Phoenix Cries Return to Court

"Quickly! Untie me!" Fu Chen's face flushed crimson instantly as he glared at the pretty woman before him, his anger rising. "Aren't you afraid I'll punish you for insubordination?"

As he spoke, he struggled a few more times, his eyes suddenly sweeping over the tall man beside him, his eyes lighting up instantly as if he had grasped a lifeline.

He cried out loudly, "Ayan! Come quickly and save me!"

Shen Jueyan looked at the somewhat disheveled Crown Prince in front of him, and then at the calm woman beside him.

In a daze, old scenes surged back.

When he was young, his father sent him to the palace to be raised by the late Empress Dowager.

Deep within the palace, every day was filled with strict rules and mountains of homework.

And that person... was once just like the woman in front of me.

They taught me with care and constantly urged me on.

When he is lazy or lazy, he will resort to all sorts of tricks and stop at nothing, showing no mercy whatsoever.

The past events flashed before his eyes, and Shen Jueyan's heart trembled violently.

She thought to herself, "How ruthless! Are all women in the world like this?"

Thinking of this, Shen Jueyan wanted to go forward to help Fu Chen, but Lin Xihe stopped her.

"Your Highness, no one can save you!" She put away her smile and said solemnly, "No one can save someone who is complacent and content with mediocrity. If you want to make a name for yourself and earn people's respect, you must learn to save yourself. Others can help you for a while, but they can't help you forever. Only when you wake up and produce real achievements can you secure your position as crown prince."

Fu Chen was startled, his eyes filled with confusion. He opened his mouth but couldn't utter a single word. He just looked at Lin Xihe with a vague understanding and murmured, "That makes sense."

Seeing that he agreed, Lin Xihe's voice softened a bit, "Your Highness, please write well and finish the policy essay you are supposed to write today. Don't think about being lazy again."

After speaking, she turned to the palace servants waiting nearby and instructed, "For the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, you will stay here and keep an eye on His Highness. Make sure he finishes writing carefully and diligently, without any perfunctory work. Only when he finishes writing can you untie him. No favoritism is allowed!"

She glanced at the somewhat dejected Fu Chen, then together with Shen Jueyan, slowly walked towards the outer room to discuss their plans.

……

Night fell, and a thin layer of deep blue mist hung in the sky, with twinkling stars illuminating the night.

A gentle breeze rustled the leaves, and the chirping of birds drifted from afar.

Outside a lead mine on the outskirts of Beijing, two figures were silently sneaking into the mine, one after the other.

The man walking in front had broad shoulders and a narrow waist. He was dressed in a faded dark-colored coarse cloth shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing his strong and powerful arms.

Even without the brocade robes and jade belt, he still couldn't hide his aloof and noble air.

Seeing him slightly turn to the side to wait, Lin Xihe quickly followed and couldn't help but chuckle, "Young Grand Secretary's demeanor doesn't resemble that of a miner, but rather that of a noble son traveling incognito."

Upon hearing this, the man frowned slightly, looked at the woman dressed as a servant but with a slender figure, and said with a rare hint of teasing, "Your wife doesn't look much better either."

Lin Xihe was about to retort when suddenly a series of footsteps approached. The two of them tensed up and, not daring to delay any longer, immediately turned sideways and quickly disappeared into the shadows.

As the surroundings gradually returned to silence, Lin Xi heard the man's low voice in her ear, "Time is of the essence. There's only half an incense stick's time between guard shifts, so we need to hurry."

She nodded, and the two of them, under the cover of darkness, huddled close to the wall, their steps slow and deliberate, silently bypassing the guards and moving through the night.

After an unknown amount of time, Lin Xihe vaguely saw a point of light ahead, and her eyes lit up.

Shen Jueyan turned around, nodded to her, and the two of them ran towards the brightly lit place.

However, as soon as they reached the hidden spot at the cave entrance, they all stopped in their tracks and gasped.

What came into view was a huge cave, with candles and oil lamps arranged in layers on the rock walls, making the surroundings as bright as day.

Meanwhile, about thirty or forty ragged laborers were working hard, the sounds of axes and chisels striking and stones breaking were incessant.

Several men dressed in special official uniforms made by the Ministry of War, holding long whips, looked around with somber expressions.

With a muffled thud, a laborer suddenly collapsed to the ground, the firelight illuminating his dark skin and the sweat and grime covering his body.

A man in official robes stepped forward quickly, raised his long whip, and lashed it hard across the laborer's back, shouting sternly, "Get up! Don't slack off!"

The cracking of whips fell one after another, accompanied by the laborers' painful groans, a heart-wrenching sight.

Lin Xihe turned her head away with some reluctance, but her eyes suddenly widened in shock.

"Look over there." She suppressed her surprise and subconsciously tugged at Shen Jueyan's sleeve, pointing to a hidden cave entrance.

The entrance to the cave was partially obscured by a huge rock, with only a crack visible. However, by the light, one could vaguely see that there seemed to be a path inside.

Four guards with long swords at their waists stood solemnly at the entrance of the cave.

"This must be a mine directly under the Ministry of War, but the heavy security and the rushed construction are clearly unusual," Shen Jueyan said thoughtfully, gazing at the scene before him. "It would be almost impossible to infiltrate it head-on."

Lin Xi remained silent, focusing intently on the layout of the mine before her, fragments of her past life's memories slowly overlapping with the scene before her.

When she was still Empress Dowager, she had inspected various workshops and mines in the capital region with Emperor Sheng. Although a long time had passed, she still had some impression of some basic regulations and possible oversights.

Lin Xi frowned and pondered, then suddenly his eyes lit up and he said in a deep voice, "This kind of official mine must have heavy guards around the perimeter and the main gate. But its internal transportation channels are complex, and to facilitate the movement of vehicles, there must be relatively hidden side gates or abandoned passages."

After saying that, she looked around and pointed to the southeast corner of the mine.

"Look over there! The terrain there is slightly lower and closer to the stream. Water power might require water to be introduced from there, so there must be a channel. And for drainage and ventilation, the defenses here must be the weakest point in the field."

Upon hearing this, Shen Jueyan was startled. She had always heard that the Minister of War and his first wife were irreconcilable enemies, so he would never tell her such a detailed matter. How could she have such insights?

He gazed at the woman before him, a profound meaning flashing in his eyes.

But the situation was urgent and could not be delayed for a moment. He composed himself and said in a low voice, "Then I will do as you say."

Without delay, the two immediately sped along the edge of the woods toward the southeast corner.

Just as Lin Xihe had said, the closer they got to the southeast corner, the clearer the sound of flowing water became.

Before long, the two stood in front of a towering stone wall. At the base of the wall was an arched water outlet, from which the sound of water they had just heard must have originated.

At the gate, there were large iron bars, but only one guard was standing at the entrance, holding a long gun and dozing off against the wall.