Chapter 326: Different Times

Yunsong, who had just hidden in the dark room, almost vomited blood.

The reason why he was in a hurry to get rid of Lu Xinran today was because the other party could find out all his secrets through the system.

As a result, the situation was urgent and the people brought by the queen were obviously more skilled. His men could not resist them, so he hastily chose to hide in the dark room in the backyard.

The situation was so urgent just now that he had forgotten that Lu Xinran could now detect other people's secrets from a hundred steps away.

The dark room was no longer safe, so he quickly stood up and asked his men to go down to the secret passage.

Fortunately, he was always cautious and knew that relying solely on the secret room was not safe enough, so he built a secret passage behind the secret room that could lead to the city gate.

He had to leave quickly, otherwise if Lu Xinran found out where the exit of the secret passage was, he would be totally doomed today.

He gritted his teeth and just as he entered the secret passage, Lu Xinran's voice came over.

[I know that he is still in Ruyi Tower. He has remodeled Ruyi Tower and built a secret room in the backyard. He is in the secret room now.]

[No, that's not good. There is a secret passage behind the secret room. He is going to escape through it.]

After hearing what was said, the queen no longer cared about anything else and hurriedly took her men to the backyard.

But they arrived a step too late, Yunsong had already sealed the secret passage and escaped with his men.

Although the secret passage was not very wide, it was wide enough for one person to pass through quickly. He ran fast and in just a moment he had run out of the range of a hundred steps.

He felt that there was a high possibility that his exit would not be discovered, but he did not dare to be so arrogant as to ignore the other party.

He just urged his men to pull him towards the exit quickly.

Lu Xinran naturally knew where the exit was, as she had downloaded his booklet early in the morning.

But as long as she flipped through Yunsong's booklet, her inner voice would be heard.

There is not only the queen here, but also outsiders hiding in the dark.

She hadn't thought about Yunsong's identity yet, or should I say, she hadn't discussed with the Queen, Song Junyan and others whether to reveal it now, so the moment the Queen looked at her, she shook her head silently.

The main purpose of the Queen rushing out of the palace was to save her. As for Yunsong's true identity, she had already guessed it.

Since Lu Xinran was not in a hurry to say more, she was not in a hurry and just patted her on the shoulder.

"Are you scared today? I'll take you back home first."

Only after sending them all safely back to their respective residences could she return to the palace with peace of mind.

Lu Xinran here nodded, and the group was about to leave when they heard the sound of hurried running outside again. Zhang Shuier ran in breathlessly following her father and brother.

"Great, great, you're all right."

As soon as she realized something was wrong, she hurriedly pulled Tang Wanrou and slipped out of Ruyi Tower when no one was paying attention.

Originally, the two of them wanted to wait and see what happened outside the building, and then decide how to help. However, just moments after they left, the door of Ruyi Tower was tightly closed from the inside.

Then there was a sound of fighting from upstairs, and Zhang Shui'er was extremely panicked.

She had a secret guard sent by Zhang Yongping by her side. She called him out and tried to find out the situation in the building. After learning that they were in danger, she first sent someone to send a message to Song Junyan.

But then he thought that if Song Junyan really cared about Lu Xinran's safety, he must have known about her experience here.

He hasn't shown up until now. Either he doesn't care, or he has been entangled in an accident.

Regardless of the reason, if she wanted to save the two people in the building, she could not pin her hopes on Song Junyan.

So she immediately made a decisive move and went back to the palace to ask for help. However, the trip back and forth took a long time, and when she arrived, they had already been rescued by the empress who had rushed out of the palace.

Zhang Nian'an looked at the empress and was very excited.

Just out of courtesy, he bowed to her.

"Brother, please don't be so polite. How are you these days? Are father and grandmother in good health?"

"Everything is fine at home, Your Majesty, just rest assured."

Zhang Nian'an looked at her greedily. Apart from seeing each other from a distance at the palace banquets during the New Year, it had been a long time since they had been so close to each other here.

He was so excited that he said subconsciously, "The queen is in a hurry to return to the palace. Do you want to go back home and take a look?"

His question was abrupt and seemed extremely ignorant of etiquette, but the current queen didn't want to observe any etiquette at all.

His words made her heart suddenly move, and she thought of the shocking secret that Lu Xinran and Song Junyan had told her on New Year's Eve. She immediately nodded and said, "Well, I haven't seen my grandmother for many years. Now that I have left the palace, I should go back and pay my respects to her."

Just by looking at the Queen's expression, Lu Xinran guessed why she went to the Duke's Mansion.

The situation has changed a lot now. Previously, the Queen had asked them to keep the Emperor's true identity a secret from the Zhang family, but now she is afraid that she will have to tell them about this in person.

But it's just as well. The current situation is changing too fast, and they don't have time to slowly plan and strategize.

They still have to give an explanation to the emperor about what happened today, and they all have to find time to "collude".

Through eye contact, they already understood each other's thoughts.

The empress, along with her subordinates and the Zhang family, first sent the two sisters back to their respective residences, and then rode on tall horses in a dignified manner, and entered the gate of the Duke's Mansion in broad daylight amid the astonished gazes of everyone in the capital.

No one in the mansion, whether it was the old lady or Zhang Yongping who had just returned home from a mission, had expected that the empress would follow Zhang Nian'an and the others back to the Duke's Mansion.

Upon receiving the news, everyone in the palace hurried to the gate, ready to kneel and welcome the empress into the palace.

But the Queen came here because she had something to say and time was extremely tight, so she had no time to bother with all these red tape.

She grabbed the old lady's arm and half-supported and half-dragged her into the courtyard.

The others followed them and quickly returned to the mansion and closed the gate.

"Grandma, I have something to tell you."

After the queen entered the room, she whispered something in the old lady's ear. The old lady nodded slightly and turned her head to give a look to the old nanny beside her. The old nanny immediately took the order and ran back to prepare.

The house was ready when they entered.

The time the Queen could stay in the Duke's Mansion was very limited, so she hardly exchanged greetings with anyone in the mansion. She just gave a few simple instructions and signaled everyone to leave.

Just looking at Zhang Yongping's leaving back, she hesitated again and again, but finally called him to stop.

"Father, please stay here too. I have something to say to you and grandma."