Cidong's words had hidden meanings, so Xingchun pulled her a few steps to a secluded place, looked around, and only dared to speak after making sure that there was no one around.

"What do you mean?" Xingchun frowned.

"I've been reading ancient books these days and have seen a lot of strange things." Ci Dong's voice became lighter, "Is it possible that the master's soul has been possessed?"

Xingchun was silent. She was about to say that it was impossible, but when she thought of the existence of the national teacher, she did not have the confidence to refute, and her voice was light and weak.

"Don't jump to conclusions yet. Let's test the master and see if she still has the same little habits as before."

Xingchun first stopped Cidong from being too hasty: "No matter how quickly a person changes her temperament, she can never change the little habits she has never noticed."

"If the master's habits don't change, then we don't have to worry. If the master..."

"Then we have to send a pigeon to the Imperial Master, asking him to save our master."

"I must tell the Imperial Master about this, but will it be too late?" Ci Dong looked towards the study, the worry in his eyes solidified, "How about we tie up the Master first?"

Xingchun: “…”

Isn't that too bold? "Don't do that yet. I'll send someone to call Chang An back quickly and ask him if he has any ideas. If he doesn't have any ideas, then... just kidnap the master."

The second half of Xingchun's words sounded particularly guilty.

After the two of them finished talking, they sent someone out to check the study. Pingchang An wanted to go into the study to test it out, but was blocked outside the door and could not enter.

After half an hour of anxious waiting, Chang An hurried over with a lot of grass debris on his clothes.

"What's so urgent?"

Xingchun and Cidong were just about to drag him out of the yard and tell him in detail about their findings when the study door suddenly opened.

"Chang'an, where have you been? I wanted to ask you about the Feng family's affairs, but I haven't seen you for half a day."

Chang An looked at Helian Yu in front of the study door, and instantly understood what Xingchun and Cidong were going to say.

It's strange indeed.

The Feng family's affairs had just been handed over to the county magistrate's office, so it was right for her to ask a few questions, but she shouldn't be unaware of what he had done in the past half day.

He had clearly obtained her permission to go out on business, to consolidate Zhaoyang County in order to deal with what she called the "locust plague".

"Your Highness, I happened to have a few fellow townsmen from Chang'an in the county. I thought it wouldn't take long to talk to them, so I left the palace without telling Your Highness. Your Highness, please forgive me."

Chang'an maintains standard manners and admits his mistakes sincerely.

"Forget it, I'll let you off this time."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Chang An lowered his eyebrows. "Your Highness, would you like to take a short rest? There is still a lot of Lu'an mugwort incense sent from the capital. Would you like to light one?"

When Chang An said this, Xingchun and Cidong wanted to prick up their ears, not daring to miss Helian Yu's next words.

The master of their family has the habit of taking a nap at noon, but not the habit of burning incense. He occasionally lights one or two sticks just for the sake of novelty.

Moreover, the capital did not send any so-called "Liu'an Aixiang" at all, so how could there be "a lot left"? "Then I will go back and take a short rest, just in time to try the new incense."

After these words were spoken, Xingchun and Cidong understood, but were left with deep worry and fear.

"Is this what you are doing?" Chang An pondered for a moment, his eyes shining, as if he was thinking about something.

"Yes." Xingchun looked around vigilantly, his voice so soft that the words he uttered could be carried away by ants, "There is something wrong with the master. Maybe someone has possessed his soul!"

"...Maybe someone else has changed." Chang An frowned and said, "You and Ci Dong should take care of her first. Don't let her leave the house, and don't answer her any questions about the real situation in Zhaoyang County."

"Don't worry, Cidong and I know our limits." Xingchun was more worried when she heard Chang'an's other possibility than when she heard Cidong's guess. "The master has secret guards around him. If the master is replaced, they can't be silent, right?"

Chang An stared: "Perhaps, no movement is the biggest movement." - "Your Highness, how do we escape?"

The black-clad secret guards looked at the towering cliffs around them, then lowered their eyes. There was no grass or trees around, only a small pool that was the size of three people.

Helian Yu sat cross-legged on the ground, signaling the secret guards who were like headless flies to stay calm: "When the time is right, we will definitely be able to get out. Save some energy first. After all, there is only water here, and no edible food."

"Your Highness, when is the right time?" The head of the secret guards knelt on one knee. "Please tell me. Not to mention that there is no food here, if you are missing for too long, Zhaoyang County will definitely cause unrest."

Helian Yu looked at the head of the secret guards in surprise: "You talk a lot! Aren't you secret guards supposed to not say a word for ten days? You stay by our side all day long."

A secret guard came over and the voice was a woman's. "Your Highness, you are joking. We secret guards work in shifts. After all, no one can stay awake for twelve hours. After we finish our work, we will have endless things to talk about."

"You guys..." Helian Yu blinked. The words of the secret guard in front of her slightly overturned her perception of the secret guards. "In the storybook, you are all cold-blooded and taciturn, killing people without blinking an eye!"

"That's right." The secret guard nodded. The black mask covered most of her face, revealing only a pair of eyes as calm as ice. "We have undergone rigorous training and possess superb martial arts. When necessary, we can gather intelligence and penetrate deep into the enemy camp to assassinate the enemy."

Helian Yu hesitated: "Superb... martial arts?"

It would make sense to say that it overturned the stereotype of her as a secret guard who was taciturn.

But how can they have the nerve to say that they are great martial arts experts?

How could there be twelve secret guards and all of them were successfully plotted against?

"Master, don't worry. When the shift changes at night, they can't see us and will naturally become suspicious." The head of the secret guards said as if to make amends.

Helian Yu yawned, then lay on her back on the bare ground. The azure blue sky was divided by the cliff, only showing her a tiny piece.

Helian Yu clasped his hands together and closed his eyes devoutly: "Master, please save my life, calculate it, calculate it, you must have nothing to do to calculate it, come and save your good disciple..."

Secret guards: "..."

Is it too late to ask now?

The Imperial Master has to deal with government affairs on weekdays, so how could he have so much time to care about her?

Although it is better to rely on oneself than on others, but now there is no way out, obviously "oneself" cannot be relied on, so I can only...

Twelve secret guards surrounded Helian Yu, knelt on one knee, and clasped their hands together devoutly: "Master, please calculate, Master, please calculate, Master, please calculate..."

Helian Yu gritted her teeth and looked around at the circle of black-clad guards around her.

They knelt like secret guards, made gestures of worshipping Buddha, and chanted the "national teacher" who sounded like the Great Compassion Mantra.

I'm afraid I can't get the imperial master to save me, I can only get the evil ghost to take my soul.