novelhk Chapter 410: No Routine
Chapter 410: No Routine
Zhou Chang sighed inwardly, Yuan Qi was truly a wealthy lady who didn't care about losing any property at all.
However, she and Prince Yi agreed on this matter, and they could not just let the thieves steal their things.
"You're right..." Zhou Chang smiled as he turned around. "So you should close the gate and don't go out unless the fire spreads... I'll go take a look and see what's going on."
After saying that, he gently brushed Yuan Qi's hand and left.
As soon as he walked out of the palace, Zhou Ling and his men came to greet him and bowed, "Your Highness."
Outside the courtyard, there were shadows of people and swaying torches. Zhou Chang could not see anything clearly, so he could only ask: "Did Guardian Zhou send someone over? Did they see the thieves? Did the thieves set the fire on purpose?"
"Yes, I have sent some people to reinforce Guard Gao." Guard Zhou bowed, holding his sword. "I just talked to Guard Gao and found that there are four thieves, divided into two teams. Judging from their appearance, they must be the ones who set the fire."
four people?
Zhou Chang was puzzled. These thieves actually looked up to Prince Yi's Mansion and were actually well organized.
"Very good, you stay here and protect the princess." Zhou Chang gave the order and was about to walk towards the main courtyard, where fire was rising and seemed to be spreading.
"Your Highness, please stay. Guard Gao means that it is dangerous elsewhere, so it is better for Your Highness to stay in the bedroom." Zhou Ling also wanted to stop him.
Yuan Qi also followed him out, looking at the thick smoke rising into the night sky and becoming more worried: "Prince, it's better not to..."
At this time, Zhong Yu and Wang Mama, along with Aunt Jing, and a team of palace soldiers holding torches also rushed over.
"Mr. Zhong, do you know what's going on?" Zhou Chang went up to him.
Zhong Yunan didn't faint under such circumstances, but her face was no better than that of a dead person: "Your Majesty, I heard that the mansion was robbed and someone set it on fire. Isn't this situation exactly the same as the hunting palace a month ago?"
"Yeah..." Zhou Chang felt a tightness in his heart after being reminded.
This was the method used during the palace hunt, and there was also a black-clad assassin who wanted to attack her and Yuan Qi.
If this is the case, Zhou Chang couldn't help but look around, wondering if there was someone secretly watching and trying to assassinate Prince Yi.
"Ah, that's the Empress's yard, hurry up and put out the fire, put out the fire..." Aunt Jing had obviously just seen the fire in the backyard and ran straight over.
"No, Aunt Jing, be careful..." Zhou Chang chased after her, but stopped after running a few steps, turned around and directed the palace soldiers behind him, "Hurry, follow Aunt Jing and go put out the fire."
"Yes..." Only a few of the palace soldiers that Zhong Yu had gathered followed Aunt Jing and ran over.
Zhou Chang turned back and met Zhong Yu's eyes again: "Sir, please remind me that this is too coincidental. We can't all go to put out the fire. I'm afraid it's a way to lure the tiger away from the mountain. The thief is definitely not at the fire scene."
Zhong Yu is prone to fainting, but when he does not faint, he is more thoughtful and quicker in reaction than others, which is a great advantage.
"Your Highness, the thief who set the fire must have been discovered and is trying to escape and divert attention." Zhong Yu further analyzed, "The most urgent thing is that you should retreat and protect the palace. Close the gates of the palace and allocate half of the people to search with all their strength."
"That's right," Zhou Chang also thought of this and instructed Zhong Yu, "Sir, tell everyone in the palace to put out the fire and mobilize all the palace soldiers to catch the thief. I will go find Gao Yuan and meet up with him to catch the thief with all our strength."
Having seen many such things, one must not fall into the trap of rushing to put out the fire and letting the thief go. It is better to give up the palace and catch the real culprit. This is the right way.
“Your Highness, you can’t do that…” Zhong Yu tried to stop him. “That’s inappropriate. A son of a wealthy family shouldn’t sit in the hall. You…”
"You all go back..." Zhou Chang didn't listen, waved his sleeves, and shook off everyone. He was already a few steps away, "Where's Gao Yuan? Gao Yuan..."
At this moment, Gao Yuan came flying over from the side of the corridor with a group of people. "Your Highness, why did you come out? There are thieves who set fire with bad intentions. It is safest to stay in the bedroom of the East Courtyard. I have asked Guardian Zhou to help strengthen the manpower."
"How is it? Have you found any trace of the thieves?" Zhou Chang asked anxiously before Gao Yuan even stepped onto the ground.
Gao Yuan said: "We caught two, one dead and one injured, but there should be two more. We are following the figure and they are coming this way."
"Are you sure there are only four of them?" Zhou Chang felt relieved when he met Gao Yuan. He was not afraid of a sudden attack. He walked towards the study room and said, "Where is the other one? Don't put out the fire yet. The most important thing is to catch him."
"One of the two thieves just now was better at lightness skills than my subordinates. He must have taken advantage of the fire and escaped. The other one is being chased by Guardian Zhou's men, but judging from the direction he went, he must have already escaped from the mansion." Gao Yuan was annoyed. If he hadn't met Zhou Chang, he wouldn't have lost the thief.
"No, no..." Zhou Chang felt that these people could not have set a fire without any results. "Keep looking. I feel that things are not that simple. All the soldiers should stop fighting the fire. Seal off the entire palace and search..."
"Yes..." Gao Yuan followed orders and led his men back, pointing in several directions, "There, there, there... Search again, search carefully, and see if there are any strange and suspicious people. Find them all."
There were not enough people and Zhou Chang could not sit idle. What's more, Prince Yi was eager to try. He asked Gao Yuan for a knife and followed Gao Yuan and the skinny monkey to search the front yard again.
What is there in Prince Yi’s Mansion that is worthy of thieves’ attention?
Zhou Chang ran around the palace and found nothing. He looked back and saw that the fire in the rear hall was even more intense. "Could it be that they were deliberately setting up a trap and really heading for the treasure house?"
It doesn’t make sense…
If that was the case, the thief should have taken advantage of the time last month when Prince Yi was not in the palace. Wouldn't that have been more convenient?
Moreover, most thieves are only after money and would not set fire.
Stealing from the palace is one crime, and arson is another. If you can't kill all nine generations of the clan, then at least three generations of the clan should be killed.
But after going around in circles, I found nothing.
Zhou Chang's eyes suddenly lit up, and he thought of something that no one else could think of.
"Gao Yuan, take your men to the back garden and have a look around the colorful glazed pavilion and the rockery. People are most likely to hide there..." Zhou Chang said as he headed towards the front yard. "Monkey, let's take a few more men to the front hall. There's a greenhouse near the gatehouse where vegetables are grown. Maybe..."
"Yes." The skinny monkey waved his hand without saying a word and led his men to follow.
Zhou Chang ran all the way to the front yard. The gate of the palace was closed. He pointed to a greenhouse on the east side and said, "Search here again."
Several soldiers rushed forward and broke in, but came out quickly.
"No?" Zhou Chang was actually wrong.
"Your Highness, I think the people have already escaped from the mansion." The skinny monkey looked around.
The front yard was empty and the doors of the front hall were open.
There were too few soldiers in the palace. When something like this happened, there was no one guarding the door or on duty in the courtyard. The entire palace was in chaos and empty.