AFDPIRAB Chapter42

“Has His Highness come back?” Shiyi asked anxiously, shaking Xiaojiu’s shoulder.

 

Xiao Jiu shook his head in confusion.

 

“Go, gather all the guards in the mansion! Go quickly!” Shiyi bit his lip, his veins popping out in anxiety.

 

Prince An went out for a banquet but disappeared. Such news cannot be announced in a big way.

 

Otherwise, the consequences might become even more uncontrollable.

 

When Shiyi and Chen Tan found something strange, they had already searched Pingshui Lou, but they did not find their little prince, so they rushed back to the prince’s mansion to report the news.

 

In a moment, Chen Mo had gathered all the guards in the front yard of the Prince’s mansion.

 

He frowned and ordered, “Shiyi, go to Prince Cheng’s mansion to find Fifth Master! Xiao Jiu, you go to Renji Tang, and Chen Tan goes to Shizi’s mansion. I will take people to Pingshui Lou first! Uncle Zhou, you stay at the mansion and send someone to find us in time if there is any news!”

 

Everyone followed the order and dispersed.

 

Shizi’s and Prince Cheng’s mansions are closer, so they get the news the fastest.

 

Yuchi Zhao was stunned for a moment when he saw his servant leading Chen Tan in. He was surprised and wanted to ask him why he came suddenly, but he found that the child was about to cry.

 

Chen Tan was so anxious when he saw the prince that he almost cried—

 

The prince was still in his own mansion and did not go to the banquet at all. His little prince was really in trouble!

 

“Shizi ye…”

 

Although Chen Tan was anxious, but he could tell the difference between the important and the unimportant. He looked at the servants around and didn’t dare to speak out.

 

Yuchi Zhao looked at Chen Tan and guessed that he had something to say. He waved his hand to let the people around him leave, and then he lowered his voice to comfort him: “Chen Tan, don’t panic. What urgent matter are you looking for me for?”

 

Chen Tan whispered, “Our little master is missing…”

 

After listening to Chen Tan’s brief account of the whole story, Yuchi was so angry that he cursed on the spot: “I can’t believe that Yan Muyin, this coward, has grown up ah!”

 

 

It turned out that when Prince An brought Shiyi and Chen Tan to Pingshui Lou, Prince Huai was already waiting in the private room. Shiyi wanted to follow his master in, but Prince Huai stopped him and said, “Ai, we brothers are having a drink, you guys just wait at the door, there’s no need to follow us!”

 

Shiyi looked around and saw that in addition to Prince Huai, there were already two noble young masters sitting in the private room, and the guards were indeed waiting at the door, so he had to stay outside the door according to the rules.

 

Fortunately, besides him and Chen Tan, there were three other guards following in the dark, so there shouldn’t be any problem.

 

After waiting outside the door for about a quarter of an hour, Shiyi realized something was wrong—

 

It stands to reason that the masters of each family should arrive at the banquet at the same time. After a quarter of an hour, no one showed up, which was really not right.

 

Shiyi quietly asked Chen Tan to go downstairs to see if there was anything wrong and tried to get closer to the private room to observe.

 

Chen Tan was halfway downstairs when he was stopped by someone who came out of nowhere. Shiyi was quick to sense that something was wrong and tried to force his way into the private room without paying attention to etiquette but was stopped by the other guards at the door.

 

Although Shiyi and Chen Tan were both very skilled in martial arts, but they were only two people after all, and they didn’t dare to make a big fuss, so it took a while to resolve the situation.

 

When he entered the private room, he found that no one was there and his little prince was nowhere to be found.

 

 

Compared to Yuchi Zhao’s anger when he heard the news, Prince Cheng and Yun Jiangli were surprised and more puzzled after hearing the news.

 

To be able to do such a thing as kidnapping the prince in the capital, this person must have some problems with his brain.

 

But the more they couldn’t understand, the more they worried about Yan Muning’s safety, because at this time, stupidity was equivalent to playing cards out of the ordinary. At the moment, they couldn’t guess who had done it.

 

As soon as Xiao Jiu finished speaking, Yun Jiangli turned around with a cold face and walked out: “Jian Shuang, send someone to keep an eye on the vicinity of Prince Yi’s mansion.”

 

The rest of the people followed behind Yun Jiangli without saying a word. Ah Xiao and Lao Qi exchanged a glance, and the meaning was very clear—

 

Someone actually dared to pluck hair from a tiger’s head!

 

Dare to touch the little prince, isn’t this directly touching Yun Jiangli’s scales?

 

Ah Xiao thought: This daring person really has never seen Yun Jiangli’s methods.

 

When Yun Jiangli arrived at Fengyang Fang, he saw from a distance that people had surrounded Pingshui Lou and knew that Prince Cheng’s men had arrived first.

 

As soon as he entered the door of Pingshui Lou, he heard the owner of Pingshui Lou crying and wailing: “Wangye ah, the humble really doesn’t know anything ah! Even if you give me ten courage, I would not dare to have any ideas about the princes either ah!”

 

Yun Jiangli walked to the side of Prince Cheng and saw two people lying on the ground in a miserable state. They were the two noble family children who were with Prince Huai before.

 

“You are here?”

 

Prince Cheng raised his eyes and greeted Yun Jiangli, with murderous anger on his face, and kicked the two people on the ground: “They were drugged and still haven’t woken up. He was so cruel that even two basins of ice water couldn’t wake them up.”

 

“I just found it from the counter of another private room. It’s really strange.”

 

Yun Jiangli took two steps closer, looked at the people on the ground with disgust, and called out in a cold voice, “Lao Qi.”

 

Lao Qi stepped forward, and without Yun Jiangli’s further instructions, he squatted in front of the two men and took out a needle bag from his sleeve. Before anyone else could see his movements, two needles flashing with cold light had already pierced the two paralyzed men on the ground.

 

“Cough, cough—”

 

After two acupunctures treatment, they woke up. The two dandy nobles opened their mouths in a daze and wanted to curse: “Who the hell dares…”

 

Their voices stopped abruptly. When they saw that the person sitting in front of them was Prince Cheng, they immediately got up and knelt on the floor: “Prince Cheng! I didn’t, didn’t know you were here!”

 

“Stop talking nonsense. Where is he?” Prince Cheng was too lazy to say more words.

 

The two were a little confused and looked at each other: “Who, who?”

 

These two sons of noble families were also notorious for being useless people in the capital. They spent all day hanging out with Prince Huai and didn’t seem like the kind of people who could make any waves.

 

After a few questions, it became clear that these two cannon fodders really knew nothing. They only knew that Prince Huai was generous today and booked Pingshui Lou to treat them to dinner.

 

Prince Huai patted his chest and said that he could invite Prince Heng, Prince An, and the son of the Yuchi family this time. The two of them, who had never seen the world, begged to come along, thinking that they might be able to take this opportunity to curry favor with the senior masters.

 

The two idiots didn’t expect that Prince An would really come. They were so excited that they held their wine glasses and clapped three glasses, and then they knew nothing anymore…

 

Obviously, they were just two cannon fodders.

 

The owner of Pingshui Lou was crying and shouting that he was wronged: “Dear Masters, I am a businessman. It’s not easy for me to come across a big customer who wanted to book my restaurant for a day. Why shouldn’t I agree? The humble really doesn’t know anything…”

 

After hearing this, Prince Cheng was too lazy to talk to them. He left a team to deal with it and went straight to Prince Huai’s mansion with Yun Jiangli and Yuchi.

 

 

When Yan Muning woke up in a daze, he only felt a throbbing pain in his temples, and the smell of the drug still lingered in his nose, which made him vomit.

 

After vomiting a few times, he couldn’t vomit anything out. The surging discomfort helped him regain some clarity.

 

He forced himself to open his eyes with great effort, trying to identify where he was.

 

Yan Muning narrowed his eyes and found himself half-leaning on a low bed, his hands tied behind his back to the bedpost, his feet also tied up. There were no windows in the room, only a candle burning, he couldn’t tell what time it was.

 

There was no fire in the room, and there was only a thin layer of soft cushion on the bed. Yan Muning felt very cold, he tried to struggle a few times but found that his hands and feet were very soft, and he had no strength to break free from the ropes.

 

He began to slowly recall what happened. He went to a banquet at a restaurant, and then…

 

The two of them drank too much for no apparent reason.

 

After that… someone suddenly covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief soaked in drugs from behind, and he instantly lost consciousness.

 

Maybe it was because he had experienced so many things in the past six months, but the little prince was not panicking at the moment.

 

Instead, he was surprisingly calm. He calmed down, resisted the nausea of wanting to vomit, and analyzed his situation.

 

He was not injured at the moment but was locked in the room. Although it was a little cold, fortunately his life should be safe. However, he could not guess why this person tied him up.

 

How much did Prince Huai do in this matter?

 

He lowered his eyes and stared at his belly, wondering how the child was doing. Was the little thing scared again?

 

The little prince smiled helplessly and said in his heart: Child, sorry ah, why do you always have to feel scared when you follow Father?

 

“Aiya—”

 

The door was pushed open, the candle flickered a few times, and a figure approached Yan Muning.

 

“You woke up?”

 

“It’s really you?” Yan Muning looked at King Huai in confusion and asked, “Are you crazy?”

 

“Hahaha! Yes, I’m crazy!”

 

King Huai is really mediocre, plain-looking, and has no royal temperament: “Lao Qi, you didn’t expect it, right? It was me who was able to kidnap you. Aren’t you smart? Then guess… why did I kidnap you!”

 

He was silence for a moment.

 

“Third Brother doesn’t know you did this.” Yan Muning lowered his eyes and didn’t look at him, just stated calmly.

 

Prince Yi is crazy, but he has brains. Now, tying him up will not threaten anyone, and he will not get what he wants, and it may even cost him his life.

 

Prince Yi would not have asked King Huai to do this, so it must be King Huai who made the decision.

 

Not sure if he was stimulated by Yan Muning’s too indifferent attitude or because of the shame of his words, King Huai suddenly became angry, and the weak light reflected his particularly distorted face.

 

He grabbed Yan Muning’s collar with one hand, pulled him in front of him, and said viciously, “I did all this for Third Brother! I don’t need him to know! He will understand my painstaking efforts!”

 

Yan Muning tilted his head in disgust, trying to avoid the person who was too close to him.

 

This action angered Prince Huai again, and he raised his hand and slapped him with such force that Yan Muning’s mouth was filled with the smell of blood.

 

The blood made him feel nauseous, and Yan Muning couldn’t help but vomit.

 

“Heh.”

 

Prince Huai sneered, “You are really spoiled!”

 

“Yan Muning, you and I were born in the same year. Why did you grow up in pampering, while I am inferior to you in every way?” Prince Huai sat on the low bed, hanging his head in a somewhat decadent manner.

 

Yan Muning had just been slapped hard, and now his temples were in great pain, as if someone was stabbing him with a needle. He sighed softly, closed his eyes, and spoke patiently: “Brothers treat you and me the same, but you are so self-deprecating.”

 

“Yan Muyin, let me go. If you continue to be stubborn, you will never be able to turn back.”

 

Prince Huai seemed to have heard something funny and laughed hoarsely for a long time before speaking: “Look at you, you are obviously controlled by me, but you are still so proud, it’s really annoying.”

 

He was about to say something when there was a light knock at the door. Prince Huai immediately jumped up and rushed over excitedly.

 

 

When Yun Jiangli and Prince Cheng arrived at Prince Huai’s mansion, the old housekeeper came up to greet them with a trembling bow, saying that Prince Huai had left the mansion early this morning and had not returned since.

 

The two looked at each other: Early morning?

 

The people Yun Jiangli sent to Prince Yi’s mansion just now have sent back news that Prince Yi has been in his mansion all day and nothing unusual has happened.

 

In fact, Prince Yi’s body has not recovered since he was poisoned last time. He himself knows how many people are watching him, so he shouldn’t bother with this.

 

But if it wasn’t him, then why would Prince Huai do this?

 

The people brought by Prince Cheng had already searched Prince Huai’s mansion thoroughly, but they didn’t find any trace of the little prince.

 

“Does Prince Huai have any other private residences?” Yun Jiangli frowned and asked Prince Cheng.

 

“Go check.”

 

Prince Cheng instructed Chen Bai and then turned to Yun Jiangli and said, “I’ve never heard of it before. Sixth Brother doesn’t have much ability. He’s already struggling to make ends meet with his own meager salary to support the mansion. It’s really…”

 

So far, Prince Cheng couldn’t believe that his idiot sixth brother could do such a thing.

 

Seeing that the time of the day had passed and the sky was getting dark.

 

The news of Prince An’s disappearance was still suppressed, and even he didn’t even dare to report it to the emperor, but this… If he couldn’t find him, he’s afraid that the news would be hidden.

 

 

The effect of the drug had not worn off yet, Yan Muning leaned against the bed drowsily, trying to keep some strength. There were faint noises of quarrels coming from outside the door, he could not hear them clearly, but he could tell that the angry and frustrated voice was that of Prince Huai.

 

He guessed right, this matter was indeed the idiot Prince Huai, who made his own decision.

 

After Prince Huai kidnapped Prince An, he sent someone to send a message to Prince Yi’s mansion, but he didn’t get any response after sending the message three times. It was not until the fourth time that a guard beside Prince Yi came.

 

“Master has said that you should release him and stop making trouble.” The guard who came to deliver the message obviously looked down on this brainless Prince Huai, and there was no respect in his tone.

 

Prince Huai asked hoarsely, “Why! Why did Third Brother miss such a good opportunity! What are you guys thinking about? Isn’t he their treasure! What can’t you get by using him as a threat, ah?”

 

The guard also lost his patience and said bluntly, “You will only bring trouble to Wangye if you make decisions on your own.”

 

Prince Huai pulled the guard’s collar: “Don’t give me any bullsh*t, go back and tell my third brother that I will not let him go, I will definitely prove that I am not a waste! I will get what my third brother wants!”

 

After saying that, Prince Huai turned around and kicked open the door and returned to the small room where Yan Muning was imprisoned.

 

Yan Muning was quick to notice that Prince Huai was not in a normal state at the moment. He knew that it was useless to reason with a madman, so he kept his eyes closed and pretended to be asleep, trying to avoid any communication with Prince Huai.

 

However, Prince Huai, who felt that his passion had been betrayed, was only resentful at this moment.

 

“Yan Muning.”

 

Prince Huai called the little prince’s name in a hoarse voice.

 

“Hey, wake up.” Prince Huai kicked Yan Muning’s calf when he got no response.

 

The little prince felt pain and opened his eyes helplessly and looked at him coldly: “What?”

 

“Hey, what if you become useless?” Prince Huai bent down and stared into Yan Muning’s eyes, “I heard that there is a big beauty by your side? Is he some young hall master too?”

 

“What is it that you’re better than Third Brother? You must have used some tricks to force the Young Hall Master to stay by your side, right? Teach your useless Sixth Brother, tell me what tricks you used, en?”

 

“Yan Muning, Third Brother has loved you the most since you were a child, and you already have enough. Why are you not willing to give up even one person to Third Brother?”

 

“I heard that Third Brother was dying of poisoning, but you didn’t let that person save him, Yan Muning, you are so cruel.”

 

“You wished that Third Brother would be poisoned to death, didn’t you? You didn’t expect that Third Brother would survive, but you… hahahaha, you fell into my hands.”

 

Prince Huai kept talking.

 

Yan Muning frowned when he heard this. What a mess!

 

Could it be that he tied him up just to complain about Prince Yi?

 

Prince Huai kept talking to himself, but he became angrier and angrier. He stood up and turned around in the room. He saw the horse whip on the table, rushed over, picked it up and whipped Yan Muning.

 

Yan Muning looked at the man rushing towards him, but because he was tied up, he had nowhere to hide. He could only curl up his legs and protect his lower abdomen.

 

Fortunately, the winter clothes were thick, and Prince Huai was not good at martial arts. He only relied on brute force to whip him a few times before he ran out of strength.

 

But he seemed still unsatisfied, raised his hand, and grabbed Yan Muning’s neck and said viciously, “Don’t be complacent, I have plenty of time to torture you.”

 

…

 

It was getting colder and colder. Yan Muning didn’t know how long he had been trapped here, but judging by the sudden drop in temperature, it should have been night long ago.

 

The people outside looking for him must be getting crazy.

 

Prince Huai was not normal at all. Yan Muning tried to persuade him several times, but not only did he fail, but he made him even crazier.

 

There was only one thing that this man did as he said, he really tortured Yan Muning on purpose.

 

He seemed to have found that the cloak was too thick, so he had just torn off Yan Muning’s cloak and thrown it aside.

 

Without the shelter of the awning, the little prince, who was whipped several times again, finally couldn’t hold on and passed out. But a cup of cool water splashed on his face and woke him up.

 

The cool water seeped into Yan Muning’s clothes, making him even colder.

 

He began to shiver uncontrollably.

 

“Wangye, Wangye!”

 

Prince Huai’s servant’s voice came from outside the door.

 

Prince Huai glared at Yan Muning impatiently, then turned and walked out.

 

Yan Muning pinched his fingertips hard to wake himself up.

 

Seeing that the empty teacup that had just been splashed with cool water was placed by Prince Huai on the side of the bed, he began to struggle to reach it with his fingers.

 

However, he only had time to smash the teacup before Prince Huai returned, followed by the servant.

 

Prince Huai was pacing around the room furiously, not paying attention to Yan Muning.

 

Yan Muning quietly held the broken porcelain pieces in his hands, trying to break the rope that bound his hands, while listening to the servant’s constant persuasion: “Let’s go, Wangye, it’s really too late if we still don’t leave now!”

 

“Believe me this time, someone is really coming this way!”

 

……

 

Yan Muning suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

 

Finally, they finally found him ah…

 

Then, the little prince, who was holding on to the last bit of clarity, first heard a burst of hurried footsteps outside the door, someone was calling his name loudly, and then the sound of the wooden door being slammed open…

 

He turned his head with difficulty, the torch illuminated the yard brightly, and the familiar figure was running towards him against the light.

 

“Crack…”

 

The rope was finally broken.

 

Yan Muning stretched out his bloody hand towards the figure, his pale lips opening and closing, silently calling, “Ah Li…”