Numerous arrows burst around Prince Jing making it difficult for him to dodge. Prince Jing reacted quickly. As soon as he saw the smoke, he knew that there must be something strange in it. He promptly held his breath and leaped up, only to find a fine, dense net above him. Without pausing, he reached for the net and tried to tear it, but he failed even with his Kung Fu.
"Ice silk?" Prince Jing frowned. Such a large net was made entirely of ice silk. His enemy had really put in a great deal of effort to catch him.
Gradually, Prince Jing felt tired. He knew that it must be because he had accidentally inhaled some smoke. He had intended to risk his life to identify his enemy. So he pretended to resist before helplessly falling to the ground. Then he stood up slowly, leaned against the wall, and asked loudly, "Who thinks so highly of me? You must have put a lot of thought into this trap. Can you come out?"
No one answered him. Then he closed his eyes and fell to the ground with a thud.
It was a while before a low voice said, "I am confident that no one can escape my gigantic net."
At the same time, four men in black jumped from the corner wall. They wore masks to hide their identity. One of them bent over Prince Jing. The man lifted the Prince on his shoulder, and went into the house.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty... I have terrible news! Princess Hui Guo has been captured!" A sing-song voice said from the front Hall, but it barely caught anyone's attention because of the clanging noise. The eunuch ran to Emperor Ning and fell on his knees. Emperor Ning looked at him in surprise, raised his hand and shouted, "Stop!"
The sound on the stage stopped abruptly. The eunuch hurriedly handed the hairpin to Emperor Ning and said, "Your Majesty, Princess Hui Guo was taken from the backyard!"
Emperor Ning looked at the object in his hand, and recognized it as Yun Shang's hairpin. He paled and asked, "What? What happened? Tell me in detail."
The eunuch answered quickly, "Prince Jing asked me to inform Your Majesty that while he was enjoying the Chinese traditional opera, a maid brought him Princess Yun Shang's brocade handkerchief and told him that Princess Yun Shang invited him to the backyard to discuss something. When he arrived at the opposite side of Lingya Pavilion, he saw Princess Yun Shang sitting alone at Lingya Pavilion. As he was about to walk to her, four men in gray clothes appeared and carried Princess Yun Shang away! By the time Prince Jing arrived at the Pavilion, only this hairpin remained..."
"Where's Prince Jing?" Emperor Ning immediately asked the eunuch.
The eunuch bent forward and answered, "His Highness has gone after the evildoers."
Emperor Ning rose to his feet, and roared in anger, "Waste! The Imperial Commander is nothing but a waste! Again and again evildoers come into the temporary imperial palace. This time they've taken Yun Shang. Look for Princess Yun Shang, now!"
The Imperial Commander was the youngest son of Grand Councilor Li, so upon hearing Emperor Ning's roar, Grand Councilor Li turned a little pale and quickly responded with a "yes."
However, when the Imperial Commander entered Yun Shang's yard with his guards, he saw Yun Shang, with her sleeves rolled up, happily throwing arrows into the long-necked copper kettle on the opposite side. The arrow hit the kettle and dropped to the ground. Yun Shang pursed her lips and said, "I quit, I quit. I'm not good at it. You carry on."
Then she saw a line of armored guards in front of her. She was startled. She looked at them curiously and asked, "Why are you here? This is where the ladies rest. You cannot be here."
The Imperial Commander was surprised. He gritted his teeth. He was sullen for being scolded for the Princess's abduction and yet, here she stood, having a good time. Now was not the time to be angry. So he answered stiffly, "Your Highness, just now a eunuch reported that you had been captured, and His Majesty has sent guards looking for you. Prince Jing has also gone to find you!"
Yun Shang's brows lifted in confusion. She asked, "What are you talking about? I'm here!"
The Imperial Commander was puzzled as well. Emperor Ning had just scolded him and told him to send people to look for Princess Yun Shang.
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