Bai Zhi stood guard at a corner of the courtyard wall of Yikun Palace, cautiously looking around to see if anyone had noticed her, and listening intently to any sounds outside the wall.
After waiting for a while, the bricks in the corner shifted, revealing a small hole. A hand reached out and opened to reveal a small piece of paper. Bai Zhi took the paper, coughed twice, and the hand quickly withdrew, and the bricks immediately returned to their original positions.
Bai Zhi clutched the note tightly and headed towards the main hall. When Consort Nian saw Bai Zhi return, she got up anxiously. Only after Bai Zhi closed the door did she hand the note she had just received to Consort Nian.
Consort Nian eagerly opened the note, her heart tightening and her expression freezing.
Bai Zhi asked softly, "What's wrong, Your Highness?"
"His Majesty secretly left the palace... He didn't inform anyone, he just walked through the side gate of the palace and left in plain clothes..." Consort Nian replied dejectedly, then paused and quickly got up to go to her desk, picked up a pen and wrote a letter.
When handing it to Bai Zhi, he instructed, "Immediately send a message by carrier pigeon to your uncle, telling him to keep a close eye on the Emperor's movements and find out exactly where he went..." Bai Zhi nodded solemnly and withdrew...
Outside the palace, the Fourth Prince and Su Peisheng rode in an ordinary carriage, swaying and making a low-key journey.
Su Peisheng's anxious gaze drifted out of the carriage, seemingly worried that the Fourth Prince might be in danger by leaving the palace so rashly. The Fourth Prince, however, paid no attention, his mind preoccupied only with the events of the previous night.
"Does anyone else know anything about the Fourteenth Prince's affair?" Fourth Master suddenly asked. Su Peisheng hadn't reacted yet, staring blankly at the curtains. Fourth Master paused, looked at Su Peisheng, and asked again, "Does anyone else know anything about the Fourteenth Prince's affair?"
Su Peisheng was startled and hurriedly bowed his head to apologize, not forgetting to reply, "Your Majesty, the Fourteenth Prince's disappearance was sudden, and no one else knows about it yet."
Fourth Master sneered, "Even you believe in the disappearance theory?"
Su Peisheng gave an awkward smile and said in a low voice, "This servant dares not speculate. The Fourteenth Prince has been living in the Changping Villa, and His Majesty has never mistreated him. He has no reason to run away on his own. Besides... besides, the guards there are very strict. This servant thinks..."
Fourth Master knew what Su Peisheng wanted to say. He never imagined that Fourteenth Master had been rescued from Changping. But what Fourth Master was curious about was who rescued Fourteenth Master and what their purpose was.
Su Peisheng dared not pay attention to the situation outside the carriage anymore, for fear of misinterpreting Fourth Master's words and displeasing him. So he sat down and chatted with Fourth Master attentively. It was clear that Fourth Master was very agitated at the moment and kept trying to take deep breaths to calm his anger.
Su Peisheng just wanted the carriage to leave quickly; at this moment, only she could comfort the Fourth Master.
Little did Su Peisheng know, his premonition was correct. Ever since the Fourth Prince left the palace, he had been secretly followed. The person following the Fourth Prince's carriage all the way, never getting close, but just keeping a distance, so no matter how vigilant Su Peisheng was, he didn't notice.
Seeing that the Fourth Prince's carriage drove directly to the Yuanmingyuan, the guards at the gate seemed to be very familiar with the carriage and let it pass without asking any questions. The Yuanmingyuan was the imperial backyard, and the person who was following them could not enter. He waited outside the garden for a while to make sure that the Fourth Prince did not come out, then quietly retreated and reported everything he had found out to Nian Xiyao.
Upon hearing the news, Nian Xiyao was greatly surprised. He repeatedly confirmed whether the Fourth Prince's carriage had indeed entered the Yuanmingyuan. After pondering for a while, he still couldn't figure out why the Fourth Prince would go to the Yuanmingyuan, or even secretly leave the palace. However, remembering that Consort Nian in the palace had always been curious about the Emperor's whereabouts, he sensed that things might not be simple, so he immediately sent someone to send the message back to the palace.
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