Chapter 364 - Urgent! Ninghua Is Missing!

After walking out of the room, Shen Ninghua had some doubts in her heart. Yang Yingxue was by her side at that time. Although it was very urgent at that time, she noticed that the tea did not splash on Yang Yingxue’s dress. Even if it had, the tea should have been frozen on such a cold winter day considering the walking distance from Chengqian Hall to Xuanhua Palace. How could it drip now?

While thinking, she slowly walked forward. Just as she turned to the side of the flowerbed, she heard a scream from Xuanhua Palace, “Yikes! There is someone here!”

Shen Ninghua stopped and turned around. Just as she was about to walk back, she sensed someone approaching her from behind. She quickly dodged to the side, pulled out the golden needle from her sleeve, and held it in her palm. “Who are you?” Before she finished speaking, she smelled the scent of the knockout drug. She began to feel weak, and before long, she lost consciousness.

That person bent down to carry Shen Ninghua up and disappeared in a flash. In the Xuanhua Palace, everyone comforted Yang Yingxue, “Side Concubine Yang, don’t worry. We will testify for you. When the thief broke in, your clothes were neat, and you did not suffer any losses.”

“Yes, please don’t worry. We will vouch for you. We will definitely not let the Second Prince misunderstand you.”

Yang Yingxue wiped her tears and stammered, “T-Thank you. Fortunately, Princess Zhaohua changed her clothes quickly and went out to help me take my new clothes in the carriage. If she was in the room with me and got changed when the thief broke in, we’d…”

The hall went silent for a moment. Princess Zhaohua… She was the Fifth Prince’s beloved wife. Looking at the way he cared about Princess Zhaohua, they could see how much he adored and loved her. If something happened to her, the Fifth Prince would probably overturn the entire imperial court. Although they were female members, they were aware of some matters in the imperial court. The Fifth Prince’s power and influence were unfathomable, and he had many people loyal to him. The Xia Family’s people, and Noble Consort Xian’s people… When all the forces combined together, no one dared to provoke him easily. The Emperor’s hesitation after that incident was a clear sign that even the Emperor was intimidated by him.

Yang Yingxue raised her eyes slightly. “Princess Zhaohua went out to get my clothes from my maid at the palace gate. She should be back by now. Why isn’t she here yet?”

“We should hurry and send someone to look for her. What if the thief has accomplices?”

Everyone ordered a palace maid to go to Chengqian Hall to report the situation while dispatched some other palace maids to search for Princess Zhaohua along the road. However, after searching for about an hour, they couldn’t locate her. Everyone panicked by now.

In Chengqian Hall, there was finally some progress in the clamor. Most people agreed that the Emperor should host the ritual tomorrow. This way, it could give blessings to the people and indicate that Da’an Kingdom would be safe and prosper in the next year. After hearing this, Baili Qingcang was very happy. He immediately had someone write an imperial edict and prepared to issue the decree the next morning.

Baili Junyi stood to the side and smiled faintly as he listened to the discussions of the ministers. The prayer ritual to the heavens for blessings? If a simple blessing could guarantee the country’s year-long peace and prosperity, why was there so much chaos last year? These people were only a bunch of good-for-nothings who were all talk and no deed. However, Baili Jinchuan was brilliant in reading Father Emperor’s thoughts and cheering him up.

Seeing that Ninghua had not returned after a long time, Baili Junyi was worried. Just as he was thinking, a guard ran in quickly. “Your Majesty, something bad has happened. A thief has entered the Palace and disturbed the women in Xuanhua Palace.”

“What? How audacious! Is anyone injured?”

“Your Majesty, no one is injured, but… Princess Zhaohua is missing!”

“What did you say?” Baili Junyi shrieked. “What happened? Princess Zhaohua is missing? What do you mean? Did the thief kidnap Princess Zhaohua?”

“N-No. I heard that the Second Prince’s Side Concubine Yang’s dress was very wet, and Princess Zhaohua went to the palace gate to take her clothes from her maid, but she didn’t come back after a long time. No one knows what exactly happened.”

Baili Junyi’s entire body was cold and his gaze was as sharp as a blade. “Shut up! Why aren’t you sending people to look for Princess Zhaohua?”

All of the civil and military officials had peculiar expressions on their faces. Princess Zhaohua was a woman. It was hard to tell what would happen when a woman was kidnapped by a thief, especially a gorgeous woman like Princess Zhaohua, who was renowned as the prettiest woman in Da’an Kingdom. How could the thief resist her beauty after he kidnapped her?

Baili Junyi’s cold gaze swept over everyone. Sensing his scary glare, everyone turned their heads to the side in fright, held their breaths, and did not dare to make a sound.

Baili Qingcang furrowed his brows as he found that Prefectural Prince Yi seemed to be becoming more and more intimidating in the hearts of the officials. “Junyi, take some people and look around. Maybe she got lost.”

“Yes. Thank you, Father Emperor.” With that, Baili Junyi strode out.

Despite Baili Junyi’s departure, the officials were still silent and fearful. Seeing this, Baili Qingcang was annoyed. “Don’t just stand there. Hurry and go search for her. Jinchuan, you are a prince. There are many concubines in the harem, so we can’t let any man go there alone. Take some of them to each palace and ask if Ninghua has dropped by there.”

“Yes, Father Emperor.”

At this time, the womenfolk rushed over. The entire Palace was in a mess because of Shen Ninghua’s sudden disappearance. Baili Junyi searched the entire Palace, but he did not see Shen Ninghua.

Yang Yingxue kept shedding tears. “It’s all my fault. If I didn’t ask Sister Ninghua to help me get my clothes, she wouldn’t have been kidnapped…”

Baili Junyi suddenly turned to look at her, his cold gaze was horrifying. “Side Concubine Yang, maybe Ninghua was delayed by something or lost her way. How can you be so sure that she was kidnapped?” At this time, he couldn’t let anyone discredit Ninghua.

Yang Yingxue’s eyes were full of tears. “Yes, yes, you’re right. Ninghua will definitely be fine. It was all because I panicked and said the wrong thing. Who were those thieves? How dare they break into the Palace at the New Year’s Eve banquet?”

Someone could not help but say, “They might be the remnants of the previous dynasty. I heard that they tried to assassinate His Majesty a few days ago, right?”

“It’s very likely. I heard that the remnants of the previous dynasty were not so arrogant. But after the Eleventh Princess was found recently, they started to make a move again.”

“Shush, be quiet.”

Before she finished speaking, her companion tugged her arm as a warning. Everyone knew that the Eleventh Princess of the previous dynasty was Princess Zhaohua’s maid? Some time ago, the Emperor wanted to vent his anger on that princess, but Princess Zhaohua even stood out to protect her. They might irritate Prefectural Prince Yi if they said such words now.

Baili Junyi was in no mood to care about what they were discussing right now. All he wanted to do was find Shen Ninghua as soon as possible. He felt as if his heart was burning intensely when he didn’t see her for a while. It hurt so much that he felt like his heart was being torn apart.

Ninghua did not bring medicinal powder with her because she didn’t want to instill fear into Father Emperor. If she was kidnapped… a bloody light flashed in Baili Junyi’s eyes. Those thieves should wish that he never find them, or he would torture them until they begged him to kill them!

He looked around and suddenly had a thought. Where was Baili Jinchuan?

He knew about Baili Jinchuan’s feelings for Ninghua. Shouldn’t he be looking for her in a hurry at this time?

“Have you seen Second Prince?”

“Second Prince brought people to the harem to ask about Princess Zhaohua. His Majesty said that it’s inconvenient for others to go since the residents in the harem are all ladies.”

“Ladies… All ladies…” Without waiting for the person to finish speaking, Baili Junyi went straight to the harem. Since they couldn’t find Shen Ninghua in the front half of the Palace, she must be in the harem. Where exactly was she?

When Shen Ninghua woke up, she found herself in a palace. When she thought of the scene before she fainted, she quickly sat up from the bed and pulled out the golden needle from the acupuncture point on her arm. Her face was slightly pale. Fortunately, before she was drugged, she had inserted the golden needle into the acupuncture point. Otherwise, she would not have regained consciousness so early.

The room was full of dust, but the bed was very clean. It seemed that someone had specially changed the clean bedding. There was a smell of aphrodisiac in the air. She quickly held her breath and sealed her acupuncture point with the golden needle. No matter what, she had to leave this place quickly.

There was no one guarding the door. Perhaps the person who imprisoned her figured that she wouldn’t wake up so soon after being knocked out. When she walked out of the palace, she found that this was the dilapidated Cold Palace. Oh, the Cold Palace. She remembered that there should be a secret passage nearby…

After carefully searching for a moment, she finally found the secret entrance to the exit. After she walked in, she leaned against the wall and panted slightly. Although she had woken up, she felt that she was weak and listless. In addition, she inhaled a bit of aphrodisiac fragrance, which made her feel dizzy.

She accidentally discovered this secret passage in her previous life. Later, she found out that this was an exit for the royal family of the previous dynasty to escape, and it led all the way to the outside of the Palace. She should still be able to get out now. The news of her disappearance should have already spread out. In addition, she heard someone shouting that there was a thief in Xuanhua Palace before she fainted. At this moment, many people probably thought that she had been kidnapped by the thief. Her reputation would be ruined if she rashly went out without any evidence to explain where she had been for such a long time.

Since there was no evidence, she should create her own evidence. Looking at the dark secret passage, she gritted her teeth and walked to the end.

There was a trace of hesitation in Baili Jinchuan’s eyes as he strode to the door of the Cold Palace. He had used the name of a thief to plot against Shen Ninghua. He could imagine how disgusted she must be after she found out the truth. Thinking of this, he could not help but grit his teeth and clench his fists. What else could he do to get her if he didn’t do this?!

His martial arts had been damaged, and just a little use of his internal strength was enough to make him pain so badly. He had lost his strength, and the forces behind him had been greatly injured because of the previous incident. Although he did not want to admit it, he was no match to Baili Junyi now. How else could he get close to Shen Ninghua if he did not use special methods?

The conflict and struggle in his heart became increasingly fiercer. He even did not dare to open the door of the Cold Palace. He could not reverse the situation once he did something wrong. His martial arts were damaged by Shen Ninghua and Baili Junyi because he had kidnapped Shen Ninghua and tried to rape her so that she had no choice but to marry him.

Hatred and passion constantly collided inside him. In the end, he slammed his fist on the wall and raised his hand to push open the door of the room…