"Your Highness?!"
Everyone turned to look, and saw a massive warship approaching rapidly from the northeast, its decks bristling with armor.
In the misty rain, amidst flickering firelight, they could vaguely discern the figure of a man at the bow, dressed in a brocade robe, peering around with a spyglass.
Behind him, soldiers held an umbrella over him.
"It's not the Prince, it's the Prime Minister."
Jiang Huai Ren, seeing the signal flares in the sky, reacted instantly and shouted.
"Quick, sail over and intercept all departing vessels, stop them all."
As soon as the order was given, the boats that had just set off on the river were blocked again. Official vessels surrounded them from all sides, forming an impenetrable blockade. Kanshuwu.net
Chiyou, sitting in her boat's canopy, heard the commotion outside and her mood plummeted.
She stealthily peeked out and saw a colossal warship speeding towards them along the water's edge.
At the bow, that familiar figure caught her eye.
She gasped, covering her mouth in surprise.
Brother?!
Why had her brother come personally?
Liu Rong Ruo stood at the edge of the ship, his figure tall and imposing, emanating a chilling aura that made him seem even more unapproachable in the pouring rain.
He held a spyglass, his facial features deep-set, his eyes filled with indifference, as cold as hell.
The river was wide, with many boats traveling. He scanned the scene, lowered his spyglass, and calmly gazed at the water.
Jiang Huai Ren, along with all the officials, sailed over to pay their respects.
'Have you finished searching?'
The warship in front was too large, and Jiang Huai Ren had to look up to see the person.
"We have searched all of them and have not found the person."
'Useless.'
Liu Rong Ruo waved his hand coldly, and a large contingent of soldiers emerged. They leaped from the warship onto the surrounding tower boats and began their search.
Seeing the soldiers, Chiyou felt a surge of panic. She wanted to hide back in the chest, but seeing the soldiers rummaging through everything in the cabins with extreme thoroughness, she dared not hide.
She was so nervous she didn't know what to do.
As soldiers approached her, without a moment to think, she leaped off the stern of the boat into the river.
The rain was heavy, and her jump did not create much of a splash, only faint ripples on the water's surface.
Chiyou thought she couldn't swim and would drown, but to her surprise, as soon as she hit the water, she began to swim with surprising skill.
She looked at herself in astonishment, and hearing the commotion above, she slowly began to sink.
Yang Dan, seeing the approaching soldiers, some of whom were holding portraits, swallowed nervously.
Just as he was about to go in and inform Chiyou, he saw that she was no longer there.
He exclaimed in surprise, "Father, where is Miss Liu?"
Old Man Yang glanced back, saw that the person had suddenly disappeared, and quickly got up to go inside, but then he heard.
"Caught them, right here."
The two turned back in shock, only to see soldiers surrounding them from all directions, demanding to take them away.
Old Man Yang was terrified and pleaded.
"We are wronged, we are wronged, officers, we are just common folk, we know nothing—"
Bai Ze, hearing the commotion, sailed his boat over.
"Sir, this is the family from the portrait."
Bai Ze compared the portrait and immediately leaped onto Old Man Yang's small boat.
It was empty, with no one inside.
"Bring them over."
Liu Rong Ruo narrowed his eyes as he saw the father and son.
"Where is she?"
Yang Dan and his father were still stunned, kneeling on the boat, feeling as if the sky was about to collapse. What crime had they committed?
Liu Rong Ruo's expression turned cold.
Qilin, standing behind him, immediately stepped forward and kicked Yang Dan in the chest.
"My lord is asking you a question, speak."
"Ow, officer, my son is timid, don't kick him, aim at me. Who are you looking for? This old man is just a hunter, I know nothing."
Yang Dan, in pain from the kick to his chest, quickly knelt properly.
He seemed to realize something, recalling Chiyou hiding, and a flicker of fear crossed his eyes.
Who was that girl? Could she be the fugitive the authorities were looking for?
"Did you harbor anyone from the portrait in your home? Confess honestly."
With a swish, a beautiful portrait appeared before them.
Old Man Yang stared at the person in the painting in astonishment, feeling a vague sense of familiarity.
Yang Dan quickly said, "We don't know, we haven't seen this person."
Liu Rong Ruo looked down at their expressions and waved his hand faintly behind him.
"Bring them up."
Hiding in the river, Chiyou could vaguely see the scene on the river through the cold water.
Just as she was about to swim west, she heard a piercing scream from the river.
Startled, she widened her eyes to look.
"Mother, Sister."
Yang Dan looked at his mother and sister being brought up in shock, his back chilling.
Yang Mei, with a knife at her throat, was on the verge of tears from fear.
"Father, save me—"
Old Man Yang, not knowing what crime he had committed, seeing his wife and daughter captured, kowtowed repeatedly in terror.
"Officer, spare us, officer, spare us—"
Liu Rong Ruo lowered his eyelids and said indifferently, "I'll ask you one last time, where is the person from the portrait?"
Yang Mei was already terrified, her tears blurring her vision.
"Father, where is that person you took away this morning? Isn't she very similar to the person in the portrait?"
Earlier that morning, not long after Father left, many soldiers had stormed their house demanding the person, frightening Mother unconscious.
Old Man Yang was reminded and suddenly remembered Chiyou. Just as he was about to say something, he saw his son's expression, hesitated, and dared not speak.
"If you don't say anything, we'll cut off their heads."
Threatened by Qilin like this, Old Man Yang was startled and disregarded everything else, recounting the matter of harboring Chiyou in detail.
"We didn't know she was a fugitive. When the officers searched just now, that girl was already gone."
Seeing that they had confessed, Liu Rong Ruo raised an eyebrow and looked out at the vast expanse of the river.
The heavy rain beat down on the river, creating a hazy mist everywhere.
He watched in silence for a moment and then said coldly.
"Guards, hang them up."
The entire Yang family of four was tied to the floating decks of the warship, drenched in the storm, and fainted.
The people on the river, seeing the family of four being hoisted up into the air, were terrified and hid in their boats, whispering amongst themselves.
Chiyou, hiding at the bottom of the river, naturally saw the bound family, her eyes turning red. Her brother was forcing her, forcing her to reveal herself.
The rain grew heavier.
She thought of the kindness of the family, and tears welled up in her eyes.
It was because of her that they had suffered such undeserved disaster.
She could not let them die because of her.
But she had been on the run for so long, and had not yet found Brother Yun. If she went out, her brother would take her back to the capital and imprison her in the imperial palace.
Chiyou's heart was filled with complex emotions. Before she could sort out her thoughts, the sound of whipping came from above.
She swam along the riverbed towards the boat and saw the family of four being whipped by soldiers, bloody and battered.
Her face instantly turned pale. She poked her head out from the riverbed and shouted.
"Brother, stop hitting them."