In the capital city, during the Jade Rabbit Festival, countless girls are kidnapped every year. If it's a boy, he'll be better off, probably sold to families in remote areas who can't have children, to become their son. But if it's a girl or a young woman, she's doomed. If she's not pretty, she'll be passed from person to person, sold to wealthy families as a low-ranking maid. If she looks good, ironically, she might be worse off than those who are average-looking. Maybe she'll be sold to an opera troupe, maybe to a brothel, or perhaps become one of the Yangzhou thin horses, trained for years and groomed into a plaything for the nobility.

  Among these women, there were also those from wealthy families, but when it came to being abducted, there was no distinction of birth. Whether you were a young lady from a wealthy family or an ordinary commoner, once you fell into the hands of the abductors, everyone was treated the same.

  "Miss Shen was kidnapped?" In the house, Ji Yu Shu suddenly stood up and walked back and forth a few steps, showing a worried look: "Miss Shen is born with good fortune and has an outstanding temperament. I'm afraid if she falls into the hands of kidnappers, she will be sold out. Although I also like Xiaoyao girl, but I don't want Miss Shen to become some kind of girl either. Xie San Ge, should we go rescue her?"

  Gao Yang sneered at Ji Yu's letter: "Are you kidding me? With Shen Miao's skills, how could she be kidnapped by a kidnapper? Moreover, kidnappers only target lone girls or lost children. Shen Qiu and Shen Xin are not far from Shen Miao, those kidnappers aren't stupid, why would they specifically target such a big troublemaker? Shen Miao's looks aren't even stunningly beautiful, it's not worth it at all."

  This is indeed true, kidnappers take advantage of people's carelessness. Even if it's an official's daughter being kidnapped and sold, they would still choose a time when there are no people around her. However, according to the investigators, Shen Miao was by the Wanli Lake at that time, where crowds surged and it would be easy for kidnappers to strike. But if they were careless and got caught, with so many people around, escape would be impossible. Such a reckless act, if done for a stunning beauty, might be understandable, but Shen Miao is just a young girl now, although she's not bad-looking, she's not yet at the level of making people lose their minds.

  Most importantly, both Shen Qiu and Shen Xin were not far away at the time. Since ancient times, it has been a principle for bad people to bully the weak and fear the strong. Knowing that Shen Xin's family was not someone to be trifled with, how could the rascal possibly look for trouble? Such a risky and unprofitable business, unless the rascal was also someone whose brain didn't work well.

  Ji Yu Shu said with a hint of surprise: "So, it's not Guai Zi who did this? Then who could it be? This clearly targets Miss Shen. Could it be the remnants of the Yu Qin Wang Fu? But then again, the people from Yu Qin Wang Fu don't know about the extermination of the Shen family being related to Shen Miao... Unless it's someone from the Shen family themselves? I've heard that the Shen family is not on good terms with each other, could it be someone from another branch of the family?"

  Xie Jinghang, who had been silently sitting on one side, stood up: "It's 'them'."

  "Them?" Gao Yang suddenly tensed up and looked at Xie Jingxing: "Have they found out already?"

  "There shouldn't be." Xie Jinghang shook his head: "I was waiting for them to make a move, but there's been no news. Now I understand, they might have found out about the secret room and don't know what means Shen Miao used to find out that day. Our identities haven't been exposed yet, they plan to get information from Shen Miao's mouth."

  "Are they the ones you came with?" Ji Yu Shu was taken aback, and then felt a headache: "This is bad, with those people's methods, Miss Shen will definitely not be treated well if she falls into their hands."

  "Let the Mo Yu army's secret agents go out and find people, search around Wanli Lake, there are many eyes and ears, they shouldn't have gone far." Xie Jinghang said in a low voice. His usual careless expression had been completely replaced by a solemn one, which made him look not like a 17 or 18-year-old young man at all, but rather gave off an unfathomable and chilly aura.

  "The Mo Yu army is not easy to move now." Gao Yang frowned and said: "At present, there are too many people in the capital city who are staring at you. If we alert the top, I'm afraid it will be a lot of trouble. Why don't we let someone guard the city gate, and tomorrow morning, send someone from your mansion to quietly search for them in the city? We should be able to find them. Now, beating the grass and startling the snake is not good."

  "Do we have to wait another night?" Ji Yu Shu jumped up: "If we wait another night, Miss Shen will be dead!" After all, Ji Yu Shu was still young and impulsive, and he had a certain appreciation for Shen Miao. Unlike Gao Yang, who already possessed the ruthlessness and heartlessness of a politician, in some ways, Ji Yu Shu still retained the precious sincerity and naivety of youth.

  Gao Yang angrily said: "At this time, you are still thinking of Shen Miao. If we're not careful, our identities will be exposed!"

  "Now send someone from the Dark Department to find him." Xie Jinghang said coldly: "I don't want to say it a second time."

  "Thank you!" Gao Yang looked at him: "Are you going to ruin the whole plan for a little girl? Don't forget what you said."

  "Gao Yang, mind your status." Xie Jingxing suddenly said in a stern voice, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, the ink-like color in his peach blossom eyes surging, even deeper than the night sky of the capital city. The sudden burst of anger was so intense that Gao Yang couldn't help but tremble.

  Ji Yu Shu hastily mediated the situation, saying: "Today's events were sudden and unexpected by anyone. However, perhaps things aren't as bad as they seem; let's think this through first."

  Xie Jingxing fell silent for a moment before saying, "It's not for anyone's sake that I'm playing this trick of pulling out the plug from under the cauldron in my own territory. It really makes people uncomfortable. Since they have the guts to come, tonight let them taste what it means to have no way back!"

  The shores of Wanli Lake were teeming with people, and the cheers and laughter drowned out all other sounds. The disappearance of a young lady from an official's family seemed to have caused little stir, which was probably because the Shen family had not spread the news outside, but even if it had been leaked, people would likely be too busy admiring the grand scene before them.

  The Jade Rabbit Fairy had finished her dance, and the men were all infatuated, while the women were secretly scolding the fox spirit. The large jade rabbit lantern was made of snow-white silk, with a thick layer of oil applied to it, and painted with patterns of the jade rabbit celebrating joy, dotted with bright and dim candles, floating slowly on the surface of Wanli Lake.

  The crowd cheered and rushed to the lake, putting their own handmade flower lanterns into the water. The flower lanterns all had their wishes for the coming year written on them, rolled up into small paper slips and put inside, before being gently pushed into the water.

  The sky was filled with a gentle snowfall, but the lights on Wanli Lake were shining brightly. The fireworks in the sky and the lanterns on the lake created a dazzling display that made it hard to tell what was happening above or below the water. This breathtaking scene was rarely seen even during the annual Jade Rabbit Festival. In the center of the lake floated several intricately carved pleasure boats, where wealthy people would normally hold private parties. Today, however, no one knew who was inside the boats, as they were overshadowed by the dense array of flower lanterns covering the entire lake surface.

  A boat without lanterns floated gently downstream on the surface of Wanli Lake, and the crowd downstream was smaller. The flower lanterns all floated in that direction with the waves. From a distance, the boat seemed to be surrounded by those flower lanterns, but as it went further downstream, farther away from the city, there were fewer people, until finally, almost no one was left.

  Shen Miao sat in the innermost room of this painted barge, coldly staring at the two people in front of her.

  In the dimly lit boat, a small oil lamp was lit. Shen Miao's mouth was stuffed with a piece of cloth, and her hands and feet were tightly bound, unable to struggle free.

  Two people on the boat were both wearing hemp clothes, looking unfamiliar. One tall and thin man stood at the bow of the boat, took a look, then walked into the cabin and nodded to another shorter one: "Okay, no one is here."

  That short guy then "heh heh" smiled, stretched out his hand and pulled the rag out of Shen Miao's mouth, saying: "Miss Shen, there's no one here, you don't have to shout randomly. If you shout randomly, it's easy for us to kill you and run away."

  Shen Miao's eyes moved slightly, but she didn't say a word.

  They went against the current, and the painted barge floated downstream under the eyes of the crowd. Shen Xin believed they would only search for her on the shore, but never thought that she was actually in plain sight, right at the center of Wanli Lake.

  Just now, when she was standing on the stone stage waiting for Shen Qiu to come back, she was suddenly covered from behind and dragged away. The movements of these two people were too fast, and she didn't even have time to react. Then, she was tied up with five flowers and thrown onto the boat.

  Shen Miao didn't speak, and the short one seemed quite satisfied. The tall and thin one walked over, sat down opposite her, with a gloomy gaze, saying: "Miss Shen, let's not beat around the bush. We brought you here to ask you something." The tall and thin one exuded a unique aura all over his body, which didn't seem like that of an ordinary thug.

  "He said: 'You've been to the secret chamber of the Yuqing Palace on that day, haven't you?'"

  Her eyes flashed, and when she was kidnapped, she had thought of many possibilities. Maybe it was someone from the second or third house, maybe it was Shen Yuan, or perhaps it was one of Yu Qinwang's old subordinates. She had even considered Fu Xiuyi, but she hadn't expected that the person would be from that secret room. The secret of that room, as far as she knew, was only known to Xie Jinghang and Gao Yang, so how did Fu Xiuyi find out a few years ago?

  However, since the other party had come prepared, it was clear that they had already investigated her thoroughly. Shen Miao didn't hide anything and replied: "Yes. On that day, Big Brother was handling matters at the Yu Qin Wang Fu, and I was waiting in the tea room. By chance, I discovered that secret room and out of curiosity, I went to take a look."

  The two people opposite each other exchanged a glance, and the short one said: "Then you should have met someone else in the secret room, who was that person?"

  Shen Miao's fingers slightly retracted.

  It's not for the secrets in the secret room, nor is it for the things in the secret room, but for the people inside. Xie Jinghang and Gao Yang? Are these people coming for Xie Jinghang and Gao Yang? Shen Miao's mind was racing quickly, these people only knew that there were other people in the secret room that day, but didn't know who they were, Xie Jinghang and Gao Yang might be hiding something, if she spoke out, the secrets hidden by Xie Jinghang and Gao Yang would be exposed.

  She looked at him suspiciously: "Someone else?"

  The tall and thin figure looked at her coldly: "Miss Shen, don't play tricks in front of us. When you entered the secret room that day, we believed it was accidental, but the things inside the secret room have been taken away. Who did you meet in the secret room? Speak up, and we'll spare your life."

  Shen Miao stared at him, but her mind was racing quickly. She knew about the secret room in Yu Qin Wang Fu because of her past life, so in the eyes of these people, she could only be someone who "accidentally" discovered the location of the secret room. These people might be investigating something, but they didn't know specifically who the person was, and Xie Jinghang and Gao Yang were the ones they were looking for.

  She shook her head: "When I entered the secret room that day, there was no one else inside. As for what you said, I didn't see it either. Maybe the people you mentioned had already left before I entered."

  "Impossible!" The tall and thin man looked at her, suddenly revealing a cruel smile: "Miss Shen, since you won't speak, then you'll have to suffer a bit..."

  As soon as the words fell, the short man's eyes lit up, and one hand came to touch Shen Miao's face. His expression turned lewd, and he said: "Little beauty is indeed smooth-skinned, if you serve me well, maybe I can remember." After that, he went to unbutton Shen Miao's clothes.

  "If you had touched me, I would have bitten my tongue and died. You wouldn't have been able to get anything out of me." Shen Miao said calmly: "I've lost my innocence, my heart is as dead as ashes, in desperation, do you think you still have a chance to get any information out of me?"

  As soon as this was said, the short man's hands stopped instantly, turned his head and took a look at the tall and thin man. The tall and thin man stared at Shen Miao and asked: "Do you know who it is?"

  "Maybe I can still remember."

  The short one was somewhat stunned, the tall and thin one's gaze was gloomy and uncertain. Perhaps it was Shen Miao's overly calm and composed attitude that left them unprepared, or perhaps it was Shen Miao who unexpectedly turned the tables and threatened them instead, leaving them surprised. No woman doesn't care about her own chastity, but Shen Miao looked like a street urchin. That's right, if Shen Miao really knew who the person in the secret room was, once she touched him, to those with hatred towards Shen Miao, they probably wouldn't reveal the truth for their entire lives.

  Shen Miao's eyes were slightly cold, everyone has their own weaknesses. The two people in front of her seemed to be determined to find out who was in the secret room, and now she might be the only one in the world who knew where that person was. If she were a delicate and timid official's daughter, she might have been scared into telling the truth with just a little intimidation, but unfortunately, she was Shen Huanghou, who had crawled her way up in the imperial harem.

  "What are you thinking?" The short man didn't touch her with his hand again, and instead put on a gentle expression: "Tell us who that person is, we'll all promise to listen." His tone was like coaxing a child.

  Shen Miao's eyelids didn't even flicker as she said, "Who are you?"

  The two of them were stunned for a moment, and the tall, thin man sneered: "Do you know who we are and what benefits we can bring to you?"

  "Maybe I can remember who that person is." Shen Miao smiled as she looked at him.

  "You're stalling."

  Shen Miao did not express her approval or disapproval.

  The short man suddenly stood up and slapped Shen Miao in the face, seemingly having lost his patience. "You stinky girl," he said, "if you don't drink the wine I offer you, then you'll have to drink the penalty wine! Don't waste any more words on her, Shen Xin's men are outside, we can't get out, let's take her back first, and after we get back..." He smiled with a twisted expression: "naturally there will be ways to make her tell the truth!"

  He leaned down, his disgusting hand roughly slapping Shen Miao's face: "Little girl, Grandfather was just being kind to you for the sake of convenience. Since you don't want to live yourself, don't blame others!"

  Shen Miao's eyes flashed cold, and she suddenly raised her hand to stab the knife in her hand towards the opponent's face. The short man was caught off guard and was actually scratched by Shen Miao on his face, causing blood to flow instantly.

  Behind Shen Miao, the ropes binding her hands and feet had been secretly cut open at some point. She was accustomed to hiding a dagger in her sleeve, and now this dagger had been pulled out, catching them off guard. After scratching one stroke, she ran towards the outside of the boat, shouting "Save me!"

  As soon as she ran to the cabin door, she was violently grabbed by someone's hand and dragged back inside, thrown to the ground. Her entire back collided with the wooden table on the ship, causing her to gasp in pain, and the ship shook several times.

  She reacted quickly, stood up immediately without saying a word, and ran out again. The tall and thin man sneered, kicked her knee bone with one foot, and the pain was almost piercing. Shen Miao came back to her senses, raised the dagger in her hand, and stabbed it towards the man's eyes. The tall and thin man was startled, dodged to the side, avoided the tip of her dagger, cursed "poisonous woman", and snatched the dagger from her hand.

  Shen Miao endured the pain in her leg, grasped the window frame of the cabin with both hands, and jumped down without blinking.

  "Want to run?" The tall and thin man sneered, without any hesitation, he threw the dagger in his hand towards her, it went straight into Shen Miao's calf, although not too deep, a bright red blood stain quickly spread across the lake surface.

  Shen Miao was a good swimmer, but in this cold winter month, the water of Wanli Lake was icy and piercing to the bone. Once someone fell into it, they would feel like their whole body had turned into an ice block, and after struggling to move a few times, they would feel that their entire body could no longer move.

  That tall and thin one was about to jump into the water to rescue Shen Miao, after all, Shen Miao was the only one who knew where the people in the secret room were. Just as he was about to take action, a strange firework sound came from the horizon, and when he looked up, a firework had just burst open in the western sky.

  "Things have changed!" The short man wiped the blood from his face and said: "Withdraw!"

  "Take him away first." The tall and thin man cursed, about to jump into the lake, but unexpectedly the boat shook violently. Two men in black were already standing at the bow of the boat, with golden thread embroidery of eagle patterns on their shoulders. The short man exclaimed: "Moyu Army! How did they end up here?"

  Before the two of them could come to their senses, the two black-clad men had already swooped in front of them. The silver blade flashed by, and the terrified expressions on their faces were frozen in that instant as they slowly fell backwards.

  In the lake, Shen Miao was still churning violently. The stout and thin men's words just now seemed not to be from just two people, as if there were other forces behind them, and those forces sounded quite powerful. Shen Miao had an unimaginable intuition about such things. If she fell into the hands of these two, she could still think of a way to escape, but if she fell into that force's hands, even if she died outside, the Shen family might never find the murderer.

  But unexpectedly, this broken pot sank to the bottom of the boat in one jump, and she was trapped on a desperate road. Those two people didn't come down to rescue her for a long time, the lake water was icy cold, wasn't she going to die here?

  Her head began to feel a little heavy, and the buzzing in her ears made her unable to hear any sound. It was as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. The surface of the water and the sunlight were right in front of her eyes, and she could still see those flower lanterns floating downstream with their dazzling lights, but she just couldn't grasp them, couldn't see them clearly.

  Just as her eyes were about to lose sight, she suddenly saw a figure swimming towards her from afar. The person's body was agile and strong, and in the sparkling lake water, he seemed like a god descending from heaven, bringing brightness as he swam towards her.

  He swam up to Shen Miao, wrapped his arms around her waist and started swimming towards the surface of the water. In this icy weather, the lake water was freezing cold, making it difficult for one person to swim, yet he swam effortlessly while carrying another person. When they reached the boat, he lifted Shen Miao and threw her onto the deck, then climbed up himself.

  Shen Miao choked on several mouthfuls of water, and after getting on the boat, she didn't even roll over, just kept coughing with a stuffy nose. But when she saw the person in front of her turn around, she looked up to see that he was also drenched from head to toe, his face no longer had its usual playful expression, and he was frowning at her.

  It was Xie Jinghang.

  This move was seen by Xie Jinghang, and Shen Miao's surprised thoughts were all dispelled. Those two had come for Xie Jinghang in the first place, and it seemed that Xie Jinghang himself had also received news of this, which was why he rushed over.

  She struggled to prop herself up and saw that there were two more corpses in the cabin, which were the tall and short men from just now. Two black-clad men walked out of the depths of the cabin, one of whom walked to Xie Jinghang's side and whispered something in his ear. Xie Jinghang beckoned with his hand, and the two men took the two corpses away, wiping clean the bloodstains in the cabin before they left.

  Shen Miao couldn't help but think about who these two people were. Even a fool would know that they were sent by Xie Jingxuan. She moved her body slightly, feeling pain all over, from head to toe. She had been soaking in the icy water for quite some time and was starting to shiver with cold. Earlier, she had been thrown into the air several times by the tall and thin man, and her back ached terribly. The most painful part was probably her calf. She looked down at her skirt, which was stuck to her body, while her calf was stained with a faint blood flower that blended in with the red embroidery on her skirt, making it hard to distinguish. That was where she had been stabbed by the tall and thin man's dagger earlier.

  She was cold and painful, unable to say a word. However, when Xie Jing walked into the cabin, among these exquisite paintings, there were some warm stoves and clothes that were usually used as spare, he pulled out a stove from the wooden box, lit it with a fire starter, and added a few pieces of charcoal inside.

  The fire crackled to life, the boat rocked gently on the lake, Xie Jinghang glanced at Shen Miao and suddenly curled his lips into a smile: "I'm going to change clothes, do you want to keep your eyes open?"

  Shen Miao suddenly closed her eyes, and at this moment, her mind was still a bit confused. It was hard for Xie Jingying to have the heart to tease her, but all she heard was a soft laugh, followed by the rustling sound of clothes being put on. After a while, Xie Jingying's voice rang out: "Okay."

  Shen Miao opened her eyes to find Xie Jingyi fastening the last button, having changed into a dark blue brocade robe with a white fox fur coat draped over his shoulders, giving off an icy and solemn aura. A pair of black peach blossom eyes seemed to smile yet not smile as they stared at Shen Miao: "Do you want to change too?"

  Wearing icy wet clothes close to her body, it's easy to catch a chill. Even sitting by the stove, warming up, it would take some time to dry completely. She was afraid that by the time she did, she would have already caught a cold herself. She had always been careful with her body. Moreover, at this moment, she was feeling uncomfortable all over, so she looked at Xie Jinghang and calmly asked: "Is there any other clothing?"

  Xie Jingxing stood up, took out a set of clothes from a cloth bag on the wooden table, and sat against the wall, saying: "My subordinate sent me these clothes. The current situation is a bit troublesome, so I couldn't find you women's clothing. If you want to change, you can only wear mine."

  An unmarried woman, wearing a strange man's clothes, this situation has a few shades of romance. Shen Miao raised her eyes to look at Xie Jingxing, the smile on his lips was slightly wicked, and it was unknown whether he was really forced by the situation or intentionally doing so.

  Shen Miao discovered that Xie Jingxuan truly had a special kind of charm. Since her rebirth, she had been facing everyone with the mindset of "Empress Shen". Even when facing Shen Que, she couldn't treat him as her own older brother, and sometimes even felt like she was taking care of him. But every time she encountered Xie Jingxuan, his wickedness would leave Shen Miao dazed. In those moments, she wasn't the experienced Empress Shen who had gone through ups and downs, but just a naive and innocent Fifth Miss Shen who didn't know the dangers of the world.

  "Give it to me."

  Her answer made Xie Jinghang somewhat unexpected, and he looked at her with suspicion: "You want to wear my clothes?"

  "Are there other clothes here?" Shen Miao asked.

  Xie Jinghang smiled and tossed the clothes to her. Shen Miao took the clothes, endured for a moment, then said to Xie Jinghang: "Please turn around, Young Master."

  Xie Jinghang looked at her with a profound gaze, sizing her up from head to toe. Shen Miaoru's clothes were wet and clinging to her body, revealing her petite figure and almost exposing her girlish physique. Her disheveled appearance somehow brought out a few touches of elegance that she didn't normally have. Xie Jinghang said with interest: "A little girl who still smells like milk can be shy? Don't worry," his eyes scrutinized and scorned: "There's nothing to see, really." After speaking, he turned his head away, not even glancing at Shen Miaoru again.

  Shen Miao let out a slight sigh of relief, picked up Xie Jingxuan's clothes, which was a stone-blue thin cotton long gown with ironed cuffs. The fabric and embroidery were all top-notch. Shen Miao subconsciously touched it, such craftsmanship, even in her past life, only the palace could have had such luxury. It seemed that the rumors about Lin'an being wealthy enough to rival a country weren't false after all.

  She slowly took off her wet outer garment and undergarment, using the wet clothes to wipe herself clean by the stove before picking up Xie Jinghang's robe. Who knew that Xie Jinghang's robe was so complicated in design that she couldn't even put it on properly? Not only that, but the waistband had also wrapped itself around her left calf, which already had a wound from the dagger earlier. She had thought it wasn't too serious before, but now looking at it, the bloody and mangled appearance was quite frightening. The waistband had rubbed against the wound, causing Shen Miao to gasp in pain and lose her balance, falling to the ground with a loud "thud" and knocking over the teapot on the table.

  Xie Jinghang heard the commotion and immediately turned around, seeing Shen Miao fall to the ground. He took a step forward and helped her up. Before Shen Miao could stop him, she was already leaning against his chest, her clothes still not properly put on, loosely wrapped around her body, with her shoulders slightly exposed and her hair still damp, looking quite alluring. Even though she tried to remain calm, there was a moment of panic and helplessness.

  Instead, Xie Jinghang furrowed his brow, grasped her calf and stared at the wound in a low voice: "What's going on?"