Píngtíng, with tears welling up, choked out, "Big Sister-in-law... Big Sister-in-law ran off wearing my clothes, saying she'd shaken off the assassins and would meet us here. But she hasn't arrived yet!"
Hearing her words, Fán Zéhào knew his wife had drawn the assassins away to protect Píngtíng. He staggered, his face taut, as if not even a needle could pierce it.
"Take me to where you separated!"
Píngtíng leaned into Fán Xùdōng's embrace, looking at Fán Zéhào, who was suppressing his rage. She nodded heavily and walked towards the direction she remembered, but after searching for over an hour, they found no trace.
Fán Xùdōng, fearing his elder brother would lash out at his wife, quickly explained, "This forest is vast, and it's dark. It's only natural that we can't find her immediately!"
"Natural? Don't you know there are wild beasts in this forest? Don't you know assassins are looking for her? Every moment we delay, my wife is in greater danger!"
After roaring his fury, Fán Zéhào turned and set off to search again. Relying on Píngtíng was less reliable than counting on a dog!
A dog?
Right, how could he have forgotten? Fán Zéhào, who had walked away, turned back and grabbed Fán Xùdōng by the collar, "I don't care how you do it, but get that dog from Huáng Kāngtài! If the dog isn't here before dawn, you disappear from my sight forever!"
Upon hearing this, Fán Xùdōng handed his wife over to the guards beside him and bolted, his legs leaving the ground. The guards, who didn't understand what was happening, were bewildered.
The remaining guards continued the search, and Píngtíng also joined in. Xiāo Cè directly knocked her unconscious and threw her to the guards beside him, "Take her away and assign someone to watch her. Don't let her interfere!"
She hadn't even seen the Prince's expression, yet she wanted to stay? Was she hoping for the Prince to beat her?
The Princess was carried away, and the search continued. Half an hour later, a soldier came back holding Píngtíng's clothes, "Your Highness, we found the clothes over there, but no person!"
Fán Zéhào's heart sank. He had the soldier lead the way, only to discover it was a cliff!
Besides the clothes, there wasn't even a shoe on the ground. He couldn't bear to imagine if his wife, so frail, had fallen. Would even a fragment of bone be found?
"What are you standing around for? Some men search the mountain, the rest go down the cliff. We must find her alive!"
After shouting these orders, Fán Zéhào, without looking back, rushed towards the cliff edge. While everyone waited for the command to "find a body if she's dead," they waited in vain for such an order!
Xiāo Cè's brow twitched. He raised his arm and shouted, "Search!"
Twenty thousand soldiers searched from night to day, from noon to evening, combing through the forest and the bottom of the cliff. They couldn't find a single woman, not even an old lady.
Let alone bone fragments or torn clothes!
A pleasant autumn hunt had turned into a massive search operation. Fán Zéhào searched everywhere like a madman, not sleeping, yet not feeling tired.
Píngtíng was confined to a tent by Yáo Jìngyún. No matter how much she cried and pleaded, the Grand Imperial Consort refused to let her go out to search.
"Mother Consort knows you're anxious, but how can you endure such exertion with your condition? Mother Consort has already sent people to search. As soon as there's news, they'll report back immediately!" Yáo Jìngyún had been trying to persuade her for a day and a night.
Her mouth was dry countless times, and she'd used up enough spit to fill many baskets. No matter what she said, Píngtíng just cried!
"Mother Consort, Big Sister-in-law drew the assassins' attention to save me. Otherwise, I would have died long ago. Big Sister-in-law needs people to find her. If I don't go now, I won't have peace in my conscience and will never be able to live with myself. If anything happens to Big Sister-in-law, I won't live either!"
Yáo Jìngyún broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this and rebuked her, "Nonsense! If you die, have you thought about Mother Consort? And what about Tíantián?"
"If Big Sister-in-law dies, the three children will be motherless. What will happen to them then!" She was also a mother, a wife, how could she treat them differently!
Although she understood her mother's concern for her, she couldn't understand her mother's actions. She turned her head away, refusing to look at her.
Yáo Jìngyún, after being chastised a few times, also felt she had been too selfish, but she didn't feel wrong about her own flesh and blood falling.
"You can go, but you must bring guards with you. Otherwise, even if you talk to the heavens until they cave in, I won't let you go!"
Her tears turned to smiles. Finally, she was allowed to go. What was bringing guards? She'd agree even if she had to bring ghosts and gods!
"I'm going now!"
With no other choice, Yáo Jìngyún let her leave, accompanied by over thirty of the palace's top guards, all armed.
After Píngtíng left, Yáo Jìngyún began to investigate the matter of the assassins. She hadn't forgotten that it was an assassination attempt that had led to their current predicament.
Pi Momo arranged for the guards to personally see the Princess off before returning to report the gathered intelligence to the Grand Imperial Consort.
"Your Highness, the day before the hunt, the concubine of Prince Xián had a verbal spat with the Princess and the Consort. It's said that the concubine of Prince Xián harbored deep resentment towards the Princess and the Consort. Should we..."
"Bring her in. I will interrogate her myself!" she said coldly.
They could touch her, but touching her daughter was like treading on the tail of a dragon. Her death would be too easy.
While this place was in chaos, Zhào Jiāqí found herself in a precarious situation.
She had fallen from the cliff but unexpectedly landed on a protruding dead tree, which broke her fall directly into a cave. Unluckily, it was a wolf den.
A group of green eyes stared at her. Upon realizing they were wolves, Zhào Jiāqí felt even more terrified than when she saw the assassins.
She crawled backward, her liver and gallbladder splitting, looking at the wolves. These wolves weren't adult, appearing to be about five to six months old, but even if not adult, they were enough to tear her to shreds!
"Um... my meat doesn't taste good. I'm good friends with your... your companion, really!"
Her tears flowed like a broken string of pearls, rolling down her cheeks. Her lips trembled. She truly wished she could just pass out.
Not a single wolf understood what she was saying. They only knew that this was food that had delivered itself to them. They stared at her menacingly, preparing to attack at any moment.
"Awoo~~~"
"Awoo~~~"
Zhào Jiāqí, who had already resigned herself to death, heard this sound and thought she was hallucinating. She opened her eyes and saw the wolves that had been surrounding her moving aside. A wolf walked towards her with steady steps.
Its mouth was bloody, and there were other beasts beside it, clearly having just returned.
The human and the wolf stared at each other for a long time. Zhào Jiāqí's tears, which had stopped, began to fall again. Hot droplets fell onto her clothes, soaking a large patch.
"Èrláng!"
It was her Èrláng. It was actually her Èrláng.
Zhào Jiāqí lunged forward, hugging the wolf's head and crying heartbrokenly!
Èrláng wagged its tail, allowing her to hold it, occasionally licking her face with its bloody mouth.
One moment in hell, the next in heaven. This feeling was making her feel as if her soul was about to leave her body. Even TV dramas weren't this dramatic.
"Èrláng, are these all your children? Where is your mate?"
Èrláng shook its head and tugged at her pant leg, pulling her outside. Upon looking, she saw that there were now more wolves outside!
However, those wolves only stared at her, showing no intention of attacking. Zhào Jiāqí looked at Èrláng in disbelief. Could it be that he was the wolf king now?