After saying that, both of them burst into laughter and then walked side by side.
Mo Qinghuan tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear. "Is your injury getting better?"
Lu Zixiu looked at her profile. "What about you? How's the injury you got that night while saving me?"
"It was just a minor injury. It's long since healed." Actually, she had long forgotten about it because it wasn't deep in the first place.
It was really kind of this gentle and modest gentleman to still remember...
"By the way, where are you going? Your injury isn't fully healed yet. If you wander around like this, what if someone targets you again?"
He smiled with his eyes curving into crescent moons and looked at Mo Qinghuan. "It won't be that easy for them to assassinate me once I'm in the capital city."
Mo Qinghuan raised her eyebrows. "Really? I thought it would be even more dangerous in the capital."
"You underestimate the Regent. That's all I can say." He quickened his pace and walked in front of Mo Qinghuan.
"Farewell, Young Master Lu."
...
The autumn weather was dry, but the prison was dark and damp.
The chirping of rats could be heard everywhere, as well as the sizzling sound of the heated branding iron.
The Right Prime Minister folded his hands in front of him and watched expressionlessly as Ling Yu was hung up and beaten violently.
As if not satisfied with just watching, he took the whip from the jailer's hand and lashed out fiercely.
Ling Yu gasped for breath in pain, and his lips bled from the cracks.
He couldn't help but sigh inwardly that the prison was truly no place for humans. He had only been there for less than two hours, and he was already tortured beyond recognition.
And the Right Prime Minister, Gu Fucheng, had remained expressionless from beginning to end.
The jailer sensed the Right Prime Minister's intention to beat the man to death.
But he had been ordered by his superiors that Ling Yu must not die; otherwise, he would be the one to pay for it.
He stepped forward. "My Lord Prime Minister, please calm down. Sit down and have a cup of tea. Let this humble one do it for you."
But the Right Prime Minister ignored him and lashed out more than a dozen more times.
Ling Yu gritted his teeth tightly, his hands clenched into fists, breathing rapidly.
Seeing that he couldn't stop the Right Prime Minister, the jailer stepped forward and blocked in front of Ling Yu. "My Lord Prime Minister, using torture privately must not result in a death. Otherwise, if the superiors blame us, this humble one can't bear the responsibility."
The Right Prime Minister angrily flung his sleeve, threw the whip away, walked to the charcoal brazier, took out the red - hot branding iron inside, and walked towards Ling Yu.
Ling Yu's pupils shrank suddenly, and he quickly pleaded for mercy. "Right Prime Minister, no! No!" He shook his head frantically, but Gu Fucheng showed no sign of stopping.
"Humph, once he's in here, he won't get out alive!"
Seeing Gu Fucheng's hand about to reach his face, he closed his eyes in despair.
"Stop!" Bai Ke shouted.
Gu Fucheng turned around and met Mu Yanming's gaze. "Greetings to the Regent."
Mu Yanming was still standing on the steps, looking down at Gu Fucheng.
"What are you doing here, Right Prime Minister?"
The Right Prime Minister lowered his head and squinted his eyes. "Replying to Your Highness, I'm not doing anything!"
"My Lord Prime Minister, it's better for you to come to the prison less often!"
Mu Yanming walked past Gu Fucheng and glanced at him indifferently.
Once inside, when Ling Yu saw Mu Yanming, he propped himself up with what little strength he had left and said, "Your Highness, please save me. If I stay here any longer, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold on!"
Mu Yanming sat back on the chair and looked at him coldly.
Bai Ke stepped forward and loosened the chains binding Ling Yu's hands and feet. Suddenly losing his support, he collapsed on the ground. The cold ground on his wounds actually made him feel a bit better.
"Bai Ke, send Young Master Ling back home. Lord Ling is still waiting for him at home."
The Right Prime Minister looked at Mu Yanming. "Your Highness, what does this mean?"
Mu Yanming looked at Gu Fucheng expressionlessly. "What does it mean? This king wants to ask what you mean, My Lord Prime Minister! Who gave you the power to come to the prison and punish the prisoners!"
By the end, his voice rose a few notes, and the jailer couldn't help but tremble.
"This despicable lad insulted my son so much. I was just giving him a small punishment!" He said it so confidently, as if he wasn't the unreasonable one.
"A small punishment? This king can see that he's almost half - dead! Bai Ke, was Young Master Gu in this state when he was sent back home?"
Bai Ke glared at the Right Prime Minister. "Replying to Your Highness, when Miss Gu came to pick him up, Young Master Gu was safe and sound!"
The Right Prime Minister hung his head and said nothing.
In the past, he would never have been like this.
But over the years, because the emperor couldn't bear to hear others say that he had rebelled against the former crown prince with the help of the Gu family to ascend the throne, he gradually weakened the Gu family's power and handed over most of the power to an outsider, the Left Prime Minister.
Gu Fucheng watched helplessly as Ling Yu was carried out and secretly wrote down this grudge in his heart.
After Gu Fucheng left, Bai Ke crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"Your Highness, this Right Prime Minister is too arrogant!"
Mu Yanming sneered and shook his head, then started walking out of the prison.
Not far away, a young eunuch rushed over in a flurry. "Your Highness, the person sent people today to look for the missing divine doctor."
Mu Yanming narrowed his eyes. He didn't expect that person to still remember this matter.
"Bai Ke, send people to secretly protect the divine doctor. If necessary, bring the person to the prince's mansion."
Bai Ke bowed. "Yes, Your Highness."
Back at the prince's mansion, Mu Yanming locked himself in the study and spread out the scrolls on the desk.
After a while, his train of thought was interrupted by a hasty sound of footsteps.
He stood up and walked to the door, seeing Bai Ke running back covered in blood.
"What's going on?" Mu Yanming asked calmly.
"Replying to Your Highness, the princess has disappeared!"
Hearing this, a flicker of worry that even he didn't notice flashed across Mu Yanming's eyes.
"When this subordinate went to the general's mansion according to your order, I found that she wasn't there. I asked her maid and found out that she said she was going to the Regent's mansion this morning. After she left, she didn't come back all day."
"Then whose blood is on you? Who could hurt you?"
Bai Ke raised his hand to wipe off the blood. "Oh, this isn't my blood. It's the blood left by the person I fought with outside the general's mansion."
Mu Yanming looked up at the sky. It was already late at night. In the ink - black sky, there were only a few scattered lights.
The moon hung on the treetops, covering the whole night with a thin mist.
"It seems they've found the general's mansion. Send people to look for her first. We'll deal with the rest later."
Just then, Lu Zixiu walked over leisurely. "What's going on? You all look so serious. What happened?"
Bai Ke lowered his head. "The princess has disappeared!"
Lu Zixiu's expression changed. "Disappeared? I saw her at the end of the afternoon."
Bai Ke looked at Lu Zixiu in confusion. "Where?"
"On the street! In the end, she was called away by a young couple who said they wanted her to take a look at their paralyzed mother - in - law."
Bai Ke turned to look at Mu Yanming and noticed that Mu Yanming, who usually remained calm in any situation, now had a faint look of uneasiness on his face.