Song Chengze subconsciously felt something was wrong and took two quick steps. Sure enough, he saw a group of people standing there in a standoff. Looking closely, he saw that Concubine Lian was being held hostage by the Crown Princess's maid.
"Song Chengze, don't come over, otherwise, this day next year will be the anniversary of your mother's death."
"Don't mess around. If my mother loses even a hair, you'll pay with your life."
"Hahaha, you will take my life whether I do something wrong or not. But her life is up to you." The prince laughed loudly.
"What do you want?"
"Commit suicide! I want you to commit suicide, now, immediately," the prince roared. Perhaps he felt the offer was too absurd. "Escort us out of the palace and take us to the post station in the south of the city. Prepare carriages and horses, along with provisions and money. No one is allowed to follow us. Once we reach our destination, we'll send someone to bring Concubine Lian back."
Song Chengze saw that maybe she was frightened, or maybe the palace maid was ruthless, because Concubine Lian's neck had already started bleeding.
"Stop, let her go."
At this moment, Concubine Lian also felt blood flowing from her neck. Her feet gave way and she began to slide downwards. No matter how resourceful she was, she was still a woman in the inner palace. She had never seen the flash of swords and the shadow of sabers before. She was now terrified.
Just as Song Chengze was about to say something, a hurried voice came, "I'll take over for Concubine Lian. Your Highness, you've seen how Concubine Lian is like. It's hard for her to even leave the palace, let alone go this far with you. If anything happens to Concubine Lian, what can you use to threaten Your Highness? So, let me take over. I'm young and can withstand the ordeal. I'm Concubine Rui. Even if Your Highness wants to protect his reputation, he'll agree to your request."
The Crown Prince and the Crown Princess looked at each other after hearing this. The Crown Prince then looked at Concubine Lian, who was kneeling on the ground and trembling, and nodded to the palace maid.
"Come here yourself." The prince said viciously.
Song Chengze looked at Meng Qi who was about to walk over there, "Aqi, don't."
Meng Qi turned around, gave Song Chengze a bright smile, nodded vigorously, and strode over.
With a younger hostage, the prince and his men quickened their pace. However, the six western palaces were all abandoned, and the prince refused to take the main road, so he went back and forth from one palace to another. The princess eventually ran out of strength and fell down accidentally. She almost pulled the prince off with a backhand, but what no one expected was that the prince turned around and stabbed the princess in the heart with a sword.
Everyone, whether it was the prince's men or Song Chengze who was following closely behind, was surprised. However, the prince held up the sword that was still dripping with blood and laughed a little crazily, "See? If you don't do as I ask, your princess will be next."
After saying that, he said to the black-clad man who was leading the group beside him, "Go over and watch them prepare." Then he raised his head and said to Song Chengze, "I want to hear him come back and report the news in an hour."
Song Chengze looked at Meng Qi's pale face and didn't dare to hesitate any longer. He waved to Chu Yong, and Chu Yong stepped forward and walked away quickly with the man.
The prince breathed a sigh of relief, and his steps were no longer as hurried as before, but he continued to walk back and forth in the yard.
Meng Qi also came back to her senses from the shock just now, slowed down, and kept looking around. This time she saw that the face was very familiar. She thought of something and turned around to look at Wang Chenghai who was following closely.
Wang Chenghai seemed to have remembered it too, with excitement on his face. He turned his head to look at Meng Qi, and saw Meng Qi nodded at him and kept making eye contact. Wang Chenghai understood and pointed to the left. The two of them understood each other.
When everyone entered an empty courtyard again, Meng Qi suddenly pushed the maid who was holding her, snatched the torch held by the prince's assassins and threw it into the miscellaneous items piled nearby. She then turned around and ran into the palace. Before anyone could react, Wang Chenghai followed closely with the torch in hand.
Meng Qi suddenly made a decision at that moment. She pulled Wang Chenghai over and turned the heavy curtains, "I'm leaving. Just pretend you know nothing. The prince won't do anything to you."
A big fire had started outside. Through the curtains, the prince's assassins and the palace maids from the East Palace who knew martial arts entered the hall.
Meng Qi took the torch from Wang Chenghai's hand and first set the curtain on fire, then threw it out, and the fire in the room immediately started.
"Princess, I don't understand what you are saying. Where are you going?" Wang Chenghai asked anxiously.
"Will you join me?"
"Of course, wherever the princess goes, I will go."
Meng Qi had heard the wails of the assassins and palace maids who were burned by the fire, and the sounds of fighting and killing could be heard outside. She didn't know why that idea suddenly occupied her mind when she just came in, as if she would be sorry for her new life if she didn't do this once.
She didn't have time to say anything to Wang Chenghai. The fire in front had already started. Even if she regretted wanting to go out, it was impossible.
She pulled Wang Chenghai over and jumped out of the shaky half window, and the two of them rolled to the wall. Meng Qi clapped her hands and stamped her feet back and forth. Suddenly, with a "click", a board fell down. Before Wang Chenghai could react, Meng Qi pushed him in and jumped in herself. She then instructed Wang Chenghai to prop up the board with wood and slowly moved forward.
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Yuan Dong tugged at Dong Hai's sleeve tightly, "Brother Dong, how could this happen? The princess didn't come out?"
Dong Hai's face was filled with regret. "The princess and Eunuch Wang went in first. Shortly after they had waited for the East Palace maids and assassins to enter, the palace started a fire. The prince wanted to rush in, but the crown prince attacked him with a sword raised. By the time they had subdued the crown prince and the assassins, the entire structure in the palace had collapsed."
"What happened next?" Su Xin asked with tears in her eyes and shaking hands.
"The prince tried to rush in, but we held him back. The frame of the house kept falling down, so who would dare let him in?"
"But how do you know there's a princess there?" Yuan Dong still refused to give up.
Dong Hai sighed, "Last night was so chaotic, we didn't know how many people had gone in. Five bodies were later found, all burnt. The prince found the princess's bracelet in the rubble, broken into several pieces.
Yuan Dong sat down. Yes, the prince personally gave the princess a bracelet that morning.
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