Holding a lantern, guiding souls across, Lady Hou comes from the underworld.

In front of Chenghua Hall, four palace maids stood anxiously looking out the door.

The Crown Princess was under house arrest...

If the Crown Prince finds out that she ran away, everyone in the palace will likely be implicated.

In the midst of the anxiety, one of the sharp-eyed palace maids was the first to spot the Crown Princess.

"It's the Crown Princess!"

The other person looked over and asked in confusion, "And who is Steward Wang, and that person next to him?"

"It seems... that they are not from the palace."

After whispering a few words to each other, the two went forward to greet them.

"Greetings, Chief Steward."

"Your Highness, why did you run out?"

After the palace maids greeted the Crown Princess, they tried to help her up to show their duty, but she pushed them away.

"Get away from me! Don't touch me!"

Her attitude was cold and hard, and the palace maids retreated awkwardly. Lin Ruyi, a female official of Chenghua Palace who heard the commotion, immediately came out to greet her.

"Why did Steward Wang suddenly come?"

When the Crown Princess sneaked out and brought back two people, Lin Ruyi's eyes were full of wariness and suspicion.

In the Eastern Palace today, the Crown Princess is merely a figurehead; the Crown Prince alone has all the power.

As the head steward of the inner garden, he had no real power and would not come to Chenghua Hall unless he was assigned some task.

Before Steward Wang could speak, Xia Ximo, as if no one else was around, walked straight into the hall.

Lin Ruyi was slightly startled and shouted, "Stop!"

With a loud shout, she was full of momentum, but to her surprise, the "servant" didn't even stop walking and walked straight to the palace gate.

"How dare you! Quickly..."

Just as Lin Ruyi was about to order the palace maids to stop the people, Tang Yuelang unexpectedly raised her hand and slapped her.

"With me here, who gave you the right to speak?"

The crisp slap completely stunned Lin Ruyi.

It should be noted that ever since the Crown Princess "fell out of favor" and jumped into the lake, and was no longer valued by the Crown Prince, Tang Yuelang has mostly acted as if she had lost her mind.

Lin Ruyi has always been an opportunist.

She secretly felt that since the Crown Princess was treating herself so badly, it was only a matter of time before she was deposed, and she was not worth her time and effort to serve her.

Now, suddenly slapped, she seemed to wake up immediately and knelt down to beg for forgiveness.

"This servant has spoken out of turn; please punish me, Your Highness the Crown Princess!"

Tang Yuelang gave her a cold glance, said nothing more, and walked into the palace on her own.

Seeing this, Steward Wang hurriedly followed.

Xia Ximo, who was walking in front, paused slightly when he heard the sound of slapping.

Knowing he didn't need to lift a finger, he walked into the hall without looking back.

Upon entering, a chilling aura filled the air, indicating that ghosts were indeed lingering here.

Xia Ximo stroked the hairpin in her hand and asked, "Where is that bead you mentioned?"

The vengeful spirit inside the hairpin replied, "It's right in front of the dressing table. Although I asked Miss to throw it away several times, it always mysteriously finds itself again in the end."

Once this stuff gets stuck, it's not something you can just throw away.

Moreover, it can now be considered half a "Tang Yuelang".

Xia Ximo understood and walked to the dressing table. There, he saw a rather conspicuous mahogany box mixed in with the dressing case, exuding a cold and menacing aura.

Inside, there was a bead.

However, it was different from the others I had seen before.

The inside of the bead was still pure white, but the surface had a hint of blood, making it look very eerie.

Although the spirit of the lamp was afraid, it couldn't resist its curiosity and popped out to find out what was going on.

But after taking one look, it quickly shrank back and said, "There is indeed a wisp of a ghost living in here, but it seems to be more ferocious than the previous ones..."

Xia Ximo snorted coldly, "Having killed so many people and absorbed so much resentment, of course it's ferocious."

Upon hearing the sound, the spirit within the bead seemed to sense something and trembled slightly.

At this moment, Tang Yuelang and Steward Wang entered the bedchamber one after the other.

In an instant, a wisp of black energy surged out from the bead and headed straight for Tang Yuelang.

The black energy seeped into Tang Yuelang's brow, causing her back to stiffen instantly. A moment later, a sinister smile appeared on her face.

Before anyone could react, she turned and ran out of Chenghua Palace, knocking a palace maid to the ground in the process.

Xia Ximo followed without hesitation.

After being possessed, Tang Yuelang ran like the wind, and in almost an instant, her figure disappeared into Qianqiu Garden.

After entering the garden, her soul power seemed to increase significantly. She could not only teleport but also control the spirits within the garden.

As soon as Xia Ximo stood still, he heard the wind whistling past his ears, and out of the corner of his eye, he immediately saw several dark figures surrounding him from all directions.

Just as Linglong said, these vengeful spirits are people who died after having their hearts ripped out. Although they are filled with resentment, they can no longer remember who killed them.

At this point, they might even be exploited by the evil spirits that killed them.

Xia Ximo glanced at "Tang Yuelang" not far away and said coldly, "If you introduce yourself now and obediently get off her, I might let you die more comfortably."

Hearing her boastful words, "Tang Yuelang" raised her empty eyes and stared at her coldly.

The surrounding spirits rushed forward, trying to restrain Xia Ximo.

However, before they even got close, they were stunned by the "ghost king's soul power" emanating from her.

No spirit in the world is afraid of the Lord of the Underworld.

The fifty percent of the soul power bestowed by the Earth Lord, still carrying the aura of the Red Lotus Karmic Fire, was just right to frighten these unconscious yin spirits.

Tang Yuelang sensed the unusual aura emanating from her and instinctively tried to escape as well.

However, the next second, a terrifying suppressive force followed.

It turned around in horror, only to see a hand reach out and forcefully peel it off "Tang Yuelang".

The moment they made contact, the evil spirit, which had transformed into a shadow, could sense the extremely yin body before it and couldn't help but feel a strong craving for it.

It immediately circled around to behind Xia Ximo…

Wuyou sensed something was wrong inside the lamp and shouted, "Don't let it get in!"

However, Xia Ximo coldly curled his lips and said, "I've been waiting for you."

-

Ren Fengjue came out of the Crown Prince's Yongqingzhai and looked around, but he did not see Xia Ximo.

He summoned a eunuch and asked him a question, only to find that the other party had left without giving any instructions.

Lord Ren was already used to this kind of behavior.

He asked the guards along the way and learned where she was going, so he guessed that she was going to the inner garden.

So, Ren Fengjue headed towards Qianqiu Garden.

Just as they stepped out of a side gate, a familiar figure appeared before them.

He looked closely and saw that it was Xia Ximo. He immediately stood still and waited for the other person to approach.

To everyone's surprise, Xia Ximo merely glanced at him, seemingly unaware of his presence, and simply brushed past him.

"..."

Lord Ren, with his keen insight, immediately noticed something amiss. Seeing that Xia Ximo had gone in the direction of Yongqingzhai, he promptly turned back.

The other person's pace was inexplicably fast, and when Ren Fengjue returned to the entrance of the study, she was nowhere to be seen.

Yongqingzhai has only one entrance and exit.

and so…

Ren Fengjue hesitated for a moment, then stepped directly into the study without waiting for the eunuch to announce his arrival.