Half an hour later.

Inside the elegant room, Yun Niang, her fair face flushed and exquisitely charming, saw Jiang Chen off.

Her beautiful eyes darted around, gazing at Jiang Chen ambiguously. She lightly covered her red lips and said, "Young master, next time you come, you must come to Yun Niang first, or I'll be angry!"

Jiang Chen's lips curled into a wicked smile, and he patted Yun Niang's smooth, tender face: "We'll see about that. If there's another opportunity, this young master will visit again."

Although it was just a fleeting affair, he still had to give her basic respect.

Yun Niang was, after all, the manager of the establishment. If he rejected her in public, wouldn't she become a laughingstock?

Seeing that Jiang Chen wasn't very enthusiastic, Yun Niang sighed slightly, the smile on her fair face fading a little, as she said with a hint of resentment:

"In that case, Yun Niang won't see you off. I only hope that young master won't forget our connection today and will come to support the establishment's business in the future."

Jiang Chen responded with a few perfunctory words and prepared to return to the palace. His angry gaze swept over the subordinates waiting beside him, and he suddenly noticed a missing slender figure.

He couldn't help but frown and said, "Where's Jia Yao? Where did he run off to? Why hasn't he come back even though we're about to leave?"

Upon hearing this, a look of embarrassment flashed across everyone's faces.

Young Master Jia had overheard His Majesty's eavesdropping and had been scared away, but they couldn't possibly say that in public!

After a moment, Xu Mu couldn't bear it any longer and stood up, gritting his teeth, "Young master, Young Master Jia did come back just now, but later, after hearing you... he got a little agitated and, and left first."

This answer was completely unexpected to Jiang Chen.

He didn't mind being eavesdropped on, but the problem was, why was Jia Yao, a grown man, so coy?

If the officials of the court found out that his disciple was such a wimp, where would the emperor's face be?

At this point, Jiang Chen really regretted accepting Jia Yao as his disciple!

Seeming to notice Jiang Chen's displeasure, Yun Niang, who was leaning against the door frame, chuckled and said, "Young master, it's already absurd enough for you to have a girl dress up and come to a brothel. It's already rare for her to cooperate with you by sitting here for so long."

"You shouldn't be so demanding!"

"Girl?" Jiang Chen raised his voice, astonished, "Are you talking about Jia Yao?"

Yun Niang glared at him playfully and said softly, "Of course!

"With that Young Master Jia's face and figure, this humble servant could tell at a glance that she's a woman! Young master, you don't really think that such a beauty would be a man, do you?"

Jiang Chen was rarely stunned. Recalling Jia Yao's series of reactions just now—resistance, fear, reluctance, shyness...

He thought she was acting so awkwardly because she had no experience, but it turned out Jia Yao really didn't want to?!

Tsk, what a mess!

A look of embarrassment appeared on Jiang Chen's face, but it quickly disappeared, and he said in a deep voice, "Someone, investigate! I want to know all the information about Jia Yao!"

An hour later.

The Imperial Palace, Consort Shu's palace.

Jiang Chen leaned lazily on the soft couch, holding a secret letter rushed over by a scout in his hand, his expression strange.

This Jia Yao was actually a woman, and a virgin at that.

Thinking about how he had dragged a young lady to a brothel and made her eavesdrop on his lovemaking, Jiang Chen felt uneasy all over.

Even with a thick skin like his, he felt that he had done something improper.

"Your Majesty, what are you thinking about? Why is your face so strange?" Consort Shu walked over gracefully, looking concerned, but with a hint of curiosity hidden in her voice.

Jiang Chen subconsciously closed the secret letter in his hand and coughed lightly, "It's just matters of the court, nothing important."

Changing the subject casually, Jiang Chen called Feng Jin over and whispered, "Go to my inner treasury and choose something to reward the Jia family. Remember to find a suitable reason, and don't, don't reveal today's events, so as not to cause trouble for Jia Yao."

A hint of embarrassment also appeared on Feng Jin's face, and he nodded, "Yes, Your Majesty, this old servant will definitely handle it well!"

After speaking, he trotted out of the palace gate.

Consort Shu didn't know what these two were secretly plotting, but since it concerned the affairs of the court, she, as a consort, couldn't ask too much, so she just pretended not to hear and quietly stayed by Jiang Chen's side.

"Your Majesty, it's getting late now. Now that everything has been dealt with, shouldn't you retire for the night?" Consort Shu asked softly, tilting her head after seeing Feng Jin leave.

Jiang Chen couldn't bear to reject her gentleness and nodded, "Alright, I've been out incognito for a day and I'm a bit tired. Yun'er, you may serve me as I retire for the night."

Consort Shu naturally wouldn't refuse this honor. She stood up and busied herself like a young wife, helping Jiang Chen change his clothes.

Soon, as the two retired for the night, the firelight in the palace quickly dimmed, falling into silence.

Jiang Chen held Consort Shu's soft, fragrant body in his arms, but he didn't feel sleepy at all.

Empress Dowager Lu, Jiang Zuo Wang, Xu Jiaying, and the Mount Tai Feng Shan ceremony—one troublesome matter after another swirled in his mind.

His intuition told him that there was some deep connection between these seemingly unrelated events, waiting for him to discover.

And the breakthrough point was this Mount Tai Feng Shan ceremony and Xu Jiaying's whereabouts!

Perhaps, he would soon receive news...

The next day.

Jiang Chen's intuition was confirmed.

As he was having breakfast with Consort Shu, a scout from the dark guards rushed back to the palace and presented an urgent secret letter.

The contents were Xu Jiaying's whereabouts!

It turned out that the reason why the Imperial Guards hadn't been able to find her anywhere during these days was because Xu Jiaying had been kidnapped by villains after leaving the city!

Although Jiang Chen had a premonition of this, he couldn't help but be furious when he confirmed the news!

"Where did this news come from? Also, have you found out who is imprisoning Xu Shi? I want to throw them into the Imperial Prison and torture them severely!"

Although his anger towards Xu Jiaying hadn't subsided, how could he allow others to bully his woman?

Frightened by the emperor's gloomy tone, the scout said in a panic, "Reporting to Your Majesty, this subordinate, this subordinate hasn't found out the origins of these people yet."

"As for the whereabouts of Consort Ying, they were sent by a group of mysterious people yesterday."

"They sent a package to the Imperial Guards in charge of the search, which contained Consort Ying's identity seal, and, and a lock of the consort's hair."

"After multiple investigations, this subordinate confirmed the authenticity of these items and rushed to the Imperial Capital..."

'Bang!'

Jiang Chen didn't listen to his explanation and directly overturned the table in front of him, saying each word with emphasis, "Are you saying that those people laid hands on Xu Shi? And cut her hair?!"

The scout knelt on the ground, trembling all over, unable to make a sound in fear.

Not only him, but after Jiang Chen revealed his anger, all the palace servants in the hall changed color, knelt down trembling, and didn't dare to raise their heads!

Only Jing Yue could barely maintain her composure and stepped forward to comfort him, "Your Majesty, there's something fishy about this!"