After Jinlan left, Xuanyuan Yue stepped out of the small courtyard and wandered aimlessly outside, carefully considering every word Tuoba Ze had said. She couldn't help but mutter to herself:

"Judging from this person's tone, he doesn't seem to be from my Western Qin Kingdom. Who exactly is he? Is he colluding with that Princess Dongning, no, and it should also include that young lady from the Western Qin Academy, Lu Tianjiao? What are they doing? Uncle Qin must not know any of this yet."

Suddenly, her thoughts began to wander freely. The more she thought about it, the more something seemed wrong, and the more she felt something was wrong, the more she wanted to figure it out as soon as possible.

As he casually looked up, he suddenly glimpsed a courtyard across the street through the gaps in the blue tiles of a wall. Looking around and seeing no one, he tiptoed over and curiously peered inside: "Huh, what is this place? Why is it so quiet inside, yet so many burly men guarding it?"

Xuanyuan Yue watched for a while, but there was no movement at all. Finally, puzzled, she stepped back, propped her chin up with one hand, and muttered to herself, "There must be something more valuable stored inside! Or perhaps... some unspeakable secret?"

With this thought in mind, she continued to wander around the area, carefully observing every corner of the mysterious courtyard.

After a while, she suddenly stopped and said, "It seems we definitely can't get through the main gate. Hmph, it just so happens that this princess hasn't had a chance to show her skills in a long time."

As they were talking, she chuckled softly, then walked to a very secluded corner and suddenly stopped. She looked up and with a "whoosh," she nimbly leaped onto the roof.

After crouching down and surveying the entire courtyard, apart from the guards with swords patrolling back and forth, there seemed to be no other suspicious figures.

So she chose to stop on the roof of the only house with two solemn guards standing at the entrance, gently bent down, and carefully pried open a few tiles to look into the house below.

"Didn't he just say he had important business to attend to? Why is he sitting here alone now?" She never expected to see Tuoba Ze here, especially alone in the room, drawing something at his desk.

Then, they looked around the rest of the house, but after searching for a long time, they found nothing unusual.

At this moment, she became even more puzzled: "If there's nothing there, why are there more guards in this courtyard than in the entire tea plantation and all other places combined?"

Puzzled, Xuan Yuan Yue raised her head again and glanced around at the guards in the courtyard.

Hesitantly, she quickened her pace and hurriedly removed a few more tiles from the nearby roof to look down again, only to find the next room empty and empty of anything.

Although he was very puzzled, he thought that Jinlan should have come out by now, so he decided to quietly put the tile back on and return along the same route.

Picking up a tile, she suddenly looked down and saw a familiar female figure appear before her. She immediately leaned down, almost pressing herself against the roof, to peer closely at the woman. But the more she looked, the more uneasy she felt. Then, as if she couldn't believe her eyes, she rubbed them hard, muttering to herself, "This figure looks so much like... Could it really be... Yun'er? But wasn't Yun'er missing in the south of the city? How could she be here? Is this woman really her?"

In a desperate attempt to confirm even her own somewhat unbelievable suspicions, Xuan Yuan Yue looked up and glanced around. Seeing that no one was around, she tried to lower her voice and softly call out to the woman inside the room, "Yun'er, Yun'er, Yun'er..."

After a while, she noticed that the woman inside was pacing back and forth, seemingly oblivious to her cries. Then, a thought struck her, and her gaze fell on a small pebble beside her.

Just as she reached out to pick up the pebble and was about to throw it down to attract the woman's attention, Tuoba Ze suddenly appeared behind her as if he had fallen from the sky.

Xuan Yuan Yue suddenly sensed the presence of someone behind her and abruptly turned around, but it was too late to react. Tuoba Ze grinned maliciously and struck her unconscious with a palm strike: "You..."

Meanwhile, in a quiet inn on a back street behind the Sihai Tea House, a man lay on a bed in a room, his face completely pale, in a deep coma.

"How is it? Will he be able to wake up?" Mei Zhixuan asked Yi Sanshao, who was sitting by the bedside, intently examining and treating him, with great concern and anxiety.

"Fortunately, the person who did the attack didn't know that this person's heart is unusually located on the right side, so he's only unconscious due to severe injuries and excessive bleeding. We've given him medication, so don't worry, he'll wake up."

With his dark hair and red robe, Young Master Yi frowned as he spoke. He stood up, walked to the window, and pushed it open, letting in a gentle breeze and soft light to dispel the gloom that filled his face.

"Wake up quickly. I hope he really knows where that Tuoba Ze took the princess?" Mei Zhixuan finally breathed a long sigh of relief after hearing Yi Junhao's words. His brows relaxed, and he murmured softly as he looked at the sleeping man's face.

The person lying unconscious on the bed was the same red-clad strongman from the Xiaolong Society who was found by Xuanyuan Han and others on the stone mountain. They learned from him that Yi Shangyun had been kidnapped and his whereabouts were unknown. He was then handed over to Lanxiang for disposal. He was stabbed by Long Ye's copper-sheathed dagger with dragon patterns, but luckily he did not die.

Meanwhile, Yi Sanshao and Mei Zhixuan had already arranged for a double using Yi Sanshao's incredibly realistic disguise skills. As soon as the double left the gate of the Xiaolong Society with Xuan Yuanhan's men, they headed straight for the Nan'an Kingdom's palace.

However, these two had already learned that Yi Shangyun, whom Lu Tianlin had brought back, had been kidnapped and taken back to the Western Qin Imperial City. They disguised themselves and avoided Xuan Yuanhan's eyes and ears, and couldn't wait to rush along the road to the Western Qin Imperial City to secretly search for Yi Shangyun's whereabouts.

Unexpectedly, they encountered this dying man on the way, who begged them for help, saying that he knew where Yi Shangyun was and only needed them to save him. So they rescued him and brought him here.

Clearly, the two had searched for days along their journey back to the Western Qin capital, but still found no trace of Yi Shangyun. At this point, it seemed they could only place their hopes on this survivor.

Mei Zhixuan turned around and saw that Yi Sanshao was unusually quiet, standing alone by the window, leaning slightly forward with his hands on the windowsill, gazing out in a daze. Mei Zhixuan was somewhat surprised, so he walked over and stood beside him, looking out at the profusion of flowers on the branches, the ducks floating gently in the warm water, the bustling streets, and the hurried pedestrians. He softly asked:

"What are you thinking about? Is it... another girl? Don't worry, she is of the blood of the Empress Dowager. With the protection of the Empress Dowager's spirit in heaven and the ancestors of the royal family of Dongning Kingdom, she will definitely be fine!"

As she spoke, she couldn't help but place a long, slender hand on Young Master Yi's shoulder and gently pat him. However, these words were less to comfort Young Master Yi and more to calm her own turbulent emotions.

Unexpectedly, Young Master Yi suddenly gritted his teeth, gripped the edge of the windowsill tightly with both hands, and finally could no longer hold back. He slammed his fist heavily on the windowsill and roared, "That Tuoba Ze is truly despicable! How dare he repeatedly lay hands on the girl! We can no longer tolerate this! It seems we should teach this barbarian nation a lesson!"

Mei Zhixuan was surprised and said, "What do you want to do? Third Young Master has never participated in such worldly disputes!"

"I'm willing to do anything for the girl," Yi San Shao said, turning to look into Mei Zhi Xuan's eyes with unwavering conviction.

But after a moment, she became sad again and murmured to herself, "Even if she has no memory of me at all, I am still willing."

Mei Zhixuan immediately felt even more respect for her, and only then did he recall, saying with concern, "Yes, my imperial sister has lost her memory."

For a moment, the two equally tall and imposing figures stood side by side by the window, both falling silent, filling the room with stillness.

After an unknown amount of time, Young Master Yi suddenly asked, somewhat bewildered, "Have you ever liked someone?"

Upon hearing this, Mei Zhixuan suddenly turned to look at his alluring profile and paused for a moment. For some reason, the scene of his first encounter with Xuan Yuan Yue in the streets of the Western Qin capital suddenly flashed into his mind.

Within that delicate and frail little body, there seemed to be a tremendous power. He didn't know what it was; he only knew that at that moment, for the first time in his life, he felt a strange and wonderful feeling towards a woman.

So much so that in the days that followed, he would unconsciously think of her on many sleepless nights, and the thought of her seemed to transform all the pain and loneliness of his life into a sweet joy. At these times, a contented smile would quietly appear on his lips to accompany him to sleep.

Could this be what people call "love"?

However, considering that his greatest wish in life has yet to come to fruition, how could he "lose his ambition" by indulging in these personal feelings for his children?

Moreover, he had always known that sooner or later, she and Xuanyuan Yue would eventually break off completely.

If he hadn't learned from the high monk in the City God Temple that the guardian of Western Qin was still alive, perhaps he would have sincerely wished Xuan Yuan Yue the greatest happiness a woman could ever experience. But clearly, her life was ultimately ruined by him.

With this thought in mind, Mei Zhixuan snapped out of his reverie, took a deep breath, and as if he had made up his mind, uttered two words in a cool voice: "No."