Danzhu led two nannies into the courtyard and called over two young maids who were working: "Come here and show the nannies everything you've learned today."

The two young maids were pretty and delicate. When they saw the two stern-faced old women, they timidly stepped forward and curtsied respectfully, saying, "Greetings, Granny."

The two old women looked at them and said, "They do have some potential, but they're not quite up to the task of becoming first-class maids to the princess in the future. Fortunately, they're not very old, and since you invited us here, we can still train them a bit."

Danzhu smiled and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you two old ladies." As she spoke, she secretly handed each of them a purse of silver.

Seeing that she was sensible and pleased by the compliments, the two nannies put on a show of disciplining the little maid for Danzhu. Danzhu learned from them, but after a short while, a maid hurriedly came to deliver a message: "Miss Danzhu, the Princess is looking for you."

Danzhu looked at the two women with a troubled expression: "Granny, the Princess Consort is looking for me..."

The two men said, "Miss Danzhu, please go ahead. We'll stay here and watch over things for you."

Seeing that they agreed readily, Danzhu thanked them repeatedly: "I'll treat you two to drinks another day when I have some free time."

After saying this, he hurriedly followed the messenger to Tingmei Pavilion.

Two old women were teaching the young maids manners in the garden, but as the sun began to set, Danzhu still hadn't returned. They exchanged a glance, sensing something was amiss, and after dismissing the maids, they headed towards Tingmei Pavilion.

Upon arriving at the destination, they found Tingmei Pavilion empty except for an old woman sweeping the place.

The old woman rushed forward and asked anxiously, "Why are you alone? Where did the Princess go?"

The cleaning woman said, "The princess is worried about the prince and said she's going to stay at Chuyun Temple for a while to pray for his well-being."

The two old women knew immediately that things had gone wrong: "We've fallen for their trap!"

They exchanged a glance and hurried to find the other two, but unexpectedly bumped into the two carrying Buddha Jumps Over the Wall at the entrance of Tingmei Pavilion. A pot of scalding hot Buddha Jumps Over the Wall was spilled all over them, and the four of them screamed in pain from the heat.

The old woman who had been watching the heat all day was furious when she saw the dog jump over the wall and spill the soup: "What the hell are you doing? Why are you in such a hurry! I've been watching it all day to get it done!"

The other two said, "What Buddha Jumps Over the Wall? Princess Qin has run away!"

"Ran away? Where did they go?"

"They said they went to Izumo-kan!"

The four women looked at each other, at a loss for what to do. After a long while, the head matron finally said, "No, we have to go to the palace to inform Her Majesty the Empress."

But as soon as they reached the gate, they were stopped by the guards: "The princess has ordered that no one is allowed to enter or leave the palace while she is away."

The four were surprised that the guards of the Prince of Qin's mansion dared to stop even people from the palace. They immediately took out their palace tokens and said, "We are people sent by Her Majesty the Empress. You can open your eyes and see clearly. We are going to report to Her Majesty the Empress."

However, the guards remained expressionless upon seeing the token: "We don't recognize the palace tokens; we only obey the orders of the Prince and Princess."

After saying that, he held his spear horizontally and pushed the four men back.

Meanwhile, Fu Cui and Dan Zhu were already riding in the Qin Prince's carriage towards Chu Yun Temple.

According to Xue Shen's plan, the "Princess Qin's" carriage would be hijacked by bandits on the way. After the news was sent back to the capital, the Princess Qin would have a legitimate reason to be away from the capital.

When Xue Shen returned to the capital, he received a letter from the guards requesting help. In a moment of urgency, he led his men to catch up with the bandits and rescued the woman and her child. The mother and child were safe, but because the capital was far away and the pregnant woman could not travel, they took her to the northwest to settle down.

Even if Emperor Cheng'an knew that this was a scheme set up by Xue Shen, there was no way to investigate it.

*

The news that the Princess Consort of Qin had been robbed and disappeared on her way to the Chuyun Temple to pray for the King of Qin quickly spread back.

The news shocked everyone. Even Emperor Cheng'an couldn't tell if it was true or false for a while, so he hurriedly went to ask Empress Zhou for clarification.

Empress Zhou had been living a comfortable and carefree life these days, and she didn't pay much attention to the four nannies she had arranged to go to the Prince of Qin's residence. It wasn't until Emperor Cheng'an came to inquire that she remembered that the nannies hadn't sent any messages back. She could only say perfunctorily, "Your Majesty, I haven't heard of any unusual activity at the Prince of Qin's residence. Please don't worry, Your Majesty. I will summon them back immediately to find out."

He then ordered the female official to summon the people from the Qin Princess.

The four old women had been suffering terribly at the Prince of Qin's residence for the past two days. When they heard the summons from the palace, they were overjoyed at first, but when they arrived at the gate, they realized something and became hesitant.

The four exchanged a glance and quickly reached a consensus.

After entering the palace, no matter what Emperor Cheng'an and the Empress asked, they would only say that Princess Qin had been very wary of them these days and had not given them any chance to get close. Even when they went to Chuyun Temple to bully her, they had the entire Prince's mansion keep it a secret from them and not a word of it leaked out.

By the time they realized something was wrong, the Prince of Qin's mansion was deserted, and the guards at the gate wouldn't let them leave to report the news.

The four old women cried and wailed, and made a terrible accusation against the Princess of Qin.

Emperor Cheng'an listened from the side, his face darkening. If he had previously doubted the authenticity of the kidnapping, he was now certain that the kidnapping was a hoax. It was likely that Xue Shen was worried about leaving his wife and children in the capital and had devised a plan to take them away.

"Okay, okay, okay!"

Emperor Cheng'an stood up and said three times, "I still underestimated him."

Seeing his ashen face, Empress Zhou waved away the palace servants who were attending to him and comforted him, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. The journey to the Northwest is arduous. Princess Qin is already five months pregnant with twins. The road is tiring and bumpy. What if something unexpected happens..."

What she said wasn't entirely unreasonable, but Emperor Cheng'an never placed his hopes on vague possibilities. Especially since Xue Shen could even cure his crippled legs, the possibility of Shen Youying's accident was not high.

Emperor Cheng'an's face was ashen. He paced around the hall a few times with his hands behind his back, then looked at Empress Zhou's belly and asked, "The imperial physician came to take your pulse today. What did he say?"

Empress Zhou touched her lower abdomen and shook her head, saying, "Perhaps it's because I'm getting old; the imperial physician said there's no sign of it this time."

Emperor Cheng'an's forehead veins throbbed slightly as he said, "If that doesn't work, try a few more. Don't forget the tonics you need to take. Getting pregnant as soon as possible is the most important thing."

Empress Zhou lowered her head and obediently replied, "Your Majesty, I understand."