"Ah." Fang Qi only had time to let out a cry before he couldn't react in time. He forgot to push her away and just let her hug him. But very soon, the two of them were pulled apart by someone.

  "What are you doing?!" Chu Yicheng's face turned ugly as he pulled Yan Xijun away, looking at her with discontent. How could she be hugging another boy?! Just thinking about it made him furious.

  Yan Xijun saw that everyone's eyes were on her, and only then did she blush. Belatedly, she said: "Prince Wang, I finally found him with great difficulty, so I was 'excited' and made the move just now. Sorry about that."

  She pointed at the chessboard on the ground and said to Chu Yiceng: "Your Highness, would you mind asking him to get up?"

  Chu Yicheng looked at her and then at the chessboard on the ground, before pulling her hand towards the horse carriage. He said to Fang Qi, "You come too, tell me what's going on."

  Then, under the escort of more than a dozen 'guards', the carriage slowly headed towards the capital. In the car, Fang Qi carefully and fearfully glanced at his master, kneeling there neatly and not daring to move.

  Look at the master being so particular about that girl hugging him. That means the master has a crush on that girl. Alas, I'm really unlucky. Later on, who knows how the master will punish me?

  Yan Xijun looked at Fang Qi and saw that his nerves were stretched taut. She couldn't help but pat him on the shoulder, comforting him: "Fang Qi, don't be tense."

  Fang Qi stole a glance at her master, Zhang Jun's scowling face, and then saw that she was concerned about him. Helplessly, he squeezed out a smile that looked more painful than crying.

  "Speak up. What's going on here?" Chu Yicheng finally spoke up, looking at the two of them.

  Yan Xijun glanced at him and then asked Fang Qi: "Fang Qi, don't you have an older sister named Xuelian?"

  "Huh? How did you know my sister's name? She is a palace maid in the imperial palace, and I heard she even serves the empress." Fang Qi looked at Yan Xiu Jun with surprise and said.

  "Your sister first started as an attendant to the empress, but later she became my personal attendant. She was my closest palace maid." Yan Xijun continued slowly, disregarding Fang Qi's shock. "At first, I had some suspicions about her, but later, our feelings towards each other gradually improved. We both agreed to leave the palace together. However, in a big fire, she sacrificed herself to save me and died in the flames."

  "What... sister... she..." Fang Qi couldn't continue, choking with sobs. He had originally planned to visit his sister during this trip back to the capital, never expecting that she would have met with disaster.

  "I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I didn't protect her, I harmed her." Yan Xijun said with self-blame and apology. "If Xuelian hadn't come to save me, then she wouldn't have died either."

  Chu Yicheng pulled her into his arms and comforted, "You shouldn't blame yourself either. It wasn't your fault。 Slaves protecting their masters is what they should do."

  Wiping away tears, Fang Qi said: "Can you tell me more about this? I want to know how my sister died."

  "Alright, I'll tell you." Yan Xijun recounted the events of that night in detail. But she didn't mention that she had escaped through a secret passage. She only said that she had narrowly escaped. After all, the secret passage was a serious matter and she couldn't easily reveal it.

  Chu Yicheng listened and thought: "According to what you said, this fire must not have happened accidentally. Someone must have deliberately set it."

  "I'm also suspicious." Yan Xijun said to the chess player, "Don't worry, I'll investigate this matter when I have a chance and avenge your sister for you."

  "Thank you." Fang Qi thanked her and felt relieved in his heart. His sister had met a good master, and it was not in vain that she had made sacrifices.

  "Alright, Fang Qi. You now know everything about the matter. You can leave." Chu Yicheng ordered, looking at Fang Qi. Then he pointed to Yan Xijun and added: "Her identity is very sensitive. Almost no one knows she's still alive. You must also keep this absolutely confidential. Do you understand?"

  "Yes, I understand." Fang Qi bowed and retreated. He thought to himself: So she's the emperor's consort. But why did Master treat her so well even though he knew she was a consort? It didn't make sense.

  They arrived at the gate of the capital city after almost half a month's journey. Unexpectedly, the Emperor led all the civil and military officials to personally welcome King Jing back outside the city. He even took time out of his busy schedule to come out of the palace, showing how much he valued this occasion.

  Chu Yicheng had originally wanted to enter the capital quietly, not wanting to stir up anyone. But with this scene before his eyes, he was afraid that it would stir up everyone in the capital. The roads on both sides were packed with ordinary people from the capital, who welcomed him with cheers and applause, warmly welcoming his return. Everyone wanted to see him in person, to get a glimpse of his demeanor.

  Unexpectedly, he was quite popular. Yan Xijun listened to the cheers outside and thought to herself, but the sound of the wheels moving forward reminded her that she was getting closer to him.

  "Your Highness, what should we do? We can't avoid meeting him soon. He'll recognize me. Everything was going smoothly until today, and now this unexpected situation has arisen. What are we going to do?"

  "Don't worry, I didn't expect things to turn out like this either. But rest assured, I won't let him see you." Chu Yicheng comforted, his mind racing to think of a countermeasure.

  "He's right in front of me now. How can I avoid seeing him? It's simply impossible."

  "Don't panic. When the time comes, don't get off the horse carriage. No matter what happens, don't come out." Chu Yicheng said.

  "But I won't go out to see the emperor. If discovered, it would be a serious crime of deceiving the monarch."

  "Don't worry, I'm here. He won't punish you. Just listen to me carefully. Later, stay in the carriage and I'll take care of things. Then I'll have Fang Qi protect you closely. I'll send someone to escort you back to the Wang Manor first. Understand?"

  Yan Xijun nodded slightly. At this moment, it could only be like this. Just at this moment, a sharp and fine voice came from outside the carriage: "The slave has come to pay respects to King Jing. The Emperor has ordered that King Jing should come down and take a few steps to meet with him."

  Yan Xijun knew it was Luo Zhong's voice as soon as she heard it. Although she hadn't heard his voice in two months, she wouldn't mistake it.

  Chu Yicheng held her icy hand tightly due to nervousness and then lifted the car curtain and slipped out.

  As soon as he got out of the carriage, a warm applause erupted outside, followed by the sound of firecrackers. After all the noise had subsided, Yan Xijun heard his brother's congratulatory words: "I, your younger brother, pay my respects to Your Majesty; may you live forever and ever!"

  Then he also heard Chu Yixuan's voice. "No need for formalities. Cheng Er, quickly get up. There is no need to be so polite when meeting the emperor."

  Yan Xijun listened to them talking nearby, she really wanted to see what the scene was like, so she lifted a little bit of the curtain and peeked through the gap. She saw that Chu Yixuan was chatting with Chu Yicheng, and behind Chu Yixuan stood Yang Qixue, who had a smiling face. The woman looked elegant and virtuous, but it made Yan Xijun feel disgusted.

  Chu Yixuan seemed to have lost a lot of weight. The dragon robe wrapped around his tall and straight figure, making it slightly larger than before. Although he had lost weight, it did not reduce his handsomeness and dazzling aura at all.