Transmigrated into a farmer's lucky charm, all the villains in the family panicked.

At this time, in the back mountains of Xinyang County.

The Prince of Yong rode a tall horse, followed by five thousand soldiers and a commander with a complex expression.

They both looked at the empty mountain in front of them.

If embarrassment could kill, Prince Yong would have already stabbed himself seven or eight times by now.

"Why is nobody here?"

Prince Yong unconsciously tightened his grip on the reins, his face filled with disbelief.

The valley in front of us was as quiet as an empty grave; there wasn't a single mountain bandit in sight, not even a wild rabbit.

He clearly sent more than a hundred guards to watch over this place. Even if something went wrong, surely one of them should have come back to report?

But what about people?

Where's the message?

Could it be that a hundred living people could all just vanish into thin air?

What he didn't know was that after Yan Shijin learned that he was the one behind it, he secretly ordered the entire area to be sealed off, allowing entry but not exit.

Forget about sending messages, they won't even let a mosquito fly out.

Even if news reached the capital, Yan Shijin still ordered the spies from the Prince of Yong's residence to destroy it immediately.

So it wasn't until now that Prince Yong realized his plan had failed...

Prince Yong stared at the scene before him with a livid face, momentarily at a loss for what to do.

The troops had already been mobilized, and the news had been spread, but nothing came of it. He was truly in a difficult situation.

Standing next to him, Nie Lin, the garrison commander of Cangjiang Prefecture, didn't look much better either.

Nie Lin was an old general, with lines etched on his face by the wind and sand of the borderlands, and his eyes, though not large, were shrewd.

When he received the Prince of Yong's order three days ago, he felt that something was strange about it.

For years, there haven't been any bandits on those dilapidated hills in Xinyang County. Why would they suddenly send five thousand men to suppress them?

But Prince Yong is a prince, the emperor's own brother, and the seal on the transfer order is genuine, so he has no reason not to come.

Now that they had arrived at their destination, looking at this desolate mountain without even a village in sight, Nie Lin felt that his ominous premonition had come true.

Moreover, he received a secret letter from his mentor, Grand Tutor Pei, asking if anyone was coming to Xinyang County in a large-scale campaign to suppress bandits.

He was puzzled at the time, wondering what his mentor was going to do.

But looking at the Prince of Yong in front of him, Nie Lin decided that after returning, he would write a letter to inform his mentor.

Thinking of this, Nie Lin tentatively asked, "Your Highness, you said you were going to suppress bandits, but... this doesn't look like there are any bandits here. And there's no one around."

Prince Yong coughed lightly, trying his best to maintain the expression on his face.

"When I passed through this place, I did indeed... I did discover a large group of bandits."

"It was all out of good intentions, wanting to completely eradicate these bandits and restore peace to the local people. Who would have thought... who would have thought it would turn out like this?"

Nie Lin looked at him and nodded expressionlessly.

You are a prince, everything you say is correct.

Whether I believe it or not is another matter.

However, he couldn't very well refuse the Prince of Yong's request in person.

After all, there have always been rumors in the capital that the Emperor only has one son, the Crown Prince, who is frail and might die any day now...

This Prince Yong is undoubtedly the Crown Prince and the future heir apparent.

He was just a minor prefectural commander; there was no need for him to make enemies of the future emperor over such a trivial matter.

Nie Lin suppressed his suspicions, cupped his hands in greeting, and offered the Prince of Yong a way out: "Your Highness, how about this, I will send people to search the mountain right now."

"Maybe the bandits saw our large force and hid in advance."

Prince Yong, feeling as if he had been granted a pardon, quickly followed up, saying, "Yes, yes, he's hiding, he must be hiding. Then I'll trouble Commander Nie."

Nie Lin led his men into the mountains.

They searched from morning till night, and from night till dawn the next day, turning half the mountain upside down, but they couldn't find a single living person, or even a corpse.

Several caves were found, but they were empty, with nothing left except for a few scattered straws and dried bloodstains on the walls.

This was completely different from the other mountain strongholds he had seen before.

He had raided more than one bandit stronghold, and each one had rows of wooden houses, watchtowers, granaries, and training grounds, but here, there was nothing.

Nie Lin squatted in a cave, rubbed his fingertips on the dark brown bloodstain on the stone wall, and then brought it to his nose to smell it.

The bloodstains had dried completely and oxidized to a dark brown, but the faint smell of rust had not completely dissipated.

It wasn't long ago, just about ten days ago.

But what about the body? With so much blood, it's impossible that there was only bleeding without anyone dying.

Even if a person dies, where does the body go?

No matter how many wild animals live in these mountains, they can't possibly gnaw away all the traces.

He stood up, dusted off his hands, and called over a few trusted men, instructing them to inquire in the nearby villages.

Having served as the garrison commander of Cangjiang Prefecture for so many years, he naturally had connections with all sorts of people.

Those villages had reformed a few years ago. On the surface, they were ordinary villages, but in reality, they occasionally helped the government with things that they couldn't do in person.

There's some noise going on inside, something we were specifically instructed not to talk about.

After making inquiries for a long time, the trusted confidant returned.

The news he brought back left Nie Lin speechless.

The people from those villages said that there had never been any bandits in the vicinity.

There wasn't even a band of outlaws, let alone a mountain stronghold.

As for the caves and bloodstains, they hesitated and refused to say more, only saying, "Don't ask about things that shouldn't be asked."

Nie Lin's eyes flickered slightly, and he had already made a judgment in his mind.

This whole thing is problematic from the very beginning.

The claim by the Prince of Yong that he "discovered bandits while passing by" is most likely false.

As for why Prince Yong would go to such lengths to stage such a play, he wasn't sure, but he knew there was a lot more to it than met the eye.

Nie Lin quickly returned to Prince Yong's presence.

He didn't tell the truth, but said in a businesslike tone, "Your Highness, I have searched the entire mountain and indeed did not encounter any bandits."

Prince Yong's face fell instantly, but he couldn't make any unnecessary movements. In the end, he could only grit his teeth and swallow all his frustration and doubts.

"Then... I'll have to trouble Commander Nie."

"I suppose I've made a mistake."

Nie Lin bowed expressionlessly, then turned to give the order to withdraw the troops.

Five thousand soldiers came in a grand procession, but left in disgrace. After several days of turmoil, they hadn't even managed to touch a single bandit.

Fortunately, Prince Yong still knew how to behave. He paid out of his own pocket to buy wine and meat to reward the soldiers, which was his way of apologizing for the wasted trip.

With wine and meat to drink, the soldiers' grumbling subsided, and they all left.

Prince Yong squinted and looked again at the empty mountains.

Hmph, people don't just disappear for no reason, and neither do those teenagers.

In that case, it must be related to the Sihai Bafang Restaurant.

It's okay, if we miss this opportunity, there will be another one. We'll see...

Prince Yong flicked his whip and rode away.

Not long after they left, Yun Shengsheng and Wu Xia emerged from the canopy of a large tree...