Although Qi Wen had prepared himself, he was still a bit flustered at the moment.
Ye Wanmian whispered, "I think they just want to ask some questions. It's been a few days, and the evidence has long been washed away by the rain. Without solid proof, they won't make a big fuss. After all, they don't dare to let people know that the prince's body is hidden in that coffin."
"Once we get there, just do as I say. I have my own way to deal with it."
Qi Wen nodded vigorously.
A moment later, the medical clinic closed its doors again. After Ye Wanmian posted a notice saying "Out on business" outside the door, she squatted down, stroked Dahuang's head, and whispered in its ear:
"Dahuang, Qi Wen and I are going out. You stay here and guard the house and Goudan well. Make sure no thieves sneak in."
Although Dahuang was a bit disappointed that it couldn't follow its mistress, she had assigned it a task!
It licked her palm and barked loudly.
After getting Dahuang's response, Ye Wanmian stood up and walked towards the Liuxiang Tower with Zhou Wang.
Dahuang squatted in front of the medical clinic, watching them leave until Ye Wanmian's figure disappeared from sight. Then it turned around, went around to the back door, and barked a few times at the street corner.
The next moment, Sangbiao and Juanmao popped their heads out.
Dahuang walked over with its chest out, imitating the imposing manner of the purple little man. It bared its teeth and growled something at them. Sangbiao and Juanmao nuzzled each other, then turned around and signaled the other dogs to quietly surround the medical clinic.
Dahuang crawled back into the yard through the dog hole and lay in front of one of the rooms, keeping a vigilant watch.
Its mistress had told it to guard the house well. It would never let anyone in!
However, guarding an empty yard was really boring. Dahuang closed its eyes and started poking the almost invisible purple little man inside its body.
The general hadn't talked to it for a long time. It wondered when he would teach it how to catch rabbits again.
...
Walking beside Zhou Wang, Ye Wanmian whispered, "Brother Zhou, can you tell me what exactly happened at the cemetery?"
Zhou Wang sighed and said, "It had been raining for several days right after Young Master Chen was buried. Master Chen had been worried. Just as dawn broke today and he was about to send us to the cemetery to check, the guards who were guarding the tomb came back limping, looking panicked and saying that something had happened at the cemetery."
Let's go back two hours.
Although they had successfully buried the coffin a few days ago and the divination showed that the situation was set, it started to rain that night, and the rain lasted for three whole days. Mr. Chen couldn't help but feel uneasy.
So when he woke up that day and found that the rain had stopped and the sky had cleared, he immediately summoned Steward Chen and told him to send someone to the cemetery to take a look.
Just as Steward Chen was about to instruct Zhou Wang and the others, he saw two guards who had been guarding the cemetery limp into the Chen Mansion.
"Master, something terrible has happened!"
Their clothes were tattered and covered in yellow mud. There were many wounds on their faces and bodies. It was obvious that something had gone wrong.
"What happened? How did you end up like this!" Mr. Chen asked anxiously.
"That night, after the funeral procession left, we were guarding the tomb as Master ordered. Who would have thought that we would encounter a pack of wolves in the mountains. The wolves scattered us. The two of us happened to run in the same direction. In order to avoid the wolves, we accidentally fell into a valley. Just then, it started to rain, and we were trapped in the mountain depression and couldn't leave."
"Just before dawn today, the rain stopped. We managed to climb out of the valley. When we got back to the cemetery and took a look—"
The guard's face turned pale, and his voice trembled: "Young Master's tomb had been dug open by someone. The coffin lid had been pried open too. The coffin... was empty. Young Master's body was gone!"
"What did you say!" Mr. Chen was extremely shocked. He felt dizzy and fell back onto his chair. Steward Chen quickly stepped forward to support him and shouted, "Master, Master!"
"We were clearly being chased by wolves that night, but when we got back to the cemetery, there wasn't a single footprint left on the scene. It was really terrifying!"
Steward Chen pinched Mr. Chen's philtrum hard and shouted at the two guards, "Stop talking!"
Seeing that something was wrong, the two guards quickly shut their mouths.
Mr. Chen coughed and came to. As soon as he opened his eyes, he grabbed Steward Chen's hand tightly and said in a trembling voice, "Quick, send someone to check again. Make sure that in the coffin—"
His grip was so strong that it almost crushed Steward Chen's palm. His voice squeezed out between his teeth:
"In the coffin, is there really nothing left!"
Steward Chen naturally knew the seriousness of the matter. He immediately agreed. Just as he was about to get up and leave, Mr. Chen grabbed him again. "No, I'll go there myself!"
Steward Chen came to his senses and immediately said, "I'll go prepare the horses!"
After a cup of tea, two fast horses left the Chen Mansion and galloped towards the outside of the town. They rode at full speed. The journey that usually took nearly two hours on foot only took half the time to reach the foot of the mountain.
There were many rocks in the mountain, and the horses couldn't go up. Mr. Chen and Steward Chen had to support each other and climb the mountain. The rain in the mountain hadn't completely dried up yet, and the road was slippery. Mr. Chen fell down many times on the way.
The closer they got to the cemetery, the more muddy yellow mud there was. However, to their horror, there were no other traces on the mountain path except for the footprints of the two guards.
After passing through a forest, they could see the situation of the cemetery in the distance. Mr. Chen's legs went weak, and he almost fell to the ground.
The tomb that he and Taoist Yuanqi had personally sealed that night had been flattened. There was a big hole dug in it, revealing the black coffin buried inside.
The coffin lid had fallen to one side, and the nine nails on it were scattered in the yellow mud that had been soaked by the rain.
Staggering to the dug - up tomb, in the black coffin, not only was the prince's body gone, but the body of the child who had been used as a scapegoat was also missing.
Mr. Chen couldn't hold on any longer. His legs went limp, and he knelt on the ground. His face was pale, and his lips were trembling.
It was all gone. Everything was gone.
Who had dug open the tomb? Who had stolen the prince's body! Who could have known that the prince's body was hidden here!
Steward Chen supported Mr. Chen and whispered, "Master, this is no small matter. We need to inform His Highness the Prince of Xuan as soon as possible, so as not to delay His Highness's grand plan."
Mr. Chen came to his senses. He quickly got up from the ground. "Let's go back. Let's go back right away!"
They quickly went down the mountain. Mr. Chen and Steward Chen mounted their horses and rushed towards the town without stopping.
When the horses entered the town, they headed straight for the Liuxiang Tower. From afar, seeing the two horses galloping towards them, the guards of the Pei family army became vigilant and stepped forward to stop them.
"Who is riding so recklessly? Don't you know who lives here? Watch your heads!"
Mr. Chen quickly reined in his horse, took out a token from his bosom, and held it up in the air. "I... I have an extremely urgent matter. I wish to see His Highness the Prince of Xuan!"