Chapter 60 Why did you tie me up?

Wang Gui almost rushed into the hall at the sound of the words, with the chill of the night wind around him: "Your Majesty!"

Xiao Jin didn't waste any words. His command was cold and precise: "Immediately take people and search every inch of Yun Zhao's path back to the palace! If she's alive, she'll be found dead..." His Adam's apple rolled, and the cold words could not be uttered, turning into a deeper murderous anger, "Find her for me!"

"I obey your order!" Wang Gui turned around and was about to call on the troops without hesitation.

"Wait!" Xiao Jin's voice was filled with unquestionable consideration, "Act in secret! Do not disturb the Yun Guogong Mansion! The Duke has just left the capital and headed south, the morale of the army must not be shaken!" There was murderous intent and restraint in his eyes.

"I understand!" Wang Gui bowed again, and his figure disappeared like a ghost in the thick night outside the hall.

Looking at the direction where Wang Gui disappeared, Xiao Jin suddenly stood up from the throne, exuding a terrifying low pressure. "Prepare the horses! I will go there myself!"

"Your Majesty! There might be someone outside the palace..." Zhang Fuan was horrified and tried to dissuade him.

"Shut up!" Xiao Jin interrupted harshly, his dragon robe rustling in the wind. "Guard Yanying Palace for me! If she comes back... report to me immediately!"

Before he finished speaking, the man strode out of the hall, leaving Zhang Fuan standing there frozen with a worried look on his face.

…

Galloping horses broke through the silent long street, and the elite Feathered Guards spread out like shadows, silently searching every possible fork in the road and alley.

The torchlight flickered in the darkness, illuminating Xiao Jin's cold, sculpture-like profile. Reports came in again and again:

"Nothing unusual in North Lane!"

“No trace of him at the West Street intersection!”

"There have been no reports of any unusual movement among the shops and residents along the way!"

"Waste!" Xiao Jin pulled the reins hard, causing his horse to neigh. His hawk-like gaze swept across the familiar streets, a chill that seemed to solidify. "How could a living person evaporate before my eyes?!"

Wang Gui rode his horse closer, his voice very low but with clear direction: "Your Majesty, the road from the Duke's Mansion to the palace gate is around Prime Minister Su's Mansion, Chengshan Earl's Mansion, Yu Ge Lao's newly granted mansion... and, Qin Wang's Mansion!" He enunciated the last three words particularly clearly.

A cold light flashed in Xiao Jin's eyes! The King of Qin! He was confined to the palace... But could he really not extend his hand?

"There's another person!" Xiao Jin's voice was icy. "Zhang Jianren! The former Minister of War! Where is he now? Has he left Beijing?!"

The case of Li Cairen implicated Zhang Jianren, who was dismissed from his post. All military power in the Beijing camp was handed over to Yun Chongshan. How could he not resent him? As a daughter of the Yun family, Yun Zhao was the perfect target for revenge!

Wang Gui's pupils shrank: "Your Majesty, please understand! Zhang's mansion has been confiscated. The new Minister Bai Qi followed the army south and has not yet moved in. Zhang Jianren himself... is reportedly still staying in his old residence in Beijing!" He instantly understood what Xiao Jin was referring to.

"Go!" Xiao Jin suddenly kicked the horse's belly, and the horse rushed towards the already declining noble area in the east of the city like an arrow.

The sound of horse hooves beat out a heart-pounding drumbeat on the empty streets.

Soon, a deserted mansion with fading vermilion paint appeared before their eyes. The once-prominent Zhang Mansion now stood with its gates shut tight, its lintel crooked. Under the bleak moonlight, it resembled the remains of a dormant giant beast, emanating an aura of decay and danger.

Xiao Jin reined in his horse and stopped in the shadows diagonally across from the mansion, his dark cloak blending seamlessly into the night. His sharp gaze fixed on the tightly closed, all-consuming door, his voice as deep as a judge from the underworld:

"Wang Gui!"

"Bring the men in! Search thoroughly for me! Dig three feet deep!"

"I'll wait here."

"Report any findings immediately!"

"As you wish!" A fierce look flashed in Wang Gui's eyes, and he made a silent gesture.

Dozens of Feathered Guards, like bats blending into the night, nimbly climbed over the high wall and instantly disappeared into the dead silent house that seemed to have frozen all the secrets.

The subtle sound of tiles being crushed was particularly harsh in the quiet night.

Xiao Jin sat upright on his horse, motionless, like the coldest rock in the night. He stared at the door, the veins bulging from the back of his hand gripping the reins, his knuckles white from the strain.

Every second of waiting is as long as torture.

…

Wang Gui's figure darted out from behind the high walls of Zhang's mansion like a ghost, landing silently before Xiao Jin's horse. He knelt on one knee, his voice low, yet piercing the silence like an icicle: "Your Majesty... The mansion is deserted."

The last trace of warmth in Xiao Jin's eyes froze instantly! The chilling murderous intent swept across like a tangible cold wave, and the air around them seemed to freeze!

"Look again!" The two words were squeezed out from between teeth, filled with undeniable fury. "Where's the Qin Palace?! I'll dig her out for me even if I have to!"

"Yes!" Wang Gui did not dare to hesitate for a moment, and his figure merged into the darkness again with a suffocating sense of urgency.

…

At the same time, deep in the darkness, it was so thick that it could not be dissolved.

Yun Zhao's consciousness struggled to surface like a sinking ship.

A dull pain came from the back of her neck, and her head felt dizzy and splitting. She suddenly opened her eyes, but all she saw was a suffocating darkness, so dark that she couldn't even see her hand in front of her face!

What’s going on?!

She subconsciously wanted to move, but found that her hands and feet were tied tightly with rough ropes, which hurt her skin!

There was a ball of cloth stuffed in his mouth that was emitting a foul smell and was almost blocking his throat!

She tried to make a sound, but could only squeeze out a few muffled "hmm"s from her nose, in vain.

Palace gate... On the way back to the palace... Someone is approaching... No time to react!

Fragments of memory flash back, bringing a cold fear.

[Which bastard dared to kidnap your aunt?]

She struggled hard, her body twisting and rubbing against the cold, hard ground, the rough gravel hurting her.

But the ropes were tied extremely professionally. The more they struggled, the tighter they became, digging deep into the flesh and causing a burning pain.

It’s over…I can’t break free…

Despair was like an icy tide that instantly overwhelmed her.

The image of my tragic death in my previous life resurfaced uncontrollably... Could it be that after living a new life, I would have to die in such an unclear way?!

She whimpered a few more times unwillingly, and they echoed in the dead silence, but they were like a stone sinking into the sea.

Accept your fate? No! You can't accept your fate!

She forced herself to stop struggling in vain, took deep breaths of the polluted air, and tried to calm down.

His ears strained to catch any faint sound in the darkness—only his own heavy breathing and the beating of his heart like a drum.

Sudden!

“Squeak…”

A very slight sound of flint friction was heard in the dead silence!

Then, a faint green, flickering candlelight, like a ghost's eye, suddenly lit up a few steps away!

The faint halo of light barely tore through a small piece of darkness, illuminating a blurry figure - a figure wrapped in a black nightgown and with a black scarf covering his face.

She has a slender figure and is obviously a woman.

The candlelight cast a huge and distorted shadow behind her, which stretched across the wall, adding a touch of weirdness.

Yun Zhao's pupils suddenly contracted, and she stared at the faint light and dark shadow! She wanted to question, to curse, but her mouth was blocked, and she could only make more rapid "Mmm" sounds.

The masked woman slowly approached, the green candlelight dancing above her veil, reflecting a pair of cold and emotionless eyes.

She stopped in front of Yun Zhao, looking down at him condescendingly, her voice deliberately lowered, a hoarseness like metallic friction: "Awake?"

Yun Zhao raged inwardly, "Nonsense! Are you kidding me with your eyes open instead of waking me up?!"

The woman seemed to see through her slander, but did not get angry. She just stretched out her black-gloved hand and roughly tore off the smelly cloth ball from her mouth!

"Cough cough... vomit..." The sudden influx of air mixed with the stench left by the cloth ball caused Yun Zhao to cough violently and his stomach to churn.

She gasped for breath, greedily breathing in the slightly "cleaner" air. She raised her eyes, red from suffocation, and stared at the dark figure in front of her: "Who... are you?! Why did you tie me up?!"