“Bang!”

It was already deep into the night.

After seeing Ji Yunshu back to her room to rest, Jingrong hadn’t rested because he still needed to investigate those officials Wei Yi had promoted.

At this moment, he was in the main hall discussing something with Lu Jiang. Not knowing what was said, he swept his hand to the side, inadvertently knocking the teacup on the table to the floor.

The cup fell to the ground and shattered into pieces!

“Your Highness?” Lu Jiang was concerned.

He rubbed the space between his brows and said in a low voice, “It’s nothing. It’s already very late. Go rest.”

“Then Your Highness should also rest early.”

After Lu Jiang left, Jingrong felt inexplicably flustered in his heart, always feeling something had happened.

So he walked toward Ji Yunshu’s courtyard.

But he discovered the door to the room was open!

There was no candlelight in the room either.

He quickly entered, anxiously calling out, “Yunshu?”

No answer.

He immediately lit a candle and searched through the room—no one was there at all.

The window was open!

On the windowsill was a very large footprint. At a glance, it was clearly a man’s footprint, not Ji Yunshu’s.

In that moment, he suddenly realized where that sense of panic in his heart had come from.

“Bang!”

His fist slammed onto the window’s wooden frame.

Lang Bo arrived shortly after. Hearing sounds from inside the room, he immediately rushed in.

“Your Highness?”

Jingrong’s brows were tightly furrowed, fury reddening his eyes.

He said nothing.

Lang Bo saw the footprint on the windowsill, then immediately looked around the room once more, and instantly understood.

Miss Ji had been abducted by someone!

“This subordinate will immediately send people to search.”

“No need!” Jingrong stopped him.

“Your Highness? Miss Ji…”

“She won’t come to harm.”

Extremely certain.

He had already guessed who had taken Ji Yunshu away.

And that person wouldn’t hurt her.

…

Half an hour later, Jingrong entered the palace and arrived at Fuyang Hall.

At this moment, it was already the first quarter of the mao hour. The sky had also begun to brighten slightly.

Arriving at the hall entrance.

Two eunuchs at the door blocked his way. “Your Highness, without His Majesty’s permission, you may not enter.”

However, Jingrong directly forced his way through.

Ignoring everything!

The two eunuchs couldn’t stop him at all.

“Your Highness, you cannot go in…”

“Move aside.”

“Your Highness…”

The two eunuchs chased closely behind him.

His Majesty had just warned them earlier that without his decree, no one could enter. Now Prince Rong had completely disregarded this and barged in. If His Majesty became enraged, their little lives would certainly be forfeit. The problem was, the one barging in was a prince—a prince who in others’ eyes was equivalent to a “Prince Regent.” Who would dare lay hands on him? If they accidentally scratched him, that would be a capital offense! So now the choice was either to offend His Majesty or offend Prince Rong—but either way meant death.

Because it was precisely the mao hour, it was also time to attend morning court.

In the hall, palace maids were helping Wei Yi don the dragon robe, having already fastened the belt.

Wei Yi saw Jingrong walking in with an icy expression, his eyes faintly revealing a tremendous fury.

Sending chills down one’s spine!

Striking fear in the heart.

Wei Yi waved his hand. The several palace maids beside him retreated to the side. Then he walked before Jingrong, looking him up and down. He was fully dressed in court attire, his robe still carrying traces of dew—clearly he had rushed here in great haste. Afterward, Wei Yi met his gaze.

When their eyes clashed, each carried a hidden force.

The two eunuchs who had chased in stood trembling to one side, then with a “thud” knelt on the ground.

Terrified beyond measure.

One said, “Your Majesty, it was Prince Rong… Prince Rong insisted on entering. These slaves… these slaves truly couldn’t stop him!”

Please don’t take our heads!

Wei Yi at this moment had no time to deal with them.

He barked, “All of you, get out!”

“Yes!”

Rustling about, all the eunuchs and palace maids in the hall withdrew.

Their lives were finally preserved.

Just as the hall doors closed—

Wei Yi suddenly laughed coldly. “I haven’t even reached the Golden Throne Hall yet, and you’ve come here so impatiently! Do you want to tell me you’ve verified Lord Wang Dali’s case and made me stumble so badly? Or have you come to mock me?”

A trace of coldness flickered in Jingrong’s eyes as he looked at him. “Wei Yi, don’t challenge my patience anymore.”

Wei Yi!

Yes, he hadn’t called him Your Majesty, but rather His Majesty’s name.

Wei Yi didn’t take issue with it either. “Your patience? I wonder what you’re referring to?”

Acting as if he didn’t know.

Jingrong said, “I’m here to tell you that anyone who takes her from my side is, in my eyes… an enemy!”

Ah!

“Her? You mean Shu’er?”

“Hand her over.” Jingrong spoke in a commanding tone.

But Wei Yi furrowed his brows, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. “You’re saying I took Shu’er away? Jingrong, my Fuyang Hall is only this big. You can see at a glance—it can’t hide anyone. What, Shu’er has gone missing? When did she go missing? Did she disappear from your Prince Rong’s Manor?”

The surface meaning of these words sounded extremely concerned.

But the tone clearly carried a provocative meaning.

“Wei Yi, there’s no one else here! Just you and me.” Jingrong reminded him.

Reminding him there was no need to act.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You sent someone to abduct Yunshu and deliberately had them leave footprints—wasn’t it just to inform me?”

“Ha ha!” Wei Yi laughed loudly. “Just one footprint, and you say I abducted Shu’er? Isn’t that too ridiculous?”

Jingrong’s expression darkened. His hands hanging at both sides had already clenched into fists.

He had very little patience left!

“I’ll say it one more time. Hand her over.”

“I’ll also say it one more time. Shu’er wasn’t taken by me. If you don’t believe it, feel free to search here.” Wei Yi spread both hands.

Indicating Jingrong was welcome to search.

The next moment—

Jingrong, disregarding any notions of sovereign and subject, grabbed Wei Yi’s collar.

Bunching the dragon robe into a mass.

His bloodthirsty eyes stared fiercely at Wei Yi as he suppressed the fury about to erupt, growling in a low voice, “You know what’s most important to me. If you dare do anything to her, I won’t let you off.”

“Heh heh, Jingrong, you can kill me!” He pointed at the long sword on the distant screen stand. “Use that sword… kill me!”

Provocation after provocation!

Veins bulged on the back of Jingrong’s hand.

In this moment, he truly wanted to kill Wei Yi and be done with it all.

But—

He couldn’t do it!

His hand gripping Wei Yi’s collar grew tighter and tighter, and also trembled more and more.

Afterward, Wei Yi pushed him away forcefully, mocking, “I knew you wouldn’t dare! Because you’re afraid that if you kill me, Shu’er will never forgive you for the rest of her life. But since you have such worries, you should know that Shu’er actually cares about me. No matter what I become, she still cares about me.”

Boasting!

Jingrong’s fury gradually dissipated. In this moment, he finally understood what Ji Yunshu had said to him last night.

“Yunshu said that when she saw you as you are now, she didn’t feel sad at all—only disappointed. And now, I understand her feelings too.”

Wei Yi’s eyes trembled.