That soul-piercing cry of “No!”

Carried a terror and despair she had never experienced before.

She felt as if she were being dragged up from an abyss. The surrounding scene grew increasingly illusory, and Jingrong’s figure became more and more distant. Her eyes were soaked with tears, burning painfully like chili water.

Her vision grew increasingly blurred.

As she shouted that “No!”, her mind suddenly buzzed, and countless scenes of her time with Jingrong flashed through her mind.

From Jinjiang to the capital.

From the capital to the Imperial Manor.

Every little detail was deeply etched in her mind.

Unable to be cast away!

At this moment, the only obsession in her heart was—she could not lose Jingrong.

But—

That man still stood there calmly, dressed elegantly, graceful and poised, his face with distinct angular features emanating an innate imperial bearing. His arched brows stretched smoothly, falling upon those eyes that showed no trace of fear.

In his gaze, there was only an inscrutable expression as he stared at her.

Too calm!

The bows were drawn fully, the arrow tips sharp as frost.

Once released, the people in the courtyard would certainly die.

Just as the air froze—

Just as the archers released their bowstrings—

Suddenly, half of the archers simultaneously drew out daggers and viciously stabbed at the archers beside them.

One strike, one kill!

More than a dozen corpses and bows fell from the rooftops in succession.

Brutal.

The half who remained on the rooftops, after killing, swiftly aimed the arrows in their hands at the people in the courtyard again.

However, they reversed their arrow tips, all aiming uniformly at Wen Panshi’s men.

Waiting for Jingrong’s command.

The reversed situation came too quickly!

Almost at the same moment, Wen Panshi’s men also immediately drew their swords in defense, forming a human wall surrounding Jingrong and the others.

The air was filled with murderous intent.

Wen Panshi, Wen Xian, Zhao Huai, and others were shocked.

What was happening?

Why would Jingrong’s men have infiltrated their archers?

Their jaws nearly dropped to the ground.

Witnessing this scene, Ji Yunshu’s eyes widened even more. That feeling of suddenly surviving from the desperate境 of death made her unable to adapt momentarily, leaving her dazed, unable to distinguish whether she was shocked or relieved at this moment.

Wen Panshi looked toward Jingrong, his lips trembling, “You?”

However, what responded to him was an indifferent face and a nonchalant gaze.

Then—

Jingrong suddenly stepped forward, his hawk-like keen eyes moving toward those people.

His imposing presence overwhelming!

The crowd involuntarily retreated.

The next moment, he swiftly pulled Ji Yunshu from those people’s hands.

Her body heavily fell into his embrace!

Her waist was firmly restrained.

He looked down at the red-eyed woman in his arms, his brows furrowed, “Listen well. From now on, without this prince’s command, you are absolutely not allowed to risk your life coming to rescue this prince. This prince will only say this once—if you do it again, I will break your legs.”

His voice was powerful and resonant, every word majestic.

Although his tone was so harsh, in the end, he was worried that Ji Yunshu would be injured. If something happened to her, he wouldn’t be able to live either.

Ji Yunshu pressed her lips tightly, meeting his gaze, tears involuntarily falling.

How should she tell him that when she learned he was in danger, the only thought that flashed through her mind was to save him, and if she couldn’t save him, she would accompany him in death.

But of all the thousands of words, she couldn’t speak a single sentence!

Then—

Jingrong pushed her toward Shi Ziran.

“Protect her well.”

“Yes.”

Immediately after, Jingrong’s hawk-like eyes lifted, looking at Wen Panshi, “General Wen, if you don’t want more people to die in vain, you’d best step aside.”

Yes, he called him General Wen!

Wen Panshi’s eyes were full of disbelief, “You… how did you know?”

He didn’t understand how Jingrong knew about this Hongmen Banquet he had set up.

And how did he secretly replace his own men with Jingrong’s men?

Jingrong walked two steps closer to him, meeting his gaze levelly, slightly raising his chin, “Did you really think your plan was flawless?”

Laughable!

“I’m all ears!”

“Fine, then this prince will explain it to you thoroughly.” He said, “Actually, from the moment Attendant Lin handed over the cargo records and receipts from the courier station over the past few years to this prince, your plan had already been implemented. You deliberately wanted this prince to investigate the Si family, then sent assassins to attack, going to great lengths to leave one alive, leading this prince’s men all the way here, where they would discover the secret chamber in the house. You also knew this prince would definitely go back to the courier station to investigate again, and whether that storage room was demolished or not, you would let this prince discover that hidden compartment and that candlestick. Zhao Huai also suddenly came to assassinate this prince at that time, attempting to destroy that hidden compartment. The purpose was to tell this prince that the mechanism to open the Si family’s secret chamber was also that candlestick. This way, you could lure this prince’s men into the secret chamber—or more accurately, you wanted to lure this prince into the secret chamber, then catch everyone in one net. But you never expected that the beginning of the plan was Attendant Lin, and the exposure of the plan was also Attendant Lin.”

“How did you discover it?”

“I must thank the dust in that room. A room clearly full of dust—whether on the cabinets or on the floor, everything was dusty—but that fallen candlestick had several clear fingerprints on it. At that time, this prince saw dust on Attendant Lin’s sleeves. It’s obvious that he pushed the candlestick down, deliberately letting this prince discover it, then smoothly implementing your plan.

That plan seemed flawless, able to lure this prince and the others into the secret chamber, then kill and silence us without anyone knowing. But in reality, your plan was full of errors and omissions. This prince accompanied you from beginning to end in performing this excellent drama, not because there was no evidence to arrest you, but because I wanted to know—how exactly did you transport the disaster relief silver from the iron-clad storage room? Where did you transport it to? And why did you steal the disaster relief silver? Why did those officials who left the capital to investigate disappear for a while before dying? And I wanted to know even more… why did you want to kill this prince but not harm Master Ji in the slightest? All these perplexities, this prince wanted to uncover one by one. So, the trap you dug, this prince voluntarily jumped into. I had Lang Bo infiltrate the secret passage and deliberately let you capture him. Of course, you couldn’t possibly kill him, because you were waiting for this prince to walk into the trap. Now, this prince has learned all these truths, only I never expected that you… are actually former servants of the Duke of Yu’s manor!”

Ah!

Who would have thought that Jingrong knew everything?

Pretending until now was truly not easy.

With the plan exposed, Wen Panshi showed no panic.

“You truly are like your father emperor—sinister and cunning.”

It was unclear whether this was derogatory or complimentary!

Jingrong smiled, “It’s not that this prince is sinister and cunning, but rather that you, General Wen, underestimated this prince.”

Wen Panshi’s face turned livid.

He said nothing!