71. The Ninth Princess is missing.

The moon is so big and round tonight!

The Ninth Princess, her face flushed, held a luminous cup in each hand, her eyes already somewhat hazy. She staggered to Sima Hong's side and handed him the jade-green luminous cup in her right hand. "Brother Xiuyuan, this cup is for you. That day in the martial arts arena, you cut off the arm of a Xiongnu man with a single sword strike. I never knew that Brother Xiuyuan was also so skilled in martial arts. I admire you greatly."

Sima Hong's gaze remained fixed on Qi Gu and Zhang Jun, never wavering. He saw Zhang Jun lean closer to Qi Gu and seem to whisper something in her ear, the two chatting and laughing happily.

Thinking of the expressions on the faces of the two men that the Marquis of Dingyuan had given them, Sima Hong clenched his fist tightly on the table.

"Brother Xiuyuan?" Seeing that Sima Xiuyuan ignored her, the Ninth Princess was somewhat dissatisfied. She followed his gaze and looked over. What was so interesting about that village girl? Just because she was the Empress's daughter, even Brother Xiuyuan...

"Brother Xiuyuan, look at me. Do you hate me?" The Ninth Princess blocked Sima Hong's view.

Sima Hong withdrew his gaze and looked at the Ninth Princess, who was seven or eight parts drunk. He said indifferently to the palace maid behind her, "The Ninth Princess is drunk. Why don't you escort her back to the palace?"

Two palace maids stepped forward, but the Ninth Princess swatted them away, saying, "Who gave you permission to touch me? Can't you see I'm talking to Brother Xiuyuan?"

Slightly tipsy, the Ninth Princess's eyes welled up with tears, her gaze sparkling with admiration and affection for the person before her. She once again stubbornly offered the wine in her hand to Sima Hong.

"I'm not drunk, Brother Xiuyuan, I... actually, I like..."

"Ninth Sister is drunk." Before Ninth Princess could finish speaking, the Second Princess helped her up from behind as she staggered.

The Ninth Princess turned around and said, "Second Sister, come quickly and have a drink with Brother Xiuyuan."

"Ninth Sister, let me escort you back to the palace." The Second Princess looked at the Ninth Princess with a helpless expression, like a gentle older sister doting on her willful younger sister.

"I'm not leaving." When the Ninth Princess heard that someone was going to send her away, she refused to go. She had finally managed to see Xiu Yuan, how could she leave?

She wanted to see him wield his sword and kill the Huns. The Ninth Princess dodged the Second Princess's hand and stepped forward again. Her steps were already unsteady, and she seemed to trip over something. With a cry of "Ouch!", the Ninth Princess leaned forward, and the wine in her hand spilled into his arms.

The Ninth Princess's drunken state attracted the attention of everyone in the banquet hall, and many people turned their gazes toward Sima Hong's location.

Through the lamplight, Qi Gu finally looked in Sima Hong's direction and saw that he was being shielded by the Second Princess and the Ninth Princess. This was going to be quite a show.

"Sima Hong is still as charming and popular as ever," Zhang Jun said sarcastically, looking in Sima Hong's direction.

She never expected that her cousin would be so eccentric, unlike the taciturn man she was in her previous life. She really didn't understand her cousin in her past life.

Before the two had exchanged more than a few words, another beauty had appeared before Sima Hong.

Gao Mingyu had already seen the Ninth Princess and the Second Princess heading towards Sima Hong. When she saw the Ninth Princess spill wine on Sima Hong, she rushed to his side without caring about anything else. "Oh dear, Xiuyuan, your clothes are dirty." She naturally took out her handkerchief and wiped Sima Hong's clothes.

Sima Hong took a step back with some disgust, his eyes turning cold. "Second Princess, the Ninth Princess is drunk. Please escort her back to the palace."

"High school sophomore, I need to get ready. Excuse me."

The eunuchs had noticed the situation earlier. It was common for nobles to get drunk. A thin, small eunuch was assigned to take Sima Hong to change his clothes.

Unexpectedly, as he approached the changing room, the eunuch felt a swift and ruthless palm strike from behind, and he lost all consciousness.

Carrying Xiao Huangmen like a chick, Atai followed Sima Hong and hid in the darkness to the side.

In the banquet hall, Qi Gu was enjoying drinks with her cousin when Hong Hu rushed in and saw her, glancing at her and then at Zhang Jun beside her.

Qi Gu asked, "Why is Honghu hesitant to speak?"

Honghu's eyes darted away, not daring to meet Qi Gu's gaze. She knew that if things went wrong today... But thinking of the benefits that person had promised her, Honghu lowered her head and hardened her heart, saying, "Your Highness, something terrible has happened. The Second Princess was escorting the Ninth Princess back to the palace, but the Ninth Princess got drunk halfway there, broke free from the Second Princess, and ran off somewhere. The Second Princess has no choice but to ask you to go with her to find the Ninth Princess."

Qi Gu crossed her arms and looked at Hong Hu, a slight smile of realization playing on her lips. "Oh~ really?"

"Yes." Honghu steadied his trembling voice.

Even Zhang Jun sensed something unusual about this. As far as he knew, his cousin's relationship with the Second Princess and the Ninth Princess didn't seem harmonious. When faced with difficulties, the Second Princess would immediately seek help from Qi Gu, which was quite abnormal.

He took a step forward, as if to refuse on behalf of Qi Gu. Qi Gu patted his hand gently. He looked at her and saw her blink at him.

Zhang Jun understood something, and Qi Gu stepped forward and said, "Since Second Sister and Ninth Sister need me, their eldest sister, so much, how can I let them down?"

Led by Honghu, Qi Gu, Hongyan, and Fulian arrived at a secluded palace. Fulian immediately became alert, realizing that this was not the route the Ninth Princess would take back to the palace.

She was about to reprimand Honghu, who had been behaving strangely today and had even brought them here; there must be a trick involved!

Unexpectedly, the eldest princess gently shook her head at her. Did the princess know what Honghu was going to do? After hesitating, Fulian suppressed the urge to capture Honghu and focused all her attention on observing the dark surroundings.

Honghu led the way and didn't see the exchange of glances between Qi Gu and Fu Lian. At this moment, she pointed ahead and said, "Your Highness is the Second Princess!"

Qi Gu looked over and indeed saw that the Second Princess was standing there with several palace maids in the dim light of several lanterns.

Hongyan carried a lantern, and Qi Gu strolled closer to them. When the Second Princess saw Qi Gu, she rushed forward, her voice even trembling with tears, "Eldest sister, Ninth sister is missing." It seemed she truly regarded Qi Gu as an elder sister she could rely on.

The second princess held a handkerchief to her nose, but there were no tears on her face. However, under the lantern, her delicate eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and under the lush light, she had a unique and elegant appearance.

Unfortunately, such a beautiful appearance hides a black heart.

Seeing how realistically the Second Princess was acting, Qi Gu felt it would be impolite of her not to cooperate, so she sincerely took the Second Princess's hand and said, "Good sister, don't be afraid, your elder sister is here. Let's go find Ninth Sister together."

The Second Princess had prepared a detailed explanation, but it turned out to be completely useless. Qi Gu took the initiative to suggest going to find Ninth Sister. What a fool she was. Well, that's fine too, it saves her from wasting her breath.

If the Second Princess knew Qi Gu well enough, she would have seen the eager excitement on Qi Gu's face at this moment. However, she was too confident, or perhaps she underestimated her opponent. She never thought highly of this country girl from the countryside. She firmly believed that the country bumpkin in front of her could not see through her scheme.

Even the Empress Dowager and Zhong Ao didn't know the specifics of her plan this time, let alone Chu Qigu.

In the darkness, Qi Gu smiled and asked, "Tell me, which direction did Ninth Sister run off from?" The Second Princess didn't see Qi Gu's expectant eyes, which shone brightly like a cat's in the night.

She pointed her slender finger southeast and said, "That's where Ninth Sister ran just now."

“Alright then~, I’ll go over there.” Then he pointed in the opposite direction and said, “Then Second Sister will go this way. We’ll split up and find Ninth Sister faster.”

The second princess felt as if her words had been stolen by Chu Qigu in front of her again, but thanks to Chu Qigu's foolishness, she was able to carry out her plan so smoothly.

After separating from the Second Princess's entourage, Hongyan frowned and said to Qi Gu from behind, "Princess, let's go and report to Her Majesty the Empress." Today's events were clearly strange.

The three walked through the dark passageway. It was pitch black all around. Because of the remote location, there were hardly any lanterns hanging. The autumn wind blew, and the swan shivered.

Qi Gu said, "Oh~ Mother is going to see her, but there's no rush. Besides, Fu Lian is here. Those demons and monsters wouldn't dare to do anything. The real fear is that they aren't demons and monsters, but rather..."

The wild goose asked, "And what is it?"

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon."

Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed past. Honghu stammered, "Could that be the Ninth Princess?"

Qi Gu glanced at Hong Hu, who was hiding behind Hong Yan, and nodded in agreement: "That's right, let's follow them then~"

Whether it was psychological or he was too nervous, Honghu felt that the eldest princess was strolling leisurely and not in a hurry, and did not seem to be genuinely looking for the ninth princess.

She seemed to be taking a walk under the moonlight, and even discussed with Hongyan, "The moon is so big and round tonight."

"The Mid-Autumn Festival is just around the corner, isn't it the time when the moon is at its fullest?" Hongyan said.

She was anxious; things couldn't go on like this. Honghu looked at the palace not far away, and suddenly, she screamed, "Ah!"

Qi Gu was prepared and not frightened, but still pretended to be scared, "What's wrong, Honghu?"

Honghu's voice trembled: "Princess, Princess~ It looks like a ghost~" Honghu hunched his shoulders and hid behind Hongyan, pointing to a palace gate.

Qi Gu looked over and saw that the palace gate was half-open. Qi Gu said in a cooperative tone, "Is it a ghost or Ninth Sister?"

Honghu was only focused on leading Qigu into the palace. "Then, shall we go in?"

Qi Gu stroked her smooth chin as if deep in thought, "Hmm~ whether to go in or not, that is a good question."

She turned to Honghu and asked, "Honghu, what do you think, should we not go in?"

"Huh?" Honghu didn't know why the princess would ask her that. If it were up to her, she would naturally go in. However, under the moonlight, the princess's big eyes were staring at her, as if she had nowhere to hide.

She lowered her eyes slightly, "It's...it's better not to go in. What if there's danger inside? I'm afraid the princess might..."

Qi Gu's lips curled into a mischievous smile, and she snapped her fingers in the darkness. "Hey~ we're already here, how can we not go in? Don't you think so, Honghu?"

Qi Gu leaned closer to Hong Hu, looking directly into her eyes, and said, "Hong Hu, go in first and see if Ninth Sister is inside."

Honghu was stunned. Her mission was to bring the eldest princess inside; if she didn't go in, her mission wouldn't be complete! Could it be that the eldest princess...? Impossible, absolutely impossible!

Honghu backed away, "I...I..." Honghu was scared.

Honghu was covered in sweat and looked at Qigu with fear. Qigu thought of the guilty expression on her face when Honghu tricked her into entering the palace in her previous life and she was taken away by that captain surnamed Cao. It was exactly the same as now.

It seems Honghu betrayed her in this life after all, but she won't make the same mistake again.

Qi Gu let out a big smile, her two rows of teeth appearing even whiter in the darkness. But to Hong Hu, the smile seemed utterly terrifying.

"I was just teasing you, Honghu." The voice was ghostly. "And besides, I knew what you were going to do all along." This terrified Honghu.

[Author's Note]

JJ crashed again. I finished writing it a while ago, but the system crashed and I couldn't upload it. [laughing and crying emoji]