Chapter 758: A Princess Arrives

Chapter 758: A Princess Arrives

Compared to Luo Shi's feigned calm, Prefect Pang Ruhai was terrified and panicked upon hearing the news, too agitated to stay still.

The scribe official who delivered the message had first inspected the corpses and identified them—they were the soldiers whom the Magistrate's Wife had borrowed to "handle some private matters."

"Scribe Official, who do you think did this?… The Feng siblings?" Pang Ruhai frowned hard enough to kill flies. "They're just merchants. How could they survive against seasoned soldiers? And even if they suspected the bandits’ identities were fake, how dare they provoke us like this?"

The scribe official also knitted his brows tightly. "Your Honor makes a fair point. It must have been a third party..."

After a pause, the scribe official suddenly stepped out of the study, glancing around and even checking the corridor outside to ensure no one was eavesdropping. Only then did he return, shut the door firmly, and lower his voice. "Your Honor, could it be… that man we've been hunting for over a month?"

At these words, Pang Ruhai's face darkened. "Impossible! He's vanished without a trace for over a month—he might already be dead in the mountains! Why would he stick his neck out for a pair of merchant siblings and commit such a provocative move?"

Pang Ruhai paced another circle around the study.

But the scribe official remained grave. "Your Honor, don’t forget about that missing unit… It’s possible he slaughtered them all."

Pang Ruhai fell silent for a long moment.

Both he and the scribe official wore equally troubled expressions.

If not for the disappearance of that unit, they wouldn’t have ramped up road checks these past days.

Yet, even after all this time, there had been no trace of their target.

"Regardless, that man may have ties to the Feng siblings. Send someone to Jinjiang at once and investigate the Feng family thoroughly," Pang Ruhai snapped coldly.

The scribe official clasped his fists in acknowledgment, then whispered, "…Your Honor, should we detain the Feng family? If that outlaw truly has connections with them, we could use them as leverage—"

Pang Ruhai shot him a glance. "Handle it yourself."

The scribe official understood—this meant they were to be captured.

"At once, Your Honor." The scribe official hurried off, only to nearly collide with someone barreling toward him as he opened the door.

"Can’t you be more composed?!" the scribe official barked.

The messenger, however, looked both frantic and at a loss.

He cupped his fists toward Pang Ruhai behind the scribe official and reported urgently, "Your Honor, an urgent report from the city gates—a princess has arrived. She’s inside the city walls and is heading straight for the magistrate’s residence…"

Pang Ruhai’s voice rose sharply. "A princess?!"

So stunned that his face twisted with disbelief, he demanded, "What princess? Why would a princess come to such a remote backwater town?"

"It’s… Her Majesty’s personally titled Princess Fusui!"

At the mention of Princess Fusui, Pang Ruhai felt his head pound.

Even in their remote corner of the empire, as an imperial official, he had heard of Princess Fusui’s reputation.

This was no ordinary princess—she was the Emperor’s favorite!

Not a shred of disrespect could be shown!

Lately, his troubles had been piling up, and now this damned princess had to add to the chaos! Just what he needed.

Or so he thought.

But Pang Ruhai still hurriedly straightened his attire while sending someone to the inner quarters to inform his wife, Luo Shi.

As the princess was a female guest, it naturally fell to his wife to accompany her.

Pang Ruhai had no time to spare for anything else now. Just as he was about to leave the courtyard gate, Tuo Bachi, who had received the news, came over and stopped him.

Tuo Bachi was none other than Pang Jinkang's uncle figure and Pang Ruhai's close brotherly friend.

A mad glint flickered in Tuo Bachi's eyes before he even spoke, making Pang Ruhai's stomach drop. He immediately dismissed the nearby servants.

"Are you going crazy again?" Pang Ruhai snapped.

Tuo Bachi chuckled. "What are you talking about, brother? I merely heard that a princess is about to arrive?"

Pang Ruhai's expression darkened, and he suddenly shouted. "Don’t you dare entertain any sick ideas!"

Tuo Bachi smiled. "Brother, what twisted ideas? I’ve heard for ages that His Majesty and the Empress treat Princess Fusui as their own child..."

A vein pulsed dangerously on Pang Ruhai's forehead, and he couldn’t bear to listen any further. Furious, he roared, "Shut the hell up!... She has come here openly and honorably as a princess. Keep all your wicked plans to yourself! If you lay a finger on her, do you want my entire Pang household to die with you?!"

Tuo Bachi smiled gently, but his words were brutally cold. "Brother... do you think the things you’ve already helped me with aren’t enough to get the whole family executed?"

Pang Ruhai shook with fury.

His temples throbbed violently!

He didn’t even know how he had taken one wrong step after another, boarding this path of no return!

—No one knew that while he and Tuo Bachi referred to each other as old family friends, in truth, Tuo Bachi was his half-brother!

Pang Ruhai’s birth mother was not the matriarch of the Pang family but a humble maid who swept and cleaned in the Pang household at the time.

Pang Ruhai’s birth was a coincidence. Back then, his father had gotten drunk and raped his mother.

But his mother had been young at the time and didn’t even realize she was pregnant. Moreover, she had no desire to become his father’s concubine, so she continued her work as a maid in the household.

By the time she realized she was pregnant, it was already too late to get rid of the baby.

Additionally, she was still quite young, and the physician warned that forcing an abortion might lead to fatal hemorrhaging.

At that time, Pang Ruhai’s father and his wife had been married for years without conceiving a child. The wife thus promised that if Pang Ruhai’s mother bore the child and gave it to her to raise, she would allow the mother to leave the household and grant her freedom.

Later, Pang Ruhai’s mother gave birth to him, received a handsome payment, and left the Pang household as she wished.

Many years later, she married a foreigner and gave birth to Tuo Bachi.

Eventually, that foreigner died, and she returned to Anjiang with Tuo Bachi.

Later, Pang Ruhai was reunited with his mother, though by then she was already terminally ill. Before her death, her only wish was for her two sons to support each other in life.

...

Finally, Pang Ruhai got control of himself, pressing his fingers to his temples and taking a deep breath. "Other matters... I can still protect you, as long as we retrieve the evidence. But regarding the princess, you must not even think of targeting her!"

"Brother is truly too timid," Tuo Bachi laughed again. Seeing Pang Ruhai’s displeased expression, he added, "Don’t worry, brother. I was just talking nonsense just now."

Pang Ruhai snorted heavily. "You’d damn well better mean that!"