[Ding~ The male protagonist's favorability value increased by five points, and the current favorability value is 45.]

The atmosphere between the two suddenly became quiet and ambiguous, but it didn't last long before it was interrupted by the sound at the door.

A man's voice sounded outside the door: "How did the lock open? Did they run away?"

"No, I've been watching the outer courtyard gate and no one is going in or out." Another person replied.

The Begonia Pavilion is divided into two courtyards, the inner and outer courtyards, with the small hall in the inner courtyard.

In order not to alert the enemy, they only guarded the outer courtyard gate.

The north side of the Begonia Pavilion is adjacent to the Purple Bamboo Garden. The two gardens are separated by a low wall. There is a clump of bamboo and a row of crabapple trees planted in each. Although it is autumn and there are not many leaves, they still largely block the view.

There is a circle of crabapple trees planted around this small hall, and since there are windows on all four sides, it is probably for the convenience of enjoying the scenery.

Xiao Bing took Zizhen to the northwest, where there were trees to block their view. With Xiao Bing's lightness skills, the bad guys guarding the outer courtyard naturally couldn't see them.

Moreover, they would not think that Jiang Ling would escape by climbing over the low wall on the north side. Besides, even if he really climbed over the wall, Qiu Yanshuang was in Zizhu Garden on the north side. If he climbed over, he would fall into the encirclement. In addition, they did not have many people, so they did not keep an eye on the back.

Zhou Jing'an took a small path that led directly to the inner courtyard from the rockery in the garden next door. The passage in the rockery was very small and could only accommodate children. Zhou Jing'an came here in a low position in order to shorten the time of looking for Jiang Ling. After all, taking the main road would mean taking a detour and wasting time.

Although they were able to enter the Prime Minister's Mansion, they had no chance to get a clear view of the entire mansion. For example, the rockery that Zhou Jing'an and his friends often walked on when they were young was generally unknown to outsiders.

Jiang Ling listened to the words of the bad guys outside, thinking that Zizhen should appear by now.

Sure enough, the man stopped just as he was about to push the door open, cursing softly, "It's that maid! She ran away!"

Things went wrong and both of them were a little panicked. This was the Prime Minister's Mansion. If something went wrong, their lives might be in danger. They didn't have time to think about how Zizhen escaped under their noses.

"Go after her quickly. She's drugged and can't run fast." The man said, "She's yelling for help. Jiang Ling should still be in there. I'll go in first."

The two hit it off immediately, and the man quickly left to chase Zizhen.

Jiang Ling encouraged Xiao Ding in her heart, telling him to protect Zizhen.

At this time, another person opened the door, came in, quickly closed the door, and lowered the bolt.

Zhou Jing'an pressed his body against the cabinet door, his hand already holding the dagger.

He glanced at Jiang Ling to comfort her and pushed her sideways into the cabinet.

The man looked around and didn't see anyone. His eyes fell on the closed wardrobe. He walked over slowly and pulled out a dagger from his waist.

Sitting and waiting for death was not Zhou Jing'an's style. Jiang Ling felt that it only took a second for Zhou Jing'an to rush out, and then the sound of fighting was heard.