Xuan Yuanhan calmly analyzed, "When Lanxiang learned that Yu Niang was missing, she still dared to risk coming to return Tuoba Ze's portrait without immediately turning her back on her. She must have genuine feelings for Yu Niang. Yun'er came to Wanjiao Pavilion precisely out of concern, wanting to find news of Yu Niang for Ling'er and her grandmother. However, instead of finding Yu Niang, she happened to run into Lanxiang, who was very close to Yu Niang. Lanxiang still has a conscience; how could she possibly harm the innocent Yun'er?"
However, Cheng Liang was still puzzled and asked, "Then I don't understand. If that's the case, why did Lanxiang take Miss Yi out of Wanjiao Pavilion? Why not just say that Yu Niang is no longer in Wanjiao Pavilion and send her away? Where did she take Miss Yi?"
Suddenly, Xuan Yuanhan's gaze became extremely distant. With one hand behind his back, he stood tall and straight at the window of the inner room, looking at the thin mist rising from the riverbank as dawn broke. After a long silence, he suddenly spoke, "There are indeed too many conspiracies in this Wanjiao Pavilion. This time, I must completely destroy them and show no leniency. Yu Niang, she must be in Wanjiao Pavilion. Lan Xiang took Yun'er away to protect her."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xuan Yuanhan withdrew his gaze, lowered his head, and slowly opened the fist that had been tightly clenched behind his back. Then he stared blankly at the long tassel hairpin with two peach blossoms that he was holding tightly in his hand...
After a long while, he slowly came to his senses, as if he had already made up his mind. He raised his eyes and said to Cheng Liang, "First, send people to monitor that woman named Lanxiang, including those who are usually on good terms with her. But do not alert her. Find out who she really is. She must know a lot about Wanjiao Pavilion. Also, we must find out the secret passage in Wanjiao Pavilion as soon as possible. If I'm not mistaken, Yu Niang must be hidden in a secret room. The true master of Wanjiao Pavilion is very likely to be the eldest prince of Beilie, Tuoba Ze, whom we are looking for."
"Yes," Cheng Liang replied, accepting the order.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, Cheng Liang seemed to still have some doubts in his mind. "Your Highness, there is still one thing I don't understand. Who exactly is the masked man who brought Miss Yi to Wanjiao Pavilion in the south of the city? Why did he suddenly leave without saying goodbye? Did they really bring Miss Yi here on their way? Is it really unrelated to Miss Yi's disappearance?"
Upon hearing this, Xuan Yuanhan's eyes widened in surprise. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "Do you still remember Mei Zhixuan, the third prince of Dongning Kingdom?"
Cheng Liang recalled briefly and said, "Your Highness, are you referring to the Third Prince Mei Zhixuan, the envoy from Dongning Kingdom who escorted you to your wedding?"
"I remember Yue'er said that she found out from the owner of the teahouse in front of the Yi Mansion that the people who took Yun'er away were merchants from Dongning Kingdom. At first, I only suspected the true intentions of these two Dongning Kingdom merchants in my Western Qin Kingdom; but now, when I saw that the guest information they registered at Ruyi Residence was 'Jiang Zhixuan'..."
Before Xuanyuan Han could finish speaking, Cheng Liang hurriedly interrupted, "Does Your Highness suspect that Jiang Zhixuan is actually Mei Zhixuan, the third prince of Dongning Kingdom?!"
Upon hearing this, Xuanyuan Han did not speak, but instead frowned deeply, his eyes flashing with a chilling light.
Upon seeing this, Cheng Liang's face instantly turned furious. He said, "This Dongning Kingdom is indeed harboring ill intentions towards my Western Qin. They have been secretly plotting against us all along. They even dared to send their princess to my Western Qin for a marriage alliance, hoping to coordinate with us from within and without to help them achieve their grand ambitions. It is obvious that Mei Zhixuan has been secretly lurking within my Western Qin territory, plotting everything. I'm afraid he didn't even return to Dongning after the marriage was arranged."
“Mei Zhixuan has probably arrived in Western Qin even earlier than the wedding procession,” Xuan Yuanhan said quietly.
"But why did he want to get close to Miss Yi?" Cheng Liang asked again after a moment's thought.
Seeing that Xuanyuan Han remained silent upon hearing this, Cheng Liang immediately realized that the current situation in Western Qin was far more serious than he had imagined. After a long silence, he said, "Your subordinate will go and make the arrangements immediately."
"There's no need to search around the Yi residence. Mei Zhixuan has already discovered I've come personally to find Yun'er and has already escaped. He must have anticipated my thorough search of the Yi residence in the west of the city and won't be a sitting duck there again. As for Young Master Yi, although his background is not to be underestimated, we must act prudently in this urgent situation. Regardless of his identity, I believe he would never harm Yun'er in the slightest. Therefore, perhaps we can cooperate with him," Xuan Yuanhan calmly instructed.
"Understood, sir." Cheng Liang said, then respectfully bowed and withdrew, gently closing the door behind him.
A hush fell over the room. Xuan Yuanhan loosened his clenched fist again, looking at the long tassel hairpin with two peach blossoms adorning his hand. He sighed softly and muttered to himself, "What exactly is your relationship with the Dongning Kingdom? How did you become the target of its prince's attention?"
In the backyard of Wanjiao Pavilion, in Tuoba Ze's room.
Tuoba Ze slammed his hand heavily on the table in front of him, his eyes wide as he glared at the madam and demanded, "What? Where did those two go?"
Seeing his anger, the madam hurriedly knelt down and timidly explained, "This old servant really doesn't know. At that time, the soldiers came to the brothel and searched everywhere, and there was chaos. This old servant was only concerned with dealing with the officials and entertaining the guests."
Tuoba Ze remained undeterred, and after a slight hesitation, asked, "Who served those two people back then?"
The madam hesitated for a moment before saying, "Yes... Lanxiang and Yanhong... but they are both very sensible and would never betray Wanjiao Pavilion."
However, Tuoba Ze seemed not to have heard what the madam said afterward. He recalled for a moment and then asked, "Lanxiang, is she the woman who bumped into Yu Niang outside the door last time?"
After a slight hesitation, the madam answered anxiously, "Yes. But this old servant assured His Highness that I would keep a close eye on her, and she would absolutely not cause any trouble."
Upon hearing this, Tuoba Ze snorted coldly, "It's her again... Where is she now? Yi Shangyun must have been taken away by her. This person shouldn't have been allowed to live long ago. This time, no matter what, we must get rid of her, otherwise, she will ruin everything. By the way, you promised? I almost forgot about that. Your way of guaranteeing her and keeping an eye on her is to give her the best room in Wanjiao Pavilion? And you promised to return her indenture and set her free? I didn't know you had such great power?"
The madam knelt trembling on the ground, bowing her head and hurriedly explaining, "Your Highness, please don't be angry. This old servant only saw that girl and felt so sorry for her. She lost her parents at such a young age, her mother was deceived, and she herself was deceived. I just couldn't bear it..."
Before the madam could finish speaking, Tuoba Ze angrily rebuked, "Womanly compassion, pitiful? As the saying goes, every pitiful person has something hateful about them. There are many pitiful people in this world. She is pitiful, but aren't you pitiful too? Have you forgotten how you ended up where you are today, and why you came to rely on my Northern Lie Kingdom?"
Upon hearing this, the madam slowly raised her head, gritting her teeth and saying hatefully, "This old servant can forget where I came from, and can forget who I am, but I will never and cannot forget being betrayed by my own sister and the irreconcilable hatred of having my child taken away..."
After a brief pause, the madam, seemingly having gathered her thoughts, recalled, "Twenty years ago, my elder sister schemed and plotted, finally achieving her wish of marrying a supreme king. However, because she couldn't bear him children, she feared she wouldn't be able to retain her position. So, she didn't hesitate to send her young and naive younger sister, me, to the royal bed under the cover of night when her face was difficult to discern. Later, I became pregnant, and she feigned pregnancy, hiding me in a secret room until I gave birth. Later, as she wished, I gave birth to a son, but she became his biological mother, and I became his wet nurse. That was fine; as long as I could be with my son, I didn't care what I did or what my status was. I was willing to do anything, as long as my son was happy. But later, I never expected that she would accuse me of using poison to frame her, thus forcibly separating us, mother and child."
At this point, Tuoba Ze suddenly interrupted her and asked, "Then where did you learn your poison and gu techniques?"
The madam snorted coldly and continued, "Hmph... It is said that medicine and poison are of the same family. I was originally just a medical fanatic, and healing the sick and saving lives was my lifelong wish. The one who truly studied the art of poison and gu was actually my own sister. But since that's the case, I might as well become a true top-level poison and gu master, and as you wish, show you, giving you a taste of your own medicine. One day, I will definitely make you wish you were dead, and let you taste what the true art of poison and gu is like."
Tuoba Ze suddenly realized, "So the reason you went to such lengths to find and copy the Blue Fox Butterfly painting was actually to..."
The madam interrupted, "That's right! This old servant wants to use this painting to constantly remind me not to forget this deep-seated hatred!"
In an instant, the room fell silent.
After a long pause, the madam suddenly came to her senses and pleaded, "Your Highness, please spare Lanxiang and Yanhong! They really don't know anything. It's not what Your Highness thinks. This old servant would never dare to reveal my master's grand plan to anyone! Please, Your Highness..."
As soon as she finished speaking, the madam kowtowed heavily again.
Tuoba Ze sighed deeply and pondered for a long time before saying, "Alright, I will trust you one more time. However, you must find those two people as soon as possible, otherwise I will not tolerate it this time and will tear them to pieces."
Upon hearing this, the madam seemed to have something to say, but she opened her mouth and then quietly closed it again. After considering it again and again, she finally spoke up and said, "Your Highness, this old servant knows that I shouldn't ask so many questions, but things have already developed to this point. There are some things that this old servant hopes Your Highness can tell me truthfully and not hide from me."
Tuoba Ze thought about it and realized that this made sense. Even the Qin Prince's mansion was now eyeing Wanjiao Pavilion, and it was highly likely that Prince Qin, Xuanyuan Han, had already discovered his whereabouts. Wanjiao Pavilion seemed to be in grave danger, so he asked, "What do you want to know?"
The madam hurriedly asked, "Who exactly is this woman named Yi Shangyun that the Prince of Qin's mansion is so eagerly searching for in Wanjiao Pavilion? Why is His Highness so interested in her?"
Tuoba Ze exhaled a deep breath and said to him, "You are a medical fanatic and a top-notch poison master. Do you believe that there is someone in this world who can cure smallpox? Don't you find such a person amazing? More importantly, she is the Achilles' heel of the War God of the Western Qin Kingdom, King Xuanyuan Han."
The madam was shocked upon hearing this, exclaiming, "What...!"
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