The moment the two people came out, they choked on a mouthful of dust. They lightly flicked their sleeves to disperse the dusty haze before them as they lightly coughed twice.

  This wing of the City Lord’s Estate had now turned into ruins by now.

  Mo Lian looked down at his little one with a faint smile.

  “Qiaoqiao, tonight, we have to switch to a new room.”


  Qiao Mu simply rolled her eyes at him.

  A sound was soon heard from outside, and Huifeng came in through the window shortly after. When he saw the two people, his gaze relaxed as he let out a sigh of relief.

  He had received the crown prince’s message earlier, which stated that both him and the crown prince consort were fine.

  But Huifeng still felt unsettled since he hadn’t yet seen the crown prince and crown prince consort with his own eyes.

  “This subordinate was late in his rescue.”


  “It’s fine, it’s fine.” Mo Lian waved his hand as he stated, “Both the crown prince consort and I are okay. Have there been casualties among the hidden guards outside?”


  “Reporting to Your Highness, only several people have been bitten by the venomous snakes, but they’ve already consumed antidote pills, so there shouldn’t be any big issues for the time being.” Huifeng cupped his hands as he continued. “This subordinate has sent people to conduct a search throughout Beilan City, and they have discovered the traces of several of Shuntian Prefecture’s people. However, us subordinates were incompetent. We were too late and couldn’t capture those fish from Shuntian Prefecture that had escaped the net. Will Your Highness please mete out punishment.”


  “The whereabouts of Liu Yizhi and company are indeed strange, not to mention how crafty he is. Furthermore, you guys aren’t their match, so don’t make meaningless sacrifices.” Qiao Mu shook her head and analyzed, “The pygmy that came to assassinate me this time is from the Shuntian Prefecture. He should be twins with the pygmy that vainly attempted to poison the crown prince at the Qin Estate last time. They look the same, after all.”


  “The Shuntian Prefecture again.” Mo Lian snorted coldly.

  These two years, these fish from the Shuntian Prefecture that had escaped the net had been hiding in nooks and crannies the entire time, so it was rather a bit difficult to find them.

  “You don’t have to be hasty, just take your time to look for them.” Qiao Mu was expressionless. She wanted them to be eradicated.

  “What happened to that pygmy?”


  “Reporting to the crown prince consort, the pygmy has only been left with half a corpse. Should it be hanged at Beilan City’s city gate and whipped for three days and nights due to gross disrespect?”


  Qiao Mu shook her head. “That’s not necessary. His corpse is so ugly and bloodied. It’ll scare the many common people passing by the city gate if you hang it there.”


  Huifeng lowered his head to stifle a laugh, and he bowed with cupped fists as he replied, “Understood. Then this subordinate will go cremate him, lest he cause trouble as a mutated corpse.”


  “Mhm.” Qiao Mu nodded, and Mo Lian held her small hand as he led her away from the dusty wreckage.

  City Lord Lin, who had come upon being informed, kept repeatedly thanking the heavens when he saw that the two were safe. He personally led them in haste to a newly prepared room to rest.

  It was already late at night by now, and because the City Lord’s Estate had suddenly been attacked, the resulting wrap-up took until the middle of the night to be completed. Beilan City had even passed down several curfews and strictly looked into the people exiting the city.

  “That pygmy who died has a burrowing skill. Those fish from the Shuntian Prefecture that escaped the net must have fled with an underground tunnel.” Qiao Mu instructed after contemplating, “City Lord, go find several experts in surveying underground. Once you find that secret tunnel that leads outside the city, seal it as soon as possible. So that thieves can’t take advantage.”


  “Yes, yes!” The sweat on City Lord Lin’s forehead was about to seep out.

  The crown prince consort had successively met with mishaps in his Beilan City, and this made him so anxious that it was like he was a cat on a hot tin roof, incessantly busying about.

  Upon hearing Qiao Mu’s instruction, he ordered people that very night to have underground survey experts head for the abandoned lodgings of Liu Yizhi and the other people from Shuntian Prefecture to check for a secret tunnel.

  Meanwhile, Qiao Mu and Mo Lian felt a bit tired after the eventful day, so they each washed up and returned to their rooms to sleep.