Wang Qingyao felt that Xiao Mo's kidnapping was entirely her fault, a consequence of her deception towards Grand Tutor Wei, leading the Emperor to dispatch them to Yunnan-Guizhou in search of the eldest prince.
Had it not been for that, Grand Tutor Wei would not have sent his men to Yunnan-Guizhou.
She looked at Xiao Yun with deep apology.
Xiao Yun, however, reached out and pinched her cheek, saying, "It's not your fault. This has nothing to do with the eldest prince. He had already planned to capture Xiao Mo to threaten you into revealing the source of your novel, 'The Secret History of Palace Concubines' Tragic Love'."
Hahaha, Wang Qingyao was not comforted at all.
"It's still my fault. If I hadn't written this novel, Grand Tutor Wei wouldn't have targeted us."
"Who could have known he would do such things?" Xiao Yun replied. "We can't limit our actions just because bad people do bad things. Bad people have a thousand reasons to do bad things."
Wang Qingyao smiled at him, touched.
Xiao Yun continued, "Grand Tutor Wei going to such lengths to force you to reveal the source of 'The Secret History of Palace Concubines's Tragic Love' indicates that such an event indeed occurred back then."
Initially, Xiao Yun had his doubts, but now, due to Grand Tutor Wei's kidnapping of Xiao Mo, he was convinced. The only question was whether the eldest prince was killed at birth or, by some stroke of luck, ended up living among the common folk.
Of course, these were not the most important matters at present. The most crucial thing was to lift the "curse" from the Xiao family. Otherwise, everything else would be in vain, and the eldest prince, the second prince, would have nothing to do with them.
"Should we inform the Emperor about this?" Wang Qingyao asked. "We are trying to investigate the truth of the curse while simultaneously dealing with Grand Tutor Wei, and we're stretched thin. If the Emperor knew about this, he could secretly send people to investigate, which would save us a lot of trouble. Perhaps the truth of what happened back then could be uncovered quickly."
Xiao Yun shook his head. "This matter is of great consequence. At the very least, we need to present evidence. Otherwise, mere words would be an accusation against a first-rank official of the court and the Noble Consort. If the eldest prince is not found, or if he is found but unsuitable to be emperor, and Noble Consort Wei's son inherits the throne, then our Ding'an Prince's Mansion would be in grave danger."
That made sense. They had no evidence whatsoever at the moment.
This matter was truly vexing!
The next morning, Xiao Yun, Wang Qingyao, and Tian Yu, along with a squad of soldiers from the yamen, headed to Qipan Mountain again.
Jin Doudou, upon hearing there was a lead, also insisted on accompanying them despite his injuries.
Wang Qingyao was dressed in men's attire, so the soldiers merely took her for a随从 (suí cóng - attendant) of Prince Ding'an, unaware of her true identity.
Zhenzhu and Yin Piao remembered the route from the previous night. Under their guidance, the group soon arrived at the dilapidated temple where the kidnappers had been the night before.
As Wang Qingyao had anticipated, the temple was empty. Ropes and torn cloth were scattered on the ground, and tables and chairs were overturned, suggesting they had vented their frustration before leaving.
Amidst the disarray, Wang Qingyao noticed signs of a struggle.
There were marks of swords and blades on the pillars, and the old deity statue enshrined within had its arms and body cracked. The worn-out curtains, besides holes caused by time, also bore fresh, long slashes that looked like they were made by blades.
Last night, her attention had been solely on the kidnappers, and she hadn't noticed these details.
It appeared the fight had occurred before she arrived. The kidnappers had tidied up the temple to cover their tracks.
The group then searched outside.
The dilapidated temple was built against the cliff face, and not far behind it was a sheer cliff.
A soldier examining the cliff suddenly shouted, "Your Highness, Lord Tian, there's a piece of cloth here!"
Wang Qingyao, Xiao Yun, and Tian Yu hurried to the cliff's edge to investigate.
Indeed, tangled in some dead branches at the cliff face was a piece of water-green fabric, about the size of a palm. Xiao Yun retrieved it and saw at a glance that it had been torn from clothing.
Jin Doudou exclaimed, "The second young master was wearing clothes of this color fabric the day he was chased! Could it be..."
His face turned pale.
Xiao Yun's expression also darkened, a look of horror in his eyes.
Tian Yu surveyed the surroundings and said, "Your Highness, there are footprints on the ground here, many of them. However, there are only two sets of footprints by the cliff edge. I surmise that someone rescued Second Young Master Xiao, but their escape alerted the kidnappers. During the struggle, the two accidentally fell off the cliff."
Wang Qingyao thought the same.
Xiao Yun stood silently by the cliff edge, tossing a stone down. For a long, long time, no sound was heard. His face was as grim as if his parents had died. Wang Qingyao held his hand and felt it was ice-cold, yet his palm was covered in sweat.
Tian Yu said, "The cliff is bottomless. If they truly fell..."
He didn't finish the sentence, but everyone knew that falling from such a height meant not only that survival was impossible but also that even a complete corpse would be unlikely to remain.
Xiao Yun's expression was terrifyingly grim.
However, Wang Qingyao, the transmigrator, refused to give up.
She had read so many stories of characters falling off cliffs, surviving, and even mastering divine skills. Xiao Mo, as the brother-in-law of a transmigrator, and not a villain, surely wouldn't die so easily.
"Lord Tian," Wang Qingyao said sternly, "please send someone to buy hemp ropes, as long as possible..."