Too many female prisoners, a special forces soldier transmigrates and marries wildly.

The night was as dark as ink, but outside the Qi Prince's Mansion in Qingzhou City, it was as bright as day.

Hundreds of soldiers, constables, and yamen runners, armed with torches, swords, and spears, surrounded the vast Prince Qi's mansion, with guards every three steps and sentries every five steps, making it impenetrable.

The torchlight flickered, illuminating the soldiers' stern faces and the gleam of their weapons, as well as the menacing lion-shaped door knockers on the tightly closed vermilion gates of the Prince's mansion, a symbol of supreme power.

Feng Zhen, dressed in a scarlet official robe with a soft armor over it and a Shangfang sword hanging at his waist, stood in front of the main gate of the Prince's Mansion, surrounded by Yang Dingbian, Wang Shuli, and a group of others.

Lin Feng was also allowed to follow behind. He had changed into a dark-colored outfit, with a short blade at his waist. His expression was calm, but his sharp eyes scanned the royal palace that was about to face its end.

"The time has come." Feng Zhen looked up at the sky and said in a deep voice, "Captain Yang, knock on the door!"

"Yes!" Yang Dingbian stepped forward, gathered his inner strength, and addressed the main gate of the Prince's residence, his voice booming like a bell: "Imperial Envoy, Lord Feng, the Marquis of Zhongyong, has come by order of His Majesty to summon His Highness Prince Qi for questioning! Please open the main gate of the Prince's residence immediately!"

The sound echoed in the silent night sky, making people's eardrums buzz.

However, the palace was deathly silent; no one answered the call, and no one opened the door.

Yang Dingbian waited a few moments, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, and shouted again, "Your Highness Prince Qi! The imperial edict is here. Please open the central gate immediately to receive it! If you hesitate any longer, don't blame this humble general for being impolite!"

There was still no response. Only the night wind blew through the high walls of the Prince's mansion, carrying with it a mournful sound.

Feng Zhen's face darkened, knowing that the King of Qi was determined to resist to the end.

Without further hesitation, he waved his hand at Yang Dingbian: "Break down the door!"

"Understood!" Yang Dingbian grinned maliciously and waved his hand. "Prepare the battering ram! Archers, be on alert! If there is resistance, kill without mercy!"

"Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"

More than ten burly soldiers carried a thick battering ram wrapped in iron, shouting slogans as they rammed it against the tightly closed gates of the Prince's Palace!

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The dull thud struck like a heavy hammer, pounding on everyone's hearts and on the seemingly solid and majestic palace.

Wood chips flew everywhere, and the door latch groaned under the strain.

"boom--!"

With a deafening crash, the heavy vermilion gate was finally smashed open! The two door panels collapsed inwards, kicking up a cloud of dust. Behind the gate stood dozens of palace guards, their faces pale, armed with swords and spears, yet still stubbornly maintaining a defensive stance.

"How dare you! This is the residence of Prince Qi! How dare you..." A middle-aged man dressed as a guard captain of the Prince's residence shouted fiercely, but before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Yang Dingbian's cold gaze.

"The imperial edict is here! Prince Qi, Zhu Hong, is suspected of treason and is to be immediately arrested and brought to the capital! You all must lay down your weapons and await your fate! Anyone who dares to resist will be treated as an accomplice and executed without mercy!" Yang Dingbian shouted, holding up the imperial edict in Feng Zhen's hand.

The guards of the Prince's mansion looked at the forest of swords and spears and the gleaming imperial edict outside the gate, and then at the empty and silent depths of the mansion behind them. Their last bit of courage instantly crumbled.

Someone dropped their knife with a clatter, followed by a series of thuds as weapons fell to the ground. Dozens of guards knelt down and surrendered.

Feng Zhen didn't even glance at the guards, and said to Yang Dingbian, "Arrange for people to control the front courtyard, seal off all entrances and exits, and no one is allowed to move without authorization! Check the account books and documents, and seal the treasury! The rest of you, come with me to the inner quarters to invite His Highness Prince Qi!"

"yes!"

The crowd responded enthusiastically and quickly split up to take action. The well-trained state soldiers surged into the palace like a tide and swiftly took control of all the key locations.

Feng Zhen, accompanied by Lin Feng, Yang Dingbian, Wang Shuli, and a team of elite personal guards, passed through numerous courtyards and headed straight for the core of the Prince's residence—the "Chengyun Hall," where Prince Qi lived daily.

The Chengyun Hall was brightly lit, its doors wide open, yet it was deserted. Only the night wind swept through, causing the hanging gauze curtains and candlelight to flicker, adding to the eeriness and desolation. A faint scent of sandalwood and some indescribable restlessness permeated the air.

"Search!" Feng Zhen stood at the palace gate and coldly gave the order.

The guards immediately dispersed and searched the entire hall thoroughly.

Soon, a discovery was made in a study in a side hall.

"Sir! We've found something here!"

Feng Zhen, Lin Feng, and the others rushed over immediately.

On the desk in the study lay a map of the northern border, marked with numerous symbols in vermilion ink. In one corner lay a letter, its ink still wet, containing only a few words in a hastily and wildly written hand: "The matter has been exposed; it is beyond repair. I will take my leave first. You may all seek your own good fortune. If an opportunity arises in the future, we shall plan another move. — Hong, my last words."

It's King Qi's last letter! Did he run away?! Or... did he commit suicide out of fear of punishment, knowing his sins were grave?

"Search the entire mansion immediately! Especially the secret rooms and passageways! Find him alive or dead!" Feng Zhen shouted sternly. If the Prince of Qi escapes, the consequences will be dire!

"Report—!" A guard rushed in, "Lord Qi, a hidden cave entrance has been discovered in the artificial hill in the back garden. There are stone steps leading down inside, which may be a secret passage!"

"Let's go! Let's go take a look!" Feng Zhen took the lead and walked outside.

The group arrived at the back garden and, sure enough, found a cave entrance, partially obscured by vines, behind a massive Taihu stone rockery. It was only wide enough for one person to pass through. The cave was deep, with stone steps leading downwards, their destination unknown. Fresh footprints were found inside, indicating that someone had entered and exited recently.

"Chase!" Feng Zhen ordered without hesitation, ready to lead his men down.

"Wait a moment, my lord!" Lin Feng suddenly spoke, his sharp gaze sweeping across the area around the cave entrance. "This secret passage leads somewhere unknown, and there might be traps or ambushes. Moreover, if Prince Qi had escaped through here, he wouldn't have left such obvious traces. This cave entrance... seems far too deliberate."

Feng Zhen paused, looking at Lin Feng: "You mean...?"

"This cave might be a feint, or... a trap," Lin Feng said in a deep voice. "If Prince Qi truly intended to escape, he wouldn't have left only a farewell letter and deliberately left a secret passage entrance. Perhaps he never intended to escape at all, or... he's still somewhere in the mansion, waiting to see us fall into disarray, or... waiting to reunite with 'Falcon' Xiahou Ying for a final showdown!"

Feng Zhen's eyes sharpened; Lin Feng's analysis was not without merit. The King of Qi was a cunning and calculating man; how could he so easily admit defeat and leave such obvious escape clues?

"Captain Yang!" Feng Zhen shouted.

"Your subordinate is here!"

"Take a team and go down into this cave to investigate. Be extremely careful! If anything unusual happens, retreat immediately! The rest of you, continue the search with me! Focus your search on any hidden walls, secret rooms, and cellars within the palace, especially those seemingly ordinary corners that few people visit!"

"yes!"

Yang Dingbian gathered twenty skilled men, armed with torches and shields, and cautiously entered the secret passage. Feng Zhen, meanwhile, led Lin Feng and the others back to Chengyun Hall to begin a more thorough search.

Lin Feng did not follow the main group; his gaze fell upon the seemingly luxurious furnishings inside the hall.

King Qi was fond of luxury, and the Chengyun Hall was decorated in a magnificent manner, but the placement of some of the furnishings subtly revealed a sense of disharmony.

His gaze finally settled on one side of the main hall, on a bronze crane incense burner about half a person's height. The incense burner had an ancient and simple design, but the crane's beak was slightly tilted towards a huge golden dragon pillar inside the hall, and the position of the golden pillar just happened to block part of the wall behind it.

He walked over and carefully examined the golden pillar and the wall behind it. Several paintings and calligraphies by famous artists hung on the wall, and there was nothing unusual about them. But when he gently tapped the wall, he noticed that a small area behind the golden pillar produced a slightly hollow sound!

"My lord, over here!" Lin Feng whispered.

Hearing the sound, Feng Zhen came over and knocked as well, a glint of light flashing in his eyes: "There's a hidden door! Find the mechanism!"

The group immediately began searching the surrounding area.

Lin Feng's gaze fell on the neck of the bronze crane incense burner, where there was an inconspicuous spiral pattern. He tried to grasp the crane's neck and slowly rotated it.

"Click...click..."

A slight turning of a mechanism was heard. The massive golden pillar with the coiled dragon slowly moved half a foot to one side, revealing a narrow, hidden door behind it, barely wide enough for one person to pass through! The hidden door was pitch black, with a damp, musty smell and a faint stench of blood wafting out.

"There's definitely more to it than meets the eye!" Feng Zhen's spirits lifted. "Light the torches! Let's go in and take a look!"

The guards lit several torches and led the way into the hidden door. Feng Zhen, Lin Feng, and Wang the clerk followed closely behind.

Behind the hidden door was a narrow stone staircase leading downwards, barely wide enough for one person to pass through. The stone walls were damp and covered in moss. After descending about twenty or thirty steps, one arrived at a small stone chamber.

The stone chamber was simply furnished, containing only a table, a chair, and a stone bed. On the table sat an extinguished oil lamp, a few scattered books, and... a neatly folded set of Di Rong clothing, as well as a delicately crafted human skin mask, as thin as a cicada's wing! On the stone bed, the bedding was in disarray, as if someone had just hurriedly left.

In a corner of the stone chamber, a person was curled up. A thin, elderly man dressed in the clothes of a servant of the Prince's mansion had a dagger protruding from his chest, his front stained with blood. He had been dead for some time. Judging from his face, it was none other than Han Lu, the old coachman of the Prince Qi's mansion who was responsible for meeting Zhou An at Ciyun Nunnery, as mentioned in Zhou An's confession!

"Han Lu?" Feng Zhen's expression changed. Han Lu was actually dead here! Was it suicide or murder?

Lin Feng walked to Han Lu's body, squatted down, and examined it carefully. The dagger had pierced through from the front, straight into the heart, killing him instantly. Han Lu's face still bore the marks of terror and disbelief, his hands showed signs of struggle, and dark red skin flakes and fabric fibers were under his fingernails.

"It was murder," Lin Feng said in a deep voice. "Moreover, the person who killed him was someone he knew, perhaps even someone he was very familiar with, which is why he was caught off guard and stabbed at close range. Judging from the angle and depth of the wound, the murderer was probably not tall, but quite strong, and his attack was ruthless and decisive."

"Is it Xiahou Ying, the 'Falcon'?" Wang the clerk whispered.

"Very likely." Lin Feng nodded, his gaze sweeping across the stone chamber. "This should be Xiahou Ying's hiding place in the Qi Prince's mansion. Han Lu may have come to inform him or deliver something, but was silenced. After killing Han Lu, Xiahou Ying left in a hurry, not even having time to completely dispose of the Di Rong clothing and human skin mask he was using for disguise."

"This mask..." Feng Zhen picked up the human skin mask on the table. It was cool and smooth to the touch, extremely realistic in its workmanship, with some adhesive residue still remaining on the back. "Could it be that Xiahou Ying usually wears this mask, pretending to be someone in the royal palace?"

"Very likely," Lin Feng said. "Zhou An said that Xiahou Ying always wears a mask and has a hoarse voice. This mask might be the tool he uses to disguise his identity and secretly manipulate everything. It's just unknown which member of the Prince's mansion he's impersonating."

A chill ran through everyone. The thought that the mysterious "hawk" might be lurking in the Qi Prince's mansion day and night, operating under an inconspicuous or even familiar identity, spying on everything and plotting infamous conspiracies sent shivers down their spines.

"Report—!" A guard rushed down from the hidden door. "Reporting to Your Excellency, Captain Yang has returned via the secret passage in the back garden! The passage leads to a mass grave outside the city. The exit is concealed, but fresh cart tracks and horse hoofprints have been found nearby, pointing northwest! Captain Yang has already sent men to track him!"

Northwest? That's the direction leading to the northern grasslands! Could it be that Xiahou Ying really escaped through the secret passage?

"No!" Lin Feng suddenly said, "Han Lu has only been dead for a short time, the blood is still wet. If Xiahou Ying escaped through the secret passage in the back garden, there wouldn't be enough time to kill Han Lu first, then calmly set up a diversion before leaving through the secret passage. Moreover, the exit of the secret passage is outside the city. If he were to leave through the secret passage, why would he go to the trouble of leaving behind Di Rong clothing and a human skin mask in the palace? It seems more like he left them intentionally to mislead us into thinking he escaped to the grasslands through the secret passage!"

Feng Zhen's eyes flashed, and he slowly nodded: "That makes sense. Then, Xiahou Ying might not have left the city, and might even... still be in this palace! Or, he might be disguised as someone else, mixed in with the servants and guards we controlled when we came in!"

He whirled around and barked at his personal guards, "Send word! Gather everyone in the Prince's mansion, masters and servants alike, in the front courtyard! Keep a close watch on them and verify their identities! Pay special attention to those who are thin but strong, and who might be disguising their voices or appearance! Wang the Clerk, you take your men, check the mansion's register, count the number of people, and verify their identities!"

"yes!"

The men accepted the order and immediately sprang into action. Feng Zhen then said to Lin Feng, "Lin San, you are meticulous and observant. Come with me to the front courtyard to investigate. Let's see if we can find that 'hawk'!"

"This humble subject obeys." Lin Feng nodded. He also wanted to see who this mysterious Xiahou Ying really was.