Chapter 1714: Chapter 1714: Imprisoned
Marketplace.
Mi Wen issued a strict decree prohibiting discussions about the grand wedding. She also dispatched many informers, and quite a few soldiers were stationed in the market. Anyone found making unauthorized remarks would receive heavy punishment, leaving the people angry but afraid to speak. The once bustling market now seemed much quieter.
Pastry shop.
"Come, take these pastries and share them with the street children." Manager Chen instructed the staff to distribute several baskets of unsold rice cakes to the children.
"Alright."
"Everyone disperse, the lord is arriving." Suddenly, a squad of armored troops rushed in from the market entrance. They were the imperial guards. Upon seeing such a grand scene, the townsfolk naturally dared not approach and quickly avoided them. Mi Wen sat in a carriage, ordering a large team to immediately completely surround the pastry shop. A hint of surprise flashed across Manager Chen’s face, but he quickly composed himself and greeted with a smile.
"I didn’t know the lord was arriving personally, pardon my failure to welcome you from afar." Manager Chen said with a smile, Mi Wen, like a proud queen, exuded an oppressive aura wherever she went.
"Where is Ye Shikai?" Mi Wen asked directly.
"This... I truly don’t know, my lady."
"You’re unwilling to tell the truth, are you?" Mi Wen sneered, waved her hand, and the guards beside her immediately took him and all the shop’s staff into custody.
"My lord, I swear I am telling the truth, please see clearly."
"We’ll see if the truth comes out after some torture. Besides, even if you don’t speak, some of your staff will. Take everyone away."
"Yes."
Secret location.
Swish.
"Great archery skills." Shangguan Jian walked up, holding a wild pheasant that had been shot by an arrow. "Old Ye, I didn’t expect your archery skills to have not declined at all."
"Though there’s no chance to go to battle, daily training cannot be interrupted. Archery and martial arts, practice diligently, otherwise even the strongest warrior will become useless." Ye Shikai said plainly. Mastery comes from diligence, wasted by play. They have secluded themselves here, naturally avoiding the chaos of the outside world, but training must not cease.
"That’s for sure." As he spoke, Shangguan Jian suddenly drew his bow and shot an arrow. The arrow flew quickly, almost disappearing from sight in a blink, followed by the call of a wild pheasant.
"Your archery skills aren’t bad either." Ye Shikai said with a faint smile.
"Looks like we’ll have a feast tonight."
The two had hunted quite a bit of game all day. The hill behind was a primitive forest, untouched by others, with great ecological conditions and no shortage of game.
When designing this place, Ye Shikai prepared a plot of land specifically for farming. However, there weren’t enough people, so Ye Shikai had his personal guard go down to the fields to farm. A group of warriors used to wield swords on the battlefield transformed into farmers tilling the fields—it was quite amusing.
Ye Shikai stored a considerable amount of grain in the warehouse here. Of course, this was just a part of it. In this era without refrigerators, many items couldn’t be stored for long, so the warehouse mostly contained wheat and rice. Other easily perishable foods were all stored in storage rings. As for the stored grain, it was enough to feed hundreds of people for a year and a half.
"Report to the two lords, a message has come from the Hidden Guard in the city." As the two descended the hill, a Hidden Guard hurriedly arrived and handed over a secret letter brought by carrier pigeon.
"Old Ye, what happened?" Shangguan Jian asked curiously.
"This isn’t good, something happened to Old Chen." After reading, a look of concern immediately appeared on Ye Shikai’s face. Not only Old Chen, but the entire staff of the pastry shop had been imprisoned. Ye Shikai was well aware of Mi Wen’s methods; Manager Chen was certainly not going to avoid physical suffering inside.
Ye Shikai hadn’t expected Mi Wen to suddenly target the pastry shop. Had she heard some rumor? That seemed unlikely; almost no one knew of Ye Shikai’s acquaintance with Manager Chen, so how could Mi Wen know?
"If Old Chen was caught by Mi Wen, that’s really bad news. Even if he endures the torture and keeps the secret, he’ll likely be a broken man." Shangguan Jian also realized the situation’s urgency, his heart racing with anxiety.
"No, we must rescue him." Ye Shikai wouldn’t easily abandon Old Chen. In a way, Old Chen was suffering because of him. If Mi Wen wanted to target Ye, she would surely use all kinds of torture.
"Old Ye, don’t act impulsively. We must plan carefully. Linxiang City is Mi Wen’s stronghold, now heavily guarded. How do we rescue the people and retreat safely?" Shangguan Jian advised.
"You’re right, the rescue must be carefully planned." Ye Shikai forced himself to calm down. Having finally settled here, they couldn’t afford any more problems.
"Old Ye, we mustn’t act impulsively, but we should proceed quickly. Firstly, we need to rescue Manager Chen as soon as possible. Secondly, he’s been to our location. If he succumbs to the torture and reveals it..."
"Enough, there’s no need to say more. We’ll have a meeting tonight to discuss it and set off in the morning."
"Alright."
..................
Bedroom.
"How’s it going, Ling’er, are you getting used to living here?" Ye Shikai asked.
"Of course, it’s not bad. Though small, it’s well-equipped. Besides, the former Ye Mansion, though luxurious, lacked vitality and felt dreary."
"That’s good, as long as you like it."
"Husband, do you have something on your mind again?" He Linghan suddenly said.
"How did you know?" Ye Shikai was a bit surprised.
"All your secrets are written on your face. Since we came here, you’ve been quite relaxed every day. But today, as soon as you walked in, your face was all gloomy. I figured you must have encountered a tricky problem."
"You’re right." Since He Linghan had already guessed, Ye Shikai didn’t plan to hide it anymore. "Just now, a message came from the Hidden Guard, saying that Old Chen from the pastry shop has been imprisoned by Mi Wen."
"What, how could this happen?" He Linghan was startled upon hearing this.
"I don’t know either; there shouldn’t have been any leaks. But regardless, I must return to the city. Old Chen is my friend, and besides, he was captured because of us. We have to rescue him."
"Do you have a plan?"
"Of course, Old Chen knows our location, so we must depart quickly. We’ll set off in the morning and reach Linxiang City by noon. I’ll bring twenty Hidden Guards, all in disguise, so the guards won’t recognize us."
"Moreover, Shangguan Jian will accompany us. The North Gate Commander is one of his loyalists, which will make our actions in the city much easier."
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