Ji Dynasty.

  " Master Wen Ru, all the ministers have gathered in the imperial court and are asking for His Majesty's attendance urgently." Feng Ju notified Wen Ru who was checking the revenue reports given by the finance minister to check. Since there is no news about Ji Cheng, he has to take the responsibility to manage the day to day duties of the palace.

  Wen Ru raised his head from the file and stared at him. Feng Ju's expressions were urgent and hesitant which caused him to frown. There was clearly something that he was hesitating to say. He closed the file, " Minsters? Why are they here suddenly? Today isn't the day when His Majesty used to hold the weekly court." He said in confusion.

  They were trying to avoid letting the ministers know about the disappearance of Ji Cheng and Zhao Ming. If that happens, it will create chaos in the court and will give a rise to the power struggle in the palace.

  Feng Ju looked at him hesitantly and bowed apologetically, " There is news from the military personnel from the borders. Last night, the troops of Ji Zhelan and King Xiao Ruogang attacked our eastern and western borders. The sudden attack has put a strain on our soldiers, causing us to be at a disadvantage."

  " If not acted in time, they will soon break into the country as well, reaching to the capital."

  Wen Ru's hands that were on the table trembled as it took him a minute to register this news in his head. The sudden attack will not only put the country in danger but the unavailability of the sovereign of the country will also cause unrest among the public, resulting in the downfall of the Empire if not managed tentatively.

  Since they have attacked both sides of the borders at the same time, it will not only affect the availability of the weapons and resources but the manpower will be divided and distracted because of this double attack. He was worried that the Empire that Ji Cheng had strengthened with much struggle might get ruined in his hands.

  " Did……Xiao Ruogang sent a declaration of war before attacking us? No King can declare war like this." He asked while gesturing to him to rise.

  Feng Ju shook his head and responded, " there is no such notice from the other side. He seemed to have attacked with Ji Zhelan sneakily, although the other neighboring countries haven't taken part in this openly yet. However, we can't say anything about the secret alliances."

  " It seems like Master Wen Ru has to meet with the ministers for once to find a solution to this crisis. They all seemed to be worried about the whole situation and have caused the court to be in chaos." Feng Ju responded.

  Wen Ru stayed silent and closed his eyes to think. " Did you find anything about His Majesty and Her Majesty?"

  Feng Ju shook his head disappointedly, " Unfortunately there is no news about His Majesty and Her Majesty. I think the reason for this sudden attack is the leak of this information out of the palace. Someone must have tipped Ji Zhelan about the disappearance of His Majesty"

  Wen Ru nodded, agreeing to his words. " Send someone to inform Empress Dowager about the situation. She is going to attend the court along with me. We have no choice but to make the hard decisions in the absence of His Majesty." He ordered, at which Feng Ju nodded and bowed to him before leaving the study-

  Zhao Ming stared at the hotel in front of her from where they had run away sneakily the other day. She took a deep breath, not sure how to feel about this. She turned to Ji Cheng, " Are you sure that we can find the hairpin here? I lost it in the lake in Ji Dynasty, not in this hot spring." she reasoned.

  The place where he thinks hairpin can be found in the hot spring where they have first arrived in this world. However, she was not sure if they could find the hairpin here or not.

  Xie Ming who was listening to their words, interrupted, " I think Ji Cheng is right. Since Ji Cheng also fell into the lake while trying to save you and came into this world, maybe we can find the hairpin here as well."

  Zhao Ming sighed as she had no choice but to go along with this theory. Since they have to find the hairpin before tomorrow, they have to search anywhere they can. It's not like they can go to the Ji Dynasty to get the hairpin. This is the last chance that they have to put this curse to an end and for that, they will do anything they can in their power-

  The sun was about to set but they couldn't find the hairpin. Jin Liwei and Ji Cheng were inside the hot spring, bare-chested, trying to search the hairpin but it was nowhere to be found. Jin Liwei contacted Bai Ju to clear the area of the hot spring as this hotel was owned by him.

  Zhao Ming and Xie Ming were sitting on the edge of the hot spring and were directing Ji Cheng and Liwei to look in different places. Zhao Ming pursed her lips seeing Ji Cheng's bare-chested, water dripping from his body, looking sexy as hell. How can an ancient man look this sexy? So unfair!!

  ' If we were not fighting I would have pounced on him already.' she sighed heavily, staring at him dreamily.

  As she was lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize when they got out of the water and approached them.

  Liwei looked at Xie Ming and shook his head disappointingly, " We didn't find anything. I don't think it's here." he said while wiping his body with a towel that Xie Ming passed her.

  Ji Cheng was looking at Zhao Ming in confusion as she didn't pass him the towel that she was holding onto and was staring at nowhere, grinning.

  " Zhao Ming." He called out.

  " ZHAO MING." He shook her shoulders to wake her up from her daze.

  " Huh?" She was startled when she heard his voice and found him standing closer to her, with his perfect muscular body which was dripping wet. She gulped seeing his hard rock abs in front of her vision.

  " Towel." Ji Cheng reminded her. She controlled herself from touching his abs and passed him the towel hesitatingly.

  Ji Cheng saw her flushed expressions and raised his brows as he understood the meaning of her flushed expressions. Her cheeks were cherry-tomato red, just like how she looks when she sees his naked body. However, seeing her reacting like this at this moment, he was amazed.

  Her thinking process amazes him every time-

  They returned to the Jin Villa empty-handed as they failed to find the hairpin in the hot spring. By the time they reached the villa, it was already 9 at night. They have to find the hairpin by tomorrow at any cost as tomorrow is the full moon night but they don't know how to.

  At the dining table, the mood was somber and discouraging. Everyone was thinking about the hairpin when Liwei interrupted the silence, " I have asked Bai Ju to search for the hairpin again. If he finds anything, he will inform me. But….I don't think we have any hope. We searched there the whole day and still failed to find anything."

  Xie Ming sighed and thought of his words. They have no idea where else they can find the hairpin. " If we don't find the hairpin, we can try to burn the one that I have in the closet. Maybe it will work," she suggested at which Liwei nodded.

  "Something is better than nothing," Liwei commented.

  " Zhao Ming, what do you think abou-

  "Zhao Ming, what happened? Why aren't you eating anything? You haven't even touched your food." Xie Ming was surprised to see that Zhao Ming who was sitting beside her hadn't even touched her food. The food was of her liking and she usually eats two bowls of noodles made by her yet she didn't even taste them.

  Ji Cheng looked up at Zhao Ming upon hearing Xie Ming's worried tone. He frowned when he realized that something was off about her. Her complexion was pale and sickly.

  " Zhao Ming, do you feel sick? Did you catch a cold?" He asked worriedly. She was even shivering and was rubbing her arms when they were at the hotel. She didn't step into the water even once and was looking tired all the time.

  " I don't know. Maybe I have a mild fever. I feel weak and tired all the time. Maybe because we were out all day long." she said nonchalantly.

  [ Read this novel only on W e b n o v e l . c o m ( remove spaces). If you are reading this elsewhere, other than w e b n o v e l then this novel has been stolen. Support the original author by reading it on w e b n o v e l, not the thieves, and get the latest updates. Follow the author on Instagram for more: kamlyn_love. Regards Kamlyn]