On the night of July 18th, the bright moon hung high among the branches, casting mottled shadows on the ground of the guest courtyard. The Qiu family’s mansion, resembling a village, was completely quiet. Occasionally there were insect chirps from the grass – everything seemed peaceful and tranquil.

Several guards carrying lanterns passed through the alley outside the guest courtyard walls, all yawning continuously.

“Let’s skip the east courtyard. Our Qiu mansion has been here for over a hundred years. Even petty thieves aren’t blind – who would dare cause trouble at the Qiu family?”

“Anyway, in all my years of service, nothing like that has ever happened, except for the fire at the sixth branch a while ago, and someone shaved their heads…”

Several guards covered their mouths, all making muffled laughing sounds.

“That’s because they committed too many sins. Even Heaven couldn’t stand their evil deeds, so they received such punishment.”

“Shh! Are the masters’ private affairs something you can discuss? Shut your mouths.”

The conversation was cut short by the leader. After chatting casually, everyone’s spirits lifted considerably. They finished patrolling half the courtyard and went back to rest.

Moments later, the door to the guest courtyard’s side room was silently pushed open. A black shadow flashed by, like a black wind in the night, flying across rooftops and wall edges.

Soon, commotion arose from the direction of the sixth branch, and orange firelight instantly illuminated the night sky.

In the room, Qin Yining was fully dressed in a dark cross-collared short jacket that outlined her curvaceous figure. Below the snow-white collar was her slender, graceful neck. Her raven-black long hair was neatly arranged in a topknot, without any jeweled ornaments – neat and dashing.

As Qin Yining bent down to put on her soft boots, Bingtang handed her a small porcelain bottle: “If you encounter any danger later, just scatter this medicine. It’s a special itching powder – anyone who gets it on them won’t stop scratching until they break their skin.”

“Got it. But what if this medicine gets on me?”

“Don’t worry. The ointment we just applied to the princess consort contains antidote components. Even if you grab a handful with your hands, you won’t feel itchy.”

Bingtang was skilled in both healing and using poisons, and had recently become obsessed with itching medicines. Tonight they deliberately created disturbance in the inner residence to divert attention and escape. They would inevitably encounter situations where guards would be spread thin, and Bingtang’s medicine would prove very useful then.

“Let’s go.” The door creaked softly as Mu Jinghu, dressed all in black, slipped inside. “Everything’s been arranged!”

Qin Yining asked quietly, “How’s the situation over there?”

“Everyone’s been drawn over. Don’t worry, I didn’t kill anyone. I just gave those who were rude to you that day another beating.”

Having just beaten people up, Mu Jinghu was in good spirits, his tone unprecedentedly relaxed.

Seeing his childishness, Qin Yining truly didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She hadn’t expected Mu Jinghu to be so vindictive, still unable to let go after so long, coming up with various seemingly childish methods of revenge.

Perhaps she was accustomed to decisive killing. While Qin Yining didn’t disregard human life, she had no sympathy for those who deserved punishment either.

Had she truly become cold-hearted and unfeeling?

Qin Yining didn’t say much about Mu Jinghu’s actions. Since he could do such things, he must have calculated everything.

The group left the main building of the guest courtyard. The strong Elite Tiger Guards all carried bundles on their backs – preparations made in case Qin Yining’s carriage couldn’t be taken and many things would have to be left behind.

Ji Yun and Bingtang didn’t need to carry any luggage since the Elite Tiger Guards had taken care of everything.

The route had been scouted by Mu Jinghu beforehand. When everyone reached the wall, Mu Jinghu quietly said “excuse me” and without another word brought Qin Yining over the wall.

Ji Yun had martial arts skills herself and naturally needed no one to help her. She stepped back a few paces, took a running start, and nimbly leaped up, borrowing force from the wall top to flip over and jump down.

At the same time, the Elite Tiger Guards also brought Bingtang over the wall.

Everyone had made it outside the wall. Mu Jinghu pointed in a direction, and they all silently headed straight there, where Mu Jinghu had prepared a carriage in advance.

Mu Jinghu’s martial arts were superb. On countless nights, he had quietly left the Qiu family undetected to scout around. No matter how many guards the Qiu family had, none had noticed.

Their destination this time was a ruined, abandoned temple in the city outskirts that Mu Jinghu had selected.

This place was rarely visited by people and had a water source nearby. After discussing with Qin Yining, they decided to temporarily settle here and then find a way to leave Jianchuan City.

“I’ve also thought about the exit pass. Otherwise, I’ll go steal one from the Qiu family later,” Mu Jinghu said.

Qin Yining shook her head: “Do you remember? After we used that entry pass, we were immediately discovered to have close ties with Qiu Feishan. The people in this city must have some other method of verification. If we rashly steal an exit pass, we might be detected as suspicious and detained at the city gate, losing our freedom. If we want to use an exit pass, we need to plan carefully.”

Mu Jinghu suddenly understood and sighed: “Things are getting more and more complicated. I never imagined that once we entered Jianchuan, it would be hard to get out.”

“Yes. Who could have thought of that?” Qin Yining frowned with some worry: “After we came in, we completely lost contact with the outside world. I now know nothing about external affairs, and don’t know what major events have happened in the court.”

“Princess Consort, are those Jingzhe and Xiaoxue?” Ji Yun pointed at people in the roadside bushes ahead.

Mu Jinghu glanced over and could determine before others’ eyesight reached that far: “It’s them. I made arrangements to meet them here yesterday when I came out.”

As they spoke, the groups met. Seeing Qin Yining, both Jingzhe and Xiaoxue were very excited, cupping their hands in salute: “Princess Consort. Have you been well these past days?”

“Nothing serious – I’m fine as you can see. Let’s go settle in the ruined temple first.”

Everyone nodded in unison.

Once the group was reunited, Qin Yining’s mood relaxed. The party quickly arrived at the ruined temple, checked the surrounding terrain to confirm it was truly safe, left people outside to keep watch, then went inside to settle in.

No one knew how long this temple had gone without repairs. A clay bodhisattva in the center was covered with spider webs, standing with compassionate gaze in the dilapidated hall. About half the roof tiles had fallen, not to mention the broken, mottled walls around and latticed windows that only had frames left without window paper. A ray of bright moonlight shone through a hole in the roof onto the clay statue, adding some sense of peace to the place.

Qin Yining looked up at the Buddha statue, then put her palms together and kowtowed several times.

Bingtang and Ji Yun also knelt down and paid their respects.

Meanwhile, the Elite Tiger Guards gathered firewood, and Jingzhe lit a fire pile in the center, also spreading some dry grass on the ground.

“We left in such haste – I’m afraid the princess consort will have to bear with these conditions.”

“It’s nothing.” Qin Yining smiled. “I lived outdoors for so many years before. Conditions like these would have been quite good for me back then.”

Everyone sat around the fire, with two Elite Tiger Guards still feeling uneasy, continuing to stand guard outside the hall.

Qin Yining said, “Everyone should rest and conserve energy. The Qiu family should have already discovered we’re missing. There are probably their eyes and ears everywhere in Jianchuan City, so they’ll soon discover which direction we went. Even if they don’t know our exact location and need to take detours, they’ll find this place quickly. So we can’t stay here long.”

“Yes.” Jingzhe and the others nodded.

Mu Jinghu stirred the campfire with a branch. A gust of wind blew, causing sparks to fly up from the fire.

“Don’t know if we’ll find a chance to obtain an exit pass tomorrow. If we do, we need to figure out how to disguise ourselves and get out. If not, I’m afraid there’ll be a tough battle ahead. Everyone should conserve their strength well.”

“Young Master Mu is right. Let’s take turns resting tonight.” Dahan nodded, and several people discussed night watch arrangements with their Elite Tiger Guard brothers.

Seeing everyone organize things in an orderly manner, Qin Yining took a piece of clothing from her bundle to use as a pillow and lay directly on the dry grass not far from the fire.

Bingtang and Ji Yun exchanged glances, both feeling somewhat hesitant. Bingtang came from a wealthy family background and had never really suffered hardship. Although Ji Yun had a hard childhood, since following Pang Xiao, even with various training, her life had always been more luxurious than ordinary young ladies – Pang Xiao had never mistreated any of them.

So sleeping directly on ground with only a thin layer of dry grass, not knowing if there were bugs in the grass or mice in the corners, they found this environment somewhat difficult to accept at first.

But then they felt sorry for Qin Yining.

Unless one had suffered greatly, who could take such things for granted? The better Qin Yining adapted to this, the more it pained their hearts.

Bingtang and Ji Yun both lay down on either side of Qin Yining, hoping to help block some of the night’s cold wind.

The three girls lay down with heads close together.

The men looked at each other, all feeling somewhat uncomfortable. Especially the Elite Tiger Guards, who now both admired and pitied their princess consort. They had personally witnessed how the prince treated the princess consort. If the prince were here, how could he bear to let the princess consort suffer? If the prince knew the princess consort had been captured and placed under house arrest by the Qiu family, and was now fleeing to sleep in a ruined temple, wouldn’t the prince be heartbroken!

Thinking this way, their hatred for the Qiu family increased even more.

Contrary to their expectations, the Qiu family didn’t pursue them as quickly as they had guessed. At least they slept peacefully through the night. In the morning, some even went fishing and hunting, and after washing up, Qin Yining had a hearty meal.

Qin Yining didn’t dare be overconfident. After eating, the group immediately left the ruined temple to find the next safe shelter.

However, Qin Yining never expected that less than half an hour after leaving the ruined temple, their path would be blocked by a group of people.

“Prince Zhongshun’s consort, could it be that you found our humble home’s hospitality lacking?” Qiu Yuanqing’s face was gloomy. “Whatever inadequacies there were, you could have just given orders, and we would only have obeyed. Why did you need to run away?”