A piece of Japanese incense

The sea breeze blew through the courtyard wall, echoing with the sound of waves crashing against the shore. The moonlight cast a few pale rays, barely illuminating the outlines of the room.

Zhi Yihe held her breath, pressed against the wall. She had been groping for nearly two hours, her fingernails nearly breaking, but she still couldn't find a single loose brick.

After several days of observation, she noticed that a darker brick at the base of the wall seemed to be loose. If she could pry it open, perhaps she could dig a narrow tunnel leading to the flowers outside the courtyard, which would be her slim hope of escape...

She focused all her attention on the touch of her fingertips and the force of the prying, even ignoring the longer-than-usual breathing of Yu Tuan on the bed behind her. She simply thought that Yu Tuan was sleeping so soundly because of the fear she had suffered for days and the residual poison in her body that had not yet been cleared.

"Click..." A sound like a dead branch breaking came from under the fingers.

The masonry is loose!

She dug harder into the cracks between the bricks, carefully prying with a sharpened piece of porcelain. Just when the brick seemed about to be pried off completely—

“Cough…ho…ho…”

A faint gasp came from the direction of the bed!

Zhi Yihe looked back.

Moonlight passed through the window lattice, illuminating Yu Tuan's pale face. Her eyes were tightly closed, her brows were twisted in pain, her lips were bluish purple, and every breath she took was accompanied by a "ho ho" sound.

"Yutuan!" Zhi Yihe rushed to the bedside, tested Yutuan's breath, and touched her forehead. It was cold and her pulse was beating rapidly and irregularly.

Zhi Yihe's mind was blank. She was so focused on planning her escape that she didn't even notice that Yu Tuan had been unusually quiet since the evening!

"Someone! Someone, help! Help!" Zhi Yihe pounded on the heavy wooden door. "Go get a doctor!"

"What's wrong, Ah He? What happened?" Tingzhu wrapped herself in an outer garment and ran out in a hurry.

"We've all been tricked by Feng Yan! She never gave us the 'blood coral'! Now not only has it failed to cure the poison, but we've also been poisoned by another, even more subtle, poison!"

"What?! Uh…uh…are you okay?"

"I'm fine! Saving Yutuan is the most important thing!" Zhi Yihe said as he knocked on the door again. "Someone come quickly! Go tell the lady!"

Finally, the guard's footsteps approached, and a cold voice came through the door: "What are you arguing about? It's the middle of the night!"

"Go and get your wife!"

"Hmph! It's so late at night, I think you want to kill me!" The guard's cold rejection came from outside the door.

"girl……"

Zhi Yihe heard Yutuan's weak voice and immediately ran to her: "Yutuan..."

"Girl... am I dying..."

"Pooh, pooh, pooh! Pah! Stop saying such discouraging words!"

"Miss... one day... if you see Zhou Song, please thank him for me... after all, he served me and my brother well... and served us well... we agreed back then that we would get married once our master succeeded... it's me who can't bear to part with you... in the end, it was me... who let him down..."

Zhi Yihe burst into tears: "Yutuan, you will be fine! Yutuan~"

"Miss..." Yu Tuan touched his abdomen and forced a smile: "Now, both you and I have a scar on our stomachs... This time, Yu Yi can't compete with me..."

"Are you stupid?" With a mixture of fear and regret, Zhi Yihe held Yutuan in his arms: "As Xi'er's aunt, you still have to raise her. Do you remember?! You said it yourself, Shan Yi is a rough guy, and Yu Yi is weak and can be bullied. Only you, who are both civil and military, can teach children. Not only Xi'er, but also my child and your child..."

"girl……"

She only heard Yu Tuan call her once, and then there was no more movement...

"Someone! Someone, come quickly!" Zhi Yihe ran to the door again and shouted firmly, "Su, go and tell your wife! I will grant her what she asks for."

The guard was silent for a moment, as if he were going to ask for instructions. After what felt like an eternity, a voice finally came from outside the door: "Madam, I understand. The medicine will be delivered immediately."

Soon, the small window on the door opened, and a rough hand handed in a black pill with a pungent smell and a cup of water.

Zhi Yihe almost snatched it away, pried open Yu Tuan's mouth, stuffed the pill in, and poured a few sips of water in. He kept patting her cheeks and calling her name.

Finally, the purple color of the lips faded a little, and although the breathing was weak, it finally became long again, with no signs of suffocation.

Yu Tuan was still unconscious, Zhi Yihe sat dejectedly beside the bed, his back completely soaked with cold sweat.

She looked at Yu Tuan's bloodless face, then looked down at her own fingers, which were scratched, bleeding, and stained with wall dust. Escape? Taking Yu Tuan with her, who could die from the poison at any moment, was simply a fantasy!

Feng Yan holds the antidote, which is equivalent to holding Yu Tuan's life!

"Madam has ordered that you come to see me immediately after finishing your trivial matters!" said the guard.

"Yutuan," Zhi Yihe walked to the bedside. Yutuan was still drowsy, but her breathing had become much more stable. "Wait for me. I will definitely get the real antidote."

Zhi Yihe took a deep breath, put on a flattering expression, walked towards the door, and whispered to the guard, "Brother, please lead the way..."

This time, Feng Yan's posture was even more lazy and condescending. She glanced sideways at Zhi Yihe, who was kneeling below with his forehead almost touching the ground, a playful smile on her lips.

"Oh? You've made progress with your sister so quickly?" She dragged out her voice. "It seems that Yutuan is very important to you."

Zhi Yihe lowered her head even lower, with a deliberately flattering tone: "Madam, please understand... Yihe was blinded by greed before, and didn't recognize your protective heart. Yutuan and I are like sisters. If it weren't for your kindness in giving her medicine, she... she would have been..." She choked and couldn't say anything more, squeezing out a few tears at the right time, "Yihe has learned her lesson and thought about it day and night, not daring to slack off in the slightest... Last night, in my dream, I seemed... seemed to see some fragments about... about the burial place of that object. It seemed to be related to... to a reef somewhere on the seashore... But my memory is too vague. Yihe needs some time to calm down and sort it out carefully..."

Her words were half-truths, throwing out some vague clues, which was both a way of delaying and a way of demonstrating "value".

She kowtowed again, "Please, Madam... Please, Madam, give me some more elixirs! Yutuan... She hasn't woken up yet, and her breath is weak. I am so worried! Madam, you are so kind, I am willing to work like a slave to repay you! I only ask that you save Yutuan!"

Feng Yan looked down at her humble former "sister" at her feet, filled with the pleasure of being in control. Although she didn't necessarily believe all of Zhi Yihe's "clues," she was quite pleased to see her fawning for the maid.

She slowly picked up the teacup and blew away the foam.

"The deep bond between you and your sister is truly moving." She spoke with a condescending tone, "Since you're so 'caring', I'm not heartless. I'll naturally give you the medicine. But..." She changed the subject, her eyes sharp, "I can't wait too long for you to 'sort out your memories'. Don't let me down."

At this moment, there was a sudden commotion outside, followed by hurried footsteps and the guards' announcements: "Madam! The Second Master is back! The Crown Prince... The Crown Prince is back too!"

The laziness on Feng Yan's face disappeared instantly, replaced by a complex expression mixed with surprise, worry and ecstasy (acted).

She stood up suddenly, not even paying attention to Zhi Yihe, and walked out quickly, her voice trembling and excited: "Is my royal brother back? Quick! Take me there!"

Zhi Yihe was still kneeling on the ground, but a chill ran down his spine. The Crown Prince? Feng Zhiyan? He was back?

She immediately realized that the situation might have changed. She quickly stood up and, taking advantage of the guards being distracted by the noise outside, quietly moved to an inconspicuous corner by the window and peeked out through the crack in the window frame.

The docks were bustling with people, as several battered but formidable ships had just docked. The first person to leap from the deck was a burly, bearded man with a fierce look in his eyes. He must have been the second-in-command of Wangchao City—Lei Bao.

Behind him, the person being "helped" off the boat by two people was Feng Yan's brother, Feng Zhiyan.