The Little Princess's Secret Guard - Chapter 26
Chapter 26: Searching
On the day the princess disappeared, the snow outside the capital had not yet melted, leaving two sets of carriage wheel tracks. Even though someone had deliberately tried to cover them up, Lin Xiao noticed the unusual nature of these tracks immediately.
It was the New Year period, and coupled with the strict checks in the capital, few idle people would be leaving the city. If there were, they would mostly be from wealthy families, or ordinary people coming to the capital to purchase New Year goods.
The carriages of wealthy families were made of excellent materials and were extremely heavy, leaving very deep marks in the snow. Lighter carriages, suitable for ordinary people, also left deep marks on the road because they were carrying family members and New Year purchases, making the carriage heavy.
However, amidst these deep wheel tracks, a very light and shallow track appeared. This was already unusual.
The princess’s disappearance was extremely fast that day, suggesting that arrangements had been made long ago. If she was transported by carriage, there would definitely not be many people inside.
If the person driving had nothing to hide, why would they cover up the tracks? It was absolutely impossible to say there was no trickery involved.
This was very likely the clue to the princess’s disappearance.
Lin Xiao followed this carriage wheel track. The further he went, the more obvious the tracks became. It seemed that the person thought no one could track them this far, so the efforts to conceal the tracks became increasingly perfunctory. Eventually, they stopped concealing them altogether, leaving them openly exposed.
An ordinary guard would have been stumped at the very first step. The world is vast, and people are busy. How could one accurately find the specific wheel tracks of the missing princess among countless others? If she was gone, she was gone. They would have to rely on other, slower methods to search.
But Lin Xiao was not a guard; he was a secret guard.
This was a task he frequently performed while serving the Emperor. Wherever one passes, traces will inevitably be left behind. For him, finding these was not difficult.
He followed the wheel tracks to a small mountain village. Smoke curled from the chimneys in the village, buzzing with the festive spirit of the New Year.
Lin Xiao did not recklessly reveal himself. Instead, he secretly searched every household in the area. He found no trace of the princess but did discover something else: the number of young, able-bodied men in the village seemed off.
Despite it being the most lively time of the New Year, the small village was mostly populated by women, children, and the elderly.
The women appeared to be married and had children, yet their husbands were absent… The outskirts of the capital were known for bandits, and this place might very well be where the families of those bandits lived.
Lin Xiao frowned deeply.
The princess was likely kidnapped by that group of bandits. The carriage tracks disappeared after entering this small mountain village.
Lin Xiao did find the carriage, but it did not belong exclusively to one household. Instead, several families owned it jointly. When the carriage was not in use, these families would also rent it out for others in the village to use.
Someone used that carriage almost daily in this small village, and the clue was lost again here.
He wondered how the princess was doing now.
Lin Xiao suppressed the anxiety in his heart and continued to painstakingly search for her traces.
However, too many people used this carriage, and he gained nothing.
Making a quick decision, Lin Xiao captured and interrogated one of the families that owned the carriage, but he still didn’t get any useful information.
These people knew nothing.
The villagers only knew that their family members went out to “do business” every winter and would return with a large sum of silver every spring. They were completely unaware of what exactly they were doing.
As for who used the carriage on New Year’s Eve, they did say it was borrowed by Wang Ergou’s family in the west of the village.
This was a predictable clue.
Fearing to alert the enemy, Lin Xiao directly disabled their ability to speak and headed towards Wang Ergou’s house in the west of the village.
Wang Ergou’s family consisted of four people: an elderly couple, a young woman, and a child of about seven or eight.
Lin Xiao secretly observed them and found that this household was no different from the others.
They also seemed unaware, but if they were unaware, why did they rent the carriage the day before New Year’s Eve, and use it for the entire night?
They must have a connection with the bandits.
If this was the case, Lin Xiao could no longer act rashly as he did before and capture people for questioning. If the bandits hiding in the mountains discovered something amiss, the princess might be in danger.
He could only monitor them secretly, trying to find a way this family communicated with the bandits.
However, this family was just like the others. They rose at sunrise and rested at sunset every day. Because it was the New Year, they often visited relatives and friends, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
The situation was at a stalemate again.
Lin Xiao had considered informing the General’s Mansion about this matter, but he didn’t trust them. The relationships in the capital were complex, and the news of the princess falling into the hands of bandits absolutely could not be leaked, otherwise, the princess’s reputation would be ruined.
If only he were still in the secret guard camp, he could directly order his secret guards to search the nearby mountain ravines. With the speed of the secret guards, results would be available in three days.
He didn’t know how the princess was doing now.
She must be crying from fear.
As time passed day by day, and this family still hadn’t contacted the bandits, Lin Xiao gradually became restless.
He couldn’t wait any longer. Any further delay would only put the princess in more danger. This matter could not be spread. To find the princess as quickly as possible, he would still have to return to the capital, inform the Emperor, and have the Emperor order a search of the mountains.
Relying only on himself was ultimately insufficient.
As for the consequences for himself if the Emperor found out… Lin Xiao clenched his fists. He could no longer worry about that.
It was at this moment that a turning point occurred.
“Aunt, why are you leaving so early today? Are you going to town?”
“Yes, my child is sick, and I want to go to town to get some medicine back so he can get better soon and ease my mind.”
“Your Gou’er is sick again? Alas, this cold winter is truly hard.”
In the early morning, just as the sky was faintly lighting up, someone from a household in the west of the village got up early. A little yellow dog wagged its tail, following its owner up and down, full of enthusiasm.
The dog’s enthusiastic barking woke up the next-door neighbor, and also woke up Lin Xiao, who was hiding in the fork of a tree. He opened his bloodshot eyes and listened to the conversation below, his brow sinking deep.
He had been monitoring them recently. He had seen the child just yesterday, wandering around the village with children his age, climbing trees, and catching fish in the river. How could he suddenly be sick overnight?
Is a child that fragile?
Lin Xiao darted away, quietly sneaking into her house. He immediately saw the boy, about seven or eight years old, sprawled on the bed, sleeping soundly.
He reached out and felt his pulse. The child, stimulated by the sudden cold touch, abruptly opened his eyes. Lin Xiao frowned slightly, immediately reached out and applied pressure to a pressure point to induce sleep. In an instant, the child sank back into slumber.
Lin Xiao withdrew his hand.
The child was perfectly fine, not sick at all… Wait!
In a flash, Lin Xiao realized the woman had another purpose, and he chased after the carriage.
He saw the woman enter a pharmacy and take out a prescription to fill. The pharmacy apprentice was quick in his actions. When he took out a few of the very familiar-looking herbs, Lin Xiao’s pupils contracted slightly, and he could no longer control his breathing.
This was not medicine for a cold; it was clearly medicine for palpitations!
“Cough, cough…”
Shen Panyan lay on the bed, her face pale as paper. If not for the slight rise and fall of her chest, she would have looked like a dead person.
“Has the medicine not been fetched yet?”
“Miss Qiu, don’t worry. Orders have already been given. We should have the medicine by tomorrow.”
“Hurry up the people below. If she dies, and the master above comes to hold us accountable, none of us will be able to escape!”
“Miss Qiu, don’t be angry. We all understand.”
“You better understand!”
Qiu Shuang snorted coldly, forcibly suppressing the anger in her heart, and left.
She had served by Shen Panyan’s side for many years, and no one knew better than her how dangerous Shen Panyan’s palpitations were. If not for the exquisite medical skills of the imperial physicians in the Imperial Academy of Medicine, she would have likely died long ago.
Now, in this remote mountain ravine, where could she find an imperial physician to treat her? They couldn’t even find two people who could read. They were all a bunch of louts. What if they accidentally let her die while keeping her?
She had failed several times already. If she failed again this time, the Empress would definitely not tolerate her anymore.
Qiu Shuang had no choice but to write down the prescription Shen Panyan most commonly used herself and have those louts run the errand.
Because Shen Panyan’s palpitations had relapsed, Qiu Shuang was not as strict in monitoring her as before. Naturally, she did not know that the palpitations were actually feigned by her.
Shen Panyan was often ill, and no one understood better than her how to pretend to be sick.
In the past, when she didn’t want to listen to Qiu Shuang nagging her, she would pretend her palpitations had relapsed.
She already had this condition. Even if an imperial physician was called, they wouldn’t find out she was faking it. As such, this trick had worked for her time and time again without fail.
And now, she naturally hadn’t failed either.
Watching Qiu Shuang’s retreating figure, Shen Panyan’s eyelashes fluttered shut, concealing a hint of joy that rose in her heart.
Pretending to be sick indeed worked.
The Empress spent such a high price to abduct her; she certainly didn’t want her dead. As long as she pretended her palpitations had relapsed, Qiu Shuang would definitely become anxious and send someone out to fetch medicine for her.
She wondered if Lin Xiao had discovered this clue.
She was currently trapped in this room and couldn’t go out. After much thought, this was the only clumsy way she could think of to transmit a message.
She hoped Lin Xiao could find her as soon as possible.
She was truly terrified!
Lin Xiao, where are you now?
Shen Panyan’s eyelashes trembled, and a tear rolled down.
She truly missed him.
Shen Panyan clutched the dagger hidden beneath the quilt tightly, as if this was the only way she could feel a sense of security.
As the night deepened, Shen Panyan stared at the faint moonlight filtering through the white window grids, unable to sleep for a long time. Her body, hidden under the quilt, trembled slightly.
She was afraid!
Since the third day she was locked up, every night she would hear rustling sounds coming from outside the window. Not only that, but she could vaguely see a figure walking back and forth outside, tall and immense, clearly a man.
Someone was coveting her!
Realizing this, panic and terror surged into Shen Panyan’s heart. Her face was deathly pale. How could she possibly sleep? Her pale complexion was a result of this fear.
Fortunately, the doors and windows of this room were sealed shut. She couldn’t get out, and the person outside couldn’t get in. No matter how unwilling the person outside was, they could only leave.
Shen Panyan, however, waited in fear and anxiety until dawn before daring to fall asleep.
Tonight, that person came again…
Shen Panyan huddled further into the bed.
She had mentioned this to Qiu Shuang, but Qiu Shuang said she was mistaken, that the rooms near hers were all empty, and no one lived there; it was her hallucinating.
Qiu Shuang would not help her.
She was just a prisoner now.
Shen Panyan desperately gripped the dagger, as if this was the only thing that could give her a shred of courage and peace of mind.
It’s alright, he can’t get in. The room is tightly sealed on all sides. It’s impossible for him to enter. Just then, a thudding sound suddenly came from the window.
That person was dismantling the wooden bars on her window!
Shen Panyan’s body abruptly froze in place, terror nearly overflowing from her eyes, and tears immediately streamed down.