Chapter 65 The Crown Prince must absolutely not write a letter of surrender! ...

As expected, the Prince Yi's men had not completely left Hanze Town.

According to the report from the last group of guards who returned, they did not find anything unusual in Hanze Town, but after leaving the town, they discovered something was wrong in the third village to the east.

There was a small, dilapidated temple in the village. Apart from the villagers occasionally going there to worship the local earth god and earth goddess, almost no one went there at other times.

However, recently, according to the villagers, strange noises have been coming from the dilapidated temple. Furthermore, some villagers have reported seeing people entering and leaving the temple at night.

They thought it was some kind of thief or beggar, but when they went to look again in broad daylight, there was nothing there at all.

To infiltrate Hanze Town silently and abduct people right under the noses of Xiao Mingzhang's guards, it would be almost impossible for Prince Yi's men to openly reside in a mansion or inn. Therefore, this dilapidated temple is very likely their hiding place.

As for why they couldn't see anyone during the day, it was because they all went to the town, pretending to be villagers, to secretly observe Yunzhu and Mu Zhaozhi.

"To avoid alerting them, we didn't get close to observe, but we looked from a distance on the mountain behind the temple. We could see that there were indeed people living in the temple at night, and more than one person. They lit candles, and at dawn, they took everything away and left."

Where did they go?

"We've arrived in town," the guard replied.

Although they did not alert the group, once they discovered their whereabouts, they naturally could not let them go easily.

They followed them all the way, and sure enough, just as expected, the group set off for town at the crack of dawn.

"But from our observation, the young lady does not appear to be with that group of people."

"Why?" The glimmer of hope that Yunzhu had just managed to ignite instantly dimmed again.

"After they left, some of us followed them, while others disguised themselves as villagers to check inside the temple. There was nothing left in the temple, and it seemed that the young lady hadn't been there at all." The guards were dutiful and told Yunzhu everything they knew.

Yunzhu, however, couldn't help but feel emotional: "Where will she go?"

"This..." The guard didn't know how to answer Yunzhu's question, and he looked at Xiao Mingzhang with difficulty.

“Yunzhu…” Xiao Mingzhang held Yunzhu’s hand tightly and comforted her by his side. Yunzhu hadn’t closed her eyes since yesterday evening. He knew that she had been waiting for too long and was too worried to think straight.

"Now that we've found their stronghold, finding Azhi is only a matter of time, so don't worry." Compared to Yunzhu's anxious confusion, Xiao Mingzhang always seemed calm, collected, and methodical.

Yunzhu was pulled to Xiao Mingzhang's side. She looked up at Xiao Mingzhang, and suddenly, she forcefully shook him off.

She looked at him coldly.

This was precisely what she disliked most about Xiao Mingzhang. Why, why was his mood always so stable? No matter what happened, he always seemed to be much calmer than ordinary people.

Under normal circumstances, it would be fine, but now that her daughter is lost, that their daughter is lost, he is still the same.

Yunzhu wanted to calm down, but she couldn't hold back any longer. She had been holding back since yesterday, and she had endured it long enough. All she wanted now was to go crazy and have a good mad outburst!

"He only gave you three days. What if you still can't find her after three days? Are you really willing to trade your promising future for Azhi's life?" Her question struck Xiao Mingzhang's heart, catching him completely off guard.

However, after a short while, Xiao Mingzhang looked intently into Yunzhu's eyes and said, "Yunzhu, I will."

Having already said what he had said yesterday, Xiao Mingzhang stood before Yunzhu without needing to blink again and said, "I know you don't want to believe me now, but I already promised you yesterday that if we don't find Azhi in the end, I'm willing to trade my future for Azhi's safety."

“Yunzhu, this is never a joke.”

"..."

The hall remained silent for a long time.

In the crowded hall, after Xiao Mingzhang finished speaking, no one dared to utter a single word except for Yunzhu.

Yunzhu stared at Xiao Mingzhang silently for an unknown amount of time in the blinding morning light before turning her face away.

She took a deep breath. She had already cried enough yesterday, and now she stubbornly held her head high, refusing to let the tears fall again.

"Xiao Mingzhang, you'd better keep your word."

Yunzhu's eyes were not focused on the dome of the hall. She only noticed that in such a spacious and bright room, which had been uninhabited for a long time, there was a layer of cobwebs in the corner above her head.

The spiderweb was very high, in the far corner of the hall. It was probably because Xiao Mingzhang moved in in a hurry that the servants didn't clean it carefully.

—

Yunzhu temporarily relinquished her involvement in the rescue of Mu Zhaozhi, entrusting the entire task to Xiao Mingzhang.

After all, he was the heir of the Prince Huan's mansion, and everyone here was his subordinate. Whether it was commanding or deploying manpower, or discussing countermeasures with strategists, he was much more adept than Yunzhu.

Xiao Mingzhang discussed matters step by step with Yan Qian, Lou Kongcheng, and others in the hall, while Yunzhu sat on the side, listening to their discussion.

She stopped speaking, but she wasn't entirely without an opinion. When she heard something she thought was right, she would glance at Xiao Mingzhang; when she heard something she disagreed with, she would frown and glance at Xiao Mingzhang again.

Xiao Mingzhang would receive every glance from Yunzhu, and as a response, he would nod slightly to her each time.

Yunzhu had no idea whether Xiao Mingzhang had fully understood the meaning behind her every glance.

Finally, the people in the hall were gradually sent out again. Yunzhu saw that there were fewer and fewer people surrounding Xiao Mingzhang. When the last person finally left, he finally straightened up and walked up to her.

She immediately sat up straight, thinking he had something important to tell her.

Xiao Mingzhang then said, "Just now I saw the cook come to call you for dinner, but you didn't eat? Weren't you hungry?"

"..."

With her daughter still in someone else's hands, how could Yunzhu feel hungry?

She said absurdly, "Xiao Mingzhang..."

"No matter what, you can't let yourself go hungry, Yunzhu. I promised Azhi that I would come back safe and sound no matter what, so shouldn't you also be well so that you can welcome your daughter back safely?"

"..."

He always has a bunch of fallacies to use to persuade people.

Yunzhu knew in her heart that Xiao Mingzhang's words were not entirely correct, but she couldn't think of a rebuttal for the time being.

She could only say, "I will eat by myself when the time comes. Xiao Mingzhang, why were your voices getting softer and softer during your conversation? Is there something you don't want me to hear? Today is already the second day. When are you finally going to bring Azhi home?"

“The Eleventh Imperial Uncle, with A-Zhi by his side, will definitely not be in this vicinity anymore. If we want to find A-Zhi now, the only way is to get information from the group of people he left behind,” Xiao Mingzhang answered Yunzhu’s question succinctly.

“I know all that,” Keyunzhu said. “What I want to know is when Azhi will be able to return, and how exactly you plan to extract that information?”

"Those things..." Xiao Mingzhang drawled, "You'll find out when the time comes. I promise you, it won't be longer than today. How about this, you go and have your meal first, and after you're done eating, I'll tell you the details of our situation, okay?"

He tried every possible way to persuade her to go out for dinner.

Yunzhu was helpless. She didn't know when Xiao Mingzhang had become such a punctual person. Back when he was busy in the government office, he was never seen with a full stomach. He would only eat when he was starving. As long as he didn't starve to death, he could always continue to work.

She glared at Xiao Mingzhang with dissatisfaction, but despite her inner grumbling, she never voiced her opinion.

Because she knew that Xiao Mingzhang had gone hungry for the sake of the people who were suffering from drought and famine, she shouldn't compare those things to Mu Zhaozhi's, nor should she joke about them.

Despite Xiao Mingzhang's persuasion, Yunzhu forced herself to stay in the chair for a few more moments, but eventually gave in and went to eat.

It's already noon.

Since learning of Mu Zhaozhi's accident yesterday, Yunzhu has been staying at Xiao Mingzhang's house and has hardly eaten anything except for drinking a few sips of water.

There were no delicacies on the lunch table. Xiao Mingzhang seemed to know that she couldn't eat much, so he simply asked someone to make her a pot of light chicken porridge. The cooked chicken broth was used to scoop out chicken meat, which was then shredded into thin, needle-like strips and added to the white porridge. Finally, two spoonfuls of chicken broth were poured over it, stirred, and served with side dishes such as radish and loofah. It was the perfect dish to whet her appetite.

Even though Yunzhu felt she had no appetite, she still drank two bowls of wine with Ayan by her side.

Yunzhu was still thinking about Mu Zhaozhi. After finishing her porridge, she got up and wanted to go find Xiao Mingzhang again.

She asked the servant Xiao Mingzhang where he was and learned that he was currently in the study with several advisors.

Yunzhu didn't think too much about it and went to Xiao Mingzhang's study with Ayan.

Just as they reached the door of the study, Yunzhu heard rustling conversations coming from the room next door, which was separated by a wall. She instinctively grabbed Ayan's sleeve and stopped walking with her.

Through the several layers of paper windows, Yunzhu strained her ears to listen to the conversation taking place in the study.

In Xiao Mingzhang's study, Yan Qian and Lou Kongcheng stood before him.

They only learned the contents of the second letter written by Prince Yi during the argument between Yunzhu and Xiao Mingzhang today.

Previously, with Yunzhu present, they couldn't say anything, but now that only Xiao Mingzhang was there, as strategists of the Huan Prince's mansion, they simply couldn't hold back any longer.

Yan Qian spoke first: "...Your Highness, please don't be confused. You really need to think twice about the matter of the letter of surrender. We will do our best to find the young lady, but the letter of surrender must not be written. Once it is written, all our efforts over the years will be completely destroyed! Not to mention the struggle for the throne, the entire Huanwang Mansion will be unable to stand up from now on, despised by the people and humiliated by all. All the foundation we have painstakingly built up over the years will be gone!"

Lou Kongcheng followed closely: "Yes, we hope that Your Highness will give it much consideration. We will do our best to help the young lady, but we must not write a letter of surrender. Once the people's hearts are lost, everything else is in vain. Your Highness will also be in a difficult situation in Jinling!"

The familiar scene rushed towards her, and Yunzhu stood there stunned, unaware that they were talking about this.

She clutched Ayan's clothes tightly, as if she had returned to that spring and summer day three years ago.

On that day, she heard a statement that would change her life for the next three years, and now, in this study before her, that statement relates to her daughter's life—