With legs weak, the sickly stable boy became a mad regent.

The crimson fabric lay on the ground, soaked in blood, which dripped slowly from the edge of the cloth into the soil.

Xiao Yunzhao stood by the dry well, motionless.

He recognized the color; this morning, when Shen Nannan personally helped him tidy up his armor, she was wearing just this begonia red.

She handed him the riding crop, and then, out of everyone's sight, gently hooked his palm.

"Ah Chao, remember to come back for dinner."

Those words still echoed in my ears, but all that remained before my eyes was a patch of blood-stained clothing.

"Where is the princess?"

Xiao Yunzhao's voice was very soft.

The guard kneeling on the ground struggled to lift his head.

"I don't know. After those people broke into the Prince's mansion, they killed the guards in the inner courtyard and took the Princess away in a carriage. I chased them all the way to the south of the city, but I fell into their ambush."

"Which direction did they go?"

"Chengtian Gate".

The guard said urgently, "I heard those people say they were going to send the Princess to the palace. Your Highness, it will be too late if we don't go now!"

Chengtian Gate.

Xiao Yunting had just told him that a dead end had been prepared for him there.

As if afraid he wouldn't step inside, they even placed the person he cared about most behind the door.

Mo Bai's expression changed drastically. "Your Highness, I will immediately take men back to the manor to confirm."

"It's too late!"

The guards on the ground suddenly grabbed Xiao Yunzhao's robes. "The princess is pregnant! Those people were extremely ruthless. When I left, the princess was covered in blood!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the last trace of warmth in Xiao Yunzhao's eyes disappeared.

A familiar chill quickly spread from my heart.

The stagnant poison deep within his body seemed to be suddenly awakened by something, slowly seeping into his mind along his blood vessels.

blood.

Blood again.

He seemed to see Shen Nannan from his past life lying in his arms again.

His body was already cold, but traces of blood from when the poison took effect still lingered on his lips.

He couldn't save her.

He could only hold a corpse and watch the only person who had ever given him warmth slowly disappear from his world.

"Yun Zhao".

Xiao Yunting sensed something was wrong and stepped forward, saying, "Don't touch that piece of fabric."

It's too late.

A very faint fragrance wafted from the blood-stained clothes.

That wasn't Shen Nannan's usual scent.

It's more like the incense that Consort Yu would light in the room whenever Xiao Yunzhao's Gu poison flared up in his childhood.

It can make the Gu worms restless.

It can also make all the fear and murderous intent in his heart completely out of control in the shortest amount of time.

Go to Chengtian Gate.

Charge in.

No matter how many people are inside, kill them all.

Xiao Yunzhao's pupils gradually turned dark red.

The veins on the back of his hand, which was gripping the knife, were bulging.

"Your Highness!"

The kneeling guard continued urging, "We can't wait any longer! Those people said they only have half an hour. If they don't see you within half an hour, they'll take the princess away..."

Before he could finish speaking, a hand had already gripped his throat.

Xiao Yunzhao lifted the person up from the ground. His face did not show uncontrolled rage, but rather a chilling coldness.

"Your Highness?" The guard's expression finally changed.

"What did Nannan say when she asked you to come find me?"

"The princess said..."

The guard's eyes flickered. "She told her men to tell the prince to go back and save her quickly."

"The exact words."

She said, "Please, Your Highness, save her."

The crimson in Xiao Yunzhao's eyes seemed to freeze for a moment.

Please, Your Highness, save her.

Shen Nannan wouldn't call him that.

It wasn't because she never addressed him as "Your Highness," but because when it came to a life-or-death situation, she would only call him by his name.

Achao.

Xiao Yunzhao.

Or perhaps it's that secret code only she knows.

The only exception would be a prince like Zhao who would so politely and distantly ask her to save her.

Moreover, they had made an agreement before parting ways.

Any news about Shen Nannan's life or death must be confirmed by a token. A piece of blood-stained clothing cannot be considered a token, even if it is indeed a piece of clothing that Shen Nannan wore.

"Where is her hairpin?" Xiao Yunzhao suddenly asked.

The man was visibly taken aback. "What hairpin?"

That moment of hesitation was enough.

With a flick of his wrist, Xiao Yunzhao sent the blade grazing the man's neck and piercing his shoulder.

Screams echoed through the abandoned courtyard.

The fake guard fell to the ground.

With his other hand, he suddenly reached into his sleeve, pulled out a short dagger gleaming with a cold, eerie blue light, and thrust it straight at Xiao Yunzhao's chest.

Mo Bai was prepared.

He kicked the man's wrist, sending the dagger flying and embedding itself in a dead tree not far away.

Several guards rushed forward and pinned the man down.

Only then did Xiao Yunzhao see clearly.

Although the man's uniform was similar to that of a guard from the Prince's Palace, the inside of his belt did not have the hidden pattern of the Prince Zhao's Palace.

People from the Prince's Mansion wouldn't make such a mistake.

Xiao Yunting picked up the dagger from the ground and gently smelled it.

"The knife is poisoned."

He walked over to the blood-stained garment, but didn't touch it directly. Instead, he used his folding fan to lift the corner of the garment, revealing a small begonia pattern embroidered on the inside. It was indeed Shen Nannan's dress. "This dress is hers."

Xiao Yunting raised his eyes. "There's also incense that attracts Gu poison on it."

Xiao Yunzhao's fingers were still gripping the knife tightly.

The poison has not been completely quelled.

The blood-stained clothes before him kept reminding him, what if it was real?

What if Shen Nannan is really covered in blood right now, waiting for him to come back?

If he continues to enter the palace, he may lose her again.

But his other hand had already reached for the sachet hidden in his bosom.

That was the knot that Shen Nannan tied for him before he left the Prince's Mansion.

The warm, familiar scent of her lingered on it.

It was completely different from the fragrance on the blood-stained clothes.

"Ah Chao, you can kill those who deserve to die."

"Just stop letting them decide for you who to point your knife at."

Xiao Yunzhao closed his eyes briefly.

When he opened his eyes again, the crimson color in his eyes had been forcibly suppressed.

In his past life, after receiving news of Shen Nannan's accident, he would turn back without hesitation.

Anyone who gets in my way will be killed.

Even knowing full well that it's a trap, they'll still walk into it.

Because at that time, he had nothing left to believe in.

But this life is different.

Shen Nannan had already told him her choice.

She is waiting for him to believe her.

"Tie him up." Xiao Yunzhao sheathed his sword. "Don't let him die."

The fake guard was pinned to the ground, and his face finally betrayed genuine panic.

"Your Highness, the blood on the clothes is real!"

"If the princess is truly safe and sound, why hasn't she sent anyone to inform us?"

"You can still go to the palace now. If you wait any longer, she won't be able to save her baby!"

Xiao Yunzhao paused, and the man, thinking his words had finally had an effect, struggled to lift his head.

"The Princess Consort is inside Chengtian Gate!"

"As long as Your Highness enters through Chengtian Gate, you will see her!"