Following Cui Zichen's instructions, Xie Qinglan had a maid find her a servant's outfit to change into, then lowered her eyes and followed Cui Zichen out of the Xie residence toward the Prince of Qin's residence.

Because of the siege by the Northern Rong, the once bustling streets and alleys are now deserted and empty, with people staying indoors.

Today it was even worse. The soldiers of the three departments were searching the streets and alleys with the roster. When the two passed by, they saw soldiers forcibly dragging out a young girl in her prime. The girl struggled and cried incessantly. She was probably her mother’s wife who was crying and begging to come out, but was rudely pushed away by the soldiers.

The girl's father helped his wife up, hunching his shoulders as he watched his daughter being dragged away by soldiers. Meanwhile, the neighbors remained indoors, afraid to come out, only peeking through cracks in their doors and windows.

The two walked through two streets and saw at least a dozen girls being dragged away by soldiers.

Xie Qinglan finally couldn't help but stop and ask Cui Zichen in a daze, "Are they all going to be sent to the Northern Rong people?"

The news of the peace talks has spread like wildfire today, and she has naturally heard about it as well. When it was said that the Northern Rong people wanted three thousand young girls, everyone cursed them, but at the time no one expected that the Emperor would actually agree.

But today, Xie Qinglan witnessed firsthand how the soldiers arrested people.

Cui Zichen held her shoulder, his tone filled with helplessness, and said, "His Majesty is determined to negotiate peace."

Xie Qinglan asked, "Is it also true that Xuanci was sent to marry a concubine and ten noble ladies were sent as her dowry?"

Cui Zichen nodded. Seeing her red eyes, he assumed she was frightened and reassured her, "We're already engaged, so it won't affect you."

Xie Qinglan shook her head and said softly, "I'm just a little sad. We're not even at our wits' end, yet the government wants to use these poor women to buy peace."

Upon hearing this, Cui Zichen responded with a complex expression and a hint of sarcasm.

He then whispered, "But it's not the worst yet; there might still be a chance."

Xie Qinglan was surprised, but her expression also showed a hint of excitement: "Has His Majesty not made a final decision yet?"

Cui Zichen shook his head. Naturally, he couldn't tell her about such a thing, so he could only say, "I can't tell you now."

This time, Xie Qinglan didn't press the matter further. Instead, she glanced back at the chaotic streets and said, "I hope they can all go home."

*

When the two arrived at the Prince of Qin's residence, they found the gates tightly closed. Although the guards patrolling the gates looked no different from usual, Cui Zichen, with his sharp eyes, could almost immediately tell that the patrolling guards were not the same group as before, but were probably the Prince of Qin's trusted elites.

When the head of the guards saw Cui Zichen, he stepped forward to inquire about the situation, but he did not relax his treatment of Cui Zichen because he had been to the Prince of Qin's residence.

Cui Zichen bowed respectfully and took the opportunity to show the other party the Qin King's token. Only then did the other party relax his guard, ask a few casual questions, and have the guards lead the two inside.

Shen Youying, who was in the manor, had already received the news that Cui Zichen was requesting an audience. Xue Shen had not yet returned to the manor at this hour, but Cui Zichen had arrived. Shen Youying vaguely guessed that he was probably here to deliver a message on behalf of Xue Shen.

She pondered repeatedly why Xue Shen hadn't returned, but couldn't help but think of the worst-case scenario.

Shen Youying was already waiting in the flower hall. When she saw Cui Zichen being led in by the guards, she immediately stood up and went to greet him: "Did His Highness send Lord Cui with a message?"

Cui Zichen nodded. Afraid that she would worry, he did not tell her the whole truth, but instead said tactfully, "His Highness has been kept in the palace by His Majesty."

Upon hearing this, Shen Youying's eyelashes trembled, revealing a look of panic. She seemed to want to ask something, but ultimately hesitated and refrained from doing so. Instead, she calmly asked in a low voice, "Has Your Highness made any preparations?"

Cui Zichen nodded: "It was inconvenient to explain too much at the time, but the Princess Consort probably already knows some of it, so there's no need to worry too much."

Shen Youying nodded, still looking somewhat dazed.

Although she had anticipated that things would not go smoothly, it was still unexpected for Shen Youying that Xue Shen was kept in the palace by the Emperor.

Although Cui Zichen used the euphemism "keep him," Shen Youying was not stupid. At this critical juncture, it was most likely that the emperor wanted to force Xue Shen to be a hostage and had him placed under house arrest.

Although she tried her best to calm herself down, Shen Youying couldn't help but feel flustered. Her face was slightly pale, but she still thanked him politely: "Thank you for delivering the message, Lord Cui. It is not convenient for you to stay for too long, so I will have Danzhu escort you out."

Cui Zichen had anticipated this situation. He wasn't particularly familiar with Princess Qin, and given the difference between men and women, there were many things he couldn't say. He looked at Xie Qinglan beside him.

Xie Qinglan had been holding back her words since earlier, but now that she saw Cui Zichen nod, she couldn't contain her emotions and stepped forward: "Zhaozhao."

Shen Youying was taken aback, a look of surprise on her face. Just now, she had been so worried about Xue Shen that she hadn't paid any attention to the people around Cui Zichen.

Why are you here?

Xie Qinglan held her hand, recalling the scene of the soldiers arresting people just now, and thinking about Shen Youying's difficult situation. She held back the tears welling up in her eyes and said in a muffled voice, "I was worried about you, so I came to check on you."

Shen Youying disagreed, saying, "You're dressed like this, you must have come here without telling your family, right? This is too ridiculous."

Xie Qinglan pouted and said, "I'm already here, and I've already done all that fooling around. Anyway, I'll stay here with you." She hugged Shen Youying's slender body tightly and whispered in her ear, "I'll stay with you. Don't be afraid, nothing will happen."

Shen Youying's eyes immediately reddened, and she forced back her tears, saying, "The Prince left a lot of people here. There are layers upon layers of guards in the Prince Qin's mansion. What could possibly happen to me? You should go back with Lord Cui later."

Xie Qinglan stepped back, glanced at Cui Zichen, and said, "Anyway, I'm not going back. I'm just staying here with you. There's chaos outside right now, and you have many guards here, so it's safer than the Xie residence."

Her words were obviously a lie. If we're talking about danger, the Qin Prince's Mansion is the most dangerous place in the city right now. Otherwise, Xue Shen wouldn't have mobilized so many people to surround the mansion both openly and secretly.

Shen Youying couldn't argue with her, so she could only look at Cui Zichen.

To everyone's surprise, Cui Zichen thought for a moment and said, "The princess is six months pregnant, so it would be better if someone accompanied her."

Shen Youying was taken aback when she heard her say that.

Cui Zichen didn't seem too worried, saying, "Qinglan came disguised as my servant, so no one knows. Besides, although the situation looks dangerous now, things might turn around for the better. Your Highness, please don't worry."

Since he said that, Shen Youying's worries lessened somewhat.

She hesitated for a moment, unable to bring herself to kick him out, and had no choice but to agree.

Afterwards, Cui Zichen had Xie Qinglan change out of her servant's attire and selected a maid from the Prince's mansion with a similar build to Xie Qinglan, who then changed her clothes and left with him.

After Cui Zichen left, Xie Qinglan pulled Shen Youying back to Tingmei Pavilion.

She was quite familiar with Tingmei Pavilion. She took off her shoes and climbed onto the couch, gesturing for Shen Youying to come up quickly so the two sisters could chat. She then instructed Bailu to go to the kitchen and call some snacks and fruits.

Shen Youying's somewhat gloomy mood dissipated because of her liveliness, and she laughed and said, "Nothing can stop you from eating."

Xie Qinglan said, "There's no use worrying now. We still have to eat. We don't want to scare ourselves into something when nothing's happening outside."