An hour later, it was dawn.

There were 70 bandits who attacked the official ship last night, more than half of them died, and the rest were seriously injured. The escort guards and the boatmen on the official ship also suffered casualties.

As expected of Wang Tong, the commander of the guards of the Eastern Palace, he handled such matters swiftly and neatly. Only the two bandits who were less injured were left behind for interrogation, and the rest were all sent to the nearest government to file a case for disposal.

The injured escort guards and boatmen on the official ship were all sent to the cabin for treatment and bandaging. Although the Imperial Grandson was traveling in secret, he also brought a highly skilled imperial physician on board. It was nothing for him to deal with these skin traumas.

Dozens of Eastern Palace guards kept taking water from the river to wash the boat deck, and the wet blood on the boat deck was quickly washed away. Only the smell of blood remained.

“…Your Highness, everything has been taken care of.” Wang Tong, who had been busy in the middle of the night, was still full of energy, reported everything in concise words, and finally said: “Master Ling and all his family members came to see Your Highness. They are waiting outside.”

The Imperial Grandson hummed lightly.

No sullen face, no impatience.

Wang Tong secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately ordered: “Master Ling and his family are invited to come on board.”

His own guard led the order to retreat, and after a while, Uncle Ling entered the cabin with all his family members.

Uncle Ling hurried forward and performed a deep bow, tearfully expressing his gratitude, saying: “Minister Ling Zhiyuan, thanks His Royal Highness for saving his life. I encountered bandits last night, and fortunately, His Royal Highness led the guards to come to rescue in time. Otherwise, this Minister is afraid that something unimaginable could have happened to the whole family.”

These words were sincere, and gratitude was beyond words.

The Imperial Grandson accepted the ceremony calmly: “Minister Ling, please get up quickly. It’s just a little effort.” 

Your Royal Highness, why did you suddenly appear on this stretch of waterway? And how did you happen to see the distress signal and come to the rescue?

The Imperial Grandson himself would not open his mouth to explain such trivial details.

Uncle Ling didn’t dare to ask further and gratefully expressed his thanks before standing up.

Ling Jingshu also stood up with Madam Sun and the others, lowered her head, and restrained her face, looking soft and gentle.

She was completely different from the ruthless girl holding a dagger last night.

The Imperial Grandson’s eyes seemed to pass over the figure of the girl with low brows and pleasing eyes, and the corners of his lips were slightly pulled. He didn’t know whether to be sarcastic or to find it funny.

“Come on, take a seat!” Although the Imperial Grandson was young. But the nobleness was pressing, and the speech and demeanor were full of irresistible majesty.

Uncle Ling thanked him rather flatteringly: “Thank you, Your Highness, for giving me the seat.”

This was the eldest son of the Eastern Palace, the Emperor’s grandson who was the most respected and favored by the Emperor. The Crown Prince was weak and did not have a sign of longevity. It was quite possible that he can die before the Emperor passes away, and so it was also possible that the throne will directly pass to this Imperial Grandson.

In short, sooner or later, the Great Zhou Dynasty will be the world of this young man.

It was a joyful thing to be looked at differently by the Imperial Grandson!

…

After the Imperial Grandson gave an order, several servants immediately brought in small brocade mats.

Naturally, everyone was not qualified to sit on an equal footing with the Imperial Grandson. Sitting on small brocade mats was already a gift.

After Uncle Ling sat down carefully, everyone also sat down one by one.

Ling Jingshu purposely sat in the rearmost seat, and deliberately lowered her head, without looking up at the Imperial Grandson. The ears were pricked up cautiously, so as to not miss half a word.

The Imperial Grandson ordered: “Wang Tong, tell Minister Ling’s family about the bandit’s confession.” 

“Yes,” Wang Tong replied, standing behind the Imperial Grandson, and said in a deep voice: “This group of bandits, they were about a hundred people in total. There were four boats in total, and their lair was very hidden. They usually do people smuggling.” 

People smuggling?

Everyone was shocked.

No wonder the bandits did not wantonly kill people after they attacked the boat last night. Instead, they sent most of their men to fight with the boatmen and guards, and then searched and found the cabins on the third floor, intending to take away Ling Jingshu and her brother…

Wang Tong coughed and continued: “They only select beautiful and talented women from official families to attack, and the method is also very simple. First look for a suitable target, then follow them secretly, and then follow the boat to wait for the opportunity to attack. No harm to life, no gold and silver.”

“They only take away the target they want. After they achieve their goal, they run away immediately and never stay.” 

“The official’s family searches secretly for their kidnapped woman. There is no news about it, as they dare not make it public.”

“The kidnapped women will be quickly transported outside the pass and sold to the barbarian leader. The price is high, and most of the women can be sold for a high price of a hundred war horses. “

“There is a shortage of war horses in the Great Zhou Dynasty. An ordinary war horse can be sold for two to three hundred taels of silver. A good war horse outside the pass can be sold for a high price of three to four hundred taels of silver. A hundred war horses are worth three to four thousand taels of silver. With such a huge ‘profit’, it’s no wonder that these gangsters dared to take risks.” 

“Those two gangsters could not stand the interrogation and told everything. They spotted Ninth Miss Ling at the pier that day, and they followed her secretly for two days. It took two nights to find a chance to do it.”

After Wang Tong said this, everyone’s expressions were not very good-looking.

The following were the mental thoughts of the crowd.

Uncle Ling: If Ling Jingshu was really kidnapped and sold outside the borders, could he have the face to see his old mother and fifth brother in the future?

Madam Sun: It turns out that those people really came after Ah Shu. What a disaster.

Madam Jiang: Fortunately, they didn’t succeed! Otherwise, Ah Shu’s life would be over.

Ling Ji: It turns out that Ah Shu’s premonition was correct, and it was all my fault. I didn’t take it to heart at the time. If I had been prepared, we wouldn’t have ended up in this situation.

Ling Jingyan: Are these bandits blind? Even if I can’t compare to Ling Jingshu’s beauty, at least I’m a beautiful lady. Why is no one paying attention to me?!!! ^[1]This was the funniest reaction to the situation.

…

Of course, no one felt more deeply than Ling Jingshu.

Her palms were sweating coldly, and she felt a wave of fear in her heart.

This beautiful face never brought her real happiness. Half of the tragedies in the previous life came from Lu Hong’s betrayal, and the other half came from Lu Qian’s infatuation and Lu An’s lust for women.

This life was even more absurd, to be targeted by such a group of greedy bandits.

If she hadn’t sent out the rescue signal earlier if it hadn’t been for someone to come to the rescue, if she hadn’t made a quick decision… what fate would be waiting for her now?

Ling Xiao got up suddenly, groped and walked in front of the Imperial Grandson, and then knelt down with a plop: “Thank you, Your Highness, for saving Ah Shu! Your Highness’s life-saving grace, I and Ah Shu will never forget it, and we will definitely repay it in the future Your Highness’s kindness.”

As he spoke, he kowtowed three times vigorously.

Ling Jingshu looked at Ling Xiao’s slightly thin back, her eyes suddenly became hot, and a watery light appeared. (To be continued.)