Grand Protector Gao had important matters to report and was rushing to the Jiuhua Palace, but unexpectedly, halfway there he heard news from the palace that the Noble Consort had been assassinated and disappeared, and the Emperor was furious. He dared not delay and rode day and night, finally arriving at the palace in the fastest possible time.

By the time he arrived, it had been nearly three days since the Noble Consort's disappearance. Everyone in the palace was ashen-faced and trembling. As Grand Protector Gao walked through the central courtyard, he smelled a bloody stench coming from a side hall. He glanced in that direction and saw a pool of blood seeping out from the door of the side hall.

Entering the rear hall, he saw that Emperor Sima Jiao was in a state of disarray, with veins bulging on his forehead and neck, and his eyes were bloodshot. Grand Protector Gao knew that he must have been extremely angry to have an attack at this time.

He asked worriedly, "Your Majesty, have you not taken your medicine?"

Sima Jiao pressed his temples forcefully, "I took it yesterday."

Grand Protector Gao was startled. If he had taken it yesterday, why was he still in this state today? After a moment of thought, he understood and cautiously advised, "Your Majesty, you must not further harm your health with anger. The Noble Consort will surely be safe and sound. Once the troops that have been gathered arrive, even if we have to turn this mountain upside down, we will find the Noble Consort."

Sima Jiao said, "She is probably no longer in this area."

He looked at the bloodstained outer robe at his feet, his eyes filled with even more ferocity. He lifted it up and threw it on the table, "It was found at the foot of the cliff this morning. She was wearing this outer robe on the day she disappeared."

The torn holes in the clothing clearly showed that she had been shot with arrows, and likely quite seriously. The blood had almost soaked through the entire robe. Even if she wasn't dead, she had probably lost half her life.

Looking at the glaring bloodstains on the clothing, Sima Jiao's expression became even more frightening. The suffocating sense of oppression from his extreme anger that was being suppressed made people feel breathless. Grand Protector Gao was also shocked, thinking that Noble Consort Liao was actually able to make His Majesty so emotional, far exceeding his initial estimates.

It was fine to dote on her a little to pass the time, but now it seemed that there was a hint of "cherishing" her.

Grand Protector Gao's attitude became even more cautious, "Then has Your Majesty already investigated who was behind this?"

Sima Jiao did not speak, but handed him several confessions. Grand Protector Gao read them carefully and discovered that on that day, several parties had acted at the same time, and it was only by chance that things had turned out this way. The masked assassins were the most numerous and well-trained, with the purpose of killing.

There were also several palace servants who had been instructed to monitor the Emperor and the Noble Consort. The few of them originally had no intention of killing the Noble Consort, but when they saw the assassins that day, they seized the rare opportunity and wanted to take advantage of the chaos to kidnap the Noble Consort.

In the end, two people escaped into the mountains with the Noble Consort. Their corpses had been found, while the remaining few were captured and interrogated, but the mastermind behind them could not be extracted.

Finally, there were a dozen or so vagrant ruffians who were desperate fugitives roaming and committing crimes in various places. They had also been hired to kill, but these people had been lying in wait in the forest for some time without finding an opportunity.

In the end, because they encountered the numerous masked assassins, they were almost completely wiped out, with only one or two escaping. It was said that the Noble Consort had been taken away by one of them.

After reading, Grand Protector Gao pondered, "These masked assassins are well-trained, and even under torture, they absolutely refuse to reveal the mastermind. I'm afraid they are some kind of death squad that has been raised."

"As for those few palace servants, to be able to place spies by Your Majesty's side is not something an ordinary person could do. As for those later vagrant bandits, their methods are quite crude, and it seems they succeeded by coincidence."

Sima Jiao said coldly, "There's no need to investigate the assassins and palace servants."

Seeing his gloomy expression and heavy breathing, Grand Protector Gao guessed that he probably had an idea about these two groups of people.

"Go investigate those desperate fugitives. No matter how many of them are left, find them all for me. I want to trample them into a pulp."

Grand Protector Gao thought that if something really happened to the Noble Consort this time, he was afraid quite a few people would die again. He remembered his original purpose for coming to the Jiuhua Palace and hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, your servant has another matter to report."

"Speak."

"There is a rebellion of disaster victims in Tuzhou. They have already become a sizable force. They are growing too quickly and there must be someone supporting them from behind. Your Majesty, should we dispatch troops to suppress them?"

Sima Jiao put down the hand supporting his forehead and suddenly let out a cold laugh, "No, they are just a few disaster victims. They can't build up any momentum and will quickly turn into loose sand. Go, order the Prime Minister to mobilize the army. I want to attack the Lord of Southern Qin."

Grand Protector Gao was startled by him again, "Your Majesty, the Lord of Southern Qin has guarded Yaozhou for generations. If you want to raise troops for no reason, I'm afraid he will simply rebel..."

Sima Jiao actually burst into laughter, "I am a fatuous ruler. When a fatuous ruler kills, naturally he doesn't need a reason. That restless old thing, rebel or not, he has to die."

Seeing his mad state from the illness, Grand Protector Gao understood that this matter could not be changed, so he simply carried out the orders. But when he looked at the edict ordering the Prime Minister to lead troops, he couldn't help but wonder, was His Majesty's move aimed at the Lord of Southern Qin or the Prime Minister?

Did His Majesty suspect that the Prime Minister was involved in the assassination of the Noble Consort, and deduce that the Lord of Southern Qin was behind the Tuzhou matter, so he could no longer tolerate these two?

But did His Majesty really not fear that the Prime Minister, if pushed to desperation, would simply collude with the Lord of Southern Qin? Or was His Majesty trying to force these two to rebel?

The more Grand Protector Gao thought about it, the more he didn't understand what His Majesty wanted to do. His brows couldn't help but furrow tightly. In the end, His Majesty's actions were too impulsive. It seemed that his illness was too severe, causing him to lose control.

Passing by a palace hall, he heard bursts of sobbing coming from inside. Grand Protector Gao stopped and asked the eunuch guarding the door, "Who are locked up in here again?"

The eunuch hurriedly replied, "In response to the Grand Protector, they are the few palace maids who served by the Noble Consort's side."

Grand Protector Gao raised his eyebrows slightly, "His Majesty actually didn't directly execute these people?"

The eunuch said, "These few have all served the Noble Consort for quite some time and were very favored by the Noble Consort in daily life. That day, they were not accompanying the Noble Consort, so His Majesty said to temporarily lock them up. When the Noble Consort returns, they can continue serving her."

If the Noble Consort could not return, these people would probably have to be sacrificed along with those who plotted this matter.

Liao Tingyan was completely unaware of all the bloody turmoil. She had been unconscious ever since she encountered Chen Yun on the mountain path that day and fainted. The arrow wound on her shoulder had been treated, her clothes changed, and she was placed inside a horse carriage with a maidservant attending to her, feeding her medicine and broth every day.

Liao Tingyan woke up in a daze for a few moments, but as soon as she woke up, the maidservant immediately gave her water to drink. After a short while, Liao Tingyan felt her head getting dizzy and couldn't resist falling asleep again.

The horse carriage kept heading towards Yaozhou. Because it looked like an ordinary carriage from the outside, it didn't attract much attention. By the time Liao Tingyan finally woke up completely, she discovered that the carriage was already close to the border between Gengzhou and Yaozhou.

Hexia, where she had lived for several years, was in Gengzhou, and she had taken this road when she went to Luojing, so of course she had an impression of it.

So what happened? Why did it seem like a long time had passed since she fell unconscious? Not only was her whole body stiff, but her head and arms also hurt. It might be because she slept for too long, causing her mind to be a bit hazy and groggy.

It took her a while to react before she could figure out her current situation.

Then she exclaimed, "What the fuck?" The original male lead rescued her but didn't hand her over to the emperor, instead secretly taking her back to his home? What kind of operation was this?

The maidservant who had been taking care of Liao Tingyan for many days lifted the curtain of the carriage. Seeing that she was awake, the maidservant showed an unnatural smile and brought over some water. "Lady is awake. Have some water first."

Liao Tingyan didn't take it. Really, she just didn't understand politics and couldn't figure out the twists and turns of the schemes, but she wasn't an idiot. She still had common sense and vigilance.

Having been unconscious for so long for no reason, how could she believe that the people taking care of her hadn't given her any strange medicine? She now felt that there must be a conspiracy.

Propping herself up with her arms and leaning against the carriage wall, Liao Tingyan stared at the maidservant. "Is Chen Yun here? I want to see him."

After saying this, seeing that the maidservant didn't show any strange expression, Liao Tingyan knew that her guess was correct. It was indeed Chen Yun who brought her here. In any case, it couldn't be Sima Jiao, because this carriage was too hard and too crude, making her head hurt from the bumps.

The maidservant didn't seem to be a very clever person, constantly urging Liao Tingyan to drink water, making it even more suspicious.

Seeing that Liao Tingyan refused to drink no matter what, the maidservant had no choice but to go out. After a short while, Liao Tingyan saw Chen Yun.

This original male lead still had a face full of grace and righteousness. Looking at her, he showed a sincere smile of delight. "Lady Liao, you're really awake. You were injured too severely these past few days and have been in a coma, truly making me worry."

Liao Tingyan carefully observed him. For some reason, she felt that this original male lead was subtly different from the male lead she had seen before. She recalled how Chen Yun had swiftly and decisively killed that man on the mountain path, compared to the first time they met when he only knocked out that mountain bandit to save her. This person had indeed changed.

He was a bit like the decisive and ruthless male lead from the middle of the original story. But what did all of this have to do with her? No matter how she thought about it, she shouldn't be here!

"Ahem, you should know my identity. Why did you bring me here?" When Liao Tingyan asked this question, she had a guess in her heart.

Chen Yun sighed and said, "The current emperor is cruel and immoral. Now, heaven has sent down a warning and punishment. The people, following the will of heaven, have raised flags in rebellion. The Lord of Southern Qin is also willing to help the people overthrow the tyrant's dictatorship.

"When the day comes for a call to arms, the rebel army will march on Luojing, and the tyrant's downfall is imminent. Lady Liao was originally forced into the palace, and shouldn't suffer the consequences of the tyrant's evil deeds. I... I couldn't bear to see Lady suffer such hardship, so I took the liberty of bringing Lady back."

Liao Tingyan: "..." This original male lead was really not right, with sticky and ambiguous eyes and words.

Chen Yun waited for Liao Tingyan's reaction, but found that she had no reaction at all. If she despised Sima Jiao as he expected, she should be happy to escape his clutches upon hearing this. On the contrary, if she liked Sima Jiao, she shouldn't be so calm after hearing this.

Liao Tingyan's tone was steady: "Are you going to send me back to Hexia now?"

Chen Yun was stunned for a moment, then laughed: "Of course not. After all, Sima Jiao hasn't been overthrown yet. If Lady returns to Hexia now and he really sends people to search, I'm afraid both Lady and Prefect Liao will be in trouble. Given his cruelty, there's nothing he wouldn't do. For Lady's sake, it's better to come with me to settle in Yaozhou and hide for a while until the future arrives. Lady can rest assured that I will take good care of you."

Liao Tingyan couldn't help but recall the plot of the original story. Around this time, it seemed that in the original, the female lead chose to leave because the male lead wanted to marry Qin Wuxia, and ended up being taken to the palace by the male supporting character.

Now, it was the opposite. The female lead, who was originally by the male supporting character's side, was taken to the male lead's side.

Chen Yun calculated that he could take advantage of these days to cultivate a good relationship with the female lead. A mere woman, wasn't she easy to capture? Just then, a panel suddenly appeared in front of him, with a line of plot deviation prompts.

-- "Prompt: Sima Jiao actively attacks the Lord of Southern Qin, plot deviation."

This Sima Jiao really had a brain problem. The timing wasn't even ripe now, how could he attack as soon as he said it! Chen Yun, who had finally managed to bend the major and minor plots back and was just waiting for things to develop smoothly, cursed Sima Jiao in his heart.

Too busy cursing, Chen Yun didn't notice Liao Tingyan's momentary loss of composure.

Liao Tingyan: Fuck! What was that panel that suddenly appeared in front of the original male lead?!

Author has something to say: Haha.