After a moment's thought, the stall owner pointed ahead and said, "They seem to be heading towards Yanfu Temple!"
"Yanfu Temple!" Yi Shangyun looked in the direction it was pointing and murmured the same phrase to himself thoughtfully.
He then quickly took out a silver ingot and placed it on the stall owner's stall, saying, "Thank you for telling me!"
But he didn't take anything; he just hurriedly left.
The stall owner turned around and saw her, so he picked up the sachet he had left behind and shouted loudly at her back, "Girl, you haven't taken your plum blossom sachet yet!"
Just as the master and servant arrived at the gate of Yanfu Temple, Xuanyuan Han and Cheng Liang had just left.
"Yanfu Temple is very small, with only seven or eight monks in total. Usually, it is poor people from the countryside who come here to ask for herbs and prescriptions to take back to make a living, taking advantage of the rare opportunity for the court to distribute medicine. No important people have ever come here before, so why are there so many soldiers guarding it today? And these soldiers look very well-trained, unlike those from ordinary government offices."
Standing in the same spot, facing the scene before him, Yi Shangyun observed carefully for a while and muttered to himself.
Gradually, a bad premonition arose in his heart: "Could it be that the Consort Chun, who was hiding here, has been discovered?"
With this thought in mind, Yi Shangyun looked around, wanting to find someone to ask for information, but found nothing.
Just as she anxiously clenched her fist and was about to step forward, Yan'er suggested, "Miss, they probably won't recognize Yan'er. Why don't I go in and find out some information first?"
Looking into Yan'er's eyes, Yi Shangyun thought for a moment and said, "Alright, it's more reliable to go in and investigate in person. But... we must be careful in everything we do! I'll wait for you at the teahouse at the street corner."
"Okay!" Yan'er nodded and walked towards the door.
Sure enough, Yan'er gestured something to the guard, and after a while, she was finally let in.
Yi Shangyun then strolled into the teahouse at the street corner and found a seat with a view of the temple entrance.
After waiting for a long time, Yan'er finally came out again.
As soon as Yan'er arrived at the teahouse, Yi Shangyun immediately stood up and hurriedly asked her, "How is it? How is it? Have you found out anything? Is the Imperial Concubine still at the temple?"
Yan'er was clearly extremely nervous at this moment, feeling her heart still pounding wildly, and she couldn't speak for a long time.
Yi Shangyun had already prepared a cup of tea for her, and as soon as she handed it to Yan'er, she drank it down in one gulp.
Then he spoke up, saying, "Miss, something terrible has happened. We're too late. The Imperial Concubine has just been taken away by the palace staff. Not only that, but Zhang Mama, Physician Yue, and even the abbot of the temple have also been taken to the palace."
"What did you say?"
Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun was so shocked that he slumped back down heavily on his bottom again.
Yan'er asked anxiously, "Miss, what should we do now?"
Yi Shangyun was filled with self-reproach: "It's all my fault for not thinking things through. I thought the most dangerous place was the safest place. I thought that even though it was the imperial city, such a small temple wouldn't be noticed. I never expected that it would still be discovered."
Then, after a moment of silence, he seemed to suddenly remember something.
Then she snapped out of her daze and asked even more anxiously, "What about His Highness the Prince of Qin? Was he also brought into the palace?"
Yan'er shook her head and said, "No, that's not it. Just now, when I got to the gate, I saw a young novice monk sweeping the courtyard. So I pretended to be deaf and mute, repeatedly gesturing to myself that I was looking for the young novice. But the soldiers couldn't understand my gestures at all, and they found me really annoying, so they had no choice but to let me in. According to the young novice, when the soldiers came, His Highness Prince Qin hadn't returned to the temple yet, so he hadn't been discovered. That's why the soldiers are still guarding here. They suspect that His Highness Prince Qin isn't dead at all!"
Yi Shangyun pondered for a while, then suddenly stood up.
Yan'er asked, "Has Miss already decided what to do?"
Yi Shangyun analyzed, "The Prince of Qin's mansion is no longer what it used to be. Now that the Imperial Concubine has been arrested, His Highness must be extremely anxious! He will definitely try to find a way to enter the palace to rescue her. Therefore, we should also go to the palace!"
Yan'er had never been to the palace before, so upon hearing this, she exclaimed in surprise, "What? Enter the palace?"
Yi Shangyun was absolutely certain: "Yes, to the palace!"
"But it's just the two of us, and this is the imperial palace, heavily guarded by soldiers..."
Yan'er was still in shock and wanted to say something, but she saw that Yi Shangyun had already taken a step and left.
So she had no choice but to bite the bullet and chase after him: "Miss, wait for Yan'er..."
In the stillness of the night.
A bright moon hangs high in the sky.
The sky was filled with countless dazzling stars, twinkling and adorning the night sky like a dream.
The air was filled with a faint aroma of mugwort.
Under the deep darkness of night, the Western Qin Imperial Palace shines like a giant luminous pearl under the sky, gleaming brightly in the endless darkness.
As the night deepened, Xuan Yuanhan and Cheng Liang gradually revealed themselves.
"Your Highness, I have already ordered people to find out that after the Dowager Consort entered the palace, the Emperor imprisoned her in Guanghua Palace, where she and Your Highness used to live."
After hearing Cheng Liang's words, Xuan Yuanhan remained silent for a moment, then said with some surprise, "It's actually Guanghua Palace?!"
Cheng Liang confirmed, "Yes, it's definitely Guanghua Palace!"
"Time flies, so many years have already passed!"
Recalling the brief but happy years that he and his mother had spent in the palace, Xuan Yuanhan couldn't help but fall into deep reminiscence.
A voice rang in his ears repeatedly, waking him up: "Your Highness... Your Highness..."
Seeing that Xuan Yuanhan had finally come to his senses, Cheng Liang covered his face with a black veil and said, "The time for the change of shifts is almost here. Ever since we brought the Empress Dowager back to the palace today, the Emperor has replaced all the guards with his own people. The defense is weakest during the change of shifts, and we only have this much time to use. If we miss it, we will be easily exposed!"
Unexpectedly, Xuanyuan Han suddenly blurted out, "I will go alone!"
Upon hearing this, Cheng Liangdun stopped what he was doing and asked again to confirm, "What did Your Highness say?"
Xuanyuan Han said again quite seriously, "I can go and rescue my mother by myself!"
Cheng Liang exclaimed in surprise, "How could Your Highness go to rescue the Empress Dowager alone? If it were just Your Highness, it would be more than enough to enter and leave the palace unnoticed. But if you were to take the Empress Dowager with you, how could that be easy?!"
Xuanyuan Han looked confident and said, "I have my own way to save Mother Consort! In fact, I have something even more important to entrust to you."
Cheng Liang asked in confusion, "What could be more important than rescuing the Empress Dowager right now?"
Xuan Yuanhan slowly took out the sapphire blue sachet that he had lost and found, opened it, took out a piece of jade inside, and handed it to Cheng Liang.
Cheng Liang took it and stared at it, his eyes widening in shock.
"this……"
"This is……"
"How does Your Highness possess the tiger tally of the Divine Steed Camp of the Northern Lie Kingdom?"
Xuanyuan Han put one hand behind his back, and with the other hand, he kept stroking the sachet he was holding. It was as if she was by his side, and no matter when or where he faced any danger, it always made him feel at ease.
Cheng Liang then realized in an instant: "Could it be that this sachet contains... the tiger tally for the Divine Steed Camp given to His Highness by the Princess Consort?!"
Xuanyuan Han remained silent, his gaze unusually gentle.
Cheng Liang sighed and said, "No wonder Her Highness mentioned the 'secret pouch' and 'only when absolutely necessary.' Her Highness truly had foresight and put a lot of thought into His Highness!"
Then he recalled the battle in the Northwest back then. At that time, he was really wary of the rumors that the appearance of the Divine Steed Camp would make the entire Lingkong Continent tremble.
"If it were during the great war in the Northwest back then, the second prince of the Northern Lie Kingdom, Tuoba Hong, would have been ruthless enough to use this tiger tally to mobilize the Divine Steed Camp. I'm afraid that no matter how many soldiers my Western Qin had, they would not have been a match for him at all!"
"But who could have imagined that the Tiger Tally of the Divine Steed Camp would eventually fall into the hands of a woman, the Princess Consort? It's truly unbelievable!"
At this point, Xuanyuan Han came to his senses and immediately ordered: "This matter is of utmost importance. You must rush to the grasslands tonight and find the Divine Steed Camp at all costs to lend us a hand!"
However, Cheng Liang was still somewhat worried: "But Your Highness, if you enter the palace alone and happen to encounter an ambush, then..."
Xuanyuan Han raised a hand to stop him, saying, "Don't worry, even if I make a mistake, he won't do anything to me for the time being. But you and I both know that the troops we've gathered in this short period of time are simply no match for us!"
"It wasn't until you returned Yun'er's sachet to me just now that I unexpectedly discovered this tiger tally. I believe that this time, we will definitely win, and we must win!"
At this point, Cheng Liang finally made up his mind: "Your subordinate obeys and will certainly not fail in his mission!"
After watching Cheng Liang leave, Xuan Yuanhan finally felt relieved and covered his face with his veil. With a leap, he easily scaled the high city wall in front of him.
Meanwhile, on the other side...
With Yan'er by her side, Yi Shangyun hurried along and finally arrived at the foot of a palace wall.
Facing the high wall before them, Yan'er looked troubled: "Miss, do we really have to climb over this wall?"
Yi Shangyun said, "When I was scouting ahead just now, I heard the guards say that the Empress Dowager was being held in Guanghua Palace."
Yan'er asked, "Guanghua Palace? Does Miss know where it is?"
Seeing Yan'er's dejected look, Yi Shangyun smiled and said, "Hehe..."
Then he immediately said, "I don't know!"
Yan'er felt like she was going crazy. Coming to this place was not her own intention, and she never dared to even think about it, let alone illegally trespass.
Faced with Yi Shangyun, who knew nothing about her yet was so audacious, Yan'er lost all confidence: "You don't even know where Guanghua Palace is, how can you rescue the Empress Dowager? I'm afraid you'll be captured before you even find the place!"
Yi Shangyun, however, walked along the base of the wall, carefully observing the surroundings. She said, "As the saying goes, 'Where there's a will, there's a way,' and 'When the water reaches the bridge, it will straighten itself.' There are always more solutions than problems! No matter what, we can't be so discouraged! How do we know we won't succeed if we haven't even tried!"
Seeing that this little master, despite his frail appearance, always says things that are uplifting.
Yan'er followed along, watching, and suddenly her eyes welled up with tears: "Miss, for His Highness Prince Qin, you've even risked your own life this time? Do you remember you're still poisoned! Half a month is almost up..."
Upon hearing this, Yi Shangyun finally stopped in his tracks...
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