They were now within fifty miles of Chengde, and the scenery along the way was no longer just grasslands and rice fields. High hills, mountains, rivers, and ponds gradually increased in number, and many ladies got off their carriages to walk and enjoy the scenery. The plan was to arrive at the Chengde Imperial Palace the next day, so they had plenty of time. When Jingxuan passed by a highland with extremely beautiful scenery in the afternoon, he ordered the troops to set up camp.

  To avoid Jingxuan, Meili pretended to be tired and didn't even eat dinner, staying in her own tent. She frowned and closed her eyes, lying on the soft couch, trying to calm down her worried mood... As long as she got through tonight, she would never give him another chance to be alone together!

  "Meili Gege? Meili Gege?" A soft and delicate voice called out from outside the door, obviously a young eunuch.

  Meili hastily sat up, smoothed her hair and replied, "Come in."

  A twelve or thirteen year old eunuch who served as a page boy hastily slipped into the tent, still looking around in all directions at the entrance.

  "Is there something?" Meri was puzzled by his unusual behavior.

  "Master Yonghe is back." The little eunuch swallowed his saliva.

  "Hmm." Meri frowned at him, why did he say such an ordinary sentence in such a mysterious way?

  "He... he wants you to come... to pass on a message." The little eunuch's shoulders shrank, and only then did he take out a pouch from his bosom and respectfully handed it over to Mei Li, "Tonight at the tenth hour, meet him in the woods behind the camp. He has something important to say."

  Meili looked at the handbag in her hand, it was indeed Yonghe's, but... she always felt that this matter was strange. With Yonghe's temper, he would never do such a sneaky thing, if he had something to say or do, he would definitely come personally and tell her!

  Could it be... that she had found out about what happened in the carriage this morning? Was she angry? When she lifted her head to ask the little eunuch, she discovered that he had already slipped away unnoticed.

  She let out a long sigh, or perhaps... the passionate kiss by the creek that day and... her face was burning, he had invited her to a secluded place... She shook her head, no way, after Jingxuan stumbled upon them by the creek, Yonghe was filled with shame and self-blame, she believed in Yonghe, he wouldn't do anything to hurt her!

  The little eunuch came out of Mei Li's tent and his legs went soft, stumbling as he ran to a quiet place to catch his breath.

  "Useless servant! You're actually scared like this!" Yin Di flashed out from the shadows, kicking him in anger.

  The little eunuch fell to his knees with a thud, his whole body trembling with fear, knocking his head against the ground like a garlic press, "Princess, spare my life! Princess, spare my life! I was just trying to deceive Princess Meili, but now I'm so scared that I wouldn't dare go to Prince Qing's place even if I were dead!" As he spoke, tears streamed down his face.

  "Ah!" Yin Di kicked him a few more times, but the little eunuch just kept kowtowing and begging for mercy, enduring her glare and curses without budging. Yin Di's face was stern, but she too was at a loss for what to do.

  "Hum! Trash!"

  Jing Xian finally couldn't bear it and flashed out from behind the curtain. Silver Qi was truly a useless fool, such a simple matter still needed her to come forward and resolve it.

  "Look at this!" She threw a 500-tael silver note on the ground in front of the little eunuch, who glanced at it and stiffened all over, clearly startled by the number on it.

  "Just go and spread the word! After it's done, you come to my place first and hide for a while. Everyone knows that King Qing is about to go on an expedition, he doesn't have the leisure to look for you all over the world! Once he leaves, I'll talk to our ancestors and arrange for you to be sent to a good place as an official, this silver will be extra reward for you." Jing Xian coldly smiled and promised.

  "Really...?" The little eunuch's voice was unsteady, and he was deeply moved.

  "Nonsense! Now we're all on the same boat, I'll drag you down with me even if I sink myself, what's there to worry about?!" Jing Xian glared impatiently.

  "Alright...alright." The little eunuch finally stood up, cupped his hands in response, and tucked the silver note away.

  "Go to the prince's place and calm down a bit! Stop being so sneaky! Can't you even deliver messages properly?!" Jing Xian scolded, the little eunuch bowed his head and nodded repeatedly, then retreated with his shoulders hunched.

  "Then what?" asked Yin Di, pretending to be clever.

  Jing Xian looked at her with a cold smile in her heart, "Idiot. 'Yin Di, I'm doing all this for you! I'm sacrificing myself without any benefit, just busy for nothing.'"

  Yin Di waved his hand somewhat impatiently, "I know, I know, even if you beat me to death, I still can't bring you out! You've said it ten thousand times already! Just say what we should do next, shall I go find Yong He?"

  "Go find Yonghe, he can go with you." Jingxian sneered silently.

  "He won't go, I'll drag him there! Besides, Mei Li stole a man, he wouldn't just listen and explode, would he rush to catch her?!" Yin Di said with a pout.

  "Is that right! He's eager to go and watch, but once he sees the good show, are you sure he won't resent you in the future? Won't suspect you? Do you still expect him to fall for you?"

  The silver reed was choked with sobs.

  It's really hopeless! Jing Xian snorted disdainfully, "You go tell Su Yan the news! Let her find Yong He together to take a look!"

  "Will she agree?"

  "Of course, she's not as stupid as you! Mei is going to be her greatest threat."

  Looking at Yin Dai going into Su Ying's tent in a daze, Jing Xian coldly laughed and said: "Yin Dai, you can't blame others, if you want to blame someone, it should be yourself for being stupid! Su Ying is the one who most hopes that Mei Li will marry Yong He quickly, how could she possibly take Yong He to catch an adulterer? You can't even understand such a simple truth, you're so stupid you deserve to die!"

  Jing Xuan leaned against the high pillow on the soft couch, his fingers gently stroking his chin, and gazed at the small eunuch opposite him with narrowed eyes. The small eunuch was almost paralyzed by his gaze, regretting his momentary greed that had led him to provoke such a master.

  "You said... Mei Li invited me to meet in the back mountain forest?" He chuckled softly, lazily repeating the little eunuch's words.

  "It is... it is."

  "Alright, tell Meryl," he raised an eyebrow, a sly glint flashing in his deep eyes, "I'll definitely go."

  The little eunuch let out a sigh of relief and ran out of the tent as if escaping with his life.

  Jingxuan lay down with a cold smile, a low-grade play! However... it was to his liking. After the matter was settled, he was willing to give Jingyan credit for one merit.

  In the spring, before the sun had set, Yin Di had already arrived at a secluded spot in the forest behind the mountain. She waited with a mixture of anxiety and excitement, while also looking down on Jing Xian's cowardice for not daring to come and watch the show!

  She was worried that Su Ying would pull Yong He along, but after hearing the news, Su Ying just lowered her head and thought silently without saying a word, nor did she give any clear indication.

  As the clock struck ten, she heard the sound of rustling footsteps. Mei Li held a small lantern and stumbled along. Gin'iro hid in the shadows with joy, Ah, the main character has finally arrived.

  The mountain wind was cool and blew through the leaves, making a rustling sound, which made people shiver for no reason. Mei Li hugged her arm, feeling a bit cold, and it had already passed the agreed time, but why hadn't Yong He arrived yet? She tiptoed back and forth lightly, feeling anxious and uneasy.

  More anxious than her was the silver reed in the dark. Why didn't anyone else show up?! At least Jingxuan should have come! Xiao Binzi clearly said he readily agreed!

  Half a time had passed, and the candles in the lanterns had all burned out. Mei Li frowned tightly, convinced that someone was deliberately teasing her for fun! She had felt something was off from the very beginning!

  She decided not to wait any longer and hurried back, perhaps Yonghe would return from the Emperor's place and couldn't find her getting anxious!

  Meili walked back and forth, Yin Qi was so anxious that she wanted to jump up, what's going on?! It was clearly planned well, but it ended up like this!

  She had been squatting for a long time, her legs were numb, and she stood up too quickly, her legs didn't work well, and she fell to the ground with a thud, making a cracking sound on the branches.

  "Who?!" Meri was startled and quickly covered herself with the already very weak lamp, when she saw Shiratori lying on the ground in pain, gritting his teeth, her face suddenly sank.

  "Is it you?!"

  Yin Ding began to feel a bit flustered, her legs gradually regained sensation and were no longer so numb. She stood up, although the plan hadn't succeeded, she didn't have to be afraid of Mei Li anymore?

  "That's right, it's me." She deliberately raised her chin and sneered coldly.

  "Is it interesting?" Mei Li didn't even bother to respond to her and turned around to leave.

  "Meili! Stop right there!" Infuriated by Meili's disdainful attitude, Yin Qi stepped forward and forcefully pulled her clothes. "You shameless woman! You have no face! All you know is to fawn over men!"

  The lantern fell to the ground and went out in the midst of their struggle. Mei Li was already angry, and with Ginji persistently twisting and turning, she couldn't bear it anymore and pushed her away. Ginji wasn't a match for her, and she quickly found herself flat on her backside.

  "You hit me? You still have the face to hit me?" She rushed over like a madwoman, grabbing and pulling on Mei Li's hair, venting her pent-up resentment of many days.

  Meili was pulled by her hair, and she also fought back, the two of them tangled together. Yin Di was knocked against the tree trunk, her back aching, so she leaned against the tree to gain momentum and pushed with all her might, pushing Meili backward, who suddenly let out a sharp cry and disappeared from sight.

  "Mei Lin?" Yin Di was startled by the sudden change and her scalp exploded, she shouted Mei Lin several times but got no response. She plucked up the courage to crawl over and check, and was shocked to find that where Mei Lin had disappeared was actually a natural pit, which was very hidden due to being covered with weeds.

  Crawling on the edge, it seems that Mei Li can still be heard splashing and struggling in the deep pit a few meters away, shouting for help very weakly.

  "Oh no!" Yin Di was even more frightened, "There's water at the bottom of the pit!"

  Before she had finished speaking, a black shadow flashed by her side and plunged into the water at the bottom of the pit with a splash, splashing several drops of water onto her face.

  "Ahh!" She was so scared that she took a few steps back, and when she came to her senses and thought it must have been someone who jumped down to save Meiuri and climbed back up to the edge of the pit to look, there was no sound coming from inside the pit, just complete silence. She called out in a trembling voice several times, but no one responded.

  Who is that person? It can't be... They all drowned?!

  She was so scared that she broke out in a cold sweat and fled the place in a panic, rolling and crawling to get away. She just wanted to escape, just wanted to pretend she didn't know anything!