Lu Zhao held the sachet, his dark eyes deep and unfocused, lost in thought.

No one knew that beneath his calm and composed face, his heart was already churning with turbulent emotions.

The next day, before dawn, Gu Chaoxi was pulled out of bed by the palace maids. After bathing, she was placed in front of the dressing table. One maid drew her eyebrows, another combed her hair, and yet another dressed her in clothes and jewelry.

When a concubine enters the palace for the imperial concubine ceremony, apart from not being able to wear ordinary wedding clothes and having to wear palace-made attire, and without the traditional wedding ceremony, the other rituals are no different from those of an ordinary family's wedding.

Gu Chaoxi stretched out her hands and let them do as they pleased. The maids, while doing her makeup, said some nice things. They all knew that this was a noble lady who was going to enter the palace to enjoy a life of luxury. After arriving today, seeing the eldest daughter of the Marquis of Changshan's family with her outstanding appearance, like a fairy princess, they knew that the emperor must value her highly. After entering the palace, she would become a favored imperial concubine. So they took this opportunity to curry favor with Gu Chaoxi, hoping to serve her in the future.

Gu Chaoxi responded casually, but in her mind she was thinking about what was going to happen today.

After the decorations were completed, Gu Chaoxi, led by a palace maid, went to the ancestral hall to pay her respects, then went to the front hall to kowtow to Lord Gu and Madam Gu to say goodbye, before boarding the sedan chair to go to the palace.

The palanquin, pulled by horses, was completely enclosed by pink silk brocade, with large, rare luminous pearls hanging around it, shimmering in the sunlight. Those outside could only gaze up at the magnificent palanquin, unable to see the person sitting inside.

The wedding procession entered the palace amidst music and fanfare.

When Gu Chaoxi agreed to enter the palace, she requested that the wedding procession circle the capital before entering the palace. The emperor, infatuated with her, naturally granted her every request. The Changshan Marquis's mansion had once been prominent, and its bestowed residence was not far from the palace. Now, with the wedding procession having to circle the city, there was no...

It would take at least one or two hours to reach the palace.

Old Madam Gu couldn't bear to part with her granddaughter, so she exchanged almost half of her family's wealth for silver notes and jewelry, which were carried into the palace with the wedding procession. The emperor's gifts also followed the procession in boxes, making the long, winding procession an unprecedented spectacle, with crowds of onlookers surrounding the area.

Because of the people around, the procession moved very slowly. Gu Chaoxi was almost asleep sitting on it, her head nodding off.

As we approached the West Market, a commotion arose from ahead.

"Murder! Someone's murdered!"

"Run! Someone's killing someone up ahead!"

Like a thunderclap, a burly man, wielding a large machete, his face splattered with blood, chased after the panicked crowd ahead, shouting loudly.

"Don't run! I'm going to kill you all!"

"Kill them all! Hahahaha!"

The crowd of onlookers who had been gathered on the roadside suddenly changed their expressions. They no longer cared about watching the spectacle, fearing that the burly man's machete would fall on them at any moment. They quickly pushed and shoved their way away from the man, wishing they could get as far away from him as possible.

The wedding procession was already having difficulty moving forward, and the West Market was mostly a gathering place for small vendors. With this disturbance, the crowd blocked both the way in and out. Even with guards clearing and maintaining order, they couldn't move forward any further and had no choice but to stop.

The head guard was furious and sent men to capture the burly man with the knife.

At the same time, the palanquin, unnoticed by anyone, swayed slightly.

The next instant, a handkerchief was placed over Gu Chaoxi's mouth and nose. She gasped in shock, and the last thing she saw before losing consciousness was the man's familiar face...

By the time the palace guards pushed against the crowd and rushed forward, the man with the knife had already disappeared, carrying his weapon.

The head guard, considering that the most important thing today was to welcome the Imperial Concubine into the palace, not to catch this madman, did not send anyone to look for him. Instead, he dispersed the crowd and set off again.

The wedding procession, accompanied by music, finally arrived at the palace. Upon reaching the altar where the investiture ceremony was to be held, the emperor was waiting above. The head guard finally breathed a sigh of relief; he had been worried about something going wrong along the way, but thankfully, the burly man who had attacked him had escaped unharmed.

A palace maid stepped forward to guide her, respectfully saying, "Please alight from your sedan chair, Your Highness."

The sedan chair was completely silent.

The nanny patiently explained, "We have arrived at the altar. Next, Your Highness will pay homage to the royal ancestors, and His Majesty will then bestow gifts to complete the ceremony. Please alight from your sedan chair, Your Highness."

There was still no movement.

The old woman thought to herself: Could he have fallen asleep?

She carefully lifted the curtain, but there was no one inside.

The old woman was terrified and tumbled off the sedan chair.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty has disappeared!"

Everyone was shocked! The emperor also hurriedly stepped down from the high platform, his face dark.

"What happened? Where is everyone?!"

"This servant was unaware; this servant personally helped Your Highness into the sedan chair!"

The head guard was also covered in a cold sweat. Thinking of the trouble that had happened halfway, he quickly recounted what had happened to the emperor.

“At other times, we were surrounded by guards. Only in the West Market, the crowds were so dense and chaotic that our people were scattered. Perhaps it was then that Her Highness was abducted by villains! I am guilty!”

The emperor kicked the man to the ground, furious. "Seal off the city gates and find him for me! Dig three feet into the ground, find him alive or dead!"

The capital was quickly placed under martial law, and people were thoroughly searched before entering or leaving the city gates. Squads of imperial guards searched everywhere.

Upon hearing the news of Gu Chaoxi's disappearance, some were happy while others were sad. When Old Madam Gu heard the news, she couldn't bear it and closed her eyes, fainting.

When Gu Ruiyun in the palace heard that Gu Chaoxi was missing, she was overjoyed. "Great! Heaven has opened its eyes! I originally planned to deal with her slowly after she entered the palace, but I didn't expect her to be kidnapped. Now she can flaunt her face everywhere all day long!"

...

When the city gates were under martial law, Gu Chaoxi was already outside the city.

When she woke up, she was greeted by a light gauze curtain. A maid was guarding the bedside. Seeing that she was awake, she said happily, "Miss, you're awake! I'll go and inform the mistress!"

Gu Chaoxi called out to her, "Where is this place?"

"Miss, this is a villa belonging to my master outside the capital."

"Your master has given instructions that you will be the mistress of this villa from now on. From now on, I will serve you personally. My name is Xiangzhu. You can ask me to do anything you need."

"The master of this villa?" Gu Chaoxi murmured, "Does he want me to be his mistress?"

Xiangzhu dared not say much about this topic. "You're awake. I'll go and inform my mistress first. Please wait a moment, Miss."

Lu Zhao arrived very quickly.

Hearing footsteps, Gu Chaoxi lay down and turned her back.

Lu Zhao waved his hand, and Xiangzhu withdrew on her own, closing the door behind her.

Arriving at the bedside, Lu Zhao noticed the person's shoulders trembling slightly. He reached out and turned the person around, revealing a small face streaked with tears.