“Xiao Huaijin wouldn’t do that,” Shen Yunjiao said firmly. “I trust his character.”

Yelü Qi was so angry that his back teeth itched. Just as he was about to speak, a humble waiter walked up behind him and said, "Your Highness, your hot water is ready."

Seeing this, Shen Yunjiao hurriedly said to Yelü Qi, "I don't care, this matter is definitely related to you. Anyway, you have to help me find out who sent the assassin."

Yelü Qi lowered his head and smiled, replying softly, "Instead of asking me, you should ask him."

He looked at the waiter who walked up to the two of them.

The waiter was slightly taken aback at first, but then maintained his respectful demeanor and stepped forward with a smile, "Second Prince, is there some misunderstanding?"

"Misunderstanding?" Yelü Qi chuckled lightly, his laughter chilling.

"First of all, the servants working in this shop only know that I am one of the envoys, not that I am a prince. Secondly, if you had disguised yourself more carefully and changed the color of your pupils to black, it would have been much better."

Upon hearing this, the man was stunned for a moment, then finally raised his hand and wiped his face, revealing a completely different, ordinary face. He sneered, "Second Prince, you have a good eye. I thought my disguise was flawless, but I didn't expect you to see through it."

"Right Protector? What are you doing here?" Yelü Qi was somewhat taken aback. He looked coldly at the Northern Hu man in front of him.

This person was the Right Protector who often accompanied his elder brother, the Crown Prince of the Northern Hu.

"The Second Prince is so clever, he should be able to guess what I'm going to do?"

Enna sneered, then suddenly raised his hand and waved it, scattering a handful of white powder.

"Ahem, what does he mean by that?" Shen Yunjiao was caught off guard and splashed in the face, so she quickly looked at Yelü Qi.

Yelü Qi's expression hardened, and he quickly retreated.

A thought struck him, and just as he was about to make a move, he suddenly realized that his whole body was weak and powerless.

Yelü Qi staggered a few steps involuntarily, only then realizing that the powder that had just been sprinkled on him had a miraculous effect, making him unable to exert any strength.

Ena is a master of poisons among the Northern Hu people, so those assassins from the Prince of Guangping's mansion were probably sent by him.

"Yelü Qi, this powder is poisonous!" Shen Yunjiao suddenly tasted a slightly bitter flavor in her mouth and immediately cried out anxiously.

Na'erna laughed and called out to them, "This beautiful lady is quite clever; she guessed it right away. You may all come out."

As he spoke, Ena clapped his hands and said to Yelü Qi with a smile, "I didn't expect the newly made bone-softening powder to be so effective; the medicine took effect immediately."

As soon as she finished speaking, five or six men in black jumped out and surrounded Shen Yunjiao and Yelü Qi.

"Your subordinate, E'na, has been ordered by His Highness the Crown Prince to capture the Second Prince, a traitor from the Northern Barbarians."

"The Second Prince colluded with the Emperor of Dayong, betrayed the country, and committed a heinous crime."

Ena raised his voice, "The lives of the Northern Hu envoys have been taken care of by us. The Crown Prince is kind-hearted and specially pleaded with His Majesty to spare the Second Prince's life. Second Prince, you may return with us."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yunjiao felt a wave of despair wash over her.

She was only there to find out the whereabouts of the assassin and had no intention of getting involved in the internal strife of the Northern Hu.

So Shen Yunjiao quickly said, "Your affairs with the Northern Hu are none of my business. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving now."

After saying that, she quickly turned around and walked out of the pavilion.

A man in black swiftly drew a curved knife from his waist, blocking her path.

"Where did this beautiful lady come from? How could we let you leave so easily? You're dreaming." Ena laughed and approached Shen Yunjiao with a malicious look. "She is quite good-looking."

"Ena!" Yelü Qi rushed to Shen Yunjiao and said sternly, "You are not allowed to touch her."

"The Second Prince can't even protect himself, yet he still wants to be a hero and save the beauty?" Ena smiled sinisterly, and Yelü Qi's anger rose immediately. He tried to exert his inner strength, but found that his dantian was empty and he couldn't muster any strength at all.

Although Yelü Qi was in a dangerous situation, he maintained his usual arrogance and ruthlessness. He stared at Ena and said, word by word, "My brother wants me to live because of my tiger tally. Do you think he would do it if I asked him to take your life?"

Yelü Qi's words were clearly threatening, and Ena gave a cold laugh after hearing them, "Very well, I won't touch her."

But he clearly sensed that the woman in front of him seemed to hold a very important place in Yelü Qi's heart.

"Then we'll trouble the Second Prince and this young lady to come back to Beihu with us."

Shen Yunjiao's scalp tingled when she heard this.

She immediately and vehemently retorted, "I won't go, I—"

Before she could finish speaking, the men in black around her drew their soft knives from their waists. Seeing this, Shen Yunjiao immediately shut her mouth.

A direct confrontation wouldn't work; Yelü Qi had lost his martial arts skills and was completely unable to fight these men in black.

"Tie these two up and take them away," Enna ordered.

While they weren't paying attention, Shen Yunjiao quietly took off the pink rope from her hand and threw it on the ground.

After tying Shen Yunjiao and Yelü Qi's hands and feet with ropes, the group of people chopped them hard across the neck.

Shen Yunjiao felt everything go black before her eyes and immediately lost consciousness.

When she woke up again, she and Yelü Qi were in a swaying horse-drawn carriage full of goods and grain.

She blinked hard, and after her eyes adjusted to the surrounding light, she saw that Yelü Qi was still unconscious, so she quickly kicked him with her foot.

"Yelü Qi, wake up quickly."

Seeing that he still didn't wake up, Shen Yunjiao could only roll to his side and whisper in his ear.

She dared not shout too loudly, for fear that the coachman outside would know they had woken up.

Yelü Qi felt a mosquito buzzing in his ear. Annoyed, he frowned and tried to swat it away, but found that he couldn't muster any strength in his hand.

Yelü Qi instantly opened his azure eyes.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Shen Yunjiao's face was only inches away from his.

He froze, his heart pounding, and it took him a lot of effort to remember what had happened before.

"Wake up! See if you can sit up and reach the car window!" Shen Yunjiao's tone was very angry. "I'm so unlucky, I'm going to be kidnapped to Beihu.

"Don't worry, with me here, they won't dare to hurt you."

Shen Yunjiao snorted when she heard this. He himself was in dire straits, barely able to save himself, so how could he protect her?

“Once we reach Beihu, someone will come to rescue us.” Yelü Qi looked relaxed as he sat up and looked at Shen Yunjiao, smiling as he said, “I wanted to bring you to Beihu before, but now, by sheer coincidence, you’ve come home with me.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Yunjiao twitched the corners of her mouth and gave a bitter smile, saying, "What do you know? I can't leave Dayong."

"There is a Gu worm inside me. I must lure it out and place it on Xiao Huaijin by tomorrow night at the latest. Only then can the poison in his body be cured. If the Gu worm is still inside me by tomorrow night, my meridians will burst and I will die bleeding from all seven orifices."