FID – Chapter 693

Chapter 693: That Is the Only One

In a royal carriage, several princesses of the current dynasty sat together, with the Seventeenth Princess being the youngest. The others present were her older sisters.

Watching Wei Zi’s figure disappear in the distance, one of the princesses covered her lips and turned to her with a smile.

“Yes, the King, as the regent of Nanling, has seen countless storms over the years. What could have happened today to make him show such emotion? It’s rare for him to lose his composure. I’m very curious. Seventeen, you’ve been closest to him, so you must know something about this, right?”

Beicang’s imperial harem was vast, with so many princes and princesses that they couldn’t all be counted on ten fingers. Among them, Seventeen, being the youngest, was the most favored.

With her high status came a spoiled nature. Since she was young, every princess had been accustomed to seeing her moods. Now that they had an opportunity to take advantage, they were careful not to be too overt in their ridicule, but they didn’t mind some subtle jabs.

Just the other day, Seventeen had quarreled with their father, and everyone had noticed how bad her mood was in the following days. Even he frowned when he saw Seventeen.

As the saying goes, ‘What rises must fall.’ Even the most favored person, once they go too far, will eventually experience a downfall.

The group exchanged words, smiles on their faces, but daggers hidden in their words.

Seventeen watched with a cold sneer. “Since all of you royal sisters are so curious, why not go directly ask His Highness? I, too, want to know what caused the king to lose his composure. If there’s anything I can assist with, I would be happy to lend a hand. After all, the Nanling envoy group is a distinguished guest of our Beicang, and my father highly values the King. If I perform well, I might even earn a little favor in front of my father!”

“Seventeen, you must be joking. When it comes to favor, none of us would dare to compare with you. Father also saw that scene earlier, and once we return to the capital, he will definitely inquire whether the Nanling King needs any help. We would never dare to act without father’s approval.”

The topic was set aside, and Seventeen coldly looked ahead at the direction where Wei Zi had disappeared, her gaze darkening and shifting.

After the return journey, the procession entered the capital, and Feng Qingbai left the royal entourage, heading straight for the Yuelai Inn.

What greeted him was a scene of scorched blackness. Although the site had been cleared, remnants of the fire’s destruction were still visible everywhere in the ruined walls, and the place resembled a wasteland!

It was like a wasteland!

Feng Qingbai pressed his lips together tightly, got off the carriage, and approached Wei Zi, who had just returned from gathering information from the surrounding shops. “What did you find?”

“I have inquired with the innkeeper. Among the guests who stayed at the inn that day, there were indeed people with a Nanling accent—twelve people in total. The innkeeper said that among them, two were women: one around seventeen or eighteen years old, and the other around thirty.”

“Names!” Feng Qingbai’s fists clenched suddenly, uncontrollably trembling. His usually calm gaze was shattered in that moment.

Wei Zi lowered his head and replied, “According to the innkeeper and information gathered from nearby shops, someone overheard the older woman calling the younger one… ‘Nannan’!”

The air instantly froze.

The sudden drop in temperature and pressure made Wei Zi too afraid to look up. He quickly added to his previous statement, “Your Highness, please calm down! The casualties at the inn have been confirmed to be all Beicang citizens! Miss Liu and the others should be safe. Furthermore, I suspect that the person accompanying Miss Liu is likely Wei Hong!”

With Wei Hong protecting her, things shouldn’t be too bad.

However, since Wei Hong was there, why hadn’t there been any contact with them? Wei Zi didn’t dare to say this out loud.

The King must understand this as well. If he could think of it, there’s no way His Highness wouldn’t. It was just that something unexpected must have happened!

“Search!” The words were squeezed out through clenched teeth, carrying an intense fury and murderous intent!

In the carriage, Duan Ting also heard Wei Zi’s report. His expression darkened. “I’ll return to the manor now and dispatch people to help search!”

“This favor, I will remember!” Feng Qingbai grabbed the horse Wei Zi had been riding and mounted it.

Seeing this, Duan Ting furrowed his brow and urgently asked, “Feng Qingbai, where are you going? You’re not familiar with Beicang. If you want to find someone, don’t act recklessly.”

“I’ll find the Emperor and ask for his help!” With that, he was already galloping away, his horse speeding several paces ahead.

Watching Feng Qingbai’s back as he rode away, Duan Ting pressed his lips together. For a woman, Feng Qingbai, as Prince, was willing to discard his own dignity and ask the Beicang Emperor for help. The place that Liu Yusheng held in his heart could no longer be measured by rank or status.

That was the only choice. And it was also the wisest course of action.

This was Beicang’s territory; whose power could surpass that of the Beicang Emperor?

Even in the most urgent moments, Feng Qingbai could swiftly assess the situation and make the best arrangements. His intellect and methods were enough to make others wary and fearful.

Fortunately, he and the emperor had not become enemies.

“Return to the manor!”

Before the ruins of the inn, the group quickly dispersed.

At this moment, no one noticed a carriage quietly parked not far away, watching the entire scene from start to finish and clearly hearing the conversation between the people.

After a short while, the carriage slowly began to move, and a delicate laugh came from inside.

“I see. A young woman from Nanling… She must be the fiancée of His Highness, the one we’ve heard of but never met.”

“If she really is his fiancée, then she must be extraordinarily beautiful, with a face that could cause fish to forget to swim and birds to fall from the sky. Otherwise, how could she make the king so obsessed, always thinking of her?”

The several princesses appeared to be casually chatting and laughing, but secretly, they were all closely watching the face of the Seventeenth Princess.

As they observed, they saw her once-beautiful face hardening into a frosty expression, showing clear discomfort, which pleased them inwardly.

For the first time in her life, Seventeen was truly embarrassed!

After returning to her chambers, Seventeen immediately summoned her trusted subordinate and whispered a few words. Her gaze toward the outside of the palace was cold and filled with malice.

Soon after Feng Qingbai entered the palace, the Emperor issued an order to the Imperial Guards and the Military Bureau, instructing them to immediately disperse personnel and search within a 40-mile radius of the capital and surrounding towns.

After the capital’s streets had been shaken by the fire and assassination, and with the soldiers now fully armed and searching everywhere, the people were left in a state of panic.

Despite numerous inquiries, no one could uncover the truth, making the situation even more unsettling.

Those who had been in contact with Wei Zi before and had been asked numerous questions felt a slight sense of foreboding. The emperor’s sudden large-scale action was clearly to help the King of Nanling to find someone!

And that person was undoubtedly extremely important to him.

As the search continued throughout the capital, in a ruined temple thirty miles away, Wei Hong’s expression was deadly serious. She raised her hand to signal for Qian Baihao and the others to move to the back.

Outside the temple, the murderous aura spread as the assassins attacked once again.

They had been trapped in place for five days without a single grain of rice to eat!

Everyone’s condition had deteriorated to the extreme, especially Wei Hong. Even though she had taken medicine, her injuries continued to worsen, and after days without food, she was gradually falling behind in the confrontation with the enemy.

If it weren’t for the sharpness and skills honed through years of training, she would have already been lying dead in the ruined temple yesterday.

Those people wouldn’t kill Qian Baihao and the others, but they would definitely show no mercy toward her!