At this moment, everyone’s attention was focused on Yousi and Tie Ci, while You Jun’s attention was on the second courtyard.

Just as everyone was heading to Wanqing Garden, the manor’s guards had already quietly infiltrated the courtyard from several directions, conducting another thorough search of the premises, including all secret passages and hidden chambers.

You Jun knew that the Crown Princess possessed extraordinary abilities. If You Weixing had been rescued by her, then naturally he would be used as a weapon against him. At this time, the iron-walled Yannan Prince’s manor could stop others, but might not necessarily stop her. If she had secretly transported You Weixing back here without anyone knowing, and when the crowd surged into Wanqing Garden and the doors opened to reveal You Weixing, then he, You Jun, would be unable to save face.

Calculating everything, the “good show” the Crown Princess spoke of should be exactly this scene.

A few cooing sounds came from overhead. You Jun calmly walked to the wall, where a loose brick could be moved. Behind the brick, someone whispered softly, “Sir, the person is indeed in the main hall of the second courtyard.”

A cold smile crossed You Jun’s lips.

The person behind the brick added, “In a very disheveled state.”

You Jun’s cold smile deepened.

So this was the plan.

Deliberately bring up You Weixing, force him to lie, then bring the Kunzhou people into Wanqing Garden to expose the “severely abused” You Weixing before everyone’s eyes, firmly placing the big hat of “bullying orphans and usurping power” on his and his son’s heads.

He had deliberately established this wager with the Crown Princess, wanting to corner her, but hadn’t the Crown Princess done the same? Confident in her success, she was waiting to watch him lift a rock only to drop it on his own feet.

But now, this good show might not be so easy to watch.

He said nothing, only tapped the brick. The person behind it understood and quickly departed.

At this moment, Tie Ci suddenly turned to look at him. You Jun met her gaze and smiled frankly.

The crowd surged toward the inner courtyard.

The second courtyard gate opened, revealing pavilions and buildings that weren’t very new but were neat and clean. Every flower and tree had its place—clearly the grand atmosphere that only a wealthy, established family could possess.

Befitting You Weixing’s status.

Tie Ci quickened her pace, heading straight for the main hall.

The people, not understanding why, also rushed up the steps, thinking something important was happening.

The door was tightly shut. Tie Ci raised her hand, and with a creak, the door opened.

The people held their breath and looked inside.

The room was pitch black, the scenery initially unclear. Sunlight shot in like pillars, with dust motes dancing within.

After a while, people gradually made out the furnishings inside. The four walls were snow white. Opposite was an ivory bed covered with a deerskin mattress. Below the bed were two rows of four huanghuali wood grand master chairs with half-worn begonia-colored brocade cushions. A rosewood screen painted with figures, flowers, and birds served as a partition along with a rosewood curio shelf. Behind the partition was a huanghuali wood marble writing desk, though there was nothing much on it.

Standard furnishings of a wealthy family, just lacking many decorative fragile items. All objects were covered with a layer of dust, clearly uninhabited for many days.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

Tie Ci stood at the very front. No one could see her expression clearly, but in You Jun’s eyes, this figure seemed filled with disappointment and shock.

You Jun’s face remained perfectly calm. “Your Highness, have you found anything?”

Tie Ci turned around, pointing at the walls. “The furnishings are half-worn, but why are the walls so fresh and new?”

You Jun answered frankly, “Naturally because they were just repainted.”

Tie Ci immediately asked, “Why did they need repainting?”

“Because the walls were once stained with blood.” You Jun was silent for a moment before answering. “When the eldest young master had his episodes, he liked to grab people and smash them against the walls. Therefore, after sending him to recuperate outside the city, all the walls were repainted and repaired.”

The crowd whispered among themselves.

Tie Ci pointed at the floor again. “Why are there trampling marks on the ground?”

Only then did everyone notice that while the objects were dusty, the floor had many marks—footprints, scrapes, even drag marks. But with so many people crowding in, it was impossible to tell which were new and which were from before.

You Jun smiled cheerfully. “Those are naturally from you charging in just now.”

He walked forward a few steps, leading everyone past the curio shelf to look at the adjacent bedroom decorations, then voluntarily took the guests through the east and west wing rooms. After touring the entire second courtyard—Wanqing Garden only had two courtyards—he had all the doors opened and curtains hung up for a complete view. Only after everyone had finished touring the small courtyard did he return to the main hall. Tie Ci had been standing inside without moving, apparently knowing that if nothing was here, there would be nothing elsewhere either.

You Jun entered the room, seeing Tie Ci examining the walls. He suddenly smiled, then stepped forward. Under everyone’s shocked gaze, he placed his hand on a certain spot on the wall.

The next moment, a secret passage opened.

The people were in an uproar.

Tie Ci raised her eyebrows, clearly quite surprised as well.

No one had expected You Jun to voluntarily reveal even the secret passage.

You Jun smiled as he watched Tie Ci. “Your Highness, knowing you had this on your mind, this humble official opened this doorway for you to see as well.”

As the secret passage opened, a cold wind blew out.

The people had all heard of wealthy families having secret chambers and hidden walls for escape, but common folk naturally couldn’t imagine such things. Now able to witness this firsthand, they immediately surged in without waiting for invitation.

Tie Ci moved her lips but ultimately said nothing. After all, since You Jun had voluntarily revealed even this, there was naturally no danger or traps.

You Jun truly lived up to his reputation as the scheming man who had hidden his capabilities and endured beside the old Prince of Yannan for many years. He had calculated her every move and prepared countermeasures in advance, even revealing the secret chamber before she could.

With secret chambers, if she had revealed it, even with nothing inside, You Jun couldn’t explain the reason for having a secret chamber in his nephew’s room, inevitably raising suspicion. But with You Jun opening the secret chamber himself, the initiative returned to his hands.

Someone had already run back and forth through the secret chamber with loud footsteps, poking their head out to shout, “There’s nothing inside! But it seems to lead to a study!”

You Jun’s face showed a smile. “That’s my study. My courtyard and Wanqing Garden are back-to-back, but walking from the main entrance requires a long detour. Originally, I could have opened a direct door, but Weixing liked playing hide-and-seek, so I dug this secret passage. After finishing work at night, I could easily visit Weixing and tuck him in properly.”

His expression was loving, exactly like a good uncle who cared for his nephew.

The people were moved to sighs. Someone said, “Minister You’s loving care for his nephew is truly touching! Crown Princess, we know you came here shouldering the court’s important mission and intend to take action against Yannan Prince’s manor, but we common folk feel you shouldn’t keep using the eldest young master’s matter to trouble Minister You. How this uncle treats his nephew—we Kunzhou people have seen it with our own eyes for so many years. When the eldest young master was small, riding on Minister You’s shoulders to visit the Three Pagodas, we all saw it. Besides, if Minister You really treated the eldest young master poorly and was guarding against him, how could he possibly connect his study with the eldest young master’s main hall? Wouldn’t he fear the eldest young master following the secret passage into his study to eavesdrop?”

With this said, everyone nodded in agreement.

Tie Ci seemed to have nothing to say.

You Jun’s smile, which had been constant on his face, suddenly faded. “Your Highness, you’ve destroyed walls, injured people, entered Wanqing Garden, found the eldest young master absent. As half a host, this humble official has also shown everyone around. Now, where is your ‘good show’?”

Tie Ci stood at the main hall entrance, facing the questioning gazes of the crowd, facing the cold and murderous smile in You Jun’s eyes, facing the intoxicating southern sunlight, and smiled slightly. “The good show has begun.”

Then she stepped aside.

You Jun instinctively looked into the room. Though he knew it was impossible, he still instinctively tensed up, fearing You Weixing might suddenly appear.

The people, not understanding, also surged forward, then looked with great disappointment at the same room—no one there, no changes.

You Jun breathed a sigh of relief.

A sentence had just reached his throat when suddenly everything before his eyes shook violently. All scenery rapidly merged into patches of colored light curtains before his eyes. Everything and the wind rushed backward swiftly before him. The world spun, and he heard the people’s cries of alarm.

Among the cries, he miraculously heard Tie Ci’s soft laugh clearly.

Tie Ci before him also became blurred, like a suddenly materialized shadow, but that soft laugh was as clear as if it rang in his ear.

The next moment came another shock. After a brief distortion, the scenery returned to normal. It was still the same main hall before him. You Jun’s heart was still pounding when he instinctively looked up. The next moment, he felt his heartbeat stop completely.

Before his eyes, You Weixing had suddenly appeared!

Not just him alone—there were many others, all dressed as manor guards.

Everyone was in motion.

You Weixing crouched on the ground facing the main hall, looking up ahead. His gaze seemed to pierce through the crowd before him, falling somewhere far away, as if waiting for something.

Beside him, those guards—some rushed forward to cover his mouth, some released drugging incense, some worked together to grab his shoulders, some hugged his feet, some made hand signals indicating everyone should hurry and immediately take the person away.

These actions all happened in an instant. Everyone was so focused that this group of people hadn’t noticed there were suddenly many more people before them.

The people gaped at this scene of a living person appearing from thin air, completely stunned.

But no matter how stunned, they could see what this scene meant.

The eldest young master was indeed in Wanqing Garden!

The eldest young master was being forcibly controlled by manor guards to be immediately taken away!

But this seemed to be something that happened before they reached the second courtyard. Why, after a bout of shaking, was it now being enacted before their eyes?

Not only were all the people unable to process this illogical event, even the manor guards, turning to see so many people suddenly appear, were dumbfounded.

Those grabbing people, releasing incense, covering mouths, holding legs, and giving orders all froze like stone sculptures in an instant, nailed to the spot.