Report to the Empress and the Eldest Princess: They're using the system to poach your men.

"Where is that dry well? Take me there!"

Wen Yuening didn't dare to hesitate, nor did she have time to care about the missing Qingque. She led Shen Sangwan straight to the deserted garden and dry well behind the garden.

When the two arrived, Wen Yuening could clearly see signs that someone had moved the place in a short period of time.

"Your Highness, this is where they escaped from."

"Are you sure?"

“This place has never been cleaned since I moved in. I know the area around this dry well like the back of my hand. If she escaped from here, it will probably be very difficult to catch her.”

Wen Yuening's tone was tinged with helplessness; she wanted to offer comfort but didn't know what to say.

"Besides you, who else knows about this secret passage out of the palace?"

“Qingque, but Your Highness, Qingque has been by my side since childhood. Although she originally served my father, she is now absolutely loyal only to me. I believe she would not betray her master, so…”

Although Wen Yuening didn't say what she meant next, Shen Sangwan knew what she meant and hoped that she wouldn't take her anger out on her.

"Ahem! Your Majesty~ Your Majesty~"

Just as the two were about to leave, a faint cry for help came from the dry well.

Upon hearing this, Wen Yuening knew it was Qingque and leaped down.

"Miss!"

Upon seeing that it was her mistress, Qingque's face lit up with joy.

Even though her throat was so dry that it hurt to speak, she still couldn't help but tell everyone what had happened.

With her hands tied behind her back, Wen Yuening stepped forward and untied the ropes.

"Your Majesty, two men in black suddenly broke into the inner palace and demanded to know the secret passage to leave the palace. Although I was frightened, I did not reveal the location of the secret passage."

But then another woman appeared. For some reason, upon seeing her, I lost all control of myself, like a puppet on strings, and came straight here. I deserve to die, I deserve to die!

After her hands were freed, Qingque kept kneeling and kowtowing.

"Get up now. Her Highness is still upstairs. Tell her about this in detail."

When Wen Yuening went to pull Qingque, she found that the other party seemed to have no strength. She simply picked him up, grabbed the rope next to her, and flew up in a spiral.

"This servant greets Your Highness, the Eldest Princess."

When did the person escape?

Shen Sangwan didn't ask any further questions and went straight to the point.

"It was probably late afternoon when I was preparing Your Highness's toiletries. When Your Highness returned, two men in black suddenly barged in."

There was another woman behind her. After they brought the maid here, the woman told the maid that she had hidden the thing that could save the princess in Weiyang Palace. If it couldn't be found and given to the princess before midnight, the princess... the princess would...

"Say!"

Shen Sangwan clenched her fists, almost shouting it out.

"It will fester all over its body and disappear in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

Shen Sangwan looked up at the moonlight. She estimated that there were still two hours (four hours) left in the zodiac. It wasn't a short time, but with so many halls in Weiyang Palace, she didn't think the other party would be kind enough to leave the things in Yunguang Hall or the main hall.

A thorough search would take four hours, which is like finding a needle in a haystack.

"Do you have any clues about that thing?"

"The woman only said to place it in a very conspicuous place, and if Your Highness is willing, you will find it in less than a quarter of an hour."

You better not let me catch you.

Shen Sangwan gritted her teeth and roared angrily in her heart.

"Your Highness, if we allow the Imperial Guards to search, it may cause unnecessary unrest."

Wen Yue Ning was somewhat worried that Shen Sang Wan would go to great lengths to find something to treat Cen Yan.

Shen Sangwan couldn't hear anything at this moment; Qingque's words kept repeating in her mind.

He paced back and forth with his head down, pondering where Ling Yuan would put the things.

"Eye-catching, eye-catching..."

"Your Highness, why don't we return to Weiyang Palace first and then search around again?"

Wen Yuening tried to stop Shen Sangwan, who was wandering around, but the other woman dodged her.

She accidentally kicked a pebble, and suddenly remembered something. Ignoring Wen Yuening beside her, she ran straight towards her palace.

I didn't dare to breathe too much along the way, for fear that I might misunderstand and delay the time spent looking for something.

However, she was ultimately disappointed and did not find it at Ling Yuan's residence in Yun Guang Palace.

She was oversimplifying things.

[It's so conspicuous! She only goes to the Cloud Light Hall and the main hall, but today she's been in the side hall the whole time. If she went to the main hall, Ruoxin and the others couldn't possibly have missed it.]

Even during the escape, they would at most pass by Fuyu Pavilion.

Shen Sangwan pondered the route the other party would take when escaping Weiyang Palace, and thought of the path that Wen Yuening would always climb over the wall and take through Fuyu Pavilion.

Without pausing, they went to Fuyu Pavilion again and searched all three floors, but found nothing extra.

This made it hard for Shen Sangwan not to suspect that Ling Yuan hadn't actually left anything there, and was simply tormenting her on purpose before leaving.

As time ticked away, she collapsed weakly to the ground.

At this moment, she hoped that this was just Ling Yuan's prank.

Even though Xiao Yan Yan's soul cannot return to its place, at least she had her body preserved. Even if she is gone, at least she still has something to remember her by.

If what Ling Yuan said is true, and Xiao Yan Yan didn't take the leftovers at midnight, she would vanish into nothingness. She couldn't imagine what would happen to herself.

Having searched in vain, Shen Sangwan dragged her weary body back to the main hall.

I stood there for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before I finally mustered the courage to step inside.

Shuyan, wrapped in white gauze, exuded a strong smell of alcohol.

She dared not approach, but stood three zhang away from the bed, watching the person lying on it.

Tears welled up in her eyes involuntarily, like a river bursting its banks, and no matter how much Shen Sangwan wiped them with her sleeve, she couldn't stop them.

"sorry Sorry!"

Shen Sangwan kept repeating these three words, wiping her eyes with both hands, looking completely lost.

Wen Yuening followed behind Shen Sangwan the whole time, but stopped at the palace gate and did not go in with her. However, with her amazing hearing, she heard everything that was happening inside. She wanted to go in and comfort her, but she hesitated.

After careful consideration, she decided to stay outside. At this time, it might be inappropriate for her to stand between Cen Yan and Shen Sangwan.

Just as Shen Sangwan was sobbing uncontrollably, a strange fragrance entered her nostrils. It was a faint fragrance masked by the liquor.

If it weren't for crying, her nose wouldn't have become so sensitive.

She sniffed hard, trying to find the source of the smell. The scent was faint, and the presence of baijiu (Chinese liquor) made it difficult for Shen Sangwan to quickly pinpoint the location.

But this also gave her a glimmer of hope, thinking that perhaps the source of the strange fragrance was something left behind by Ling Yuan.

Trying to calm myself down, I squinted and carefully inhaled the strange fragrance in the air, slowly moving my feet to find its source.

Finally, it rested on Shuyan's body on the bed.

Shen Sangwan's newly ignited hope was immediately extinguished.