The little girl was surrounded by rings upon rings of people. Under their heartbroken gazes, the man held her in his arms and softly soothed her.
"Imperial Father is all right..."
"He lied to you..."
"I'm not hurt..."
"Yes, they've all been arrested..."
Her wailing finally subsided under his repeated reassurances. Only after a long while did she manage to sob out a complete sentence. "F-Father lost the th-thumb ring Mother g-gave him..."
It wasn't the thumb ring she was upset about, but that ring had truly given her a terrible fright.
She had even forgotten to accuse him of sneaking off to handle official business while she slept again.
"Mm..." Jiang Yanchuan turned around and shot Bai Erfu, who stood outside the crowd, a dagger-sharp glare. "Imperial Father will be more careful next time."
Jiang Yingcheng had exhausted herself crying, and before long, she fell into a deep sleep again.
Bai Erfu gulped, swallowing down a bitter mouthful of tears.
At Emperor Mingze's instruction, Lu Yao took the people who had been present into another room to ask what had happened.
When they had rushed back to the inn earlier, the floor outside the little girl's room had been covered with bodies...
The vicious bandits stationed here.
Their breathing was shallow and their eyes vacant. They were alive, yet carried a faint air of death.
Who knew what depths of despair they had endured?
Emperor Mingze didn't care about their condition, but he wanted to know what had happened to the little girl.
Returning to the present, Lu Yao swept his gaze over their shattered faces one by one. "Who wants to explain?"
"Do you have any wine?" Liaochen was the first to speak, his expression weathered. "I suddenly feel like having a couple of cups."
After a