Traveling through the ancient times

Nian Chuhua swallowed her saliva. Now that her goal had been achieved, she shrank herself further inside, stopped talking, and tried to reduce her presence as much as possible.

The head of the personal guards sent one man to prepare horses for escape, and sent two more people to ambush outside the Ten Pavilion in advance to see if the Third Prince's Mansion would send people to set up an ambush in advance.

Several people began to discuss the specific details of arresting people in the afternoon. After making a plan, they sat aside to rest.

When the time comes, they plan to take the New Year's paintings to Shili Pavilion.

Yong Kang spoke up to stop them at this time, "Captain of the Imperial Guards, I don't think there is any need to bring this woman with us. We can go alone to keep it a secret. This woman is very cunning. If we bring her with us, we will be in the way and will inevitably be exposed on the way.

Why not just leave him in this cave, and then tell the people in the Third Prince Dongyi's mansion where she is. They will definitely come looking for her, which can both disperse the enemy's forces and delay the pursuers, giving us more time to retreat."

"No, what if Qi Muhe doesn't see her and doesn't go with us? We don't have that much time to maneuver. The other side has more people and we are definitely no match for them if we fight.

Qi Muhe is from Xiliang. If we take him away, the Dongyi people may not chase us relentlessly, but if it is for this woman, that may not be the case. "

The head of the personal guards was still very clear-headed at this time, and no matter how much Yongkang said, he remained unmoved.

Yongkang wanted to say something else, but the head of the personal guards glared at him unkindly, "Don't do anything weird, or don't blame me for being ruthless."

Yongkang stepped aside angrily. After thinking it over, his previous plan had been disrupted by what Chushulhua said. Lu Mingqian was not in Qunan now. If he left like this, he would never know when he could get his revenge.

He must find a way to delay them, and wait for Lu Mingqian to come back. Then he can do something to force these guards to fight.

Yongkang's idea was to detain Nian Chuhua, and as soon as they left, he would take Nian Chuhua and hide somewhere else. If Lu Mingqian's people hadn't seen Nian Chuhua, they would not easily let the guards take Qi Muhe away.

If we delay for a few days, Lu Mingqian should be here.

However, the head of the royal guards obviously no longer trusted Yongkang. He refused to listen to his proposal and insisted on taking Nianchuhua with him.

When they were about a hilltop away from Shili Pavilion, Yongkang suggested that Nian Chuhua wait here to prevent her from getting too close and making noise, which would give Lu Mingqian's men an opportunity to take advantage. This time, the head of the personal guards did not object.

One of the guards expressed his worries, "Boss, what if Qi Muhe doesn't see her and refuses to go with us?"

What they want is a quick victory. They already have few people, so they try not to fight if possible.

"If he refuses to leave, you can use this woman to lead him to the valley, then knock him out and take him away. Wouldn't that be easier?

If she refuses to come, this place is not far away. You can send someone to tell her and I will take her there to prevent her from getting into trouble. We can only succeed this time and not fail."

Yongkang said it easily. Anyway, this job was not his to do. His only target was Lu Mingqian. He didn't care whether they took Qi Muhe with them or not.

The head of the royal guards thought so too, as long as Qi Muhe could be led out of the Dongyi people's sight.

Yongkang said he wanted to stay and look at the New Year's painting. The head of the imperial guards just looked at Yongkang meaningfully.

He had made up his mind on the way here that once he caught Qi Muhe, he would take him back to Xiliang directly. He was too lazy to care about Yongkang who had evil intentions.

Just like Yongkang said, without Chushulhua's presence, the pursuers from the Third Prince's Mansion could be distracted, giving them more time to escape.

So when he said he wanted to stay in the valley, the chief of the guards did not object. He turned around and took his men away, leaving him to fend for himself there.

And the other side

The guard who delivered the letter returned to the city, wrote a letter, found a little beggar on the street, and asked him to deliver it to the Third Prince's Palace together with the hairpin he had painted at the beginning of the year.

When the guard at the door received the letter, Qi Muhe and the housekeeper were looking for someone outside.

The envelope clearly stated that it was addressed to Qi Muhe, so the guard delivered the letter to Qi Muhe. Qi Muhe opened the envelope and saw a hairpin and a piece of letter paper inside.

Hua Ling and the others who were with Qi Muhe recognized at a glance that it was the hairpin that Nianchu had drawn. They all looked at the letter in Qi Muhe's hand anxiously, wanting to know what the letter said.

Qi Muhe held the hairpin and unfolded the letter. There was only a short line of words on it, "Tonight at twilight hour, at Shili Pavilion, come alone with your true appearance. If you play tricks, this woman will die!"

It turned out that they were coming for him. It seemed that Yongkang had told the King of Xiliang about his experience in Dongyi. Didn't he have any childhood friendship for him anymore?

Moreover, the King of Xiliang could not even protect himself and was hiding in Tada County, barely surviving, still dreaming of a great Spring and Autumn Period.

Qi Muhe's expression was tense, and his eyes were as cold as ice, which made everyone's heart tighten.

"How is it? Mr. Qi, what did the letter say? Where is the young lady now?" Hua Ling couldn't help asking.

Everyone else looked at Qi Muhe intently, waiting for him to tell them what was written in the letter.

Qi Muhe handed the letter out, Hua Ling took it, and Tianxing and others came over to read the contents of the letter together.

Is this letter directed to Master Qi?

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Last time in Huai'an, that person's target was clearly the young lady, and he had no intentions towards Qi Muhe. However, according to the letter, those people's target was Qi Muhe.

So, those people want to capture both the young lady and Mr. Qi?

The butler was thoughtful after reading the letter. He knew Qi Muhe's identity, and he could understand why the Xiliang people captured Qi Muhe, but they captured Miss Nian to threaten Master Qi to go to the appointment alone.

Why do they think that Master Qi will go to save Miss Nian? Is there really something going on between Master Qi and Miss Nian?

Wouldn't that mean his Highness had let a wolf into his house and had his home robbed?

Alas...what did he say at the beginning? His Highness just wouldn’t listen. What should he do now?

The housekeeper glanced at Qi Muhe with an unfriendly look. No matter what, rescuing the young lady is the top priority now...

The housekeeper looked stern, and his tightly pursed thin lips slightly lifted, "It's still two hours before the evening hour, let's go back to the mansion and discuss a foolproof plan."

Qi Muhe's eyes were grim, his clear voice was filled with suppressed anger, his fists clenched and creaked, "Okay!"

No one else had any objection. Since the other party had already made the request, all they had to do now was think of a foolproof way to rescue the young lady.

Qi Muhe returned to the Third Prince's mansion and, in full view of everyone, took off the mask on his face, revealing his true face.

"I had my own reasons before. I have been with you all for such a long time, but I didn't treat you well. I am really sorry. This is Qi's true self."

After taking off the mask, Qi Muhe no longer looked like a big man, but he also didn't look like the handsome young man before. His facial features were more three-dimensional and tougher than before, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, which was completely different from the appearance of the Dongyi people.

Among the people gathered together at this moment, except Hua Ling who knew nothing about Qi Muhe's identity and was shocked to see him tear off a layer of skin from his face, everyone else was just slightly surprised.