I'll tell you the secret and let's laugh together!

I have a mission to accomplish. If I mess up my master's mission, then what will happen...

The maid shuddered suddenly and said quickly, "Miss, what's wrong? Just sign your name, the other ladies have signed too. It's very simple. Since you are here, it would be boring to go back to the mansion directly. You should just sign it."

Seeing that this maid dared to stop her master, An Xiang's maid stepped forward and stood in front of her master, saying coldly:

"Whether you sign or not is voluntary. Do you want to interfere with the master's decision? Get out of the way!"

Under the protection of the maid, An Xiang walked quickly towards Ning Zhiyi.

"Sister Ning, you're here. Let's leave quickly. There are bad guys here."

Ning Zhiyi let her pull him away and said with a smile:

"Why are there bad guys here? Come and tell me, which bad guy wants to bully our little An Xiang?"

An Xiang told everyone why the maid asked her to sign, but she said she felt something was fishy so she didn't sign.

"Well, you did the right thing. I just came from another hall. The other halls did not ask for signatures. There must be something wrong when things are out of the ordinary. Guess, is this a big demon or a small demon?"

"I think it should be a big monster!"

An Xiang looked at Ning Zhiyi's smiling face. The relationship between people is really wonderful. As long as she stays with Ning Zhiyi, An Xiang feels that she is not afraid of anything.

That is a convincing magic.

"Okay, it's rude not to reciprocate. Since the big demon has already made a move, we can't just stand there and show our support. Do you dare to fight back?"

Seeing An Xiang's little expression, Ning Zhiyi knew that she understood what he meant, so he asked.

"I dare!"

After getting An Xiang's answer without any hesitation, Ning Zhiyi smiled, held An Xiang's hand with his backhand, and pulled her away.

The maid in the Third Prince's Mansion was so anxious that she stared blankly, but could do nothing. She turned around and ran away in a hurry.

"What? If you can't even handle such a small matter, what's the use of you!" The third prince angrily smashed the cup when he learned about this.

The maid was not qualified to report directly to the Third Prince. The one who came to report was the steward of the palace. "Your Highness, I know I was wrong. I will order someone to carry out the second plan right away."

"Hurry up and go! How could such a perfect plan go wrong? Did the people under you not pay attention and let others see the flaws?"

The steward noticed that the Third Prince's tone was not questioning but affirmative, and understood that he was determined to kill someone to vent his anger. Since someone else was taking the blame and he didn't have to bear the responsibility himself, he simply pushed the person out.

"Yes, I think it must be that someone below me made a mistake in doing things, which led to the mistake. I will deal with that person now."

The third prince kept his eyes down and said nothing. The steward bent over and slowly retreated to the door.

After reaching the door, the maid walked in quickly, knelt on the ground with a plop, and kowtowed continuously.

"Steward, I really did everything according to the plan without any deviation. I really don't know why things turned out like this. Please be wise and spare my life."

Everyone says that the Third Prince is kind and benevolent, and a very kind prince, but only those in the Third Prince's Mansion know how terrible this master is.

This seemingly peaceful mansion of the Third Prince is full of murderous intent. If you are not careful today, you will become a pile of dry bones under this splendid mansion tomorrow!

The steward looked the maid up and down, his cold and contemptuous gaze slowly changed, and after a few words in his throat, he said:

"Well, I won't do it again. But you can avoid the death penalty, but you can't escape the punishment of life. I have spent a lot of time and effort to ask His Highness to spare your life."

If the maid is not well-behaved, she will not be assigned tasks. She can understand the meaning of the string music and flatter, "Boss, I will obey you in everything."

Behind the steward was a man with a goatee. When the man saw that the steward had disobeyed the Third Prince's wishes and failed at this critical moment, he hurriedly reminded him:

"But what the Third Prince means is..."

"'Shut up. Am I in charge or are you? What's the matter? It takes so little time. Just make sure the final result remains the same. Stop talking nonsense. You keep an eye on it. I'll be right back!'"

Watching the steward lead the beautiful maid away, the goateed man spat fiercely, "Bah!"

"You son of a bitch, keep on being so arrogant. You'd better pray that there won't be any mistakes in what you do, otherwise... humph, just wait for death."

The man with the goatee entered the Third Prince's residence relatively late, and had always been suppressed by the steward. He had long been dissatisfied with the steward, and as long as he got the chance, he would find a way to overthrow the steward and take the position himself.

The steward took the maid to an empty room. Not long after, the steward walked out refreshed.

"Why are you standing there like an idiot? Go in and have some fun, then deal with the person. If you make His Highness unhappy, you know the consequences."

"Yes, thank you very much, butler. Don't worry, I will clean up the mess after we are done."

The servant looked anxious, and after reporting respectfully, he walked into the room holding his belt.

The steward left humming a tune. After a while, a servant came out pulling a cloth bag. The bag was bulging, as if it contained something.

The servant was very familiar with the terrain of the Third Prince's Mansion and specifically found a secluded path to walk on. Ning Zhiyi and An Xiang were enjoying the cool in the pavilion and saw him from afar.

An Xiang didn't care, just took a look and then looked away. Ning Zhiyi looked at him a few more times, and suddenly, his eyes fixed on the bloodstains on the cloth bag.

The bloodstain is located at the lower part of the bag and may not be noticed if you don't look carefully.

"Xiang'er, wait for me here for a moment. There is definitely something wrong with that servant. I'll go over and take a look. Maybe I can find something unexpected."

"Sister Ning, will it be dangerous if you go there alone? That boy looks fierce and a little scary. I will go with you. Don't worry, if I encounter danger, I will run first and crawl to find someone to save you. I won't stay there stupidly."

An Xiang raised his hand and made a promise with a serious face.

Ning Zhiyi originally didn't want to let An Xiang go, fearing that she would be in danger and he wouldn't have time to take care of her.

But on second thought, the Third Prince is now targeting An Xiang. What if she is captured by the Third Prince's men as soon as he leaves? In order to avoid being out of reach, he should keep her by his side.

"Okay, I will protect you, but if you find that something is wrong, don't worry about me. I have the means to protect myself. You must run first, understand?"

"Yeah, I know."

The two sisters held hands and followed him on tiptoe, and found that the boy's path was getting more and more off the track, and finally he came to a remote courtyard in the northwest corner of the entire Third Prince's Mansion.

This small area had long been abandoned, with all kinds of weeds growing around it. This courtyard was incompatible with the magnificent Third Prince's mansion, it was like two different worlds.

The wooden door opened slowly with a creaking sound. The sound was strange and unpleasant. Ning Zhiyi clearly saw that the servant could not help but shiver. He put his hands together, muttered something, and kept bowing to all directions before he walked into the yard reluctantly.

An Xiang's arms were covered with goose bumps. She rubbed her sleeves and moved closer to Ning Zhiyi.

Ning Zhiyi held An Xiang's hand tightly, wanting to wait until the servant left before taking An Xiang in to take a look.

The system may have sensed Ning Zhiyi's thoughts and reminded him:

[Host, if you want to explore the yard, I advise you to give up the idea. This is the place where corpses are disposed of. Many dirty things have happened in the Third Prince's Mansion over the years, and the bodies of those who died were buried in this yard.]

[This place is like a large mass grave. At night, there are gusts of cold wind, just like the underworld.]

Now An Xiang didn't just have goose bumps on her arms, but all over her body. Her body was tense and her eyes were looking around, as if if she found anything wrong, she would run away with Ning Zhiyi.

Ning Zhiyi is not afraid of people, but she is still a little afraid of ghosts. Now that she knew what was in the bag, she was no longer curious and turned around to pull An Xiang away.

"Ah!" An Xiang covered her lips and let out a small cry of surprise. Fortunately, the sounds of insects and birds were loud enough here, and the servant did not notice the cry.

"Sister Ning, look, it's that maid!"

Following An Xiang's hint, Ning Zhiyi saw a familiar face.

The servant had already opened the cloth bag, revealing the face of the maid who asked An Xiang to sign in the hall. Her hair was disheveled, her face was covered in blood, and she was lying motionless on the ground. She was most likely dead.

Ning Zhiyi covered An Xiang's eyes with her backhand and carefully pulled her away. "It's okay. This is her own fault. It has nothing to do with us. It's a bit spooky here. Let's get out of here quickly."

When the two of them walked a long distance away, An Xiang breathed a sigh of relief, stroked his throbbing heart, and said with lingering fear:

"Sister Ning, it's so dark and scary there. Fortunately, you are here. I didn't expect that the maid would be killed so quickly. It seems that there must be something fishy going on there!"

"Don't be afraid. Let's just wait and see what happens. Don't leave my side for a while. Just react according to my prompts."

"Okay, I'll listen to Sister Ning."

As soon as the two of them walked back to the front hall, a maid ran over in a hurry, "Hey, young master, I finally found you. The other young ladies have already started to compete in music, chess, calligraphy and painting, why haven't you come on stage yet?"

An Xiang looked at the nanny in confusion and said, "The other ladies are starting to compete in music, chess, calligraphy and painting. What am I going to do on stage? Are you asking me to be the referee?"

Ning Zhiyi laughed out loud, she didn't expect An Xiang to have such a mischievous side.

Nanny didn't expect An Xiang to play a trick on her, so she smiled helplessly:

"Young Master, you are such a joker. You are going to participate in the competition. Today is the day when the Third Prince is selecting his concubine. Since you have signed up, you must participate. Otherwise, if you sign up but don't participate, it is a serious crime of contempt for the Emperor's majesty!"

As the nanny spoke, she observed An Xiang's expression. In her opinion, the only way to deal with a delicate young lady like this was to scare her.

Scare people first, and things will be much easier later.

This is another plan of the Third Prince. This plan is a bit risky compared to the first plan. The original plan was to let An Xiang sign his own name, so that it would be easier for the Third Prince to shirk responsibility later.

However, since the maidservant did not complete the task and did not obtain An Xiang's signature, they could only ask someone to imitate An Xiang's handwriting. An Xiang had not left home for a long time, and his calligraphy works that have been circulated are even rarer. What they are imitating now is An Xiang's handwriting from a year ago.

The manager believed that a person's handwriting was formed over more than ten years, and the pen stroke, writing strength, and writing style would not change easily, so he did not waste time looking for An Xiang's current calligraphy.

"You are right. Disrespecting the emperor's authority is indeed a serious crime, but not doing your best for the royal family and being lazy is an even greater crime!"

"I clearly didn't sign up, so why should I participate in the competition? You can make a mistake in such an important matter as the Third Prince's selection of a concubine. This is a serious crime!"

With someone she trusted by her side, An Xiang started to confront the nanny.

Ning Zhiyi stood beside her, crossed her arms, and supported her. "Yes, you actually made such a low-level mistake. You are in trouble, Madam."

"If the Third Prince knew you had made a mistake, I don't know how he would punish you. But you don't have to worry too much. The Third Prince is a very kind and generous person. I don't think he would beat you to death. At most, he would beat you half to death. No matter what, you can save your life."

Mammy's face was grim. Thinking of her master's moody temper, if she failed to complete the task...

Thinking of the terrible consequences, her body couldn't help but shake. She must not die!

"Miss, you are such a joker. How could I be wrong? Look, this is the registration book. Your name is clearly written on it."

An Xiang frowned. Her own name actually was there. It seemed that these people added it themselves.

"What does this mean? Just because you added my name without my permission, I have to participate?"

Mammy's smile deepened, and she raised her voice slightly and said:

"My young master, please don't be shy. Our Third Prince is the Star-Shining Young Master in the sky, just like the Immortal King in the sky. It's not shameful to like the Third Prince. Why do you have to hide it?"

The nanny's very suggestive words attracted the attention of several young ladies who came to watch the fun, and several of them looked sideways.

An Xiang frowned, not understanding why the nanny spoke like that. It was so irrelevant that she was confused.

Ning Zhiyi reached out and pulled her behind him, then raised his hand and slapped the nanny in the face, knocking her to the ground.

He squatted down and looked coldly at the shocked nanny who was covering her face with her hands, "Watch your mouth. I don't know if the Third Prince is an immortal king in heaven, but you are like a toad on earth who can't control his mouth!"

"I'll say it one last time. She didn't sign up for the imperial concubine selection, and she certainly won't go on stage to compete. Someone made a mistake in the registration book. Go find who made the mistake. If you dare to say something irrelevant again, I'll beat you up!"

The nanny didn't expect Ning Zhiyi to be so tough. After all, today was the Third Prince's concubine selection banquet. You have to look at the owner before you beat the dog. How can you just beat someone?

But between the pain of being beaten and the pain of losing one's head, Mammy still knew which one to choose.

She still had to put the blame on An Xiang for liking the Third Prince, having a crush on him, and secretly writing her name in the registration book!

"My lady, you are the master and I am the servant. You can discipline me however you want, but I still have to tell you the truth. It is clear that this lady admires the Third Prince and secretly added her name to the registration book."

"Now I am just following the rules and inviting the young lady whose name is on the registration book to come on stage to compete. How can it be my fault? If you don't like me, I will beat and scold you as you like. Please consider the overall situation."