drone's monitoring system to the remote control screen in Ji Yunshu's hand.

Ji Yunshu sat up abruptly from the sofa.

It really is the eldest prince!

It seems that the eldest prince's feelings for Ji Yunyao are truly deep, as he didn't forget to pursue her even from so far away.

As expected of the deeply loving couple in the book!

She piloted the drone upwards, gradually ascending until she was certain that the people below could not be seen with the naked eye. Then, she flew the drone over the Crown Prince's head, calculated the angle and timing, and precisely dumped the contents of the drone's delivery basket down.

The eldest prince, Chu Jinsheng, was giving instructions to his subordinates when suddenly something fell from the sky and landed right in front of him!

The guards beside him were on high alert, and they all drew their swords.

"Protect the Emperor! Protect the Emperor! Quickly, protect the Emperor!"

The guards surrounded the eldest prince, watching their surroundings warily.

After a long while, there was still no sound from the surroundings.

The eldest prince looked at the lump on the ground and gestured to the guard beside him to pick it up.

The guards quickly stepped forward, picked up the object that had fallen from the sky, and respectfully handed it to the eldest prince.

Chu Jinsheng frowned. He was exhausted from traveling for days, and now this strange thing had happened—something fell from the sky!

He held the object in his hand, but instead of opening it, he looked up at the sky and observed it carefully.

He didn't believe that the thing had fallen from the sky.

After a moment, still finding nothing amiss, he looked away and opened the object in his hand.

It was a piece of paper with several lines of writing on it.

Chu Jinsheng's expression grew increasingly cold.

Damn it.

He was a step too slow!

The man has been taken away by the bandits!

If only he had come sooner, things would have been much better. If the bandits had taken him away, it would have been a real problem.

If we don't save him, he's been chasing him for so long, and that person is of great use to him.

"Save them," he thought, glancing at the guards around him. Although he had brought quite a few guards with him this time, they were all there to protect him personally, and there weren't many of them. If he sent these people to suppress the bandits and the casualties were too great, how could he guarantee his safety in the future?

But he's already tracked me down this far, there's no way he's going to let this go!

Moreover, his father had said that if he didn't live up to expectations, he would have to call his second brother back.

This is something he absolutely will not allow.

"Your Highness, what did the letter say? What should we do next? This village seems to be abandoned; there's not a soul in sight, and we can't find anyone to ask about the situation. We also don't know where the exiled caravan is now. Should we continue on our way?" a guard asked.

He was Xiao Wu, the Crown Prince's personal bodyguard, and had been with the Crown Prince for quite some time.

He knew why the eldest prince wanted to chase after the exiled group.

After thinking for a moment, Chu Jinsheng crumpled the paper in his hand into a ball.

"No need. The exile group has been hijacked, and we won't be able to catch up even if we try to chase after them."

Xiao Wu was stunned. What?

They've been kidnapped?

How could someone kidnap an exiled person? Who is this person? How could they be so bold?

Moreover, those who were exiled had no money or possessions. Who would be so idle as to rob the exiled group? Would they be out of their minds?

"Who did this? Is it written on the letter? Also, the letter's arrival is suspicious; is it signed?"

The fact that the eldest prince left the capital was a secret; apart from his closest confidants, very few people knew about it.

Who exactly leaked the information?

Moreover, how did this letter even come about? Did it fall from the sky? Can that person fly?

Xiao Wu subconsciously looked up at the sky, but there was still nothing there, only a pitch-black moonlight.

"This letter is unsigned, and we don't know who sent it. Send someone to investigate and see if you can find out. Also, the exiled group has been captured by bandits. Organize your men and come with me to rescue them."

Xiao Wu was startled.

"How could this happen! But, Your Highness, why don't you rest here and leave some men to protect you? I'll take some men to get them out. Those bandits are vicious and I'm worried you'll be in danger if you go there."

"No need, I'll go with them. We don't have many people to begin with. Leave some behind to protect me, and you can take some with you. What if we can't fight those bandits?"

As you know, the people in that exile group are my only hope for advancement.

"I'd better go with you. Besides, this is a bandit suppression operation. If Father finds out that I'm suppressing bandits and saving many villagers on the way, he'll definitely look at me differently."

Xiao Wu pursed her lips and didn't say anything more.

They quickly organized their men and, following the route on the paper, headed towards the bandit stronghold.

Ji Yunshu kept an eye on the movements of the First Prince and his party in the drone she was piloting in the space. Only after confirming that they had headed towards the bandit stronghold did Ji Yunshu bring the drone back.

When approaching the bandit stronghold, I parked the drone on a tree not far away and put the remote control in my hand into the space.

She slowly opened her eyes, pretended to stretch, and glanced at the drone not far away before putting it back into her spatial storage.

Everyone had been on edge, not daring to sleep, but now that Ji Yunshu had finally woken up, they were incredibly excited.

"Ji Yunshu, you're finally awake! Did you sleep well? You said someone would come to open the door for us, but who is it? It's very late now, and those bandits seem to be asleep too. Where is the person you mentioned? Why haven't they come yet? Should we just open the door and run away ourselves?"

"Yes, yes, we've been waiting for so long, and the person you mentioned still hasn't come. We can't wait any longer. Let's work together to push everything away outside, and then run!"

"Okay, I think this idea works too. Instead of waiting for others to come, we should find a way to save ourselves!"

The group chatted amongst themselves as they prepared to step forward and push aside all the things blocking the cage door.

Ji Yunshu said coldly, "Are you all crazy? It's only nightfall, those bandits have just rested, they might not even be sound asleep yet. There are so many things blocking the way outside, if you make a noise and wake them up, do you think we can escape today?"

Everyone paused, turning their gaze to the large pile of things blocking the outside of the cage.

Ji Yunshu's words made sense. There was a bunch of things blocking the outside, and they would definitely have to push them down, which would make quite a commotion. If they woke up the bandits inside, their escape plan for tonight would probably be ruined.