Chapter 130: Chapter 130
After meticulously questioning the group of attendants nearby, Emperor Yongning finally understood the reason. It was because Jun Ning had heard about being considered an omen of disaster and feared for her life, believing that even her father, the Emperor, couldn’t save her, so she ran away.
How little did she trust him!
Emperor Yongning felt wronged; he had never intended to sacrifice Jun Ning to those ministers to appease them.
It was all those ministers’ fault. If they hadn’t labeled her as a disaster star, how could she have been scared away?
The anger within Emperor Yongning’s heart quickly spread, and in a fit of rage, he kicked over the desk in front of him.
The papers, ink, brushes, and inkstone on the desk, along with a pile of memorials awaiting approval, all fell messily to the ground, with some memorials getting stained by ink.
"Are the gatekeepers all useless? They can’t even watch over a child?"
"Execute them, have them all executed."
Emperor Yongning was truly enraged, which is why he uttered such extreme words.
The palace has eighteen gates, each guarded by hundreds of people.
If all these people were to be executed, how many would that be?
If all the gatekeepers were executed, who would guard the gates?
"Your Majesty, calm your anger!"
Xiao Lizi and the other servants knelt down to plead, begging Emperor Yongning to calm down.
However, Emperor Yongning had no way to calm his rage. The thought of Jun Ning, a child of barely two years old, escaping the palace on her own to mingle with the chaotic civilian world, without any promise of safety, drove him mad with anger.
The most frightening thing was that the governor of the capital had recently reported to him that there had been numerous tragic cases of missing children in the Imperial City, making it extremely unsafe.
If anything happened to her outside, he could not bear it.
"Find her, dispatch people immediately to find her, and ensure that the princess is brought back unscathed," Emperor Yongning ordered with determination, "If you fail to bring her back, each of you shall bring your head to see me."
Xiao Lizi hurried off to notify the Imperial Guard and the City Patrol Inspector.
As Xiao Lizi just stepped out of the Imperial Study Room, the Marquis Zhongyong and the left and right prime ministers along with the Astronomical Bureau came seeking an audience with Emperor Yongning.
Their purpose for coming was self-evident.
Wei Lin, stationed at the entrance, kindly advised the few adults that the Emperor was currently furious, and they should refrain from causing further chaos. Any matters should wait until the princess is found.
However, these individuals stubbornly refused to take the advice, insisting on seeing Emperor Yongning and refusing to leave until they did.
Trembling with fear, Xiao Lizi reported the matter to Emperor Yongning, only to be met with a book thrown at him by the Emperor, "Get them out, make them look for Anle, and if they can’t find her, I’d not hesitate to send their daughters off for marriages of alliance."
If it weren’t for these people declaring her an omen, she wouldn’t be frightened into running away from the palace.
Humph, these ministers who stand and talk without feeling the pain.
If something happens to his daughter, their daughters will not have an easy life either, each sent off to barbarian lands for alliance marriages.
Emperor Yongning vented all his anger on these people.
The Imperial Decree from the monarch bore more consequence than a few shouts from them.
The Marquis Zhongyong and the left and right prime ministers along with the Astronomical Bureau, all having daughters, were alarmed and dismayed upon hearing the Emperor’s harsh words. How had their daughters offended the Emperor to prompt such severe words?
Wei Lin reminded, "The Eighteenth Princess."
Related to the Eighteenth Princess?
They merely uttered a few words advising the Emperor to execute the Eighteenth Princess, yet hadn’t actually done anything to that cross-dressing oddball. Why would the Emperor react this way?
Wei Lin then informed the few adults about the princess’s escape from the palace upon overhearing their calls to have her killed; thus, the adults finally understood the reason.
At this moment, they no longer dared to advise the Emperor to execute anyone. Seeing the situation was unfavorable, they slinked home, pretending to send a few servants to help in the search effort.
The Imperial Guard and the City Patrol Guards were dispatched in succession to find her. The people of the Imperial City observed the commotion, speculating curiously in groups.
"Why are there officers everywhere searching for someone? Could it be that a noble has gone missing?"
"Haven’t you seen the citywide bounty notice posted by the officials? It’s the Emperor’s Princess Anle who’s missing; whoever can help the Emperor find Princess Anle will be rewarded with a thousand taels of gold."
"A thousand taels of gold? That’s a lot of money; I must take a look at this notice."
Enticed by the bounty, someone went to carefully read the notice, but upon seeing Jun Ning’s portrait on the notice, just a little child, they couldn’t help but reconsider.
No wonder the Emperor offered such a large reward!
The recent unrest in the Imperial City, where children are frequently lost, is clearly being orchestrated by someone behind the scenes. As ordinary citizens, how could they possibly confront those people? Losing one’s life would be not worth it.
Therefore, most people were merely watching the excitement, with few genuinely taking action to help.
Qiong Hua in the Weiyang Palace cried and blamed herself every day.
She shouldn’t have only focused on pleading with the Emperor and neglected Jun Ning’s emotions.
If she had cared for Jun Ning’s emotions, none of this would have happened.
In other palaces within the harem, some observed the situation with detached indifference, while others watched purely for entertainment, each exhibiting different reactions.
The Empress was the most terrifying; upon hearing this, she hurriedly wrote a letter to the Marquis Zhongyong, urging him to quickly dispatch people to find Jun Ning and, then, amid the recent string of child mishaps in the Imperial City, to directly deal with Jun Ning.
After waking up in the morning, Jun Ning was having a meal in the tavern’s dining room when she overheard the news of her father’s generous bounty to find her that left everyone reluctant.
While thinking about how to disguise herself from being discovered, she also pondered investigating the matter of missing children in the Imperial City. Why were children mysteriously disappearing?
Could it be that they were being abducted for sale?
Or perhaps they were being taken for some unspeakable purposes?
The people who abduct children usually have just these two motives. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝙣𝙚𝙩
To investigate clearly, it shouldn’t be difficult; one could start from these two aspects.
That night, Jun Ning donned stilts, wore a long dress, covered her face with a veil, styled her hair in the manner of an adult woman, and pretended to be an adult to roam the Black Market.
The Black Market, being a place rife with mixed elements and hidden illicit transactions, was the only place to start in order to quickly get to the bottom of this matter.
Yet, she feared that as a child, no one would respect her words or take her seriously. Moreover, if upon entering the Black Market, she hadn’t even started her investigation before being captured by those child-snatchers, it would be troublesome.
So disguising as an adult was the best option.
Wearing stilts to increase her height, a veil to cover her youthful features, thus...