After leaving Chonghua Palace, Ji Zhen breathed a sigh of relief.

She stood outside an empty side hall to take a short rest, touched her head, and unexpectedly felt an unprecedented sense of relief for having survived the calamity.

The moonlight shone on the heavy eaves of the Forbidden Palace, reflecting a thin and cool moonlight. Ji Zhen leaned against the palace wall and looked for a long time, and found a serious problem, she seemed to be lost.

This was the first time she had stayed in the palace at night since she was a child. She had never expected that the palace, which was covered by trees during the day, would look almost exactly the same under the moonlight, making it difficult for her to tell the direction.

Ji Zhen took two steps outside, used his lightness skills, and planned to fly to the top of the side hall to take a look. However, as soon as he jumped, he was knocked to the ground by someone, and they both rolled into the dark side hall.

What the hell? Assassin?

Ji Zhen immediately bent his arm and clenched his fist. A cold light flashed in his hand, and the blade on his fingertips turned into a stream of light and stabbed straight at the person coming.

In an instant, the two had exchanged three moves.

However, the side hall was in a state of disrepair, with no lights on and it was pitch black. Ji Zhen had no idea who the other person was. She only knew that the man had good kung fu and was unarmed, but he was able to fight her with ease.

When Ji Zhen thought of such a person hidden in the palace, he frowned. He secretly urged Dantian, and raised two times his strength. He pinched the word "entanglement" and silently, like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue, he stuck to the person, suddenly locked him, released all his strength, and pressed him to the ground. His fingertips were against his throat, and he said coldly:

"do not move."

The person under him struggled for a moment before giving up completely and whispered:

"Your Highness, it's me, Jiang Yan."

ha?

Ji Zhen took out a small fire starter from the pouch on her waist, lit it and shone it on the man's face. It was indeed Jiang Yan.

"It's you? Why did you attack me out of nowhere?"

After recognizing the man, Ji Zhen did not relax, but instead held him even tighter.

She didn't trust a single one of the spies from the Thirteen States of Western Rong, even if they were hired by Li Yuanzhen.

In the dark side hall, the candle that suddenly lit up was too conspicuous. Ji Zhen stepped on the fire starter and extinguished most of the fire, leaving only a little light to illuminate her and Jiang Yan's eyes.

"Your Highness just wanted to climb the roof of the side hall, but he didn't know that the secret guards in the palace were everywhere. Your Highness's move was too dangerous, so I had to knock you down. Otherwise, if you were mistaken for an assassin, it would be difficult for me to save you."

Jiang Yan spread his arms and legs and let Ji Zhen press him to the ground, patiently explaining. But Ji Zhen didn't buy it at all. She pressed her knee on the vulnerable part of his neck and sneered:

"Even so, why are you fighting with me in this side hall?"

Sure enough, Jiang Yan, who was suppressed by Ji Zhen, was silent for a moment, and then he said:

"This is the request of Her Royal Highness the Princess."

"Huh? She wants you to fight with me?" Ji Zhen didn't believe a word of it.

After all, if Li Yuanzhen wanted to test her kung fu, he could just try it in the East Palace. Why wait in such a dark place?

"Her Highness asked me to personally test your ability to see if you are really easy to be manipulated by a man."

Jiang Yan spoke calmly, but Ji Zhen understood.

Her face flushed instantly, and she immediately pulled away from Jiang Yan and retreated to the other side of the side hall, angrily scolding:

"absurd!"

Jiang Yan stood up slowly, straightened the clothes that Ji Zhen had torn apart, bowed respectfully to Ji Zhen and said:

"I have tried, Your Highness is an excellent martial artist, I am convinced of my defeat."

Ji Zhen's face turned red in the dark, and she didn't want to continue this topic at all.

This was beyond her expectation. She never thought that Li Yuanzhen would let Jiang Yan seduce her. Why? Wasn't Jiang Yan going to be given to the little princess of Yan State?

What's even more outrageous is that Jiang Yan actually disobeyed Li Yuanzhen's orders. Why?

For a moment, Ji Zhen was confused. Relying on the fact that Jiang Yan couldn't beat her, she simply asked directly:

"Since Her Highness asked you to seduce me, why are you pretending to obey her but secretly disobeying her?"

"Your Highness doesn't like me. I'm afraid that if I do something tempting, I'll be beaten to death by Your Highness."

Ji Zhen was stunned and accepted this seemingly unreasonable reason which was very applicable to her.

Jiang Yan took out a small night-shining pearl and rolled it under Ji Zhen's feet, illuminating a dimly lit area at her feet. The bright light was like moonlight falling on the ground, which matched the dilapidated side hall very well.

"Your Highness, I have something to discuss with you. Can you come over?" Jiang Yan asked Ji Zhen for his opinion in a very polite manner.

"Yeah." Ji Zhen responded.

Jiang Yan knelt down opposite Ji Zhen, and the bright light enveloped the two of them. Ji Zhen then realized that Jiang Yan was wearing the robes of a palace attendant. However, in the fight just now, his clothes were wrinkled by her, his hair crown was knocked off by her, and the jade hairpin that tied his hair fell to the ground and broke into two pieces. His black hair was scattered, and he looked like he had been severely ravaged.

Ji Zhen couldn't bear to look at it, so he turned his face away, coughed lightly, and touched his head.

She never liked to wear too many decorations. Today, she wore a jade hairpin to show respect when she went to the palace to meet the princess Li Yuanzhen. She didn't expect that she could use it here.

Ji Zhen took off the jade hairpin and handed it to Jiang Yan. In the face of Jiang Yan's surprised gaze, she explained awkwardly:

"It's not proper to have your hair disheveled. You'll have to use this for now. After all, I was the one who broke your hairpin, so consider it as compensation."

Jiang Yan took the jade hairpin and gently stroked the cloud pattern on it. A hint of warmth appeared in his eyes. He bowed respectfully to Ji Zhen and said:

"Thank you for the reward, Your Highness."

In the bright light, Jiang Yan used her hands as a comb to gently comb her black hair. As she raised her hands, her sleeves slipped down, revealing a white wrist with a dark red string tied to it. The color must have been worn for a long time. On the red string was a small gold bead that looked familiar.

Ji Zhen couldn't help but take a closer look, and the more she looked at it, the more familiar it looked. It was strange, why was this little gold bead so similar to the little gold bead in her purse?

But that shouldn't be the case. She got these little gold beads because she loved to sneak out to play when she was a child and forgot to bring money. The general was afraid that she would be bullied outside because she had no money, so he specially cast these little red gold beads for her.

These red gold beads were engraved with the seal of the General's Mansion and were not circulated in the market. Anyone who got her small gold beads had to take them to the bank specially opened for her by the General's Mansion to exchange them for silver before they could be used.

If it is not exchanged, then this little gold bead will be just a decoration and will be useless unless it is melted.

Logically speaking, the size and shape of this gold bead are unique and there is no other in the world. But why did it appear on Jiang Yan's wrist? He is a spy from the Thirteen States of Xirong!

Ji Zhen's burning gaze finally caught Jiang Yan's attention. He stopped what he was doing and asked:

"Your Highness, why are you staring at me?"

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