Although Feng Jiu’er had long since told Nanmeng Xu that this marriage would have to be called off, after all, the two of them had no foundation of feelings between them at all.

She wasn’t a person from this era, and naturally couldn’t accept, as casually as Nanmeng Xu did, a marriage arranged for her by others.

But what she had thought before was that when the time came, she would make some mistake herself and let Nanmeng Xu be the one to break off the engagement. After all, her reputation had never been good to begin with — the rumors and gossip about her were already too numerous to count, so she didn’t care about one more.

As long as Nanmeng Xu’s dignity was preserved and the engagement could still be broken off, that would be the best outcome.

But now, the one who had taken the initiative to break off the engagement was her, and the one who had lost all face was Nanmeng Xu — how far was this from what she had originally promised? Worlds apart.

She only hoped Nanmeng Xu wouldn’t become too dejected. In the future, she would surely find a way to make it up to him!

After putting on her tall boots, she stood up and stretched her limbs: “Let’s go. To the training ground at the back hill first.”

The boat would go straight once it reached the bridgehead — there would always be a way to extricate herself.

……

Today, unprecedentedly, Di Ji actually took the initiative to shoulder the task of channeling energy into Mu Mu.

His skill was deep, and unlike Ye Luocha, he had no internal injuries, so if he were the one channeling energy into Mu Mu, by the look of things he could keep it up for at least one or two hours.

This way, the Ninth Prince finally had one or two hours to rest.

But, just as Ye Luocha had expected, the moment the Ninth Prince returned to his room, the first person he wanted to find was, sure enough, Feng Jiu’er.

“Your Highness, Miss Jiu’er, she… she seems to have gone out.” In fact, Long Yi had been searching for Feng Jiu’er since morning, practically turning this stronghold inside out, but he simply couldn’t find any trace of Miss Jiu’er.

Later, when he clearly noticed something was off with Ye Luocha, he pressed her for answers and only then learned that Jiu’er had vanished without a trace since yesterday!

Even now, Feng Jiu’er still hadn’t come back — it seemed there was no longer any way to hide it.

Seeing the difficulty written on Long Yi’s face, Zhan Qingcheng’s expression darkened: “Where is Jiu’er? Have her come here at once!”

“Your Highness!” Long Yi knew there was no way to keep covering this up, and could only say: “Your Highness, Miss Jiu’er went out last night and still hasn’t returned.”

“At a time like this, she still dares to go out?” Zhan Qingcheng abruptly stood up, the fine sweat on his face from channeling energy not yet dry, already anxious to rush out: “Who is with her?”

“At present… as far as we currently know, no one is… with her.” Long Yi’s voice grew softer and softer, until in the end it was so faint even he himself could barely hear it.

No one was with her at all!

Zhan Qingcheng said nothing more, simply strode toward the door.

The Prince indeed could not calm himself — also because the situation outside these past two days had been far too chaotic. With Miss Jiu’er going out like this, how dangerous must it be?

Long Yi had already sent people out to search, only no news had come back yet. He, too, was anxious inside, but there was nothing to be done!

Yu Jingfeng was now being held by the Eighth Prince’s men, and Long Yi had to stay here guarding the Ninth Prince — he himself couldn’t get away either.

“Your Highness, this subordinate has already ordered men to go search, perhaps news will come back soon. Your Highness, why don’t you…”

Since the Prince wanted to go out, Long Yi naturally didn’t dare stop him outright, and could only follow behind him, trying to persuade him.

“Ninth Prince, where are you going?” Ye Luocha and Elder Shi had been guarding outside the whole time, and the moment they saw Zhan Qingcheng come out, they immediately understood what was happening.

Ye Luocha hurried over and urged: “Our people have also gone to search for Feng Jiu’er’s whereabouts — there will surely be news back soon. Ninth Prince, please wait just a little longer.”

But, just as everyone had expected, Zhan Qingcheng was simply unwilling to listen to their advice.

In the blink of an eye, he had already walked to the bottom of the cliff, to the entrance of the path leading up to the cliff top.

“Your Highness!” Ye Luocha broke into a cold sweat from anxiety, hurrying after him in quick steps, and this time stepped forward to block his path.

“Your Highness, even if you pay no heed to Mu Mu inside, you should still think about your own current situation. There are plenty of people up there who want to harm you. If you rashly go out, it will be very dangerous.”

Zhan Qingcheng’s expression turned icy and forbidding, his voice cold enough to nearly freeze the surrounding air: “Step aside!”

Ye Luocha trembled — she hadn’t expected that the Ninth Prince, simply by opening his mouth, would unleash such a chill that no one could withstand it.

He had been channeling energy into Mu Mu for several days in a row now, and although he showed some signs of fatigue, his inner strength was still this formidable!

This vast, ocean-like internal energy was truly enough to shock anyone!

But how could she possibly yield now? What if, once he went out, he never came back — what would happen to Mu Mu then?

And besides, outside was truly as chaotic as she had said, with soldiers in turmoil everywhere, with everyone wanting his life.

Powerful as the Ninth Prince was, how could he possibly withstand an army of thousands?

Going out was always dangerous — for the sake of Feng Jiu’er, was he really willing to completely disregard his own safety?

By now, it seemed the answer was already obvious.

It was just that — how could she let him go take such a risk? She had already become convinced that the Ninth Prince before her eyes was none other than her own Di family’s Wuya!

“Your Highness, listen to me, I…”

A burst of cold energy instantly gathered in Zhan Qingcheng’s palm. Elder Shi, watching with his heart in his throat, hurried forward in alarm: “Your Highness, you mustn’t harm the Palace Mistress — she is your…”

But whatever words came after that, he didn’t dare say, no matter what.

Zhan Qingcheng’s expression turned even more frigid: “This prince will say it one more time — step aside!”

“Your Highness…”

In the midst of the standoff, a sudden stir of movement rang out atop the cliff.

Although the wind at the cliff’s edge had always been strong, they were all people of deep skill, and could naturally tell the difference between the sound of wind and the sound of approaching footsteps.

Sure enough, a figure soon appeared above, moving along familiar footholds, as if skimming over eaves and walls — in the blink of an eye, landing within everyone’s sight.

He was covered in travel dust, clearly having rushed over in great haste, his somewhat dark-skinned face, lit by the early morning sun, showing signs of exhaustion.

One look told you he probably hadn’t slept well the night before either, having been busy outside the whole time!

But he wasn’t Feng Jiu’er — it was actually Long Shiyi!

Seeing the Prince right there, Shiyi was a little startled, but quickly understood what must have happened.

He stepped forward at once and bowed to Zhan Qingcheng in salute: “Your Highness!”

“Well? Is there any news?” Long Yi hurried over and asked urgently.

Long Shiyi coming back at this moment — did that mean he had brought news of Feng Jiu’er? As long as there was news, would the Prince not need to rush out anymore?

Right now, everyone was extremely anxious.

Long Shiyi knew what Long Yi was worried about in his heart, and besides, seeing the Prince standing right there, how could he fail to guess what had just happened?

He nodded, then looked at Zhan Qingcheng and said respectfully: “Your Highness, Miss Jiu’er is currently at the Imperial Academy.”

Zhan Qingcheng started walking toward the cliff’s edge — this action immediately startled everyone present into a cold sweat once more.

Long Shiyi hurried after him, saying urgently: “Your Highness, today, in the front courtyard of the Martial Hall at the academy, Miss Jiu’er publicly broke off her engagement with Nanmeng Xu.”