jdhmnovel Where is Chapter 443 hiding?
Where is Chapter 443 hiding?
Consort Zhou gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her handkerchief, and curtsied to express her gratitude: "Your Majesty's grace, I thank Your Majesty on behalf of Mu Bai."
With red eyes, she gazed at Emperor Wenjing and said, "It was my impatience that disturbed Your Majesty's rest. Please forgive me. I will take my leave now. Your Majesty must take good care of your health, for the stability of this country still depends on Your Majesty's leadership."
After saying this, she bowed gracefully again before turning and walking out of the hall.
Emperor Wenjing watched Consort Zhou's figure disappear before closing his eyes wearily, his voice slightly hoarse, "What is Yun Shang doing right now?"
Liu Haifu walked slowly to the dragon bed, bowed his head respectfully and reported, "Last night, Lord Yun led troops to surround the various mansions that instigated the Third Prince to rebel, and has been waiting for His Majesty's order, but has not yet taken any other action."
"Hmm." Emperor Wenjing responded indifferently, "Issue my decree, ordering Yun Shang to act as he sees fit, and arrest those with conclusive evidence and throw them into the death row."
Liu Haifu's heart skipped a beat, and he respectfully replied, "Yes."
It seems a bloodbath is about to rage in Shengjing City...
The people in the besieged prefectures were all terrified.
Only members of core aristocratic families like Li Chongyi knew in advance that Prince Qi would make a move the previous night; the rest were completely unaware. As a result, they were surrounded by the Imperial Guards without any preparation and had no idea what was happening.
But one could faintly sense an unusual, chilling atmosphere in Shengjing City.
These people have been apprehended, but Yun Shang searched the Qi Prince's Mansion, the Li family, and other places where Li Chongyi might be, but found no trace of him.
Li Chongyi is the core of the aristocratic family and a key figure in this rebellion. If he were to disappear, it would undoubtedly leave a huge hidden danger for the future.
Therefore, we must find Li Chongyi.
He immediately summoned several deputy generals and coldly ordered, "Send more men to turn the entire capital upside down. Even if you have to dig three feet into the ground, find Li Chongyi!"
The deputy general accepted the order and left.
For two consecutive days, the Imperial Guards in the city were mobilized more frequently, and the streets and alleys were filled with soldiers searching for them.
The people also sensed something unusual and tried to minimize going out.
But after searching for two days, they still couldn't find any trace of Li Chongyi.
In the past two days, all the people who left the city have been verified, and Yun Shangke is certain that Li Chongyi has not left the capital.
A person cannot simply disappear into thin air, but the question is, where is he hiding?
Yu Wan noticed that Yun Shang had been absent-minded while eating these past two days.
Because it involved treason, knowing too much would not be good for Yu Wan and the others, so Yun Shang rarely mentioned the things that had been going on these past few days at home.
As long as Li Zhuoyue didn't have any designs on Yunxi, Yu Wan didn't want to interfere too much, so she didn't ask.
But seeing Yun Shang eating absentmindedly, she couldn't help but ask, "Did you run into some trouble?"
The trouble that puts the male lead in a difficult position must be quite significant.
Yun Shang paused slightly, her chopsticks faltering, and looked up at Yu Wan, a hint of hesitation flashing in her eyes.
He didn't want Yu Wan to get involved in these court intrigues, but seeing her concerned gaze, he couldn't bear to hide it from her.
“We have indeed encountered some thorny issues,” Yun Shang put down his chopsticks, his cool brows furrowing slightly. “This time, the Prince of Qi’s rebellion was instigated by powerful aristocratic families.”
“After Li Chongyi was abducted from the execution ground that day, my men lost track of him. After the Prince of Qi’s rebellion failed, all the aristocratic officials involved were arrested, but Li Chongyi was the only one who could not be found.”
“I ordered a search of the entire city, but two days have passed and we still haven’t found Li Chongyi.”
Yu Wan frowned. "How could a living person like him disappear without a trace in the capital? Could someone be secretly helping him, providing him with a hiding place?"
Yun Shang nodded slightly. "I also thought of that, so in the past two days, we not only conducted a city-wide search, but also secretly investigated people closely related to Li Chongyi, but we still found nothing."
Yu Wan gently bit her lower lip, her mind racing.
Yun Shang said that Li Chongyi must still be in Shengjing City, but they had searched everywhere they could and still couldn't find him.
Where else in Shengjing City could one hide?
Yu Wan racked her brains, and suddenly her eyes lit up.
She remembered that in the original story, after the Qi King's rebellion failed, Li Chongyi, the head of a powerful family, also escaped.
The male protagonist and Prince Chen's men searched for Li Chongyi for more than half a month but could not find him. It wasn't until two months later that someone discovered he had appeared in Shengjing, intending to make a comeback.
Li Chongyi incited many aristocratic families to cause trouble, and it took the male protagonist and Prince Chen a lot of effort to quell the incident and arrest Li Chongyi.
It was only after interrogation that it was learned that there was a hidden underground mansion beneath Li Guan's residence.
Li Chongyi had been hiding right under their noses all along.
But she couldn't tell Yun Shang so directly, otherwise she would have to explain why she knew that there was a hidden underground mansion beneath Li Guan's residence.
Most importantly, this is simply inexplicable.
Yu Wan's eyes flickered. "I read in a miscellaneous book before that some talented people in the previous dynasty were good at designing mechanisms and building secret underground residences. Since we can't find Li Chongyi in the open, why don't you have someone look for those high-ranking officials' residences and see if they have any mechanisms?"
"The residences where Prince Qi and Li Chongyi live are all old houses, most of which have been passed down from the previous dynasty. Perhaps there are some secrets hidden in these houses."
Yun Shang said, "I have searched both the Prince Qi's residence and Li Chongyi's residence. I found several secret rooms, but I did not find Li Chongyi there."
"A cunning rabbit has three burrows; perhaps Li Chongyi is hiding in someone else's residence."
“We usually subconsciously assume that Li Chongyi will hide in a place he is very familiar with, but what if he does the opposite?”
Yun Shang nodded thoughtfully, acknowledging Yu Wan's deduction: "You're right. It was my oversight. We can't just focus on their own residences."
He immediately put down his chopsticks and said, "I will redeploy my personnel to investigate the residences of officials who have close ties with Li Chongyi."
Having said that, Yun Shang immediately stood up and strode out of the hall.
Yu Wan let out an "Eh," glanced at the untouched rice on the table, and muttered under her breath, "What a waste of food."
When Madam Shen and Yunxi brought over the dishes, they were puzzled to find that Yunshang was not there.
Madam Shen put down the dish. "Where is Shang-ge'er?"
Yu Wan shrugged helplessly, "Going to work again."
Ms. Shen frowned in strong disagreement, “No matter how busy you are, you still have to eat. He hasn’t eaten properly for several days, and he looks thinner.”
Yu Wan comforted her, "Mother, don't worry, he'll be able to eat properly soon."
Madam Shen didn't think much of it, assuming that Yu Wan was just comforting her. "I'll have the maid send him some easy-to-carry cakes later."
After saying that, Madam Shen looked at Yu Wan again, "It's just that I've wronged you, Yu Niang. Yun Shang has been too busy these past few days and must have neglected you."
In the past few days, Yu Wan had indeed seen Yun Shang only a handful of times, but Yu Wan did not feel neglected at all.
She's very busy too.
Hot pot is nothing new. The Duchess of Anguo gave her more than a dozen shops, and Yu Wan has been researching what other shops she could open these days.
The male lead is busy with his career, and so is she.