Chapter 193 Self-Rescue

The door slammed shut again, and the heavy lock clicked down.

In the darkness, Shen Yiqiu breathed heavily, the wound on her forehead throbbing faintly.

The pool of blood on the ground, which hadn't been cleaned up yet, was even more glaring.

The smell of blood mixed with the aroma of incense in the air made her head spin.

Shen Yiqiu forced herself to calm down, closed her eyes, and adjusted her breathing.

We must not give up. As long as we have a breath left, we must never give up.

Just then, a faint rustling sound caught her attention.

She turned her head with difficulty and, by the faint moonlight filtering in from the window, saw a grayish-brown rat emerging from the vent that was half-covered by the cabinet.

It cautiously approached the food scraps left on the ground when it had previously overturned the soup bowl.

Rats...ventilation vents...

Shen Yiqiu's eyes suddenly lit up.

The passage where she had been stuck was very narrow, with only a small hole about the thickness of an arm.

It's too big for a person to pass through, but a mouse can walk through freely!

A bold idea instantly took shape in her mind.

She began to move with difficulty.

The chains were heavy, limiting her range of movement, but she gritted her teeth and, using the height difference between her body and the wall, forcefully tore a clean white lining from the hem of her torn dress.

She bent down, stretched her arm to the ground, and used her fingers to dip into the still-dry bloodstains on the ground to painstakingly draw on the white cloth.

She didn't have much time and had to strive for simplicity.

She drew the general outline of the Earl's mansion. She had been invited by Fu Langxing to appreciate the painting before, but it had been so long that she was not sure of the exact location.

She could only roughly mark her location and emphasized a burning incense burner pattern, implying that she was trapped there and under the influence of a bewitching incense.

After doing all this, she was panting heavily, and her back was soaked with cold sweat.

But she dared not stop.

She remembered that among the meals Fu Langxing had brought earlier, there was a dish of sweet osmanthus cake.

She carefully moved the plate of pastries to her side, broke off a small piece, and placed it on the ground as bait.

Unable to resist the temptation of the food, the mouse cautiously observed for a moment before darting over, grabbing the pastry, and trying to run away.

Right now.

With quick reflexes and all her might, Shen Yiqiu lunged forward.

A hand pinned the mouse down, and the mouse squeaked and struggled frantically under her hand.

Ignoring her nausea, she used her other hand and teeth to quickly and firmly tie the white cloth strip with the blood-stained design to one of the rat's hind legs.

"Go...find someone who can understand it..."

She murmured to herself, released her grip, and forcefully threw the remaining pieces of pastry towards the vent.

As soon as the mouse was free, it instinctively rushed toward the ventilation shaft and quickly disappeared into the depths of the hole.

Shen Yiqiu collapsed onto the bed, simply using the torn fabric to bandage the wound on her forehead and stop the bleeding.

Now, all she can do is wait.

...

Meanwhile, at the Eastern Palace.

Xiao Yongjing slammed his fist on the table, his eyes bloodshot and dark circles under them, clearly indicating that he had been working for a long time.

"A bunch of useless trash! A living person, right under my nose, in the capital city, could they just vanish into thin air?"

"Search every inch of the land, focusing on the Fu and Zhao families, including all their open and covert properties and villas. Don't overlook anything suspicious!"

Mo Yu knelt on one knee, lowering his head even further to report:

"Your Highness, please calm down! Our people are monitoring the situation closely and have found that everything at the Earl's mansion appears to be normal, with no obvious abnormalities in their purchasing and operating schedules."

"But for two consecutive days, at midnight, masked men secretly entered and exited through the back door. They were agile and steady, and were definitely not ordinary servants."

"Furthermore... the guards at that secluded courtyard in the northwest corner of the mansion have suddenly increased more than threefold recently, with numerous hidden sentries and unusually tight security."

Xiao Yongjing was filled with murderous intent, and he squeezed out a few words through clenched teeth:

"Fu, Lang, Xing...you have such audacity!"

He suddenly stood up.

"Mobilize all available manpower to surround the Earl's mansion for me. Without my order, not even a fly is allowed to escape. But..."

He suppressed the urge to rush in and save the people, and added...

"Don't alert her yet. First, make sure... make sure she's absolutely safe." He couldn't imagine what Fu Langxing would do if he alerted her, in a desperate situation.

Mo Yu looked up, her expression grave as she tried to dissuade him:

"Your Highness, no! The court is in turmoil, with mountains of impeachments against you... of dubious origin and those that confuse the royal bloodline."

"Although His Majesty has not yet spoken, his attitude is ambiguous. At this critical juncture, we must not give others a handle to use against us."

"If you mobilize a large number of people to besiege the Earl's mansion now, the Fu family and the forces behind them will surely take advantage of the situation, and the consequences will be unimaginable! Your Highness, please think carefully!"

Xiao Yongjing interrupted impatiently:

"Are we just going to sit here and wait, watching her get into danger?"

Mo Yu: "Your Highness, concern can cloud your judgment! It is precisely at times like these that you need to remain calm! The young master Fu's actions are based on Your Highness's eagerness to save people, which is why he detained the Marquis. If Your Highness were to actually search the Earl's mansion, you would likely be accused of great disrespect!"

Xiao Yongjing paced back and forth anxiously for a moment:

"Calm down? How can I calm down? What if something happens to her..."

"Your Highness, please reconsider!"

Inside the study, Mo Yu and all his trusted guards knelt down upon hearing this.

Just then, an announcement came from outside the door:

"Your Highness, the Marquis of Yongjia's maid has arrived, saying she has something important to report."

"Let her in."

Xiao Yongjing pulled over a chair and sat down in frustration.

Qingzhu and Qingzhu didn't even have time to bow, and spoke directly:

"Your Highness, is there any news about our young lady?"

"Yes, Your Highness, that despicable Song Sangyu actually drugged us and took Miss away. She always uses such underhanded methods. It's utterly disgusting."

Xiao Yongjing shook his head helplessly:

"We have already increased manpower to search as much as possible, but given the current special circumstances in the court, it is inconvenient for me to personally take action."

Qingzhu seemed to suddenly remember something and spoke:

"Your Highness! I now have a lead on the matter that Miss asked me to investigate. Based on Consort Zhao's recent records of secret medication use, it is almost certain that the antidote for the Red Bean Ashes must contain one extremely rare ingredient: Southern Red Bean."

"This substance only grows in the hot and malaria-ridden Lingnan region. It is extremely yang in nature and must be stored in special containers after being harvested. Its medicinal properties can only be maintained for twelve hours. The Imperial Medical Academy has no reserves of it."

"In recent years, Zhao Jieyu has made several attempts to acquire this item in her secret purchasing list. Although she did not succeed, her intentions were clear."

Xiao Yongjing slowly began, "This confirms our previous suspicions: Consort Zhao... was either poisoned? Or was she preparing medicine for someone? And the connection between Zhao Ke'er and the Earl's Mansion must be relayed through Consort Zhao, who is in the palace..."

Before he could finish speaking, Bai Mei's eyes lit up, and she quickly interjected:

“Your Highness! Red beans… I remember this stuff. Back when we were on the frontier, Lieutenant Zhang went deep into the Lingnan rainforest alone to save a brother who had been infected with malaria.”

"He brought back a string of bright red herbs, shaped like beads, and said at the time that it was a rare and precious red bean. It's very likely that he knew where else he might find this."

“Lieutenant Zhang was rescued by the Marquis and is utterly loyal to him. If it were to save the Marquis, he would surely risk his life to find another antidote. But… but even if we manage to find the antidote after all our hardships, what can we do? Miss is still imprisoned in the Earl's mansion, her fate unknown!”

He calmed down, thought for a moment, and then spoke:

"No! This medicine is the key!"