Gu Ruobai narrowed his eyes and redirected the carriage.
When Qi Yue saw that it was Gu Ruobai, she was momentarily stunned. It took her a while to come to her senses. "Your Highness, you... you already know everything?"
Seeing Qi Yue looking so guilty, Gu Ruobai's face darkened. "Where's the information?"
Qi Yue quickly offered it with both hands. "It was so difficult to investigate Tang Ziyan's background. Fortunately, we found the tutor he mentioned before. The tutor said they saved Tang Ziyan in Bianzhou, and he studied under him afterwards."
"Bianzhou?" Gu Ruobai narrowed his eyes slightly. "Are you sure the tutor didn't remember wrongly?"
Qi Yue nodded firmly. "I guarantee I didn't get it wrong. The tutor said it was Bianzhou. What's wrong with Bianzhou?"
Gu Ruobai frowned imperceptibly. "Bianzhou is far from Tang Yan's home, one in the east and the other in the north. If Tang Ziyan was really saved in Bianzhou, there might be no relation between him and Tang Yan."
"How could there be no relation!" Qi Yue's eyes widened in disbelief. "Your Highness, do you still remember what business the Tang family was in when you stayed at Tang Yan's mansion?"
Gu Ruobai thought for a moment. "I only remember that their mansion was well - maintained. There was a lot of salt. I guess they were involved in the illegal salt trade."
"Exactly!" Qi Yue slapped her forehead excitedly. "They were indeed in the illegal salt business. Since Your Highness has thought of this, you should be able to guess the rest."
"Bianzhou has always been a major production area for illegal salt." Gu Ruobai lowered his eyes. The things that had puzzled him before suddenly made sense. "You mean Tang Ziyan is a child of the Tang family who was left in Bianzhou?"
Qi Yue nodded. "As expected of Your Highness. You've figured out the whole thing just from this little information."
Saying so, Qi Yue took out a piece of paper. "This is a portrait drawn by someone we found near the old site of the Tang family's illegal salt workshop in Bianzhou. Look at this little boy. He's so good - looking. He should be easy to recognize."
Indeed, although the features of the child in the portrait were not fully developed, he already had Tang Ziyan's stunning looks.
"Our people have inquired. This person's name is not Tang Ziyan but Tang Ziming. He's Tang Yan's younger brother. I think he changed his name to Tang Ziyan later to find Tang Yan."
"After all, after the Tang family's downfall, Tang Ziming had a hard time in Bianzhou. The steward in Bianzhou directly embezzled the Tang family's remaining property and drove Tang Ziming out of the mansion, leaving him to fend for himself."
Qi Yue sighed. "Later, he was saved by a failed candidate in a small village under Bianzhou. But Tang Ziyan's life afterwards was not good. That tutor was a real brute."
At this, Qi Yue gritted her teeth in hatred. "He would drive Tang Ziyan out to do odd jobs every day and use the silver he earned to buy wine for himself. If Tang Ziyan didn't bring back enough silver, the tutor would beat and scold him."
"Later, Tang Ziyan couldn't bear the hardship and ran away. But we don't know what happened in between. When we found his trace again, he was already a young prostitute in Nanyuan and even became the top courtesan there."
Gu Ruobai nodded, indicating that he understood. "Did Su Mingyu ask you to investigate all this?"
Qi Yue hummed in agreement. "Master suspected that Tang Ziyan was up to something a long time ago, so she asked me to look into it. You know, I really found out a lot."
Gu Ruobai took a deep breath looking at the information in his hand. "I also sensed something was wrong with him, so I didn't alarm him today."
"Today?" Qi Yue asked sharply. "My master, she..."
Gu Ruobai's face darkened and looked extremely grim. "She was abducted by Tang Ziming and Tang Yan together."
"What!" Qi Yue exclaimed and immediately looked worried. "Where is she? I have to go and save my master!"
"You can't save her." Gu Ruobai rejected Qi Yue's suggestion almost without thinking.
Qi Yue was a bit annoyed, thinking Gu Ruobai looked down on her. "Your Highness! She's my master. You can't just let me stand by and do nothing!"
"When did I ever say such a thing!" Gu Ruobai's voice deepened, exuding a threatening aura. Qi Yue shivered involuntarily and softened her attitude.
Actually, Qi Yue knew better than anyone that Gu Ruobai must be the most anxious one since Su Mingyu was abducted. If it were possible to save her, Gu Ruobai would have gone himself long ago. How could it be her turn to say such things?
Qi Yue scratched her nose and said apologetically, "Well... if Your Highness needs any help from me, please let me know."
Seeing Qi Yue had calmed down, Gu Ruobai said in a low voice, "I need you now. Do you still remember the water mansion where we were once locked up?"
Qi Yue nodded. "I remember. What about it?"
Gu Ruobai lowered his eyes. "I want you to send people to guard there. Just keep watch. Record everyone who goes in and out, but don't alert them."
"Ah?" Qi Yue's eyes widened in surprise. "Is such a small thing worth using our people?"
You know, Qi Yue's people were all killers. When had you ever seen killers being sent to keep watch? And there were so many people in Gu Ruobai's mansion. Why did he need her help?
"I don't trust Mu Yi." Gu Ruobai didn't beat around the bush.
"Ah?" Qi Yue was surprised again. "Isn't Mu Yi your most capable subordinate?"
"Su Mingyu was abducted right under Mu Yi's nose." Gu Ruobai's face was very grim.
Mu Yi was trained by him, but now he couldn't be trusted and even needed to be guarded against. Gu Ruobai seemed a bit annoyed.
"Okay... okay, I understand." Qi Yue nodded. "Then won't you be all alone in the Prince's Mansion? How about I transfer some people to you?"
There were not only Mu Yi but also Tang Ziming in the Prince's Mansion. If both of them were really up to no good, the Prince's Mansion would be unsafe for Gu Ruobai.
"No. It would be even worse if Tang Ziming notices any movement." Gu Ruobai rejected without hesitation. "Just remember my instructions and watch over Su Mingyu carefully."
After saying that, Gu Ruobai returned all the things in his hand to Qi Yue. "You must protect her safety."
Qi Yue nodded seriously. "I will. Master's business is my business. I'll take shifts with the people I trust at the water mansion."
Hearing this, Gu Ruobai's face looked a bit better. "Good. Don't let anyone know I've been here. I'll go back first."