“Yes.” Shortly after Chuyi left, Duan Zhihong and Zhao Jin arrived at the mansion one after another. Soon after, three horses were led out. The three men immediately mounted their horses, with Xiao Liuzi sharing a horse with Zhao Jin. The three riders galloped swiftly toward Daxing Palace.

By this time, the palace gates had long been locked, but with Li Shimin’s status, having the guards open the palace gates was naturally not a major problem. Once inside the palace, they quickly headed toward Mingse Hall.

Soon they could see the silhouette of Mingse Hall in the distance. The lights glowed dimly in the night, seeming both near and far, giving an ethereal and hazy feeling.

Just as they were about to enter Mingse Hall, Li Shimin suddenly stopped, nearly causing Xiao Liuzi following behind to collide with him. After steadying himself, Xiao Liuzi asked: “Second Young Master, what’s wrong?”

Li Shimin’s eyes were unfathomably deep in the darkness: “When did Princess Xin’an come to Mingse Hall?”

Xiao Liuzi’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly as he said in a thin voice: “This servant just said—it was in the evening.” As soon as he finished speaking, Li Shimin immediately asked again: “And you? After leaving the palace, how did you get to the Tang Prince’s mansion?”

Xiao Liuzi looked bewildered: “This servant naturally ran all the way there.” He urged: “We should hurry inside to check on the Princess.”

“No rush.” By now, Li Shimin’s expression had darkened: “You said Princess Xin’an came to Mingse Residence in the evening, with arguments and commotion, plus summoning His Majesty—all this would have taken considerable time. By the time you left the palace, it must have been dark, and the palace gates would have been locked. How did you get out?”

Xiao Liuzi’s face paled slightly, then he said: “This servant pleaded desperately for a long time before the guards finally agreed to open the gates to let me out.”

“Even if that explanation holds, from the imperial palace to the Tang Prince’s mansion takes more than a quarter-hour on horseback at full gallop. On foot, it would take at least an hour. But calculating from when you arrived at the Tang Prince’s mansion, it was at most just over half an hour. How do you explain this?”

“This servant…” Xiao Liuzi’s eyes darted about frantically: “This servant has always been good at running, so I’m faster than ordinary people.”

“Is that so?” Without waiting for Xiao Liuzi to respond, Li Shimin suddenly raised his voice and demanded: “Speak! Who are you really, and why did you deliberately lure me here?”

“This servant doesn’t understand Second Young Master’s meaning.” As he said this, Xiao Liuzi’s expression became increasingly uncomfortable, further confirming Li Shimin’s suspicions.

Actually, he should have realized this earlier, but concern clouded his judgment. He had only worried about Yunyi and overlooked the problems in between, only remembering now.

Li Shimin looked at him coldly: “Seize him!”

“Yes.” Duan Zhihong and the other responded, and just as they were about to act, they suddenly heard wind sounds behind their heads. Before they could turn around, sharp pain struck the back of their necks, and they immediately lost consciousness.

Almost simultaneously, Li Shimin was also attacked. He reacted quickly, immediately dodging sideways to avoid the sneak attack from behind. He hastily turned around to see several black shadows standing behind him.

Indeed, it was a trap!

This thought flashed quickly through his mind, and then he felt a slight sting at the back of his neck, like a mosquito bite. But… it was only March—where would mosquitoes come from? Before he could think further, his head suddenly became heavy and dizzy, the objects before his eyes became overlapping and blurred, and then he fell into complete darkness.

Xiao Liuzi coldly smiled as he retracted the needle so thin it was almost invisible from his fingertip, saying to the black shadows: “Carry them inside.”

The figures nodded silently and separately carried Li Shimin and the other two into Mingse Hall. Strangely, while the palace was never short of people, at this moment there wasn’t a single palace servant near Mingse Residence, as if… this place had been forgotten.

The first sensation Yunyi felt upon regaining consciousness was pain. Her head felt as if countless needles were stabbing it, causing her to moan continuously. Only after the pain somewhat subsided did she take a light breath and open her eyes. When she saw the scene before her, she was completely stunned. How… how could this be?

She saw Ruyi and Jixiang sitting against pillars on the ground with their heads drooping, while Yang You lay on his back on the ground with his eyes wide open. At his left chest, a dagger was inserted, and blood had formed a pool beneath him.

Seeing this scene, Yunyi quickly got off the bed and rushed to Yang You’s side: “Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”

No matter how she called, Yang You showed no response, only staring fixedly at the gold-traced and painted ceiling beams. Yunyi tremblingly reached out to check Yang You’s breathing. Though she had anticipated it, when she truly felt that Yang You was not breathing, Yunyi was still startled and quickly withdrew her hand.

What… what was going on? Why would Yang You be in her hall? What exactly had happened?

She only remembered that after her evening meal, she had shared the leftovers with Ruyi and Jixiang. Not long after the meal was cleared away, she felt very dizzy, and Ruyi and the other said they felt dizzy too. Then… she felt the world spinning, and after that she had no memory.

That’s right, Ruyi and Jixiang!

Yunyi quickly rushed over to check their breathing. Fortunately, their breathing was steady—they were both still alive. After her heart settled, Yunyi vigorously patted Ruyi and Jixiang’s cheeks: “Wake up, quickly wake up!”

Under her patting, the two showed signs of awakening. Like Yunyi, their first sensation upon waking was also a headache. After enduring it and seeing the situation before them, they were both greatly shocked, unable to understand why Yang You would be in Mingse Hall, and why he would… die here.

Jixiang said in terror: “Princess, who… who killed His Majesty?”

“I don’t know. When I woke up, it was already like this.” While Yunyi was speaking, Ruyi kept staring at her, stammering: “Princess, you… why are you dressed like this?”

Yunyi looked down and saw that she was only wearing a thin gauze garment, with a light green bodice clearly visible beneath the gauze. She was startled and immediately went to get the clothes hanging on the rack, but what she saw next shocked her so much she couldn’t even cry out, only standing there dazed.

Ruyi and the other, seeing Yunyi’s strange behavior, walked over: “Princess, what’s wrong?” Before she finished speaking, she had quickly covered her mouth, fearing that if she was a moment slower she would cry out in alarm. Jixiang looked the same.

In this Mingse Hall, besides the dead Yang You, there was actually a fourth person, and this person was Li Shimin. Most bewildering of all, the latter was actually lying on the Princess’s bed, and… and half-naked. It was truly incomprehensible.

Actually, when Yunyi woke up, she had been lying on the bed, but at that time she was completely absorbed by Yang You lying on the ground, so she completely failed to notice there was another person on the bed.