The searchers looked for a long time but found nothing.
Yun Chu’s expression grew increasingly somber. Her gaze toward Chu Rui became ever sharper, the moonlight reflecting in her eyes like two gleaming blades.
“Empress Dowager, we actually need not stand in opposition.” Chu Rui spoke slowly. “As I’ve said before, we can cooperate and have Prince Yan ascend the throne as Emperor.”
Yun Chu said coldly: “Regardless of what we discuss, you must first hand over Prince Yan.”
“If I hand over Prince Yan, wouldn’t I lose my greatest bargaining chip?” Chu Rui’s smile suddenly vanished. “As long as the Empress Dowager obediently cooperates with me, I guarantee I won’t touch a single hair on Prince Yan’s head.”
Yun Chu’s eyes darkened.
She suddenly drew a short sword from her sleeve and pressed it against Chu Rui’s throat: “Don’t think to threaten me. You’re not worthy.”
She raised the short sword and stabbed it in below Chu Rui’s collarbone.
Chu Rui’s pupils dilated sharply: “You—you don’t care about Chu Hongjue’s life or death anymore? What a ruthless woman!”
Yun Chu withdrew the short sword and stabbed in again.
It wasn’t that she didn’t care about Brother Jue, but rather—if she allowed herself to be manipulated and coerced because of Brother Jue, in the end, Brother Yu and Changsheng would also be in danger.
She couldn’t let her other two children fall into danger because of one child.
The palm and back of the hand were both flesh—she had no choice.
But she had to choose.
Yun Chu’s short sword pierced into Chu Rui’s body, then she forcefully twisted it: “Speak! Where have you hidden Prince Yan?”
Chu Rui nearly fainted from the pain.
He drew in a deep breath, grabbed Yun Chu’s wrist, pushed her backward, then slowly pulled out the short sword himself.
Yun Chu raised her hand in a gesture, and four highly skilled martial guards stepped forward and held Chu Rui down.
“Yun Chu, you’ve gone mad!” Chu Rui shouted angrily. “Treating me like this—I will never spare Chu Hongjue!”
“Right now, you’re not qualified to negotiate terms with me!” Yun Chu drew out a long blade and laid it across his throat. “I’ll count to three. If you don’t voluntarily reveal Prince Yan’s hiding place, then I’ll have no choice but to send you to meet your parents!”
Chu Rui looked into her eyes and felt a deep killing intent.
He knew that this woman before him would definitely kill him—she was certainly capable of it.
He couldn’t bear to harm her biological son, yet she showed no mercy in injuring him to this extent.
“Three.”
“Two.”
Yun Chu’s blade pressed down continuously.
Blood seeped out, flowing down Chu Rui’s neck.
He closed his eyes and compromised: “Fine, I’ll take you there.”
Yun Chu said coldly: “You only need to say where he’s hidden. Don’t think of playing tricks.”
“Hidden in a secret chamber.” Chu Rui pressed his lips together. “If I don’t go, you won’t find the mechanism, and you’ll never be able to rescue Chu Hongjue. He’ll starve to death in the underground chamber.”
Yun Chu picked up the blade and stabbed it into his thigh to prevent any unexpected changes.
Only then did she say: “Lead the way.”
Chu Rui’s face twisted in pain, and he couldn’t help saying: “Good, very good. Yun Chu, you’re too ruthless.”
He walked with difficulty toward the very back of the Prince Regent’s manor.
After he acquired this residence, he had begun extensive renovations. At a glance, there didn’t seem to be any major changes, but Yun Chu knew that all the renovations must have been conducted underground. Otherwise, her people couldn’t possibly have failed to find anything in their search.
“It’s right here.”
Chu Rui suddenly stopped before an enormous artificial rock formation.
The rock formation’s enormity came not from its height but from its span of several dozen meters. Water flowed around its middle, with fish swimming to and fro.
Chu Rui raised his hand and pointed to an indented area on top of the rock formation: “Throw a rock into there, and the underground chamber will naturally open.”
Qiutong leaped up, jumped onto the rock formation, casually picked up a round stone nearby and threw it in. A thunderous boom sounded, followed immediately by a heavy grinding noise.
The rock formation before Yun Chu actually slowly parted to both sides, revealing a narrow, dark passageway.
Qiutong was overjoyed: “Empress Dowager, there really is a secret chamber!”
Just then.
Chu Rui, who was being held by two guards, suddenly raised his foot and stomped down forcefully.
Yun Chu sensed trouble.
She was about to give an order when in an instant—
The ground beneath Chu Rui’s feet suddenly sank downward, taking the two guards with him. Quickly, the ground tiles sealed back up.
“Fan Ming, you lead men to dig this open as fast as possible. Dig all the way down and make sure to find Chu Rui—dead or alive!” Yun Chu said coldly. “Lin Qiang, you lead men to follow this mourning one into the secret chamber!”
Four or five guards held torches at the front, with Yun Chu following close behind.
The secret passage was narrow—people had to bend at the waist to walk inside. After walking for about half a shichen, the passage finally became somewhat wider. Continuing forward, it gradually grew taller, allowing people to stand upright. Then a door appeared ahead.
Yun Chu prayed inwardly, hoping Brother Jue would be behind the door…
Before pushing the door open, she heard crying from inside.
“Waaah—”
“Mother… wuwuwu, I want Mother!”
Yun Chu’s nose tingled with emotion. It was Brother Jue, it was her Brother Jue!
“Prince Yan, please stop crying.” A young woman’s voice came through. “Come, drink milk. This servant will feed you milk…”
“No—no, I don’t want it!” Chu Hongjue cried loudly and pushed away the person before him. “Mother, I want Mother!”
He was only a year and a half old. Though he couldn’t say many words, he could already run. He jumped down from the young woman and ran toward the door.
The young woman hurried after him: “Your Highness, this is a secret chamber—you can’t get out. Be good, be good. Don’t hurt yourself falling, or this servant won’t be able to explain to the Prince…”
Before she finished speaking, the door before her was pushed open.
The young woman thought someone was bringing food. She looked up and saw a line of guards, and was instantly frightened into trembling.
“Mother!”
Chu Hongjue cried and threw himself toward Yun Chu.
Yun Chu bent down and picked up the child. She examined him from his hair to his little toes, confirming he hadn’t suffered any injury. Only then did her anxious heart finally settle.
“It’s alright now, it’s alright…” She pressed her forehead against the child’s. “Mother is here to take you home. Something like this will never happen again.”
“Wuwuwu…”
Though the little one hadn’t suffered much, waking up in a strange place unable to see familiar people had deeply aggrieved him. He cried for quite a while, and after tiring himself out from crying, he fell asleep in Yun Chu’s arms.
Yun Chu handed the child to Qiutong to personally keep at her side, but did not return to the palace.
Instead, she went to check on the progress in the tunnels.
The entire rear courtyard of the Prince Regent’s manor had been dug up. There were a total of four passages below—one led to the secret chamber where Brother Jue had been kept, while the other three led to different places. Everyone split into three groups, walking forward along the tunnels. The three secret passages continued branching after a while, dividing into six routes… Finally, they kept branching until there were more than thirty routes.
Yun Chu’s expression grew increasingly complex.
Chu Rui had truly left himself ample escape routes.
They say cats have nine lives—with so many backup routes, Chu Rui surpassed even nine lives.
Fortunately, she had enough people under her command. No matter how many branches there were, she arranged at least a hundred guards to proceed along each line.
It wasn’t until the afternoon of the next day that news finally came.
“Reporting to the Empress Dowager, the Prince Regent’s tracks have been discovered outside the East Gate of the capital!”