Prince! The political conspiracy is not a play, the show is real

"Qingshuitun?"

Tao Yao looked around hesitantly. Something was not right. Chu Huanjun was clearly walking in this direction just now.

Moreover, in this desolate wilderness, there is no other place that looks like it has human habitation except this place.

So, Tao Yao tentatively asked again, "Sisters, has this place always been called Qingshuitun? Have you really never heard of Qinglongwu?"

The women just thought that the girl in the wheelchair was talking nonsense, so they ignored her and lowered their heads to wash clothes.

Tao Yao got to the bottom of it, "Um, did you sisters just see a man and a woman passing by? The man was about twenty years old, tall, with long, untied hair, and quite good-looking. The woman was a little older, looked quite wealthy, and was dressed very elegantly..."

One of the women, her hair wrapped in a colorful cloth, raised her head, frowned, and complained, "Hey girl, we live in the wilderness here. There are not even a few mules passing by all year round. How can we find those beautiful and rich people you talk about? We are still busy working. Girl, you should look for one yourself..."

Helpless, Tao Yao had to wander around the small village again, trying to find some clues.

However, the more Tao Yao walked, the more she felt something was wrong.

There are not many houses in this small village, but there are many straw stacks and mud piles. There is also a huge clothes-drying field on the east side of the village. There are countless huge pillars and poles on the field, and countless long and wide tie-dyed cloths are hung on the poles.

This was originally just a depression at the foot of the mountain. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the people in this village used these haystacks, stone piles, and clothes drying areas to block the view, invisibly making the terrain within the village complicated.

If you are not a villager who has lived here for a long time, coming here is like falling into a maze and it is easy to get stuck in a dead end.

Tao Yao looked at the huge clothes-drying area in front of her. The long, overlapping cloths swayed in the wind, dragging dark shadows on the ground that also swayed like ghosts.

Tao Yao had a vague bad premonition in her heart. This place was not a good place, and there was no way to meet Chu Huanjun and the others, so it would be better to leave first.

Just as Tao Yao turned around and was about to leave, she suddenly heard the cry of an eagle.

Tao Yao subconsciously looked in the direction where the sound came from, only to see a falcon circling low in the sky not far from her.

Taking a closer look, Tao Yao saw that the falcon's feet were wrapped with conspicuous red cloth strips, and she immediately realized that this was Lu Che's falcon.

Immediately afterwards, Tao Yao heard a short whistle, which came from the clothes drying yard.

The falcon flew in the air for a while, then slowly landed. After exchanging a glance with Tao Yao, it flapped its wings and flew towards the direction where the whistle came from, entering among the layers of dyed cloth on the clothes drying yard.

It's Lu Che?! Why is Lu Che here?

Tao Yao's heart tightened. Lu Che was the real murderer of Zhou Yan, and now he appeared in this place, which was not sure whether it was Qinglongwu or Qingshuitun. It was really strange.

Thinking of Lu Che's kindness in risking his life to sneak into the government office to bring her pancakes, Tao Yao decided to follow Yingshen to meet Lu Che and tell him that Chu Huanjun was nearby and he had to leave here quickly.

Entering the depths of the clothes-drying yard, Tao Yao felt as if she were trapped in a maze. Long, draped cloths hung in front, behind, and to the left and right, drifting and swaying with nowhere to lean on. No matter which direction she walked, or which piece of cloth she crossed, she was still greeted by an endless jungle of dyed cloths.

The sound of the whistle came very frequently, but Tao Yao couldn't tell which direction it came from. Sometimes it was in the east, sometimes in the west, sometimes far away in the sky, and sometimes it seemed very close.

Tao Yao subconsciously raised his head, trying to look for the falcon.

But all he could see was a clothesline that was so high it almost reached the sky, with countless dyed cloths hanging down from the sky. The scene before him was like a dark cloud pressing down on a city, making Tao Yao breathless.

Not right.

Tao Yao realized that something was wrong and began to feel anxious.

Maybe it wasn't Lu Che. If it was Lu Che, he would definitely appear in front of her at the first possible moment. Why would he have to act so mysteriously like he is now?

What about that falcon? What about that familiar whistle?

Although there were many mysteries in her mind, Tao Yao couldn't care less about them for the time being. She quickly turned around and wanted to return the same way.

This place is unknown, so the first priority is to leave as soon as possible.

But it was already difficult for her to drive the wheelchair, and now the thick dyed cloth blocked her vision, making it extremely difficult to break through this barrier.

Tao Yao relied on instinct and his remaining sense of direction, aimed in a certain direction, and moved forward with all his might.

But just when she thought she was only a few steps away from breaking out of the maze, the whistle that was so far away suddenly approached her, and in an instant, it arrived a few inches behind her.

Tao Yao felt a chill coming from behind her. She didn't dare look back. Her hands grabbing the wheel were almost flying sparks. She just wanted to rush out quickly.

But the person behind her pressed down hard on her wheelchair and was dragging her backwards with it.

Tao Yao exclaimed: "I surrender! I surrender!"

A cold female voice rang out from behind: "Girl, are you also lost here? You and I are both lost, can we form a partnership and find a way out together?"

Tao Yao slowly turned her head and saw a woman dressed in white. She was wearing a veil and her face could not be seen clearly.

She had a strange fragrance on her body, which smelled somewhat familiar, a bit like the pine wood incense that Chu Huanjun often carried with him.

"Who are you?" Tao Yao asked.

"Didn't I say..."

The woman covered her face and smiled, her slender fingers tapping the carvings on the back of the wheelchair from time to time.

"I also got lost here and happened to meet you. I wanted to be your companion and find a way out together."

Tao Yao frowned, thinking that this woman was lying, but she was unarmed and unable to resist her.

"Okay. But you misunderstood, young lady. I'm not lost here. My family lives in Qingshuitun, and I just wanted to get out and relax. I'm familiar with the roads here, so I'll take you out." Tao Yao simply pretended to respond, "I have a problem with my legs, so I'll have to help push my wheelchair for me."

"Oh? That's even better. The girl said something about whether it's troublesome or not. It should be me who troubles you to show me the way."

As the woman spoke, she took off a white jade hairpin from her head and stuck it in the soil at her feet as a sign.

The woman put her hands on Tao Yao's shoulders, pushed her forward, and occasionally smoothed the hair on her shoulders.

The woman's finger movements were so soft and gentle that Tao Yao guessed that she must be a dancer.

Tao Yao naturally didn't know which was the right path to take, so he could only give some random instructions to delay time.

After the woman pushed Taoyao around for several circles, she finally saw the white jade hairpin that she had originally stuck in the soil.

"It seems we are back to square one."

The woman smiled, squatted down, pulled out the white jade hairpin, patted the mud and dust off the hairpin, and said, "Didn't the girl say she was a local and knew the way?"

Just as Tao Yao was thinking quickly about her next move, the other party called out her name accurately.

"Shi Taoyao, I've had enough fun, have you had enough?"

When Tao Yao heard her own name, her heart felt like a stone had been thrown into the bottom of a well.

Tao Yao raised her head and stared at her with such a burning gaze that it seemed as if she could see through the heavy veils that covered the woman's face and see her true appearance.

"Shi Taoyao, I knew you would come." The woman's voice revealed a hint of pride in her accurate judgment.

"You're covered in wounds, yet you're still so restless and dare to go anywhere. No wonder the prince looks at you differently."

Prince? Did she know Chu Huanjun? Tao Yao's mind was in a state of confusion. She tried hard to search for the memory of this voice. It seemed very familiar, but she couldn't find any impression at all.

"Who are you? How do you know me?" Tao Yao asked.

Another chuckle sounded behind him, and the man whispered, "Don't be so anxious to know who I am. We will have a chance to meet again in the future."

Before she finished speaking, Tao Yao felt herself and the wheelchair starting to move backwards. It was the woman who was dragging her.

Since he couldn't escape her clutches for the time being, Tao Yao simply broke the ice and asked, "What's going on with that falcon? Also, where did you get your whistle? Why do you play that tune?"

The woman replied impatiently, "If you have the energy to ask questions, why not think carefully about how to escape first? What's the matter? Didn't the prince tell you to stay home and not go out? It seems that he doesn't care about you that much."

The woman answered the question irrelevantly, and Tao Yao only felt that there was a strong sense of sourness in her words.

Tao Yao suddenly realized something and teased her, "Miss, could it be that you are the prince's old lover?"

The words "old lover" deeply hurt the woman's heart. She angrily warned, "My past with the prince is not something you, a young girl, can pry into."

Hearing the woman's words, Tao Yao was instantly certain that there must be some unknown past between her and Chu Huanjun, and she immediately begged for mercy, "Good sister, good sister, then you must have misunderstood something. There is nothing between the prince and me. If you want to take revenge on your rival, you have to catch the right person! Otherwise, wouldn't it be a waste of effort?"