No one knew how much time had passed before there was at last some movement from beyond that high wall.

In truth, Xing Zizhou had held out little hope. He did not believe that something so extraordinary could truly exist in this world.

Even having already witnessed the rat bring back a smaller rat of its own, perhaps that had merely been coincidence.

The ability to communicate with animals — that was the sort of thing one only encountered in legends. Was this not the stuff of myth?

But then the note the Second Prince had written in reply appeared before him, and Xing Zizhou truly could not keep his composure. He stood there as though his mind had gone blank.

He stared at that note, completely unable to collect himself.

“What does it say? Is it the Second Prince’s handwriting?” Though Jiu’er had already recognized from the earlier letter that this was indeed the Second Prince’s hand, she still needed confirmation. At the very least, Xing Zizhou had been corresponding with the Second Prince for some time — he knew him better.

Xue Gu and Tuoba Keyan’s gazes also fell on Xing Zizhou, all of them waiting for his confirmation.

At last, Xing Zizhou came back to himself. He examined the few characters on the note once more with great care, and finally, with some effort, gave a nod: “It is indeed the Second Prince’s handwriting.”

Since this was the first exchange, the Second Prince’s side likely could not be certain whether the note had truly come from Xing Zizhou. As a precaution, the Second Prince’s reply contained only a scant few words.

Xing Zizhou had already come prepared. He produced a sheet of white paper from within his garment, along with a specially made compact writing instrument, and quickly wrote out several words — followed by a few unusual characters.

“They may not have paper and brush on that side.” Feng Jiu’er looked at Xing Zizhou.

A person locked in a dungeon would naturally have no paper or brush. Xing Zizhou had prepared for this as well.

The specially made writing instrument was very small — the barrel was fashioned from a slender bamboo tube, filled with a quantity of ink that, as long as the air was not cold, would remain liquid for two or three days without congealing.

This specially made instrument of Xing Zizhou’s shared a remarkable resemblance in principle with the fountain pen of the modern era. Feng Jiu’er found herself genuinely impressed.

That mind of Xing Zizhou’s really was quite sharp.

This time, Tuoba Keyan summoned several rats. Each was sent off carrying one of Xing Zizhou’s notes, along with the white paper and the specially made writing instrument, heading toward the far side of the high wall one after another.

After the time it took for two incense sticks to burn down, the Second Prince’s letter arrived.

Concise and to the point, yet at last it laid out the full story of events, from beginning to end.

The consort of the Yurhe king was called Lian Consort — and she had in fact been the Second Prince’s childhood sweetheart.

Originally, the Second Prince had been betrothed to Lian Consort, then known as Lian’er. But the Yurhe king, upon setting eyes on the grown Lian Consort, had been so captivated by her beauty that he had seized her for himself, taking her into his harem.

Yet between the Second Prince and Lian Consort, there had never been anything improper from that day to this. This time, the Second Prince had received word that Lian Consort had angered the king and was to be put to death in secret.

For all these years, the Second Prince had never stopped thinking of his Lian’er. Of course he could not stand by and watch her die. So he had taken the risk of slipping into the inner palace — only to be caught red-handed inside Lian Consort’s chamber.

The maidservant attending Lian Consort had also said that Lian Consort had dismissed everyone herself, remaining alone in the chamber. The Second Prince himself had no idea precisely what had happened. He had been inside Lian Consort’s inner palace for no more than a brief moment before a crowd of people came surging in and dragged both him and Lian Consort before the king’s chamber.

Afterward, the Second Prince was imprisoned in his own manor on charges of illicit relations with an inner palace consort.

There was not much information in the note, but everything that needed to be said had been said.

A crowd surging in like that — it had clearly been planned well in advance. Even so, Feng Jiu’er had not at all anticipated that the Second Prince and this Lian Consort had once been lovers.

If it had been a straightforward case of framing, overturning the verdict might yet have been manageable. But with the added layer of a prior romantic entanglement between them, this matter had become considerably more complicated.

“Do you know of anyone among the Second Prince’s people who can be trusted?” Feng Jiu’er asked suddenly.

Xing Zizhou shook his head. “This I cannot say with certainty. Although I have been in contact with the Second Prince, I had no real opportunity to spend time with him in person, given that I am a person of Bei Mu.”

Jiu’er understood. Without having spent any real time together, how could one know clearly what was happening on the Second Prince’s side?

“At this point the Second Prince likely doesn’t know Lian Consort’s situation either. Ask the Second Prince again who we can get in contact with — I need to go into the palace.”

“Now?” Xing Zizhou was a little worried. “Although the Yurhe palace’s inner court is not as heavily fortified as the Bei Mu palace, still…”

“In that case, should someone who can come and go freely from even the Bei Mu palace have anything to fear from the Yurhe king’s palace?”

Feng Jiu’er smiled faintly, and then stood up abruptly. “Xue Gu, let’s go.”

“Jiu’er, this…” How could she just up and leave like that? Xing Zizhou truly found it a little difficult to keep up, this style of Feng Jiu’er’s — swift and decisive in all things — continued to leave one looking at her in a completely new light.

Though in truth, she had been like this back in the academy as well. Only now, her reactions had become considerably sharper than before.

“Tuoba Keyan is in your hands. Get him back safely.” Feng Jiu’er said she was going, and she meant it — not a single moment’s delay was something she was willing to accept.

Warfare along the frontier was urgent. Every moment was precious.

Xue Gu, without a word, followed and left. Tuoba Keyan also wished to follow, but knowing full well that his own lightness technique was far inferior to theirs, he naturally could not keep pace.

Even if he did catch up, he would only be a burden to them.

Besides, there was still work here that needed doing.

Xing Zizhou watched Jiu’er and the others’ figures dissolve into the vast darkness of the night, then turned back and produced a note to write something to the Second Prince.

Afterward, just as before, communication was conducted through the rats Tuoba Keyan summoned.

With Tuoba Keyan’s presence, communication had become so remarkably simple. In the past, Xing Zizhou would never have dared to even imagine such a thing.

……

Lian Consort was confined to her own chamber. Given the enormity of what had occurred, the fact that the king had not put this consort to death was nothing short of extraordinary.

Even the Second Prince had been locked away in a dungeon, yet Lian Consort was merely under house arrest in her own chamber — a treatment better than that of a prince. Did the Yurhe king truly hold this consort in such deep affection?

The Yurhe palace’s defenses were indeed not as strict as those of the Bei Mu palace. Moreover, with the frontier battle lines tense as they were, this campaign against Phoenix City must have drawn on every last soldier the eldest prince could muster.

The palace as it stood now looked, in Feng Jiu’er’s eyes, no different from the home of an ordinary wealthy household back in Bei Mu. The number of patrolling guards was far fewer than she had anticipated.

By comparison, the Second Prince’s manor was guarded as solidly as a fortress. Perhaps the thinking was that right now, with no one of real importance remaining in the palace, even the guards had grown lax.

“Something isn’t right.” Feng Jiu’er could plainly sense an undercurrent of tight, concealed vigilance — yet why was the defense here specifically so unusually slack?

Xue Gu frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”

Jiu’er couldn’t quite articulate it. In truth, it was what one might call a sixth sense.

“I just feel that the palace guards shouldn’t be like this. Is it only this area that is so lax?”