Reborn as Powerful Minister's Beloved
Chapter 328 - 319: One More Update

Chapter 328: Chapter 319: One More Update

When Prince Duan arrived at the foot of Golden Spirit Mountain, dusk was falling, but it was not as dark as his expression. Zheng Boding, upon hearing of Zheng Nianru’s uncertain whereabouts after falling into the water, was already beside himself with panic; now, trembling with hands and feet, he watched the increasingly dark Earth Spirit River, his eyes growing dim.

At that moment, Lu Hu’s own brother, Lu An, along with his men, found the location. Thinking they were reinforcements, he immediately rushed over. While the Fourth Prince was personally inspecting the area, he sent someone to inform Wen Zan to send additional help.

"What are you dawdling for, where are the fire-starting tools? Hurry, along the Black Spirit River, we need to find the person..." Lu An started, immediately paying his respects to Zheng Boding who had just approached.

"Prince Duan—"

"Where is the Fourth Prince?" Prince Duan didn’t have the patience for his chatter, but seeing the Loyal Warriors of the Wen Family’s serious efforts in searching, he held back some of his irritability.

"Prince Duan, His Highness is with Lord Lu Hu in the first team; I am not sure of their current location. Half an hour ago, our prince sent more people to call for reinforcements from the Wen Family," Lu An immediately reported. From the way his elder brother spoke, he knew that the Commandery Princess had a very close relationship with His Highness, so he was particularly respectful to Prince Duan.

"Alright, go quickly. These are the men I’ve brought with me, see how you can arrange them." Seeing this, Zheng Boding knew that any words of blame would be of no help.

At least after this incident, the efforts of that young man, Zheng Haoyuan, had been satisfactory.

The Earth Spirit River was originally a lake that wound around Golden Spirit Mountain. Due to a torrential rain several years ago, a landslide occurred on the western face of the mountain, and some of the mass slid into the Earth Spirit River, turning a previously wide and flat section of the river into an inner river of Golden Spirit Mountain. Wrapping around the landslide, the waterway broke through, and what was once a wide river channel divided downstream into three main tributaries, greatly increasing the difficulty of the search.

Zheng Haoyuan led his men to search the middle of these tributaries. Today, the wind was not strong, but given the river’s descent from high to low, the current was rapid. Having searched the area of the fall to no avail, they guessed that the most probable tributary she could have been swept into was this middle one.

The guard responsible for relaying messages finally encountered Prince Duan and led him straight to Zheng Haoyuan. The guard was startled, but without delay, he guided Prince Duan towards the middle tributary.

When Zheng Congyuan arrived, he could already see the flickering torchlights along the bank of the Earth Spirit River. The Loyal Warriors of the Wen Family were hastening their steps, and those encountered only had time for a quick bow before continuing their urgent tasks. Nanny Yun, waiting at the site, saw Zheng Congyuan as if seeing hope itself and rushed toward him.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, please save the Commandery Princess." Nanny Yun cried, her tears flowing non-stop since reaching the Earth Spirit River. Two hours had passed without any news; their princess...

"Where are the princess’s belongings?" Zheng Congyuan was agitated and wanted to scold someone. Was crying all they knew at this time? What kind of people were around Nian Ru, with not a single decisive one among them?

Nanny Yun snapped to her senses, remembering she had an important task to complete, and immediately went to fetch the items from the carriage.

Zheng Congyuan snatched the clothes, and as Qi Jin and Qi Yu tried to take them, he had already let the hounds sniff them, holding tightly to the silk handkerchief and outer garments in my hand.

Qi Yu led one of the hounds towards the riverbank. Since the rapid current of Earth Spirit River quickly disperses scents, Qi Yu knew the chances were slim.

Zheng Congyuan, undeterred, proceeded as Nanny Yun followed, steadying her heart.

"Your Highness, Prince Duan and the people of the Fourth Prince are mainly focused in that direction. On both sides, there are over ten guards searching along the river, and upstream, another dozen have started their third round of searching."

Zheng Congyuan kept his mouth shut, lips pressed tightly, as Qi Jin immediately pointed towards the lowest tributary.

"Your Highness, let’s search the third tributary, it’s the lowest in terrain."

Zheng Congyuan nodded. Many people had already searched the second most likely tributary for several hours without results, which indicated that something had gone wrong.

Qi Jin and Qi Yu quickly waved their hands, and several guards with half of the hounds headed to the second tributary, while the remaining divided into two groups to search the other two tributaries.

The sky gradually darkened, and distant thunder rumbled faintly. Qi Jin and Qi Yu were extremely anxious, especially by the river, where the hounds’ effectiveness was truly limited. However, seeing that the Crown Prince showed no sign of stopping, they held back their words and continued the search with the others.