Chapter 11 Chapter 11 Taking Ayu back to the palace
Hanyu had seen Yin Jinglong's cunning and treacherous nature before. He could even brutally murder his own brother. What else could he not dare to do? Naturally, his threat this time wasn't just talk.
This time, she had no choice but to endure and lurk in the Central Plains Palace again, waiting for the right time to rescue her husband and escape from this devil's den together.
"Li Yu, you entertain my sister-in-law for me. Take her downstairs to rest first!"
Hanyu followed Li Yu all the way to the inner court of the palace.
Prince Yin's Palace was very large. She had never been to the Central Plains and had only heard of its richness from the older generation. The owner of this palace was the regent prince of the Great Yin. Unlike ordinary princes and nobles, the scale of its construction was the most magnificent of all the princes' palaces.
In her previous life, she was imprisoned in the dungeon of this huge palace for several months. She had not carefully investigated the structure of the palace. She only remembered that this time Li Yu did not take her to the dungeon.
Could it be that this time, Yin Jinglong doesn't plan to imprison her?
Puzzled, Hanyu stopped where he was unconsciously, looking at the dark room behind Linxuan Pavilion. The mechanism leading to the dungeon was in that small dark room.
Li Yu saw that the person behind him had not caught up yet, so he asked, "Why don't you leave, young lady?"
He followed Hanyu's gaze and noticed something strange about her. "What are you looking at, young lady? The residence the prince arranged for you is on the other side. Please follow me."
Hanyu also realized her own loss of composure, and immediately withdrew her gaze and followed Li Yu to a room in the □□ Garden.
The servants and maids tending the flowers and plants in the garden lowered their heads and worked silently when they saw the visitor. That is until they heard Li Yu say to them, "This Miss Min is the prince's distinguished guest. She will stay here for the time being. From now on, you will serve her. If the prince has any instructions, please make sure to treat her well."
After several people nodded in response, a short young maid took the initiative to step forward and open the door of the wing room. "Master Li, this room has not been occupied for a long time. Let me clean it first and then let the young lady move in!"
"All of you help clean up the compartment."
After Li Yu finished giving his instructions to the servants, he turned to face Hanyu and greeted her with a smile: "If you are interested, why not follow me around the palace? It will be a chance to familiarize yourself with the surroundings."
"Commander Li, why are you suddenly so polite? You're completely different from the one who drew sword against me on the snowy mountain yesterday!"
"Young lady, you saved the prince on the snowy mountain and handed over the statue. You are the prince's benefactor. Since you are the prince's benefactor, I naturally cannot treat you badly. There were many misunderstandings in the past. Please forgive my recklessness."
Benefactor? Hanyu smiled bitterly to herself. She and Yin Jinglong were enemies in their previous life, so there was no connection between them and any favors. If she wasn't useful in this life, how could that person treat her so well?
"Since you'll be staying here for a while, I'll have to trouble the prince and Lieutenant General Li to take care of you."
"Miss, please~"
Li Yu took Hanyu out of the □□ Garden and came to the front yard. While introducing the environment of the palace, he also told her the rules of the palace.
Passing the small dark room leading to the dungeon again, Hanyu asked tentatively, "In this vast palace, every room has red wooden doors and windows, but why are the doors and windows of only one room made of copper and iron? What is that place?"
Li Yu paused and explained, "That is the prince's secret room. Ordinary people are not allowed to enter without permission. If you want to spend the next few days in this palace safely, I advise you not to go near that room."
"Lieutenant General Li, you're worrying too much. I'm just curious. You have many rules in the Central Plains. If I offend anyone in the future, please remind me."
Hanyu gave a perfunctory smile and said that she would not go near the secret room, but when it was late at night and everyone was asleep, she would always sit in the room and look through the window at the locked small dark room.
She knew that the so-called secret room was actually the entrance to the dungeon in the palace. She originally thought that the existence of the dungeon was known to everyone in the palace, but when she tested a few of the people around her, they all knew nothing. They only knew that the prince had ordered that no one else was allowed to approach the secret room. This made people doubt his real purpose in building this dungeon.
Hanyu had not seen Yin Jinglong for several days since she came to the palace. The servants said that there were important matters in the court that needed the prince's attention, and the prince had been staying in the palace these days. Even Lieutenant General Li beside him was nowhere to be seen. The affairs of the palace were all taken care of by several housekeepers.
While Yin Jinglong was not in the palace, Hanyu pretended to wander around the palace, but often lingered at the door of the small dark room. The doors and windows of the room were replaced with copper and iron, and even an assassin would find it difficult to climb in, not to mention that she was just a weak woman.
If Yin Jinglong really captured A Jiang, then he must have hidden him in the dungeon under the secret room, so she had to find a way to sneak in no matter what.
She first tried to secretly search for the key to the secret room inside the palace, but the prince's living room and his study were guarded day and night, and she was stopped before she could get close.
When this method didn't work, she went out to ask the ironworker for help. The ironworker brought her an axe and asked her to cut the iron lock. Little did she know that the axe weighed dozens of pounds. Although it could cut the lock, she couldn't do it! Moreover, the palace was heavily guarded. Outsiders were searched every time they entered or left. Even a dagger hidden on their body would be found. How could they allow her to enter with an axe?
After returning from the blacksmith shop, she was in a bad mood, frustrated that she had not been able to find a way to save her husband. She returned to the palace empty-handed, but she didn't know that the prince had already returned. When he returned to the palace, he didn't see her and was scolding several managers and gatekeepers.
"You let such a grown-up person slip away like that? How do you guys do your job? There's no shortage of servants in my palace. If you can't do your job, you can just kick them out!"
"Your Highness, please calm down. The girl claimed she was feeling unwell and wanted to go out to buy some herbs. Lieutenant General Li had recently instructed us to treat her well, so I believed her and didn't dare to stop her, thinking she would return after she finished her shopping. Who knew..."
"If you're not feeling well, don't you know to go outside the palace and call a doctor? Even if the doctor can't cure her, I can still ask the palace physician to treat her. Why does she really need to go out by herself? Such an obvious excuse and lie can fool you guys? Send someone to look for him immediately. If you can't find him, you can just pack your bags and get out of the palace!"
Several elderly managers were scolded so much that they dared not say a word. They hunched their bodies and walked out of the door, and quickly sent people to look for him everywhere.
Hanyu heard the prince's scolding while she was still outside the mansion gate. When the guards at the gate saw her return, they immediately captured her without saying a word, tied her hands behind her back and brought her before the prince.
"What are you doing? Why are you arresting me? Let me go!"
Han Yu was pushed roughly by the guard and lost her balance. She knelt and half fell in front of the prince, as if she was a criminal who had been arrested. She was extremely angry and stared at Yin Jinglong with a look of resentment and dissatisfaction.
Yin Jinglong waved his hand to signal the guards to let her go, "Li Yu, take her to my study."
Before Hanyu could react, Deputy General Li Yu lifted her up as effortlessly as if she were picking up a chicken, and then extended his hand to make a gesture of invitation.
"Miss Min, please follow me. The prince would like to speak with you for a moment."
"You keep saying you'll treat me well, but now you're tying me up and carrying me around. Is this how you, the people of the Central Plains, treat your guests?"
Hanyu pushed Li Yu away and returned to her room angrily despite his attempts to stop her. She closed the door and ignored everyone. No matter how the servants outside tried to persuade her, she refused to open the door.
Suddenly, she heard Yin Jinglong's voice dismissing the servants, and he seemed to be trying to push the door open and break in.
She hurriedly shouted, "I am tired today. Your Majesty, please let's talk tomorrow."
She vaguely heard the man's light sarcasm outside the door. That's right, how could the regent of the Great Yin Dynasty listen to her orders?
Even though she said she was tired and wanted to go to bed, the man still pushed the door open without changing his expression, and closed the door after notifying the maid.
For a moment, they were the only two left in the room. Han Yu's eyes met his sinister phoenix eyes, and the panic in them was obvious.
She subconsciously pulled the quilt tighter to cover her exposed feet. "Didn't I say I was already asleep? Why did the prince insist on barging in?"
"I heard that you were unwell, so I came to see if you were okay."
"I'm fine. I saw a doctor outside. He said it was just a case of worry and fatigue. I just need to rest for a few days."
"Oh? What's on your mind? Why don't you tell me? Perhaps I can help you."
Yin Jinglong raised the corner of his mouth slightly and looked at her with a half-smile in his eyes.
"Where does my worry come from? Your Majesty, aren't you asking this even though you already know the answer?"
Hanyu turned away, not wanting to see the smug look on her enemy's face. Although he didn't imprison her in a dungeon like he did in her previous life, wasn't the house arrest now also humiliating and tormenting?
"Oh~ Ah Jiang, right? He's the one you think about day and night, right? This king can return him to you, but... I'm afraid... he might not want to see you now, because he has never been your Ah Jiang. He is the general who protects the Great Yin and this king's elder brother. If you knew him and his past, I'm afraid you wouldn't even hate him, let alone love him."
As he spoke, he walked to the desk, picked up the bright candlestick, picked up the scissors beside him with his other hand and casually cut off the burnt black wick. His slender fingers wrapped around the candlelight, as if he was trying to keep warm, but also as if he was casually playing with the candle.
Hanyu didn't understand what he meant, but she understood what he said next.
"This candle and its wick are originally one, and they complement each other to shine brightly. But who knew that one day, the wick inside it broke. The candle, with only the wax body, would not light no matter what. If the candle is to continue to burn, I have no choice but to cut out the broken wick."
At this point, he lamented, "In the court, he and I are the emperor's left and right arms; at home, he and I are brothers from the same mother. We should have supported each other, but who could have known that he would harbor evil intentions! He broke my right arm when we were young, and now we are killing each other. Yet, such a cruel man, in front of you, pretends to be kind and innocent, and I am the villain who persecutes my brother. Don't you find it ridiculous? Have you ever considered that the husband you love so much is not as kind as you think?"
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