Chapter 344: Escape
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Fu Jun felt like his breathing was about to stall!
He was afraid that if Xiao Jin exerted force, Fu Xun’s screams would practically break through the roof.
Fu Jun roared angrily, “Xiao Jin, if you dare to touch my son, you’ll never know where your daughter is!”
Xiao Jin’s dark eyes darted and in the next moment, he had grabbed hold of Fu Jun’s neck.
Fu Jun felt that the air in his chest was about to be squeezed out. He struggled until his eyes were as wide as saucers as he glared at Xiao Jin in horror and anger.
“Where did you hide Ling? Speak!”
Fu Jun’s face gradually turned red, and the veins on his forehead bulged out. “Ugh… I… Ugh…”
The force in Xiao Jin’s hand became increasingly stronger. The sense of approaching death made Fu Jun’s body tremble, and a foul, yellow liquid seeped out of his pants.
“She’s… she’s…”
Xiao Jin loosened his grip slightly.
“In Little Madam Zhou… in the closet in the room… secret… compartment… Argh!”
Fu Jun had just finished speaking when Xiao Jin punched him in the chest. He spat out a mouthful of blood and his body crashed heavily to the ground.
“Watch him closely.”
After Xiao Jin tossed out this order, he grabbed a servant and made him lead him and his men to the courtyard of Little Madam Zhou.
Xiao Jin kicked the room door open and went in. He opened the closet and threw out all the clothes inside. He then reached inside and searched around the closet. After locating a mechanism, he pressed it.
With a light click, the wooden board at the back of the closet fell down, revealing a dark secret compartment, but there was nothing inside.
Xiao Jin squeezed in and realized that the space inside was not big. He could only barely squeeze in with difficulty.
He reached inside and felt all around. He then took out a pale yellow pearl flower. This belonged to Ling!
Xiao Jin searched the secret compartment again. There was nothing inside anymore, and there was no other passage leading to another place.
Xiao Jin walked out of the room and grabbed Fu Jun’s collar. “Where is she? Where did you take her?”
Fu Jun was dragged into the room. He was shocked when he saw the empty closet. He definitely did not move the people inside. Where did they go?
When he hid her here, he didn’t tell anyone!
“I… I don’t know. I don’t know. She was inside. She was really inside…”
“Fu Jun, it seems that you’re tired of living!” Xiao Jin’s punch landed on his face, and Fu Jun felt his head go blank.
“I didn’t… I don’t know. She was really inside… I… Your High… Highness, spare my life… Fu Zheng! It must be Fu Zheng. He took her away!”
Xiao Jin’s expression turned downright ominous. “Wang Su, bring people to search the residence immediately.”
His men had been standing guard outside. Before he came in, they had closely investigated everyone who went out, but they did not find anything unusual. Even though Ling had disappeared, she must still be inside the residence.
At this moment, in the firewood shed in the back courtyard of Duke Zhenguo’s Residence, a black figure was looking at Ling and Fu Zheng, who were lying unconscious on the ground.
He knew that there were people standing guard outside the residence. It would not be easy to bring them out.
However, Prince Qi had already entered the Duke’s residence. If he did not leave now, the kids would be discovered soon.
The man looked at the firewood around him and came up with a plan.
He carried Ling and Fu Zheng out and threw them into a hidden shelf on the cart. Then, he lit a fire and set the firewood shed on fire.
The firewood shed was filled with firewood, and the fire spread rapidly.
The people of Duke Zhenguo’s Residence soon discovered that the firewood shed was on fire.
“Fire! Fire! Quick, get someone over here. Bring some water here!”
“Quick! Put out the fire quickly.”
The people from the residence quickly rushed over.
Duke Zhenguo also received the news very quickly.
He knew that Xiao Jin had come to look for Fu Jun, but he didn’t show his face. He knew that Xiao Jin wouldn’t come for no reason. If Fu Jun had really done something stupid, no matter what Xiao Jin did to him, he deserved it!
“Why would the firewood shed catch fire? Send more people to put out the fire.”
“Yes, Sir.”
As the back courtyard was on fire and the fire was very big, the people in the front courtyard all rushed there to put out the fire.
Xiao Jin’s dark eyes were ominous. “Get them to guard all the entrances and exits. No one is allowed to go out.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Xiao Jin turned around and left the Duke’s residence to guard the back door. The fire was likely man-made to create chaos so that the perpetrator could take the opportunity to bring people out.
Just as Xiao Jin reached the back door, he heard a guard report that someone had broken out from the side door.
Xiao Jin’s expression darkened at once. He dashed over and saw a man running out while pushing a cart.
Xiao Jin drew his sword and charged forward. With one swing of his sword, he sliced off one of the man’s arms. The man cried out in pain and fell to the ground.
Xiao Jin immediately ordered his men to surround the cart to carry out an inspection.
The guards found a hidden compartment on the cart and opened it. However, it was empty!
Xiao Jin went forward and grabbed the man up. “Speak! Where is she?”
The man looked at Xiao Jin and sneered. Suddenly, he spat out black blood and his head lolled to one side and died straight away.
“Damn it!”
At this moment, in the firewood shed that had caught fire, someone suddenly shouted, “There seems to be someone inside. I think 1 can see a little girl inside!”
Everyone tensed up when they heard him shout. Everyone in the residence knew that Prince Qi was looking for the Young Princess. How could there be a young girl inside for no reason?
“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and put out the fire!”
Everyone rushed forward to put out the fire.
However, no one noticed that two fat men had run out of the back door with a pile of firewood in their arms.
They ran to the back door and saw the guards guarding there. Without saying a word, they attacked.
The guards saw that something was not right and immediately intercepted their attacks.
“Who are you guys? What do you want?”
The two of them were quite highly skilled in martial arts. After getting a breakthrough, they immediately fled.
“Go report to His Highness quickly that someone has broken out of Duke Zhenguo’s Residence.”
A few guards quickly ran after the two escapees.
However, those two men were much faster than them and soon left them behind.
“Your Highness, someone just broke out from the back door. They are very skilled in martial arts, so we were unable to stop them.”
Xiao Jin turned around and gave chase in that direction but by then, those two were already nowhere to be seen.
“Your Highness, those two disappeared. They ran into that alley and disappeared.” The guard immediately explained the situation to Xiao Jin when he saw Xiao Jin coming in pursuit of them.
Xiao Jin’s dark eyes turned ominous as he looked in the direction of the houses not far away. “You guys send people to stand guard at every city gate immediately. Check all the horse carriages and suspicious people that pass through.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
After those two men got rid of the guards, they hid in a house and released Ling and Fu Zheng, who were tied to their bodies, before placing them on the ground.
“The higher-ups only want one. Why did you bring this one back?”
The other person said with a sneer, “This is the eldest grandson of Duke Zhenguo. It might be useful to keep him. This is called ‘buy one get one free.’ What do you know? Send a message to them. Tell them that the mission has been completed and that they should be prepared to receive the goods.”
“Alright.”
The Imperial Guards quickly arrived at the various gates, and the soldiers guarding the gates were puzzled.
“What are you doing?”
“We found traces of the river pirate. In order to prevent him from escaping the city, His Highness ordered a strict inspection of everyone leaving the city..”