Tang Dynasty: To win Yang Guifei, they asked Emperor Xuanzong to die.

Xianglan originally entered the palace as a spy, working with Li Mao from the inside out.

But she was a woman of genuine feelings, and had long since left some traces of true affection in the palace. Having fled all the way here, His Highness the Crown Prince took good care of her, and Consort Liu Hua also put aside her past grievances, and the two women felt a sense of mutual dependence.

“They sacrificed a lot to protect me. Now that I finally have the opportunity to protect them in return, I will not run away and abandon them for my own selfish gain.”

“These days I have been dealing with One-Eye, using all my tricks to make him both infatuated with me and somewhat obedient to me. I told him that I wanted to consummate our marriage on our wedding day, like any ordinary couple. If he agreed, I would make sure he was satisfied. He agreed, so I… did not lose my virginity.”

"But tonight is our wedding night, and I can't refuse anymore. I only hope that Your Highness can leave here quickly to save the Emperor and the others. I'll hold off One-Eyed by myself, and I'll make sure he can't lift his head tonight while he's buried in his boudoir!"

It turns out that Xianglan was determined to sacrifice herself to accompany the one-eyed man.

This was done in exchange for the temporary safety of Li Longji and his entourage.

Li Mao frowned, a sense of admiration rising in his heart for the woman before him. Looking into Xianglan's resolute eyes, he knew that even if he knocked her unconscious and took her away, she wouldn't submit obediently, and might never forgive him.

“You can’t sacrifice yourself like this.” Li Mao thought for a moment and said, “I’ve come up with a solution for you. Take a look at this.”

As he spoke, he took out a small bag of powder from his pocket, poured it into the wine pot on the table, and gently stirred it. "This is a special kind of sleeping potion. You just need to let One-Eye drink this wine, and he will be so drunk that he will be completely unconscious and have no idea what happened. As long as you keep reminding him in his ear, he will have the dreams you want him to have and mistakenly believe that he had a crazy night."

Xianglan looked at the scene before her and her heart stirred.

Looking at Li Mao with gratitude in her eyes, she nodded: "Thank you, Your Highness. I will repay you many times over in the future. However, I urge Your Highness to seize this opportunity and find a way to get everyone out!"

Xianglan then verbally described some locations she knew.

As for the "black pool" that Gao Chen mentioned, she had no recollection of it.

However, she remembered that the Emperor and his entourage were led eastward, while Consort Liu was still in a room somewhere in the bandits' hideout, and Li Mao needed to find her.

"Don't worry, I'll arrange it as soon as possible. You don't need anything else, just wait for One-Eye to drink this wine, and try to stall for time. I'll find a way."

After Li Mao finished speaking, he put the hemp seed back into Xianglan's mouth.

He turned and went out, where he saw two guards lying on the ground at the door.

After a brief pause, he quickly drew his knife and slit their throats, then stripped them of their clothes and put them on himself.

He then summoned the horse-training soldiers who had previously infiltrated the prison to rescue him and were now on high alert, and whispered, "Hide these corpses well, don't let anyone find them. The day the bandits discover these two corpses will be the day we are exposed."

The soldiers responded and carefully carried the body away.

Li Mao returned to his cell and whispered his plan to Guo Ziyi.

Although Guo Ziyi was uneasy, he knew this was his only hope and immediately asked to go with Li Mao. Li Mao knew that Guo Ziyi was worried about him and thought that it would be good to have Guo Ziyi by his side to look after each other, so he released him as well and let him wear another bandit's outfit to make him look less conspicuous.

In the dead of night, the moon hangs high in the sky, and all is silent.

The one-eyed bandit chief staggered to the door, a smile of excitement and satisfaction on his face. When he pushed open the door, he was completely unaware that there were no guards outside. In any case, the bandits who were supposed to be guarding the door often didn't pay much attention and would sneak off to rest when no one was looking.

Without thinking twice, he pounced on the bed where Xianglan was and took the hemp seed out of her mouth.

When Xianglan saw the one-eyed man, she suppressed her fear and pretended to be gentle: "Your Majesty has arrived! I have been waiting for you for so long. You have been binding me like this, yet you have been so late in returning. My arms are aching!"

One-Eyed hurriedly said, "Madam, you've been wronged. Don't worry, after tonight we'll be husband and wife in name and in fact, and I won't restrict you anymore. Even if others have objections, they won't dare to talk nonsense anymore."

As he spoke, One-Eyed removed all the restraints from Xianglan's body.

Just as he was about to make a move, Xianglan said, "Wait! Your Majesty, we must drink the nuptial wine before entering the bridal chamber. Come, let's have a couple of drinks first."

She got up and walked to the table, pouring herself and one-eyed a glass of wine.

The two drank from the same cup, a romantic scene that thrilled One-Eyed. He was already drunk at the banquet, and now, after drinking three spiked cups of the nuptial wine, he immediately felt his blood rushing to his head, his vision blurred, and he even experienced hallucinations at times.

"Madam..." One-Eyed called out with a lisp, and touched Xianglan's delicate hand with one hand.

Xianglan slapped open the one-eyed creature and said with a charming laugh, "Your Majesty is too impatient! We still need to play a little game."

"A game?" The one-eyed man grinned foolishly. "What game?"

Xianglan spoke softly and coaxingly: "Your Majesty, you should know how to play hide-and-seek, right? As long as you can catch me, I will be at your mercy, how about it?"

The one-eyed man's vision was blurry from the alcohol, but upon hearing about the game, he immediately perked up: "Okay, let's play this! Madam, you can't escape."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xianglan got up and hid behind the screen behind the bed.

The one-eyed man staggered after him, muttering, "Madam, don't even think about escaping my grasp!"

Xianglan hid behind the screen, holding her breath, watching the one-eyed man stumble and chase after her.

He stumbled every few steps, nearly falling several times.

In the ensuing chaos, One-Eyed collapsed onto the bed, completely unconscious.

Xianglan let out a long sigh of relief.

—This game is over.

She quickly got up and tidied the room, messing up the sheets and her clothes to create the illusion that they had spent a night together. Returning to the bedside, she leaned down and whispered in the one-eyed man's ear, "Your Majesty, you've truly suffered tonight. My back aches so much I could barely get out of bed. Your Majesty… you are truly wise and mighty, I admire you utterly…"

After finishing all this, Xianglan sat by the bedside waiting for dawn.

This night felt exceptionally long to her, filled with worry and anticipation. She had unwavering trust in Li Mao and hoped he wouldn't let her down and could rescue them before things got out of hand.

If Li Mao fails, she would rather perish together with the one-eyed man than submit to another!