She struggled desperately in shock, only to hear a deep voice: "It's !"
Chu Ruoyin's eyes widened as she looked over. Who else could it be but Murong Jin?
"Mmph, let go first!"
"No!" The man tightened his grip. "A-Yin, the Emperor harbors ill intentions. To coax you, he even gave you the Empress's phoenix robe. If this goes on, what will beco of it?"
Chu Ruoyin looked down at the phoenix robe she was wearing and cried foul, "It's not the Emperor..."
"Not even the Empress!" Murong Jin narrowed his eyes, his tone threatening. "I can yield on anything else, but not you! Today, this prince will have to play the thief for once!"
With that, he struck her acupoint to mute her, stripped off the phoenix robe, and changed her into a palace maid's outfit.
The guards at the gates of the various palaces saw him carrying a "palace maid" out. Looking fierce and malicious, no one dared to provoke him.
Unbelievably, he was allowed to carry her out of the palace in broad daylight.
In the afternoon, the envoys from the Western Frontier ca to request an audience again.
When Xie Zhizhou and ng Yang ca looking, they realized Chu Ruoyin was gone.
They turned Kunning Palace upside down but couldn't find her. Finally, a eunuch recalled that the Prince of Qin had visited this morning...
"Oh no, it must be Murong Jin!" Xie Zhizhou slamd his fist on the table. "He just had to abduct her right after they saw the 'Empress' yesterday. What do we do now?"
ng Yang scratched his head. "How about we tell them that the Empress has fallen ill too?"
Xie Zhizhou rolled his eyes at him. "Do you think the people from the Western Frontier are fools? Moreover, this matter concerns the border between our two countries and is highly unusual. If all else fails, we'll have to invite my father-in-law—"
His voice abruptly stopped. Thinking of his ex-wife, a flash of pain crossed his brow. "Let's invite the Chief Grand Secretary."
After Cao Yang arrived, he made the sa judgnt as Xie Zhizhou. He said, "Since things have co to this, we can only stall the Western Frontier envoys while secretly sending people to look for my second niece."
Thus, they split into two groups. Xie Zhizhou falsely claid the Empress was unwell to send Wu Xian away, while ng Yang mobilized the imperial guards to secretly search for Chu Ruoyin.
However, Murong Jin was truly a master at hiding people. For eight or nine days in a row, they couldn't even find a single hair of hers!
Inside the main hall.
The Western Frontier envoy paced back and forth, having grown impatient. "Lord Xie, we have repeatedly requested an audience with your country's Empress, but she hasn't even shown her face. Is this your way of treating guests?"
Xie Zhizhou hurriedly offered an apologetic smile. "Please be patient, please be patient..."
From the corner of his eye, he kept glancing outside. Didn't ng Yang say he had a plan? Where was he?
Wu Xian quietly took everything in, furrowing his brows slightly.
They had already confird that this Empress was the third daughter of the Yun family, but their requests for an audience over the past few days had been t with excuses. Could sothing have happened?
He imdiately stood up. "Since your country has no intention of negotiating peace, we won't force it. Farewell."
He made as if to walk toward the hall doors. Xie Zhizhou grew frantic, but then saw a man from the Western Frontier stumble in. "High Priest, this is bad!!" He babbled sothing in the Western Frontier language, and Wu Xian's expression changed drastically. He shouted coldly, "Are you sure?"
The man nodded repeatedly. With an ashen face, Wu Xian looked back at the phoenix throne, then toward the direction of the Western Frontier, caught in a dilemma.
A mont later, he abruptly flicked his sleeve. "Let's go!!"
The Western Frontier envoys left just like that, leaving Xie Zhizhou and the Ministry of Rites officials staring at each other in bewildernt.
Only then did ng Yang hurriedly arrive with Chu Ruolan. Seeing the empty hall, he was dumbfounded. "Where are they?"
Xie Zhizhou spread his hands. "Gone."
"Gone? Didn't they insist on seeing Her Majesty the Empress? They just left?" ng Yang's face was full of question marks. Xie Zhizhou turned to ask a Ministry of Rites official, "Did you understand what they were saying just now?"
An official fluent in the Western Frontier language stepped forward. "This humble official understood a bit. It sounded like soone blew up the headquarters of their Sacred Cult and destroyed several divine temples. They also said sothing about... oh, sothing about a potential threat to the dicine man Gu, I believe that was the term?"
"dicine man Gu?" Everyone in the hall gasped.
No one could forget the bloody battle in the Cold Palace from before!
Xie Zhizhou realized what happened and said, "It must be the Emperor and the others! Besieging Wei to rescue Zhao—it has solved our urgent crisis!"
ng Yang nodded but then worried, "But causing such a huge commotion, won't they be in danger in the Western Frontier?"
Xie Zhizhou also furrowed his brows, but then heard Chu Ruolan say crisply, "Danger? With my brother-in-law the Emperor and my eldest sister there, the ones in danger should be others, right?"
The two n paused, thinking that actually made sense.
Then they saw Princess Hualan turn around and wave her hand. "If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now. Dead Fish is about to take the autumn examinations soon, so I need to stew so non-lethal chicken soup for him!"
The two n's mouths twitched. Rembering Princess Hualan's cooking skills, they both silently shed a tear of sympathy for Yan Zhao in their hearts.
Western Frontier, Mount i.
Chu Ruoyan stood halfway up the mountain, constantly looking out. When she finally saw that familiar figure returning, she couldn't help but throw herself at him.
Yan Zheng had seen her long ago and stepped forward quickly to catch her in a full embrace. "A-Yan? Didn't we agree you would wait inside? Why did you co out?" As he spoke, he took off his cloak and draped it over her. "The wind is strong outside, be careful not to catch a cold!"
Chu Ruoyan inspected him carefully twice before saying, "I couldn't sit still, so I wanted to co out and wait. You're not hurt, are you?"
Originally, Yan Zheng didn't have to go on this mission to blow up the Sacred Cult's headquarters.
However, Yun Lang's injuries hadn't fully healed, and they were short on manpower, which forced the Emperor to take action personally.
Chu Ruoyan had been on edge for days, her brows furrowed with worry. Yan Zheng gently smoothed them out and said, "I'm not. Without my wife's permission, I wouldn't dare get hurt and make you worry."
Chu Ruoyan couldn't help but smile. Beside them ca a voice sour with teasing, "Tsk, tsk, a married sister is like spilled water. Miaomiao, why don't you care about your second brother a little?"
She turned her head and only then saw Yun Lang standing nearby with his arms crossed, watching her with a half-smile.
That flash of red clothing was no different from usual. She couldn't help but smile sheepishly. "Second Brother, wasn't it because I figured your martial arts are so formidable? If Yan Zheng is fine, then you must certainly be fine too, right?"
These words were pure flattery, but Yun Lang ate it right up.
He laughed heartily and patted Yan Zheng on the shoulder. "That's right! When it cos to martial arts, my brother-in-law still can't compare to ! Our Miaomiao has a good eye!"
With that, he snapped open his folding fan and walked off, overjoyed. Yan Zheng looked at him with a face full of disdain. "No wonder he can't get a wife."
Chu Ruoyan chuckled and shook her head. "By the way, did everything go smoothly on your trip this ti?"
The Emperor nodded. "Smoothly. Yun Lang is very familiar with that place. After we went in, it was like entering an unpopulated land. The news has reached the capital, and Wu Xian is already rushing back."
Chu Ruoyan breathed a sigh of relief. "This way, my second sister will be out of trouble! Also, what about the dicine man Gu? Did you find it?"
Speaking of this, Yan Zheng's brows tightened slightly. "No. We caught over a dozen people, but none of them knew the whereabouts of the dicine man Gu. Yun Lang and I analyzed the situation; after all, it is a forbidden art, and Wu Xian wouldn't dare make a big public show of it. But judging by how frantically he is rushing back, we most likely blew up the right place. The location where they refine the dicine man Gu is definitely within the Sacred Cult!"
Chu Ruoyan nodded. "That would be best! Only by tracking down this wicked thing and burning it to ashes can we finally restore peace to the world!"
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