Ah Zuo returned to the car.

  He glanced at the man sitting at the back with a cold expression and said cautiously, “Your Highness, did you offend Miss Bo?”


  Ah You, who was driving, glanced at Ah Zuo. “What are you talking about? His Highness fell sick last night. How would he have the energy to offend Miss Bo?”


  Ye Jie’s eyes were slightly closed, making it difficult to read his emotions.

  Ah Zuo and Ah You looked at each other and said nothing else. Ah You started the engine and left.

  The car drove out of the yard and in the quiet car, Ye Jie’s clear voice suddenly sounded. “What did she say?”


  Ah Zuo froze for a few seconds before he understood what Ye Jie meant.

  Ah Zuo hurriedly repeated his conversation with Bo Cixue. “Miss Bo asked me to thank you on her behalf. She was gritting her teeth at that time, so she must have been unhappy.”


  Hearing Ah Zuo’s words, Ah You quickly denied it. “That’s impossible. Miss Bo has always been gentle and elegant. How could she possibly grit her teeth?”


  It was hard to imagine that the way Miss Bo was gritting her teeth did not match her image as a young lady!

  Ah Zuo and Ah You could not continue the argument as Ye Jie waved his hand, signaling them to stop arguing.

  The car fell silent again.

  Ah Zuo looked carefully at the man behind him through the rearview mirror.

  He did not know if he had seen something wrongly, but he saw his Highness smiling slightly. It was a very faint smile, but he was smiling.

  Ah Zuo blinked and looked again, but did not see that smile.

  He must have been seeing things!

  …


  Bo Cixue slept on the sofa.

  By the time she woke up groggily, it was almost noon.

  The auntie had already prepared lunch.

  There were three home-cooked dishes and a soup that looked quite appetizing.

  Bo Cixue asked Auntie to sit down and eat with her, but the latter did not agree.

  Bo Cixue did not follow the principle of not speaking during the meal. She spoke to Auntie while eating. “Auntie, have you come here to cook before?”


  Auntie nodded. “Mr Ye will come over occasionally for a day or two, and I usually help him cook.”


  “He’s not easy to please.”


  Auntie smiled and said, “Mr Ye doesn’t look like he’s easy to approach, but he’s still very nice. There was once when I accidentally broke an expensive vase and I was so scared I almost fainted. After Mr Ye found out, he didn’t blame me.”

  “He’s quite benevolent in this sense.” He would not trouble a kind and honest person.

  Auntie looked at Bo Cixue and thought that she was Ye Jie’s sweetheart and wanted to help Ye Jie. “Miss Bo, Mr Ye is not only nice, he is also chaste. You’re the first girl he brought over.”


  Bo Cixue smiled and did not take Auntie’s words to heart. “You just didn’t see him bringing girls here!”


  “No, Mr Ye looks like the extremely self-disciplined type who would stay loyal to someone.”


  Bo Cixue suddenly thought of the person he had been rumored to be with before Ye Qingcheng.

  If that person had not left on his own initiative, would he have gotten together with her?

  He must have only liked that one person in his life!

  Ye Qingcheng, Sikong Shan, and her were all nothing to him.

  Auntie was still praising Ye Jie and Bo Cixue only smiled when she heard her words.

  After dinner, Bo Cixue explained to Auntie, “Actually, you’ve misunderstood. I’m just his sister.”


  Auntie was speechless.

  Why did they not look alike?

  …


  Bo Cixue went upstairs to take her phone from her bag.

  Turning on her phone, she saw that there were several missed calls.

  There were calls from Sikong Ling and several were from local numbers.

  Bo Cixue did not dare to call back. She still did not know the situation in the Sikongs’ palace. If someone found her here, Ye Jie would be in danger too.

  Bo Cixue opened WeChat. Yu Luoluo had sent her several messages.

  She glanced at the content. It must be from Lian Chen.

  “What’s going on? Did something happen to the Sikong family because of you?”


  “F*ck, I’ve become a shameless person who betrays his brothers!”


  “You’re with the Crown Prince?”


  Bo Cixue pursed her lips and did not reply.

  Bo Cixue switched off her phone and sat in the living room to watch television.

  There was no report of anything happening to the Sikong family and everything looked the same as usual.

  But Bo Cixue knew very well that something very serious must have happened last night when the Crown Prince was injured!

  Auntie left after making dinner and Bo Cixue stayed in the living room until nearly midnight.

  She fell asleep on the sofa.

  Hearing the sound of a car, she opened her eyes.

  She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was midnight.

  She leaned against the sofa without moving.

  Before long, she heard the sound of the door opening, followed by the sound of the man’s footsteps.

  Bo Cixue did not look back.

  Ye Jie went into the kitchen and when he came out, he saw Bo Cixue on the sofa and pursed his lips slightly. “Go to the room to sleep. I’ll sleep on the sofa tonight.”


  Bo Cixue glanced at him and stood up from the sofa.

  She took a few steps towards the stairs and seemed to have thought of something. She turned back to look at him. “I only wanted you to get better quickly last night. I definitely didn’t have any improper thoughts. Don’t misunderstand.”


  He sat on the sofa, his well-defined fingers pressing between his eyebrows. “You explained it this morning.”


  Bo Cixue felt suffocated.

  Wasn’t she explaining it again only because she was afraid that he wouldn’t believe her?

  “What happened after I left last night? Where’s Sikong Ling? Where is he? How is he?”


  Ye Jie’s dark eyes narrowed slightly at Bo Cixue. “Are you very worried about him?”


  Bo Cixue nodded. “He probably doesn’t know anything.”


  “He escaped.”


  “He escaped? What happened?”


  Ye Jie did not answer and there was a faint tiredness in his eyes.

  He closed his eyes, looking like he was asleep.

  Bo Cixue knew that he was not asleep. He simply did not want to answer her.

  She did not ask anymore and went upstairs to sleep.

  …


  The next day.

  Bo Cixue was woken up by a knock on the door.

  Opening the door, Bo Cixue looked at Ah Zuo who was standing at the door and knew that he was sending her away.

  Bo Cixue leaned against the door, crossing her arms and looked at Ah Zuo with a faint smile. “I can leave, but you have to tell me what happened at the banquet.”


  Ah Zuo thought of His Highness’ instructions this morning. If Miss Bo asked about what happened that night, there was no need to hide it from her. He replied, “That night, Sikong Shan asked Butler Zhou to drug His Highness. His Highness swapped the drug and pretended to faint on the spot. Ah You and I immediately subdued Butler Zhou and found poison in the wine. Ah You took him away without giving Butler Zhou a chance to speak.”


  “The mayor got desperate and got into a conflict with us when he saw Butler Zhou, who knew many of his secrets, taken away. But at that time, His Highness had already sent people to lay an ambush outside and the governor’s wishful thinking did not work. He and Mrs Sikong committed suicide on the spot and Sikong Shan and Sikong Ling escaped through the secret tunnel.”


  “The two of them have taken the Beicang commander’s seal and important documents. If they collude with foreign countries, the consequences would be unimaginable. Today, we have been investigating the secret passage for the entire day, but the Sikong family is a century-old family and the secret passage is very well hidden, so we can’t find it immediately.”


  Although Ah Zuo had briefly explained what happened that night, Bo Cixue knew that the situation must have been very dangerous.

  Seeing Bo Cixue furrow her eyebrows, Ah Zuo thought that she was afraid and said hurriedly, “Miss Bo, you don’t have to worry. His Highness arranged for a team of elites and asked me to escort you out of Beicang. You will definitely reach the capital safely.”


  Bo Cixue said nothing.

  She took her luggage and followed Ah Zuo downstairs.

  She did not meet Ye Jie downstairs.

  From yesterday until now, if she still could not tell that he was avoiding her on purpose, she would be a fool!

  She felt a little depressed. Was he that afraid of her pestering him?

  She had already explained twice that she had done that for his illness and did not have any other thoughts. It seemed like he did not believe her!

  Bo Cixue followed Ah Zuo out of the house with a dark expression.

  Getting into the car, Ah Zuo started the engine and drove off.

  When they arrived at the yard, Bo Cixue asked Ah Zuo to stop. “Wait, I forgot to take my necklace from the bathroom last night. It was given to me by my mother and it’s very important.”


  Without waiting for Ah Zuo to say anything, Bo Cixue pushed open the car door and ran toward the house.

  “Miss Bo, get in the car. I’ll get it for you…”


  But it was too late and Bo Cixue went into the house.

  Entering the living room, she was about to go upstairs.

  Suddenly, she heard an extremely painful cry.

  If it was a normal person, they might not have heard this, but Bo Cixue’s hearing was better than a normal person.

  Bo Cixue went down the stairs from the living room to the basement.

  The further down she went, the clearer the painful sounds became.

  Bo Cixue walked to the door of a dark room and looked inside through the gap.

  Ah You was executing a man tied to a cross.

  Bo Cixue glanced at the man. He was Butler Zhou from the Sikong family.

  Ye Jie stood by the side in white, looking at Butler Zhou coldly.

  Butler Zhou was not willing to give up the Sikong family’s secret passageway.

  Ye Jie clapped his hands lightly and a woman with a big belly was brought to the darkroom.

  Seeing the woman, Butler Zhou’s pupils constricted.

  He cursed.

  Ye Jie took out a dagger expressionlessly and aimed the sharp end at the woman’s stomach.

  The woman shivered in fear.

  Seeing this, Bo Cixue felt a little cold.

  She was a little afraid of Ye Jie.

  Her eyes slightly red, she turned around and went upstairs.

  Ah Zuo stood at the stairs and when he saw Bo Cixue coming up, he frowned so much that he could kill a fly.

  “I’ll act like I didn’t see anything. Don’t tell him I came down.”


  Bo Cixue took the necklace and got back into the car.

  The car slowly drove away. Ah Zuo answered a call and said, “That’s good.”


  Bo Cixue could roughly guess what was said on the other end of the line. After Ah Zuo answered the call, Bo Cixue said, “Ah Zuo, my phone battery is flat. Can you lend me yours?”


  Bo Cixue was someone their Highness trusted, so Ah Zuo naturally would not suspect her.

  He handed her the phone.

  Bo Cixue lowered her eyes and tapped on her phone a few times. A few minutes later, she returned the phone to Ah Zuo.

  “How’s that pregnant woman?”


  “His Highness only used her to force Butler Zhou to speak. He won’t do anything to her. She’s just a little frightened and is fine.”


  “Oh.”