It made her want to escape from this place.

"Of course."

The Prime Minister's wife answered almost reluctantly.

"Hmph." Huang Ningmeng snorted coldly. How credible did she think those words were to dare say them in front of her?

Rongyin, who was standing to the side, never expected that even the madam could not handle her mistress.

However, she quite liked this sharp-tongued young lady, who always seemed to be in the right.

The Prime Minister's wife didn't know why, but lately when she was talking to Huang Ningmeng, she always had the illusion of talking to her own elder.

Although Huang Ningmeng was not under her control in the past, she had never given her this feeling before.

"Let her stay in the small Buddhist hall. The Prime Minister's residence can't afford to support such a willful and disobedient girl."

"Lemon Dream!" The Prime Minister's wife glared at her, "What exactly did Hongyan do?"

"Madam, why don't you go and ask her? To call her by her own name so arrogantly and say that she is not convinced by her master, Madam has certainly raised a good maid." Huang Ningmeng picked up her tea again. "Take care, don't see me out."

This was already a clear indication that she was being asked to leave, and the Prime Minister's wife, too ashamed to stay any longer, turned and left.

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of Rong Yin out of the corner of his eye and paused for a moment.

"Madam, just walk, don't look around."

Huang Ningmeng's lazy voice rang out, and the Prime Minister's wife flew into a rage, flung her sleeves and left.

If I say a few more words to this girl, she'll probably be so angry she'll die!

Rongyin hadn't expected Hongyan to be so disrespectful to her mistress. Considering what Hongyan had said, she could only say, "She deserves it."

As night fell, Hongyan noticed that no one was guarding the door, so she slipped out of the small Buddhist shrine.

She wanted revenge; she wanted revenge on Huang Ningmeng!

Hongyan looked at the guards at the door, wondering how to get past them.

Suddenly, there was a noise outside the courtyard, and the guards all went to check.

Hongyan seized this golden opportunity and slipped away.

After leaving the courtyard, she went straight to the west wing.

Jiang Sheng was currently indulging in a moment of infatuation in the west wing, wondering why Hong Yan hadn't arrived yet. Didn't she say last night that she would come over tonight to teach him how to make hairpins?

Hongyan walked to Jiang Sheng's door and pushed it open.

Jiang Sheng was startled by her appearance, stood up, walked over to her, and asked with some concern, "Why does Miss Hongyan look like this?"

Hongyan glanced at him languidly and said, "It's nothing. Young master, could you fetch me a basin of water? May I borrow your place to wash up?"

"This...isn't this a bit inappropriate?" Jiang Sheng said, somewhat embarrassed.

Hongyan looked at him pitifully, "Scholar, please help me."

"This..." Jiang Sheng hesitated for a moment, but eventually softened, "Alright then."

"Thank you, please go quickly!"

Seeing Hongyan's delighted expression, Jiang Sheng sighed slightly, picked up the basin from the shelf, and went outside.

As Hongyan watched his retreating figure, her joyful expression gradually faded. She walked to the scholar's desk, removed the book covering the Xuan paper, and saw a lifelike painting.

The beauty in the painting stands inside the courtyard wall, her smile as radiant as a summer flower, not dazzling, yet captivating.

Hongyan showed no appreciation for the person in the painting, and her hatred only intensified.

She picked up her pen and wrote beside it: "There is a beautiful woman in Yuanjue Temple, whose smile can captivate a city."

Then he rolled up the painting, put it inside his clothes, and covered the book.

After doing all that, she lifted her skirt and ran out.

Jiang Sheng was drawing water from the well when he saw her leave in a hurry. He wanted to call out to her, but he was afraid that someone would notice, so he could only watch Hongyan leave.

He poured water and went inside, unaware that a dark figure was following behind the red smoke.

...

The next morning, Huang Ningmeng woke up on time again.

"So sleepy."

Huang Ningmeng rolled over, not wanting to get up again, wanting to go back to sleep. This wasn't her time as a doctoral student; she didn't need to dedicate herself to research for the country and its people. Why was she putting herself through all that trouble?

"Master, you should get some sleep. Haven't you exhausted yourself enough these past few days? Staying up late is bad for a woman's health," the ring said gently.

Huang Ningmeng yawned and closed her eyes. "I don't want to go through this every night, but some things I have to see with my own eyes to feel at ease."

"Sleep, sleep, I'll sing you a lullaby," the ring sang softly.

Huang Ningmeng was still half asleep and quickly drifted off to sleep.

By the time Rongyin came to wake her up, the sun was already high in the sky.

"My lady, you can really sleep! Something terrible has happened outside!" Rongyin shook her awake.

"What serious thing could happen?" Huang Ningmeng asked, her voice still nasal from just waking up, sounding lazy and somewhat adorable.

Rongyin was so anxious she was almost frantic. Seeing her like this, she sighed, "Miss, bandits are coming!"

"Come on then." Huang Ningmeng opened her eyes, yawned, and got out of bed.

Her calm and composed demeanor completely baffled Rong Yin.

Rongyin thought she had just woken up and hadn't heard her clearly, so she said again, "Miss, the bandits are here!"

Huang Ningmeng sat calmly in front of the dressing table. "There was no loud noise outside, and you even had time to come and call me. They must have only surrounded the outside and were doing my makeup."

Rongyin's jaw is about to drop! Is Miss a goddess?!

"Hurry up and do my makeup from yesterday."

"Yes, Miss!" Rongyin calmed down and walked behind her to do her hair and makeup.

Just as Huang Ningmeng had said, the area outside the temple was completely surrounded by bandits, preventing anyone from entering or leaving.

The leader was a seven-foot-tall man, of average appearance, with a menacing aura about him.

He had a scar near his eye and an extremely fierce look in his eyes, the kind of look that comes from someone who has taken many lives.

He sat comfortably on his horse, looking at the temple.

Behind the temple gate, many monks were peering through the crack in the door.

"Listen up, monks of Yuanjue Temple! Hand over this woman today, or I will slaughter your entire temple!"

After saying that, the bandit leader unfolded the portrait and showed it to the monks.

The monk behind the door was greatly surprised.

"Isn't that Miss Huang?"

"What should we do?"

"Go and report to the abbot immediately!"

The monks scattered in all directions.

The Prime Minister's wife was anxiously awaiting news when a servant rushed in and reported, "Madam, the bandits outside want us to hand over Miss."

"What?!"

The Prime Minister's wife couldn't stand and sat down in a chair, momentarily stunned.

"Madam, please make a decision quickly. Miss is the Prime Minister's darling, and we cannot afford to have any mishaps," Qingluo said with some fear.

"But the people outside specifically want that girl, what can I do?" The Prime Minister's wife had a terrible headache.

"Madam, the bandits don't seem to know Miss's name; they only have her portrait in their hands," the servant said.

"A portrait!" The Prime Minister's wife's eyes lit up.

Ge Man immediately understood her meaning and frowned, saying, "Madam, no, although there are girls in the temple who are the same age as Miss, there are none who look similar to her."