As Lanxiang took off her outer garment, she said worriedly, "Yun'er, are these two people you mentioned really reliable? But what should I do if neither of them is at Ruyi Residence?"
"They're not at Ruyi Residence? No way?!" As soon as Yi Shangyun said this, Lanxiang seemed to have a better idea in her mind.
Her bright almond-shaped eyes darted around instantly, and she asked, "Yun'er, what exactly is your connection with His Highness Prince Qin? Why would he send a large force to Wanjiao Pavilion to look for you?"
When Yi Shangyun heard Lanxiang mention His Highness Prince Qin, she suddenly stopped what she was doing and was momentarily stunned. In this critical moment, it was only for a moment. After hesitating for a while, she replied, "I... after the Lantern Festival, I will be a physician serving Princess Qin in Prince Qin's mansion."
Upon hearing this, Lanxiang seemed to relax immediately, and then said, "I see... Yun'er, do you think this will work? Since His Highness the Prince of Qin is looking for you, why don't we just ask him for help? Isn't His Highness the Prince of Qin more capable of protecting us?"
Hearing Lanxiang's words, Yi Shangyun, while buttoning her clothes, glared at her fiercely and said, "What do you know? His Highness Prince Qin is such a noble person! Do you think he went to all this trouble to come to Wanjiao Pavilion from the Prince Qin's Mansion in the east of the city just to find me—a lowly medicine girl? His Highness must have discovered some grand conspiracy related to the court hidden in Wanjiao Pavilion, and that's why he came to search. Finding me is just a pretext. You've seen so many people in Wanjiao Pavilion, yet you can't even see through such a feint. His Highness is naturally doing more important things. At this critical juncture, how can I let him be distracted by such a trivial matter as mine... If you really see him, don't tell him about me. Our matter is insignificant, but if it ruins His Highness's important plans, then it would truly be a loss. Alright, alright, the assassins in black are about to catch up, so stop talking. Are you even dressed yet? These are all your own clothes, how come you're taking even longer to put them on than me? Hurry up and go, stop dawdling."
Lanxiang suddenly felt that what Yi Shangyun said seemed to make some sense. After all, that was the all-powerful Prince Qin, while Yi Shangyun was just a lowly pharmacist's daughter. It seemed that she had no reason to be someone that the high and mighty Prince Qin cared about.
Urged and pushed by Yi Shangyun, the two quickly left the eaves that were sheltering them and rushed out into the torrential rain again.
When they reached the fork in the street, they separated and each fled according to their pre-arranged plan.
"There she is, hurry and chase after her." Sure enough, the two black-clad assassins who caught up later, wielding long swords, actually mistook Yi Shangyun, who was wearing Lanxiang's outer garment, for Lanxiang and followed after her.
Wanjiao Pavilion.
Yan Hong stood at the door of her room, watching the servants bustling about, carrying large and small luggage in and out. She wondered what was going on. She had never seen anything like this in all the time she had been in Wan Jiao Pavilion.
At this moment, the madam walked over to her and nodded slightly. Yan Hong followed the madam into the room, and the madam immediately locked the door tightly from the inside.
"You need to pack your things right now, we need to leave this place immediately."
Upon hearing the madam's words, Yan Hong was overjoyed and said, "Leave this place? You mean we're going to leave Wan Jiao Ge forever and break free from our master's control?"
Seeing the look of surprise in Yan Hong's eyes, the madam was momentarily at a loss for words. After a moment's hesitation, she stepped forward, took Yan Hong's hand, and sat down. She said apologetically, "Yan Hong, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault that you've been dragged into this mess. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't be trapped in this dark, filthy place."
Upon hearing this, Yan Hong's heart softened again. Since Tuoba Ze had confined her to this Wanjiao Pavilion, this was the first time she had sat down and talked with the madam so amicably. "Aunt Ru, Yan Hong has never understood why you... back then, were you willing to abandon everything to leave us, mother and daughter? Did you think we would be a burden to you?"
Hearing Yan Hong's heartfelt and sincere question, the madam sighed softly, "Silly girl, you and your mother are both such kind people. How could Aunt Ru be afraid of being dragged down by you two? Yan Hong, actually... Aunt Ru is not from Xi Qin, but from Nan'an."
Yan Hong was expected to be surprised, but to her surprise, she wasn't surprised at all. She simply said indifferently, "So what if she's from Nan'an? Aunt Ru is from Nan'an, but she's a thousand times better than those hypocritical people from Xi Qin. If it weren't for Aunt Ru back then, my mother and I would probably be dead by now. How could I be who I am today? Although... we're temporarily being controlled, Yan Hong believes that Aunt Ru will definitely have a way to help us escape, right?"
Yan Hong's trusting and expectant gaze made the madam feel even more ashamed. She reached out and patted the back of Yan Hong's head, saying earnestly, "You're such a good girl. You've been living in fear here all this time. You've really suffered."
Yan Hong smiled at her, her lips pursed. Then, after a moment's hesitation, the madam added, "Actually, Aunt Ru isn't as good as you think. Don't you really want to know why Aunt Ru abandoned everything and left you and your mother back then?"
Yan Hong stared wide-eyed at the madam. After a moment's recollection, the madam slowly said, "Eighteen years ago, Aunt Ru was wronged by the King of Nan'an and banished from the country. She was forced to separate from my young son, and we will never see each other again in this life."
Upon hearing this, Yan Hong exclaimed incredulously, "How could this be?"
The madam didn't elaborate on her painful past, only saying, "Later, I settled down in the Western Qin Kingdom, and then I met your mother. Seeing you grow up, and how you and your mother were so loving and filial, Aunt Ru was very envious, and missed my son even more... One day, Aunt Ru met a man who had the ability to help her see her son again in this lifetime. So Aunt Ru made a deal with him, helping him accomplish something."
Upon hearing this, Yan Hong pondered for a moment and guessed, "Is this person the Pavilion Master?"
The madam nodded, and Yan Hong asked anxiously, "What kind of deal did Aunt Ru make with the Pavilion Master? It can't be as simple as just helping him force women into prostitution at Wanjiao Pavilion, can it?"
The madam shook her head, hurriedly explaining, "No, no, no, the girls in Wanjiao Pavilion were all bought by the pavilion master. I'm just in charge of managing them. Besides, I'm trying my best to help them..."
"So what exactly is the deal between you two?" Upon hearing this, Yan Hong seemed even more curious about the deal between the two.
Under Yan Hong's repeated questioning, the madam slowly said, "The Pavilion Master... the Pavilion Master is a prince of the Northern Lie Kingdom. He came to Xi Qin to open this Wanjiao Pavilion to provide him with a place to hide and hide. The deal between him and me was to help him unify the four kingdoms of Ling Kong. In return, he asked me to spare my son during the war with the Southern An Kingdom so that my son and I could be reunited."
"What?" Just as Yan Hong's eyes widened in shock and she cried out, the madam hurriedly reached out and tightly covered her mouth with her hand. After a while, seeing that Yan Hong seemed to have calmed down, the madam slowly released her hand.
At this moment, Yan Hong lowered her voice and said, "I didn't expect that there was indeed a great conspiracy hidden in this Wanjiao Pavilion. But let's not even talk about how difficult it is to unify the four kingdoms of Lingkong. You haven't seen your son for eighteen years now. What does he look like now? How much do you know about his whereabouts?"
Speaking of her son's current situation, the madam suddenly became agitated. "I know, I know. My son has a red birthmark behind his ear. He is the most noble and unique crown prince of Nan'an Kingdom. He will definitely receive the best care..."
Yan Hong exclaimed in surprise, interrupting the madam, "The Crown Prince of Nan'an?" Only then did the madam realize that in her haste, she had revealed such a secret, but it was too late to take it back.
Yan Hong understood everything. The two sat there in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
A moment later, Yan Hong suddenly came to her senses and asked, "Aunt Ru just said we're leaving here, are we planning to go to...?"
The madam then realized what was happening and quickly chimed in, "Oh right, I almost forgot. You should pack up now. The master said that Wanjiao Pavilion has been surrounded by the King of Qin. It's probably not just because he's looking for the woman in the portrait; his true identity has likely been exposed. So, he's taking us away from Western Qin and back to Northern Lie Kingdom in the next couple of days. I'm afraid we'll never come back."
"Ah?" Yan Hong stood up in surprise, her heart filled with panic. She then began pacing back and forth in the room.
"What about Sister Lanxiang? What will happen to her? Will she come with us too?" Yan Hong asked doubtfully after a while.
"Lanxiang has taken leave and gone out. It's fortunate that she's not in the brothel, otherwise..." The madam stopped talking as she spoke.
Seeing the hidden meaning in her words, Yan Hong immediately stepped forward and asked, "Otherwise what? Aunt Ru, Sister Lanxiang has been incredibly kind to me and treats me like a sister, so no matter what happens, Yan Hong can't abandon Sister Lanxiang."
Upon hearing this, the madam's face suddenly showed difficulty. After hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke, "Lanxiang accidentally stumbled upon some of the Pavilion Master's secrets. Originally, I had a pang of sympathy for Lanxiang and wanted to protect her. But unfortunately, the Pavilion Master still refused to let her go. This morning, he sent someone over to order... to kill her to silence her. I'm afraid she's no longer alive by now."
"What?" Upon hearing this, Yan Hong suddenly staggered, feeling a darkness before her eyes and the world spinning around her. Her body swayed as if she was about to faint. The madam quickly helped her sit down.
After a while, Yan Hong finally came to her senses, quickly got up, opened the door, and hurried downstairs towards the entrance of Wan Jiao Pavilion. The madam watched Yan Hong's departing figure, shook her head, sighed deeply, and looked completely bewildered.
"Sister Xiang'er, you are Yan Hong's only support in this world from now on. Wait for me, you must wait for me. You can't die, you can't die..." Yan Hong murmured as she ran through the street...
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