A group of men in black stealthily moved through the bushes, and only emerged from the bushes after confirming that Meng Yuxiu and Chang Lili had entered the trap array and would not discover them.

"Shall we continue?" one of the men in black asked another. Everyone else looked at the man being asked, who appeared to be the leader of the group.

The leader was baffled by the question and angrily said, "If you don't go, go back and report. Let's see if you can come out alive."

Upon hearing this, no one dared to speak again, and they tiptoed toward the entrance of the trap formation.

The lock was opened, and everyone went inside without incident, but they stopped when they saw the stone door with inscriptions on it.

After reading the words on the stone gate, some people began to hesitate about whether to continue. The leader then said to those who hesitated, "If you are not willing to continue, go back and report."

Upon hearing this, everyone adopted a righteous and awe-inspiring demeanor, expressing their determination to continue tracking Chang Lili.

The protruding bricks were pressed down, and the stone gate slowly rose, with everyone rushing to enter.

After all, compared to facing Princess Xiao Shu'er, who was capricious and treated human life like dirt, everyone would rather face wolves and tigers, at least they could put up a fight.

After passing through the stone gate, everyone continued forward, but the few people in front soon began to fall uncontrollably, and the plank in front of them tilted up.

Beneath the board lay a dense array of gleaming, cold-sharp spikes, upon which lay several corpses, some still twitching slightly, their blood flowing in a continuous stream, forming a river of blood.

The remaining few were dumbfounded, trembling with fear, and even began to regret not choosing to report back to Xiao Shu'er.

Now, neither advancing nor retreating is an option.

Outside the stone gate, at the entrance to the mechanism array, stood a man dressed in black, more handsome than Pan An, holding a long sword, with an upright posture and an otherworldly air, standing on a high place.

Hearing the screams from inside the stone gate, a look of disdain flashed in his narrow phoenix eyes, and he sneered, "He's courting death. This Meng Yuxiu is really willing to give up everything for a woman, and now he's even willing to risk his life."

After a while, a faint sadness returned to his face: "But if you die like this, my only respected opponent will be gone, and no one will stand in my way anymore. That would be meaningless."

In the Imperial Palace, in the Scarlet Smoke Palace, Xiao Shu'er finally could no longer suppress her anger and unleashed a furious tirade against Hu Pin.

"Look at the mess you've made, and your men! Not a single thing has been accomplished. You send them to follow others, and they all lose track of themselves!" She waved her wide sleeves, furious.

She still had a sliver of reason left, knowing that if she completely offended Hu Pin, she would truly have no one to help her.

Hu Pin was easy to manipulate, and when he was scolded like this, he had no temper. He just kept apologizing to Xiao Shu'er and said that he would definitely teach his subordinates a lesson in the future.

But those subordinates he wanted to teach a lesson to never get the chance.

Inside the general's mansion, Meng Yuxiu and Chang Lili had been gone for over a day. The mansion was still peaceful, but the mother-in-law was restless.

He couldn't eat and couldn't sleep well at night.

Last night, she finally managed to close her eyes and drift off to sleep, only to dream of Chang Lili covered in blood and unrecognizable. She woke up from the dream in a fright and couldn't sleep all night.

Aside from finishing what needed to be done, she would stay in the house and pray.

She set up the memorial tablet that she had kept hidden away on a small table and even bought a small incense burner to burn incense.

"Yuan'er, you must protect Lili and keep her safe!" She lit three incense sticks, her face earnest, and carefully placed them in the incense burner.

She turned around, intending to kowtow a few more times. Although their relationship was distant, and although the latter was the Empress, he respected her immensely, regarding her as a mother.

But she ultimately felt guilty towards her.

But as soon as she turned around, she heard a loud crash, and something shattered into pieces.

She patted her chest and turned to look, only to find it was a small incense burner she had just bought.

The mother-in-law was stunned for a moment, looking somewhat lost and disoriented.

"This... could it be an ominous sign?" She knelt down, her hands trembling as she reached for the incense ash, clutching it tightly to her chest, tears streaming down her face, unaware that her hands were cut by shards of porcelain.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the General's Mansion, the divine physician was finally invited out of seclusion. Meng Yuxiu had already arranged for him to stay and promised that as long as he could help Ke Shou recover, he would fulfill all of the divine physician's conditions.

However, the old man, whose hair and beard were completely white but whose spirit was vigorous, had a humble and unassuming demeanor. He only asked for a quiet place to stay temporarily and did not make any other requests.

He prescribed medicine and acupuncture for Ke Shou, which seemed to be just an ordinary way of saving a life, but a few days later, Ke Shou opened his eyes.

He was still very weak when he woke up. His lifeless eyes took a long time to regain their light. The first thing he did upon waking was to struggle to get up. After being stopped, he opened his pale, dry lips and asked in a hoarse, weak voice, "Where is the general?"

The divine physician stepped forward and gently advised, "You are now out of danger, but after being unconscious and seriously injured for so long, your vital energy has been greatly depleted. You still need to recuperate properly, and you must avoid violence during this period."

Ke Shou then realized that he had narrowly escaped death, and it was the miraculous doctor in front of him who had pulled him back from the brink of death.

After he thanked the doctor, the physician left him a prescription, saying it was for recuperation, and then departed.

After that, the divine physician declined all of Ke Shou's attempts to persuade him to stay and offered him gifts, and left the general's mansion.

When Ke Shou learned that Meng Yuxiu and Chang Lili had gone to the mechanical array together, he was worried and seemed to have something on his mind.

“The general’s actions are not prudent. What will happen to the general’s mansion if something happens to him?” He frowned, and for the first time, displeasure appeared on his face, which was usually indifferent to joy or sorrow.

After considering for a moment, the servant said, "Before the general left, he instructed us to take good care of the general's mansion these few days, and said that he would be back in a few days."

Ke Shou could only barely get out of bed and walk around. He pondered for a moment and asked, "How has Granny Chang been doing in the manor these past few days?"

The servant assumed that Guard Ke was concerned about the future general's wife's family and replied with a smile, "Guard Ke, don't worry, Grandma is doing well."

Ke Shou was Meng Yuxiu's right-hand man. Although the general had given instructions on all matters, big and small, before leaving, everyone in the mansion would naturally obey Ke Shou's orders once he woke up.

Ke Shou's expression did not improve at all upon hearing this; instead, it became serious: "Send some people to keep an eye on her."

"Huh?" The servant looked puzzled.

“What I mean is, take good care of her and make sure nothing happens to her,” Ke Shou explained hurriedly. “Report anything that happens to me.”

The servant indicated that he understood and went to give the instructions.

The people who were supposed to secretly watch over the old woman were just servants in the mansion. They would occasionally take a look to see where she was and what she was doing, and once they made sure she was safe and sound, they would not bother with her anymore.

Guo Yan saw all of this, but her injuries had not yet fully healed, so she was only doing things like gathering information.

Seeing that Granny Chang was often being stared at by people from the General's Mansion, she raised her eyebrows slightly and a smile appeared on her lips.