In Prince Hong's mansion, Ah Tu reported everything that happened at night to Liu Jingcheng, "Miss Hua's Qinggong is not very good, but she is very fast. I didn't dare to follow too closely, so I didn't hear clearly what they said."

"Since we didn't hear clearly what they said, let's have someone keep an eye on Ma Biao," he thought for a moment and then said, "If necessary, we can catch him and interrogate him, then we will know."

Since that day, Prince Hong's Palace had obtained all the information about Ma Biao.

The next day, after breakfast, the Prime Minister had not returned from the morning court, so Liang ordered the maids to dress up the young ladies, as today's banquet at the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery's Mansion must not go wrong.

The emperor went on the autumn hunt, and most of the officials who stayed behind in the capital were unimportant characters, or were not qualified to accompany the emperor on the trip, or were people like Prime Minister Hua who were entrusted with important tasks. Of course, when the emperor was not in the capital, life in each household and mansion had to go on.

The banquet at the Mansion of the Loyal and Brave Marquis was held as scheduled, and people from various mansions came in droves upon being invited to participate. In ancient times when there was no entertainment but socializing was necessary, the lower class people were straightforward, and the upper class relied entirely on gatherings at various mansions for support. Generally, those who were invited would not refuse, and would go and sit, join in the fun, kill time, and not offend anyone, which was great.

Hua Xiyu chose to take the last carriage. He was too lazy to argue with those self-righteous girls, and it also made it easier for him to do things.

When the carriage passed through the downtown area, its speed naturally slowed down. Hua Xiyu took advantage of the time when the coachman was paying attention to pedestrians, and Qingxing and Hongmei, who were following the carriage and kept stopping pedestrians approaching, and slipped out from the back of the carriage and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

When she first saw the Prime Minister's Mansion, she was a little shocked by the modern people who lived in pigeon cages. In modern society, even high-level leaders dare not dream of such a luxurious house. Now that she saw the Prince Xuan's Mansion, she truly experienced what it meant to be a prince.

The Xuanwang Palace covers an area as large as four football fields. It is backed by a mountain on the west. It is said that the mountain is full of osmanthus trees. Every autumn, the sweet fragrance of osmanthus can be smelled from far away. It faces the river on the north. The mountain should also be the property of the Xuanwang Palace. The river bank is several kilometers long and almost occupies the entire river bay.

In modern society, this should be a river view villa area, and the largest area of ​​each villa is no more than 1000 square meters. The area of ​​the two buildings belongs only to King Xuan's family. Do you feel jealous? I cursed the evil imperial era in my heart, then jumped onto a tree and carefully observed the terrain of King Xuan's mansion.

There is a small path on the riverside that extends all the way into Prince Xuan's Palace. The path is interrupted by the high wall of the palace, and a small door is opened for people in Prince Xuan's Palace to enter and exit.

Hua Xiyu squatted on the tree and looked at the terrain carefully. If she wanted to leave the Xuanwang Mansion, the best way was to jump into the river and swim out of the Xuanwang Mansion along the river bank. It would take good physical strength and excellent swimming ability to swim such a long distance. She looked at the other side. Well, swimming to the other side was the shortest and most effective way. However, the river was a little turbulent, and most people would not dare to try it.

There was no bridge over the river, and no ferry near Prince Xuan's palace. To cross the river, one had to get a ferry ten kilometers upstream or downstream. She could only observe from across the riverbank. On the other side were farmlands with some mulberry trees planted by the river, which were quite lush. There were farmers working in the fields, and there were cows, horses, mules and donkeys tied up next to them, but they were sparse and would not attract attention. It should not be a problem for a few people or horses to hide in the reeds by the river.

She tried hard to recall the topography of modern Huicheng, especially the roads. However, time has changed dramatically and all the land along the river has been developed into real estate, which no longer matches the current situation.

She walked along the river for a long time, and had almost found out what she wanted, and then she went straight back to the Prime Minister's Mansion.

When Mrs. Hua and Mrs. Liang arrived at the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery's Mansion, someone was already waiting to greet them at the door. When many young ladies from official families saw the Hua family's carriage arrive, they all gathered around, wanting to catch a glimpse of Hua Xiyu. Several young ladies from the Prime Minister's Mansion had already gotten off the carriage, and someone came up to them, "Oh, isn't that the third young lady of the Hua family?"

"What Third Miss? She's the Fourth Miss now," someone immediately retorted.

"Then the eldest lady will become the second lady," someone chuckled again.

"That's right, the real eldest lady is back, everyone else has to step back and make way for her," someone else laughed.

Hua Jiayi looked at the group of women, knew what they were thinking, and did not answer them. He walked straight towards the last carriage.

Qingxing and Hongmei were waiting outside the car for the young lady to get off, but there was no movement. Qingxing could not help but remind them, "Young lady, we are here." However, there was no movement inside. When the fourth young lady came over, she quickly bowed. Hua Jiayi sneered and reached out to lift the curtain, "Eldest sister, is she asleep? Why doesn't she get off the car?"

She lifted the car curtain and saw that the car was empty. She looked back at Qingxing and Hongmei and asked, "What happened? Where are the people?"

Qingxing and Hongmei looked at each other, “Where is the person?” They didn’t know either.

Hua Jiayi did not dare to say anything and hurried to tell Liang. Liang had seen such a situation before, so she ordered Qingxing and Hongmei to return home quickly and ask the housekeeper to go find someone quietly. She then led the women of the Prime Minister's Mansion to the Mansion of the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery.

If people knew that the eldest daughter of the Hua family was lost, there would be terrible rumors. It would be too unworthy to implicate the daughter of the entire Hua family. Fortunately, Liang knew about it in time, and the incident in the Prime Minister's Mansion did not attract anyone's attention.

The group of young ladies who were waiting to see Hua Xiyu didn't get to see the person they wanted to see. They had a lot of things to say to criticize her but had no place to say them. They were disappointed and angry. They were holding the anger in their hearts and felt very uncomfortable, which led to Hua Ziqi and Qin Fangru being excluded a lot.

One of them is a concubine's daughter and the other is a cousin's daughter. This status means they are meant to be bullied, so they were even more angry with Hua Xiyu.

"Could it be that Miss Hua is afraid and dares not come?" someone said sarcastically.

"Maybe he is too ugly to be seen in public."

……

No one in Washington paid any attention to them, and those people felt bored and dispersed.

Hua Xiyu returned to Liushuangyuan and thought about swimming across the river. Without an oxygen mask, he would have to get a respirator, or at least a breathing tube. Otherwise, if he stuck his head out to breathe and was discovered, he would be finished.

What could she use if there were no plastic pipes? Tubular objects? She had them, so she went to Hua Jiayi's Qingzhu Courtyard, where the clumps of bamboo were just what she wanted.

I cut a few bamboos and returned to Liushuangyuan. I pinned them together in two sections, opened up the middle joints, and then processed them into tubes. I put them on one by one when using them, and took them out and put them in a bag when not in use. It was very convenient.

She dripped a thick layer of wax on the joint, and stretched it out to fit on the wax, acting as both a sealing ring and a bayonet. She snapped her fingers, "perfect".

Hearing footsteps outside the yard, she quickly packed up her things and went back to bed to take a nap. After all, she was a silly girl and it was lucky that she could find her way home by herself. Otherwise, what else could she expect?

Everyone in Liushuang Courtyard went out to look for someone. They searched all possible places but found nothing. Then, Butler Xu received a report from the gatekeeper that the eldest lady had returned. A group of people rushed back to confirm. Sure enough, the yard was littered with bamboo chips and the door was open. Qingxing carefully opened the door of the lady's bedroom and saw the lady lying on the bed. She nodded to Butler Xu, and his tense nerves relaxed at once.

"It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back." Butler Xu stroked his chest, finally feeling relieved. He quickly sent someone to send a letter to Liang in the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery's Mansion, telling her that the eldest lady had returned safely.

While Hua Xiyu was observing the terrain of Prince Xuan's Palace, Ma Biao and his brothers were strolling in the horse market, "Brother, we really have to buy a horse for that woman."

"What else?" Ma Biao glanced at Sanzai and knew what this group of people were thinking, because he had been thinking the same thing from last night to this morning.

"What can she do if we just take the money and leave?" Ah Si said with a smile.

"Go? Where can you go?" Ma Biao sneered disdainfully.

"The world is so big, how can she chase me to the ends of the earth?" Sanzai came forward and said.

"You ran away, and you don't want your wife and son anymore?" Ma Biao poked Sanzai's chest with his finger and said, then turned around and poked Ah Si, "You don't want your mother anymore."

"Then why don't we just leave enough money for them?" Sanzai and Ye Sier felt that the eldest brother was a little stupid and a bit idiotic at this time.

"For such a small amount of silver, you're going to never see your mother, wife and son again for the rest of your life?" Ma Biao sighed. These two guys were too stupid and were not worthy of being his brothers.

"We kill people and rob just to give our families a good life. If we run away like this, our past experiences will not be in vain." Ma Biao took two steps forward angrily, and then looked at the next horse.

"Brother, this horse of mine is from outside," the horse seller came over and introduced the horse enthusiastically, "If my family wasn't waiting for money, I would not be willing to sell it no matter what."

Ma Biao glanced at the "foreign horse", ignored the horse's owner, and looked towards the next house.

Sanzai and Ah Si followed behind and couldn't understand what was going on, but they didn't dare to refute their eldest brother. Buying a horse required dozens of taels of silver, and the clothes and food would cost even less. The female Rakshasa gave them 500 taels of silver. It would be great if they could meet such a rich master and do her work and have meat to eat.

"Brother, you mean, if we don't help her, she will kill us?" Sanzai seemed to have thought of something and suddenly asked this question.

"Otherwise, she didn't kill us that day, just to let us do things for her." Ma Biao turned around and didn't stare at Sanzai and Ah Si, "That female Rakshasa is rich and has great kung fu skills. If we follow such a master, our good days are ahead." Ma Biao suddenly had this idea, well, he would serve her as his master from now on.

Sanzai and Ah Si quickly began to look forward to their good days, and the idea of ​​running away with the money was thrown away. After shopping for a whole morning, they picked and chose, and bought two horses that they thought were good, and prepared two sets of clothes and dry food. The more Ma Biao thought about his idea, the more reliable it seemed. From now on, he would recognize her as the boss, and no longer be a small gangster. He wanted to lead his brothers to become big gangsters.

However, before he could fully form the idea of ​​being a gangster, he was stopped by someone while leading his horse back. This spineless gangster confessed everything about buying horses and preparing clothes and food for others without even waiting for the torture. He even comforted himself with a clear conscience because the female Rakshasa did not ask him to keep it a secret, and it was not against morality for him to tell it to save his life.

Then they were let go, and returned to their little hideout in fear, not knowing what would happen in the future. Their previous aspirations to become big gangsters had completely gone, and the three of them prayed silently in their hearts that nothing would happen to them.

The banquet at the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery's Mansion did not end until the afternoon. It was almost evening when Liang led everyone from Hua Mansion back to the Prime Minister's Mansion. Knowing that the eldest daughter had returned home safely, she did not ask any more questions.

Hua Hongxuan and Hua Hongxuan had no idea from the beginning to the end that their sister had not gone to the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery's Mansion. It was only when they returned to the Prime Minister's Mansion that they realized that their sister had disappeared halfway. The two brothers hurried to Liushuang Courtyard to see if their sister was frightened or something. As brothers, they naturally had to comfort her.

Seeing the concerned looks of her two brothers, Hua Jiayi felt very uncomfortable. In the past, all her brothers' eyes were on her, but now, they could no longer see her. Liang had always emphasized to her that the father and brothers from her mother's family were the greatest and most reliable support for a woman. Liang never treated the two brothers harshly. Even if they were illegitimate children in the mansion, they could still be a support for her daughter in the future.

Of course, there are no illegitimate children in the Hua family. This is what Liang Yuejiao is most proud of. It is not that she cannot tolerate it, but Prime Minister Hua simply does not allow illegitimate children to be born. At present, only Aunt Zhao gave birth to a illegitimate daughter, and because she is a daughter, she was allowed to give birth to the child.

Hua Jiayi felt uncomfortable. The person she had always thought of as her support was now split in half, and more than half at that. They were siblings from the same mother, but there was a layer of distance between her and them.

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