Having many handsome men means no worries; pampering them all keeps me in good spirits.

Meanwhile, Yi Luo's wedding procession returned to the city smoothly and settled the Southern Border Princess at a post station outside the palace, awaiting Jiang Qingyan's summons.

Jiang Qingyan stood on the city wall, staring blankly at Yi Luo's face...

"Your Majesty, General Lu has already entered the palace and will come to pay his respects to you shortly. You should return to the Hall of Mental Cultivation now," Eunuch Wang said softly.

Jiang Qingyan nodded slightly and returned to the Hall of Mental Cultivation.

"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty." Yi Luo bowed respectfully with his hands clasped.

Seeing the identical appearance and hearing the identical voice of Lu Nian, Jiang Qingyan felt a pang of sadness. She slowly stepped forward and hugged Yi Luo tightly…

Yi Luo was stunned for a moment by Jiang Qingyan's sudden hug. He tried to break free, but found that Jiang Qingyan was holding him even tighter...

"Your Majesty, I am Yi Luo..." Yi Luo whispered in Jiang Qingyan's ear, reverting to his original voice.

His voice is very pleasant, elegant and deep.

Yes… he is Yi Luo… he is ultimately not Lu Nian… and can never replace Lu Nian…

Jiang Qingyan loosened her grip on his hand, turned her back, gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and let out a deep breath.

"You must have heard about Lu Nian. I ask you, are you willing to go with me to the Southern Frontier to find Lu Nian?" Jiang Qingyan's voice was a little hoarse.

Yi Luo frowned slightly, somewhat surprised. "Your Majesty intends to personally go to the Southern Frontier to find General Lu?"

Jiang Qingyan nodded, then asked, "Would you like to come with me?"

Yi Luo cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have long regarded General Lu as my own younger brother. I originally planned to go to the Southern Frontier to find him after leaving the palace. Since Your Majesty wishes to go with me, I will do my best to protect Your Majesty!"

The two reached a consensus, and Jiang Qingyan began preparations for the trip to the southern border... They absolutely could not let anyone know about this.

Late at night, Yi Luo, accompanied by a bodyguard who bore a striking resemblance to Jiang Qingyan, secretly infiltrated Chaoyang Palace…

Jiang Qingyan had already changed into her night clothes and was waiting. When she saw Yi Luo, who was wearing Lu Nianjun's handsome face, enter, she glanced at the plain-looking man beside her and said speechlessly:

"His face... he looks so different from mine! Can he even be a good match?"

Yi Luo raised the corners of his mouth: "Does Your Majesty doubt my abilities?"

Jiang Qingyan rolled her eyes at him and muttered, "I am so handsome, charming, elegant, and beautiful, I don't believe you can disguise him as me!"

Yi Luo was completely bewildered... Why did the Emperor use both masculine and feminine adjectives to describe him...?

A moment later, to Jiang Qingyan's astonishment, Yi Luo had already disguised the person to look exactly like her.

"Wow, this is a copy-paste job! Your skills are even better than plastic surgery! It's a perfect 1:1 replica!" Jiang Qingyan exclaimed after circling the person twice.

Then, excitedly, he asked, "And what about me? What kind of face do you plan to give me?"

Yi Luo then took out seventeen or eighteen human skin masks with different appearances from his bosom, placed them on the table, and said, "Your Majesty may choose any of these human skin masks."

Does Yi Luo carry so many human skin masks with him every day? Isn't it heavy?

Jiang Qingyan picked them up one by one and examined them carefully. Then she picked up one of the ordinary-looking faces and looked at Yi Luo, saying, "This one will do. The more ordinary, the better."

Yi Luo accepted the order and began to disguise Jiang Qingyan. Before long, an unfamiliar face appeared in the mirror.

Jiang Qingyan turned around and nodded in satisfaction. "Very good, very good, let's set off right away!" She turned to look at the fake emperor, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't give yourself away!"

The assassin nodded respectfully and said, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty!" A resolute glint flashed in his eyes.

Under the cover of darkness and a strong wind, the two figures swiftly disappeared from the palace, heading towards the southern border...

It wasn't until dawn that the two arrived at the bottom of the cliff where Lu Nian had fallen. Yi Luo was speechless. He had been so careless... He hadn't expected that the emperor didn't even know how to use light-body skills, yet he had insisted on going with him to find Lu Nian. Wasn't this just causing him trouble?

Carrying the Emperor along the way slowed down my movement speed by half...

Yi Luo rubbed his slightly sore arm and said in a deep voice, "According to the Imperial Guard, General Lu fell off this cliff."

He then pointed to a large rock and looked at Jiang Qingyan, "Your Majesty may sit here and rest. I will go and find it by myself."

Jiang Qingyan was speechless. "Do you think I came here for a spring outing? Let's split up and search!"

Having said that, he set off in another direction...

Jiang Qingyan searched the bottom of the cliff for a long time but still couldn't find any trace of Lu Nian. She couldn't help but feel a little frustrated. Could it be that Lu Nian had been eaten by wild animals?

Pshaw! Don't think like that! Lu Nian is so powerful, and he has top-quality wound medicine, he'll definitely be fine. Maybe he'll heal and leave on his own?

Just then, she heard a faint cry for help. Jiang Qingyan was overjoyed and quickly ran in the direction of the sound.

A member of the Imperial Guard was lying unconscious in the grass, wounded in several places. A hint of disappointment flashed in Jiang Qingyan's eyes, but she quickly went forward to check on his injuries.

Upon hearing the commotion, Yi Luo quickly rushed over. He placed two fingers on the Imperial Guard's wrist to take his pulse, then took out a pill from his pocket and put it into his mouth.

A moment later, the Imperial Guard coughed twice and woke up. He then grabbed Yi Luo's hand and exclaimed, "Thank goodness, General Lu! You're really alright now!"

“I am not General Lu…” Yi Luo said in a deep voice.

The Imperial Guard's eyes, which had lit up, dimmed instantly. Judging from that voice… it really wasn't General Lu… Could the person before them be the strategist? They'd heard that General Lu's strategist was skilled in disguise; this was probably him…

Jiang Qingyan frowned, grabbed the Jinyiwei's arm, and asked urgently, "Do you know where Lu Nian is?"

The Imperial Guard, still in pain from being grabbed, gasped for breath and quickly replied, "That day, General Lu and I fell off a cliff together. Fortunately, we were caught by tree branches along the way, which cushioned our fall and saved our lives."

The Imperial Guard swallowed hard and continued, "When I was half asleep, I vaguely saw a woman pass by and take General Lu away... probably... in that direction."

She knew Lu Nian wouldn't die so easily! Turns out, she was saved by a "beauty saving the hero"! Thank goodness!

“Let’s set off right now! Yi Luo, carry me, you can be faster with your light footwork!” Jiang Qingyan smiled and skillfully wrapped her arms around Yi Luo’s neck.

Yi Luo was speechless again... but he could only do as instructed. He put one arm around Jiang Qingyan's slender waist and the other around her legs, and quickly leaped in the direction the Imperial Guards pointed...

As for the Imperial Guard lying on the ground... a question mark slowly appeared in his mind... So the strategist who was wearing General Lu's face just now flew away carrying an ordinary-looking man?

But… please don’t leave him here! The Imperial Guard roared inwardly…

Of course, Jiang Qingyan wasn't that heartless. She had already ordered people to come down the cliff to find Lu Nian, and presumably his Jinyiwei colleague who went back to the palace to report the news would find him soon.