Golden Branch

Lou Yu slowly turned the Elephant Bone Crushing Technique on his thumb.

After Zheng Shisan finished speaking haltingly, a deep smile appeared on his lips.

He understood what Wang Heng meant: this was not a separation of life and death, but just a small contest between them as "brother and sister".

Wang Heng successfully left the capital right under his nose.

Next, she will "travel around" and her whereabouts will be uncertain.

After a few months, when everything in the capital is settled, she will come back.

He lost this round.

He was actually deceived by the little girl's well-behaved and innocent appearance.

He prided himself on being able to plan everything and control everything, but Ah Heng still won this time.

Next, it’s up to him whether he can catch the naughty cat.

The second round of the competition was to not torture Zheng Shisan or force Wang Mian, but to rely solely on the understanding of Wang Heng and some traces around her to successfully locate Wang Heng's whereabouts.

"...Alright! Since Ah Heng wants to play, I'll play with her!"

As expected, Lou Yu did not continue to hold Zheng Shisan accountable. He looked around and confirmed the specific personnel assigned by Wang Heng.

Fu's mother, Bai Wei, Bai Shao and other close servants were all there.

The sisters Zheng Shisan and Zheng Shiliu were also there.

This shows that what Zheng Shisan relayed about Wang Heng was not false: Heng really did not intend to "never return", she would come back.

This little girl seems gentle and good-tempered, but in fact she is very cold-hearted.

To a certain extent, Wang Heng, like Lou Yu, is wary of everyone.

She will not trust someone easily, nor will she abandon herself for anyone other than herself.

However, no matter how lonely a person is, he is still a human being, not a stone or a plant.

Wang Heng would also show a certain amount of affection to friends, servants, etc. who treated her sincerely and had been with her for many years.

Even if we don't talk about feelings, and just consider the interests, Wang Heng will not give up the servants like Fu Mu whom she is used to.

She is so delicate.

It is not just about having someone to serve you, but also about having someone who is suitable and easy to use to serve you.

If Wang Heng wanted to never come back, she would definitely take Fu's mother and others with her when she left.

If it was just to confuse him and delay time, Wang Heng would have other candidates instead of the person closest to her.

The fact that Fu's mother and the others are still here means that Wang Heng is still planning to come back.

The dark energy in Lou Yu's heart dissipated a little bit.

Then, Lou Yu began to interrogate the guards who escorted Wang Heng to the farm.

The commander Ah Hu was also at the farm and did not personally protect Wang Heng.

There were also two hundred guards from the princess's mansion, some of whom came to the farm and some stayed at the princess's mansion.

Except for a very few people.

So, Ah Heng left the capital with these few people in a light carriage and a small entourage?!

"Aside from the personal guards in public, Ah Heng should have other people!"

"These people were arranged somewhere in advance, just waiting for Ah Heng to join them."

While Lou Yu was practicing the Elephant Bone Crushing Technique, his brain was working rapidly.

"Death squad! Yes, over the years in Yizhou, Ah Heng not only raised her own troops and private soldiers, but also recruited many shady helpers."

Even Lou Yu himself has secret guards.

"Good Ah Heng, I didn't know you had a secret power that I didn't know about."

"This isn't something that can be accomplished overnight. Oh well, you've been on guard against me for years now!"

"I thought we were close and had no secrets from each other, but I didn't expect you to still hide it from me."

Lou Yu knew that Wang Heng was a rebellious person, but he still didn't expect that she would be so wary of him.

"Little ungrateful bastard..."

Lou Yu sighed softly.

For a moment, he didn't know whether he should be angry at Wang Heng's lack of conscience or relieved that Wang Heng was scheming.

His little girl has never been a simple, harmless little white rabbit.

Lou Yu could accept and even appreciate Wang Heng's cunning, but he didn't want her to use this calculation on him.

……

After checking the entire farm, Lou Yu had obtained the clue he wanted.

He rode back to Beijing overnight, used his token to open the city gate guards, and quickly entered Pingkangfang.

He did not go to the princess's mansion next door, but returned to the outer study of the Duke's mansion.

"Tell me, what's going on?"

Lou Yu knelt upright behind the desk, his face as gloomy as water, his expression unremarkable.

He suddenly said this to the empty study.

Before he finished speaking, two figures flashed in the room.

Both of them were wearing black Hu clothing with dark embroidered patterns on the lapels and cuffs.

They were all Lou Yu's secret guards, following Lou Yu like shadows.

Originally, Wang Heng also had one.

In addition to Ah Man who appears in the open, there are also An Wu and An Ba in the dark.

But, during that quarrel last year, Wang Heng and Lou Yu fell out for the first time.

In order to prove to Wang Heng that he would not tyrannically control everything about her, Lou Yu withdrew the two secret guards.

People who were secretly controlled, such as Bai Shao, were also handed over to Wang Heng for disposal.

Lou Yu did this not because he had really changed his personality, but because he didn't want to push Wang Heng further away.

He was confident enough that even without secret guards and servants to control, Wang Heng could not escape his sight.

As expected, because of his overconfidence, he was taken advantage of by a heartless little girl.

"Please forgive me, my dear, we have failed in our duty!"

The two secret guards knelt down together.

Lou Yu didn't say anything, just looked at the two of them quietly.

His eyes were cold and sharp, as if saying: Stop talking nonsense and get to the point.

The two secret guards understood their master's intention and quickly replied one after another:

"That day at 10:00, the princess left the city in a carriage. In addition to the carriage, she also secretly transferred twelve horses from the villa."

"Lord Wang left the city at 14:00 PM, saying he was going to discuss matters with farmers outside the city. After leaving the city, he did not take the official road, but took a detour along a smaller path."

"..."

The two secret guards took turns reporting back.

They were just some seemingly ordinary little things.

But now that Lou Yu already knows the "result", he can reverse the process and find clues from these details.

Wang Mian not only knew about Ah Heng's "outing" this time, but also helped a lot.

A sneer flashed in Lou Yu's eyes: "When I saw Wang Mian before, I thought she was a decent person. I didn't expect that she could be so bold at times."

Wang Mian's fear of Lou Yu was almost written in his eyes.

Every time Lou Yu saw Wang Mian, he could feel her fear of him.

He could also see Wang Mian's "worry" about Wang Heng: she knew that Wang Heng was courting death and was worried that Wang Heng would anger Lou Yu.

Therefore, Lou Yu believed that Wang Mian was a responsible person and sensible.

However, Lou Yu still underestimated Wang Mian's courage.

In other words, he underestimated the friendship between Wang Mian and Wang Heng.

"I haven't let Ah Heng down, and I'm worthy of being Ah Heng's closest friend."

"Of course, it's also possible that Wang Mian feels that he has Xiao Wuji as his backer, so he doesn't need to be afraid of me, Lord Lou!"

Lou Yu tapped the table lightly with his fingers. He knew that Wang Mian was the key to tracking down Ah Heng.

She knew all of Wang Heng's plans and also knew Wang Heng's destination.

In fact, Lou Yu could roughly guess where Wang Heng wanted to go and where she could go.

Either it’s my hometown of Yizhou or it’s Lingnan!

Although in the Great Yu Dynasty, Lingnan was a place of exile that everyone feared.

But, because of Wang Mian, Wang Heng seemed to be very curious about that place.

In Wang Mian's narration, although Lingnan is located in a remote area and has a climate different from that of the Central Plains, it is full of primitive jungles, snakes, insects, rats and ants, as well as terrifying smoke and poisonous gas.

But that place has vast land and abundant resources.

Many fruits and crops that are not found in the Central Plains can be found everywhere in the mountains and fields of Lingnan.

Lingnan's unique climate allows rice to be harvested twice or even three times a year.

Lingnan has mountains, rivers and a long coastline.

In the sea, there are also world-famous pearl and coral trees.

...From Wang Mian's mouth, Wang Heng and Lou Yu heard a Lingnan that was completely different from what they knew.

That place seemed like a huge treasure house.

As long as you manage it well, you can dig out endless treasures.

In fact, not to mention those treasures, just a lychee is enough to make Wang Heng yearn for it.

litchi?

When Lou Yu thought of this word, there seemed to be an lingering sweet fragrance in his nose.

He resisted the urge to swallow, forced himself to control himself, and continued to think calmly.

and many more!

wrong!

Lou Yu understood Wang Heng, and how could Wang Heng not know that he understood her?

Be it Yizhou or Lingnan, Lou Yu could guess without much thought that Wang Heng would definitely not go there.

hold on!

Just when he was thinking about this, a light flashed through Lou Yu's mind.

It’s just that the “inspiration” flashed too quickly and Lou Yu didn’t catch it for a moment.

At this moment, thinking back and thinking carefully, Lou Yu grasped: "Ocean? Go to sea!"

Guessing this possibility, Lou Yu stood up suddenly.

"Damn it! This girl is going to die!"

Going out to sea is such a dangerous thing.

Even when the sea is calm, all kinds of accidents can happen.

The people were in the boat, far away from the inland, with no way up to the sky or down to the ground. If the boat sank, even if Wang Heng was a good swimmer, she would not be able to swim back!

"Go, send someone to Wang Mian's Chamber of Commerce. I want to know if her fleet has any plans to go out to sea? Or if it has acquired new treasure ships!"

"Also, send a message to all government offices from the capital to Dengzhou, asking them to keep a close eye on the local post stations and inns..."

Lou Yu's orders were issued one by one.

By the time he finished all this, it was already dawn.

Lou Yu quickly washed and changed his clothes, then headed straight for the Southern Court.

"Xiao Wuji, Wang Mian has really crossed my line this time. She can mess around with Ah Heng, but she can't sit idly by and watch Ah Heng take risks!"

Going out to sea, even those experienced fishermen may end up with their boats sinking and dying, let alone a delicate lady like Wang Heng?

If Wang Heng went somewhere else, Lou Yu would not be so angry.

Now, he only had a trace of rationality to consider his years of friendship with Wang Mian and his friend Xiao Wuzhi.

But the prerequisite is that Xiao Wu Ji must make amends for his fiancée.

“…” Xiao Wuji didn’t want to hold his fiancée back, but when he heard the word “going to sea”, he felt helpless.

Amian, you really pissed off Lou Hanzhang this time!

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Wuji slowly said, "I don't know the specific situation. Compared to me, her fiancé, Amian values ​​Princess Langya more."

"However, I overheard Amian vaguely mentioning Japan when she was giving instructions..."