CHAPTER 522: CHAPTER 522 JUE YING

What’s been going on these days?

First, the only son of Elder Yong Cheng was poisoned to death, then the Heir of Prince Zhenbei and the Heir’s wife disappeared.

Now the Second Prince is injured, and the Eldest Prince is missing after being poisoned.

One incident after another, leaving everyone anxious and uneasy.

The Second Prince was carried back to the palace after being injured, and the Emperor went to see him.

Inside the bedroom.

The Second Prince leaned against the large pillow, breathing faintly.

The Imperial Physician was attending to his wound.

The Empress stood by, her eyes red with heartache, unable to hold back her tears.

After bandaging the wound, the Imperial Physician saluted the Emperor.

The Emperor waved his hand, "No need for formalities."

"Is the Second Prince’s injury severe?" the Emperor asked.

The Imperial Physician glanced at the Second Prince and replied, "The Second Prince has great fortune. If he had returned a moment later, no matter how skilled my medical skills, I would have been unable to save him."

"The poison of the Second Prince has been neutralized, but the wound on his arm is deep and down to the bone, requiring a good period of recovery."

The Second Prince gazed at the Emperor, his face pale.

"It was my incompetence, for I couldn’t bring back my Imperial Brother," the Second Prince said regretfully.

The Emperor said nothing, but the Empress said, "You’re lucky to have returned alive."

With the Second Prince injured like this, the Emperor wouldn’t blame him.

He only wanted to know what exactly had happened, where they were attacked, and how the Eldest Prince went missing.

The Second Prince coughed as he spoke, causing concern for those around him.

A guard standing by reported to the Emperor, "The Eldest Prince and Second Prince were attacked at the inn closest to the Capital City."

"The assassins were fierce, and after the Eldest Prince was injured, he suggested they split up to escape."

"It wasn’t until the Second Prince returned to the palace that he realized the Eldest Prince hadn’t come back."

The guard’s face was wounded, and his arm was bandaged, clearly having gone through a fierce battle.

The Second Prince was not in life-threatening danger, but the Emperor was more concerned about the safety of the Eldest Prince.

After instructing the Second Prince to recover well, the Emperor turned and left.

Just as the Emperor stepped out of the Second Prince’s bedroom, Princess Shouning came with palace maids.

Seeing the Emperor, Princess Shouning felt a bit guilty.

After all, she was still under house arrest.

But the Second Prince was her legitimate brother.

Her brother was ambushed, barely escaping with his life, and she couldn’t find peace without seeing him with her own eyes.

Princess Shouning stepped forward, but before she could curtsy, the Emperor had already walked past her.

From beginning to end, the Emperor did not see her.

If Princess Shouning had been worried about being scolded by the Emperor earlier, now she was angry.

She would rather be reprimanded by her father than stand there unseen by him!

Watching the Emperor’s swift back, Princess Shouning stomped her foot hard.

By now, it was late, and the Emperor sent his trusted aides to search for the location where the Eldest Prince disappeared.

In the small courtyard.

The Eldest Prince had not awakened even after taking medicine.

Su Jin checked the Eldest Prince’s pulse.

The woman looked at her in surprise, and after Su Jin withdrew her hand, she asked, "Madam, do you also know medical skills?"

"A little," Su Jin replied with a smile.

"Is his poison cured then?" the woman asked.

"It is cured, but he won’t wake up until tomorrow morning," Su Jin said.

As long as the poison was cured, the Eldest Prince’s life was not in danger.

However, he had multiple sword wounds and lost a lot of blood. Fortunately, the wounds were bandaged in time, otherwise, he would have died from excessive bleeding before she could save him.

Li Daniu looked at Su Jin, scratching the back of his head, "Madam, you have superb medical skills, could you also check on my mother?"

Su Jin looked at him, "Does the Old Madam have any ailments?"

This family’s Old Madam seemed quite healthy and ruddy, not looking sick at all.

Li Daniu didn’t know what to say, but the woman explained, "It’s not a life-threatening illness, just that every time it gets windy or rainy, her knees hurt so badly she can’t walk."

With this description, Su Jin understood what was wrong with the Old Madam’s legs.

She had Li Daniu help bring the Old Madam over, and she checked her pulse.

However, Su Jin did not prescribe any medicine; she said, "When we return, I will personally prepare some ointment and send it over."

The woman thanked her repeatedly.

The room of Su Jin and Xie Jingchen was given to the Eldest Prince.

Thus, they had no place to stay.

The woman squeezed onto one bed with the child and the Old Madam.

Freeing up a bed for Su Jin and Xie Jingchen.

As for Li Daniu—

He could only sleep in the cowshed.

Su Jin and Xie Jingchen didn’t sleep well that night.

The entire night they heard the sound of slapping.

Ah.

Li Daniu was slapping mosquitoes all night.

As dawn was breaking, Su Chong and Prince NanAn woke up.

Or rather, they hadn’t slept much the whole night.

After a simple wash, they all rode horses to the Prince Zhenbei Mansion.

No one knew where Xie Jingchen and Su Jin were. With such a directionless search, Su Chong was anxious.

He thought of Jue Ying.

If anyone knew where Xie Jingchen had an accident, it would only be Jue Ying.

Perhaps Jue Ying could lead them to find Xie Jingchen?

Though the possibility seemed slim, it didn’t stop them from trying.

In front of the Prince Zhenbei Mansion.

The group stopped their horses.

Su Chong dismounted to knock on the door.

Just as he raised his hand, a servant opened the door.

The servant yawned, intending to go back to sleep, but was startled upon seeing Su Chong and others.

"W-why are you all here?" the servant hurriedly said.

"Bring your young master’s horse, Jue Ying," Chu Shun said.

The servant hurriedly replied, "I’ll go get the horse right away."

Su Chong and his group didn’t enter the Prince Mansion; they just waited at the entrance.

Soon, the horse was brought over.

Su Chong patted Jue Ying’s head and said, "Lead us to your master."

Whether Jue Ying understood or not, they couldn’t tell.

After Su Chong spoke, Prince NanAn smacked the horse’s rump.

Jue Ying ran forward.

Su Chong and the others mounted their horses and followed behind Jue Ying.

After breakfast, Su Jin bid farewell to the woman.

The woman was reluctant for them to leave, but couldn’t bring herself to ask them to stay.

A few shabby straw huts were no place for people of their status, not to mention the worry their parents and brothers would be feeling due to their disappearance.

After Su Jin boarded the carriage, the woman waved her hand.

"Take care on the road."

Su Jin waved back.

Xie Jingchen drove the carriage away.

Su Chong and his group followed Jue Ying out of the city, while soldiers searched house by house in the town for the Eldest Prince.

Leaving Li Family Village, they bypassed the town and headed straight back to the Capital.

Meanwhile, Su Chong’s group, following Jue Ying toward the cliff, and Xie Jingchen driving the carriage on another road, just missed each other.

The carriage steadily made its way toward the Capital City.

Inside the carriage, Su Jin lifted the curtain, letting the wind blow in, feeling extremely elated.

Jue Ying continued to trot forward.

Then, it stopped.

It stopped exactly where there was a patch of dried blood.

Su Chong and others got off their horses and looked at this trail of blood, their faces frostily grim.

Su Chong quickly walked forward, reaching the edge of the cliff.

Gazing down the seemingly bottomless cliff made Prince NanAn and the others tremble with fear.

Why did Jue Ying lead them to the cliff edge?

Could it be that Brother Jingchen and Sister-in-law fell off the cliff?

Though they joked around often, no one dared to voice such a conjecture.

Su Chong’s face was more serious than ever before.

He rode off.

Soon he returned with a rope, tied it to the tree, and threw the other end down the cliff.

Grabbing the rope, he bravely leaped over the edge.

Leaving the Eldest Young Master of Duke Dingguo Mansion to keep watch above.

Prince NanAn and the others descended as well.

The smell at the bottom of the cliff was unbearable.

After a long search, they found nothing.

"There are no signs of Eldest Brother and Sister-in-law having fallen," Chu Shun said.

"Brother Jingchen and Sister-in-law have great fortune and won’t come to harm," the Heir of Marquis Beining said.

At this moment, Prince NanAn suddenly called out:

"Look, there’s a piece of silk on the tree!"