There was a sound of falling in the study. Zhang You and the others heard it clearly outside the door. Without caring about being reckless, they pushed Jin Fu and Jin Lu aside and rushed in.
Jin Fu Jin Lu did not expect that there would be such a commotion inside. Worried that something might have happened, he let go of the hands that were holding Zhang You and the others, and followed them, pushing open the door and rushing in.
What caught his eye was Qiao Si lying on the ground with his hands bleeding, looking disheveled. The ground was a mess. Li Guanghan stood in front of Qiao Si with his hands behind his back, his eyes cold.
"Princess!"
"My princess, how are you?"
"Where is the princess injured?"
Zhang You hurried forward to help Qiao Si up, and only when he got closer did he notice the red mark on her neck. Spring clothes were thin, and they were all low-necked, which made the red mark on Qiao Si's neck look even more serious.
"...Your Highness...what's going on?" Jin Fu and Jin Lu's eyes trembled slightly. They had never expected Li Guanghan to be the one to do it. However, years of experience still made them believe that the prince's actions were excusable, so they hesitated to ask the reason.
Jinlu looked at the people across from him who were frantically checking on the princess's injuries, and felt slapped in the face. He was particularly ashamed. He had just stopped Xia He outside the door, swearing to her that the prince would not hurt the princess. Who could have imagined that the next second, the prince would hit the princess so hard.
Li Guanghan watched Qiao Si being carefully helped up by them, and a hint of concern flashed in his eyes, but that concern was quickly replaced by indifference.
"The princess is injured, so she should recuperate in the mansion and not go anywhere else."
Li Guanghan's voice was extremely cold, and his light words carried a strong threat. He wanted to deprive Qiao Si of his freedom.
"what are you up to?"
Almost the moment he opened his mouth, Qiao Si realized that he was about to make a move in the dark and asked anxiously.
She looked so anxious, as if she was afraid that Li Guanghan would harm someone she cared about.
"No matter what I do, I don't need you to interfere. Come! Take the princess away! Bring her back to the courtyard and take good care of her. Don't let anyone else disturb her!"
Li Guanghan's voice rose twice, and he coldly ordered his servants to take Qiao Si away.
"What are you doing? Let me go!"
"Don't move, Princess!"
"Don't stop me!"
The guards outside the study rushed forward and mercilessly detained Zhang You and the others, preventing them from gathering together to take Qiao Si away.
"Your Highness?" Jinlu couldn't bear to see them being dragged away from here, so he spoke carefully, wanting to persuade the prince. However, as soon as he opened his mouth, he was frightened by Li Guanghan's intimidating eyes, and his words of persuasion stopped abruptly.
Li Guanghan was really angry about his plea.
Jinlu hurriedly lowered his head, stood respectfully beside him, and said no more.
After all, he was just Li Guanghan's bodyguard, and his status was not enough to go beyond that. He could not and dared not go against Li Guanghan's will.
Zhang You wanted to break free from her shackled hands, but she couldn't. She looked at Chunhua and Qiuyue beside her in panic. They were only struggling symbolically and did not reveal their true strength.
Seeing them like this, Zhang You felt relieved a little, but he still kept questioning Qiao Si.
They were "escorted" back to the yard, where the guards violently pushed them into the yard and locked the gate to prevent them from leaving.
"Open the door! What are you doing? Why are you locking us up? Open the door!"
"Princess, please don't struggle. The prince has ordered that you are not allowed to leave the palace without permission. We will deliver meals on time every day, so don't worry."
There were two guards guarding outside the door. They spoke coldly when they heard Zhang You and the others knocking on the door. Zhang You and the others wanted to argue with them after hearing this, but they stopped talking and just stood quietly by the door without saying a word.
Seeing that there was no turning back, Jingzhu didn't waste any more time and said to Zhang You and the others, "Don't waste your energy. Let's apply medicine to the princess first. We'll discuss this matter when we get back."
Qiao Si hadn't spoken a word since he was brought back. Zhang You and the others noticed something was wrong. After they entered the room and there were no outsiders, they started asking.
"Princess? What on earth happened in your study? How did you end up in this situation?"
Qiao Si looked at them with concerned and puzzled eyes and shook her head slightly.
She is the only one they can rely on now. Now that they are trapped, they need to unite to find a way out.
On the way back, she thought a lot carefully. She was now completely calm. She knew too little information, and being restricted in her freedom would only make her feel more blocked. She had to review everything that had happened during this period.
"Dongmei, come here."
Zhang You was sitting next to Qiao Si, applying medicine to her. Dongmei was called over by her. She was sandwiched between the two of them and could hear more clearly than anyone else.
"Princess."
"Go out and ask for information about the king's return to the capital, and then tell me everything in detail."
Although Dongmei didn't quite understand what Qiao Si said, she still told him the whole story from the beginning.
Qiao Si listened quietly, thinking frantically about Li Guanghan's intentions in his mind.
What exactly is Li Guanghan coveting?
…
Zhang You listened quietly. The wound on Qiao Si's hand wasn't big and would heal with a simple bandage. However, Qiao Si's expression of deep thought made Zhang You afraid to move too much, fearing it would disrupt her thoughts. She remained seated, quietly waiting for Qiao Si to finish his thought.
Zhang You listened to Dongmei's story again, but she still couldn't figure out what Li Guanghan was planning with Prince Qiao. She was just a maid, and with very little information, she couldn't deduce what was going on from the clues. For now, she could only wait for Qiao Si to figure it out.
While waiting, Zhang You's hands hanging on his knees were becoming numb. Qiao Si suddenly raised his head with a gleam in his eyes.
"I know what he wants!"
"What?" Zhang You and the others looked at her, concentrating their attention and asked in unison.
"After the death of my third brother, his old subordinates would not sincerely obey him. He wanted to take revenge on the Crown Prince, so he chose to ally with my father. But his ambitions were far more than that. For my father to cooperate with him would be like courting death.
He's trapping us now, surely to force Father to do something that would bring down the Crown Prince but would also put Father in danger." Qiao Si's expression was serious, and his words were so chilling that they made everyone gasp.
"What should we do?" Cui Liu asked worriedly.
"We can't go out now, and news from outside the mansion can't get in. I just checked and found two guards at the gate with good martial arts skills. There are also two more people watching in the dark. If we want to go out, we have to plan carefully." Qiuyue's expression was also serious.
"How could the prince form an alliance with him? And even hide it from us?" Faced with the current predicament, even the usually steady Jingzhu was a little panicked.
"Because my father is eager for revenge, he wants to avenge my third brother and also wants to protect those of us who are still alive." Qiao Si's voice was low and slow, with the pain of being awake.
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