Chapter 8: If You’re Not Convinced, Come Bite Me

When Jiang Yan also reached the rooftop safely, An Yi restored all the tiles, leaving only a tiny gap.

"Hurry, quickly rescue Miss Lin from the hands of the villain!"

Jiang Yan ground his teeth at the eldest prince's aggravating voice. Tsk, what a waste not to let him act!

Breathless, the eldest prince led several guards over, followed by a crowd of curious onlookers.

He kicked open the door, and the guards surged inside.

These guards were personally trained by the eldest prince, their codenames: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, and Kappa.

Guard Alpha drew his sword and pulled aside the bed curtains—there was no one on the bed.

Guard Beta checked the wardrobe—no one there either.

They searched every possible hiding place in the room, but found nothing.

"Useless fools! Where is she? If anything happens to Miss Lin, I will not spare you lot of good-for-nothings!" The eldest prince’s rage burned, his appearance deeply anxious.

Guard Delta swallowed, cautiously speaking, "Master... Master, your subordinate found a piece of paper and a black ball on the table."

"Bring it here, now!" barked the prince.

When he received the paper and saw the enormous turtle drawn on it, his face instantly twisted.

The guards noticed writing on the back, but all lowered their heads, pretending not to see.

In the end, Guard Alpha bore the brunt. As captain, he summoned his courage. "Master, there’s writing on the back."

The prince flipped the paper over. Written there was: Turtle, are you angry? If you’re not convinced, come bite me!

Below the words was a huge, grinning face.

The prince crushed the paper into a ball and angrily hurled it at Guard Alpha’s head.

"Master… Master… this… black ball… you haven’t looked at it yet!" Guard Delta, seeing his master ignore the black ball, felt as though it were a hot potato in his hands.

The prince grew ever more exasperated with his blockheaded subordinates—couldn’t they see he was furious?

He snatched the black ball from Guard Delta and hurled it hard to the floor.

With a tremendous bang, everyone in the room was sprayed with black, muddy water—especially the prince, whose face and head were covered in the muck.

A nauseating stench filled the room.

"Ugh, ugh, ugh…"

Just after tossing the black ball, the prince had wanted to scold his men further.

But now, a mouthful of black mud had entered his mouth, turning his white teeth pitch black.

He was so disgusted, he nearly vomited up yesterday’s dinner.

The guards instinctively took a few steps back from the prince, struggling not to retch themselves.

Yet, professional as they were, they managed to restrain themselves.

The crowd of onlookers hadn’t entered the room—they stood at a fair distance from this side hall.

After all, space needed to be left for the prince and his guards to catch the culprit!

Though spared from the muddy spray, the stench wafting from the room reached them.

"What are they doing in there? Cooking dung?" a young gentleman whispered, pinching his nose.

"Perhaps this is their method of extracting confessions from the criminal…" Mo Shiyu, also pinching her nose, spoke from within the crowd.

She had returned from the latrines only to find her cousin and An Yi gone.

As she prepared to search for them, she heard someone shout that her lady had been abducted.

Thus, the eldest prince led his men to apprehend the villain, and some restless guests followed, resulting in the current scene.

The crowd, hearing Mo Shiyu’s words, all agreed it was a rather potent way to force a confession.

Were the royal family always so inventive?

"Woo, woo, woo, my poor sister, who knows what’s happened to her now…"

Suddenly, a sob broke through the crowd. Following the sound, they saw Lin Ruoyan among them.

Lin Ruoyan wept softly, tears so pitiful they could move anyone.

"Ah, how sad, so it’s her sister who was abducted."

"Indeed, she’s crying so hard—it must be deep sisterly affection."

"Sister, your sibling will be fine."

The crowd began murmuring again, some offering comfort to Lin Ruoyan.

What they didn’t know was that, at the back of the crowd, Jiang Yan and his companions watched everything unfold.

"Your sister really does care about you," Jiang Yan whispered to Lin Yurou.

Lin Yurou clenched her fists. Others might not know, but she did.

Actually, the one meant to be captured was Lin Ruoyan; her captors had mistaken her for Lin Ruoyan. She had overheard this while inside the sack.

"I have no sister. My real sibling went with my mother long ago. Those are crocodile tears," Lin Yurou replied, her tone sour.

Jiang Yan quietly edged closer to An Yi. The villainess is angry—what now? Need help, urgently.

An Yi, after catching a whiff of that familiar stench, felt uneasy.

Could it… really be as he suspected?

"Master, surely… surely that black ball isn’t… that stuff, is it?" An Yi struggled to find the words, but couldn’t help asking in a low voice.

Jiang Yan quickly covered An Yi’s mouth, whispering, "An Yi, that’s a fine thing, full of sincerity. Don’t say nonsense."

An Yi seemed to have guessed the truth. Didn’t he care about his dignity? Though making that thing had been quite satisfying—hee hee.

When the prince and his guards emerged from the room, they had wiped themselves down as best they could.

But the stench lingered…

The prince wished to say nothing, longing only to return home to rinse his mouth and bathe.

Yet someone was determined not to let him off so easily!

Lin Ruoyan stepped out from the crowd, seemingly oblivious to the smell.

She approached the prince and said, "Your Highness, did you see my sister? Is she inside? It’s all my fault—I failed to protect her, woo woo."

She dabbed at her tears with a handkerchief.

Hearing Lin Ruoyan’s words, the prince’s mind froze for a moment.

What? Wasn’t he supposed to have ordered the capture of Lin Ruoyan? But from her words, the abducted girl was Lin Yurou?

Guards Delta and Gamma, responsible for the abduction, now realized they’d made a mistake—they had captured the wrong person!

The prince’s fury surged once more, confirming he truly had a pack of fools under him!

If Lin Yurou had indeed lost her virtue to Jiang Yan, how could he ever marry into the Lin family?

Lin Yurou was the legitimate daughter of the Lin family—she would never consent to be a concubine!

That would mean Jiang Yan could marry her outright.

As for Lin Ruoyan, he had made inquiries. She was but an illegitimate daughter. According to the plan, if he arrived in time to rescue her, he could have made her his concubine.

At that point, the Lin family would have owed him gratitude!

And Jiang Yan would have no hope of withstanding the wrath of the emperor and the Lin family.

But now, all his plans had fallen apart.

A futile effort, like trying to draw water with a bamboo basket!

Jiang Yan was probably hiding somewhere with Lin Yurou, laughing at his misfortune.

On any other day, the prince might have felt pity for a delicate girl like Lin Ruoyan.

Now, her whimpering grated on his nerves.

Annoyed, he barked, "Stop crying!"

Startled, Lin Ruoyan’s sobs ceased abruptly.

Seeing so many spectators present, the prince realized his behavior was inappropriate.

He had to explain, "We checked thoroughly—there’s no one in the room."

"Your Highness, were you searching for me?" Lin Yurou stepped out from behind the crowd.

Seeing her clothes neat and tidy, the prince breathed a sigh of relief, while Lin Ruoyan’s face was filled with disbelief.

She had seen Lin Yurou snatched away in a sack with her own eyes. How could this wretch be perfectly unharmed?

The spirit pearl had said that, after losing so much luck, Lin Yurou would begin to suffer misfortune. She herself, with luck’s blessing, could avoid some disasters that should have befallen her.

"What’s wrong, sister? You seem very surprised," Lin Yurou deliberately emphasized the word "sister."