Chapter 557: What?! The Bandits Kidnapped the Crown Prince

Chapter 557 -304: What?! The Bandits Kidnapped the Crown Prince

Lu Huanqiao held her younger brother’s hand, lingering at each stall for a while, craning her neck to look at all the different goods on display.

Before long, Lu Huanqiao had bought many things—mostly inexpensive little trinkets.

Lu Yuan watched over the siblings from a short distance behind them.

Lu Yuan couldn’t help but think of his and Su Liyan’s daughter, his eldest, Lu Ruyan.

It had been over two years, and Lu Yuan hadn’t seen his eldest daughter once.

As the Commander of the Left and Right Guards of the Mansion Army, Lu Yuan was also tasked with guarding the West Gate of the Imperial City.

Although a General like him wasn’t needed for patrols at the West Gate, he still had to remain stationed within the Imperial City.

If any emergency occurred at the West Gate of the Imperial City, a soldier under his command would come to report it.

His eldest daughter had followed Daoist Quanyi to Taihe Mountain to cultivate.

Taihe Mountain was over a thousand li from the Imperial City, and Lu Yuan couldn’t be away for long periods without reason.

Su Liyan, however, could.

Every six months, Su Liyan would travel to Taihe Mountain, laden with packages big and small, to visit their daughter.

She didn’t visit too often, fearing she would disturb her daughter’s cultivation.

When Lu Yuan had entrusted his eldest daughter to Daoist Quanyi, the Daoist had promised to bring Lu Ruyan back to see her parents from time to time.

But in two years, that old coot hadn’t come even once.

‘This is really infuriating. The next time I see Daoist Quanyi, I’ll have to personally test his skills.’

‘We’ll see who’s more suitable to guide Lu Ruyan’s cultivation.’

A soldier, holding an urgent dispatch, galloped through the marketplace on a fast horse.

The market-goers couldn’t get out of the way in time and were knocked to the ground one after another, throwing the marketplace into utter chaos.

Seeing the horse charging toward his children, Lu Yuan, standing nearby, simply snapped his fingers.

The soldier on the speeding horse tumbled off, rolling several times on the ground.

The soldier scrambled to his feet and roared at the surrounding crowd:

“Who was that? Which blind fool dares to interfere with a military courier!”

The onlookers all backed away, keeping their distance from the Lord Official to avoid getting into trouble.

Seeing no one respond, the soldier had no choice but to accept his loss and get back on his horse.

The soldier raised his whip, cracked it against the horse’s rump, and yelled, “Yah!”

With a slight flick of his right hand, Lu Yuan made the military horse’s front legs buckle, sending it kneeling to the ground and throwing the soldier off once more.

Infuriated, the soldier began whipping the horse with the reins in his hand, shouting, “You beast!”

Lu Yuan walked over, tucking his son and daughter securely to his sides, and said to the soldier:

“How dare you rampage through the Imperial City marketplace like this?”

Already fuming, the soldier turned around, ready to see which fool dared to reprimand him.

The soldier saw that Lu Yuan was dressed in rich clothing, and beneath the fabric at his waist was a distinct bulge, as if he were carrying a Token.

One glance was enough to tell he was an important figure in the Imperial City.

‘I’ve run into someone I can’t afford to provoke.’

He had to back down, cupping his hands in a fist and saying, “This humble one has an urgent dispatch. I had no choice…”

Before the soldier could finish, Lu Yuan cut him off sharply:

“Nonsense! According to the laws of the Empire, anyone who rides a fast horse through the streets of the Imperial City is to be executed!”

Hearing Lu Yuan’s words, the soldier was at a loss.

Lu Yuan then smiled and said, “But if you’re in such a hurry, that’s easy enough to solve. I’ll give you a hand!”

The Imperial City Gate was only two streets away, a distance of no more than one or two hundred meters.

Riding a horse would require taking a detour.

‘It’s better to just fly there!’

Lu Yuan slowly raised his right hand to his chest, and the soldier began to float into the air.

The soldier was terrified, flailing his arms and legs as he begged for mercy.

With just a light pat from Lu Yuan, the soldier shot through the air, flying at a height slightly above the rooftops on either side of the street.

The soldier landed heavily in front of the Imperial City Gate and was helped up by the guards stationed there.

A guard at the gate asked, “Hey, brother, how did you end up flying through the sky?”

Holding up the dispatch, the soldier wailed, “I… I accidentally fell from a roof. I’m fine! This dispatch needs to get to His Majesty the Emperor.”

A bright red feather was stuck into the dispatch.

The guard took the dispatch and said, “Brother, you truly give your all for the Empire. I’ll take this inside right away!”

Another guard helped the soldier to a pavilion beside the Imperial City Gate and asked curiously:

“Brother, what happened? Did you have to leap over rooftops and scale walls?”

In recent years, aside from the Empire’s military campaign against the Wa Country, nothing major had happened. It had been a rare two years of peace.

King Yan’s second son, Gu Gaoxu, was still fighting in the Wa Country.

The war had lasted for two years, and the Wa Country’s national strength was gradually failing.

The soldiers of the Divine Ling Empire had already landed on the Wa Country’s soil and conquered two-thirds of its territory.

The soldier panted heavily, muttering, “The Crown Prince… something’s happened to the Crown Prince.”

Lu Yuan was two streets away from the Imperial City Gate.

Yet he could clearly hear what the soldier said.

Lu Yuan was startled!

‘Something’s happened to Crown Prince Gu Biao?’

Lu Yuan pinched his fingers together in a quick calculation and got a general idea: Crown Prince Gu Biao was in a situation fraught with peril, with only a slim chance of survival.

In the star chart within Lu Yuan’s mind, a brilliant meteor streaked across the sky…

Lu Yuan staggered back several steps.

His second daughter, Lu Huanqiao, rushed to steady him, crying out, “Father, Father, what’s wrong?”

Lu Yuan forced a smile and said, “It’s getting late. Let’s go home.”

Lu Yuan’s son, Lu Zhishen, said, “But, Father, I’m not done playing yet!”

Before Lu Yuan could speak, his second daughter, Lu Huanqiao, glared at her younger brother and snapped, “Whatever Father says, goes. We’re going home!”

Lu Zhishen tried to argue again.

But Lu Huanqiao grabbed her brother Lu Zhishen by the ear and dragged him homeward.

All the way back, Lu Zhishen’s face was downcast, and he trailed unhappily behind his father and sister.

Lu Yuan was in no mood to continue playing outside with his daughter and son.

The urgent dispatch soon reached the Emperor’s hands.

After reading the dispatch, Emperor Gu Yuanzhang was so overcome with rage that he slumped weakly into his chair.

The old eunuch who served him personally had been with the Emperor for many years and naturally knew what to do. He bent over, patting the Emperor’s back, and called out in a strained voice, “Someone, summon the Imperial Physician!”

Emperor Gu Yuanzhang’s right hand trembled as he pressed down on the old eunuch’s hand. “Prepare for the Imperial Study. Summon the Grandmaster, the Grand Preceptor, and the Grand Protector for an immediate audience!”

The personal old eunuch didn’t ask a single question and followed the Emperor’s command.

The old eunuch gathered a group of Little Eunuchs to help support His Majesty the Emperor on his way to the Imperial Study.

The Grandmaster, Grand Preceptor, and Grand Protector dropped everything they were doing and rushed to the Imperial Study.

The three elderly ministers, the Grandmaster, Grand Preceptor, and Grand Protector, met on their way to the Imperial Study.

The Grand Preceptor asked, “What’s happened?”

The Grandmaster replied, “I don’t know! Let’s hurry!”

When the Three Dukes entered the Imperial Study, they glanced up and saw the Emperor sitting there with a grim expression.

The three old ministers all knelt on the floor.

“Your old servants greet Your Majesty the Emperor!”

Emperor Gu Yuanzhang said, “Some days ago, We sent Biao’er to inspect Guanzhong and Luoyang to assess them as potential sites for a new capital.”

“On his way back, he passed through Qian City, encountered a riot, and has now been abducted!”

Qian City!

A Wandering Daoist named Xia San used his Daoist Skills to swindle and deceive, gathering a following of thirty thousand in just a few short months and declaring himself king of a mountain stronghold.

Among those thirty thousand were a large number of thugs whose strength was comparable to the realm of a Grand Celestial Master.

The local officials couldn’t suppress them, but they were afraid of being executed if they reported it to the Court, so they covered it up.

To appease these thugs and prevent the situation from escalating, the local officials would send them silver taels and supplies of food, clothing, and other necessities every year.

This, in turn, only fed their greed.

Crown Prince Gu Biao was leading a team of plain-clothed Imperial Guard through Qian City when he was captured by the rebels at a mountain pass and taken back to their stronghold.

Presumably, these rebels don’t even know they’ve captured Crown Prince Gu Biao.

“What? The bandits captured the Crown Prince!”