“What are you doing?” Fulong was furious, almost swinging his sword at Han Zhan.
Chu Huaiyu was really gone.
This time, it might not be easy to track her.
However, why did she stay here for so long?
“This should be where Ziyue was held.”
Chu Qianli squatted in the corner, examining the marks on the ground.
“Ziyue was tied up for a while, but someone came and took her away.”
“Who?” Fulong asked urgently.
Chu Huaiyu had been at the hunting grounds all morning. Bringing Princess Pingyue here must have happened last night.
“Huaiyu was in the Duke’s mansion all day and never left,” Han Zhan knew he had made a mistake.
But Huaiyu truly hadn’t left today; he could testify to that.
He had accompanied Chu Huaiyu until dusk before leaving. Chu Huaiyu couldn’t have gone out under his nose.
Unless she knew the art of cloning.
“You and she are birds of a feather!” Fulong raised his hand, and with a clang, his blade pointed at Han Zhan.
“Fulong, don’t get agitated. He was also deceived by Chu Huaiyu.”
Although Chu Qianli didn’t like Han Zhan’s foolishness in always protecting Chu Huaiyu, Han Zhan had indeed been tricked by her.
At least, she could see that much.
“You saw her leave with your own eyes just now. Her Qinggong is likely not inferior to yours. Do you see it clearly now?”
“Perhaps… perhaps she just practiced Qinggong, or… learned martial arts in private…”
“Stubborn!” Fulong put away his great saber with a clang and looked at Chu Qianli.
“What do we do? We still can’t find Princess Ziyue.”
“Where is Funing?” Chu Qianli quickly noticed that Funing was not in the small hut.
“She went to chase Chu Huaiyu.”
“Funing is no match for Chu Huaiyu,” Chu Qianli stood up, worried.
She couldn’t forget Qian’er, who had been by her side before.
Qian’er must have discovered Chu Huaiyu’s secret, which led to Chu Huaiyu silencing her.
She was so afraid that Funing would also…
“You don’t need to worry. Funing is good at Qinggong. She’s only responsible for following, not acting rashly against her.”
Even so, Fulong still felt a bit uneasy.
Princess Pingyue was not in this small wooden hut, but all signs indicated that Princess Pingyue had indeed been held captive here.
“A’Li, what do we do now? Chu Huaiyu probably has accomplices. Why don’t we chase after her first?”
“I’m afraid even she doesn’t know why Ziyue isn’t in the small hut.”
When Chu Qianli chased in just now, she clearly saw the confusion in Chu Huaiyu’s eyes.
She must not have expected Long Ziyue to be absent.
“Is it possible that Princess Pingyue escaped on her own?”
“That’s also a possibility.”
Chu Qianli thought for a moment and said immediately, “Fulong, hurry and catch up with Funing. Don’t let her act rashly. I’m going into the palace now to see if Ziyue has already returned to Yuhua Palace.”
“Alright.”
Splitting into two groups, Fulong did not hesitate.
Before leaving, Chu Qianli did not forget to remind him, “There might be someone more formidable behind this. You and Funing must be careful and absolutely not engage unless necessary.”
She knew that Fulong was a bit too agitated this time.
He lacked his usual calmness.
If one didn’t know better, one might think he had an unusual relationship with Long Ziyue.
However, they hadn’t interacted much. It was probably just fear that if Princess Pingyue met with an accident here, the two countries might fall into conflict.
Chu Qianli didn’t dwell on it. After letting Fulong leave, she immediately returned towards the Duke’s mansion.
She had to go to Yuhua Palace to check the situation immediately upon her return.
If Long Ziyue had escaped on her own and returned to Yuhua Palace, then it would naturally be a cause for great joy.
But if she hadn’t, then she was likely in the hands of someone even more formidable.
In that case, rescuing her would be even more difficult.
Han Zhan was still standing in the small wooden hut, motionless.
Chu Qianli had no mood to pay attention to him and was about to leave.
Suddenly, she heard Han Zhan’s low, somewhat hoarse voice ring out, “Ten years ago, it was in this small wooden hut…”
Chu Qianli paused and couldn’t help but look back at him.
He was looking at a corner not far away, where there was a pile of ruins with signs of burning.
In fact, there were several small wooden huts, which were places where they, the young masters and ladies, often came to play.
Han Zhan often accompanied them.
Chu Qianli’s mind was suddenly tugged, and some memories slowly surfaced.
Very distant, very vague memories.
Memories belonging to the original owner.
Her memory was like this; after transmigrating, she couldn’t recall them on her own.
She needed to see those people and things to remember some past events…
“She saved me here.”
Han Zhan walked to the corner and looked at the passage leading to the second wooden hut.
The passage had long since collapsed, and most of the burnt wood had turned into charcoal.
Now, not only was there ash on top, but also piles of spiderwebs.
“Chu Huaiyu saved you?” Chu Qianli frowned, and some scenes finally began to emerge in her mind.
“Are you sure it was Chu Huaiyu who saved you?”
She suddenly couldn’t help but laugh.
“Heh, Han Zhan, you’re not going to stay by her side all these years just because of this, are you? Did she really save you? Heh, hahaha…”
Chu Qianli laughed until she was out of breath.
She knew she shouldn’t be so cruel.
But this guy was so stupid, truly so stupid!
Both stupid and… pitiful.
Sigh…
“During that fire ten years ago, Chu Huaiyu and Chu Feixue were the first to discover it. Those two selfish people fled immediately after discovering the fire.”
“You… what do you mean?” Han Zhan turned back, glaring at her.
What did he mean by fleeing immediately?
But clearly… clearly Huaiyu came back to save him…
“Don’t talk nonsense…”
“You should ask Eldest Brother.”
“Young Master?” What did Eldest Brother have to do with this?
“That’s right, Eldest Brother.”
Chu Qianli knew she shouldn’t waste time, but if he had been misunderstanding this matter for ten years, then it was time to wake this fool up.
“Chu Huaiyu and Chu Feixue were the fastest to leave. I saw it with my own eyes because I was injured. Not only did they not save me, but they kicked me away.”
“They left on their own. I watched them both run away as fast as their four legs could carry them! If it weren’t for Eldest Brother, I would probably have perished in that fire ten years ago.”
She hadn’t remembered this before, but she had a subconscious feeling that Eldest Brother Chu Jin’nan was a good person.
It was also because of this that she had asked the Emperor to have Eldest Brother recalled.
“Eldest Brother is upright. He never claims credit for his good deeds.”
She just didn’t expect that because he was too upright, all his merits were claimed by others.
“I have already requested the Emperor to transfer Eldest Brother back. I believe he will return to the Duke’s mansion before long. Why don’t you go and ask him who saved you back then?”