"Oh, by the way, when I went out to gather information today, Zhou Jing'an sent someone to slip me a note." With that, Jian Yang took out the crumpled piece of paper and handed it to Zhou Jingzhi.

At Baiyun Pavilion, Zhou Jingzhi sneered. His elder brother, the emperor, really knew how to play his cards right.

“Ayang, go and write back to Zhou Jingan, and tell him that you will be going to keep your appointment at midnight tonight.”

Jian Yang nodded and casually wrote a note for the guard.

Meanwhile, Jian Hong had arrived at Ci'en Temple. Following Lin An's description, he found the box they had hidden in a dilapidated incense room. After opening and inspecting it, he found that it was indeed a correspondence between Zhou Jing'an and the ministers.

The sheer number of events involved truly shocked Jian Hong.

He composed himself, locked the box again, and hurried towards the palace.

"Your Majesty, the items have been retrieved," Jian Hong said, handing the box and key to Zhou Jingzhi.

Zhou Jingzhi did not take the key. He did not intend to read the letters. He knew very well who Zhou Jingan was colluding with and what they were colluding with. The letters in the box were nothing more than evidence of his rebellion.

"Aren't you going to open it and take a look?" Jian Yang asked, somewhat puzzled.

Zhou Jingzhi shook his head: "If these things aren't made public, they're just a pile of waste paper. What difference does it make whether you look at them or not?"

Wow, this man is really quite handsome, Jian Yang thought to herself.

When Zhou Jing'an received Jian Yang's reply, he was overjoyed. He hadn't expected Jian Yang to actually keep the appointment, so he led a group of guards to Baiyun Pavilion.

On the way, he became increasingly uneasy, fearing that there might be a trap. With midnight approaching, Zhou Jing'an hurriedly ordered his guards to hide in the woods and not to come out without his permission.

Zhou Jing'an sneered, wanting to see what tricks Jian Yang would play this time.

Jian Yang did not come alone; a tall figure stood beside her—none other than Zhou Jingzhi. Behind them stood many guards.

Seeing this, Zhou Jing'an was very unhappy and glared at Zhou Jingzhi with resentment.

A moment later, he emerged from the woods and walked straight toward Jian Yang: "A Yang, the letter said you had to come alone. What do you mean by this?"

Jian Yang smiled sweetly at him and said, "I've come to make a deal with you, Your Majesty, don't you think so?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jing'an's expression changed, a bad premonition creeping into his heart. He suddenly looked at Zhou Jingzhi and saw that Zhou Jingzhi was holding a key and waving it at him a few times.

He knew that key all too well; wasn't it always guarded by Lin An? How did it end up in Zhou Jingzhi's hands? Could it be...?

Thinking of this, Zhou Jingzhi hurriedly asked one of the guards beside him, "Where is Lin An?"

The guard bowed and replied, "Your Highness, Guard Lin has not returned since you sent him out last time."

Zhou Jing'an looked at the emperor in shock. He had no idea when Lin An had been arrested. He must have gotten the key from him. Damn it, that dog of a servant had betrayed him.

“Your Majesty need not ask. Lin An is already dead. However, before his death, we found some things. I wonder if Your Majesty would be interested in taking a look?” Zhou Jingzhi said.

After saying that, Zhou Jingzhi took out a box, raised the key, and pretended to open it.

Zhou Jing'an's expression hardened, and he looked at him with a cold gaze: "What do you want?"

“It’s simple. Trade these things for Lord Xiahou’s life, and we’ll return these things to you, but you have to hand over Xiahou,” Jian Yang said coldly.

"It's that simple?" Zhou Jing'an asked incredulously.

He knew very well how important the contents of the box were to him, and after seeing that the letters had been stolen, he wanted nothing more than to rush over and tear Zhou Jingzhi to shreds.

Similarly, with these things, Zhou Jingzhi could severely defeat him, perhaps even preventing him from ever recovering. Why would he use something so important to save Xiahou Riyue?

Zhou Jingzhi said coldly, "If Your Majesty doesn't agree, then so be it." With that, he pulled Jian Yang away.

"Wait! I didn't say I disagreed, I agree!" Zhou Jing'an hurriedly shouted.

Jian Yang burst out laughing at the sight. It was so satisfying! Seeing Zhou Jing'an's pathetic state was incredibly gratifying.

Ignoring everything else, Zhou Jing'an said to the guards behind him, "Go quickly and bring Xiahou Riyue to me."

A moment later, the guard arrived with Xiahou.

Xiahou had lost a lot of weight and looked haggard. He was still wearing the robe from that day, with faint traces of bloodstains on it, indicating that he had been tormented by Zhou Jing'an these past few days.

He smiled at Jian Yang and silently said three words: "I'm fine."

Jian Yang felt terrible. Zhou Jing'an was a real scoundrel. If it weren't for saving Xia Hou, she wouldn't have let him off so easily. She really wanted to poison him to death right now.

"Change players!" Jian Yang glared fiercely at Zhou Jing'an.

Zhou Jing'an led Xiahou forward, took the box with one hand, and shoved him forward hard with the other.

Xiahou stumbled and lost his balance, but someone pulled him up. When he looked up, he saw that it was Zhou Jingzhi.

"Brother, don't be too smug. There's plenty of time. I will definitely find more evidence of your rebellion," Zhou Jingzhi sneered.

Zhou Jing'an opened the box and checked it over, making sure the contents hadn't been switched, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Hearing Zhou Jingzhi say this, he sneered. Having learned his lesson this time, how could Zhou Jingan possibly be caught red-handed again? He gave Zhou Jingzhi a deep look, then left with his men.

Seeing that Xiahou was covered in injuries, Jian Yang hurriedly took out her medicine box to treat him.

Zhou Jingzhi coughed a few times and said, "Let's go back to the palace first. I'll find the imperial physician to treat him." He then glanced at Jian Yang.

Jian Yang smelled a strong scent of vinegar, glanced at Zhou Jingzhi with a hint of anger, and reached out to take Xiahou's pulse.

"It's nothing serious, Lord Xiahou, just some superficial injuries." She put away her medicine box and turned to Xiahou Riyue.

Men and women should not touch each other. Since it's nothing serious, she should wait until they return to the palace to have the imperial physician apply medicine to him. Otherwise, she thought to herself, "Zhou Jingzhi is such a jealous person, he's about to explode."

Upon returning to the palace, Zhou Jingzhi received news that Prince Chen had declared that his maternal grandfather was ill and that he would be returning to attend to him for the next few days, thus leaving the capital for some time.

"Taking care of someone who is ill?" He had never known that Zhou Jing'an was so filial.

"What did the scout say?" Zhou Jingzhi asked.

According to the scouts, Zhou Jing'an was leading a group of men out of the city, and they didn't look like they were going to fulfill their filial duties at all.

"Zhao Ziyi, you and your secret guards follow him all the way. I want to see what tricks he's up to," Zhou Jingzhi sneered.

Zhao Ziyi cupped his hands in agreement and hurriedly led his men to chase after them.