Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan followed Xiao Kai to the side hall of the palace and met the princess and Xuanyuan Yin. Both of them looked very bad, and seemed to have encountered something very difficult.
Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan stepped forward and saluted. The princess asked Xuanyuan Yin to pour tea for the two of them, and asked them to sit down and talk.
After Su Qiqi sat down, she secretly glanced at Xuanyuan Yin and saw that she was secretly giving him a wink.
Su Qiqi couldn't understand her intention and shook her head slightly. Xuanyuan sighed and continued to remind Su Qiqi with lip movements.
This time, Su Qiqi understood what she meant - the palace was in trouble.
Su Qiqi was thinking secretly when the princess said straight to the point: "A lot of strange things have happened in the palace recently... The prince and I are being watched secretly wherever we go... I feel really uneasy, so I want to ask you two for help. Just a favor..."
As the princess spoke, her eyes turned slightly red. Su Qiqi hurriedly comforted her, "Don't worry, Princess. If you need anything, just ask..."
The princess nodded and said: "Well... A few days ago, we were chatting in the back garden and saw a figure passing by the wall... Last night, when I asked Yin'er to cast a spell, I accidentally found someone peeping outside the window... …”
Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan looked at each other, each was silent for a while, and then asked tacitly: "Oh, does the princess want us to catch the 'thief'?"
The princess nodded sheepishly, and then explained: "Yin'er has been casting spells frequently recently and is feeling a little unwell. She may not be a match for those thieves... Therefore, I would like to ask you two to temporarily serve as the guardians of the palace. I wonder if you two convenient?"
When Su Qiqi heard this, she looked slightly surprised, and then asked: "Is there anyone suspicious of the princess?"
The princess nodded and said: "Looking at the figure, he should be among the newly recruited guards of the palace... Yin'er sent a kid to follow him, and that person went to the Taishi Mansion... I guess that person should be the Taishi The spies placed around us... So, I would like to trouble you two to temporarily serve as the guards of the palace and help me guard against them... In addition, there is one more thing, and I would like to trouble you to help me investigate privately..."
Su Qiqi frowned slightly and said with some embarrassment: "Well, we have no experience in investigating cases... I wonder why the princess wants us to help investigate?"
The princess smiled and nodded: "I would like to ask you two to go to the government office... to secretly check the whereabouts of the disciple..."
When Su Qiqi heard this, she understood in her heart, and immediately clasped her fists and said: "I will do my best... Princess, please wait for the good news..."
The princess nodded with emotion, smiled and thanked: "Thank you both..."
Qin Chuan waved his hand boldly and said: "Princess, you don't have to be polite. King Jingbei has helped the escort agency a lot. This time you are in trouble, and I am obliged..."
Although Su Qiqi was still a little uneasy, she still echoed: "Yes, Princess, don't worry, Qin Chuan and I will go back and prepare..."
The princess thanked her gratefully again. Xuanyuan supported the princess and looked at Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan with gratitude.
When leaving, Xuanyuan handed Su Qiqi two induction charms and asked her and Qin Chuan to keep them in their pockets to save their lives in times of crisis.
Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan returned to their own room in the escort agency's capital branch and simply packed up the hidden weapons and medicines they would need. When night fell, he put on his night clothes and secretly went to the magistrate's office.
The two secretly sneaked into the government office and searched for the whereabouts of the janitor monk from place to place. I searched several courtyards and prisons dedicated to holding prisoners, but still found nothing.
Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan secretly thought about it and decided to go to the back hall of the government office to have a look. The two came to the back hall of the government office and saw two government servants guarding the door of a room.
The two took advantage of the cover of flowers and trees and vines to quietly approach the two government officials. I only heard them chatting, and the topic they talked about was exactly what Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan wanted to know.
"Oh, we adults are so smart, we actually thought of hiding the witness in the back hall..." one of the government officials said, with an expression of admiration on his face.
Another Yamen servant echoed: "That's not true... Our Lord is a highly talented Jinshi... Most people would never think that our Lord would hide people here..."
The two government officials were still talking. Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan were overjoyed when they heard this. The two exchanged glances and decided to make a fool of themselves.
Qin Chuan flicked a few locust stones in the direction of the opposite wall. The sound of the stones hitting the wall successfully attracted the two government officials away.
Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan were able to successfully climb through the window and enter the room guarded by the Yamen servant.
When the two entered the room, they saw a blindfolded man huddled in the corner with his hands tied in a panic.
Qin Chuan stepped forward first and took off the black scarf covering the man's face. When the man saw Qin Chuan and Su Qiqi, he asked in a low voice with a vigilant look on his face: "You... who are you?"
Su Qiqi looked at the man and asked as gently as possible: "Are you the gatekeeper of Zhongfu Temple?"
The man was startled for a moment, nodded, and then asked hesitantly: "Are you... here to save me?"
Su Qiqi replied: "Yes, we have to get out of here quickly..." After saying that, she and Qin Chuan helped the janitor untie the ropes on his body.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the rope was untied, Su Qiqi saw a stream of white powder floating in front of her.
She secretly thought something was wrong, and passed out before she could remind Qin Chuan. Qin Chuan also inhaled a small amount of powder, and managed to wave a palm at the fake janitor who attacked him and Su Qiqi, before he staggered and fell to the ground.
Although the fake disciple reacted quickly and avoided most of the force, Qin Chuan's palm wind still caused slight pain in his chest.
He held on to the wall for a while, then raised his hand to take off the leather mask on his face, and shouted to the door: "You can come in!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the magistrate and several government officials pushed in the door, picked up Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan who were unconscious on the ground, and sent them to the government prison.
After all this was done, the prefect and the fake janitor cooked wine together around the stove and discussed how to claim credit from Master Yan later.
The two were half drunk. Xuanyuanyin received the summons from the induction talisman and sneaked into the government office under the guidance of the kid.
She hid in the dark and let the kid drug them into their wine. Wait until the two of them fall asleep. Xuanyuan Yin secretly took the magistrate's token, rescued Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan from the prison, and brought them back to the Jingbei Palace.
After settling Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan, Xuanyuan Yin fell ill due to severe damage to his vitality caused by frequent spell casting.
The princess asked her personal maid to place the three of them properly, and also invited a famous doctor from the capital to nurse them back to health.
After King Jingbei returned to the palace, he heard the princess tell what happened to Su Qiqi and the others, and he became even more aware of a strong sense of crisis. It seems that the emperor's brother and the grand master can't wait to eliminate the "dissidents" in their eyes. If they don't take measures in time, they may have endless troubles.
In the next few days, King Jingbei rarely went out and spent most of his time in his study discussing countermeasures with his trusted advisers.
Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan lived in the palace for half a month. During this period, Su Qiqi sent a letter to his father and Uncle Qin Feige about what happened to him and Qin Chuan. Everyone in the escort agency was very worried about the safety of Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan.
Nangong Qin then asked brothers Nangong Yu and Nangong Yue to come to Jingbei Palace overnight to support Su Qiqi and Qin Chuan who were still recuperating.
