Ji Mingwei stepped out of the carriage and said in a low, cold voice, "So, you haven't found Yun Zhuo yet?"

Lingya: "...Our people are searching. With such a huge fire, there's no way he could have escaped. Besides, our people have already laid an ambush near the prison. If he really had escaped, our people would have already found him."

"I suspect that Prince Jing was likely burned to death in the fire; all we need to do is find his body."

The atmosphere froze, as if frozen, and in that instant, Lingya felt it became much harder to breathe.

Only the fire not far away was still crackling and burning.

Ji Mingwei suddenly laughed and said, "Even if Yun Zhuo is not dead, it doesn't matter. We have people in the prison. When the emperor asks, we can say that Yun Zhuo escaped from prison."

"In that case, we won't have to put in any effort. Father will send troops to hunt him down to the ends of the earth. He deeply loves Ye Qingxue, and Ye Qingxue is his weakness. If we kidnap Ye Qingxue, Yun Zhuo will walk right into our trap no matter where he is."

She paused for a moment, then said, "Of course, this is the worst-case scenario. It would be best if Yun Zhuo could die in this fire."

Before she could finish speaking, Yun Xun suddenly grabbed her arm, pulled her behind him, and whispered, "Who's over there?"

While remaining on guard, Yun Xun secretly gave Ling Ya the order to go forward and check.

The person hiding in the shadows seemed very nervous; Yun Xun could sense that the person's breathing was heavy and uneven.

After Ling Ya made his move, a scream rang out, followed by a frantic protest: "I didn't hear anything, I didn't hear anything, please let me go..."

Lingya pulled the man out.

When Yun Xun saw the person's face, he frowned. It was Princess Huaiming!

Yun Xun asked, "Why are you here at the Heavenly Prison so late at night?"

Princess Huaiming stammered, "My cat ran away, and then I saw flames shooting up over here, and I was afraid something had happened to it, so, so I rushed over..."

Princess Huaiming never imagined that the fire tonight was started by Yun Xun in order to burn Yun Zhuo to death.

Moreover, he even released all the most heinous criminals inside. What exactly is he trying to do?

I remember when he went to rescue Princess Lingyang in the chaos, she even helped spread the word about it.

But... but now, Princess Huaiming only felt that Yunxun was extremely terrifying.

She was trembling all over, her face was deathly pale, and all she wanted was to escape as quickly as possible!

"Did you find the cat?" Yun Xun asked softly.

"Not yet. I'll look elsewhere. It's too dangerous here." Princess Huaiming's voice was still trembling as she tentatively took a step forward.

Yun Xun and Ji Mingwei stood there watching her.

Ji Mingwei leaned close to Yun Xun's ear and whispered, "Your Highness, a small act of impatience can ruin a great plan. Besides, with her around, we can increase our chances of winning."

Yun Xun pursed his lips, thinking of his mother who had suffered in the palace for more than ten years, and of his own twenty years of being looked down upon. He closed his eyes and finally said, "Ling Ya, see Princess Huaiming off."

Lingya nodded and stepped forward.

Princess Huaiming only noticed a flash of cold light before her eyes. Before she could react, her throat had been cut. Even in death, her eyes remained open, filled with confusion and fear.

Lingya quickly took Princess Huaiming's body away.

At this moment, one of his men carried in a corpse. "We searched for a long time and found that this corpse is very similar in build to Prince Jing. It is very likely that it is Prince Jing himself."

Yun Xun and Ji Mingwei examined the evidence and said, "Very good, it will make Father Emperor think that Yun Zhuo has escaped from prison."

Yun Xun and Ji Mingwei quickly left, not forgetting to have Ling Ya sweep the surrounding area before they departed, to prevent a repeat of what happened to Princess Huaiming.

...

The emperor, with a large entourage, finally arrived outside the imperial prison.

The fire has been mostly extinguished, but the lingering smoke is still very choking, and it's much hotter here than elsewhere.

Zhang Dezhong, the head of the Imperial City Guard, rushed over, covered in dust, and knelt down: "Your Majesty, I beg your forgiveness! I was careless and allowed Prince Jing's men to break in, burn down the prison, release more than a dozen criminals, and even allow Prince Jing to escape! I am guilty, please punish me, Your Majesty!"

The emperor looked up at the burning prison, now mostly empty, and nearly vomited blood. He kicked Zhang Dezhong hard, knocking him to the ground and causing him to cough up blood.

The emperor said in a deep voice, "You deserve to die!"

The eunuch Lü An once again bypassed Huai Fu and came to the Emperor's side, soothing him, "Your Majesty, please calm down. This is not the first time Prince Jing has run away. He is very experienced in this matter... Moreover, with Princess Jing's assistance, it is no wonder that Lord Zhang could not notice anything amiss immediately."

Princess Jing!

Everyone looked at Ye Qingxue again, as if she were a dying person.