Ye Wanmian didn't sleep very soundly that night. In the second half of the night, she was awakened by a nightmare.
She stroked her wildly beating heart and instinctively reached out beside her. She thought she would touch the familiar furry body, but to her surprise, the space beside her was empty.
Ye Wanmian propped herself up and reached out to her side again.
"Da Huang?"
There was no response in her ear. For no reason, a wave of panic welled up in her heart. She quickly lifted the bed curtain, walked to the table, and lit the oil lamp with a fire starter.
The room became bright. She looked at the bed by the light and indeed there was no sign of the yellow dog. Then she looked outside the door and found that the door, which she had closed before going to bed, was now ajar, and the moonlight was pouring in from outside.
Could it be that Da Huang was still angry about being scolded by her in the evening and quietly left while she was asleep?
Loss and panic occupied her heart. She put down the oil lamp in her hand, opened the door, and walked out, shouting at the top of her voice, "Da Huang, where are you?"
It was very quiet all around, with only the chirping of insects. Therefore, her shouting sounded very clear and abrupt, and it was likely to wake up the neighbors on both sides.
But Ye Wanmian didn't care about that. She just wanted to find her yellow dog. Fortunately, after walking two steps forward, she saw the familiar figure emerge from behind the water tank.
The yard was filled with moonlight and starlight, which naturally illuminated the appearance of the yellow dog. Seeing clearly that it was indeed her Da Huang, Ye Wanmian let out a sigh of relief. She quickened her steps towards it, squatted down, and hugged it.
"Da Huang, where have you been? I thought..."
She thought that Da Huang resented her and was going to leave her.
The girl hugged him tightly, and her voice was muffled with a nasal tone, which inexplicably tugged at Xiao Jingcheng's heart.
Tsk, why is she crying again?
He was beaten on the buttocks by her, and it still hurt like hell, but he didn't shed a single tear.
Women are really troublesome.
Xiao Jingcheng originally wanted to break free, but hesitated for a moment when he saw this. He raised his head and gently touched the girl's cheek with his cold nose.
Forget it. He was magnanimous and wouldn't bother with what happened in the evening.
Feeling something touch her cheek, Ye Wanmian looked up and met the black eyes of the yellow dog. She broke into a smile through her tears and ruffled its head.
"Da Huang, you shouldn't be angry with me anymore, right? As long as you are obedient from now on, I promise I won't beat you again."
Xiao Jingcheng barked twice softly, broke free from her, ran into the house, and jumped onto the bed.
Ye Wanmian also went back into the house, blew out the oil lamp, and went back to sleep.
The night, which had just been a bit turbulent, became calm again.
The faint fragrance of the girl filled his nostrils. Xiao Jingcheng curled up and lay down, closing his eyes.
Ye Wanmian didn't know that at this moment, there were several dogs scattered around her small courtyard, hiding in the darkness and guarding the courtyard.
Near the Liuxiang Tower and the mansion of the Chen员外, there were also several dark shadows quietly approaching under the cover of the night.
At the back door of the Liuxiang Tower.
"Who?!"
A guard of the Pei family army raised his sword and shouted towards the corner. His voice attracted the others, and they all raised their weapons warily.
The next moment, a mongrel dog walked out of the shadow and ran away with its tail between its legs in front of all the guards.
"So it's just a dog."
"Lao Li, you're too sensitive. You almost scared us to death."
"I'm just doing this for the safety of the princes!"
The guards grumbled and returned to their original positions, not looking at the mongrel dog again.
It was just a dog, and no one paid it any attention. However, what they didn't know was that while the mongrel dog was attracting their attention and they were gathering around, another dog figure slipped into the backyard of the Liuxiang Tower like lightning.
It was a short-legged yellow dog with a slightly slender and small figure and slightly curly hair. After entering the yard, it first sniffed around the slop bucket and then reluctantly got into the building from the back kitchen.
Hiding its figure in the shadows, the curly-haired puppy sniffed here and looked there. Before long, it found the room guarded by the soldiers.
Fortunately, there were flower stands on each floor. Taking advantage of the guards' inattention, the curly-haired puppy got under the flower stand and finally got close to the door. The sound of conversation also reached its ears.
Inside the room, King Mu, Xiao Tianchi, was sitting in the upper seat. King Xuan and King Ning were sitting on his right. Kneeling on one knee in front of them were Bu Hua, the right guard of the Eastern Palace, and several court officials who had accompanied Crown Prince Xiao Jingcheng on his southern inspection tour.
When the carriages and horses arrived at Dongli Town today and stayed at the Liuxiang Tower, King Mu had wanted to immediately summon Bu Hua and the others to find out the situation. However, he was really weak and could only lie down to rest first.
The main person in charge of investigating the case of the Crown Prince's attack and disappearance during this southern inspection was King Mu. Since King Mu didn't speak, King Xuan and King Ning didn't dare to act rashly, and they had been waiting until now.
Covering his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, Xiao Tianchi coughed twice lightly, raised his eyes to look at Bu Hua kneeling in front of him, and said, "Tell me. What's the result of your investigation these days?"
Bu Hua bowed his hands and replied, "Your Highness had an accident when he left Ningzhou and was on his way to Mingzhou. We first encountered water bandits on the boat. It was late at night that day, and Your Highness had already gone to sleep..."
Bu Hua told the whole story of the encounter with the water bandits that day.
"Fortunately, Your Highness was brave and led us to defeat the water bandits. Your Highness also captured the leader of the water bandits. We originally wanted to go to Mingzhou, but Your Highness changed his mind and led the leader of the water bandits to Liucheng to investigate the matter of the water bandits. Who would have thought that on the way after getting off the boat, we would encounter mountain bandits!"
All that Bu Hua said sounded extremely thrilling. Even King Xuan and King Ning sitting on the other side couldn't help but feel their hearts pounding.
"The mountain bandits were numerous. Our men had already suffered a lot of casualties when we encountered the water bandits. In order to protect Your Highness, I led some men to stop the mountain bandits and wanted the others to escort Your Highness away first. It was this decision that caused Your Highness's misfortune..."
According to Bu Hua, after Xiao Jingcheng left, he led his men to resist the attacks of the mountain bandits tenaciously. Finally, they managed to win at the cost of losing nearly half of their men.
When he followed the hoof prints to look for Xiao Jingcheng, he not only saw the traces of the fight but also the bodies of the guards of the Eastern Palace who had protected Xiao Jingcheng.
The wounds on the bodies were fatal with one blow, which showed that the attacker was highly skilled in martial arts. Even the well-trained guards of the Eastern Palace had difficulty resisting.
He followed the traces all the way forward and finally came to a cliff. A small piece of the cloth of the clothes Xiao Jingcheng was wearing was hanging on a branch below the cliff, and there was a rushing river under the cliff.
Xiao Jingcheng had disappeared from this world just like that.
After listening to the whole story, Xiao Tianchi coughed twice lightly, and his voice was a bit hoarse. "So, from the water bandits to the mountain bandits to the killers, the other side clearly had a premeditated plan and was targeting Cheng'er."
Bu Hua lowered his head and deeply repented. "I hate myself for not following Your Highness. I would rather die than see such a thing happen to Your Highness."
King Xuan sighed. "Fortunately, you're still alive. Otherwise, who would know the ins and outs of all this?"
King Ning didn't say a word. He just looked at Bu Hua meaningfully.
And Xiao Tianchi said indifferently, "Then, how did you find your way to Dongli Town?"