Chapter 70: The Fisher and His Prey (1/2)

Translator: Storm in a Teacup

As surprised as An Rushuang was, she looked up at Princess Anyang and Xianxian, both of whom actually stayed calm. She asked in bewilderment, “Why is the capital in chaos?”

How come it had something to do with her? She wasn’t that narcissistic, thinking all the people in the capital would beconcerned about her injury...

Upon seeing An Rushuang in confusion, all the three girls burst into laughter. Mingyue seized the chance to talk first, “Do you know who the kidnapper is?”

An Rushuang frowned, a wisp of doubt flickering in her eyes. “Isn’t he a bandit?”

Upon witnessing Zhao Laoda’s ferocity, she had realized that he was not merely a bandit. Considering he had exerted himself to live in secrecy, as well as what the woman clad in black robe had said, An Rushuang decided to ask her father for help after Zhao Laoda’s death.

Because of her selflessness, she could do nothing but lying in bed.

Xianxian smiled cunningly, “He is a bandit, but a most horrible one.”

An Rushuang asked in confusion, “What do you mean?” He used to do something even more vicious?”

Princess Anyang, squinting her phoenix eyes, couldn’t help laughing before admonishing Xianxian, “These two girls are so good at keeping others guessing, so, as kind-hearted as I am, I’ll tell you the truth. Zhao Laoda is a big criminal escaping from the Northern Kingdom, who has also committed felonies in Nanqi Kingdom. You probably don’t know that not only you, but also nearly half of the young men from noble families in Nanqi Qi have fallen into his traps...”

In fact, during the autopsy, a slave impress was found on the back side of Zhao Laoda’s neck, which indicated that he was an important criminal fleeing from the Northern Country. As soon as entering Nanqi, he, as a bandit, gathered many followers to carry on misdeeds. Half a year ago, the government sent armies to destroy their headquarters, but Zhao Laoda fled again. It was beyond their expectation that he was bold enough to hide in the capital.

It was such an irony that he continued doing evil with the assistance of his daughter in the capital city by kidnapping young men of noble families. In fear of ruining their reputation, those noblemen had to yield and give him money.

Until Zhao Laoda abducted An Rushuang and got killed, his misdeeds was finally unraveled.

The emperor heard the news and was exasperated.

“Has the emperor already known it?”

An Rushuang froze over in astonishment.

Even though Zhao Laoda was a bandit, how come this matter made the emperor so incensed?

There must be someone disclosing the series of incidents intentionally to the emperor...

Princess Anyang nodded. “It’s the second prince who reported them to the emperor. According to him, considering the seriousness of the events, Zhao Laoda’s body must be dismembered even he had already been dead...”

Princess Anyang changed the subject all of a sudden, “After knowing you have passed out, the second prince visited you many times. Though stopped by your father every time, he still insisted coming. What a resolute man!”

“Resolute?”

An Rushuang murmured before snorting coldly. “I guess the crown prince was in charge of this case, am I right?”

Princess Anyang stared at her in confusion, not knowing how to answer. Mingyue shouted in surprise, “How did you know? The crown prince used to be responsible for capturing Zhao Laoda. Though he often ordered the guards to search for Zhao Laoda, it was still in vain. Since Zhao Laoda appeared in the capital all of a sudden, implicated in many abductions of young aristocrats, this case has been assigned to the second prince.”

“Oh...” Xianxian raised her eyebrows. “It seems the second prince is lucky enough to claim the credits so easily. Since the crown prince was censured by the emperor, my father was called to the crown prince’s manor in a hurry to treat his disease.”

That second prince Zhu Han was so smart to make use of this case to stand out...

An Rushuang frowned. “How is Zhao Laoda’s wife?”

“Luck grows out of adversity. As one of the wanted criminals, Zhao Laoda’s life was worth one thousand silver ingots. To some degree, she saved your life by killing him, so she won’t be punished nor rewarded at last,” said Princess Anyang.

“That’s great...”

An Rushuang set her mind at ease. At least, she didn’t fail to fulfill her promise to Zhao Xiaotao.