"Bang, bang, bang!"
In the quiet dead of night, the knocking on the door was incredibly loud, jolting Ye Wanmian awake from her deep sleep.
She placed a hand on her chest and sat up straight. As she lifted her eyes, she saw the yellow dog squatting by the door, growling threateningly at the main gate outside the courtyard.
In just a moment, the courtyard gate was knocked on again: "Bang, bang, bang!"
"Open the door!"
A cold and stern shout from a man came along with the knocking.
The color drained from Ye Wanmian's face, and her fingers trembled imperceptibly. This familiar situation reminded her of the night when Bu Hua broke into the house with his men.
Why... are they here again?
Although Xiao Jingcheng had already received a hint, the courtyard was too small to find a place to hide. Before he could wake Ye Wanmian up, those people had already arrived outside the door.
Ye Wanmian pressed on her wildly beating heart, bit her lower lip, quickly grabbed a piece of clothing and put it on, then quickly coiled up her hair. She originally wanted to find a handkerchief to cover her face, but then she put it down.
She got up and walked outside. At the door, she met the yellow dog baring its teeth and growling at the outside.
She pressed on its head and lowered her voice, saying, "Dahuang, be obedient. Later, you hide behind me. Don't act rashly. Our main goal is to stay alive. Don't confront them head - on."
Xiao Jingcheng heard the tremor in her voice. For the first time, he hated that he had turned into a dog. He couldn't stand in front of her to protect her; instead, she had to protect him.
He felt so憋屈. It was really too frustrating.
There had never been a moment when he so strongly wanted to return to his own body.
Ye Wanmian didn't know what he was thinking. She took a deep breath and called out, "Coming, coming. Wait a moment!"
She pulled open the door bolt and pretended to be angry. "Who is it? Knocking at this late hour. Don't you know you're disturbing people's dreams... Oh, sir official!"
Sure enough, standing outside the door were the soldiers of the Eastern Palace wearing soft armor, and the one who had been knocking was Bu Hua.
When Bu Hua saw Ye Wanmian, he was stunned for a moment, frowned, and said, "It's you again!"
Ye Wanmian couldn't help rolling her eyes and retorted, "I also want to say, why is it you again! Knocking on my door in the middle of the night. What do you want to do?"
She put her hands on her hips and took a bold step forward. "Do you want to bully a widow whose husband died? Do you want to bully the widow of a martyr?!"
Bu Hua had already forgotten that he had come here during a search with his soldiers, but the embarrassing experience of Ye Wanmian making a scene at the city gate was still fresh in his memory. Hearing this, his face turned extremely ugly, and he quickly said,
"Stop talking nonsense! We're here on urgent business! Get out of the way. Don't delay our investigation!"
Because Bu Hua and his men were knocking on the door in the middle of the night, almost all the neighboring families of Ye Wanmian were woken up. They all lit their lamps, and the barking of dogs echoed all around.
How could Ye Wanmian let him in easily? She blocked the door tightly. "What case are you investigating? Why can't you come during the day but have to come in the middle of the night? I think you just think I'm a weak widow and want to take the opportunity to ruin my reputation!"
She plopped down on the ground and started crying and making a scene. "Waaaaah, I don't want to live anymore. My poor dead husband sacrificed himself for the Great Sheng Dynasty. It's bad enough that he didn't even have a complete body. Now I'm being bullied by the soldiers of some stupid prince. Is there any justice in this world?"
With such a big commotion here, the common people from the neighboring houses came out with lamps to watch the show and pointed at them.
Bu Hua was extremely annoyed and shouted, "Enough!"
Someone placed a hand on his shoulder, and another voice came from behind him. "Alright, General Bu. Let me handle this."
This sudden voice startled Ye Wanmian, and her crying stopped for a moment. She looked up. Bu Hua and the other soldiers moved to the sides, revealing a tall and handsome figure.
Xiao Yixuan stepped forward, knelt down in front of Ye Wanmian, his eyes fixed on her, and there seemed to be a hint of a smile hidden in them.
"Lady Jiang, do you still remember me? We met today at the... "
Just as he was speaking, a yellow dog suddenly jumped out from behind the girl, stood in front of her, and barked loudly at him, startling him so that he stopped speaking halfway.
Xiao Jingcheng stared menacingly at Xiao Yixuan who had appeared here, growling threateningly from his throat.
Why did Xiao Yixuan come here with Bu Hua?
That's not all. When he was talking, why was he smiling at her!
And the smile was so flirtatious!
Xiao Jingcheng somehow felt that Xiao Yixuan's gaze on Ye Wanmian was a bit off, which made all the hair on his body stand on end. He wished he could pounce on that annoying face and take a hard bite.
Ye Wanmian also didn't expect the yellow dog to jump out. Her drooping eyelashes covered the emotions in her eyes. She quickly hugged the furry body in front of her, pulled it back, and stroked its back to calm it down.
"It's the prince. My dog is a bit scared and excited to suddenly see so many people. I hope the prince won't blame it." Ye Wanmian lowered her head, avoiding Xiao Yixuan's gaze, and exposed her slender neck.
Xiao Yixuan glanced indifferently at the yellow dog in her arms and smiled. "A good dog knows how to protect its master. I won't argue with a brute."
Unexpectedly, as soon as he said this, the yellow dog in Ye Wanmian's arms became even more excited.
Xiao Jingcheng was really furious.
This bastard actually called him a brute!
But he also knew that he couldn't confront Xiao Yixuan head - on, so he just barked a few times bluffingly and then stopped.
Ye Wanmian whispered, "Your Highness, what case are you investigating that you've come to this humble woman's place?"
Xiao Yixuan收起 the smile on his face and said, "There was a theft at Liuxiang Tower today. A very important thing was stolen. Liuxiang Tower has guards, and unrelated people are prohibited from approaching. And today, only the doctors who were invited to treat the imperial uncle entered Liuxiang Tower. You, Lady, were among them today, so you can't escape suspicion."
As soon as Xiao Jingcheng heard this, he knew that they had discovered the loss of the boot.
Tsk, they acted quite quickly. This also proved indirectly that the boot was indeed very important.
It was just that he was really surprised and extremely unhappy that the Second Prince, Xiao Yixuan, would bring Bu Hua to search here.
Why did the Second Prince have to suspect her?
Fortunately, he had asked Sang Biao to take the shoe away just now. Otherwise, it might have been hard to end this situation tonight.
Ye Wanmian was also extremely angry at this moment.
So the Prince of Xuan brought people here to search because he suspected her of stealing in Liuxiang Tower!
Ye Wanmian tightly pursed her lips, with anger in her eyes. "Today, I entered Liuxiang Tower with my master. There were guards beside me the whole time, and I didn't leave for a single step. Your Highness was also there at that time. Can't you prove that I have nothing to do with this?"
Xiao Yixuan could tell that she was angry, but his expression remained unchanged. He only said, "If you are really innocent, just let us search. Naturally, you can clear your suspicion."