Xiao Shi didn’t know how she had returned to Fengyi Palace. It wasn’t until the palace servants asked her to have dinner that she came to her senses. Looking at the pitch-black sky outside, she suddenly remembered that she hadn’t sent anyone to inform Du Ruhui. She hurriedly called over a palace maid who was fairly trustworthy and had her go to the palace gate to tell Du Ruhui not to wait any longer.

The palace maid didn’t dare ask many questions and went to the palace gate as Xiao Shi had instructed. Sure enough, she saw Du Ruhui still waiting there, his expression quite anxious. After learning her purpose, his anxious expression became even more intense, and he bowed, saying, “Forgive me for being presumptuous, but is Princess Jinyang alright?” Since Empress Xiao had sent her out to inform him, she must be her confidant.

“This…” The palace maid hesitated for a moment, then pulled Du Ruhui aside and said in a low voice, “I’ll tell you the truth, Young Master Du. Many things happened in the palace today. Not only has Princess Jinyang been confined, but Eunuch Wu and Sister Hong Li were also ordered executed by His Majesty. I don’t know what happened.”

Du Ruhui’s expression darkened. It seemed that the plan to leave the palace had indeed been discovered by Yang Guang. When Yunyi had failed to appear for so long, he had already guessed that something had changed, but he hadn’t expected it to be this serious. Now that Yunyi was confined, trying to leave the palace again would be extremely difficult. But if she continued to stay, once Pei Qiantong raised his army, Yunyi’s life would likely be in danger. What should he do?

“This servant has delivered the message and will now take my leave.” After watching the palace maid enter the palace gate, Du Ruhui walked back with heavy thoughts, pondering solutions as he walked. He didn’t know how long he had been walking when someone suddenly patted his shoulder, startling him. After seeing clearly that it was Pei Qiancheng, he sighed in relief, “How are you here?”

Pei Qiancheng said with a serious expression, “I should be the one asking you that. Didn’t I tell you yesterday to leave the palace? Why are you still here?”

Du Ruhui’s eyes flickered slightly, “I… remembered there were still some matters to attend to, so I stayed another day.”

“Matters?” Pei Qiancheng glanced in the direction from which he had come, “If I remember correctly, this road leads to the imperial palace, doesn’t it?”

Du Ruhui sighed, “It seems you’ve already guessed.”

“So it is.” Pei Qiancheng said angrily, “I told you repeatedly that this matter cannot be told to the Princess. Did you treat my words as wind passing by your ears?”

“The Princess remains unmarried to this day, and I bear responsibility for that. Moreover, my marriage to Xianyue was also facilitated by her, so…” Before he could finish, Pei Qiancheng had already said, “So you can disregard your brother’s life and death and tell the Princess about that matter, is that it?”

Du Ruhui lowered his head, “I know this matter was my fault, but I truly cannot stand by and watch someone die. Please forgive me, Brother Pei!”

“You!” Pei Qiancheng was so angry he couldn’t speak, and he flicked his sleeve, “You’re really infuriating me!” After a tense standoff, he said irritably, “Where is the Princess?”

“The Princess wanted to take Her Majesty the Empress and leave the palace together, but His Majesty discovered this, and now she’s trapped in the palace unable to come out.” Hearing this, Pei Qiancheng was greatly alarmed and hurriedly said, “Then…”

Du Ruhui knew what he wanted to say, “Don’t worry. According to the palace servant who came to deliver the message, His Majesty doesn’t know why they wanted to leave the palace.”

Hearing this, Pei Qiancheng breathed a sigh of relief, then said, “Since they cannot leave the palace, you shouldn’t delay here either. Tomorrow morning, leave the city immediately.”

Du Ruhui was silent for a moment, then said, “Brother Pei, can you help think of a solution?”

His words made Pei Qiancheng’s eyes widen as he stared at him, “Don’t tell me that at this point, you’re still thinking about bringing the Princess and the others out of the city?” Seeing Du Ruhui remain silent, he knew he had guessed correctly and angrily shook his head repeatedly, “You’ve simply gone mad. That’s the imperial palace, a forbidden area. What solution could I have? Even if I did, do you know how great the risk would be?”

“But…” Before Du Ruhui could continue, Pei Qiancheng had already said, “I don’t care what you’re thinking. In any case, you must listen to me in this matter. Leave the city tomorrow and delay no longer. If you still won’t listen, I’ll tie you up and drag you out.”

Du Ruhui looked behind Pei Qiancheng, his face changing slightly, “Brother Pei…”

Pei Qiancheng waved his hand dismissively, “You needn’t say more. My mind is made up and cannot be changed. Tonight I’ll stay with you to prevent you from causing any more trouble.”

“In my opinion, you’re the one causing trouble.” A sinister voice came from behind. Pei Qiancheng’s face immediately became extremely ugly. This voice… was clearly his elder brother’s. How… how could he be here?

Du Ruhui stared at Pei Qiantong who was slowly walking toward them. He had already seen him and wanted to warn Pei Qiancheng, but the latter wouldn’t let him speak.

Looking at Pei Qiantong who had walked before them, Pei Qiancheng struggled to squeeze out a smile that looked worse than crying, “Elder brother, you… how are you here?”

Pei Qiantong snorted coldly, “If I hadn’t come, how would I know that you would even betray your elder brother?”

Pei Qiancheng’s heart jumped, and he tried his best to put on an expression of not understanding, “What do you mean by that, elder brother?”

Pei Qiantong stared at him, “I ask you, how did you know about my affairs?”

Hearing this, Pei Qiancheng hurriedly shook his head, “I… I don’t know. I don’t know anything.”

“If it wasn’t you, how would the entire Du family and all the Wang family members suddenly disappear without a trace? How would Empress Xiao disguise herself as a palace maid and try to leave the palace with Princess Jinyang?”

Hearing this, Pei Qiancheng was greatly shocked and couldn’t help but reveal his true feelings, hurriedly saying, “Elder brother, you… how do you know these things?”

“Hmph!” Pei Qiantong glanced at Du Ruhui, “Today I discovered that Empress Xiao had disguised herself as Princess Jinyang’s palace maid and was trying to sneak out of the palace. I also heard that Du Ruhui had waited outside the palace for a night and, after seeing the Princess, was reluctant to leave. Finding this strange, I investigated secretly and discovered that the Du family had long since disappeared, and the Wang family all claimed to be ill and wouldn’t see visitors.”

Pei Qiancheng said uneasily, “There are… there are such things?”

“Don’t play dumb with me here!” Pei Qiantong shouted angrily, “These matters are definitely not coincidental. Tell me, how exactly did you find out?”

Seeing he couldn’t hide it any longer, Pei Qiancheng had no choice but to say, “That day… I heard Sima Dekan talking with elder brother and learned that you… wanted to rebel and kill His Majesty!”

Although he had already anticipated this, when Pei Qiancheng actually said it, Pei Qiantong’s eyelids still twitched violently. He said in a sinister voice, “You feared that Jiangdu would be in chaos at that time, so you told Du Ruhui about it and had him flee with his family!”

“Yes.” Pei Qiancheng had just responded when Pei Qiantong already shouted angrily, “Excellent! For the sake of an unrelated outsider, you would even betray your own brother. Do you still remember how we brothers depended on each other when our parents had just passed away? Do you still remember how I was beaten black and blue all over for your sake?”