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

Shu Yan's words left Shen Sangwan somewhat bewildered. It seemed that she was gradually distancing herself from Xiao Yan Yan and was no longer as close as before.

"Tell me quickly, what brings you here? Don't keep me from sleeping."

After learning that the other person wasn't being coy because they were facing difficulties, Shuyan's tone became somewhat impatient.

They urged Shen Sangwan to finish speaking quickly and leave as soon as possible.

"When I went to Wuzhou before, you asked me to check who designed and supervised the construction of the Princess's Mansion back then. Well, not long ago, Shuyun found out that it was the late Emperor who entrusted Prince Sheng to do it. Today, I found the original design at Prince Sheng's Mansion and made two copies."

Shuyan took the blueprints out of her pocket and laid them on the wooden table next to her. She then carefully approached with an oil lamp in hand.

After looking around for a while, Shuyan said somewhat uncertainly, "Why does this direction look like the palace to me?"

"That's right, Xiaotong asked me to go check it out, do you want to come along?"

"I won't go, I'm not really interested in that. Just make sure no assassins or thieves come in and take my life."

Shuyan covered her mouth and yawned twice, then placed the oil lamp on the table and climbed onto the bed.

"Find the hidden door yourself. Remember to blow out the light in this room when you leave after you come back from the secret passage."

"You slept for almost two hours in the pavilion during the day, and you still haven't had enough sleep?"

"I don't know why, but I've been incredibly sleepy lately. Don't bother me, just get on with your work."

Shen Sangwan's face was full of speechlessness, so she had no choice but to take the blueprints and look at the furnishings in the room to find the hidden door.

Finally, they arrived at Shuyan's bedside.

Shen Sangwan, who had been facing away from the camera, suddenly turned over and saw a dark shadow in front of her. "What are you doing?"

"You probably won't be able to sleep for a while; the secret door seems to be on your bed."

Shuyan reluctantly got up, took the bedding and went to the soft couch. After simply laying it out, she covered herself with the blanket and continued to sleep.

Shen Sangwan ignored Shuyan and looked around the bed, finding nothing particularly special about it.

"Xiaotong, can you tell where the switch is?"

【Master, why don't you try the left bedpost inside? I notice the pattern on the bottom one seems different from the other three; see if it can be rotated.】

Following Xiao Tong's instructions, Shen Sangwan first touched the wood carving, then gripped it tightly and rotated it clockwise, discovering that it could indeed be turned.

The bed board splits in the middle and collapses downwards, revealing the steps underneath.

"Goodness, who knows, the bed might suddenly collapse one day if we sleep on it."

The noise wasn't loud, yet Shuyan had already fallen asleep. This rapid progress made Shen Sangwan wonder if Shuyan was sick or under a spell.

Even pregnant women don't sleep as much as she does.

"Xiaotong, check on Xiaoyan Yan for me, see if she's healthy."

[Master, Shuyan shows no abnormalities. Her excessive sleepiness may simply be due to the changing seasons.]

But she's never acted like this before, is there really nothing wrong with her?

[You can rest assured, Master.]

Shen Sangwan glanced at Shuyan, who was sleeping like a log, several times over. Finally, she sighed, picked up an oil lamp, and carefully stepped over the bed threshold down from the entrance.

The inside was pitch black, with a faint musty smell mixed with the stench of dead rats.

"Xiaotong, won't you get oxygen-deprived if you stay in here for too long?"

[When digging long secret passages, ventilation openings are usually placed at intervals. The Princess's residence is not far from the palace, so there should be one dug in the middle. Your Majesty, don't worry.]

The dim light of the oil lamp illuminated the narrow passageway, reducing visibility to no more than one meter.

Shen Sangwan walked slowly along the right wall.

Why didn't they put an oil lamp or something in here? It's so dark, it's hard to escape in there!

[Master, what if it's not for escaping?]

"If they're not using the secret passage to escape, are they for clandestine meetings?"

Xiaotong grinned foolishly, looking at him with an expression that said, "You know the truth."

After wandering around for an unknown amount of time, Shen Sangwan felt a stench filling her nostrils and almost made her die.

It seems there's no way out.

Pushing the oil lamp forward, I came to a small door covered in dust, with faint black grime visible in the dim light.

The headquarters should be nearby, Master, go and look for it.

Shen Sangwan reached out and touched something to her right. It was sticky and gooey, and she was so startled that she dropped the oil lamp.

The only light now vanished into darkness.

"Your uncle!"

Almost blurting it out, Shen Sangwan was too afraid to continue rubbing herself indiscriminately as the surroundings became pitch black. The sticky substance on her hands still seemed to be there, and she didn't dare to rub it on herself.

"Xiaotong, is there any lighting device in the system?"

[No, it's because you, Master, didn't work hard to unlock quests. Without system upgrades, more items can't be unlocked. Now you can only figure it out yourself.]

Shen Sangwan suddenly understood what it meant when people said, "You only realize how little you know when you need it." Right now, she was experiencing the same thing: she only realized how little she knew!

Waaah, I knew I shouldn't have listened to your nonsense and come here.

Wen Yuening, who was outside, was about to turn off the light and go to sleep when she kept hearing Shen Sangwan and Xiaotong's conversation.

After searching around extensively, they couldn't find anyone.

"How strange!"

"What did Your Majesty say?"

Qingque watched as Wen Yuening, who had already been lying down, got up from the bed and looked around the hall, and couldn't help but feel curious.

"It's nothing. There's no need to blow out the lamp tonight. You may leave."

"The slaves retire."

"Xiaotong, I didn't find the mechanism, and instead, I got my hands all smeared with some kind of weird stuff. It's so disgusting!"

Shen Sangwan felt somewhat overwhelmed. She gritted her teeth and groped around inch by inch, occasionally encountering something sticky.

Just as she was deciding whether or not to smear the evidence and return the way she came.

A loud "bang" of a door opening rang in my ears, letting in a sliver of light. After the door was fully opened, several steps led down.

A dark shadow slowly approached her, its appearance obscured by the backlight.

"Your Highness—?"

Shen Sangwan, who was holding her hand up against the wall, breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the familiar voice, but was immediately filled with confusion.

"Huh? Why is the Empress here so late?"

"Your Highness."

Wen Yuening called out again, and Shen Sangwan withdrew her hands from the wall. "Good evening!"

"Xiao Tong, could this be the Empress's Phoenix Palace?"

I think so!

With hands flailing about, unsure of what to do, he murmured, "What a coincidence."

"Does Your Highness dislike coming to my Phoenix Palace during the day?"

"Huh? Um... it wasn't me, it was..."

"It is dark here, Your Highness, please move to another room."

As Shen Sangwan was pondering how to explain, Wen Yuening moved aside first, inviting her to leave.

Holding both hands, I slowly walked up the steps. After climbing all the steps, there was a passageway with bookshelves on both sides, and a hidden door outside.

Oil lamps were lit inside the hall, and the light was no longer as dim as before.

Shen Sangwan looked down and quickly checked what she had touched.

"vomit--"