“Sir Taxue,” Ji Man blankly called out to stop him, “Are they talking about Marquis Moyu’s heir?”


  Taxue stopped walking, glanced at her, and said, “Miss, if you’re worried, you can go back and ask His Majesty. But, if you delay your departure, you won’t be able to leave the palace.”


  Ji Man furrowed her brow. She looked at the sky to check the time. From their current location, they would be able to get to the palace’s gate before it was locked up for the night. But, if she went back…… if she went back, she wouldn’t be able to leave here.

  She thought it over. Haohao was Marquis Moyu’s heir. Even if Zhao Zhe had lost his mind, he wouldn’t take Marquis Moyu’s heir unless he wanted to force him to rebel against him.

  Gritting her teeth, Ji Man said, “Sir Taxue, please bring me out of the palace.”


  Taxue deeply looked at her, but he didn’t say anything else afterwards. He brought her to the palace’s gate.

  Ning Yuxuan was waiting at the palace’s gate for her. Seeing her coming out, he finally relaxed. He put the token for entering the palace that he had been tightly gripping into his sleeve.

  “I thought you were going to temporarily be unable to leave the palace.” He was smiling as he looked at her. “I told you to wait for me, but it ended up being me waiting for you.”


  Ji Man ran to his side. Her face was a bit pale. She didn’t have time to crack a joke. She resolutely asked, “Where’s Haohao?”


  “He’s probably at home.” Ning Yuxuan furrowed his brow. “When I was recently at home before, Guibai took him out to play. That little brat, he’s been so mischievously lately. Let’s go, I’ll bring you to see him. You haven’t seen him in your current appearance before.”


  Stretching his hand out to pull Ji Man onto the horse, Ning Yuxuan was in a pretty good mood. “Let’s go home.”


  Ji Man was sitting in his arms and sideways on the horse. There was a double saddle on this horse, so it was much more comfortable.

  The horse frantically galloped all the way to the marquis’s estate. From a distance, they could see several people standing outside by the entrance. Ji Man was initially thinking that she was being treated with great respect. Such a large group of people was waiting out here to welcome her back.

  However, once they got to entrance, she found out the steward and the group of servants that he was leading had just come back from searching the streets.

  “My lord, Guibai and the young heir haven’t returned yet.” Steward Qian was frowning as he said, “It’s already dark outside. Even if the young heir loves to play, Guibai isn’t someone that would act so irresponsibly!”


  Ning Yuxuan’s expression sunk. Ji Man jumped down from the horse in panic. Looking at them, she asked, “Have you searched the entire capital?”


  Riding back on his horse, Nie Qingyun returned from searching and answered her, “We asked everyone in the nearby vicinity. Everyone said that they hadn’t seen them.” His head was dripping with sweat.

  Ji Man lowered her eyes.

  Nie Qingyun didn’t understand why his younger sister looked so upset. After all, it was only the marquis’s heir that was missing. It wasn’t as if Haohao was her own child.

  Dismounting from the horse, Nie Qingyun patted her shoulder and said, “I’ve already done as Steward Qian requested by doing my best to search for the heir. There’s nothing else we can do. You don’t need to feel too bad for Yuxuan. You should go and catch up with Errong.”


  Ji Man mechanically turned around and headed inside. Why was Nie Sangyu’s life so full of frustrations and dashed hopes? She had just been about to have a blissfully perfect ending, but now something had happened to her son again.

  If she hadn’t misheard those palace servants, then Haohao was probably in the palace.

  —


  Errong brought her son with her when she came to see her friend. Looking at the child that was wrapped up in swaddling clothes, Ji Man felt even worse. She forced herself to play with Errong’s child for a bit before saying that was feeling unwell and wanted to rest.

  —


  Ning Yuxuan had stayed outside to search for Haohao himself. By the time he returned, it was the middle of the night.

  Ji Man was lying in bed. She was still awake.

  “What should I do if Haohao is in the palace? Ji Man asked him. “Can you search the palace to find Haohao?”


  Ning Yuxuan’s gaze was somewhat complicated. He lightly shook his head. “If there was conclusive evidence, I can ask the emperor for Haohao. If there’s no evidence, doing so would be considered rebelling against the emperor.”


  Ji Man closed her eyes. “Why didn’t you sent Haohao away to a safe place?”


  Ning Yuxuan bitterly smiled. Since the day he had brought Haohao out of the palace, he had been too focused on having Haohao meet his mother when she was dressed in a woman’s attire. Otherwise, he might grow up not even knowing his mother’s real appearance. However, right after he had dropped Haohao off at the estate, there had been a succession of events that needed his attention, so he was too busy to take care of Haohao.

  The two of them were silent for a long time before Ning Yuxuan suddenly said, “If you think Haohao is in the palace, how about we go to the palace together tomorrow? I’ll request an audience with the emperor, and you can go ask Consort Shen if she can help us.”


  In order to keep Nie Sangyu out of the palace, Shen Youqing would be willing to agree to any requests. Ji Man nodded. This was a good idea.

  It was already late at night, and Ning Yuxuan seemed as if he wasn’t planning on leaving her room. He took off his outer robe and lied down next to Ji Man. Ji Man didn’t feel as if she needed to be guarded against him. She shifted a bit. This wasn’t any different from when they were in the imperial prison. There just wasn’t a railing separating them.

  In the darkness, Ning Yuxuan softly asked her, “If I can bring Haohao out of the palace, would you…… be willing to marry me again?”


  Ji Man nodded. “How can there be a perfect ending if I don’t marry you?”


  No matter what Nie Sangyu’s wish was, it was definitely related to Ning Yuxuan loving her and being together with him. Once all the difficulties were resolved, Nie Sangyu’s wish should be completed, right?

  Then, it would be time for her to go back.