What! His son had been forced to become a male prostitute?!
Prince Shun's vision went black, and he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Seeing this, Wen Yuanyi hurriedly steadied the swaying Prince Shun.
He had been utterly disgusted with Chu Yuxi's behavior, but after hearing how terribly the boy had suffered, he could not help feeling a little sympathy.
Lu Huaiying knelt on the ground, trembling.
It was over! Everything was over!
The young prince had been abducted and taken to a brothel. As Prefect of the Capital, he could not escape responsibility. His career was probably finished!
Emperor Chu Ming was also beside himself with fury.
Right under the emperor's nose, even a noble member of the imperial family had suffered such a fate. Did that not mean law and order in the Capital were in shambles?
Granted, Chu Yuxi had disguised himself as a beggar, so he could hardly blame others for failing to recognize his exalted status.
Emperor Chu Ming asked Tu Qingchen, "Imperial Preceptor, where do you think the young prince might be?"
Tu Qingchen answered, "The Green Jade Tower."
Heh. Asking when he already knew the answer.
Chu Siqing knew nothing of this, however, and was delighted.
[Tu Qingchen, thank goodness you can hear my thoughts! Otherwise, the poor young prince would never have been rescued!]
Tu Qingchen merely lowered his gaze and gave her a pitying look.
Chu Siqing was puzzled, but did not dwell on it. She simply felt that this Gossip System was rather useful after all!
With the Imperial Preceptor having spoken, Emperor Chu Ming could readily issue his decree. "Wen Yuanyi, Lu Huaiying, I command you to set out at once and rescue the young prince immediately!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
They accepted the command and swiftly withdrew to rescue him.
Wen Yuanyi was just about to lead his men to raid the Green Jade Tower when Wen Minjing arrived.
"Father, where are you going?"
Ever since Princess Shun had taken her as a goddaughter, she had felt she also had a duty to help find the young prince, so she came to her father's place every day to check on their progress.
"To rescue the young prince!" Wen Yuanyi said succinctly.
Wen Minjing's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly said, "I want to come too!"
With time pressing, Wen Yuanyi scolded his beloved daughter for the first time. "Nonsense! Is a brothel any place for a young lady like you?!"
Wen Minjing keenly seized on the crucial detail. "The young prince is trapped in a brothel?"
Unwilling to say more, Wen Yuanyi waved a hand. "Just stay home and wait for news from me."
Wen Minjing's eyes darted about. She agreed aloud, but secretly followed behind her father's men.
The soldiers soon surrounded the entire Green Jade Tower.
The madam knew trouble was brewing and hurried out to greet them.
Wen Yuanyi and Lu Huaiying stood outside, both looking grim.
Forcing herself to remain calm, the madam asked, "Greetings, my lords. Might I ask what offense my Green Jade Tower has committed?"
Wen Yuanyi said coldly, "Has an abductor delivered a young gentleman here within the past fortnight?"
The madam's heart lurched. Could he mean the one from the day before yesterday...
Yet she betrayed nothing on her face and merely said, "Oh, my lord, you must be joking. We only have girls here at the Green Jade Tower. Where would we get a young gentleman?"
Lu Huaiying said to Wen Yuanyi, "Lord Wen, don't listen to her nonsense. Let's search the place!"
The Holy Maiden's words could not be wrong.
Wen Yuanyi nodded and ordered, "Men, go inside and search every room!"
The madam immediately panicked. "Oh, you can't do that! Please have mercy, my lords. There are still many guests inside. If all these men search the place, how am I supposed to do business afterward?"
Lu Huaiying sneered. "Still dreaming, are you? Once we find him, your bones may well be ground to dust and scattered to the winds!"
The madam's heart sank. She knew the person delivered a few days ago must have an exceptionally exalted status.
If the soldiers found him here, all of them would be finished!
At that thought, the madam made an extremely discreet hand signal while their attention was elsewhere.
Wen Yuanyi and Lu Huaiying, focused on the search inside, missed it entirely. Wen Minjing, who had already slipped into the Green Jade Tower amid the confusion, noticed it instead.
Wen Minjing clearly saw a figure dart past inside the building the moment the madam finished her signal.
No! That madam must be trying to kill him to silence him!
Guessing what the signal meant, Wen Minjing immediately followed the figure.
She followed the person all the way to a hidden cellar.
When she moved closer, she saw the person strangling someone else!
"Stop!"
Seeing the dire situation, Wen Minjing shouted, drew the whip at her waist, and lashed it at the attacker!
Madam Wen had had the whip specially made for her daughter to defend herself and save her life.
Its length was studded with barbs and soaked in an anesthetic, and it struck the hand gripping the victim's throat with unerring precision.
The attacker cried out in pain and involuntarily loosened his grip.
The freed victim collapsed to the floor, coughing so violently the sound seemed to shake heaven and earth.
Wen Minjing had already rushed forward.
She deftly dodged the attacker's blows and left him dripping blood with a few lashes.
The attacker howled under the whip. Seeing that his opponent was a woman who did nothing but lash at him, he decided to finish off the other person first.
Seeing this, Wen Minjing hurriedly threw herself in front of the victim without regard for her own safety and fought the attacker at close quarters.
As she fought, she cried urgently, "Young prince, run!"
Chu Yuxi had only staggered a few steps away before he gritted his teeth and ran back.
He could not let a woman face danger for him while he fled!
Chu Yuxi watched for a moment, seized an opening, and rammed his head hard into the attacker's waist.
Already struck by the anesthetic-laced whip, the attacker was growing weaker by the moment. Chu Yuxi's headlong charge slammed him into the wall.
He spat out a mouthful of blood from the impact, then passed out on the spot.
Chu Yuxi's head buzzed, and he dropped onto the floor.
Seeing that the young prince had chosen to help her rather than turn and flee, Wen Minjing could not help warming to him a little.
Noticing how exhausted he was, Wen Minjing smiled. "Young prince, shall I carry you out on my back?"
When that man had gripped his throat so tightly, Chu Yuxi had thought his life was about to end right there. He had never expected a heroine to suddenly appear and rescue him from fire and flood.
It was just like a scene from the storybooks he had read, except instead of a hero saving a beauty, the beauty had saved the hero.
Chu Yuxi fell in love with his savior at first sight.
As the saying went, a life-saving debt should be repaid by pledging oneself in marriage.
At that thought, Chu Yuxi blushed.
Seeing the young prince's flushed face and tense expression, Wen Minjing assumed he had not yet recovered from being strangled.
She hurriedly repeated, "Young prince, let me carry you out so a doctor can examine you."
Only then did Chu Yuxi come to his senses. He said shyly, "N-no need. I... I can walk by myself."
He slowly rose to his feet, only to discover that he was utterly bedraggled, with none of his former elegance as a young gentleman who looked like an immortal.
Chu Yuxi awkwardly smoothed his hair and patted the dust off his clothes before following his beloved outside.
On the way, he held back again and again, but finally asked in a quiet voice, "Thank you for saving my life, miss. I haven't yet asked your name."
Wen Minjing smiled. "My name is Wen Minjing."
Chu Yuxi froze.
Wasn't... wasn't she his fiancée, the rumored tigress?
Before you continue