They were in charge of being beautiful, and she was in charge of taking the hits.

However, he still took out a small porcelain bottle, poured out two pills and gave them to the two of them: "The Heart-Stealing Powder will take effect in five days. If you take the antidote within these five days, you will be fine. But don't even think about killing me to get the antidote. I don't have it. I need to make it myself."

Han Yuxiu spoke in a high-sounding manner, and the two were forced to eat. Wu Ziyan stood up and looked at the gloomy sky outside. The officials should have arrived by now.

Soon someone came to report that the yamen officials had arrived. Wu Ziyan looked at Wang Hu and said, "You'd better act well. If you slip up, you and your sister will be in deep trouble."

Wang Hu and his companion nodded and quickly tied the three men up with ropes, all with slipknots, and led them out, acting as if the Emperor himself were right there.

They could see the large group of people approaching from across the road. Wang Hu, holding three men in his arms, shouted loudly, "You lackeys of the government, have you brought enough silver?"

Lord Hu was taken aback. This wasn't mentioned in the story. He should have already received the letter. Wu Ziyan laughed out loud but shouted, "My lord, I am the Fourth Princess sent by the court. If you save me, I will definitely ask the higher authorities for a reward!"

Huang Ziliang and Changsun Boyou, who were traveling with Hu Yan, looked at the figure above and felt that Wu Ziyan was not being threatened. They thought that Wu Ziyan must have come up with some other scheme.

Hu Yan's subordinates shouted, "Do you know what crime it is to kidnap the princess? You still dare to demand a ransom! Release the princess immediately, or we'll spare your lives!"

Wang Hu looked at Wu Ziyan and asked, "She doesn't want to pay. What should we do?"

"Then you'll have to figure something out." Wu Ziyan adopted a completely submissive posture.

Wang Hu stepped forward as well: "Lord Hu, I know you have gold in your private treasury. What, you're not willing to use it to save the princess?"

At this moment, Wu Ziyan also cooperated extremely well: "What? Lord Hu has gold! Quickly bring it to save this princess! When I return, I will reward you tenfold!"

Hu Yan looked embarrassed. She realized that they had actually set their sights on her private treasury. Fortunately, she was prepared. Bandits were prone to turning against her, and she had already received instructions from her superiors to say that if the Fourth Princess was killed by those ruthless bandits in the chaos of battle, no one could be blamed.

The silence between the two sides was deafening. Wu Ziyan probably guessed that the government had no good intentions. She whispered a few words to Wang Hu, and Hu Yan waved her hand. The soldiers, regardless of whether Wu Ziyan and the others were still being held hostage, rushed directly up the mountain.

Huang Ziliang sensed something was wrong and, together with Changsun Boyou, rode their horses to catch up. Horses are always faster than people, and they quickly caught up with the soldiers and headed towards Wu Ziyan.

Upon closer inspection, Wu Ziyan and the other two appeared quite relaxed, their hands untied. The people around them treated them with great courtesy. Wu Ziyan waved to them, and they whipped the horse's rump twice before galloping over to them.

Several people gathered

Huang Ziliang and Changsun Boyou said anxiously, "That prefect is probably going to turn against us!"

At this moment, the soldiers below the mountain kept rushing up and fighting with the lowly thugs, and the sounds of fighting instantly filled the air.

Wang Hu said, "There is a secret passage behind the mountain that leads to the other side of the mountain. We can go down the mountain from there."

"I'm afraid someone has been wanting to kill me all along. These soldiers aren't here to save me, but to kill me." Wu Ziyan said this as casually as if he were talking about killing someone else.

Huang Ziliang nodded: "When Young Master Changsun and I went up the mountain, we felt that something was wrong."

Wang Hu looked at the group, his eyes urging them to hurry up. The soldiers were about to arrive. At this moment, Hu Yan revealed her true colors. She had received news that the person coming to provide disaster relief was an unpopular princess. She had spread the word along the way that whoever killed her would be rewarded.

Unexpectedly, she actually came to his territory and offered herself up. He originally wanted to pretend to protect the bandits as a source of extra income, but how could he let go of such a good opportunity?

"Listen carefully, not a single person on the mountain was spared. The bandits were audacious enough to ambush and kill the princess, and robbed the disaster relief funds! This prefect fought the bandits to the death, but in the end, he was unable to save the princess and even lost several elite soldiers!" He was already drafting a memorial for her.

Wu Ziyan listened and nodded repeatedly. What a clever scheme, what a clever way to frame someone!

But Wang Hu was part of the organization, so how could he not be prepared? The group ran along the secret passage in the back mountain, and the sounds of fighting ahead gradually subsided. Wu Ziyan looked at Wang Hu and asked, "Do we have any people in the county?"

Wang Hu nodded, but Huang Ziliang and Changsun Boyou, who were unaware of the situation, were puzzled and looked at Wu Ziyan, wondering when they had become so close to this bandit leader.

Knowing that the others were puzzled, Wu Ziyan said, "I'll explain in detail when we get to the city."

Their escape went relatively smoothly, but Hu Yan suffered heavy losses in the battle, killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of her own.

When they arrived at the stronghold, they found it deserted; all the important figures were gone. She stomped her feet in anger: "Find them for me, even if you have to dig three feet into the ground!"

Because if they escape, tonight's events will be exposed. Even if Wu Ziyan dies somewhere else, she might write a memorial impeaching herself beforehand.

Finally, they searched almost the entire mountain, but found no one. They sent people to search other mountains, but the search also came to nothing. Several more days passed, and there was still no news.

Hu Yan thought that perhaps the weather was gloomy at the time, and he died in the chaos of battle. He was trampled and crushed by so many people, so it was understandable that his body could not be recognized.

She comforted herself in this way, and asked someone to prepare pen, ink, paper and inkstone for her. She wrote a merit list for herself, which was several hundred words long, and was preparing to submit it to the higher-ups. But things didn't go as planned, and nothing she wanted to do went her way.

On that very morning, it was pouring rain.

Hu Yan was still dreaming, dreaming that she was playing hide-and-seek among a group of handsome men when a cold knife was held to her neck. In her dream, she felt a chill and opened her eyes to find two men in black standing at the head of her bed. She was about to shout when she realized the knife was still at her neck. Her eyes widened in terror: "Who are you?! What do you want?!"

Wang Hu said, "The one who'll take your life!"

With a sob in her voice, Hu Yan couldn't immediately recall who it was, only thinking that the refugees must have been starving to the point of breaking into his house: "Do you want money? I have money, I'll give you as much as you want!"

Chu Qiu shook his head; this person was truly hopeless! A strike with the hilt of a knife temporarily knocked her unconscious, and they carried Hu Yan in one direction.

Inside the inn, Wu Ziyan sighed repeatedly as she looked at the rain outside. She returned shortly afterward, and Hu Yan was thrown to the ground, waking up with a jolt. Still somewhat dazed, she looked at the people around her with a sinister glint in her eyes: "You're all still alive!"