Ji Feiyu sat in the empty palace for an entire afternoon, hugging her knees and burying her head. By the time she felt the cold seeping through from the ground, the sun had already set, and Qiwu Palace was engulfed in darkness. It was already winter. Although a faint glow of the setting sun shone on the ground, it couldn't warm the icy jade steps. A cold gust of wind blew through the palace gate, making Ji Feiyu shiver all over.
With a jolt, Ji Feiyu got up from the ground and began to tidy herself up.
By now, she had made up her mind. No matter what, she had to save him! She simply couldn't stand by and watch any longer!
Ji Feiyu rummaged through the corner of the cabinet and found a set of night - clothes. She started to change. Anyway, she would get him out of the palace first. If Yong Yaxuan blamed her, she would explain it to him later. She didn't believe that they couldn't bring down that old fox, Lin Chujie, without using Lin Zhiran as a threat.
Whether Lin Zhiran was the same as his father remained to be seen. Since torture couldn't make him talk, she would go and ask him herself.
Once she made up her mind, Ji Feiyu removed the complicated hair ornaments from her head, untied the false hairpiece, re - styled her hair simply, inserted a simple silver hairpin, and then covered her face with a black cloth, waiting for nightfall.
Tonight, it was either success or death.
As the sky gradually darkened, Ji Feiyu quietly sneaked towards the dungeon. She planned to wait until it got darker before making her move. Unexpectedly, while waiting, she saw several eunuchs stealthily entering the dungeon. Ji Feiyu was just wondering how the imperial guards allowed them in when she saw one eunuch sneaking out again. He looked around at the entrance and then said to the people behind him, "Hurry!"
Ji Feiyu concealed herself further. Then she heard one of the eunuchs say, "Hey, why is His Majesty being so cautious? Why does he have to move him to another place? It's such a hassle for us to keep running back and forth."
Another one replied, "Keep your voice down. Do you want to lose your head? Just do as the master commands. Don't ask so many other questions!"
"Got it."
Ji Feiyu waited until their figures emerged from the entrance before peeping out again. Just then, she saw an imperial guard escorting the conscious Lin Zhiran walking behind them. It seemed that they were going to move Lin Zhiran to another cell.
Did Yong Yaxuan guard against her to such an extent? Ji Feiyu couldn't help but feel a pang of coldness in her heart. She felt the prepared sleeping powder, waited for the right moment, and then rushed out from her hiding place.
A cloud of white powder instantly filled the air. One eunuch had just let out a scream of "No good! Assassin!" when he fainted from inhaling a large amount of the powder.
Calling out instead of holding his breath in such a situation was simply asking for death! Ji Feiyu gave him a contemptuous look and then rushed towards Lin Zhiran while everyone's vision was blurred.
Unexpectedly, just as she grabbed Lin Zhiran and was about to leave, a pair of hands firmly held him back. Instantly, the two of them began to exchange moves as they fought over Lin Zhiran. Oh no, she didn't expect this imperial guard to react so quickly. He had actually managed to avoid the effects of her sleeping powder.
No, she couldn't be held back by him at this moment. After dodging his palm, Ji Feiyu immediately pulled out the hairpin from her head and stabbed it into his thigh. Hearing his muffled groan, she knew that she had successfully made him inhale the sleeping powder. Then she exerted all her strength and pulled Lin Zhiran away.
"Assassin!" The man let out a final shout before collapsing into the dust on the ground.
Ji Feiyu quickly fed Lin Zhiran an antidote and then half - carried the staggering Lin Zhiran towards the small path she had scouted before.
"Who are you..." Lin Zhiran asked weakly, but Ji Feiyu didn't answer.
The sound of disordered and faint footsteps echoed in the quiet harem. Ji Feiyu used her familiarity with the terrain to avoid being seen by many people, but it wasn't long before they were spotted by a group of imperial guards and chased after.
"Put the man down!"
Someone shouted and rushed towards Ji Feiyu. But Ji Feiyu remained silent. With Lin Zhiran in tow, she decided to fight them to the death.
However, with Lin Zhiran being a burden, it was very difficult for Ji Feiyu to dodge. But after several mistakes, Ji Feiyu noticed that they didn't dare to hurt Lin Zhiran. So the burden instantly turned into a shield. Lin Zhiran didn't expect this either and felt a bit helpless.
"Damn it! All of you, attack!"
Seeing that the situation was turning bad, Ji Feiyu scattered another handful of powder, trying to escape in the chaos but was still blocked. The person blocking her was none other than Zhan Shan!
A sudden burst of sword energy rushed towards her from the front. Ji Feiyu tilted her head slightly, and without noticing, her face - covering cloth was knocked off by him.
"Ah?" When Zhan Shan saw that it was the empress, he quickly stopped his attack. The other imperial guards also stopped when they saw this. Ji Feiyu came to her senses and immediately put the hairpin against Lin Zhiran's throat, threatening, "Let this palace leave, or this palace will kill him!"
Everyone was stunned but slowly stepped back. When Lin Zhiran heard her voice, he was even more shocked and couldn't say a word, but deep down, he was happy. Whether he could escape today or not, he would be grateful for her rescue.
Ji Feiyu looked around, dragged Lin Zhiran, and started to back away. Unexpectedly, Yong Yaxuan's voice suddenly came, "Stop them for me!"
Hearing this, Ji Feiyu was stunned. Then she saw Yong Yaxuan coming around the corner with more imperial guards. His expression was extremely ugly. And when the people around Ji Feiyu heard Yong Yaxuan's order, they surrounded her again.
Ji Feiyu pressed the hairpin a bit closer to Lin Zhiran's neck and provocatively said to Yong Yaxuan, "Come on. If you come closer, I'll kill him. Don't think you can use him as a bargaining chip!"
Seeing this, Yong Yaxuan sneered, "Kill him then. I won't care if you kill a hundred such people!"
Hearing this, Ji Feiyu was stunned for a moment. Then she immediately reacted and instantly put the hairpin against her own neck, "What about this person then?"
Yong Yaxuan's face suddenly changed. His eyes flashed and he said, "My dear, what are you doing?"
"Let me leave!" Ji Feiyu looked up and sneered.
"Fine, you can go, but he stays!"
"No! He has to come with me!"
"Then you can forget about it!" Seeing this, Yong Yaxuan stepped forward.
Ji Feiyu quickly pressed the hairpin against her neck and threatened, "If you take another step forward, I'll die right in front of you!"
"How dare you!" Yong Yaxuan's face instantly darkened.
"Just watch if I dare!" After saying that, Ji Feiyu stabbed the hairpin into her neck, making a cut. Blood immediately flowed down her neck.
Yong Yaxuan didn't expect her to actually do it. He instantly stopped in his tracks.
"You..." Yong Yaxuan was so angry that he couldn't speak. Seeing this, Ji Feiyu pushed the hairpin in even harder.
"Stop. I agree to your request!" Yong Yaxuan's expression instantly slumped.
Ji Feiyu removed the hairpin from her neck. Only then did she feel the pain. She ordered, "Prepare some wound - healing medicine and a carriage for this palace. This palace is leaving now!"
Yong Yaxuan waved his hand weakly and said, "Do as she says." Immediately, someone retreated to prepare the things.
Ji Feiyu and Yong Yaxuan looked at each other, and their hearts were finally stirred.
Yong Yaxuan looked at Ji Feiyu, his face ashen. After a long while, he said, "My dear, are you really going to turn against me for him?"