If Feng Yuan had been controlled by the drug and momentarily lost his senses, with his martial skills, Princess Anqing would certainly have died or been severely injured.

As her son, Mu Hanjiang, would have been thrown into chaos, leaving the Dragon Scale Shadow Guards leaderless and unable to carefully attend to His Majesty’s palace security arrangements, inevitably creating vulnerabilities.

And if Feng Yuan had committed such a grave offense, General Yezhong, as his uncle, would certainly have been implicated by the Grand Prince’s actions and forced to handle the aftermath. How could he have faced accompanying His Majesty to burn incense and fulfill vows?

Then, what would have been the outcome of this temple assassination attempt without General Yezhong present and the Dragon Scale Shadow Guards’ covert deployment?

The more Xiaoying thought about it, the more alarmed she became.

Could this assassination attempt also be closely connected to that “Master”?

If His Majesty had been severely injured, with the Crown Prince “critically ill,” the Grand Prince implicated in a murder case, and the Third Prince outside the center of court struggles, the only prince who could act as regent would be the Second Prince.

Even if he wasn’t His Majesty’s intended choice, he could directly ascend to the supreme imperial throne!

Though this plan was meticulous, it had already failed at the first hurdle.

Feng Yuan hadn’t fallen into the trap as predicted, so subsequent events would not follow the hidden mastermind’s intentions.

It seemed those assassins might not be the Master’s men, but merely tools he typically used to murder by proxy. So even when the first part of the plan changed, those men still pursued their own goal of assassinating Emperor Chunde.

The father and son next door finished their conversation, and Mu Hanjiang left the room.

As he passed Xiaoying’s room, he gave her a meaningful look, presumably telling her to stay put until Duke Ding left, and then she could come out.

Xiaoying knew the shackles on her feet would rattle at the slightest movement, so she simply remained still, boredly examining the room’s furnishings.

The place seemed to serve as a warehouse for calligraphy and paintings, with many boxes containing such works.

Because they hadn’t been moved for a long time, the boxes were covered in dust. From Xiaoying’s angle, she could see that on the bottom shelf, there was a box that had been partially pulled out recently, as it had less dust on it than the others.

Curious, Xiaoying bent down to take out the box and open it. Inside was a scroll, which, when slowly unrolled, revealed a painting.

But why did the beauty in this yellowed painting look somewhat familiar?

Xiaoying narrowed her eyes to look more carefully. She saw a beauty dancing with a sword beneath a waterfall, and that waterfall… looked very much like the one at Qiuming Mountain. The person in the painting also resembled the portrait of Princess Ye in Guanxin Garden.

However, the woman in this scroll appeared younger, full of the vibrant spirit of a young girl…

Xiaoying looked down at the signature, but there was no signature or seal.

If it truly was a portrait of Princess Ye, appearing in a subject’s residence would itself be disrespectful, so naturally, it wouldn’t bear a signature.

As for the person in the painting, it would typically be six parts resemblance to the real person and four parts ambiguous, so even if discovered, it could be explained away…

But what exactly was going on here? This painting probably wasn’t hidden by Mu Hanjiang. Since the adjacent room was for Mu Shen’s collection of metal and stone artifacts, this place should house his collection of calligraphy and paintings!

Could this painting be Princess Anqing’s old possession, kept here as a memento of her close friend?

Xiaoying felt as though she had uncovered some long-buried matter and carefully returned the box to its original place.

After a while, she heard someone enter the room next door, followed by Duke Ding’s voice: “Has anyone new been brought to the secret prison? What’s the situation?”

She heard someone report: “The Princess herself ordered the detention. It’s not anyone important, just a brute who once served as a military officer in Jiangzhe, named Fu Ansheng!”

“Fu Ansheng? Why did the Princess detain him?”

“This…” The person seemed hesitant.

Mu Shen maintained his unhurried tone: “Speak freely, don’t worry about my health. She always keeps things from me, yet she can never fully suppress matters. Does she wait until things are beyond repair before informing me?”

It seemed that Mu Shen, the nominal Chief Commander of the Dragon Scale Shadow Guards, wasn’t completely uninvolved in affairs but subtly exerted control, maintaining a grasp of the overall situation.

The person finally spoke truthfully: “This Fu Ansheng was once the Princess’s guard in Jiangzhe seven years ago. He overheard confidential information during the Princess’s private conversation, but his colleague Meng Zhun covered his shift… As a result, to prevent the leak of secrets… the Princess killed the wrong family—Meng’s entire household…”

Hearing this, Xiaoying’s pupils slightly contracted. The room next door also fell silent for a good while before erupting in a low shout: “How absurd! What secret could be worth such drastic action? No wonder Meng Zhun has been a fugitive for seven years. Who could endure such an injustice!”

After saying this, Mu Shen paused and asked: “Do you know who the Princess was speaking with at that time, and what was discussed?”

“When the Princess interrogated Fu Ansheng, I eavesdropped nearby and heard a few sentences. It seemed to mention Princess Ye, possibly related to her capture years ago…”

Mu Shen seemed unable to listen further and appeared to be pacing restlessly next door: “How dare she do such a thing? It’s all my fault. After I was injured, I shouldn’t have indulged her whims and handed the Dragon Scale Shadow Guards to her! One misstep led to many!”

Mu Shen seemed too unsettled to remain seated and merely instructed that carriages be prepared. At first light tomorrow, he would enter the city.

Then the Duke and his subordinate left the room and didn’t return.

Yan Xiaoying quietly digested the news she had just heard.

It seemed her previous suspicions were all true. Her foster father had indeed taken the blame for Fu Ansheng.

The massacre of the Meng family years ago was committed by Princess Anqing!

Thinking of this, Xiaoying’s fist slightly tightened. The agonizing screams from the Meng residence that night and the helpless cries of two little girls echoed in her ears once again.

If she couldn’t avenge this bloodshed, neither she nor her foster father would ever find peace in this life!

As Xiaoying was lost in thought, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the door.

It didn’t sound like Mu Hanjiang. Fearing it might be Duke Ding’s servants, she quickly picked up her shackles and moved behind the bookshelf.

When the door opened, there seemed to be footsteps of two people entering, one after another.

Then she heard a female voice speaking softly: “This room rarely has visitors. Hide here for now, and I’ll find an opportunity to take you out later.”

The speaker was none other than Mu Yanyan.

Another voice also spoke quietly: “I haven’t done anything wrong. Why do we need to be so secretive behind your brother’s back?”

Xiaoying knew without looking that the other speaker was the Third Prince.

It seemed that after news of her resemblance to the Crown Prince spread, this young couple had resolved their misunderstanding, forgotten their vows, and gotten back together.

Hearing the Third Prince’s question, Mu Yanyan sounded somewhat helpless: “Mother simply won’t allow me to associate with princes from the palace. It just so happens that both my brother and father are at the villa today. If they catch you, won’t it reach my mother’s ears?”

Upon hearing this, the Third Prince couldn’t help raising his voice: “Why won’t she allow it? I’m not like the Second Prince who lusts after women. We’ve played together since childhood. Why am I suddenly unwelcome now?”

Mu Yanyan snorted: “Who knows what you gentlemen will become when you grow up? The Grand Prince was also an upright person since childhood, but look at that concubine he’s taken… Never mind, I won’t say more.”

“Why not say more? I’m not my eldest brother. In your eyes, am I not even half as good as him?”

Today, Mu Yanyan had finally taken the initiative to invite him for an autumn outing in the suburbs, but upon returning, they couldn’t enter the city. She didn’t want the Third Prince to reveal his identity at the city gate and cause a commotion throughout the city, so they came to the suburban villa instead.

However, at the gatehouse, they heard that both Master Mu and Mu Shen had returned.

Mu Yanyan kept the gatekeeper engaged in conversation while the Third Prince slipped in. She planned to hide the Third Prince well before going to see her father and brother.

Who would have thought the Third Prince would speak so loudly? Halfway through his words, he seemed to be silenced by Mu Yanyan: “Lower your voice, don’t attract anyone! Fine, you’re better than him, happy now?”

Then came a yelp from Mu Yanyan, followed by an awkward silence.

As someone with experience, Xiaoying guessed that if both were silent, the Third Prince must be indulging in romantic advances.

At this moment, she definitely shouldn’t suddenly appear, but her current hiding position was uncomfortable, and her legs were becoming numb from crouching.

Just then, the door was suddenly pushed open, and someone entered, speaking softly: “Come out, my father has already…”

It was Mu Hanjiang returning. Before he could finish speaking, there was a commotion in the room, and Mu Yanyan nervously stuttered: “Bro… Brother…”

Mu Hanjiang hadn’t expected to open the door and see his sister being embraced by the Third Prince at the waist before they frantically separated. His face instantly turned ashen, and he instinctively looked around to see if Yan Xiaoying was still there.

Mu Yanyan thought her brother was looking for something to hit the Third Prince with and tearfully said, “Brother, we… we didn’t do anything.”

Just then, Xiaoying tried to stand up, but she had been crouching too long, and her legs were numb from the weight of the shackles. After consideration, she deliberately fell backward, knocking over the bookshelf.

So Mu Yanyan and the Third Prince stood with half-open mouths, watching as the bookshelf magically produced a living person.

The two young people who had just been misbehaving had faces that were red-tinged with black.

Xiaoying sat on the ground, rubbing her legs: “Um… I can testify for these two, they didn’t do anything. It’s just that the room was too cold, so they were staying close to keep warm…”

Even though Mu Yanyan was usually brash, she was now so embarrassed she nearly wanted to die.

The Third Prince exclaimed in surprise: “Lady Ying, why are you here? And why… why do you have shackles on your feet?”

Mu Hanjiang’s temples were throbbing with pain. Why did everything become so absurdly complicated whenever he encountered this woman?

The fact that Yan Xiaoying had impersonated the Crown Prince absolutely could not be revealed to this blabbermouth.

While he was contemplating how to fob off the loose-lipped Third Prince, Yan Xiaoying had already gathered tears in the corners of her eyes and choked out: “Master Mu says I’m not worthy of the Grand Prince and wants to… send me back to Jiangzhe!”

She wasn’t lying; this was indeed Mu Hanjiang’s intention.

But combined with her tone, plus the menacing chains, Xiaoying appeared particularly pitiful.

What? Although Mu Yanyan thought her brother’s words weren’t wrong, treating a delicate woman this way was too much even for her to watch.

Before the two could speak, Xiaoying quickly added, “But Master Mu is doing this for my good. It’s my fault for wrongly stepping into the capital and entering this noble place…”

The Third Prince, filled with a sense of justice, exclaimed: “Master Mu, I thought you were an upright person. Even if you’re from the Dragon Scale Shadow Guards, you have no right to interfere with a prince taking a concubine! Moreover, they are in love, deeply affectionate toward each other! And you even shackle her—what’s the meaning of this? Are you acting on Father Emperor’s orders to separate this couple?”

This had become a repeat offense—after breaking up the Grand Prince’s romance, now he was breaking up his!

Master Mu wasn’t as quick-witted as Xiaoying, but he had more than enough wit to counter the Third Prince: “I truly have no authority over princes, but when you come to my family’s residence and share a room with my sister, I certainly will intervene! It’s getting late, Third Highness, please leave!”

Feng Qiwu knew he was in the wrong and coldly snorted, turning to leave. But after taking two steps, he suddenly realized: “Wait, the city is closed! Where am I supposed to go? There are wolf packs in the suburbs recently—do you want me to feed the wolves?”

After saying this, he righteously continued: “Staying at your residence for one night, surely you can’t turn me away? Also, quickly remove Lady Ying’s shackles. What crime has she committed to deserve such treatment from you?”

Mu Hanjiang glanced at the still teary-eyed Yan Xiaoying, finally witnessing this woman’s ability to turn black into white without telling a single lie.

With a slight headache, he said, “The Grand Prince locked her up. I don’t have the key.”

“Yes… It’s all the Grand Prince’s fault, nothing to do with Master Mu! Third Highness, please say no more, or my days here, depending on others’ charity, will be even more difficult…”

These words sounded completely sarcastic.

He had seen how his eldest brother indulged this woman. Throughout their journey to the capital, even for eating fruit, the Grand Prince would personally peel it for her. As for adding clothes in cold weather, the Grand Prince was extremely attentive.

He would never believe that his eldest brother would put such heavy shackles on the lady!

So the Third Prince’s eyes bulged again: “With me here, who dares to bully you? Early tomorrow morning, I’ll take you back to Prince Ruixiang’s mansion. Let’s see who dares to stop us!”

Mu Hanjiang said coldly: “Would you like to visit Duke Ding’s residence tomorrow as well, to tell my mother about your behavior just now?”

At the mention of Princess Anqing, the Third Prince immediately fell silent.

By now, it was late, and everyone retired for the night.

Because they had been discovered by the Third Prince and others, Mu Hanjiang couldn’t lock Yan Xiaoying in a bedroom. Seeing her inconvenienced by the shackles, he arranged for a maid and two guards to watch over her in the courtyard. Beyond this, there were no other restrictions.

After all, Feng Yuan had already inhumanely added shackles to her feet. Those heavy fetters had chafed the lady’s ankles raw, making anyone who saw her feel sympathy.

Early the next morning, pigeons from the palace continuously brought news. The palace was in turmoil; reportedly, the assassins had been identified as experts from Wei Country. Additionally, one of the palace consorts had been abducted by the bandits.

If this news spread, Emperor Chunde would lose all face.

When he was a member of the imperial clan, he couldn’t protect his beloved wife, who fell into enemy hands, already a lifetime of shame.

Now, as Emperor, having a consort abducted right under his nose at the Imperial City, where could he put his face?

Therefore, all forces and shadow guards inside and outside the city were mobilized to search for the remaining assassins.

Xiaoying didn’t know which consort had been abducted, but she recalled that when she was in Yuxiu Village, the Wei Country man who had held the Imperial Tutor and his wife hostage said he wanted to exchange them for a woman in the palace.

For some reason, Xiaoying instinctively felt that this assassination must have been carried out by that group.

The leader had mastered Chen Xifan’s curved saber technique, with extremely skilled head-taking abilities. With his talents, committing such an assassination wasn’t particularly surprising.

After rising early, Mu Hanjiang had to enter the city with his father.

But because the Third Prince was also present, he had to guard against him secretly taking Lady Ying away, so he left his trusted aide Gao Qi behind.

Xiaoying knew that, given Mu Hanjiang’s character, he would likely enter the palace to find an opportunity to question the Empress in detail about her situation.

At that time, the Yan Xiaoying described by Empress Tang—scheming and ruthless—would be difficult to explain away!

So when the Third Prince came to see her before departing, Xiaoying took advantage of the guards’ inattention to pass him a note, then whispered: “Please deliver this note to Yongxiang Bakery in the western part of the city and give it to the shopkeeper. Would the Third Prince do this small favor?”

Feng Qiwu patted his chest: “Don’t worry, I’ll deliver it. Do you want me to notify my eldest brother as well?”

Xiaoying smiled and shook her head.

After the Third Prince left, Xiaoying obediently stayed in her room.

As a day passed and deep night fell, Xiaoying slowly opened her eyes, listening to the deep snores of the maidservant in the outer room. She sat up and lifted her blanket.

While watching for movement outside, she quickly pulled a key from her sleeve and deftly unlocked the shackles.

The other day, she and Feng Yuan had performed their act quite well.

Although Feng Yuan had thrown the key into the lake in front of Mu Hanjiang, there wasn’t just one key. When she was about to leave, as Feng Yuan grabbed her arm to speak, he had slipped another key into Xiaoying’s palm.

This madman had a thorough understanding of his childhood friend Mu Qing’s thoughts.

Mu Hanjiang had always been a gentleman. If Xiaoying was burdened with heavy shackles, he would certainly relax his vigilance, reluctant to add further restraints and punishments to the lady.

After Xiaoying freed herself from the shackles and stretched her legs, she followed the route she had scouted the day before, skillfully evading the guards and scaling the wall.

After all, neither Mu Hanjiang, Gao Qi, nor the guards could imagine that a delicate woman bearing heavy shackles would be able to leap over a high wall on her own.

After jumping down from the wall and walking a distance, the night grew increasingly dark. Xiaoying briefly determined her direction by the stars, then headed away from the capital without looking back.

Her note to Yongxiang Bakery contained a coded message, arranging to meet her foster father and the others at Five Li Slope in the suburbs.

Just then, a dark figure suddenly darted out from the forest beside her, attacking swiftly.

Xiaoying was startled and extended her hand to block, but in the pitch darkness, she could only hear the crisp sound of fist wind, unable to see the technique or path. The person was tall, and when her arm was twisted and she was pinned against a thick tree trunk, her entire body was suspended in the air, her toes barely touching the ground.

Though she couldn’t see the person clearly, the familiar cold fragrance of orchids that enveloped her quickly eased her tense nerves.

However, Xiaoying deliberately pretended not to know and asked with a trembling voice: “Who… who are you?”

The person’s breathing tightened, seemingly irritated that the lady didn’t recognize him, and the force of his hand increased slightly.

Xiaoying accordingly let out a soft moan of pain, leaning into the man’s embrace and deliberately rubbing her cheek against his neck: “Sir, please have mercy. I’m just a weak woman. Whether you want to rob me or take advantage of me, go ahead as you wish, just spare my life!”

The man hadn’t expected to encounter such a compliant and yielding lady. The muscles in his arm tensed, and the force of his grip increased slightly.

Xiaoying still lay softly in his arms, actively inviting his advances, whispering as she pressed against him: “Please be gentle, don’t use too much force…”