"Your subordinate will escort you back to Nanyang."

Zheng Ningxiang helped Yun Duoduo, who was a little unsteady on her feet, and wiped the sweat from her forehead and her smudged cheeks.

Zheng Ningxiang glanced at the girl beside her, who immediately understood, dismounted, and handed the reins to Yun Duoduo.

"You stay here and clean up the mess," Zheng Ningxiang instructed.

The girl nodded and disappeared into the vast moonlight.

"Master, let's go quickly!"

Yun Duoduo nodded, stuffed the sesame seed cake into her mouth in a few bites, mounted her horse, and the group galloped towards Nanyang.

...

Inside the Western Chu King's Palace.

"Your Majesty, the princess has disappeared..."

Ren Lao and Ren Yuan, looking terrified, ran into Xi Jing's bedchamber, shouting.

"What's all the fuss about? By the time you realize it, everyone will have already gone back to Nanyang."

"Hmph, and they even stole my wooden pillow."

Ren Lao and Ren Yuan exchanged puzzled glances. They had only spent most of the day in the study, burying themselves in selecting calligraphy and paintings for Yun Duoduo. How could so many things have happened in the palace?

"What, you're not calling me Queen anymore, but Princess now?"

Xi Jing kept her eyes closed, didn't even lift her face, and said irritably.

"We've already sent people to look for them."

Just then, the guards sent out by Xi Jing returned and reported: "Your Majesty, no trace of the princess was found in the back mountain."

Seeing that the man seemed to have more to say but was stammering, Xi Jing looked at him impatiently and said, "What else do you have to say? Speak up!"

"The servants didn't find the princess in the back mountain, but they did see a lot of warm blood on the ground, and a bear with blood dripping from its mouth."