The room quieted down, and the flickering candlelight cast shifting shadows over Liu Jinghong’s face.
His trusted aide spoke in a low voice, “There’s still no word… but—”
Liu Jinghong asked coldly, “But what?”
The aide lowered his voice further. “But earlier, I overheard Miss Qi on the rooftop. She said she lost something very important… it seems it ended up in the Prince’s hands.”
Liu Jinghong’s heart gave a sudden jolt.
It ended up in Qi Wang’s hands? Something very important?
Could it be the clue to the Wangfei’s whereabouts?
Or perhaps something that could lead to her?
If that were the case…
Suppressing the surge in his chest, Liu Jinghong narrowed his eyes. “Keep following Qi Yuan. Watch her—don’t let her out of your sight. And send more men to track the Prince’s whereabouts!”
He exhaled slowly, his voice icy: “Even the heavens are helping me now.”
The aide immediately acknowledged the order.
They had been trailing Qi Yuan for seven or eight days now and noticed she was anxiously dispatching people to search for something.
And all along the way, there hadn’t been the slightest sign of Qi Wang.
Which confirmed—Qi Wang was not traveling with her.
That meant…
Liu Jinghong finally concluded that Qi Wang likely wouldn’t appear at Qi Yuan’s side again.
Either he had taken the item and gone directly to find the Wangfei himself.
Or he had taken the item and sent others in his stead while returning to the capital.
Qi Yuan had only thirty-six escorts, plus a young maid.
That kind of Qi Yuan was like a piece of fat meat, dangling on the tip of one’s tongue.
Who wouldn’t bite down? Only a fool wouldn’t.
Thinking of how Liu Mingzhu had fallen from the darling of Shengjing to a laughingstock in a single night, how the fall from her horse had left her permanently unwell, Liu Jinghong’s desire to kill Qi Yuan grew only stronger.
Kill her!
Then he would go after Qi Wang.
By then, even if Qi Wang did have feelings for Qi Yuan, there would be no turning back.
What could he do for a dead woman? Turn against his own uncle?
Especially with Noble Consort Liu backing him.
That day, on the sixteenth day after leaving the capital, they arrived in Jiangcheng.
Once within Jiangcheng’s borders but before reaching Wuchang, there was a long stretch of desolate mountain paths.
That day, Liu Jinghong summoned his aide. “There’s something I want you to take care of immediately.”
After hearing the instructions, the aide’s heart clenched. “Understood!”
On the other side, dusk had fallen.
Head Escort Huang said to Qi Yuan, “Miss, I must let you know in advance—there aren’t any homes along this stretch of road. We can’t find any post station or lodging, so you’ll have to make do sleeping in the carriage tonight.”
He added, “We’ll set up camp and rest in the tents.”
Really, it would’ve been better for Qi Yuan to rest in the tents as well, but he figured she might feel uncomfortable, so he planned to have the camp arranged around her carriage, keeping her in the center.
That way, she’d be well protected.
Qi Yuan had no objections and nodded for them to go ahead.
At that moment, the little maid Lihua, purchased by the escort agency, timidly approached. “Miss, water.”
Qi Yuan had taken her in simply because she’d seen the girl about to be sold to a rich old man by her own father. So she had the escort agency buy her instead.
Seeing her now, Qi Yuan patted her head. “It’s been hard on you.”
Lihua’s eyes widened like a puppy’s. “Not hard at all!”
No one had ever treated her this well.
She’d been given new clothes, allowed to eat and live alongside them. Though called a servant, Qi Yuan hardly ever gave her orders.
Every night before sleeping, she feared waking to find it had all been a dream.
Qi Yuan smiled and was just about to speak when she suddenly stood and strode quickly toward the carriage.
Head Escort Huang was overseeing camp setup. Seeing her sudden movement, he quickly followed. “What is it?”
Qi Yuan snatched a torch from someone nearby and thrust it toward the carriage.
Blood was dripping steadily from beneath it.
Lihua screamed.
Head Escort Huang turned pale and tore open the carriage floor, revealing a dead black dog hidden underneath, its blood still trickling down.
His expression changed drastically.
Qi Yuan closed her eyes briefly, then looked up at the darkened sky and said in a low voice, “Gather everyone. Light torches. Quickly—very quickly!”
Head Escort Huang was flustered. “Miss…”
“You’re an escort,” Qi Yuan snapped. “You’ve traveled all over. Don’t you know what season it is?”
Her voice was cold. “Wolves form packs in winter and scatter in spring. Now, in deep winter, they lack prey—they’ll turn on people. And besides, someone clearly set us up.”
Head Escort Huang’s heart pounded as he called everyone together to light fires and guard the perimeter.
Just then, a wolf’s howl pierced the night sky.
Lihua burst into tears in terror.
Qi Yuan wrapped an arm around her, comforting her softly, “We’ll be fine. There are so many of us. Don’t be afraid.”
By firelight, she looked up toward the nearby hilltops and saw countless wolves emerging from the darkness, eyes glowing as they fixed on their prey.
A wolf pack.
A real one.
Huang’s heart sank like a stone. “A few wolves is normal, a family of five or six maybe—but this… this is a whole clan!”
Every wolf nearby must’ve been drawn here!
All because of that dog’s blood. Who would be so vile as to plant it under the carriage, luring the wolves in with the scent?
Head Escort Huang’s voice suddenly turned harsh. “Ready yourselves! Be ready!”
At that moment, the lead wolf let out a sharp howl and charged down the slope.
The rest of the pack followed, bounding downhill straight toward the people.
The guards braced themselves, waving torches to fend off the wolves.
But the wolves were ferocious. The torches only held them back briefly before they launched even fiercer attacks.
One escort was caught off guard. A wolf sank its teeth into his ankle, tearing out a chunk of flesh. He cried out in agony.
Head Escort Huang rushed to help, but in that moment, one wolf pounced toward Qi Yuan.
Head Escort Huang suddenly realized that in leaving her side, he’d left a gap in the defense.
He turned back, desperate, only to see the wolf already upon her. Panic surged through him—his child’s life was tied to Qi Yuan’s hands.
“No—!” he shouted in despair.
But in that instant, Qi Yuan shoved Lihua aside, revealing the spring-loaded sleeve arrow strapped to her arm. With perfect aim, she triggered it, firing a bolt directly into the wolf’s eye.
The beast let out a ghastly cry and crashed to the ground at her feet.
Qi Yuan drew the flexible sword from her waist and, without hesitation, plunged it into the wolf’s throat.
Hot wolf blood splattered across her face.
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