An Honghan gently patted Xi Xizhi's shoulder to calm her down, "I'll ask you one more time, do you understand?"
Everyone could see that His Majesty was already angry, and fearing that innocent people would be implicated, they all took two steps back.
"This servant knows nothing, this servant truly knows nothing." The guard remained silent.
An Honghan then turned to the other guard beside him, "Do you know about this as well?"
The guard trembled in fright, his voice trembling, "This servant...this servant doesn't know either."
An Honghan completely lost his patience. "If you know something but don't report it, take him away and execute him."
At An Honghan's command, the Imperial Guards immediately restrained the two guards.
The guard struggled fiercely, but could not withstand the attack and was eventually captured.
Not far away, Dongfang Youyu waved a folding fan in his hand, a faint smile playing on his lips, as if watching a good show.
Looking at his smile, Xi Xizhi felt that he knew some clues. She turned her clear eyes to him and asked, "Do you know?"
These words stunned Dongfang Youyu, who was watching from the sidelines, for a moment. Then, realizing that the child was speaking to him, he immediately smiled warmly and leaned closer, saying, "This prince knows a little bit."
Xi Xizhi's eyes lit up, and she took a step forward, asking urgently, "Where are they?"
Dongfang Youyu's smile deepened as he carefully examined the child's face, his deep blue eyes seeming to draw people in.
An Honghan felt a moment of dissatisfaction, but said nothing.
The ferret must be filled with regret. If she hadn't been allowed to do anything, she probably would have lost her patience long ago.
The two guards who had just claimed ignorance were about to be dragged away when someone suddenly stepped forward and exposed them. Terrified, they shouted, "Your Majesty, we know! We saw those three dancers!"
Dongfang Youyu winked at Xi Xizhi and said, "It seems someone is willing to speak up."
"Hmm." Xi Xizhi nodded, feeling very puzzled. Did Dongfang Youyu know or not? Was he pretending to know just now to help her get the guards to talk?
The guards were pulled back into the main hall.
An Honghan coldly said, "Speak."
The two guards lowered their heads and shouted in a panic, "It's...it's Assistant Liu, Commander Zheng, Instructor Lin, and Vice Minister Fan."
"They dragged three dancers towards the grove. I tried to stop them, but they said... if we dared to meddle, they would kill us, and they ordered us not to tell anyone else, or they would teach us a lesson." Although the two guards were grown men, tears streamed down their faces.
Ignoring everything else, Xi Xizhi immediately asked the guard, "How do we get to the grove?"
Upon hearing that those four officials were not good people, Xi Xizhi became even more flustered.
An Honghan frowned. These four men were the scum of the court, and the positions they were given were sinecures in the palace, devoid of real power. If it weren't for connections, how could they have obtained even a minor official post? Unexpectedly, before even leaving the palace, these four dared to commit evil deeds.
Anyway, Dongfang Youyu had done all he could, so he stood aside and started to watch the show.
"They went to that grove of trees to the east." The guards dared not hide anything any longer, and answered whatever Xi Xizhi asked, even revealing the time they left.
Xi Xizhi strode off and hurried eastward, thinking to herself, "Please don't let anything happen, please don't let anything happen!"
An Honghan narrowed his eyes. "I asked you to speak earlier, but you refused. Now, even if you want to speak, it's too late. Guards, drag him out and execute him."
The ministers had anticipated this outcome and were not surprised at all.
As for the four officials, they were all notorious playboys in the capital, who not only frequented brothels every day but were also extremely irresponsible in their work.
An Honghan followed the child's steps and walked alongside her.
Judging from the child's impatient pace, An Honghan knew how anxious she was. A pang of heartache rose in his heart, and he helplessly tightened his grip on her little hand.
Before they even entered the grove, they heard a rustling sound coming from within.
Xi Xizhi's ears, which were wrapped in cloth, twitched. Although she had transformed into a human, her hearing had not deteriorated. She quickly analyzed the direction of the sound and ran into the grove of trees...
These rustling sounds are not something humans can make.
It was the sound of insects flapping their wings, numbering in the tens of thousands, which was frightening to hear.
"Over there," Xi Xizhi said, pointing the way to the group as she listened to the voices.
After taking only a few steps, several screams came from the woods.
Sharp, piercing, it felt like my eardrums were being punctured.
The crowd couldn't help but stop in their tracks, and many timid ministers shrank back and followed behind.
"This...this voice doesn't sound like a woman's?" one of the ministers remarked.
Immediately, someone chimed in: "Yeah... no matter how you look at it, it's all a man's screams! What... what's going on?"
Logically speaking, the three dancers should have been at a significant disadvantage. But when they reached the grove, why were they hearing only a man's screams?
Everyone was very puzzled, including Xi Xizhi.
However, my heart, which had been pounding wildly just moments before, has calmed down.
An Honghan reached out and wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Don't worry, it should be fine."
Judging from those screams, even if anyone suffered a loss, it was those beasts who did.
"Yes." Hearing the comfort in An Honghan's words, Xi Xizhi nodded heavily.
Their seemingly oblivious behavior took on a completely different appearance in the eyes of others. When had they ever seen His Majesty show concern for anyone else? Moreover, His Majesty's attitude towards the girl was distinctly different from everyone else's.
Many ministers wanted to find out the truth, but considering the current situation, the matter of the dancer seemed to be more worrying, so none of them asked.
As we gradually reached our destination, the rustling sound grew louder and louder.
It was pitch black in the middle of the night, and there were no lights in the grove.
As the lantern drew closer, in the dim light, everyone witnessed an incredibly shocking scene.
Countless butterflies fluttered their wings, constantly bumping against the four people in the center.
The four men fled in panic, engulfed by the swarm of butterflies.
Because the butterflies were swarming together so densely, they couldn't see the road ahead. They kept crashing into trees and tumbling to the ground, letting out screams of pain. If you looked closely at their heads, their foreheads were already bleeding profusely from the impacts. They were clutching their head wounds with their hands as they continued to flee.
Xi Xizhi ran towards that direction and finally saw three fairies standing in the distance. Their clothes were torn in many places, and one of the fairies had her entire sleeve torn off, exposing her smooth and delicate arm.
Clearly, they had suffered losses at the beginning, but in the end, with the help of the butterfly, they were able to escape the clutches of the four men.
Xi Xizhi was imbued with spiritual energy; with each step she took forward, the swarm of butterflies would retreat a step.
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