Reborn as a concubine's sister, the eldest lady went crazy

Ying Wu didn't respond immediately. Xu Yixing suspected that he didn't hear it. Just as he was about to ask again, he heard him say, "You can't report it to the authorities. Once they are caught alive by the government troops, they will definitely expose you, the female military advisor, and then the pursuers will definitely find out."

"You're right, I overlooked it." Xu Yixing counted his fingers helplessly. It seemed that he could only wait until he was safe and then think about how to remind the local government to continue to suppress the bandits. "How long will it take us to reach Miaozhou?"

"The trip has been going smoothly recently. If we continue at this speed, it will probably take another two months." Ying Wu touched the old horse pulling the cart. He didn't dare to buy a too conspicuous horse because he wanted to match his status. Now it is walking slowly, so it can only go at this speed.

"Then won't it be late July or early August that we can arrive? That's great. My baby will be due around the end of September, so we'll have plenty of time to hire a midwife and a doctor."

Ying Wu did not respond. This was the most ideal situation. Miaozhou had cold weather and it would probably start snowing in September. By then, we would have to find a suitable place to stay before we could prepare for the rest. Ying Wu was very confident in his disguise skills. The corpse he drew looked even more like a real corpse. As long as the master did not suddenly open his eyes during the inspection, he could ensure that no problems would be discovered.

The carriage was moving at a moderate pace, and some pedestrians passed by hurriedly on the road, but when they saw a man carrying a coffin, they would more or less walk away quickly to avoid being contaminated by bad luck, which was exactly what the master wanted.

Lu Anyuan finally got the clue he had been looking for, but it was not from Chao Jianyi. After leaving Beijing, he went to the mountains and dug herbs everywhere, looking like a herbal farmer. The people who followed him did not disturb him, but just kept watching the situation.

"Where did you find it?" Lu Anyuan touched the silk clothes and immediately recognized that it was the attire of the servants in the Prince's Mansion in the past.

Qin Li said, "It was a theft case reported by Yuan County. It said that a man took a hundred taels of silver note to a bank to exchange for cash. However, the banker saw that he did not look like someone who could easily take a hundred taels of silver, so he asked someone to follow him secretly and report it to the authorities. This piece of clothing was found in the man's luggage."

Yuan County is the largest county in the north of the capital, and it is also the last county entering the capital and the first county leaving the capital. Now that he has discovered this clue, he is naturally excited: "What did the local officials find out?"

"That man was a peddler. He admitted that he picked up these things when he passed by a family in the mountains near Yanshan. He said he wanted to use the excuse of water, but no one was in the houses nearby. He bravely searched the house and found this. But he didn't dare to use it in Yanshan. When he arrived in Yuan County, he took out one and tried to withdraw money, but he was arrested. By the way, Your Majesty, Yanshan is 20 miles away from Xiaoxi Town..."

"This is not considered stealing!" Lu Anyuan stood up suddenly and said, "Qin Li, I have to go out of the palace for a while and will be back soon. You stay in the palace to support me."

Qin Li knew that he could not persuade the emperor, so he walked out in small steps, pretending that he did not see that the emperor wanted to change into ordinary clothes.

After galloping all the way, they finally arrived at Yanshan. Lu Anyuan looked up and saw that the mountain was not high, but it would be very hard for Yixing to climb it. He shook his head vigorously and drove this absurd idea out of his mind: Lu Anyuan, Lu Anyuan, no one wants you anymore, who are you feeling sorry for?

"Ada, did the thief we caught in Yuan County reveal anything new?"

"Yes, I asked in detail. Inside the clothes was a document of a road permit and a stack of banknotes, worth ten thousand taels. They are all here." Ah Da arrived before Lu Anyuan. He had already brought up all the evidence and handed it over. "But the person who wrote the document burned it, saying that he was afraid that someone would find it. He can't read, so he doesn't know the name written on the document."

"Hmph!" Lu Anyuan flipped over the silver note. Wasn't it ten thousand taels? He went out with so much money, and he wasn't afraid of being robbed by bandits!

"What about the mountain families? It's impossible that they don't know where the money came from, right?"

"He was captured by bandits."

"Puff! Cough cough cough cough!" Lu Anyuan really wanted to slap himself. Was he really kidnapped by the bandits? Otherwise, why would he leave the money behind? "Bandits... where is the stronghold?"

Ah Da was a little worried: "It's on Yanshan Mountain, but... when my subordinates came to check in the afternoon, they found that there was a forest fire on the mountain, and all the people in the village were burned to death..."

"What?" Lu Anyuan almost vomited blood. Could it be? "Go up the mountain."

Sure enough, in the shade of the mountain, they saw a house that had been burned to the ground, with a row of corpses lying on the ground.

"Have these people been checked? Are there any young women?" Lu Anyuan spoke a little hurriedly and almost bit his tongue.

"We checked and found that there was a young woman, but she was not the Crown Princess. She must be a local mountain dweller. These people have been dead for about half a month, but the place is remote and no one has found them."

"But that doesn't make sense." If she hadn't encountered danger, Yixing would definitely not leave the money in the mountain people's house. The people here were obviously kidnapped by bandits, and Yixing must have been captured before. But Yixing was not among the bodies. She would have to get the money after escaping. How could she just leave it there?

Ah Da had the same idea. "Could it be that the Crown Princess was not captured by the bandits, but simply hid the money under the pig trough? Or maybe she escaped from the bandits' lair, but when she went back to get it, it had already been stolen?"

Lu Anyuan narrowed his eyes, feeling unhappy. "Check all the places in the town and on the mountain where people can hide. I want to know where she went!"

"Yes!"

Ah Da Nature followed the master's orders wholeheartedly. After a thorough investigation, he finally got some news in the middle of the night.

"Master, the people in charge of searching the mountain have not reported back yet, but the people in charge of the villages and towns did find something wrong. About half a month ago, a very beautiful woman came to the brothel in this city, but she left after only three days."

"How come the brothel here is actually a charity house, allowing girls to leave at any time?" Lu Anyuan said calmly. This was the first time he had heard of this.

"Of course not. The madam of Cuihong Court said that the lady was good at music. She recommended herself to Cuihong Court. The madam saw that she was beautiful and talented, so she signed a contract with her and arranged a place for her to live. She was allowed to receive customers only after she was trained. But she disappeared on the third day."

"Is there a portrait?"

"Master, please look." Ah Da took out a scroll painting. It can be seen that the madam really has high hopes for this girl. Even the painting book is made of high-quality paper. She must be expecting her to make a lot of money.

Lu Anyuan lost interest after just one look. No matter how she changed, she couldn't look like Yixing. Besides, how could Yixing come to a brothel? She wasn't good at music. "Then why didn't you report her disappearance to the police?"