Ling Yao left in a rage, scaring Fu Lu Tou to bend his waist.
Had the Emperor argued with the Goddess?
"Duorui!" Ling Yao called out to Duorui, who was on patrol.
Duorui jogged over, "Princess, we've searched the palace three times, even the pond and forty-three wells have been dredged, and Princess Lingxi was not found."
"Could she have been abducted outside the palace?"
"According to what this subordinate knows, the rebels were basically shot dead at Chengwu Gate. Unless there's another way out of the palace, it's impossible."
The other way was the secret passage in Fengque Tower. No one else should know about it.
That was strange.
"Are you sure everywhere has been searched?"
The most dangerous place is the safest place.
"Have Taiyi Hall and Fengque Tower been searched?"
"Fengque Tower has been searched. Taiyi Hall... it's unlikely. There's one more place that hasn't been searched..." Duorui hesitated.
"At this point, what can't be said!" Ling Yao reprimanded.
"Yes... the Royal Secret Chamber." Duorui didn't think anyone would break into that place, especially since it was full of mechanisms, and the Emperor wouldn't allow it.
Besides, why would Princess Lingxi go to that place?
But the only place that hadn't been searched was that one.
"Let's go!"
Duorui was startled. Did the Princess mean for him to follow?
That was a forbidden area of the imperial palace. Only the Emperor and the Goddess could enter. If he went in... and saw something he shouldn't, would he be silenced?
"Duorui! What are you still doing? If Princess Lingxi has any accident due to your negligence, can you bear it?"
Ling Yao turned back and saw Duorui still standing there blankly, looking like an idiot. She was furious.
What was wrong with these people?
Lingxi was a princess of the royal family. How dare they be so negligent? It had been five or six days since the palace coup. If Lingxi had accidentally entered the secret chamber and didn't know how to get out, wouldn't she starve to death there!
Or, she might have been abducted into it by the rebels.
The Great Prince had entered that secret chamber before. It was not impossible for others to enter.
Especially Zuo Cheng, who had followed the Emperor for decades. It wouldn't be difficult for him to understand the secrets of the imperial palace.
"Yes, Princess! This subordinate admits his mistake!"
Duorui hurried to call for people to follow, but still explained, "Princess, this subordinate once asked the Emperor, and the Emperor... he said there was no need to search."
No need to search...
Even though she was his sister.
Ling Yao's heart ached. Perhaps, one day, their relationship would also become so distant...
Does being an emperor truly require such heartlessness?
Ling Yao was very familiar with the Royal Secret Chamber, but she had been there very few times. She mostly heard about it from her father. He had made her memorize what was inside and where the switches for each door were.
Later, she had visited a few times to get some rare medicinal herbs.
She guessed that even if someone broke in, they would only be in the outer layers. "Duorui, you come in with me."
Ling Yao twisted the beast's head, opened the protective courtyard gate, and entered.
Duorui followed closely behind.
Standing before the secret chamber door, Ling Yao's gaze sharpened. She sensed something was wrong. There was a dry grain of rice on the ground.
"Duorui, be on guard! Someone is inside."
"Princess, should this subordinate summon people?" Duorui whispered.
Ling Yao waved her hand and pressed a few inconspicuous stones.
The stone door rose with a rumble, and immediately, flying darts shot out from inside.
Through the light of the luminous pearls inside, Ling Yao saw several pairs of sinister eyes.
The appearance of these people was very distinctive: flat noses, thick lips, the prominent features of the Qirong people.
Duorui knocked away the flying darts and rushed in.
There were six people inside. Ling Yao counted them. She saw that the Qirong people were divided into two groups: two men were engaging Duorui, and four were rushing towards her.
Seeking death!
She unleashed six streams of flame, instantly burning the six people to ashes.
Duorui was still in a fighting stance, utterly shocked.
Ling Yao looked around and saw a figure lying in a corner.
The clothes on that body were torn to shreds, and she was half-naked. Her figure was exquisite, and her body was covered in bruises and marks of abuse. She was a woman.
Lingxi!
Ling Yao rushed over.
On the ground were fragments of the Liu Xian skirt, stained with blood. The quality was excellent. Ling Yao's fingers began to tremble.
Was she dead? Why was she not moving?
"Lingxi... your sister is here."
Just as Ling Yao was about to move her, she saw the scars on the woman's back, old wounds upon old wounds.
This wasn't Lingxi. Who could it be?
"Princess, be careful, it might be a trap," Duorui cautioned.
The body on the ground moved slightly, trying to turn over, but it lacked the strength. Seeing this, Ling Yao quickly helped her up.
"Xingmei!"
Although her face was disfigured, blood was oozing from her mouth, and her eyes were swollen shut, her facial structure was very similar to hers. How could she not recognize her?
It was Xingmei, who had been impersonating her in the palace.
Yu Liu had said she had never left the palace.
So she was here?
"Xingmei, Xingmei!" Ling Yao bit her finger and put it into her mouth, holding her scantily clad body.
Damn Qirong people!
It was too easy for them to die!
"Princess... this servant is... dirty... don't touch..."
"Xingmei, don't talk. It's alright, we'll go out."
"Princess... Lingxi... is inside."
Ling Yao's eyes welled up with tears. Following the direction of her weakly raised finger, she looked towards the side chamber.
"Okay, Xingmei, wait. We'll go home soon."
Ling Yao put Xingmei down, took off her outer garment, covered her, and then, enduring the pain, opened the stone door of the side chamber.
As the stone door opened, it revealed two figures lying inside.
It was Liu Donghuai and Lingxi, but both were unconscious at the moment.
"Princess, they still have breath."
Lingxi's face was covered in blood, and on Liu Donghuai's wrist, where he had rolled up his sleeve, was dried blood. From the appearance of things, Liu Donghuai had fed his blood to Lingxi?
"Duorui, carry them out."
"What about the girl outside?"
"This Princess will carry her out."
"...Yes, Princess."
Xingmei resembled her the most. She was already slender and had been tortured for so long. She was light. A surge of anger welled up in Ling Yao's heart. She carried Xingmei into Fengque Tower in one breath.
"Send for Imperial Physician Qu to enter the palace!"
After arranging things expressionlessly, she turned around, her eyes blazing with a storm, and swept away a row of vases with her hand.
"If your heart were not so cruel, they would have suffered a few days less."
"I am truly disappointed in you."
At this moment, Emperor Mingde also received the news. He indifferently flipped through the memorials, signing his name with a flourish and affixing his seal.
However, a shadow of gloom appeared between his brows.
"A mere servant is worth such a fuss. You show such a compassionate heart to outsiders..."