"Bah, bah, bah..." The rapid sound of horse hoofs sounded. Xuanyuan Liuyun saw the light of torches in the forest, and rode over with the soldiers of Prince Ren's palace.
"Did you find Zi Ling?"
Xuanyuan Liuyun dismounted and asked.
Shen Wan shook her head, handed the earring in her hand to Xuanyuan Liuyun, and said, "Not yet. I only found traces of fighting, horse hoof prints, and this."
"earrings?"
Xuanyuan Liuyun frowned.
Shen Ming said: "Zhao He said that these are the earrings worn by men in the Northern Territory."
When Xuanyuan Liuyun heard this, he hurriedly rushed to his bodyguard and said: "You immediately take my token and enter the palace, and tell me that Song Heng, the son of General Zhenbei, has been captured by the people from the Northern Territory."
He also didn't expect that what happened to Song Ziling was actually the work of someone from the Northern Territory.
Now that Song Ziling is neither alive nor dead, and only traces of the fight and some traces left by the other party have been found, it is obvious that Song Ziling was captured by the people from the Northern Territory.
What they wanted to do by taking Song Ziling away was naturally known to Sima Zhao.
The matter is of great importance and must be reported to the Emperor immediately.
Since the war between the Northern Territory and the Dongchen Kingdom, Dongchen has no longer allowed people from the Northern Territory to enter the country. It is not known how these Northern Territory people sneaked into Dongchen.
"Yes," the guard got on his horse, turned the horse's head and galloped away in the direction of the city.
The dark clouds closed over the moon, the "rumbling" thunder sounded, and it was about to rain.
Shen Wan frowned. If it was a sunny day, the people from the Northern Territory could still be traced based on the horse hoof prints. However, if it rained, the rain might wash away the horse hoof prints left by the people from the Northern Territory, making it more difficult to track.
Xuanyuan Liuyun took the people from Prince Ren's Mansion and followed the horse's hoof prints to search before the heavy rain came.
Not long after, heavy rain fell.
Shen Wan was persuaded by Zhao He and Shen Ming to go back. It was raining heavily and there was no use for her to stay, so Shen Wan returned to the city first.
Shen Ming stayed behind to search for traces of people from the Northern Territory with Zhao He and the others.
The rain was getting heavier and heavier, making it impossible to use torches, and it was impossible to find traces of the Northern Territory people on the ground.
Xuanyuan Liuyun ordered a team of ten people to disperse and search. If any traces of people from the Northern Territory were found, they should not be exposed for now. Let one person come back to inform, and the remaining people will continue to follow.
After Xuanyuan Yu in the palace heard the report from the guards, he immediately summoned the commander of the Royal Forest Army, ordered 2,000 people, and searched outside the imperial city.
He also issued an order to each state capital to set up checkpoints in prefectural cities and county towns to strictly check people entering and leaving the city. If anyone from the northern region is found, arrest them first.
After sending the order, Xuanyuan Yu even summoned the court painters, painted a portrait of Song Ziling overnight, and hurriedly sent it to the various states.
The next day, Xuanyuan Liuyun and his men searched all night, but were unable to find Beiyu and the captured Song Ziling.
The imperial guards continued to search, but they returned to the city first.
"Madam, Master Shen is back."
Hui'er whispered to the lady sitting on the kang.
My wife came back last night, and she didn't eat a bowl of rice or a sip of water after she came back. After the young master fell asleep, my wife didn't sleep either, so she sat on the kang all night.
Shen Wan who was sitting suddenly stood up and walked out the door. As soon as she reached the door, she bumped into Shen Ming who was soaked all over and looked tired.
"How's it going? Did you find it?"
Shen Wan grabbed her brother's hand and asked.
Shen Ming looked at his blind and black-eyed sister and shook his head, saying: "It rained all night last night, the torches were put out, and the trace was hard to find. We and the Imperial Forest Army searched for it all night but couldn't find it.
The emperor has already ordered the deployment of two thousand imperial troops, and also ordered the various state governments to conduct strict inspections. As long as they are still in the Dongchen Kingdom, they will not be able to escape."
Shen Wan's shoulders slumped, and after a moment, she said again: "Go take a hot bath first and change your clothes! It won't be good if you are sick.
Hui'er, please have someone prepare some hot water and make some ginger soup."
"Yes," Hui'er said happily and asked Dongmei and Xia Zhu to prepare hot water and ginger soup.
Qiu Ju looked at Shen Wan and comforted her: "Madam, don't worry, the second young master has his own destiny, and he will definitely come back safely."
Shen Wan closed her eyes and took a deep breath, murmuring: "How can I not worry about this..." After the hot water was ready, Shen Ming took a bath in the partition of Song Ziling's room and put on his brother-in-law's clean clothes. clothes.