Tang Dynasty: To win Yang Guifei, they asked Emperor Xuanzong to die.

The "old man," "pretty boy," and "woman" mentioned by the group of people were none other than Li Longji, Li Heng, and Consort Liu. With all the details matching up, it was certain that this was the group that had kidnapped them.

It's laughable to think that someone who was a member of the Imperial Guard, a high-ranking official, and a member of the royal family could be outmaneuvered by a bunch of amateur bandits!

"you--"

Guo Ziyi, young and impetuous, was suddenly filled with a nameless rage.

As a loyal minister, Guo Ziyi always respected the imperial family. Apart from Li Mao, he also greatly admired and respected Crown Prince Li Heng and Emperor Li Longji. Now, hearing these petty bandits speak rudely to them and even try to seize Consort Liu, he was furious.

He glared at these people with hatred, barely suppressing the urge to kill them immediately.

Li Mao, however, remained much calmer. He nodded and said to the bandits, "Alright, I'll consider you cooperative. But if even one word is a lie, I'll make you regret saying it alive today."

"The little ones don't dare, the little ones don't dare!"

The bandits were almost in tears. How could they dare to lie in the face of these two fierce-looking men?

Without saying a word, Li Mao turned and entered the stone chamber.

Pushing open the door, and using the dim light, I found Li Longji's figure in the darkness. Li Longji was lying on a tattered bed, sleeping restlessly, occasionally turning over.

It was none other than his adoptive father, the emperor.

The bandits weren't lying; Li Longji was sleeping soundly in the stone chamber at that moment, occasionally emitting soft snores.

Li Mao did not wake Li Longji and closed the door again.

Having confirmed that what the four men said was true, he immediately delivered a chop to each of them, knocking them all unconscious. He then said, "Ziyi, according to these two men, Consort Liu is currently in the most dangerous situation. That one-eyed man has already 'married,' and the others in the stronghold are preparing to assault Consort Liu. I plan to go rescue her first, and then go to the construction site to the south to check on the situation."

Guo Ziyi already understood his intention, but still asked with a hint of reluctance, "Your Highness, what about me?"

"You will naturally stay here and bear the heavy responsibility of protecting His Majesty. We have dealt with these four people, but there is no guarantee that more people will not come soon. You must protect His Majesty well, and if you can find an opportunity to take him away, that would be best. If not, do not act rashly."

Upon hearing this, Guo Ziyi immediately felt a great responsibility on his mind.

Seeing that Guo Ziyi was willing to stay and guard the place, Li Mao then turned and left.

Fifteen minutes later, in the first room on the left side of the mountain stronghold courtyard.

Liu Huafei huddled in a corner, trembling. Her face was haggard, her eyes vacant; she was clearly on the verge of collapse: "You...you can't touch me! Are you out of your minds?!"

"Oh my, this middle-aged woman is still a chaste and virtuous woman. Tell me, how are we so reckless? Is it because your skills are so superb that you can make us feel like we're dying and take our lives?" one of the bandits surrounding Liu Huafei lewdly said, his mouth full of crude words.

Consort Liu had spent most of her life secluded in the palace, living a life of luxury and ease. She had never encountered anything like this before, and she cried even harder.

She had considered revealing her identity as a palace concubine to scare these people away and prevent them from touching her. However... His Highness the Crown Prince had instructed her not to expose her identity under any circumstances. Otherwise, the bandits, being extremely ruthless, would know that they had kidnapped a member of the royal family and committed a grave crime, and might simply hasten their own demise.

The Crown Prince and others endured humiliation and hardship, doing manual labor; how could she possibly escape this calamity?

Consort Liu cried, "I am old and my beauty has faded. How can I be worthy to serve you gentlemen!"

"You may be a bit older, but you're well-maintained and look like a woman in her early twenties. We brothers aren't picky, as long as it's a woman, that's fine with us. Enough talk, come on, and serve us well!"

As he spoke, the bandits were about to step forward and grope him.

Just as Liu Huafei was feeling utterly hopeless, a voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Stop!"

Then the door was pushed open, and a familiar figure appeared in her line of sight.

The man descended like a god, quickly subduing the bandits who had come to "enjoy" Liu Huafei. Liu Huafei was stunned, staring blankly at the person who had come from the sky to save her.

“Consort Hua, it’s me,” Li Mao said softly.

At this moment, Consort Liu seemed to have lost all her strength. Hearing Li Mao's gentle voice, she could no longer suppress her fear and sorrow. She rushed over and buried her face in Li Mao's arms, bursting into tears.

This was an improper thing to do, but since no one was around, Li Mao silently gave his permission.

After Consort Liu had finished crying, Li Mao said, "Consort Liu, this place is not safe to stay any longer. I still need to rescue His Highness the Crown Prince and the others. I will take you to the prison to meet Gao Chen first. There are many of our men there, and they will escort you two away from the stronghold to Xianyang tonight. We will meet again when we arrive in Xianyang."

After saying that, he helped Liu Huafei away.

The mountain stronghold was filled with the joyous weddings of the villagers, and the drunken revelry continued. Under the cover of night, Li Mao led Liu Huafei back to the prison without any obstruction.

……

Another half hour passed, near the construction site to the south.

Li Mao led the horse-training soldiers, who had already successfully escaped their restraints, slowly towards the construction site. All of them were highly skilled soldiers, making it easy for them to conceal their tracks and remain undetected under these circumstances.

"Don't even think about slacking off, get up now! Hurry up!"

Before dawn, work had already begun on the construction site.

Several foremen, whips in hand, were arrogant and domineering. Li Mao glanced at them and instantly recognized Li Heng, who was carrying heavy logs. —Despite his disheveled appearance, the arrogance in his eyes remained undiminished.

This is perhaps the unique temperament of a crown prince: unyielding and indomitable.

"These damned bandits dared to make His Highness the Crown Prince do such dirty and arduous work. They must be tired of living. Even being slowly sliced ​​to death wouldn't be enough to atone for their sins!" A soldier standing nearby also saw the Crown Prince and was filled with indignation.

Li Mao smiled slightly and waved his hand, signaling them to keep quiet.

A real man should be able to bend and stretch; moving a log won't kill you.

Crown Prince Li Heng always had a stern face and an aloof demeanor, so it might not be a bad thing for him to suffer some hardship like this.

After observing the situation at the construction site for a while, he saw that besides Li Heng, there were quite a few other laborers, including several imperial physicians and guards whom Li Longji had always valued. They were all tirelessly moving wood under the foreman's whip. Before Li Longji fled, he had taken eighty carefully selected Imperial Guards with him, but they had encountered too many troubles along the way, and almost all of them had died.

Now only a dozen or so Imperial Guards remain; no wonder they were easily subdued by a group of bandits.

"We can make our move now," Li Mao said, narrowing his eyes.