The man opened his mouth, about to say something when an urgent voice came from outside, "My Lord National Advisor, someone has sent a letter."
Hearing this, Cui Qizhou said rather impatiently, "Do I look like I have time to read letters now?"
The servant bowed his head and took out the letter timidly.
"But the person who sent the letter looked so strange. He said he must deliver it to you in person."
Hearing this, the man had no choice but to open the letter.
After reading the content, his face immediately changed.
"Where's the person who sent the letter?"
"He... left."
Hearing this, the man's face darkened.
"You may leave."
"Yes."
After the servant left, Qin Feng asked curiously,
"I wonder who sent this letter. It made our National Advisor react so strongly."
The man looked solemn and threw the letter to him directly.
"If General Qin saw it, he'd probably react the same way as I did."
Qin Feng looked puzzled. He took the letter and examined it carefully. After reading it, he couldn't wait to go out.
Xiao Xiao, who was in the dark, quickly pulled him back.
"Where are you going, General Qin?"
"Of course, to rescue Shi An."
Xiao Xiao sighed helplessly. "I know how much effort you've put into finding the Eldest Prince. I know you're all worried about him, and so am I. But the problem is, we don't know where the Eldest Prince is. If you go out rashly, you may end up like the Lord and the National Advisor. You've just recovered."
Knowing that Xiao Xiao hadn't read the letter yet, Qin Feng told her the general content.
"Concubine Rui has kidnapped Shi An and is threatening us to go and make a deal with her."
"What's the condition of the deal?"
"Gold, silver, and jewels."
Hearing these four simple words, Xiao Xiao was stunned. "Didn't Concubine Rui take those things away already? Otherwise, she couldn't have gotten the Eldest Prince's jade pendant."
"We need to check it out to know what's going on exactly. Don't worry. We'll go and come back soon."
Saying that, the two men quickly disappeared from the room. Xiao Xiao glanced at the Lord lying on the bed. Her face was full of worry.
"My Lord, you must wake up soon. Otherwise, everything here will be in chaos."
But the person on the bed seemed to be in a deep sleep, isolated from the world and couldn't hear her call. She had no choice but to keep guarding by his side.
The man left the Huang Mansion and soon arrived at the place appointed in the letter.
Looking at the scene inside, he knew that the place had been cleared.
The man frowned slightly. "Are you sure you want to go in with me, General Qin?"
"I won't be at ease until I see that Shi An is really okay."
Since he had said so, the man didn't stop him anymore. The two of them stepped in together.
As soon as they stepped in, the door of the inn "banged" shut.
The two of them remained calm, with their fingers tightly gripping on both sides in case someone attacked them from the dark.
When they were about to go up the stairs, a laugh came from above.
"Humph, I didn't expect you two to come together. It seems that the National Advisor and General Qin really care about the Eldest Prince."
"Cut the crap. Where did you hide the person?"
Concubine Rui pursed her lips, holding a cup of tea in her hand and leaning against the railing. "Don't be in such a hurry, gentlemen. I definitely won't hurt the Eldest Prince. But let me put it bluntly. If you don't follow the rules, don't blame me." Hearing this, the man pulled the excited Qin Feng behind him.
"You've already taken the gold, silver, and jewels. Why are you still putting on airs here?"
This answer was beyond her expectation. Concubine Rui's smile cracked for a moment.
"What? How is that possible? The gold, silver, and jewels have always been stored in the warehouse and strictly guarded by you. I haven't had the chance to get them yet. Are you trying to avoid saving the person and using such words to prevaricate me?"
There was a hint of mockery on Qin Feng's lips. "Only the person who captured Shi An and Shi An himself could get his jade pendant. He wouldn't leave the jade pendant there on purpose. And the person who once kidnapped him said that Concubine Rui was behind it all. Stop pretending."
Concubine Rui was obviously enraged. Thinking that the things she hadn't gotten yet had disappeared without a trace, she tightly grabbed the railing with her hands, and her fingertips turned white.
"I've never sent anyone to take those things. If you insist on not handing them over, don't blame me."
Her eyes were fierce, as if Shi An was really in her hands. The man had no choice but to stop her.
"Then we'll make this deal. We'll hand the things over to you, but you have to give us some time to prepare."
"Of course, that's no problem. Then it's settled. You'd better not play any tricks, or I can't guarantee how long the Eldest Prince will live."
"Don't worry."
After leaving the inn, Qin Feng thought that the man's hasty promise just now was a bit irrational.
"We don't know where those things are at all. You shouldn't have promised her."
"But we don't have any other choice now, do we? Whether the Eldest Prince is in her hands or not, we can't afford to take the risk."
Qin Feng was furious. He punched the carriage beside him directly, and blood flowed from his hand.
"If I were stronger, I wouldn't have been calculated by those people at that time."
"It's no use talking about this now. We need to find someone first."
"Besides Shi An, who else do we need to find now?"
"I think there must be a mole around us. He's probably the key to this matter. As long as we can find the mole, we can know the whereabouts of the Eldest Prince."
This made Qin Feng a bit confused.
"How are you so sure that the mole is around us?"
The man curled his lips, and a cold look flashed across his face.
"Otherwise, how did Concubine Rui know that the gold, silver, and jewels were in our hands? But I also have a thought. That mole should be loyal to more than one person. Otherwise, Concubine Rui wouldn't still not know that the things are gone by now."
After hearing his words, Qin Feng finally understood. The two of them went their separate ways. The man went to investigate the mole, while Qin Feng went to look for the whereabouts of Shi An.
Judging from Concubine Rui's performance just now, and the fact that they had secretly sent people to search the back, Shi An might not be in her hands at all.
They needed to confirm the whereabouts of the Eldest Prince as soon as possible.
The man returned to the Huang Mansion and prepared to start investigating from the very beginning, that is, the night when they went to get the gold, silver, and jewels.
Sure enough, he found something fishy.
On the night when they went to get the gold, silver, and jewels, a shadow guard who had been with him for a long time suddenly disappeared for a few hours. No one knew where he had gone.
He inquired carefully. That shadow guard had no relatives here and it was his first time coming. This was a bit unreasonable.