Peach Blossom.

"Who is Ma Da?" Wang Jing asked in a low voice.

Tao Ye also answered in a low voice: "He is Chen Ji's most trusted guard, and the only servant of the Chen family who accompanied Chen Ji away."

Wang Jing seldom went out and had even less contact with the Chen family. Even though he went there twice, he only recognized Chen Xi and Chen Ji, and never paid attention to remember any of the Chen family's servants.

The height they were tracking was already very close to the ground. Tao Ye could clearly see the man's face. She was very sure that it was Ma Da!

Mada was the person most trusted by Chen Ji, so of course most of what he did was what Chen Ji told him to do.

Wang Jing and Tao Ye looked at each other, and they both suspected that there was Wang Yi in the carriage ahead that was being tracked by a motor.

"I'll trip him." Tao Ye ordered the cane to fall to the ground, and the two of them landed quietly on the ground not far behind Mada. Then they restored the cane to its original state and returned it to Wang Jing.

Tao Ye thought that although Wang Jing did not remember Mada, Mada must have recognized Wang Jing. The Chen and Wang families had an old grudge. Before the right and wrong were clear, it would be best not to let the Chen family find out that Wang Jing had come to Yongchang to avoid getting into trouble.

Wang Jing did not refute. He wanted to follow the carriage to see what was going on. He really needed to avoid the motor.

He whispered in Tao Ye's ear: "Don't go too far, meet here before dark."

Tao Ye nodded and went to chase Ma Da.

It was difficult to catch up with him because Mada was using Qinggong, which Taoye did not know. She could only shout his name from behind: "Mada! Wait for me!"

When Mada heard this, he turned around.

"Why is Miss Tao here?" He looked as serious as he was in Jiankang, like a robot that only followed his master's orders.

Tao Ye pretended to be stupid and began to talk nonsense: "I... I came to find Chen Ji. I couldn't contact him with the mirror. I was worried that something happened to him... So I came all the way to find him..."

Mada hesitated and looked back at the carriage.

Tao Ye hurriedly grabbed Mada's sleeve and pretended to be pitiful: "My impersonation of Mantangjiao was exposed by the Wang family a long time ago, and I was even driven out... I have been looking for Chen Ji for several months and suffered a lot. I finally saw you. You must take me to see him. You must not leave me again..."

"Okay, I'll take you there." Mada really abandoned the carriage that was tracking him, turned around and led Tao Ye in another direction.

Mada agreed too easily, which made Taoye nervous.

She knew that Chen Ji and his servant were not good people, and she was afraid that there was a trick. Even if there was no trick... If she met Chen Ji, what should she do next?

Without a chance to think, she just followed Mada.

Wang Jing hid behind a tree and saw Tao Ye and Ma Da leaving, so he hurried to track the carriage.

Without Tao Ye's command, the cane was just an ordinary cane, and he could only walk quickly with the help of a crutch.

The road was bumpy and the carriage was probably afraid of the bumps, so it was running very slowly.

But even so, Wang Jing still found it difficult to catch up. After chasing for a while, his fast walking almost turned into a jog. Moreover, he was carrying a large wooden box full of medicine and silver. His feet hurt badly and he was sweating all over. He was afraid that if he walked any further, he would black out and faint at any time.

He was afraid of losing the clue, so he didn't care about anything else and simply put down the wooden box, somersaulted, and flipped onto the crossbar of the front room of the carriage.

The driver was startled and shouted, "Princess, be careful, there is a pervert!"

Wang Jing ignored the driver and lifted the curtain. He saw two women sitting in the carriage, about fifteen or sixteen years old. One of them was timid and started yelling when she saw Wang Jing.

The other woman was very bold. She drew her sword and pointed it at Wang Jing: "Who are you? How dare you stop the car here?"

"I'm sorry, I recognized the wrong person." Wang Jing took a step back, left Jianfeng, and then jumped off the carriage.

The carriage was still moving forward with the horses' hooves when Wang Jing jumped off the carriage and landed on the ground, causing his feet to ache like a piercing pain!

The woman holding the sword pulled the horse's neck, stopped the horse, and looked behind the carriage, only to see that there was no one there.

She was immediately very angry: "I ran slowly on purpose so that he could catch up with me. How come he caught up with you? Who are you?"

Wang Jing was leaning on a cane and standing with great effort. He suddenly felt that the sunlight was particularly dazzling and made him feel dizzy. "I'm sorry, I really just recognized the wrong person."

The woman was not willing to give in: "Just saying sorry is enough? Where did you take the knight who was chasing the car just now?"

"I don't know." Wang Jing guessed that the "knight" she was talking about should be Ma Da. He felt more and more dizzy, his vision was a little black, and he barely supported himself with a cane.

"You..." The woman raised her sword and wanted to chop at Wang Jing.

Inside the carriage, the timid woman had already gotten off. She hurriedly grabbed the sword-wielding woman's arm and advised, "Princess, have you forgotten that the king specifically warned you last time not to bully the common people, not to mention that this man is a cripple? Be careful that the ladies will sue you behind your back again!"

The princess seemed somewhat unwilling, but fortunately she listened to the advice, returned to the carriage with her maid and coachman, and drove away.

Wang Jing's feet hurt so much that he could no longer stand. He knelt on the ground and looked up at the large wooden box not far away.

This time, no one helped him put the medicine into the wooden box, so he had to lie down completely, dig the ground with his hands, and slowly crawl forward.

It was noon and the sun was shining brightly. The ground was very hot. He struggled to dig the ground with his fingers, making small holes in the sandy dirt road. His white shirt was also covered with dust. Finally, he crawled to the side of the wooden box.

He held the box again, knelt up, and took out the small brown jar of painkillers from the box. His hands were shaking as he finally opened the jar. He quickly took a pill, then sat with his back against the box, catching his breath.

Before long, the temperature of his skin surface was almost the same as that of the ground. The sweat on his body evaporated due to the sunlight, and then he sweated again due to the heat, wet and dry, dry and wet again.

He sat there quietly until the pain in his feet gradually faded away.

The sun has also become less scorching.

He stared at the direction where the carriage was going away, and thought of the titles mentioned in the conversation between the master and the servant, "Princess", "King", and "Madam". There was only one king in Yongchang, so this princess must be the daughter of King Yongchang.

Prince Yongchang lived in Xitang, so why did such a young daughter come to Ailao?

Wang Jing seemed to feel that there was something wrong here.

Although the carriage had disappeared, the traces left by the wheels were still clear due to the soft dust on the ground and the few pedestrians on the road.

Wang Jing changed into a black robe and followed the trail, walking slowly with crutches for a while and resting for a while. When the sun was about to set, he saw an old palace.

The ruts finally extended towards the palace.

Wang Jing vaguely remembered that it was said that before the establishment of Qi State, the king of the previous dynasty had built a palace in Ailao, but it had been abandoned long ago in this dynasty.

The palace before us has exquisite carvings of five-zhu coin patterns and cloud patterns on its walls. Some of the high platforms and pavilions in the palace can also be seen from afar, but they are all in a state of decay, and the bricks and tiles are covered with thick dust.

But the wheel tracks did extend towards the palace, and there were no other wheel tracks to confuse them.

Wang Jing speculated that there must be people in this abandoned palace, and perhaps quite a few people!

He didn't dare to approach the palace. He just secretly memorized the location and returned the same way to look for Tao Ye.

Tao Ye followed Mada and had already arrived at an area where farmers gathered, with about a dozen independent courtyards.

She carefully memorized the route she had taken along the way to ensure that she could return to the place where she and Wang Jing separated.

After entering a small courtyard, Ma Da told Tao Ye, "The young master has gone out for some business and has not been here for the past two days. This is a house he rented in Yongchang. You can stay here without worry and wait for him to come back."

"He...he's not here now?" Tao Ye didn't know whether she should be glad that Chen Ji was not here, or should make some other statement, but she was very curious about where Chen Ji was going: "Where did he go?"

"I don't know. The young master never told me."

Tao Ye looked around the courtyard. It was fairly tidy and clean, but the furnishings were simple and plain, not as grand and luxurious as those official residences in Jiankang.

However, none of this matters. Tao Ye is only concerned about one thing right now, which is how she is going to avoid Ma Da and escape!

She carefully appraised the courtyard, just to see which place would be more suitable for escape... She didn't know if there were other people living in the courtyard besides Ma Da...

While I was thinking about it, Mada had already called a maid and told her, "This Miss Tao is the young master's sweetheart. She will live here from today on. You must serve her well."

Tao Ye was shocked. When did she become Chen Ji's "sweetheart"?

The maid replied, and Mada introduced her to Taoye: "Her name is Fang Qing, she was the young master's maid when he was young. If the young lady needs anything, just tell her."

Fang Qing bowed to Tao Ye and said, "Hello, Miss Tao."

Tao Ye could only smile, but her smile was a little silly. She really felt that this situation and this feeling were so strange. She was just a passer-by and must not enjoy the treatment of the hostess...

But Fang Qing seemed to really treat Taoye as the mistress. She prepared a comfortable and warm home for Taoye, and brought Taoye food and all the things she needed. The most important thing was that every time she spoke to Taoye, she called herself a servant, and she would only stand and not sit, and she would always walk behind Taoye. This really made Taoye a little unbearable!

However, Tao Ye was really too hungry. She ate five dishes and three servings of rice in one go. She also secretly found some paper, wrapped the snacks, and hid them on her body, preparing to give them to Wang Jing when she escaped from the yard.

After all, in this barren Yongchang, you may not be able to buy food even if you have money.

But how to escape?

As the sun sets, Tao Ye sits in the room in silence, wondering if Wang Jing should have figured out whether Wang Yi is in the carriage.

She remembered that Wang Jing had a bad leg and no means of transportation, and it was difficult to buy a horse here. She wondered how he was doing now...

It's getting dark, it should be a good time to escape.

Tao Ye walked out of the bedroom, ready to climb over the wall with the help of a stick or something, or to fly out directly when no one was watching!

However, as soon as she walked into the yard, she was surprised to find that there were strong men guarding every few meters in the yard. Looking around, there must be at least 20 people in total... She clearly remembered that there were no such guards when she first came here...