The little heroine investigates a mysterious case

When Shishu woke up, he found himself lying on the ground with his hands and feet tied up. He looked around and saw a lot of chopped firewood piled against the wall. This was obviously a woodshed. A candle was burning on a tattered table, and the candlelight was trembling.

In the dim candlelight, the secretary saw Gu Zhanghua sitting against the wall not far away, still unconscious, with his hands and feet also tied.

The secretary struggled to move to Gu Zhanghua and called out in a low voice: "Your Highness! Your Highness, wake up!"

At this moment, the door of the woodshed was suddenly opened from the outside, and several burly and ferocious-looking men came in, picked up the servant and the unconscious Gu Zhanghua and dragged them out.

Shishu roared, "You! Who are you? What do you want to do? Let me go! Let me go!"

The big men didn't say a word and quickly dragged the two men out of the woodshed and then into another house not far away. Shishu guessed that this should be a bedroom. It was simply furnished but had everything, including tables, chairs and beds.

Two big men restrained the servant, who could not move at all. Another big man pried open the servant's mouth and poured a bowl of medicine that had been prepared long ago into his mouth.

Shishu felt a bitter and fishy soup that was extremely unpalatable rushing down his throat, and he couldn't help but dry heave.

Several big men just looked at Shishu with a sneer.

Shishu didn't feel any fear at this moment, but was filled with regret. He really shouldn't have been soft-hearted and given in to the masked villain. It didn't matter whether he lived or died, but he had caused His Highness to suffer, and he might even lose his life for no apparent reason. He would never be able to repay him even if he worked like a slave in the next life.

Thinking of this, Shishu was filled with grief and anger, and suddenly rushed towards a big man, but collapsed to the ground halfway.

The big man who was hit looked at the others happily.

"Alright, it's working, untie him! No matter how skilled he is in martial arts, he's still a useless man now!"

Several big men immediately worked together to untie the two men.

At this time, a younger man walked in, holding a set of bright red clothes in his hands. He put them on the bed and turned around to look at the servant.

"When your young master wakes up, remember to help him change his clothes. Tomorrow morning at the auspicious time, we will come to take him to the bridal chamber!"

The secretary screamed in horror: "Into... into what bridal chamber?!"

The man grinned, "Of course he'll marry our leader! Your son is incredibly lucky! To be chosen by our leader!"

As he spoke, he ordered several big men: "You guys, guard the door for me, don't let anyone escape!"

After the man finished speaking, he waved his hand and several big men followed him out of the room.

When the secretary heard the sound of the lock being locked, he hurried to the door and looked out through the crack. Sure enough, he saw four big men staying there to guard the door.

Shishu slowly walked to Gu Zhanghua, holding on to the wall, squatted down and gently pushed Gu Zhanghua.

"Your Highness! Your Highness!"

Gu Zhanghua finally slowly opened his eyes and looked around blankly.

"Where is this?"

The secretary thought about what the man said and guessed, "I'm afraid... I'm afraid this is Yanwangzhai..."

Gu Zhanghua hurriedly touched himself.

"Oh no, all the money is gone!"

The secretary smiled bitterly and said, "I have lost all my money and my sword."

Gu Zhanghua was not drugged and his movements were much more agile than the secretary. He quickly got up and looked out through the crack in the door.

The secretary slumped on the ground.

"Your Highness, please stop looking. I've already checked. There are people guarding here. Furthermore, I don't know what kind of drug this group of people have drugged me. I'm so weak that even moving a finger is difficult. I'm afraid it's impossible for me to protect Your Highness and escape..."

Gu Zhanghua hurriedly supported the secretary and looked him up and down with concern.

"I'm glad you're not hurt."

"Then how are we supposed to escape? They just said that they'd let Your Highness and their leader enter the bridal chamber at the auspicious time tomorrow morning!"

Gu Zhanghua asked in confusion, "Village leader? The leader of the King of Hell Village? Could it be the living King of Hell? Isn't that a man?"

The secretary pondered, "But from what I heard, it seems that the village chief is a woman, and they want you to be their chief's husband! Look, there's a groom's suit on the bed!"

Gu Zhanghua hurried to the bed and spread out the clothes. It was indeed a bright red wedding dress. The style was indeed men's clothing. He felt very disappointed.

"A female village chief? Could she be the Daylily that teacher mentioned? The Daylily that caused such a stir back then because she became the Evil Slayer? The Daylily that was hunted down by the martial arts world?!"

Shishu was worried: "I'm afraid it really is her!"

When Gu Zhanghua heard Shishu's certainty, he fell to the ground.

The capital of the Xia State was Liyang.

As soon as the morning court session ended, Gu Jiancheng caught up with Yang Liuming and Ma Baoguo, bowed to them and said:

"Prime Minister, father-in-law, please wait a moment."

The two turned and looked at Gu Jiancheng.

Gu Jiancheng said anxiously, "My fifth brother has been away from the Xianwang Mansion for five days. Yesterday, I learned that he had taken his attendant, disguised as a scholar, and said he was going on a long journey. I sent people to investigate overnight, and indeed, he went out of the South City Gate and headed south. I'm worried that my fifth brother has gone to the 'Yanwang Village' to seek peace!"

Yang Liuming pondered over this, "The virtuous king did indeed approach me a few days ago to discuss whether to annihilate or recruit the Yanwangzhai. I have already informed His Highness the virtuous king of the seriousness of this matter; recruiting them is absolutely not an option."

Ma Baoguo interjected, "I'm afraid your words won't work. The virtuous prince is as kind-hearted as a bodhisattva! And His Majesty has been avoiding him all these years. The child must be feeling miserable. He must be hoping to accomplish something big to impress His Majesty!"

"Do you two elders also believe that the fifth prince has indeed gone to Yanwang Village?"

Yang Liuming nodded: "Very likely."

Ma Baoguo also analyzed: "Dressed as a scholar, and only accompanied by a secretary, this is almost like a secret visit! And he kept talking about recruiting Yanwangzhai... It's very likely!"

"Do you think we should report this matter to the Emperor immediately?"

Ma Baoguo pondered, "What if it's not him? What if he's just going out to enjoy the scenery?"

Yang Liuming made a suggestion.

"How about this? Your Highness, take your personal guards and rush to Fucheng without delay. Instruct the prefect of Fucheng to assist Your Highness in wiping out Yanwangzhai in one fell swoop. It would be best if Your Highness the Virtuous Prince is not in the village, as if he is, he can be rescued in time!"

Gu Jiancheng pondered: "No matter whether or not we can wipe out Yanwangzhai by then, it seems I must go to Fucheng immediately!"

Yang Liuming and Ma Baoguo looked at each other and nodded in agreement to Gu Jiancheng.

Gu Jiancheng hurried back to the mansion to summon the soldiers, while Gu Zhanghua, who was far away in Yanwangzhai, was already in a state of panic and had no idea that his long journey had alarmed his brother.

A whole night passed, the sky was turning pale, and Gu Zhanghua lay on the bed with his legs up in the air, lost in thought.

He once used the excuse of going to the toilet to escape, but in fact he was making a feint to the east and attacking in the west to delay the four big men, so that the secretary could take the opportunity to escape down the mountain and ask for help from the prefect of Fucheng.

But Shishu not only did not escape down the mountain by himself, but turned back halfway, willing to surrender again, rather than leave Gu Zhanghua alone to face the crisis.

Now the number of guards increased from four to sixteen, and they surrounded the house tightly from front to back, left to right, top to bottom. Not even a fly could fly in, let alone Gu Zhanghua and Shishu, two living people, who could not escape.

At this time, in Hao Xiong's room, Hao Xiong was looking at the bright red wedding dress spread out on the bed, grinning in worry.

Dongtian asked, "The auspicious time is almost here. What should we do? Come up with an idea!"

Hao Xiong rubbed his eyebrows in annoyance.

"What's an auspicious time? I have the final say! Wait, wait a little longer!"

Winter stomping.

"Then how long do we have to wait? You came up with the idea, and you were the one who captured the man. Now the situation is like the arrow is on the string and must be shot! What if people find out that we kidnapped the virtuous king, and the marriage can't be completed, the crime will be very serious!"

Hao Xiong gritted his teeth and said, "Don't worry! Even if it costs me my life, I will make the virtuous king one of our own!"

In the evening, Gu Zhanghua and Shishu stayed in the room, but no one paid any attention to them. They were not even allowed to drink water, let alone eat. Shishu was very worried.

"Your Highness, are you telling me I'm hard of hearing and I heard it wrong? We agreed to enter the bridal chamber early this morning at the auspicious time, so why haven't we heard anything yet?"

Gu Zhanghua glared at Shishu with disappointment.

"Isn't it good to have no movement? Are you still expecting me to become the chief's husband?"

"That was not what I meant……"

Just as the secretary was about to explain, the door suddenly opened and two big men rushed in. They pulled Gu Zhanghua up from the bed and reached out to strip off his coat.

Gu Zhanghua hurriedly grabbed his clothes tightly and looked at the two big men with a nervous face.

"What are you going to do?"

"Change your clothes! Put on the groom's wedding clothes so you can go to the wedding hall!"

Gu Zhanghua sighed.

"It's inevitable... I'll do it myself, just wait outside!"

Seeing that Gu Zhanghua had cooperated and had begun to undress, the two big men did not insist, but retreated back out of the house and closed the door again.

Just as Gu Zhanghua changed into her wedding dress, she heard the blast of firecrackers and the beating of gongs and drums outside the house, making it very lively.

The attendant whispered, "Your Highness, why don't we just reveal our identities? Do these thieves really dare to attack Your Highness the Virtuous Prince? Aren't they afraid that the Emperor will be furious and have them all executed?!"

"That's right! Since we can't escape, we have to adapt to the situation! If we reveal our identities, we might be able to frighten them a little, and then propose a strategy of recruiting them to mediate!"

At this moment, the door was opened again, and a big man came in with two bowls of rice. He placed them on the table and said viciously, "Eat quickly! Eat well so you can go on your journey!"

After saying that, he turned and left, locking the door again.

Gu Zhanghua and Shishu looked at each other.

Gu Zhanghua gasped and looked at the rice on the table with fear.

"Shishu, why does this sound so awkward? It doesn't feel like we're about to enter the bridal chamber, but rather like we're about to go to hell..."