The emperor was slightly taken aback and asked, "What identity?"
Shen Li glanced at the people kneeling below. The emperor seemed to understand what Shen Li meant and waved his hand, telling these people to get out quickly.
After all of them had left, Shen Li slowly recounted the whole thing. "Your Majesty, I believe you've seen the letters between Shen Zhuo and the salt merchants. The heir of Prince Li investigated this matter. The silver - masked man we met before was a spy from the Western Yue State. But I noticed that after the matter regarding Si Yan was resolved, he left the Eastern Ling State."
"Previously, I suspected the identities of the two Concubine Lius. Although they were said to be given to my second uncle, their talents, capabilities, and looks were all top - notch. Even if someone wanted to give them away, they shouldn't have been given to my second uncle. And now they've disappeared without a trace."
Shen Li stopped talking. After hearing these words, the emperor had already understood everything.
The two Concubine Lius were also spies from the Western Yue State. The silver - masked man was probably their master. Now that the master had left, they had no reason to stay.
The matter was clear, but the escape of the two made the emperor lose face. So Shen Li came up with a good idea. "How about saying that the two Concubine Lius died of a serious illness in the prison?"
The emperor nodded. There was no other way at this point.
Days passed. Since the people of the second branch of the Shen family were gone, the Shen residence became extremely desolate. Although the annoying gossips were gone, the desolation made Shen Li feel a bit unaccustomed.
Even now, the fact that Shen Miao was being exiled still seemed like a dream to Shen Li.
He remembered the time when Shen Miao walked in front of him proudly on Xiao Hanzhi's arm. And now he thought about her dejected look when she was about to be exiled.
It was a world of difference.
Everything seemed like a dream, making it hard for Shen Li to tell the real from the fake.
Now that Shen Li had taken care of his first enemy, only Prince Si, Xiao Hanzhi, was left. After all, he was a prince and might be a candidate for the heir in the future. Such a status made Shen Li hesitant to deal with him.
The death of the ordinary man from the Night Shade Division didn't stir up much emotion in Shen Li. After all, it was just a spy who died.
He casually sent a few people. In the evening, they just threw the man's body into the mass grave and didn't care about it anymore.
That night, the finger of the seemingly dead man suddenly moved slightly. How could a dead man come back to life?
This ordinary man's original name was Li Zi. He was good at feigning death. He had always served Prince Si and was fortunate enough to see Shen Miao's appearance once. Since then, he had fallen deeply in love with her.
These days, he heard the news that Shen Miao was being exiled. So he rushed along the route Shen Miao was taking without a moment's rest.
Although he was seriously injured, he didn't care about it. His beloved woman was suffering, so no matter what, Li Zi would rescue Shen Miao.
At night, several people were camping on the grassland. All of them were in shackles as a precaution.
Shen Miao was held in her mother's arms. The tears on her face hadn't dried yet. The once - glamorous Shen Miao now looked like a beggar. It was just a moment from heaven to hell.
The night seemed even more difficult to endure. There were mosquitoes flying around on the grassland. From time to time, they would bite several itchy bumps on the ankles, faces, or hands.
All of a sudden, sadness and grievance welled up in her heart again.
Li Zi saw all of this. He clenched his fists tightly, and the anger in his eyes was about to burst out. He wished he could rush up right now, hold Shen Miao in his arms, and kill these damned soldiers.
But he held back because he knew that now was definitely not the right time to rescue Shen Miao.
The long night seemed endless.
Shen's mother said, "Sir, could you please do us a favor? After all, people have urgent needs. My daughter isn't feeling well."
Shen Miao was trembling in her mother's arms.
One of the soldiers looked at Shen Miao's appearance. He thought she didn't seem like someone who would run away. After all, she was in shackles and didn't know martial arts, so she couldn't run away. So he agreed.
However, the soldier still stared at Shen Miao from a distance to prevent any accidents.
In the small woods.
"I'm telling you to hurry up. Don't waste time," the soldier said impatiently from a distance.
Shen Miao was so scared that she only made a mosquito - like sound. "Okay."
This was the best time to rescue Shen Miao.
Li Zi quietly sneaked up to Shen Miao. Without saying a word, he covered her mouth to prevent her from screaming.
The soldier only heard a rustling sound and didn't suspect anything.
Li Zi turned Shen Miao's face so that she could recognize who he was in the darkness.
"Miss, it's me, Li Zi! Don't say a word. I'm here to rescue you!"
Hearing this familiar voice, Shen Miao's panicked heart calmed down a lot.
Slowly, Li Zi removed his hand from Shen Miao's mouth.
Tears welled up in Shen Miao's eyes again. Her voice was hoarse as she whispered to Li Zi, "Please, save me!"
Li Zi nodded seriously and then glanced at the soldier in the distance.
Maybe they had taken too long. The soldier was getting impatient. "Are you done? Why are you so slow!"
Originally, Li Zi wanted to unlock the shackles on Shen Miao, but there wasn't enough time because the soldier was walking towards them step by step. There was no other way. He had to take a risk.
Without hesitation, Li Zi grabbed Shen Miao around the waist and used his light - body technique to fly towards the mountain.
The soldier finally noticed something was wrong. Someone was rescuing Shen Miao!
He immediately shouted, "Shen Miao has escaped! She's been taken away!"
The shout summoned several other soldiers to chase after them.
There were still a few scattered people left at the camping site to guard the rest.
About half an hour later, the soldiers returned without success.
It seemed that they hadn't found Shen Miao.
"If the emperor finds out about this, we might lose our heads!"
"How about not reporting this to the emperor?"
"But if the emperor finds out that we've concealed this matter, it's a crime that could lead to the execution of nine generations of our family."
"Anyway, we'll die if the emperor knows that Shen Miao has escaped, and we'll also die if he knows that we've concealed the truth. Let's take a gamble!"