After rebirth, the Queen of Madness has gone against the will of Heaven

Chapter 477 Meeting at the Inn

Everyone present was already speculating that with such a large-scale operation, the woman on the wanted poster might not be a thief, but rather a concubine of the crown prince. Otherwise, there were many major crimes committed by thieves, and no one had ever seen such a large-scale search by the imperial court.

The innkeeper had already been called up by this time and was standing beside Tang Yi respectfully.

Jian Ping glanced at the crowd and handed the list of people staying at the inn to Tang Yi. "Your Highness, everyone is here. Not one person is missing."

Tang Yi nodded, casually flipped through the list, and then threw it back to Jian Ping, "Call out the names on it one by one. When you're called, come to the front."

Changkong and Xiluo were both a little nervous, but Murong Yanhui remained calm and composed, sneering inwardly. "Did they think they could catch them like this? What a pipe dream!"

"Xu Changgui, Liu Dacheng..."

As names were called one by one, Tang Yi became more and more disappointed.

"Huang Qi and his group of four."

Upon hearing the name, Murong Yanhui took a step forward holding Yu Qingli, followed closely by Changkong and Xiluo. Tang Yi felt a shock all over his body. Why did this person give him a very familiar feeling?

But when he looked again, Huang Qi in front of him already had a timid smile on his face, "Sir, I am Huang Qi."

Tang Yi's gaze swept over these people one by one, and finally fell on Murong Yanhui's arms. Judging from her figure, she should be a thin woman, who was somewhat similar to Yu Qingli's figure.

"Who are you holding?"

"It's my wife."

"Why don't you wake her up?"

"My wife has always been frail and often sickly. She must have been tired when we went to Lover's Hill yesterday. I didn't have the heart to wake her up."

Tang Yi sneered, "You are such a love-struck person, are you pretending?"

The shopkeeper beside him took over the conversation and said, "This Mr. Huang has always doted on his wife and taken good care of her. This little man and the waiter can prove it!"

Murong Yan gave the shopkeeper a grateful look, knowing that the daily tip had taken effect. Tang Yi didn't say anything else, "Oh, can you show me your face?"

Murong Yanhui nodded and pulled the big flag down a little. His sallow and ordinary face was obviously tired and his brows were slightly furrowed. However, he was indeed sleeping very soundly and his breathing did not sound fake.

However, what Tang Yi found strange was that this lady was not particularly beautiful, so how could she be taken care of so carefully by the man in front of him?

When something is abnormal, there must be something wrong!

Tang Yi obviously had no intention of letting Murong Yan return to them. He continued to ask, "Who are those two people behind them?"

"One is my wife's maid, and the other is the guard I hired."

"Your accent doesn't sound like you're from Dong Tang. Where are you from?"

Murong Yanhui smiled and said, "Sir, you are really amazing. You can even tell from what I heard. I am indeed not from Dong Tang. My family is actually from Canghe."

Tang Yi frowned. Jian Ping beside him was already on guard. Was this man from Cang He? Could he be the one they were looking for?

"Since you are from Canghe, what are you doing here?"

"I'm a businessman, so naturally I do business. The Stone Story restaurant in the imperial city is under my name."

"Open a jade shop in my Dongtang?" Tang Yi asked the same question as he asked Yu Qingli.

Murong Yanhui smiled and said, "Your Excellency, you may not know that it is precisely because Dong Tang is rich in jade that we can find some high-quality jade. I only need to have someone polish it a little and send it back to Canghe. Wouldn't it become a priceless treasure?"

Tang Yi couldn't help but praise him, "You are a good businessman, but it's a long journey, and your wife is not in good health. How did you bring her with you?"

"It's a long story. If you want to hear it, I have no problem coming with you. I'm just afraid I might waste your time."

"Just say it if you ask me to!"

"Actually, my wife asked to come out and relax. In my early years, I was constantly traveling for business, and she took care of all the household affairs. She was overworked, which is why she's suffered from all these illnesses. I feel so guilty about this, and I always want to give her the best to compensate her. Besides, we haven't had any children in all these years, and she's still worried. I also heard that praying for children on Lover Mountain in Dongtang is very effective. After I told her about it, she asked me to arrange for me to go with her."

Murong Yanhui spoke with deep affection, as if he had once been a bastard who valued profit over separation, and later he was considered a prodigal son who turned over a new leaf. However, he was not blessed by God and was not even given an heir.

Even Jian Ping was slightly moved when he heard this. It seemed that Huang Qi was a man who valued friendship and loyalty.

Tang Yi was extremely conflicted at this moment. His intuition told him that he couldn't just let this man go, but he also couldn't arrest anyone for no reason in public.

After a short stalemate, Tang Yi finally gave in and said, "Okay, go back to your rooms."

Xiluo and the others breathed a sigh of relief. Following Murong Yanhui's signal, they took the lead and walked towards the second floor. Murong Yanhui followed leisurely behind with Yu Qingli in his arms.

Suddenly, Tang Yi pulled out a pair of chopsticks from the table and flung them towards Murong Yan. Jian Ping, standing by, was shocked. What was the Crown Prince planning to do? Even the Crown Prince would be punished for hurting someone without any reason.

As a result, Huang Qi seemed to feel nothing at all and continued walking upstairs.

Just when the chopstick was about to touch Murong Yan's clothes, another chopstick flew towards the previous chopstick at a faster speed, breaking the previous chopstick and making it fall to the ground.

"That was a close call!" Jian Ping couldn't help but exclaim in fear.

Hearing the sound, Murong Yanhui turned around with a puzzled look on his face, "What's wrong?"

Tang Yi's face was already gloomy at this time. Jian Ping waved back at Murong Yan and said, "It's none of your business. Go back."

Murong Yanhui then turned around and went upstairs again, a faint smile on her lips. Fight with him? Tang Yi is still a little lacking in skills!

The subsequent search still yielded nothing, which made Tang Yi's face look even uglier.

After walking out of the inn, Jian Ping said respectfully, "Your Highness, this is the last inn we searched. I guess the Saint is not staying in the city."

Tang Yi remained silent. He and Jian Ping had been chasing for a whole day and night, but still found nothing. There was not even any trace left on the road to Canghe. It was as if Yu Qingli and King Yan had suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth.

Later, Tang Yi suddenly thought, what if they didn't leave? Would they hide in this imperial city for the time being and wait until the storm died down before leaving the city?

Thinking of this, Tang Yi immediately turned his horse around and went back to search the imperial city. Now all the inns in the city had been checked, but there was still no clue.

Tang Yi thought for a moment and instructed Jian Ping, "Send someone to the Stone Records that Huang Qi mentioned earlier to verify whether what he said is true. Also, send someone to guard this place. If Huang Qi tries to escape, arrest him immediately."

"Your Highness, do you still suspect those people? If so, just arrest them directly."

Tang Yi glanced at him coldly, "Do you think I can't tell good from evil? If they are truly innocent, arresting them would only ruin my royal reputation!"

"Yes! I know I was wrong."

"Forget it, Jian Ping, let's leave the things here to someone you trust. Just follow me back to the palace!"

Jian Ping secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It was not easy at all. His master was finally preparing to return to the palace.

At this time, the Dong Tang Palace was also filled with sorrow. On the day of the wedding, the saint girl disappeared, and then the prince personally led people to chase her. The emperor was furious and issued three decrees to let the prince return to the palace, but the prince disobeyed the orders. The emperor was almost furious. If it were not for the queen's consolation, the situation in the harem would have changed.

As soon as Tang Yi came back, he was called to the imperial study by the emperor. Before he even entered, a paperweight was thrown at him. Tang Yi dodged and the paperweight brushed past his ear.

"You still remember to return to the palace? You've grown so powerful now that you even dare to directly disobey my order?"

The Emperor of Dong Tang was very angry. Tang Yi had always been his pride since he was a child, but now, this son who had always been very obedient actually openly disobeyed his orders.

Tang Yi knelt before the emperor and said, "Father, please calm down. A general is not bound by the emperor's orders when he is away from home. Besides, these people have never seen the Saint Girl, so how could they recognize her?"

Seeing the emperor's expression soften slightly, Tang Yi couldn't help but continue, "Father, according to what the Imperial Master said, this Saint Girl has a special status. If she is really taken away by Murong Yanhui, it will be a loss and a hidden danger for our Dong Tang."

The Emperor of Dong Tang sighed, "Yi'er, I know you're embarrassed and upset by this, but we can't afford to lose our composure at such times. Don't forget, you're getting married soon. You'll have to accompany Xing Luo back home within three days, and then you'll have to offer sacrifices to the heavens at the altar. Since the Saint's disappearance can't be made public, we have to put on a good show in front of the people and court officials."

"I know! Don't worry, Father. I will accompany Xing Luo back tomorrow morning. However, I hope that the matter of tracking down the Saint Girl will still be left to me."

"Of course. I wouldn't trust anyone else with this matter."

"Thank you, Father."

"Is there any trace of the Saint now?"

"It has not been discovered yet, but I am already stepping up my investigation."

The emperor nodded in satisfaction. He was still very confident in Tang Yi's work. "By the way, I heard that you detained the family of the prefect of the capital. Could they be related to the disappearance of the Saint?"

"That's not clear yet. I just suspect that the person who came to the palace to attend the banquet that night was not the prefect of the capital, so I brought his entire family with me."

"Since he's helping investigate the case, please release him as soon as possible after questioning him. After all, the prefect of the capital is Concubine Zhao's biological brother. Concubine Zhao comes to me every day crying and begging for mercy. It's really annoying."

"My son understands!"

After the Emperor of Eastern Tang finished talking to Tang Yi, he let him return to the palace.