Yi Yuan's eyes suddenly turned cold.
Xie Huaiyue also instantly clenched her fists.
"Don't worry and go back," Xie Huaiyue said seriously with a solemn expression. "I'll handle things here."
"Okay."
Yi Yuan trusted Xie Huaiyue's sense of propriety. Immediately, he took Ye Xi and returned to the prince's mansion.
Lin An was half-lying on the couch. His sharp eyebrows showed signs of illness. When he saw Yi Yuan coming, he tried to struggle to get up and salute him.
Yi Yuan took a few quick steps forward and pressed him back onto the couch. His usually cold voice softened a bit:
"You're in this state. There's no need for formalities. Just lie down properly."
Lin An tugged at the corner of his mouth and obediently lay back down.
Mian Xiao also came forward, affectionately patting Lin An on the shoulder and saying happily:
"You're finally awake. I almost thought I'd have to hold a memorial banquet for you."
Lin An shot him a glare. Knowing that his brother was just joking out of excitement, he didn't mind.
He just coughed and said guiltily:
"Your Highness, I'm useless. I couldn't find the letter Prince Chi Xuan left for you. I only found the cloth strip he left before the battle."
Saying so, he picked up the sword on the bedside. Lin An untied the black cloth strip wrapped around the sword hilt, revealing the white cloth inside that had already turned dark red.
Taking the cloth strip, Yi Yuan consoled him:
"Don't be too harsh on yourself. You've done a great job."
When the cloth strip was unfolded, there was only an address and a name on it: Xu Pan.
"I've already investigated the address written on it," Lin An said. "It's a house. But I didn't find anything suspicious. It seems someone had transferred things away in advance."
"The name Xu Pan isn't very common. There's only one person related to the border war - the farmland administrator of Hengfeng City. This person was usually in charge of the border's farmland reclamation and grain production. But when the war broke out, there was a serious shortage of military rations. They had to dispatch rations from nearby cities."
"For some unknown reason, the official in charge of transporting the rations handed them over to him after delivery."
"When the Ying army attacked, the soldiers in the army were caught off guard. That was one thing. The shortage of military rations in the army made the soldiers exhausted and unable to fight. This was the most important reason for the final defeat and Prince Chi Xuan's sacrifice on the battlefield."
Yi Yuan almost tore a hole in the cloth strip in his hand. The corners of his eyes were red, and his thin lips were tightly pursed into a straight line.
Prince Chi Xuan, Yi Zhuo, was free-spirited and high-spirited in his youth. He was full of passion and wanted to serve the country. Later, he met his princess. They were in harmony and understood each other. They both wanted to improve the situation where the Great Yin was strong in culture but weak in military and at a disadvantage. They jointly submitted a memorial to the emperor and resolutely gave up the wealth and glory in the capital. They moved their whole family to Hengfeng City to guard the border for the Great Yin.
But in just three years, he was completely buried at the border because of a matter of food.
He was the elder brother Yi Yuan admired and respected the most...
How dare they!
Noticing Yi Yuan's emotional instability, Mian Xiao and Lin An called out worriedly in unison:
"Your Highness."
Suddenly coming back to his senses from his grief, Yi Yuan tilted his head back and closed his eyes.
Wiping away the tears that slid down the corners of his eyes, Yi Yuan's voice was slightly hoarse:
"What's the current situation of that Xu Pan?"
"On the surface, he committed suicide out of fear of punishment. But when I was investigating that address, I found his trace. That place seemed to be a hiding place he had prepared in advance. It shows that he knew someone wanted to kill him."
Lin An replied.
"I originally wanted to bring him back at that time. But he was very cautious. I was alone and wasn't fully confident that I could bring him back quietly without alerting the mastermind behind the scenes. So I didn't stir up trouble. Instead, I wanted to come back and report to Your Highness first."
"But I didn't expect to be assassinated in Wu City. Now it seems that the mastermind behind the scenes might have noticed something. Xu Pan is probably already dead."
"That may not be the case," Yi Yuan mused. "If the mastermind behind the scenes had really noticed something, they should have taken action earlier. They wouldn't have waited until Wu City, which is almost in the capital."
If the mastermind behind the scenes hadn't noticed yet, it was better to bring this Xu Pan back sooner rather than later.
His slender fingers tapped lightly on the carved sandalwood round table. Yi Yuan gave the order:
"Mian Xiao, go find Steward Chen first and ask him to quietly find a good portrait painter. Lin An, you first describe that location in detail. Draw it if you can. When the painter comes later, you can describe Xu Pan's appearance in detail."
Saying so, he took out a token from his bosom and handed it to Mian Xiao:
"Take my token and go to the Frost Pavilion to mobilize four people. After the painter and Lin An finish the map, you set off immediately with them to bring Xu Pan back. He doesn't need to be full of energy. As long as he's alive. Remember, you mustn't stir up trouble."
"Yes."
Mian Xiao and Lin An replied respectfully in unison.
Soon, a servant brought up paper, a brush, and a kang table and neatly placed them on the couch. Lin An then picked up the brush and started drawing.
While Yi Yuan was busy here, the Ye, Cao, and Zhou families were extremely anxious.
At first, only the children of the three families were arrested. Who would have thought that now even their wives were involved. The adults of the families had been quite calm before. But now, with no one in charge of the backyard, the families were already in a mess because of the matters of the younger generation. Now it was even more chaotic, and all the adults were in a hurry.
Ye Pengcheng was especially anxious.
These days, he didn't know which god he had offended. The money he had secretly embezzled through activities like sacrifices before had been exposed. His opponents had also found things in his sacrificial process that didn't conform to the etiquette of previous generations and severely impeached him in front of the emperor.
The emperor was very angry. Fortunately, because of the engagement between Ye Xi and Cao Sheng, Lord Cao thought that if something happened to him, Ye Xi would definitely be sad. So he spoke a few good words for him, and he didn't end up in serious trouble.
But his reputation was ruined after all. He was already in a difficult situation. And then this happened in his family. Ye Pengcheng was so angry that he almost spat out blood. He ordered someone to prepare a carriage and rushed straight to the state uncle's mansion.
But he didn't dare to go to Grand Tutor Cao. After all, the affair between Cao Sheng and Ye Jueyao had spread like wildfire in the capital. And Grand Tutor Cao was honest and upright all his life. He liked Ye Xi's personality the most.
If he knew about this, not only would he not help, but he might even abandon Cao Sheng.
When the carriage arrived at the Cao family, he rushed straight to Cao Dexiu's study.
Cao Dexiu was also extremely worried. He knew his father's personality best. Now his wife and son were both in prison. There were two less people in the family. No matter how well he hid it, it would be discovered sooner or later.
Now that Ye Pengcheng had come, Cao Dexiu immediately welcomed him in. As soon as they met, they got straight to the point.
Cao Dexiu said:
"Brother Ye, you've finally come. Do you have any good ideas?"
Ye Pengcheng followed Cao Dexiu into the room and said:
"Brother Cao, I won't hide it from you. Now that Prince Yu'an doesn't want to see us, we can only start with my unfilial second daughter."
"Oh?" Cao Dexiu said happily. "Can your daughter see us? Didn't Prince Yu'an lock her up?"
Ye Pengcheng secretly thought that Lord Cao was really a simple-minded person who believed whatever others said. No wonder he was led around by a woman like Zhao E.
But on the surface, he showed nothing and said:
"That's not the case. But Ye Xi is a daughter of the Ye family. I don't believe that Prince Yu'an won't let me see my own daughter when I go!"