Rescuing the Villainous Boss with a Little Dirty Master

"Li Lian, tomorrow you will escort Lan Heng away. Find out where he will stay during this time and have someone keep an eye on him for a few days."

Dongling Yu walked slowly around the table, only in this way could he feel a sense of reality.

"Does Your Highness still doubt him?"

"You know I only look at the evidence, and Zhou Nan should be back by now."

......

In the dead of night, in the stillness of the night, five masked men dressed in black gathered outside the stables at a farm on the outskirts of the city. They led the horses out one by one, threw the sacks in their hands onto the horses' backs, mounted, and galloped toward the hunting grounds. The wind howled, bringing with it a chilling atmosphere.

As they approached the hunting grounds, the sound of hooves faded. The leader gestured to the left, and the horses turned and headed towards the inner perimeter. The closer they got to the inner perimeter, the softer and damper the soil became, but no obvious hoofprints were left until they reached the depths.

If a seasoned horse breeder were here, he would have noticed that these horses were using a trotting gait. These horses had clearly undergone special training; judging by their posture, only Liangchu could produce such top-notch horses.

"It's scattered around this area, according to the locations marked on the map."

The leader spoke, his voice clear, cold, and low. If Jiang Heng were here, she would recognize it as Dong Tinglan's voice.

The group scattered, the sacks were opened, and Dong Tinglan took out several small medicine packets, scattering the powder evenly on the ground. Before the hunting grounds were officially under control, they would come to this area every night to conduct some operations, hoping to create a deadly place and also to familiarize themselves with the terrain.

Half an hour later, the five of them left quietly, just as they had arrived.

......

"Third Prince, we've investigated. The medicinal herbs that the Fourth Prince has been purchasing these past few days are mostly for healing and nourishing. But their specific effects are unclear."

"What kind of injury would require so many precious medicinal herbs?"

Dong Jingming frowned in deep thought, "Has the person who entered his residence a few days ago not come out yet?"

"Not yet, not even Xu Yinliang has come out."

"Interesting. It seems Fourth Brother is quite ill. Keep an eye on him. If that person comes out, find an opportunity to grab him and question him."

Dongling Yu's injury and need for treatment, yet his refusal to seek medical help from the palace physicians, is somewhat intriguing. What secret is his fourth brother hiding? Could it be that his casual remark a few days ago was indeed correct—that he was poisoned?

Jiang Heng was unaware that his identity as Lan Heng was being watched. He was currently lying in bed pondering which side Li Lian belonged to. This man had managed to infiltrate Dong Lingyu's inner circle for so long and become one of his trusted lieutenants; he must have something special about him.

He carefully recalled the events of the day, from Li Lian's initial murderous intent towards him to its subsequent waning. What had happened in between? What had convinced him that he was Dongling Yu's adversary?

Suddenly, he ripped off the headband from his head. It was made of ordinary dark blue material, even a bit rough, which suited his identity as a poor, barefoot doctor.

He carefully examined one end of the headband, and finally noticed a peculiar pattern near the end, resembling the character "口" (mouth), with a diagonal line inserted in the upper left corner.

"So that's what you were looking at."

Jiang Heng chuckled softly. No wonder Dong Tinglan agreed to let him come so easily; it turned out he had prepared a protective talisman for him. But since the other party hadn't said anything, he would just pretend he didn't know.

The next day, Jiang Heng planned to make a show of saying goodbye to Dongling Yu, but was refused by Li Lian, who was waiting outside his door, who said he could leave directly. He then handed over a stack of silver notes, saying it was for expenses before moving into the new house.

"His Highness the Fourth Prince is indeed very generous."

"The carriage is already waiting outside; Doctor Lan can leave at any time."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Heng accepted the silver note and headed towards the gate. He noticed Li Lian following behind, but he didn't care, assuming the man was going to escort him to the door. However, even as he was about to board the carriage, the man continued to follow.

"My lord, what is this?"

"His Highness ordered me to escort you back."

Jiang Heng chuckled and let him be; he didn't believe Dongling Yu would be so kind. He stepped into the carriage, Li Lian following closely behind.

After driving some distance, Li Lian lowered his voice and said, "Dongling Yu sent people to investigate you before, and they should be back in the next couple of days."

Jiang Heng understood his subtext, but she didn't care. That person definitely couldn't find out his background, nor did he have any evidence to prove that she had done anything wrong. After all, the fact remained that he had cured Dongling Yu. Even if he suspected him, he wouldn't dare to harm her.

"Host, someone is following us."

Jiang Heng lifted a corner of the carriage curtain and saw that a carriage was indeed following behind.

"You even sent people to follow them?"

"No, today I'm the only one besides the driver."

"Leave the city," Jiang Heng decided immediately. "Besides the knife you're carrying, do you have any other weapons?"

"Go straight back to the Fourth Prince's residence. Now that you are the Fourth Prince's benefactor, he won't let anyone harm you."

"I can't stay in the Fourth Prince's residence forever. It's easier to solve this directly."

Li Lian guessed the other party's intentions, drew a dagger from the hilt of his sword and handed it to him, then lifted the carriage curtain and instructed the driver to leave the city. With a flick of the whip, the carriage headed towards the city gate, but its speed remained unchanged. To outsiders, it appeared as if the carriage was simply heading out of the city.

Jiang Heng brandished the dagger a few times, finding it quite effective.

The others following behind, seeing the carriage change direction, quickly followed. Meanwhile, the men from the Fifth Prince's residence responsible for surveillance, sensing something was amiss, sent one back to report, while the other two hurried to find a place to rent horses; they couldn't catch up on foot alone.

"Dr. Lan, my master requests your presence."

After leaving the city, they traveled for a while until they reached a place where few people were around. Then, the carriage behind them overtook Jiang Heng's carriage and stopped them.

"Who is your master? Is this how he treats people when he hires them?"

Li Lian lifted the carriage curtain and jumped down, gripping his knife tightly. He and the coachman stood guard in front of the carriage, sternly questioning the five people in front of them.

Seeing that Li Lian was also there, and knowing that once their identities were exposed, they wouldn't have a chance to argue, they exchanged a glance to avoid causing trouble for their master, and decided to launch a direct attack. They were confident they could take Lan Heng away with just two people.

In an instant, the two sides clashed, swords flashing and spears clashing. Anyone who tried to approach the carriage was stopped by Li Lian wielding his sword. Jiang Heng stood on the carriage, watching coldly as the driver was defeated and kicked to the ground.

Only after the coachman was killed with a single blow did he leap from the carriage and charge straight at the man. The man, having just finished with the coachman, turned around and saw Lan Heng rushing towards him. A mocking expression appeared on his face; wasn't this just walking straight into his hands?

He sheathed his knife, intending to subdue his opponent with his bare hands, but was startled by the sound of air being cut and took two steps back. He tried to draw his knife to parry, but Jiang Heng did not give him a chance. The continuous attacks left him overwhelmed and quite disheveled.

Just as he was about to subdue the man, risking being stabbed, Jiang Heng deflected her attack. The man couldn't stop in time and stumbled. Jiang Heng took the opportunity to circle behind him and kick him to the ground, pressing her knee against his back. With a forceful thrust, the dagger pierced his heart, and the man on the ground fell silent.

Jiang Heng picked up the knife that had fallen to the ground and was about to help Li Lian when she realized that the battle had already ended there, leaving only one survivor to be taken back for interrogation. However, Li Lian had also sustained some injuries.

He knocked the man unconscious, removed his outer robe, tied his hands behind his back, and was about to throw him onto the carriage.

"Li Lian!"

The sound of horses' hooves and shouts came from not far away. Li Lian looked up and saw that Zhou Nan had returned and had witnessed this scene.

Zhou Nan dismounted and strode over, glancing suspiciously at the corpses on the ground, then giving Jiang Heng a cryptic look.

He had seen it from horseback; he had dealt with the assassin a few steps away. That skill was unlike anything an ordinary barefoot doctor could do.