But the next second, Su Tiyue was suddenly grabbed by the throat and had her mouth covered by someone who appeared out of the darkness, and dragged into the Qinxin Pavilion in the West Garden.

Before Su Tiyue could even scream, her throat was grabbed and she was pinned against a brick-red pillar in the pavilion.

A palace lantern hung high in the pavilion, its dim light shining on the person.

Su Tiyue frowned, looking at the person in front of her with a panicked expression.

A greyish-white brocade robe... lowering his eyes, he noticed the jade pendant hanging from his waist.

It was him...

The man who was just messing around with Consort Wan at Xinrong Palace.

Su Tiyue had never felt so desperate. She had run a long way and thought she was safe, but she had no idea where this person had come from.

The fingers gripping her throat tightened, nearly killing Su Tiyue. Zhou Lin tilted his head, looked her up and down, and then said in a deep voice, "I'll let go, but you're not allowed to shout... even though there aren't many people around here."

Su Tiyue nodded vigorously, indicating her agreement.

But no sooner had Zhou Lin let go than Su Tiyue shouted, "Help! Someone help..."

Before she could even utter the word "ah," Zhou Lin covered her mouth again.

He frowned, his face extremely grim.

Zhou Lin glared at her fiercely, freeing one hand to remove the hairpin from Su Tiyue's hair, then pressed it against her delicate carotid artery: "If you lie again this time... I'll kill you."

This time, Su Tiyue really didn't dare to lie. She nodded gently, her eyes moist, almost on the verge of tears.

Zhou Lin released her for the second time and asked directly, "Did you see that just now?"

Su Tiyue hurriedly replied, "No, I didn't see anything."

Zhou Lin was taken aback: "I haven't asked you yet what you saw..."

So eager to distance themselves...

They must have seen everything.