Prefect Nie waved his hand at his subordinates waiting outside the main hall. Immediately, his minions swarmed in, intending to arrest Wu Luoluo and take her back.
The old lady never expected things to turn out like this. She quickly shielded Wu Luoluo behind her and said in a loud voice, "Hold on! Prefect, are you making a mistake? Miss Wu is the granddaughter - in - law of our Ouyang family. She is so gentle - natured that she doesn't even dare to kill a chicken on a normal day. How could she possibly try to harm you?"
Although the old lady was of advanced age, she still had quite an imposing manner. The subordinates of Prefect Nie who were about to make the arrest were instantly stunned on the spot and all looked back at their master.
Prefect Nie's face changed slightly. He thought to himself, "The old lady of the Ouyang family doesn't want to hand over the person! Humph, the mere Ouyang family actually dares to oppose the prefect of this city for a shrew? Is she so old - sighted that she still thinks her second son, who has been demoted again and again by the King of Xiliang in the capital city, has the strength to compete with me?"
Prefect Nie was extremely disdainful. He looked at the head of the Ouyang family with a hint of nonchalance and snorted, "Are you all in the Ouyang family openly planning to shield the suspect? Well, I must say, you have some nerve!"
"Absolutely not!" The head of the Ouyang family never expected that his family's ancestor would say such words to protect the female doctor. He was extremely nervous. He didn't dare to go against his mother's will, so he could only stand there stiffly with cold sweat pouring down his forehead. He groaned in his heart, "Mother! Don't you know that this prefect has a very powerful backer? Our Ouyang family can't afford to offend him!"
Wu Luoluo was very anxious. She didn't expect that Prefect Nie would so openly come to arrest her, nor did she expect that the old lady would be willing to step forward to protect her.
The Ouyang family was so kind - hearted. How could she harm them? Wu Luoluo pretended to be calm and patted the old lady's hand to comfort her, "Madam, don't worry! Prefect Nie just said that he would only take me back for interrogation and won't make things difficult for me."
The old lady was at a loss for words. Was this child being naive? It was obvious that Prefect Nie wanted to make things difficult for her!
Wu Luoluo gently shook her head at the old lady, signaling her not to be impulsive. It wasn't worth sacrificing the entire Ouyang family for her.
Prefect Nie smiled faintly, "Miss Wu is quite right! As long as you confess everything truthfully, I naturally won't make things difficult for you and will even send you back safely." Saying this, he waved his hand and told everyone to take Wu Luoluo out.
On the surface, Wu Luoluo remained calm, but in her heart, she rolled her eyes. Who would believe such nonsense?
The entire Ouyang family could only watch helplessly as Wu Luoluo was taken away, daring not to show their anger.
Wang Jiugong stepped forward and said, "Prefect, we should probably search Miss Wu's luggage and the guest room she stayed in. What if she secretly hid some people or items here when no one was looking? Then the Ouyang family won't be able to explain themselves."
Upon hearing this, the head of the Ouyang family and the old lady's faces turned even darker than the bottom of a pot.
Prefect Nie nodded seriously, "Makes sense! Please do us a favor, Master Ouyang. Lead my men to conduct a search so that we can clear your Ouyang family of any suspicion, right?"
The head of the Ouyang family endured it for a long time. In the end, he had no choice but to ask the butler to lead Prefect Nie's servants to the guest room for a search.
Not long after, someone found a long knife hidden in the compartment of Wu Luoluo's carriage and presented it.
The people of the Ouyang family looked at each other in dismay. Prefect Nie glanced at the long knife and snorted at the old lady of the Ouyang family, "Madam, now you have nothing to say, right?"
The old lady knew that this knife was most likely the self - defense weapon of that handsome man beside Wu Luoluo. She was extremely anxious and angry, but there was nothing she could do about Prefect Nie.
Wang Jiugong led some people to carefully search the guest room where Wu Luoluo had stayed. The copper pot placed behind the screen looked quite familiar. He touched the copper pot in astonishment. It was so heavy! How could his junior sister have brought it all the way to Phoenix City?
Everyone searched the inn thoroughly. Apart from a few sets of Wu Luoluo's change of clothes, they didn't find anything else.
Wang Jiugong was secretly shocked. Could it be that Wu Luoluo really didn't bring that young master into the Ouyang Mansion? But it was freezing cold outside. Where would that person stay at night? Could it be that the young master had actually sneaked into the Ouyang Mansion long ago and had been lurking in the dark, unnoticed by everyone?
It was really possible! The more Wang Jiugong thought about it, the more frightened he became. Wasn't that young master perhaps secretly watching them from a corner of the room at this very moment?
The image of the man wearing a smiling mask killing people like flies with a bamboo bow that night was still vivid in his mind. Wang Jiugong was in a complete panic. He felt as if there was a pair of eyes staring at him in the room, as if someone was about to jump out with a knife and chop off his head at any moment.
Wang Jiugong was extremely terrified. He almost rushed out of the door in a panic. Seeing this, Prefect Nie's subordinates did a cursory search and then quickly retreated.
Some of the servants in the Ouyang Mansion saw with their own eyes that Wu Luoluo was taken away by Prefect Nie's men. Inevitably, they gathered together in private and whispered about something.
The third young master, Ouyang Yuqing, happened to pass by the corner of the wall. After scolding the whispering servants, he sent them away.
It was really outrageous. Miss Wu was the savior of their ancestor. How could these servants be so unruly and gossip behind others' backs?
Ouyang Yuqing was a bit displeased and strode back to his room.
Suddenly, a snowball was thrown from above and hit him right on the back of the head. Ouyang Yuqing stopped in his tracks and looked back. He saw a man standing far away on a dead tree outside the courtyard. The man bowed to him from afar and said, "Third Young Master, I need your help."
This man was extremely handsome. Even Ouyang Yuqing, a man himself, was greatly amazed by his good looks. Moreover, he seemed a bit familiar. After a moment's thought, Ouyang Yuqing immediately remembered that this man had accompanied Wu Luoluo in the pharmacy that day and had kindly brought a screen to shield their ancestor.
Since the man was standing on a tree outside the mansion and it was inconvenient for Ouyang Yuqing to climb over the wall, he could only bow and say, "Sir, please feel free to tell me your request." Seeing his outstanding and refined temperament, he didn't seem like an ordinary person. And since he had once shown kindness to their ancestor, Ouyang Yuqing immediately showed respect to Shangguan Yun without hesitation.
Shangguan Yun said in a deep voice, "Miss Luoluo was taken away by Prefect Nie's men because of me. I'm afraid she's in great danger. I can't just stand by and watch her fall into the tiger's den. I have to go and rescue her." He had seen Wang Jiugong in the room just now and had almost rushed up to kill him.
Ouyang Yuqing was a bit hesitant. Even the Ouyang Mansion couldn't protect Wu Luoluo under the pressure of Prefect Nie. How could this young master rescue her by himself? Ouyang Yuqing sighed and said, "Sir, what do you need me to do?"
Let him do what he wanted. As long as it didn't cross the bottom line, Ouyang Yuqing was willing to offer his help.
Shangguan Yun said, "I need a good horse that can catch up with them and a suitable weapon." After all, the bamboo bow he had made temporarily had limited lethality, and the long knife he had hidden in the compartment of the carriage had been seized by Prefect Nie's servants. After much thought, he could only come to Ouyang Yuqing for help, even though he didn't have a good impression of this man.