Who said the eldest daughter is crazy? She's clearly a woman of high rank and influence in the

He bowed to Xi Yueli again, and when he straightened up, he looked at Helian Jing behind her. There was no longer any hostility in his eyes, only a rational choice made after weighing the options.

"Your Highness Prince Chen," the Left Prime Minister's voice returned to its usual firm yet gentle tone.

"Today, I will pretend I did not recognize Your Highness. I will not concern myself with Your Highness's affairs within the territory of Beishuo, but if Your Highness has done anything detrimental to Beishuo within its territory—"

"I will bind His Highness and send him back to the border of Daying, sword and all, so that the Emperor of Daying may come and collect him in person."

Helian Jing lowered his eyes, his usually aloof and lazy gaze unusually subdued. "I'd like to see if you can bind me."

Although his words were sharp, he then cupped his hands in a slight gesture, but for Helian Jing, this was already a rare show of courtesy he showed to officials from Beishuo.

"As long as I find Fu Yuan, I won't touch anything else."

The Left Prime Minister could not hide his surprise. Seeing how serious he was, he believed him to some extent. He nodded, turned his head, and looked at Xi Yueli's face.

"Tuoba Lie is used to being arrogant and domineering, but guests from Beishuo should not be humiliated like this. If you, young lady, feel uncomfortable about this, I will make a big fuss about it tomorrow. As for the King, I will take care of it."

After saying this, he stepped across the threshold, the courtyard gate closed gently, and the sound of his footsteps gradually faded away along the stone corridor.

The side courtyard fell silent again, and the oil in the lamp flickered once more.

Helian Jing stood in the lamplight, his scimitar hanging back at his waist. He looked at Xi Yueli, his gaze softening slightly.

"The person on the left is quite respectful to you," he said.

Xi Yueli took the letter out of her bosom and looked at it again, her fingertips lightly rubbing the paper. She put the letter away again and looked up to meet Helian Jing's gaze.

"Your Highness, the Left Prime Minister said he wants to make a big fuss tomorrow. What does he mean by 'make a big fuss'?"

Helian Jing leaned back in his chair, his relaxed and lazy posture returning.

He tilted his head and looked at her for a moment, a slow smile curving his lips. "It probably means that tomorrow the entire Northern Shuo royal court will know that the Left Prime Minister personally delivered a letter to a little girl from the south late at night, and you—"

"You can walk all over the royal court tomorrow."

Xi Yueli paused for a moment, then looked down at the letter in her arms and suddenly felt that the thin piece of paper had become much heavier.

She curved the corners of her mouth into a smile, trying to suppress the slight curve, but even after suppressing it, a little bit still seeped out from the corners of her eyes and brows.

The next day, after dawn, Xi Yueli pushed open the door of the guest courtyard, and sunlight filled the courtyard.

She paused for a moment as she stepped out of the courtyard gate.

Four men stood under the corridor: Northern Shuo guards in armor, their scabbards adorned with silver-threaded animal patterns, and ceremonial guards personally assigned by the Imperial Guard Commander Ashina.

The leader bowed respectfully upon seeing her emerge, his movements precise and efficient. "The Left Prime Minister has ordered that we will accompany and protect you as you move about the royal court today."

Xi Yueli was silent for a moment, then nodded. As she walked through the stone corridor, the two groups of servants she encountered automatically retreated to the side of the corridor, bowing their heads and not daring to raise their heads.

As she passed through the moon gate, she encountered a civil official in a purple robe. Judging from his rank, he was at least a third-rank official. The official stopped and stepped aside when he saw her from afar, making way for her. He only continued walking after she had passed.

Helian Jing followed half a step behind her, still keeping his head down. But when he looked at the Northern Shuo officials who automatically made way and bowed their heads, the corners of his mouth turned up. He thought to himself, "She really got me."

The commotion that the Left Prime Minister mentioned last night, which he called for "making a big fuss," has actually become much bigger than Xi Yueli had anticipated.

Overnight, everyone knew that the Left Prime Minister had gone to the side courtyard alone late at night, and that he looked much more relaxed when he came out.

In the Northern Shuo royal court, the attitude of the Left Chancellor is a weather vane. Tuoba Lie did not appear on the stone platform today, and it is said that he "caught a cold" and took sick leave.

Xi Yueli, accompanied by her four ceremonial guards, passed through three palace gates and two courtyards, stopping in front of a gray-black wooden door.

The sleeping quarters of the Imperial Preceptor Fu Yuan.

The door was a foot narrower than the other doors in the royal court, and there were no carvings or animal patterns on the lintel, making it as plain as an ordinary study door.

When Xi Yueli raised her hand to push the door, the familiar tingling sensation returned the moment her fingertips touched the wooden surface. Her body moved faster than her mind, and the door hinges had already turned half an inch on their own before she could exert any force, as if something unseen had pulled her along.

The interior of the hall was simply furnished. A large desk was placed by the window, with writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone neatly arranged on it. The ink in the inkstone had long since dried and solidified into a layer of cracked black film.

A bookcase against the wall stretched from floor to ceiling, crammed full of files and pamphlets. By the window was a low couch, on which lay a neatly folded black robe, its edges pressed down with precision, as if its owner would soon return.

Xi Yueli stood in front of the desk, her gaze sweeping across the surface. The brush rested on the brush holder, its tip clean and fresh. The paperweight pressed down on the paper, which was blank.

Everything was so neatly arranged that it didn't look like it had been hastily tidied up, but one detail made her suddenly bend down.

There is a faint white mark on the outer edge of the inkstone, like something was pressed hard against the edge of the inkstone, or like some liquid that was splashed on it and dried.

She reached out and touched it, her fingertip getting covered in a layer of extremely fine powder. She picked it up and smelled it; it was lime.

She closed her eyes briefly. Suddenly, an image flashed through the swirling fog in her mind: a pair of hands, fingers gripping the edge of a table, knuckles taut and white.

Someone covered the mouth of the person behind the hands. As the person struggled, their fingernails scraped off a layer of lime powder from the edge of the inkstone.

The bricks in the Northern Shuo Royal Court were filled with glutinous rice paste mixed with lime, and such marks would only be left on the table when the bricks were forcibly pressed down.

Fu Yuan didn't leave on her own; she was forcibly dragged away from in front of the desk by having her mouth covered from behind and her wrists held.

Xi Yueli straightened up and rubbed the bit of lime powder from her fingertips onto the back of her hand.

She turned around, and there stood Helian Jing beside the desk, twirling a long, dark hair that had fallen onto the desk. It was waist-length and had a matte sheen in the sunlight.

He held it up to the flame, looked at it, and then sniffed it. Then his brows furrowed.

"There was a very faint smell of ointment at the roots of my hair," he said. "It was a calming and soothing formula, but the dosage was three times that of a regular calming soup. This is the kind of residue left on the scalp after someone forcibly administered the medicine."

Xi Yueli walked to his side, looked down at the strand of hair—it was so thin—and couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "Your Highness, your nose is even more sensitive than a dog's!"

She was immediately warned by Helian Jing's henchmen, and quickly changed her story, "Yes! Fu Yuan was kidnapped."

Helian Jing tapped his fingertips lightly twice on the table, then turned around, walked to the window, and opened it.

"My men are in Shuojing City," he said. "They are investigating the Empress's every move over the past week. The Tian Shu Division and the Dark Pavilion are working in tandem, and we should have results as early as tonight."

Xi Yueli nodded. When Fu Yuan was dragged away, the ink in the inkstone was not yet dry. She was writing. What was she writing? Was that page taken away or torn out? She swayed slightly, then stepped out of the bedroom after regaining her balance.

After nightfall, the secret reports from Tian Shu Si and An Ge were delivered to the guest courtyard almost simultaneously. The two large reports were stacked side by side on the table. They worked through the night to sort and compare them, and found the most unusual things.