Chapter 50 is clearly thinking about something strange.

Seventeen felt his vision blur. He wanted to say something, but his throat felt like it was filled with boiling water, and he couldn't swallow or speak.

He disrespectfully covered Emperor Jing's mouth, their equally dark eyes meeting directly, one of them strikingly red.

Seventeen felt something welling up in her eyes, perhaps tears. Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly heard a voice, distant yet familiar.

The voice grew closer, as if... it was calling him.

He blinked and loosened his grip, but Emperor Jing's dark eyes were still fixed on him, as if he were looking at prey. However, Seventeen sensed something was wrong.

This person... is not Emperor Jing.

The call grew clearer and clearer, and Seventeen was suddenly jolted awake from her dream, her eyes met with Mingyue's worried expression.

"...Brother Yue?"

"Did you have a nightmare? I heard you talking in your sleep the whole time."

Mingyue helped him up, and he leaned against the headboard. Seventeen's face was pale, and his eyes were red. He must have been having some terrible dream that scared him like this.

After hearing Mingyue's voice, Seventeen calmed down a bit and realized that she had just been dreaming.

I was worrying too much...

"Nothing, Brother Yue, has His Majesty replied?"

Seventeen's voice was also hoarse, roughly rubbing against Mingyue, and a wave of heartache welled up inside me.

"...Not yet, but it should be soon, don't worry."

"Okay, thanks, Brother Yue. I'll go for a walk now." Seventeen shook his head, letting go of the jumbled thoughts in his dream.

Mingyue responded softly, "I'll stay with you."

"No need. I'll just take a walk and check out the government office and the back mountain to see if I can find it sooner."

His anxious thoughts reached Mingyue, who was silent for a moment before slowly saying, "Alright, then be careful."

After Seventeen finished getting ready and left the house, Mingyue stared at his retreating figure with deep eyes. She then turned around, went back to her room, and took out the letter.

The letter was familiar; it was also the letter that Seventeen had handed over to Zero Five.

A letter written to Emperor Jing.

＊

Seventeen squatted outside the yamen, watching people come and go inside. It was lunchtime, and Magistrate Pu seemed to be busy, buried in his study, writing furiously.

The yamen runners there weren't as skilled as him, so no one noticed that a person was crouching on the wall, watching them.

Magistrate Pu stretched and rubbed his sore neck, saying, "It's getting late, everyone should go back and rest."

Several officials, who were probably from the government office, also packed their things and went home upon hearing this.

As dusk fell completely, only the yamen runners remained on duty; the interior was completely empty, without a single person in sight.

Seventeen had a sudden thought: perhaps this is a good opportunity.

He nimbly changed rooftops, made sure there was no one else around except the patrolling constables, and then quickly slipped into the kitchen after the constables left.

Perhaps because they had just cooked, there was still a smell of food in the kitchen, which made Seventeen's stomach rumble twice.

He quickly clutched his stomach and muttered to himself, "I should have eaten something before coming!"

However, the constables had already gone far away, and no one noticed the slightest gurgling sound.

Seventeen opened the lid of the rice jar, recalling the posture of Magistrate Pu that day, and reached into the rice jar to feel around.

He touched it left and right but couldn't figure it out. Seventeen frowned. Could it be that Magistrate Pu was just bluffing?

That shouldn't be the case.

Seventeen pursed her lips and reached in again, this time carefully probing the entire area, finally finding a very small bump in the center of the bottom.

It's so small that you'd believe it if someone said it was a grain of rice that hurt your hand; no wonder I couldn't find it after touching it for so long.

With just a light press, the protrusion was pushed down without making a sound, but Seventeen noticed that a board beside her was slightly raised, which was easy to miss if you weren't looking closely.

This magistrate of Pu County is quite meticulous.

Seeing that the board was the one he had secretly followed and lifted that day, Seventeen was secretly delighted; he had found it.

He then carefully lifted the board, crawled inside, and gently covered it back up, but not completely, otherwise he would be trapped inside.

It was indeed the road he remembered. Seventeen groped his way forward, estimating the time in his mind; he was almost there.

When he entered the inner wall and arrived at the place where the magistrate of Pu County had kept a pile of gold and silver treasures, there was only an empty wall.

Seventeen thought there must be some mechanism, so he began to feel around on the wall.

He soon noticed that one of the wall tiles was a different color from the others, but it was difficult to spot because of the dim lighting.

As Seventeen exerted her strength, the wall brick sank deep into the ground, and a sound like moving a heavy object rang out. Seventeen turned her head and was almost blinded by the pile of jewels.

Now he understood. He squatted down to look at them, picked out a few small beads and put them in his pocket, intending to take them back for His Highness and the others to test.

After collecting his belongings, Seventeen returned along the same route, making sure to dismantle all the traps and mechanisms along the way to avoid arousing the suspicion of the magistrate of Pu County.

However, even if he became suspicious, it was useless. Would he dare to report this pile of things to the authorities? Even though he himself was an official.

Seventeen happily returned to the inn with several large beads in her pocket, forgetting the nightmare of the afternoon and her mind filled with the bright, shiny beads.

"Your Highness! Brother Yue!"

Seventeen ran up to them quickly, and seeing that Xiao Mowen was also there, she greeted him as well: "Brother Xiao."

"Where did Little Seventeen go? He's covered in dust."

As soon as Long Zhaoming finished speaking, Mingyue stepped forward and brushed the dust off his clothes, completely ignoring Long Zhaoming's winking and gesturing beside him.

"Your Highness, I've found something. Let's go up and take a look."

Seeing that Seventeen seemed to be very happy, Long Zhaoming was a little puzzled, but he still followed her up, with Mingyue and Xiao Mowen following closely behind.

"look."

Seventeen took out the large beads from his bosom. Although it was dark inside, the room was still lit, but the appearance of these large beads added a touch of brilliance to the room.

Even someone who knows nothing about these things can tell that these beads are of excellent quality.

"This is... a gift from the Emperor."

Long Zhaoming's tone was hesitant; he was somewhat uncertain. He turned to look at Mingyue, who picked up a bead and examined it carefully for a while before confirming, "It was bestowed by the emperor. If I remember correctly... it was given to Xie Daoyuan."

Xie Daoyuan, a name unfamiliar to Seventeen. He looked blankly at the two people speaking in cryptic language and asked curiously, "Who is Xie Daoyuan?"

"The former Grand Tutor of the dynasty."

Even though Seventeenth Prince didn't know much about the imperial court, he knew that the position of Grand Tutor was not low. How could such a person be...?

He turned to look at Mingyue, whose expression was inscrutable. Long Zhaoming keenly sensed that his elder brother was in a bad mood and wanted to leave, but felt it was inappropriate.

"Why would the former Grand Tutor of the previous dynasty want to...?"

Seventeen swallowed the words "treason," and he also noticed that Yue-ge seemed to be in a bad mood, so he looked at him cautiously.

Mingyue reached out and ruffled Seventeen's hair, a smirk playing on her lips, whether it was a smile or a taunt: "I don't know, Seventeen is really amazing. I'll go to that secret room with you again later."

Seventeen nodded, and Long Zhaoming secretly breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this. Xiao Mowen looked thoughtfully at Mingyue's hand resting on Seventeen's head.

"I have an idea."

Long Zhaoming's fox-like eyes darted around, and he seemed to be oozing mischief: "The magistrate of Pu County definitely wouldn't dare to make this public. Even if it were discovered to be missing one day, he wouldn't dare to make a fuss, would he?"

Mingyue gave him an approving look; he shared the same thought as her.

The two brothers exchanged a knowing smile, like two foxes who had just stolen some fish. Seventeen looked left and right, feeling as if there were two fox tails wagging behind them.

Long Zhaoming left with Xiao Mowen. Seventeen yawned, and Mingyue, watching from the side, asked curiously, "Are you still sleepy after sleeping for so long?"

"Hmm, a little."

Seventeen rubbed her eyes, and Mingyue shook her head helplessly and smiled: "Bear with it, we haven't eaten anything tonight, eat something before you sleep."

Mingyuedi's voice seemed to have a magical power. Seventeen forced herself to keep her eyes open and looked at him, giving a lazy reply.

After everyone left, Seventeen opened her dark eyes and thought of the dream she had at noon. She reached out and clutched her heart, murmuring, "Your Majesty..."

His Majesty's face appeared in my mind, but after blinking, it changed to Yue Ge's.

Seventeen's breathing quickened, and in a daze, she saw Yue Ge's face getting closer and closer, so close that it seemed as if their breaths were intertwined, blending together.

"...Seventeen? Why is your face so red?"

Mingyue pushed open the door and placed the food on the table. Just as she was about to look at the person lying in bed, she froze.

Seventeen lay on her back on the bed, seemingly lost in thought. Her eyes were somewhat glazed over, and a distinct blush covered her cheeks and earlobes, clearly indicating that she was contemplating something strange.

His heart skipped a beat, and he called out. Seventeen on the bed instantly jumped up, looking at him with her big, watery eyes.

Mingyue felt as if something had hit her heart, but Seventeen seemed oblivious, looking at the food on the table and smiling, "It's alright, it's just a little hot."

Seventeen avoided his gaze and instead looked at the long, thin roll on the table.

The thing was fried to a golden brown and crispy, and you could vaguely see the green filling inside. It smelled of oil mixed with a fresh aroma, making your mouth water.

Spring rolls?

"Hmm, the shop assistant said he went and picked some wild vegetables. Want to try some?"

Seventeen had eaten them before, and the palace chefs were naturally top-notch in their skills. However, he wasn't picky about food, and the smell of this stack of crispy spring rolls made his mouth water.

He picked up a piece and took a bite. The oil burst in his mouth, clearly indicating that it had been fried in oil. However, it wasn't greasy at all because the filling inside perfectly balanced the outer layer.

The wild vegetables were fried until they were a little wilted, and when mixed with the minced meat next to them, the umami flavor went straight to the top of my head.

Seeing that Seventeen was enjoying her meal, Mingyue also sat down with a smile and ate a few bites, and even added two more bowls of rice to her plate.

"Have some food."

Seventeen pushed the rice away, saying, "I don't want to eat rice, Yue-ge, you eat it."

Actually, Mingyue had noticed a little habit of Seventeen before: he wasn't picky about food and could eat a little bit of everything, except for rice.

I had some doubts about this, but it wasn't a big deal.

At this moment, he became somewhat curious: "Why not eat rice? Just eating these dishes might not be enough to fill you up. I'll order some more."

After saying that, he pushed open the door, waved to the waiter downstairs, gave him a few instructions, and sat back down.

Seventeen was stumped by his question and didn't know how to explain it for a moment, so he just laughed it off.

Seeing that Seventeen was unwilling to talk about it, Mingyue did not force her, but kept it in her heart and would try to ask her about it later.