Yan'er's panicked state also made Wei Ning feel anxious. Recalling the scene of delivering clothes to Shangyun last night, he muttered to himself, "Could it be that after I left last night, the Princess really went out again?"
After a moment's thought, he suppressed his deep unease and first reassured Yan'er, saying, "Don't panic. Perhaps the Princess Consort really did just go to check a nearby sandy area by herself. Go back and wait, and I'll take more people to search around."
He turned to leave as soon as he finished speaking.
But with the situation already so dire, Yan'er couldn't just sit idly by.
She reached out and grabbed Wei Ning's arm, pleading anxiously, "No, I don't want to stay, I want to go find Miss too... Miss's body, her body... it's very likely she's pregnant again..."
Yan'er hesitated, then spoke with extreme fear.
Wei Ning knew, of course, that Yan'er was very worried about Yi Shangyun's safety: "But if you don't stay here to wait, what if the Princess Consort comes back and we're all gone?"
Yan'er instinctively felt extremely helpless at this moment. After careful consideration, she finally nodded and agreed to stay as Wei Ning arranged.
At this moment, Wei Ning took out a bamboo tube from his body and carefully placed it in Yan'er's hand, instructing her: "If you see the Princess Consort return, light this firework as a signal!"
Yan'er, her face already wet with tears, nodded earnestly to Qi Yi, her voice choked with sobs.
Wei Ning then quickly turned and left.
Time flies, and three days have passed in the blink of an eye.
However, there is still no news about the whereabouts of Yi Shangyun.
Yan'er continued to worry and weep day and night: "Miss, where have you gone? Please come back..."
Wei Ning paced back and forth in front of her, his mind in turmoil: "It's been three days already. Our people and all the common folk have searched everywhere they can think of, but there's still no trace of the Princess Consort."
The more he thought about it, the more guilty and remorseful he felt. Since he had already noticed that Yi Shangyun was not in a good state, he should have stayed by her side to protect her.
But……
Sui clenched his fists and uttered a harsh curse: "Damn it!"
After a moment of silence, as if making a final decision in his heart, he said, "This cannot go on. Now that things have come to this, I must inform His Highness of this matter immediately."
As he spoke, he hurriedly went to the desk, picked up a pen, wrote a secret letter to Xuanyuan Han, carefully sealed it with sealing wax, and ordered a guard at the door: "Quickly send this letter back to the mansion and make sure it reaches His Highness."
The guard clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, accepting the order: "Yes!"
With that, he turned and left.
Seeing this, Yan'er became even more worried and afraid: "Miss, it's all Yan'er's fault. That night, Yan'er should have stayed by your side every step of the way. Yan'er really shouldn't have gone to bed earlier than you. Miss... Yan'er was wrong, Yan'er was really wrong. Please come back, Yan'er is so scared... Yan'er is really so scared."
After saying that, she started crying again: "Waaah..."
The Western Qin Imperial Palace.
Just after the morning court session, as soon as Emperor Jing stepped into his study, he received a secret letter.
He quickly unfolded it and was shocked by the message on the letter, his eyes widening in surprise.
In an instant, this provoked a thunderous rage. He slammed the letter heavily onto the table in front of him and demanded, "What on earth is going on?"
Upon seeing this, the guards and eunuchs in the hall were all so frightened that they immediately knelt down, bowing their heads and trembling as they said in unison, "Your Majesty, please calm down!"
At this moment, Emperor Jing could no longer suppress the raging fire in his heart.
He stretched out a hand and pointed to the general kneeling in the hall, who had come to deliver the message in person. He was still breathless, his face etched with the marks of time, making it impossible to tell his true age. He was dressed in a dusty suit of armor.
He rebuked him harshly: "What kind of incompetence have you all done? Didn't you personally tell me that those lowly people had been completely wiped out? How come they've suddenly appeared in Lu County to start desertification control, and on a larger scale than ever before? Who authorized them to do this? And who is provoking me?"
The general who delivered the message trembled, not daring to raise his head even slightly, and stammered, "At the time, I was ordered to execute all the fleeing refugees, and it was indeed foolproof. I don't know what happened, how did another group of lowly people suddenly appear? But... but... the one leading the desert control efforts this time... seems to be... is..."
Seeing his incompetence and his current hesitant and foolish appearance, Emperor Jing was furious. He glared at him and shouted, "Fool, what is it? Speak up!"
Upon hearing this, the general had no time to think and blurted out, "This subordinate deserves to die, please forgive me, Your Majesty. My investigation reveals that the person leading the desertification control efforts in Lu County appears to be a woman..."
Before he could finish speaking, Emperor Jing could hardly believe his ears. He slowly stood up in astonishment, looked down at the top of his head, and asked again to confirm, "What did you say?"
The general repeated, "The person in charge of organizing and leading the desertification control efforts in Luxian County this time is a young woman."
After what seemed like a long while, Emperor Jing finally came to his senses and asked, "What kind of woman is she? How could she possess such great abilities?"
The general hesitated for a moment, then said, "This... I haven't been able to ascertain his identity yet?"
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jing flew into a rage again: "Then what are you still standing here for? Go and investigate right now! You useless piece of trash!"
Upon hearing this, the general, who had just managed to lift his body slightly, involuntarily lowered it again until he could only prostrate himself on the dark, cold floor in front of the hall, humbly accepting the order: "Yes, Your subordinate will investigate immediately."
Emperor Jing did not forget to warn him again: "I give you seven days. If you do not bring me that woman's head, then you will have to offer up the heads of your entire clan."
"Yes!" Upon hearing this, the general's beads of sweat instantly dripped down, one after another, carefully landing on the floor.
However, Emperor Jing showed no mercy and angrily banished him from the hall with disdain: "Get out!"
The general then rose shakily and withdrew.
At this moment, Emperor Jing clenched his fist and placed it on the table in front of him. After thinking for a while, he muttered to himself, "Damn it, without a doubt, this must be the work of the Prince of Qin! He must have ordered someone to secretly oppose me again... But this time, I'll see how long you can be so smug!"
With this thought in mind, he glanced at the eunuch standing beside him, and the eunuch stepped closer to him.
Emperor Jing glanced at him strangely and asked, "In another month or so, will Lu County be hit by another sandstorm?"
The Grand Eunuch thought for a moment and replied, "According to the calculations of the Bureau of Astronomy, it should be pretty close. I've heard that the upcoming sandstorm will be the largest in Lu County's history, the largest to date."
Emperor Jing seemed to be plotting something in his mind, but finally, a fawning smile appeared on his lips as he said, "It seems that even Heaven is on my side."
"What does His Majesty mean?" the Grand Eunuch asked, puzzled.
Emperor Jing said with schadenfreude, "There have been rumors among the people that Prince Qin is very popular and loves his people like his own children! Then quickly order someone to draft an edict: Lu County has suffered a severe disaster, but the local officials are incompetent and have not handled things well. In order to save the people from their suffering, I hereby specially dispatch Prince Qin to personally lead troops to provide assistance!"
At this point, the Grand Eunuch finally understood and flattered him, saying, "His Majesty intends to use this massive sandstorm to ensure that the Prince of Qin never returns. In the end, he will attribute this to a natural disaster?"
Emperor Jing couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Hahaha...hahaha..."
Hearing Emperor Jing's extremely sinister laughter, even the Grand Eunuch felt a chill run down his spine, but he still had to force a smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Xuanyuan Han, who was completely unaware of the impending colossal conspiracy, was traveling with his deputy Cheng Liang on their way back to the palace after court.
Suddenly, a commotion arose in front of me.
Xuan Yuanhan, who was sitting in the carriage with his eyes closed, slowly opened his eyes, which were imposing without being angry.
He then reached out and lifted the carriage curtain, asking Cheng Liang, who was riding on horseback outside the window, "What's happening up ahead?"
Cheng Liang was still unaware of the situation, so he replied, "I will go and investigate immediately!"
With that, he dismounted and went forward.
A young woman, with an elderly woman behind her, was standing in the street, being harassed and insulted by a staggering, seemingly drunk man.
"Hey...you slut, back in Wanjiao Pavilion, I never even looked at you. Now, I'm kindly giving you money to spend the night with me, and you're acting all virtuous and chaste!"
The woman's eyes darted around, but she still defended herself: "You're talking nonsense. What Wanjiao Pavilion? I've never heard of it. If you continue to cause trouble here, I'll make you regret it!"
"You're welcome... Grandpa wants to see how impolite you're going to be to me today..." the drunkard said, lunging at the woman as if to commit an act of rudeness.
Because there were too many onlookers around, and some were even pointing and whispering about her, the woman seemed hesitant to resist.
Seeing the drunken man approaching her step by step, the woman could only retreat step by step.
Just as the drunkard was about to reach out and make advances at him, a gleaming sword was pressed against his neck.
The drunken man glanced sideways and saw Cheng Liang angrily confronting him. He froze on the spot and timidly said, "Hero, please...please...please...this wretched woman! If you like her, she's yours for today. I just beg you to let me go!"
Cheng Liang sternly rebuked him, "Get out of here now! If you dare to drink heavily again and harass the people on the streets of the capital, causing trouble, you'll lose your head!"
"Thank you for sparing my life, thank you for sparing my life!" The drunkard seemed to sober up instantly after being frightened by Cheng Liang, and fled in panic, tumbling and crawling.
Upon seeing this, everyone applauded and cheered, and then dispersed.
Just as Cheng Liang sheathed his sword and was about to turn and leave, the woman seemed to slowly recognize him, murmuring, "You are... General Cheng?"
Hearing the sound, Cheng Liang finally shifted his gaze and looked seriously at the woman's face...
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