Chapter 462: Although the smell is light, this princess’s nose will not be wrong!
"Yueyue!"
An anxious voice accompanied by hurried footsteps came from the gate.
Lan Xiyue looked in the direction of the voice and saw Lan Shenye, wrapped in a cold aura, rushing in with several personal guards. His handsome face was filled with panic, and he didn't even bother to fix his hair, which was messed up by the wind and snow. His eyes scanned the room anxiously: "Where's Duoduo? Have you found Duoduo?!"
Lan Xiyue stood up and looked at her brother's distraught appearance. She understood: "Brother, how did you know Duoduo was missing?"
Lan Shenye rushed to Lan Xiyue, speaking rapidly and with an unsteady breath, "Uncle Qian was frantic! He sent every available servant in the mansion to search the entire city for Duoduo! He even went to my house himself... Only then did I know something had happened to Duoduo! I immediately went to the palace to look for you, and the housekeeper said you brought people here!"
He grabbed Lan Xiyue's arm with astonishing strength, his eyes filled with undisguised panic. "It's the middle of the night, and it's snowing so heavily...where could Duoduo go? Could...could she be in danger?!"
Lan Xiyue felt the trembling in her brother's arm, and her worries grew even more.
She took a deep breath and cast her icy gaze once again at Yin Da and Yin Er, who were trembling at her feet. Every word she spoke was filled with chilling murderous intent: "Listen carefully. This morning, the woman who came with me to watch your 'Great Transfiguration' performance was Qian Duoduo, the eldest daughter of the Qian family! She came to your Baihua Theater again this afternoon and then disappeared without a trace! I'm giving you one last chance. Tell me! Where did you take her?!"
Yin Da kowtowed repeatedly, his forehead hitting the ground with a dull "dong dong" sound, and his voice was filled with desperate tears: "Princess, please spare me! There are at least dozens of guests coming to watch the opera every day. My brother and I are only responsible for the small work on the stage. I really... I really can't remember the lady you are talking about. Please, Princess, please see clearly! Please see clearly!" He refused to admit it.
The pressure emanating from Lan Xiyue made the temperature in the entire lobby seem to drop to freezing point.
She stopped looking at the two people who were kowtowed on the ground. She stopped in the middle of the hall. Her voice was not loud, but it was clearly heard by everyone, with a chill that froze one's bones: "If Qian Duoduo's disappearance is eventually found to be related to your Baihua Theater..."
She paused, each word coming down like a hammer, "This princess doesn't mind, I will raze your Baihua Theater, along with all of you... to the ground!"
"Hiss!" The steward and others collectively gasped when they heard the words. The sound was particularly clear in the silent lobby.
Lan Shenye looked anxious, and his voice was filled with unquestionable urgency: "Yueyue, I will take Yundian and the others to search the imperial city thoroughly!" Before he finished speaking, he turned around like a gust of wind and strode away.
Lan Xiyue slowly sat back in the carved armchair, her slender fingers unconsciously clenching the cold wood of the armrest.
Her brows were tightly knitted into a deep "川" shape, and her eyes, like a sharp blade tempered with ice, swept coldly over Yin Da and Yin Er who were pinned to the ground by the secret guards.
Her red lips parted slightly, and her voice, low and clear, pierced the slightly noisy backstage, carrying an unyielding pressure: "Come here, take that box they use for their 'magic trick' and thoroughly inspect it for me! I want to see what shameful tricks are hidden in this magic trick!"
"Yes!" Two black-clad secret guards responded and walked steadily towards the backstage.
Ginda and Gin'er's bodies tensed up instantly, beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down their foreheads, soaking their temples, their eyes flickered in panic, their throats rolled, but they couldn't utter a word.
The manager of the Baihua Theater was already pale with fear. He shivered as he wiped his sweat-drenched forehead with his sleeve and argued in a trembling voice, "Princess Regent, please understand! That box... that box is just an ordinary prop. It's just a little trick inside, all for the audience to laugh and get a good start. It's really nothing special..."
Lan Xiyue sat upright on the chair, her posture seemed lazy, but her eyes were as sharp as an eagle.
She picked up the teacup An Yi held out to her and gently stirred the floating leaves with the lid. Her voice was filled with a hint of indifference and coldness. "Oh? I hope it's just as you say. If I were to find out that your Baihua Theater is using the guise of 'transmigration' to carry out such vile and filthy activities as human kidnapping... then what would happen..."
She paused slightly, and the lid of the teacup made a crisp sound against the rim. "But it's not just as simple as losing your head."
Upon hearing this, the manager felt a little relieved. The box was indeed just an ordinary prop with a mechanism, and he felt that he had a clear conscience.
However, Yin Da and Yin Er, who were lying on the ground, had increasingly pale faces and were shaking uncontrollably, which exposed their guilty consciences.
A moment later, two secret guards carried out the heavy box with strange patterns painted on it.
A secret guard came forward and knelt on one knee, reporting in a deep voice: "Princess, there is indeed a secret compartment in the box!"
The steward quickly rushed to explain, "Princess, this mechanism is designed for performance! To perform a magic trick, there has to be a place to hide, right? This... this is really common!"
Upon hearing this, Lan Xiyue slowly stood up and walked to the box. The pair of cloud-shaped shoes embroidered with gold thread stopped at the entrance of the box.
She leaned forward slightly and reached into the box. An extremely faint sweet smell, almost covered by the smell of wood, entered her nose. The residue was the drug!
Her eyes instantly froze. She stood up abruptly, her sharp gaze like an icy arrow, fiercely shooting down at the people at the Baihua Theater. Her voice was so cold it could freeze the air: "The mechanism was set up for a performance? Then how do you explain the drugs in this box?!"
"Drugs?!"
"Impossible!"
"Why would there be drugs in the box? The magic trick is fake, but how can someone be awake and cooperate after drugs are used?"
The manager and the troupe were in an uproar, their faces filled with shock and confusion, and they exchanged incredulous glances with each other.
The steward's eyes widened as he stared at the familiar box, as if he was seeing it for the first time. "Princess Regent, this... this is absolutely impossible! We at the theater never touch such vile things!"
"Really?" Lan Xiyue's lips curled up in a cold, ironic arc. "Although the smell is faint, my nose is not wrong!"
She stopped looking at the box and sat down slowly, her posture elegant but with an invisible pressure, as if a lazy female leopard was examining her prey.
"Since you won't tell the truth..." She picked up the teacup, took a sip, and when she put it down again, her voice was as cold as ice. "Very good, An Yi, start the punishment."
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