Chapter 381 The Child Has Been Found

Chapter 381 The Child Has Been Found

There were some things that Xiaoyue felt she should handle herself.

Without a word, Liu Ru Shi turned and walked out.

Xiaoyue followed in silence.

Outside the imperial city, on a rural road, a carriage raced off into the distance.

Liu Ru Shi galloped after the carriage, cutting it off.

The carriage curtain was flung open, and suddenly, a blade flashed towards Liu Ru Shi, a dagger thrown directly at her face.

"Hehe, Miss Liu, are you here to chase the child? Want to kill the child? Let me tell you, you can't kill that child, nor can you catch it!" Xiao Tao got off the carriage, clutching a cloth bundle to her chest, looking at Liu Ru Shi with a light laugh.

"Do you think you're so clever? That we're all beneath you?" Liu Ru Shi sneered.

"Then why did you come after me?" Xiao Tao sneered back.

"Us? Haven't you noticed, it's just me? Is it worth the Princess Royal's time to come after you?" Liu Ru Shi crossed her arms, "You're not the charitable type, you wouldn't be toting a child around, that child is nothing but a burden to you."

Xiao Tao turned her head and saw that indeed, only Liu Ru Shi was present.

"The Princess Royal didn't come after me?" Xiao Tao gritted her teeth, "If she had come out, she could have been killed too, Xiaoyue cares deeply for her!"

"Hahaha, affection, you're right, I care deeply for her, so how could Yue'er let me fall into your vile traps!" Liu Ru Shi said, turning her head to look aside.

Baiyu emerged from the side, with Dong Ju in tow.

Dong Ju smiled, "You've been lurking in the palace for over a year, stirring up quite a bit of trouble!"

"You..." Xiao Tao's face changed, then she raised her hand, "Go ahead, take them all out!"

Xiao Tao had ambushed many assassins in the nearby woods, but these assassins couldn't hold a candle to Baiyu and Dong Ju.

Moreover, Liu Ru Shi's skills were not weak, she was a fiery young lady, who had never suffered such an insult, she lashed out at Xiao Tao with her long whip.

Xiao Tao's skills were not weak, and she was ruthless in her attacks.

"With skills like yours, you've been skulking around the palace for ages, hmph, later, the palace's internal affairs must be thoroughly investigated." Liu Ru Shi shouted coldly, her whip whistling through the air.

Xiao Tao chuckled, "Hmph, those old hags around the Empress Dowager are truly vile, if it weren't for them, I would have killed that old Empress Dowager long ago!"

"Alright, I originally wanted to kill you directly, but now it seems, I'll take you alive, drag you back, and get the truth out of you!" Liu Ru Shi said, turning to her subordinates, "Capture her alive, make sure she doesn't die!"

And so, in the wilderness, a battle raged, shaking the very heavens.

The nearby villagers scattered in all directions.

"That girl in black is from the Liu family, right? She has a fiery temper, but she's a good person!"

"Have you heard? The Empress's child is not the Emperor's, it's probably Huang Lide's, the Prime Minister plotted rebellion in the court, even the Crown Prince plotted to kill the Emperor, fortunately, it didn't succeed, otherwise, with this family's turmoil, it would be a disaster!"

"What is the Crown Prince aiming for? He's the Crown Prince, wasn't he being groomed by the Imperial Tutor? He was taken to the south to manage water resources, he was taken out at the age of twelve, isn't that grooming him to be the heir?"

"That's why, the Crown Prince doesn't know what he's thinking, it's said that in court, he himself said that the Emperor is biased, doesn't like him anymore, likes the little princess instead!"

"But, the little princess... oh no, the Imperial Grand Princess, she's different, she helped the Emperor conquer the world, how can the Crown Prince compare to her!"

The common folk chatted away, unfazed by the violent brawl in front of them.

Three years back, bandits ran wild, and folks had to watch their step whenever they stepped out. Bloodshed and brawls were just part of their everyday life.

"It’s been three years since we’ve seen a scrap this wild!"

"What, you miss those days? That wasn’t living—it was just waiting to die!"

After a moment, folks agreed the current emperor wasn’t half bad. Sure, they weren’t rolling in riches and still only ate once or twice a day, but at least they had hope and didn’t have to look over their shoulders all the time.

Xiao Tao tossed a smoke bomb and bolted. But just up ahead, she got caught.

A rider lifted his head and barked, "Iron spike net—get her!"

"Princess Royal... Xiaoyue, you..." Xiao Tao tried to shove it away, but the net was bristling with iron spikes. The spikes dug into her skin, and she screamed, "Ahhh, it hurts!"

"Hmph, always scheming against the Empress Dowager and me, Xiao Tao. Is this the best Western Yue can do? Can’t you step up your game?" Xiaoyue said, then spurred her horse towards the city.

"Has the child been found?" the Empress Dowager asked as Xiaoyue walked in.

"We found him!" Xiaoyue nodded.

"Did you check thoroughly? The child has a red birthmark on his wrist," the Empress Dowager pressed.

"We checked everything. To make sure they didn’t pull a switch, we did a full inspection and even ran a blood test. It’s definitely their kid, so we sent him to the cold palace," Xiaoyue explained.

The Empress Dowager nodded.

A kid like that could turn into a real problem, so they weren’t planning to keep him around. But they weren’t about to get their hands dirty—they left it to Lin Rou to deal with.

Huang Lide’s whole family got rounded up and tossed in the slammer.

"I demand to see the emperor! I demand to see the emperor!" Huang Lide, looking at his family and his youngest son Huang Guan, shouted immediately.

"The emperor’s not stepping foot in this dungeon, Huang Lide. You dug your own grave—don’t kid yourself about getting out," Yuan Hui shot back.

"Tell the emperor I’ve got the secret to the Fire Thunder—I’ve got it!" Huang Lide shouted.

"Oh, we don’t need it!" Yuan Hui shook his head.

"What, what are you saying?" Huang Lide glared at Yuan Hui in anger.

"Don’t you know, we have the Imperial Grand Princess's baby, and we can handle anything?" Yuan Hui said cheerfully.

"No way, you’re lying! It’s impossible!" Huang Lide shook his head, then sneered at Yuan Hui, saying, "I want to see how many she can find!"