The reply from the Su family soon reached Hun Yuan. Naturally, the answer was yes.
Hun Yuan taking in an apprentice was a matter of great significance to the royal family. There would surely be extremely complex ceremonies on that occasion. However, Yi Yuan was still in a coma and his life was uncertain. It was inappropriate for Hun Yuan to make a big deal out of taking in an apprentice at this time.
So Hun Yuan first took the apprentice into the palace to let Emperor Zhaohuan have a look. The apprentice simply kowtowed three times to Hun Yuan to show that he had temporarily entered the sect. They would hold the formal ceremony after Yi Yuan got through this difficult time.
Two days passed in a blink of an eye. Ye Xi hardly slept all night. She got up early, washed up, and started waiting for Lian Yi to come.
Perhaps knowing that Ye Xi was anxious, Lian Yi did come early, led by Su Xin.
After a simple greeting, Ye Xi led them straight to Yi Yuan.
[It hasn't dissipated.]
Lian Yi happily gestured.
[It's just as faint as before, but it hasn't dissipated.]
That meant that Shen Zhou would surely get back the Wu'ai Fruit.
"That's good, that's good..."
Ye Xi didn't realize when she had clenched her hands. Now she loosened them and pulled Lian Yi's little hand and patted it.
"Thank you, sweet Lian Yi. You'll be the first great and amazing female Taoist priest in the Great Yin Dynasty in the future."
Feeling a bit relieved, Ye Xi also had a bit of an appetite. Thinking that Su Xin had brought Lian Yi here early in the morning and must not have had a proper breakfast, she ordered Sai Xing to ask the kitchen to prepare some warmer food and invited Su Xin and Lian Yi to have some together.
Although Su Xin didn't know Ye Xi's real identity as Man Ping, since she found out that Ye Xi was the one who had helped her at the Qunying Tower back then, she had always been very grateful and wanted to get closer to Ye Xi. But she was afraid that her status as a divorced woman would bring Ye Xi a lot of gossips, so she had never dared to act rashly.
She just quietly encouraged her father to help Yi Yuan in court as much as he could. After knowing that Lian Yi was on good terms with Yi Yaofeng, she sent things to Zhihongyuan through Lian Yi.
Now that Yi Yuan was in trouble, Ye Xi must be worried day and night. Su Xin couldn't sit still any longer, so she brought Lian Yi here early in the morning.
Seeing that Ye Xi didn't look down on her at all and even invited her to have breakfast together, Su Xin was even more delighted and readily agreed.
While these people were having breakfast happily here, on the other side, Shen Zhou, who was looking for the Wu'ai Fruit, had fallen into an underground maze.
"Go right. We've been to this side before."
Shen Zhou said in a deep voice after a brief thought.
His voice was still as mellow as ever. But now his face was dirty, his clothes had many obvious cuts made by sharp weapons, and his neatly tied hat was askew. He looked very embarrassed and no longer like the elegant young master he used to be.
Sheng Yu nodded and carefully walked to the right with a fire starter as Shen Zhou had said.
The ground was uneven, only a little more than the width of one person. From time to time, there were some dark-brown shriveled things on the side, like the dried-up corpses of small animals that had died a long time ago but hadn't rotted.
After a few moments, the two somehow returned to the original circular open space.
Sheng Yu turned to look at Shen Zhou.
"Sir, what should we do?"
"We've tried all four doors, and each time we ended up back here."
Looking around, Shen Zhou simply walked to the center of the circular hall and sat down on the ground. While thinking, he murmured.
"I went to the Qiwantang to make the deal with Qu Xian. I'm absolutely sure I didn't recognize the wrong person..."
"Was there a problem with the address we investigated? That shouldn't be the case. I used my own people and didn't involve any of my elder brother's people."
"If the address is correct, then did the other side somehow get the news in advance? That's why they lured me and Sheng Yu here and were going to kill us to cover their tracks. But why didn't anyone come in to do it?"
"Could it be..."
A chill suddenly ran down Shen Zhou's spine. He was so shocked that he broke out in a cold sweat on this cold winter day.
The other side had brazenly left him and Sheng Yu in this godforsaken place. Most likely, they were sure that the two of them couldn't get out.
That meant there was simply no way out here. This maze was a tomb to trap outsiders!
Shen Zhou suddenly stood up from the ground, which startled Sheng Yu.
"What's wrong, sir?"
"Nothing."
At this moment, he mustn't waver.
Quickly adjusting his expression, Shen Zhou didn't tell Sheng Yu his speculation. He just said.
"We spent about a little over two moments to return to the original place when we walked through each of the four doors just now. And we were walking slowly while groping in the dark. This shows that this place isn't very big."
"A small place is easier to explore. We'll walk through it a few more times and knock on the walls and floor tiles. Maybe we've missed something."
"Yes."
Sheng Yu didn't suspect anything and responded, then started to explore with Shen Zhou again.
Time was hard to tell in the underground passage. Shen Zhou and Sheng Yu kept wandering inside, while outside, Ye Xi was extremely anxious.
Days passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, another four or five days had gone by.
With only one or two days left, there was still no news from Shen Zhou.
Ye Xi slept in her clothes and guarded beside Yi Yuan day and night. Seeing Yi Yuan's increasingly pale and sorrowful face, she couldn't eat or sleep well. She had lost a lot of weight in just these few days.
Even Emperor Zhaohuan in the palace couldn't help but send someone to ask why Yi Yuan still hadn't woken up after so long.
Ye Xi gave a vague answer and then sent someone to inquire about Shen Zhou's news.
The answer she got was still "busy dealing with something and out of town."
Ye Xi sat in a daze by Yi Yuan's window for a long time. Then she said softly.
"Sai Xing, go and invite General Yun and A Yan. Also, go and ask Hun Yuan if he's available. And ask Xie Huaiyue if she's free. Invite them all."
"Yes, miss."
Thinking that Ye Xi was going to ask someone to help come up with ideas, Sai Xing didn't think much and quickly went to carry out the order.
Qiao Yan was usually free, while Yun Qi and Hun Yuan were busier.
Fortunately, they were also concerned about Yi Yuan's poison and were afraid that Ye Xi might need help these days, so they had deliberately cleared their schedules. So as soon as the servant from Zhihongyuan came to deliver the message, they rushed over in time.
Only Xie Huaiyue, who had been extremely busy investigating the matter of Yi Yuan's assassination these days, came a bit late.
"Lord Xie,"
When everyone had arrived, Ye Xi said.
"How much information have you found out about that group of thieves?"
Just talking about this matter gave Xie Huaiyue a headache. Rubbing her temples, she said.
"Just a little. I was on official business that day and didn't dare to send people to chase them too far. I only know that that group of people went in the direction of Yuhua Gate. Later, I asked the soldiers guarding the city gate, and they said they didn't see any suspicious people leaving the city."
"Either that group of people really didn't leave the capital, or they were disguised too well."
"I tend to think it's the latter. The capital has been under strict martial law these days. I personally led people to search the whole city thoroughly, but I didn't find any trace of them. Most likely, they've run away."
Shaking her head, Ye Xi said.
"Their goal hasn't been achieved. They won't leave easily."
"Since we have a direction, and I'm the target. I'll lead people to Yuhua Gate tomorrow evening."
"No way!"
As soon as Ye Xi finished speaking, the people around her all objected in unison.
Knowing that they were going to persuade her again, Ye Xi waved her hand and said.
"A Yuan doesn't have much time left, and there's still no news from Shen Zhou. I appreciate everyone's good intentions, but since I've invited everyone here today, it's not to listen to your persuasion. I must be the bait."
"Please give me a hand."