The group was rarely in such a unanimous agreement, saying it was just a bit of joking around, and thus managed to muddle through.
At night, the palace prepared steaming hot pots for dinner. The table was full of people enjoying the delicious food. After they were well-fed, the snow - viewing feast came to an end.
Everyone boarded their family carriages at the palace gate.
After Zhang Mingzhu got into the carriage, she couldn't help but feel angry at the threatening attitude of the Yao sisters. She decided that she must teach them a good lesson tomorrow and let them know who the real winner was.
The Zhang family's carriage quickly disappeared into the night.
Yao Yao helped Mrs. Yao into the carriage and then stood in front of the palace gate waiting for a while. Sighing, she finally got into the carriage.
This ungrateful girl! She disappeared right after the ice - hockey game. If she hadn't seen her sitting beside Shi Muyuan during the meal, Yao Yao would have thought that Yao Kun had secretly taken revenge on Zhang Mingzhu. After all, she had done quite a few immoral things before.
Yao Kun was the kind of person who said nothing on the surface but would try to get you into trouble secretly. Even her older sister didn't dare to easily provoke her. So when Zhang Mingzhu mentioned the Empress Dowager today, Yao Yao thought that Zhang Mingzhu was surely going to have a bad day.
Sure enough, on the way back to the mansion, Zhang Mingzhu's carriage suddenly broke apart. She was buried under the carriage and lost consciousness. As a result, she had to take a few days off from the academy.
Yao Yao looked at Zhang Mingzhu's empty seat and thought that perhaps next time she should teach Yao Kun how to control her strength.
Not long after Shi Muyuan returned to the Shoukang Palace, Twelve appeared in front of her, holding a wrinkled letter in her hand. Shi Muyuan took it and opened it. A satisfied smile appeared on her face.
This was exactly the letter that Concubine Rui wanted to send to the House of Flowers. It seemed that there was a connection between them.
One was a noble concubine living deep in the palace, and the other was a woman from a brothel.
The letter urgently inquired about how the task that Lusu was supposed to do was going.
Shi Muyuan tilted her head and thought. Lusu had said that she was just a messenger and didn't know the content of the letter. Then why did Concubine Rui directly blame her?
Who was lying?
"You take this letter to Huo Qizhou and ask him if he has checked why the families of the missing girls didn't look for them."
"Yes." Twelve took the letter and quickly disappeared into the night.
After a long day of playing, Shi Muyuan was a bit tired. She slumped on the thick round table to relax. Suddenly, Yao Kun came up and shook her.
"What's wrong, Kun'er?"
Yao Kun stared into her eyes but didn't say a word.
"You have to talk so that I can know what you want to do!" Shi Muyuan habitually rubbed her head.
"By the way, you were so fierce on the ice - hockey field today." Although she was far away, Shi Muyuan still saw the fierce look in her usually expressionless face.
Finally, Yao Kun spoke.
"Duke."
"Duke? What's wrong? Did Zhang Mingzhu provoke you?"
Yao Kun shook her head. She had already vented her anger.
"Be careful."
Shi Muyuan's heart skipped a beat. "You mean I should be careful of the Duke?"
Yao Kun nodded. Zhang Mingzhu was too bold. She was almost writing her thoughts on her face.
Shi Muyuan had heard the word "Duke" from Yin Muran. He must not be a good person. Today's little girl was the Duke's granddaughter. Could it be that she said something that made Yao Kun angry?
"Kun'er, did you find something?" Shi Muyuan asked, holding her face.
Yao Kun nodded. "Too arrogant."
"Are they too arrogant?"
Yao Kun continued to nod.
"Are the things they do too arrogant?" Yao Kun thought for a while. It seemed to be the same thing, so she nodded again.
Shi Muyuan frowned tightly. This was too hard to guess. She had to think about how to ask more clearly.
"Is the Duke doing something that gives him enough confidence to be so arrogant?" Shi Muyuan pondered.
"Yes."
"Don't tell me he wants to usurp the throne!" Shi Muyuan was a bit shocked.
Yao Kun pursed her lips and shook her head, indicating "I don't know."
Shi Muyuan was surprised at the Duke's boldness and began to feel worried and scared.
Yin Muran said that the organization would back him up and always succeed. He had mentioned the Duke. Could there be some connection between them?
Just thinking about it was scary!
Shi Muyuan stood up and began to pace back and forth in the bedroom. Her little hand would tap randomly from time to time.
Take the family of the missing Miss Li for example. Her daughter was missing. Lord Li went out to look for her and finally got a clue, but someone "intervened" and forced him to give up the idea of looking for his daughter. Mrs. Li was so stimulated that she fell ill.
It was really terrifying. Clearly, the daughter was "right in front of them," but they had to give up. How sad that must be!
As for this "intervention," Shi Muyuan couldn't guess what was going on.
She was eager to share this idea with Huo Qizhou. Unfortunately, she had just sent Twelve out, and Yao Kun's injury hadn't fully healed. It wasn't suitable to take her out flying again.
Shi Muyuan was so annoyed that she punched a nearby pillar twice. Suddenly, there was a "click" sound, and Shi Muyuan instantly disappeared from the spot.
Shi Muyuan fell hard on her buttocks. It took her a while to recover and observe her situation.
Surrounding her were hard walls. There was a night - pearl every meter on the walls, emitting light to illuminate the dark underground. Following the direction of the night - pearls, there was a long passage.
There was nothing around except choking dust.
She waved her hand in front of her nose and then looked up. It was the beam of the Shoukang Palace. Fortunately, she had just fallen vertically without shifting.
Yao Kun anxiously lay on the top, looking down at her and reaching out her hand to pull her up.
Shi Muyuan motioned for her to be calm, then reached out her hand to measure the height. She could just touch the ground. It seemed that it wasn't very deep.
It seemed that this was a secret passage.
What a stroke of luck! Even when she got angry, she could find a secret passage.
After observing for a while, Shi Muyuan let Yao Kun pull her up.
Yao Kun looked at the place where Shi Muyuan had punched twice. There was a diamond - shaped pattern that had been pushed in. Pressing it again, the secret passage naturally closed. There was a carpet on the secret passage, making it hard to find.
The two of them squatted beside the secret passage. Shi Muyuan opened the secret passage and stared into it in a daze.
Yao Kun looked at the secret passage for a while and then at Shi Muyuan.
After a long time, Shi Muyuan finally said, "Do you think we should go down and take a look?"
Then she thought for a while and shook her head. She stood up, closed the secret passage, and covered it with the carpet again.
She didn't know where this secret passage led. What if there was danger? And there might be all kinds of traps. This was not something she could handle.
Maybe it was not too late to go after Twelve came back. With an extra person, there would be more safety and more courage.
Shi Muyuan definitely didn't admit that she was backing down because she was scared. Although she really wanted to see Huo Qizhou now, this might be a useful passage. But she would only go in after making sure it was safe. After all, she cherished her life very much.