Reborn as Powerful Minister's Beloved
Chapter 447 - 426: Second Update

Chapter 447: Chapter 426: Second Update

The man was quickly brought over, tightly bound, with Qi Geng and Qi Xing personally escorting him with the Hidden Guard. They kicked him to his knees in front of Zheng Congyuan.

Zheng Congyuan had not left, but instead had found a secluded spot in the mountains. He sent Yu Yuan and others to continue searching for clues, and several ropes were swiftly lowered. The guards descended slowly along the cliff face. However, finding anything was not easy: the rock face was very wide and at times recessed, causing the guards to move slowly. Despite this, it was like finding a needle in a haystack to locate any clues in the darkness.

Zheng Congyuan coldly observed the man before him, dressed in black with his face covering already torn off, revealing a stiff and unfamiliar face.

Zheng Congyuan glanced at Qi Min, who immediately stepped forward and kicked the man in the stomach.

"Don’t you see clearly to whom Nanzheng belongs now?" Qi Min said as he began to speak, startling the man, who then hurriedly began to kowtow and babble.

"My lord, my lord, I am just a bandit, after some money, trying to earn a living." The man was facing certain death, begging and stalling for time, waiting for his associates to quickly come to his aid.

"You are from the Suxing Palace’s Shanpin Gate, and we have had our eyes on your actions for a while. If you want to save your own life, get a hold of yourself and think clearly," Qi Min continued, not asking but declaring the man’s identity plainly.

The man’s heart skipped a beat; although the man before him hadn’t gotten everything right, he had hit the mark on most counts, leaving him somewhat at a loss.

Not many knew of the Suxing Palace, but clearly, the opposite party was aware. He had stayed at the Shanpin Gate but was transferred to the Lingpin Gate after being edged out. This mission, assigned to him at the last minute, turned out to be such a mess.

Moreover, when they withdrew, they essentially left him behind. He had planned to return to his own Lingpin Gate, but unexpectedly, he was captured along the way.

Seeing the man remain silent, Qi Min crouched down and grabbed the man’s arm.

"Look carefully at who is before you and consider the current plight of your Suxing Palace. Whether you want to make something of yourself is a matter of one thought."

The man’s throat worked nervously. The Suxing Palace was already riven with internal strife and surrounded by rumor and conflict. He looked at Zheng Congyuan, whose figure was regal like jade, the very image of an emperor. Gritting his teeth, he quickly crawled over.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, I was only acting on orders." Then he began to divulge everything he knew.

"Medicine Pill?" Zheng Congyuan suddenly grabbed a nearby tree trunk, his fingers nearly embedding into the bark.

The man paused and looked down.

"Your Highness, His Majesty has been obsessed with these medicines for years, and their potency is already quite..." The man stopped speaking when he saw Zheng Congyuan’s grim expression.

"The order was to bring the people straight into the palace, but something went wrong—we who set the ambush did not receive the retreat order. So we split into groups to investigate the situation. But because I currently do not belong to the Shanpin Gate, so..." The man trailed off, bowing his head as he reflected on the current complicated state of affairs in the Suxing Palace.

Zheng Congyuan was aware of the affair with the Suxing Palace; the current situation there was one he had engineered over many years. The Suxing Palace was the foundation of Emperor Jingzhi’s frivolous actions; as long as the Suxing Palace existed, Prince Duan was impeded, and even Zheng Congyuan himself was constrained.

Thus, Zheng Congyuan had wanted to move against the Suxing Palace for more than a day or two. If not for the Suxing Palace being continuously involved in foul play, he wouldn’t have been in such a rush to act.

But now, Zheng Congyuan was in no mood to deal with the Suxing Palace and gestured for the man to be led away.

Qi Min immediately unbound the man. It had been difficult for them to infiltrate the Suxing Palace, and now that they had an opening, they could not miss the opportunity.

Zheng Congyuan couldn’t wait any longer. He needed to see Zheng Nianru now; it had been such a long time, far too long. Zheng Congyuan’s confidence in Ju Nanyi had shifted from total trust to complete worry.

He should have thought of this possibility earlier; he should have assigned a female guard to Nian Ru.

"Your Highness, there’s a discovery—" Qi Zhu, having personally checked by the mountain waist, now hurried over, his face somewhat panicked.

Zheng Congyuan didn’t even wait for Qi Zhu to come close; casting aside the distinction between master and servant, he went to greet him.

Qi Zhu immediately transmitted a piece of information.

"Below the cliff, aside from the horse, there are also a few trees that fell together, and on the branches, there are pieces of clothing. People from Prince Duan’s Mansion say it’s the pattern of their Commandery Princess’s robe."

Zheng Congyuan immediately strode forward several steps, almost certain that the person was here.

"Where were the trees originally located?" Zheng Congyuan asked urgently.

"This..." Qi Zhu was instantly troubled, as no one knew.

"There aren’t many trees on this cliff." Zheng Congyuan immediately snorted coldly, his gaze icy as he looked at Qi Zhu. How could anything be accomplished like this?

"I will have someone check it immediately," Qi Zhu said at once, not daring to wait for Zheng Congyuan’s command, and swiftly turned to head toward the mountain waist.

"Quick! Quick!" Yu Yuan also did not dare to delay, putting on a rope and preparing to go down personally.

Prince Duan had already rushed over with his men, in a great hurry.

"Lord Yu, did you find something? Did you find Nian Ru?" Zheng Boding staggered over, grabbing Yu Yuan.

"Fu Xun, Fu Xun, what do we do, what do we do?" Upon seeing Zheng Congyuan, Zheng Boding immediately let go of Yu Yuan and rushed toward Zheng Congyuan.

Zheng Congyuan didn’t wish to respond to Prince Duan, didn’t want to say anything—he only wanted to see Zheng Nianru, not willing to waste even a second.

"Imperial Uncle, she should still be in Weixing Mountain." Zheng Congyuan felt like going mad at the thought, even more so if he tried not to think—the medicine, no, no, what he needed to worry about now was whether Nian Ru was hurt, whether she was injured.

"Your Highness, another discovery—there seems to be a vertical crack on the cliff face; perhaps there’s an opening." A guard came rushing with the report.

"Good, good, good, quick, find people—" Prince Duan stepped forward immediately, not waiting for Zheng Congyuan to speak, he hurriedly said.

Zheng Congyuan glanced at Prince Duan but continued to walk forward.

"Imperial Uncle, stay on Cliff Mountain, I will go to the bottom. This way, no matter where the entrance is, as soon as Nian Ru emerges, someone will be there to receive her."

"Yes, yes, yes, Fu Xun, you have thought of everything." Prince Duan immediately nodded, but his gaze still lingered on the drop beneath the cliff.

Qi Ling glanced at his own lord; he understood what his lord meant. If the Medicine Princess had truly ingested the medicine, then under the current circumstances, when she was rescued, the fewer people who knew, the better. Should something untoward happen, there would still be room for remedial actions.

Zheng Congyuan’s eyes were resolute, his hands clenched into fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms without feeling any pain. With the thought of the medicine, that scene, and Ju Nanyi saving her life, a man walking step by step into darkness, not knowing what kind of situation he would face next, nor to what extent he could handle it, and what irrational actions he might take.