After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

A line of twenty riders, their murderous aura soaring to the heavens!

Shangguan Xiu was taken aback, and the group quickly made way for him.

The thunderous hoofbeats of the galloping horses kicked up a cloud of dust.

Gongsun Heng ran to the roadside weeds.

He held the white horse by the hand in one hand, covered his mouth and nose with the other, and frowned repeatedly.

That stinky, dark-skinned guy is heartless!

Shangguan Xiu also looked angry. He had seen the dark-skinned woman when the cavalry flashed by, but she didn't even glance at him.

"Dogs!" Gongsun Heng pointed with her delicate hand at the galloping horses and exclaimed in surprise.

Shangguan Xiu glanced around and, amidst the rising dust, saw that in the dark-skinned women's cavalry, at least four riders each carried a greyhound.

The horses jolted on their backs, and the greyhounds hung their heads listlessly.

Shangguan Xiu was both surprised and delighted. As she ran, she shouted, "Qin Yuanyao! Stop right now!"

The cavalry, undeterred, galloped into the vast night, instantly turning a distance of more than ten feet from him into twenty or thirty feet, and was about to disappear from his sight.

Shangguan Xiu's face flushed red with anxiety as he roared, "Gongsun Heng is here!"

"Hiss!"

Delivered with a single sound.

Under the cold, white moonlight.

The female rider at the front raised a green pennant with yellow borders.

The cavalry only rode another ten or so feet before stopping one by one.

One look back.

The woman in the scarlet robe, with eyes as sharp as lightning, brandished her whip and galloped towards them.

Twenty riders followed closely behind.

"Miss Gongsun?"

Qin Yuanyao looked at Gongsun Heng from horseback. A few strands of hair were stuck on her sweaty forehead, and her eyes widened in surprise.

Seeing the woman's stern expression and the murderous intent in her eyes, Gongsun Heng felt a little scared and nodded.

When Shangguan Xiu saw that this damned woman was blind but not deaf, he breathed a sigh of relief, took a few steps forward, and explained what had happened.

Qin Yuanyao angrily cracked her whip and said, "That scoundrel! He was indeed hiding around the Xiaobai River area!"

She gritted her teeth and said to Gongsun Heng:

"Miss Gongsun, did you see anything related to sacrificial rites in the place where you were imprisoned?"

Gongsun Heng was stunned, her eyes revealing admiration. She felt that this woman seemed to have a divine understanding of things, and she nodded.

"There was...there was that kind of roasted pork used for sacrifices...and ox tongue..." She recalled for a moment, then frowned slightly and said, "After my master and I came up, I think we also saw some very valuable wine vessels, jade artifacts...oh...and some sacrificial boxes..."

Qin Yuanyao bit her lip so hard it almost bled, secretly annoyed that she hadn't figured it out by the next day.

She had clearly infiltrated some skilled individuals among the officials and female servants of the Eastern Palace, but these people had also vanished without a trace, leaving her with no clues, which greatly surprised her.

The navy has been locking down the river for the past few days.

A thorough search of the entire city yielded nothing except the capture of some low-level members of the Heavenly Principle Sect.

They had no idea where the thieves had hidden the Crown Prince's officials, or even whether they were still in Nanjing.

If they were there, how could there be no trace of thirty or forty people? If they weren't, how did the other side manage to transport thirty or forty people out of Nanjing?

Until yesterday, she was still terrified, wondering if those people had already silenced Princess Tang and the Crown Prince's family and completely destroyed the evidence.

Yan Tongzhi shook his head, saying that if the purpose was to assassinate you gentlemen, there was no need to go to such lengths to kill Lü Xiang to take charge of the sacrificial rites. Moreover, if one wanted to kill, one could simply kill him directly without needing to dispose of the body.

Prince Xin also said it was impossible. He said that the death of Lü Xiang alone would shake the court and the country, and all the officials would be in danger. If all the officials in the Eastern Palace were to die, then that person would not be able to hold onto the throne. The officials are all shrewd people and would not want to live in constant fear. That person would not win the hearts of the people.

Even if it is said that he did not kill him, the court officials will not believe it. In an instant, the people's hearts will be unsettled. As long as one person has the idea of ​​inviting foreign vassals to the capital to purge the emperor's corrupt officials in accordance with the late emperor's edict, he will lose his throne.

Seeing that the two of them said so, Qin Yuanyao continued to take charge of the overall situation. After three days without any progress, she did not sleep for three days.

Until yesterday morning, while she sent people to conduct a large-scale search outside the city, she herself went to Xuanwu Lake.

These greyhounds had all sniffed the scent of Princess Tang that day. They sniffed many places but didn't react much. Only when they arrived at Xuanwu Lake did these greyhounds excitedly run around, digging holes and searching everywhere.

However, Xuanwu Lake has been searched countless times, but not a single clue has been found.

Her eyes were red-rimmed. As she watched the greyhounds running around, her mind raced back to the entire process of practicing the rituals and paying homage at the mausoleum that day, wondering why they were in charge of the whole ceremony.

Just then, she saw a fishing boat scooping around, not knowing what it was scooping for. Even if there were fish in the net, the fishermen would just turn the net over and continue scooping.

She sent someone to ask, and the fisherman was terrified. He hurriedly kowtowed and confessed while crying, saying that he had come to retrieve the sacrificial offerings. Qin Yuanyao was stunned.

Then it dawned on me. A few days ago, Prince Xin visited the mausoleum, offering sacrifices to the Grand Prince Consort Shangguan by the water, and then went up Zhongshan to offer sacrifices to the founding emperor.

That day, Xuanwu Lake was completely sealed off, and the sacrificial offerings were not of much value. Even the gold cup was plated. Logically, it should have burned all the way down until it sank to the bottom.

However, the fisherman, trembling and weeping, said that a brother of his had retrieved an unburnt sacrificial box from the Pearl River. Inside was an exquisite bronze vessel, not worth much silver, but it was the very vessel that the Grand Prince Consort Shangguan had drunk from! He looked at it with envy and decided to try his luck as well…

Qin Yuanyao's expression froze for a moment, then she was startled.

North of Xuanwu Lake is the Wumiao Sluice Gate. After passing the Wumiao Sluice Gate, you reach the Pearl River. The Pearl River connects to the Qinhuai River, which has several tributaries flowing to various places, one of which is the Xiaobai River.

If you hide people among the offerings on the day of the sacrifice and then don't burn them, or simply lay a layer of oilcloth on top, pile some firewood on it, and let it smoke, you can easily make it look like the offerings have been burned!

Then, arrange for some good swimmers to hold driftwood and hide in the lake. They can then push the offerings through the Wumiao Sluice Gate in the water, and then be picked up by boat...

Once she understood this, a chill ran down her spine. The thieves had actually taken the person away during the sacrificial ceremony!

She abruptly stood up and immediately began arranging for a large-scale search of the inland tributaries of the Qinhuai River!

This morning, she indeed found some traces of the royal sacrificial boxes that had been submerged in water in the Xiaobai River!

Manpower and boats quickly converged on Xiaobai River.

In the afternoon, the brave guards and local militia members spotted hoofprints of about a dozen horses crossing the mountains on a mountain near Xiaobai River. The hoofprints were fresh because it had rained a few days earlier.

However, the hoofprints only lasted for a short time and disappeared after descending the mountain.

"We removed the cloth strips from the hooves to prevent slipping when going up the mountain. We tied them back on when we came down," Xu Tong analyzed at the time.

Qin Yuanyao immediately let out a long breath and said coldly, "It's good that they didn't grow wings."

The cold, white moonlight shone down.

The female assistant, who had only managed to get two hours of sleep this morning, still had bloodshot eyes.

She then led her people toward the mountain, since they hadn't found anything there, so she decided to search for it herself.

"Miss Gongsun!"

Upon learning that Gongsun Heng knew the location, Qin Yuanyao's spirits lifted.

"Thank you, Miss Gongsun, for leading the way to rescue the Grand Prince Consort!"

Gongsun Heng nodded, his eyes brightening with excitement. Seeing that Commander Shangguan and his dozen or so men had also mounted their horses, he felt even more at ease.

She was terrified of the female imperial guard who had seemed fierce before, but when she suddenly changed her demeanor and spoke in a kind tone, she found her to be approachable again.

He stepped into the stirrups with his black shoes and mounted the horse.

But the other person's words just now echoed in my mind.

"Lord Qin,"

She rode on her white horse, furrowing her delicate brows as she spoke.

"Who did you just say you were going to save?"