The Prime Minister’s Darling-Chapter 1516 - 737 Her Rage! (Part 2)

The vendor was directly bitten into a daze!

He almost fell from mid-air onto his rear!

He tried to shake the little brat off, but no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t loosen the grip of the little brat’s teeth!

Hmph!

I don’t have an iron head skill, but I have tiny steel teeth!

—Thank you, evil brother-in-law, for not giving me candy.

Little Jingkong knew how to use his advantages to the fullest. If he had tried to hold on with his hands, he would have been swung off long ago.

However, he bit with his teeth and clung on steadfastly.

The vendor would have to lose a chunk of flesh if he wanted to shake him off.

The muscles in the vendor’s thigh tensed up.

—He feared that if he wasn’t tight enough, the flesh would give in, and the little brat would take a bite out of him.

The Imperial Forest Army also gathered around, and the vendor, having no time to tussle with them, could only leave the scene, cursing under his breath, with one child in his embrace and another clinging to his leg.

"You lot, follow me! You, go back to the palace and report to His Majesty!"

"Yes!"

A squad of the Imperial Forest Army chased after the direction the vendor disappeared in, but they still lost him.

The vendor, with two children in tow, darted over the rooftops and bounded from wall to wall, but the little hanger-on on his leg just wouldn’t let go.

By the time he reached a secluded courtyard, his whole right leg had swollen up like a ham.

A man in black came out, looking oddly at his comrade sprawled on the ground: "What’s going on? Didn’t they tell you to capture just one? How did you end up bringing back an extra?"

The vendor, in pain, twitched, "Do you think I wanted to? Didn’t you see how tightly this kid was biting?"

The man in black took a closer look, eh, indeed.

Little Jingkong was also wearing the uniform of Lingbo Academy, clearly a student of the Academy.

The man in black was baffled, thinking to himself how small these kids were.

Can they even pull up their own trousers? Yet they dare to be accepted into the Academy—how desperate is Lingbo Academy for silver!

The vendor, unable to bear it any longer, said, "Stop staring! Hurry up and pry him off me!"

"Got it." The man in black waved his hand dismissively and stepped forward to pull at Little Jingkong.

This time, the child was easily pulled down.

The reason was simple; Little Jingkong couldn’t hold on any longer.

He was biting down with sheer determination until now.

Although he had a set of fierce little steel teeth, he forgot that he was queasy at the sight of meat!

Little Jingkong sprawled on the ground, limbs akimbo, eyes rolling back, tongue lolling out in a mess.

Little Princess had been scared out of her wits early on and didn’t move at all, nor did she cry or scream.

Both the man in black and the vendor were quite satisfied.

The vendor handed over Little Princess to the man in black, saying, "You take them away first. I need to treat my wound."

"What about this one..." The man in black took Little Princess, pointing to Little Jingkong lying on the ground with his tongue sticking out.

The vendor said impatiently, "Whatever, just throw him out."

"Don’t want to." Little Princess suddenly spoke up, her hands clutching the black-clothed man’s garment, her small body shaking uncontrollably, her expression the most cowering as she uttered the harshest words, "Don’t throw him away!"

The man in black paused, then turned to the vendor and said, "We shouldn’t have thrown him out earlier; tossing him out now—are we trying to expose ourselves too quickly? In case someone sees—"

"I told you, it’s up to you!" The vendor interrupted him, "I can’t stand the pain anymore, I need to apply some medicine."

With that, he limped off to another room.

The man in black frowned, then one-handedly held onto Little Princess and picked up Little Jingkong with the other, locking both of them in the firewood room.

In the Jinluan Hall, the sovereign presided over the court session.

Recently, frequent torrential rains have been lashing Yan Country, causing numerous flood disasters in the regions along the lower reaches of the rivers, prompting local Yamen from all over to request disaster relief from the court.

Owing to the widespread and treacherous nature of the disaster zones, disaster relief had become an urgent matter.

However, disaster relief was never just about silver, but also about deploying soldiers to fight the floods, strengthen dikes and dams, and resettle the displaced victims.

This year’s flooding was the worst in twenty-five years.

The sovereign was troubled.

He pressed his brow and said in a muted tone, "How was the flood disaster dealt with twenty-five years ago?"

There was dead silence in the Jinluan Hall.

All the ministers stood with tally sticks in hand, focusing inward.

The sovereign immediately realized he had asked a foolish question. Twenty-five years ago, half of the south had been hit by the disaster, and it was Xuanyuan Li who had promptly led the troops for disaster relief.

Not only did he repair the dikes and rescue the victims, but he also preserved thousands of acres of fertile land and executed eighteen local officials who had been lining their pockets, embezzling relief silver, and exploiting the people.

All were executed before the reports were sent to the court.

Those local officials had ties to forces in the Provincial City and even Shengdu, which caused turmoil in Shengdu for a time.

Some tried to drag Xuanyuan Li down, others tried to threaten him, but none were successful.

Major forces were either uprooted altogether or trimmed down to survive.

In the end, for several years following that incident, no one dared to covet the disaster relief funds again, and all the major powers, having escaped that disaster, kept their tails between their legs and honestly acted as clean officials for a while.

While the sovereign was still troubled by the flood disaster, the Imperial Forest Army guards and palace maid who had escorted the Little Princess returned.

The palace maid knelt on the long steps outside the Jinluan Hall, wailing in grief, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! The Little Princess has been kidnapped—"

The sovereign’s eyes darkened, and in that instant, his aura emanated murderous intent, "What did you say? What happened to the Little Princess?"

The palace maid cried tremulously, "When our carriage reached the back gate of Lingbo Academy... suddenly a hawker selling candied hawthorns appeared... He kidnapped the Little Princess..."

The sovereign slammed his hand on the armrest of the Dragon Throne, rising angrily, "A mere hawker selling candied hawthorns managed to kidnap someone from the hands of the Imperial Forest Army, what is the Imperial Forest Army good for!"

Han Ye’s father, Han Lei, holding his clapperboard, shivered.

Half of the Imperial Forest Army was influenced by the Han Family, with Han Ye serving as the deputy commander of the Imperial Forest Army.

He hoped that the guards who escorted the Little Princess this time were not personally promoted by his son.

Otherwise, their Han Family would certainly be charged with dereliction of duty!

The sovereign called the returning Imperial Forest Army guard to the hall.

To Han Lei’s dismay, this person was Zhang Feng, indeed one of Han Ye’s subordinates!

Han Lei’s heart instantly sank to the bottom.

The sovereign inquired about the details and had a civil official sketch a portrait of the hawker based on Zhang Feng’s description.

No one had seen this man before.

Finding the Little Princess was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

The sovereign was thunderous with rage, and a chilling air enveloped the entire Jinluan Hall.

"Find her for me, even if it means digging three feet into the ground, the Little Princess must be brought back alive!"

Zhang Feng reported, "There was another child who was also taken, about the same age as the Little Princess, wearing the same academy uniform."

This characteristic was too obvious; among all the children at Lingbo Academy around the Little Princess’s age, there was only one—Little Jingkong.

National Master Hall.

Xiao Hen had just come down from the Book Pavilion and saw at the doorstep his eldest disciple Ye Qing hurrying past with twenty disciples and dead soldiers.

Xiao Hen asked, "Ye Qing, where are you all going?"

Ye Qing halted in his steps, bowed to Xiao Hen with a clasped fist, "Your Highness Changsun, the Little Princess and her classmate have been kidnapped; our National Master Hall also plans to join the search."

Xiao Hen’s gaze paused slightly, "Which classmate of the Little Princess?"

Ye Qing replied, "The little boy who came yesterday and sang for a long time in Qilin Palace, he seems to be called... Jingkong."

...

"Jingkong has been kidnapped?" In the side room, Gu Jiao looked at Xiao Hen and asked.

Xiao Hen nodded, "The hawker was originally after the Little Princess, but Jingkong ran over and bit him. Unable to shake Jingkong off, the hawker took him as well."

Shangguan Yan had already fallen asleep.

The room was very quiet.

Gu Jiao was very calm.

"I understand,"

she said.

She approached the bedside, looking at the finished IV bag, and calmly pulled out the IV tube and neatly injected heparin sodium into the indwelling needle.

After completing these tasks, she carefully disposed of the medical waste.

The entire process was orderly.

However, Xiao Hen watched her with a heartache, "The Imperial Forest Army guards escorting the Little Princess are under Han Ye’s command. Han Ye would not kidnap the Little Princess; it would not benefit him. It must be that someone wants to retaliate against the sovereign, or someone wants to target the Han Family."

The Little Princess is the sovereign’s precious jewel; they wouldn’t dare harm her.

But Jingkong’s fate is uncertain.

He’s just a child from a lesser country; if necessary, to avoid trouble, they might kill him.

In fact, the situation for the Little Princess might not be completely safe either; accidents are often filled with variables, and any variable might lead to unpredictable consequences.

Gu Jiao donned the armguard on her arm.

Then, Gu Jiao went to the weapon room of Qilin Palace and pointed at a silver spear hanging on the wall, saying calmly, "Lend this to me."

The disciple who was cleaning the weapons looked at her dumbstruck.

She was calm, like a lake without ripples.

Yet, for some reason, the disciple felt a chill, as if under this calm surface a terrible storm was brewing.

By the time the disciple came to his senses, Gu Jiao had already left with the silver spear.

Gu Jiao also borrowed a horse from the National Master Hall.

Mounted on the horse, she was under the scorching sun.

Looking up, she placed her index finger and thumb to her mouth and whistled sharply towards the vast sky above.

A majestic cry of an eagle came from not far away!

A fierce Hai Dongqing soared high, circling sharply above Gu Jiao’s head.

Gu Jiao, holding the Red-Tasseled Spear in one hand and the reins tightly in the other, declared with a sharp gaze, "Let’s go!"