He watched as the horses carrying Yi Shangyun rode further and further away until the entire procession disappeared from sight.

Xuanyuan Han, however, remained extremely worried about him. He stood on the city wall for a long time, staring in the direction he had left, without moving an inch.

As he walked forward, all he saw was an endless desolate city, withered trees, and sandstorms. How could he bear to leave it, and how could he be at ease?

At this moment, he greedily hoped that she would, like last time, suddenly turn back and return to his side, even though she had made up her mind to leave.

So he waited quietly, waiting for her to turn around.

Even the air around it seemed to stand still, letting time pass by second by second.

Seeing that it was already late, Cheng Liang had no choice but to remind him, "Your Highness, the Princess Consort has already led the disaster victims far away. It's time for Your Highness to return to the morning court, otherwise it may be too late."

Unexpectedly, he was completely absorbed in his own world and remained unmoved by what he said.

Seeing this, Cheng Liang continued to reassure her, "These soldiers are all capable men personally selected by His Highness for the Princess Consort. They will surely protect her well. Moreover, she is accompanied by the fine sand-riding steeds that His Highness has used in many battles over the years. I believe the Princess Consort is blessed with good fortune and will be safe on this journey!"

Xuanyuan Han remained motionless, staring ahead.

Cheng Liang thought about it. How could he not know what his master was expecting at this moment? But those involved are often blinded, while bystanders see things clearly. How could he not know Yi Shangyun's determination this time?

If it weren't for the need to stay in the capital and find Long En's hiding place as soon as possible, how could his master have sat idly by and let Yi Shangyun venture westward alone into danger?

Thinking of this, Cheng Liang gritted his teeth, and a flash of inspiration struck him. He seemed to have thought of something and said, "Your Highness, Her Majesty the Empress is usually closest to the Empress Dowager. Could it be that Her Majesty the Empress knows something about the whereabouts of Shoubo and his servant?"

Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuanhan finally came to his senses, took a deep breath, and turned around while ordering in a deep voice, "Enter the palace!"

"Yes." Seeing his master finally speak, Cheng Liang finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

So the master and servant hurriedly descended the city wall, mounted their horses, spurred them on, and galloped towards the palace.

In the western part of the city, at a teahouse early in the morning.

As soon as the men entered, they gathered together and began whispering amongst themselves.

"Have you all heard about this?"

"What did you hear?"

"This is truly a miracle!"

"Stop keeping me in suspense, just tell me already, tell me already."

"A while ago, Luxian County in Northwest China was hit by a sandstorm disaster that was rare in hundreds of years. The county was almost completely razed to the ground, and only a few hundred people escaped."

"I thought that even if we escaped, the journey to the capital would be long and arduous, and I heard that some people even contracted the plague along the way. I figured I would die soon even if I didn't die by the time I reached the capital. But to my surprise, I was saved! And everyone who escaped the sandstorm survived! Isn't that a miracle?!"

"Who on earth has such great abilities to save so many people?"

"It's Yanfu Temple, which isn't far from here. That's where the disaster victims were rescued."

"Not only that, after hearing that the disaster victims were cured at Yanfu Temple, the eldest daughter of the Yi family personally led them back to Lu County, saying that she wanted to help them rebuild their homes."

"The eldest daughter of the Yi family? How could such a frail woman possess such abilities?"

"You wouldn't believe it! Speaking of the eldest daughter of the Yi family, she's even more amazing!"

"Have you all forgotten how the eldest daughter of the Yi family woke up that year? At the time, this matter caused quite a stir throughout the city."

"You mean that phantom of a seven-colored phoenix that appeared in the sky above the young lady of the Yi family's pavilion many years ago, on that night when it was pouring rain..."

"Do you think... she might be the guardian who has been lost for many years?"

"The Lost Guardian?"

...

The topic that these men were discussing and speculating about deeply attracted Shoubo and Longen, who lived nearby and were out for morning tea.

“Phoenix phantom…Miss Yi…The lost guardian…” Upon hearing the last part, Long En silently repeated it, muttering to himself as if lost in thought.

Seeing that Long En seemed to be deep in thought, Shou Bo asked, "Young Master, have you also heard about the eldest daughter of the Yi family?"

Long En snapped out of his reverie and replied, "I think I've heard someone mention it, but I can't quite recall when, where, or who it was from."

After thinking for a moment, he suddenly stood up.

Upon seeing this, Shou Bo asked in confusion, "Young Master, what do you mean by this...?"

Long En suddenly said, "Set off immediately for Lu County!"

"Go to...Lu County..." Upon hearing this, Uncle Shou was extremely puzzled.

But thinking that they still hadn't found the person they were looking for, Uncle Shou hurriedly said, "We haven't reported to the Empress Dowager yet. If we leave without permission, what will we do if she blames us?"

“It’s been over a month now. We’ve searched everywhere we could, but we haven’t made any progress in finding the Guardian’s descendants. I’m afraid the Guardian may no longer be here. What’s the point of us wasting our time here?” Long En said with a hint of certainty.

Even so, Uncle Shou still had some concerns: "What the young master said is not without reason, but we still have to go and greet the Empress Dowager first."

Long En thought for a moment and said, "There is no time to lose. To prevent any unforeseen complications, I need to get to Lu County as soon as possible. I will trouble you to go to the palace and explain the situation to the Empress Dowager in person."

Shoubo also thought that it was the best way to do things separately, so he instructed Longen: "That's good, but Lu County has just suffered a great disaster, so going there now will definitely be very dangerous. Young master, you must be very careful on the way."

"I'll be careful," Long En said, then stood up to say goodbye, "Farewell!"

After that, he hurriedly stepped out the door and embarked on his journey westward.

The morning court session had just ended.

Xuanyuan Han was somewhat troubled, walking along while thinking about what reason he should give to see the Empress.

Just as he reached a relatively secluded spot, the Vice Minister of War, who had not left after court, suddenly appeared before him, bowing respectfully and saying, "Your humble servant greets Your Highness, the Prince of Qin."

Xuanyuan Han was somewhat surprised, but he still maintained an imposing demeanor. However, upon seeing him, he couldn't help but think of the injuries on Yi Shangyun's body, and a surge of anger welled up inside him. But since he had already promised Yi Shangyun that he would not hold it against him, he had no choice but to suppress his anger and ask, "It's you. What business do you have with me?"

The Vice Minister of War suddenly knelt down before him and said, "Your Majesty, I deserve to die. My wife died young, and I failed to properly raise my daughter from childhood. As a result, she has become increasingly unruly and even accidentally injured Her Highness the Princess. Fortunately, Her Highness the Princess is magnanimous and did not hold it against me. Otherwise, I fear my daughter would have been in grave danger long ago."

The Vice Minister of War never expected that, despite his unwavering loyalty to Emperor Jing, when his beloved daughter accidentally injured Yi Shangyun, Emperor Jing would be so resolute, not even blinking an eye, and order Xuan Yuanhan to take his daughter back to the palace to be dealt with at will.

Fortunately, Yi Shangyun intervened and stopped it, otherwise the precious jewel that the Vice Minister of War cherished would have perished!

Even now, thinking back on it still terribly frightens him.

Xuan Yuanhan said, "Your young lady dares to form cliques and act like she owns the place in the Imperial Pharmacy. She's always spouting vulgarities, is unreasonable and domineering, and is extremely jealous. You really should find someone to teach her a lesson, otherwise, let's see which family in the capital will dare to marry her in the future!"

The Vice Minister of War nodded repeatedly in agreement, saying, "Your Highness is right, Your Highness is right. It's all my fault, all Weichen's fault. I've spoiled her rotten since she was little. These days, I've been thinking that if I have the honor of having the Princess Consort discipline her more in the future, I would be extremely grateful. I had originally intended to personally take my daughter to thank you, but then I heard that Her Highness the Princess Consort had been away from the residence for a long time, so I was unable to go. I wonder if Her Highness the Princess Consort has returned to the residence yet?"

Xuan Yuanhan thought that Yi Shangyun was going against Emperor Jing's wishes, and that it was not appropriate for outsiders to know about her westward journey. So he declined, saying, "My princess... she has always been in the mansion. It's just that she prefers quiet and does not wish to receive guests."

The Vice Minister of War pondered, "The Princess Consort prefers quiet... In that case, I will not disturb her any further."

As he spoke, he looked around and, seeing that no one else was there, suddenly took out a secret letter from his person and handed it to Xuan Yuanhan: "This is a small token of my appreciation. I hope Your Highness Prince Qin and Your Highness the Princess will accept it with pleasure!"

"This is..." Xuan Yuanhan took it, puzzled.

The Vice Minister of War instructed, "Your Highness should open this letter personally after I have left."

Xuanyuan Han thought for a moment and then agreed, "In that case, I understand!"

At this moment, the Vice Minister of War stood up and bid him farewell: "Your humble servant has official duties to attend to, so I will take my leave first."

“Please go ahead!” Xuan Yuanhan said.

The Vice Minister of War then hurriedly left.

At this moment, Cheng Liang stepped closer to him and asked, puzzled, "This Vice Minister of War never takes the initiative to approach Your Highness. I wonder what he's up to today?"

Xuanyuan Han watched until the figure had completely disappeared from his sight before carefully opening the secret letter.

But the contents inside truly surprised him. It read in black and white: "Your humble servant is willing to follow Your Highness the Prince of Qin for the rest of my life, and will follow Your Highness's lead without question."

Upon seeing this, Cheng Liang, who was standing beside him, immediately congratulated him, saying, "Congratulations, Your Highness, on gaining another valiant general!"

"But all of this is clearly her doing!"

Suddenly, Xuan Yuanhan missed Yi Shangyun even more.