General, you should rest now; the lady is even more ruthless.

Outside the banquet, Jiang Qiqi followed the two of them the whole way.

The palace maid was very cautious, looking around the whole way, taking hidden paths, and skillfully avoiding the two patrolling guards.

However, her efforts were destined to be in vain against Jiang Qiqi.

Tracking and concealment are just basic skills for spies.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, they arrived at a somewhat remote palace.

If a normal person were to follow someone for such a long time just to change clothes, they would definitely become suspicious.

But the fourth princess didn't react at all along the way, and just walked slower and slower, until eventually she needed to be helped by palace maids to walk.

If she guessed correctly, the Fourth Princess was likely already somewhat delirious, and the palace maid was frequently changing different wine jugs to conceal the fact that one of them contained a drugged wine.

The Fourth Princess herself probably never imagined that someone would be so bold as to lay a hand on a princess in the palace, or even at a banquet.

Without realizing it, she drank the drugged wine. Now, with the cold wind blowing outside, the combined effects of the alcohol and the drug are too strong for even an ox to withstand.

She was being supported by the palace maid and wasn't struggling at all.

Upon entering the palace gates, a tall man came out, took the fourth princess, and carried her on his shoulder. The group then walked along a side path.

In the shadows, Jiang Qiqi's expression was inscrutable. She was now certain that this was a premeditated trap set for the princess.

Jiang Qiqi is not exactly kind, nor is she a busybody.

But she just happened to witness this disgusting thing.

A teenager's mind is not mature enough. Even if he plans to make things difficult for Shen Luo at the banquet because he likes her, it won't have a big impact on her.

But if a girl is taken away unconscious, and the woman stands idly by, it could very well change the girl's life.

Jiang Qiqi sighed and followed.

After walking for another minute or two, the three people turned into a small courtyard next to the palace.

Then a "click" came from inside the door, indicating that someone had locked it from the inside.

They are quite meticulous.

If someone is following us, even if the door is locked, they won't be able to get into the yard, and we won't know what's going on inside.

This was especially targeted at someone like Jiang Qiqi, who had no martial arts skills and was completely powerless.

but.

"Lin'er, come out."

Anticipating such an awkward situation, Jiang Qiqi didn't bring Xiang'er with her to the palace today, but instead brought Zheng Lin'er, who was skilled in martial arts.

Zheng Lin'er has almost fully recovered recently. This little girl's recovery ability is as strong as her defense. Now she can leap across rooftops, wield swords and spears, and move freely.

Men like the 12th and 19th in the harem are difficult to move around in, but women can move around almost without any obstacles.

So from the moment they left the palace where the banquet was held, Zheng Lin'er followed behind Jiang Qiqi to protect her.

"Go inside and open the door."

"Yes, Miss." Zheng Lin'er leaped over the courtyard wall with ease.

By this time, the people in the courtyard had already gone inside. She quietly opened the door bolt, and Jiang Qiqi swaggered in through the main gate.

Because it was night, the room was lit, and three figures were reflected in the window.

One belonged to Chen Zhizhi, one to the palace maid, and the other to the tall man.

Jiang Qiqi understood everything. Those people had drugged the princess, sent her away, and brought her here to ruin the fourth princess's reputation.

The palace maid put the princess down, stayed for a while, and then hurriedly left.

Jiang Qiqi and her companion hid behind a tree in the courtyard, watching the palace maid leave.

Today's banquet is attended by a large number of people, including not only the Emperor, Empress, and princes, but also the most important ministers in the court. As a result, most of the palace guards have been transferred away. In addition, this place is remote, making it a perfect place to brew a conspiracy.

Inside the room, the man looked at the fourth princess in the bed curtains and swallowed hard.

After today, he will become the emperor's son-in-law, and wealth and honor will be within his grasp. How could he not be excited?

"Fourth Princess, come with me, and I will treat you well." As he spoke, he eagerly began to take off his clothes.

"Bang"!

The window was suddenly kicked open from the outside, and the already dilapidated window smashed directly onto the man.

"Wha, who?"

The man panicked for a moment, but quickly calmed down when he saw that there were two women opposite him.

Jiang Qiqi glanced at the person on the bed; their breathing was slow but even—they were indeed unconscious.

"Don't waste your breath on him, Lin'er."

"Yes!"

The man chuckled and drew a dagger from his waist: "You think you can take me?"

He's skilled in martial arts; these two women can't possibly ruin his grand plan.

five minutes later.

Zheng Lin'er dragged the man like a dead dog to Jiang Qiqi: "Miss, what should we do with this man?"

The man's eyes were swollen like panda eyes, his nose was bleeding, and his mouth was twitching involuntarily.

Jiang Qiqi glanced at him, then looked away, thinking that she must tell Lin'er next time not to hit someone's face.

The man had already fainted. Jiang Qiqi rolled her eyes and gave a wicked smile.

I'll help you finish the formulas you didn't complete. You're welcome.

"Strip him naked and throw him onto the bed."

"Yes, ma'am."

It would be such a waste if no one watched all that effort they put into making such a big production.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

After arranging things here, Jiang Qiqi secretly slipped back to the banquet hall, knowing that this show was still missing one last lead actor.

The reason she didn't make a fuss was that she wanted to see who was behind this and what they wanted to do with the Fourth Princess's innocence.

These people chose this day and took the risk to plan this play; there must be some very tempting benefits involved.

"Where have you been? Half an hour has passed." As soon as Jiang Qiqi sat down, Shen Luo asked her, and he almost sent someone out to look for her.

Jiang Qiqi didn't make a fuss about what had just happened. She lowered her head and said with a wronged expression, "I got lost while walking in the palace. I wandered around for a long time before I met a group of guards. I asked them to help me get back."

Shen Luo was stunned for a moment. How could he forget that Jiang Qiqi had only entered the palace twice? The palace was large and had many small paths. Ordinary people would not be able to recognize the way unless they came ten or eight times.

He coughed lightly: "It was my fault. I should have sent someone to follow you. It's normal that you don't know the way since you've never been to the palace before."

As the two were talking, a palace maid rushed in and knelt down in the center of the banquet hall.

The dancers who were originally dancing in the middle all stepped back, showing any sense of propriety.

The emperor suppressed his smile, frowned slightly, and slowly lowered the hand that was holding the wine cup.

All conversations ceased, and all eyes turned to the palace maid.

The palace maid kowtowed to the ground, her voice trembling: "Your Majesty, the Fourth Princess is missing."

The emperor's brow was furrowed so deeply it could have crushed a fly. He asked in a cold voice, "What's going on?"

The palace maid sobbed uncontrollably, "Your Majesty, just now a palace maid accidentally spilled wine on the princess's clothes. The princess asked me to go back to her palace to get her clothes while she went with the maid to an empty palace nearby. But when I returned with the clothes, I couldn't find the princess anywhere. I searched the palace next door several times, but the princess seemed to have sprouted wings and flown away. Even the maid has disappeared."

Upon hearing this, the ministers below couldn't help but start talking about it.

"The princess's disappearance is no small matter."

"Could they have been kidnapped?"

"Who is so bold as to kidnap a princess in the palace?"

If the princess were truly kidnapped right under the emperor's nose, it would be a grave disregard and insult to imperial authority.

The Emperor was furious: "A princess has actually disappeared from the palace! Are the Imperial Guards in the palace just sitting around doing nothing?! Where is the Imperial Guard General?"

The Imperial Guard general stepped forward tremblingly, his face still flushed from drinking too much: "Your Majesty, I deserve to die. I will take men to find the Fourth Princess immediately."

Seeing him so drunk, the Emperor was even more furious. He grabbed a wine cup and threw it down. The Imperial Guard general didn't dare to dodge and knelt on the ground with a stiff upper lip. The bronze cup hit his forehead, and blood flowed down instantly.

"Hurry up and search the entire palace to find the princess. If you can't, you'll have to bring your head to me!"

"Your Majesty," the Empress promptly reminded, "there are many concubines in the harem, and it is nighttime now. It would be inconvenient for the Imperial Guards to search each palace one by one."

She changed the subject, seemingly offering a well-intentioned suggestion: "Now that all the officials' wives and families are here at the banquet, why don't I bring a group of female relatives to help out as well?"

What use would it be for the Imperial Guards to see those scenes? Of course, it would be for the women of these officials' families to see them.

You know, women are the fastest at transmitting information.

The emperor thought about it and realized that he was indeed a little worried about a bunch of men moving around the harem in the middle of the night.

"Very well, the Empress is right. Then the Empress will lead the search in all the palaces, and the Imperial Guards will lead the search in other areas. At the same time, guard all the gates of the palace and no one is allowed to enter or leave. The entire palace will be under martial law. We must find the princess."

"Yes, I obey your order."

"The minister obeys the order."