Gu Yunru was about to roll her eyes, Qingxing quickly got off her and said sorry several times.

"Shh, do you want others to find us?" Gu Yunru winked at her.

At this hour, the servants and dogs of the Gu Mansion should be asleep, and she was going to go to Tinghuayuan and pawn all her previous belongings so that she would have more money.

"I'm sorry...Miss."

"Okay, from now on, I will punish you by making you get up early and run every morning." Gu Yunru arched her nose at her and continued to walk forward. This was the East Courtyard, and they still had to walk to the West Courtyard to reach the end.

Ah Chou was practicing martial arts in the yard when he heard some noise coming from the east yard. He secretly hid among the trees and watched two sneaky figures sneak into the west yard.

"Miss, everything has been packed, let's go." Qing Xing was quick in packing the valuables, and soon two bags were packed. Gu Yunru carried one and was about to peek out when she suddenly found a tall figure standing in front of her. She was so scared that she took a step back.

"Who are you?"

Because it was too dark, Gu Yunru couldn't see what the person in front of her looked like. She only felt a cold aura emanating from him.

"Miss, could he be a thief?" Qingxing pulled Gu Yunru's sleeve back and looked at the man opposite with a hint of fear in her eyes. He didn't sleep in the middle of the night and suddenly showed up. He must not be a good person.

"Who are you?" Ah Chou looked at the two women curiously. The eldest lady was in the palace, and if she came back, she would definitely go through the main gate. These two who were acting sneaky were really suspicious.

"We haven't asked you who you are yet. Who are you? Why are you blocking our way?" Gu Yunru growled at him in a low voice, trying to intimidate him with his momentum, but the other party still stood there unmoved.

"You are here to steal things." Ah Chou noticed that the two people had an extra bag on their backs and wanted to rush over to snatch their bags. Gu Yunru quickly dodged to the side, grabbed Qingxing's hand and ran away first.

The noise was so loud that it woke up the servants in the mansion. The housekeeper Lai Fu and his men raised torches to take a look. Unexpectedly, it was the eldest daughter and her maid Qing Xing. They took the two to the main hall. Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu also stood up. When they saw the woman in front of them, they felt so familiar that they came to their senses.

"Yunru, why did you come back secretly? Did you do something wrong in the palace?" Mrs. Gu's first reaction was that Gu Yunru must have caused trouble in the palace and upset the Queen Mother, otherwise why would she come back from the backyard in such a mess? "Yes, Yunru, what's wrong with you?" Master Gu looked at Gu Yunru with a serious expression. He didn't want Gu Yunru to ruin his family's reputation.

"Dad... I just missed you guys, so I wanted to come back secretly to see you. I have to accompany the Queen Mother to chant Buddhist scriptures early the next morning." Gu Yunru said with a wry smile. Miss Shuying must still be waiting for them in the carriage, and they must find a way to get away as soon as possible.

Madam Gu was the one who didn't fall for her tricks. She looked Gu Yunru up and down and said, "Do you know about the news that the prince went to the border?"

“I understand.”

Gu Yunru's big, bright black eyes sparkled and she had a flattering smile on her face.

"What are you carrying on your backs?" Mrs. Gu noticed something was wrong with her at a glance and asked Lai Fu to check it out. Unexpectedly, it was the most valuable jewelry in the house.

"What are you doing with these things?" Mr. Gu frowned in confusion. His voice was low and hoarse. He looked at the two of them with scrutiny. Seeing that they refused to speak, he ordered someone to detain Qing Xing.

"Master..." Qingxing wanted to beg for mercy, but Gu Yunru stood in front of her and said, "It was my idea. I wanted to pawn these things because... the Queen Mother's birthday is coming soon, and I have to prepare them quickly. I am embarrassed to ask my parents for help, so I resorted to this desperate measure and frightened them."

Although Gu Yunru was not an expert at lying, she could tell lies without blushing or beating her heart. Qing Xing was stunned for a moment, then noticed her look and quickly nodded and agreed, "Yes, Master and Madam, the young lady wanted to choose a favorite gift for the Queen Mother, but she didn't have much money, so she resorted to this desperate measure."

"Really?" Mrs. Gu was a suspicious person. After hearing what the two said, she looked at them curiously, as if she wanted to find some flaws in their words.

Master Gu and Madam Gu discussed it and asked the butler Lai Fu to get a bag of silver and hand it to Gu Yunru. Madam Gu walked up to Gu Yunru with a smile and said, "Since you want to prepare a gift, why should you be embarrassed to ask for it? You must have had a lot of inconveniences in the palace. You finally come home. Do you have to be so sneaky?"

Seeing Mrs. Gu's expression change drastically, Gu Yunru didn't know what to say and could only nod stupidly. She didn't expect that she not only took away those valuables, but also had a bag of silver for no reason.

"Thank you, mother." Gu Yunru smiled foolishly, knowing what these two were thinking.

"Then mother, father, Qingxing and I will take our leave first. The palace carriage is still waiting." Gu Yunru said seriously, holding Qingxing's hand and leaving everyone's sight. This time they came back safely. They rushed to the inn and saw the carriage. Shuying had already fallen asleep in the carriage.

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"Shuying." Gu Yunru shook her arm gently. She slowly raised her eyes and saw that the two had finally returned. She perked up and asked, "You are here. Did you get the things?"

"Don't worry, we have enough money. We just need to go straight ahead. Once we get out of the suburbs, we can set off to the outside world."

"That's great, cough cough." Her face turned pale, her hands and feet were cold, and her forehead was hot. Gu Yunru thought that she would have to go to the clinic to get some medicinal vegetables along the way. She was afraid that the terrain outside the Great Wall was difficult and harsh, and she might not be able to hold on until that day.

"Qingxing, thank you for your hard work in driving the carriage." Qingxing nodded, changed into tight clothes, sat in the carriage, started to drive the horses, and drove all the way to the suburbs. It was already dawn.

As the carriage was moving, it suddenly stopped. Qing Xing frowned in frustration, opened the curtain and shouted at the two of them, "Miss, Miss Shuying, both of you wake up. Which way should we go next?"

Gu Yunru did not prepare a map, but Shuying knew how to get there.

Shuying tightened her cloak, her face pale, and smiled at her, "Thank you for your hard work, Miss Qingxing. Just keep going forward and cross a stream. The road is very long. We will not really start our journey until we enter the desert."