In such situations, Hu Jun and Gu Jinchen had dealt with many times as battle comrades in the past, and now they were completely at ease in responding.
Although the defenses of these human traffickers were indeed done well, they were still amateur in the face of the experienced troops and generals.
Before long, this layer of defense had crumbled, with some dead and others fleeing.
But with officials deployed across the entire mountain range, how could they possibly escape?
"Not good, the officials are here!"
And at the sacrificial altar, the leaders also reacted, hastily arranging to withdraw.
But it was already too late, as they had now become sitting ducks, with no place to escape.
A few arrows sliced through the sky, shooting down several men on the altar who were holding children hostage with weapons.
A large batch of officials poured in from the outside, surrounding the criminals on the altar and separating them from the children.
Seeing this, the leading man from the village suddenly turned his head towards the Prince of Nanyang who had led the troops.
When he learned that someone had been captured by the officials, he knew this place might be exposed, so he advanced the sacrificial ritual.
After all, the people he had brought were just wandering souls from the jianghu, only working for money.
But he didn't expect the officials to arrive so quickly, tracing their way here in such a short time.
However, when he saw that it was the Prince of Nanyang himself leading the troops, he understood.
And the Prince of Nanyang was visibly startled when he saw the man's face, as if he recognized him.
"Song Li?"
Song Li only lightly scoffed at the words: "I didn't expect you to deign to come in person."
With the recent chaos on the borders, he didn't expect the Prince of Nanyang to have stayed.
Hearing his words, the Prince of Nanyang frowned, and seeing the mastermind was him and the coffin under the sacrificial altar, the Prince of Nanyang seemed to understand everything.
"Arrest the criminals, and lift the coffin from under the altar to be burned in a great fire."
Without acknowledging Song Li's words, he coldly gave the order.
"Song Qinglin! You dare!" Song Li was anxious upon hearing this, not expecting the Prince of Nanyang to be so ruthless, as the person in that coffin was a blood brother to him.
"The corpse of a traitorous villain, why should I not dare? I will report this matter to the Emperor, and as for you, await the execution result according to the Emperor's orders."
The Prince of Nanyang coldly snorted and personally set the fire to burn the coffin.
"No, you can't! Brother can still be resurrected! Brother can still be resurrected! Song Qinglin!"
Not expecting the Prince of Nanyang to be so resolute, seeing the corpse in the coffin being burned by the fire, Song Li shouted loudly.
The Prince of Nanyang completely ignored him, only ordering for him to be arrested and sent to the capital for processing overnight.
Seeing this situation, many people present were perplexed, but also vaguely knew that this was not a matter they should understand.
Because Song was the Imperial Surname, and Song Li's name was the same as the youngest prince of the previous emperor, and this young prince was born of the same mother as the former crown prince who became a traitor.
This young prince had been physically frail since childhood, always recuperating outside, and it was said that later he encountered a master who used secret arts and sorcery to heal his body.
He and the former crown prince were also involved in many treacherous and wildly ambitious deeds.
Before the current Emperor ascended the throne, the former crown prince had already been executed by order of the previous emperor, while the young prince was demoted to commoner status.
But it was said that after the execution, the corpse of the former crown prince went missing, with rumors that it was taken away by the young prince to be resurrected through sorcery for further treacherous deeds to seize the realm.
Now it seems... the rumors were true.
But no one expected that the person who had disappeared for years without a trace from the authorities would be encountered by them here.
Seeing Song Li being arrested and taken away, the Prince of Nanyang frowned as he looked at the coffin.
He had personally set the fire earlier and had seen the corpse in the coffin with his own eyes. For a person who had been dead for years to still maintain their appearance from life was truly eerie.
Who knows what unnatural deeds Song Li had committed to achieve this effect.
Thus, he dared not be careless, only watching as the corpse burned to ashes before finally leaving with his men.
As for the ashes, he considered it and also had them packaged and sent to the capital.
After all, the deceased was once of the Imperial family, so how to handle it would still be up to the Emperor's decision.
......Apart from a few children who had been killed, most of the other children were rescued.
At the same time, many fugitives wanted by the authorities were apprehended, as well as numerous human traffickers who had harmed people.
Under the personal leadership of the Prince of Nanyang with the Emperor's decree, all these people were executed, and the matter was concluded.
.................
At this time, on the top floor of the First Class Pavilion, seeing the commoners and children reuniting and crying tears of joy below, the Prince of Nanyang also sighed.
Turning around, he filled the wine and toasted Gu Jinchen.
"Come, Jinchen, drink!"
"Good."
After a cup of wine warmed the body, the two men began to chat casually.
Yun Mu and Yun Yi were also playing with the young prince nearby, and the Princess Consort of Nanyang smiled at Luo Ge beside her.
"These two children are really well-behaved. It's rare for Older Baby to play so happily with playmates."
"You should be about five months pregnant now, right? It's still cold these days, so take care of your body."
Saying this, the Princess Consort of Nanyang looked at Luo Ge's belly and smiled, taking a cloak from the side to wrap around Luo Ge.
Luo Ge looked up, startled for a moment, and then smiled and shook her head.
"No, it's just over four months."
Her belly had grown a bit quickly recently, and many people said it looked like she was more than five months pregnant.
Hearing this, the Princess Consort of Nanyang was also taken aback, somewhat surprised.
"Just four months? It looks about the same size as when I was five months pregnant, so I thought..."
As she said this, the Princess Consort of Nanyang seemed to realize something and turned to look at Yun Mu and Yun Yi beside her.
Then she turned to look at Luo Ge with some delight: "Could it be twins as well? I've heard that with twins, the belly tends to be bigger than usual."
The Princess knew about Older Baby and Second Baby's situation and knew that they were twins.
Upon hearing this, Luo Ge paused and looked at Older Baby and Second Baby, then nodded.
"It's indeed possible. I'll have the doctor examine me again later to check."
The Gu family had a genetic predisposition for multiple births, so it was possible for her to be carrying twins as well.
