When Linyue arrived, Shu Mingye was already there, leaning casually against the wall. He looked up, eyes sharp, expression somewhere between mildly bored, slightly suspicious, and deeply nosy.
Without so much as a greeting, Linyue marched up to him and shoved a wooden box into his arms.
"Help me hold onto it," she said flatly.
He blinked down at the box. "What is it?"
"Something precious."
That caught his attention. One eyebrow slowly lifted. "If it's precious," he asked smoothly, "why are you giving it to me? Do you trust me that much?"
"Not at all," she replied cheerfully.
Then, as if to prove her point, she lifted her other hand revealing a dark green jade flute. It was elegant, slim, and carved with swirling wind patterns.
Shu Mingye narrowed his eyes. "... Is that a flute?"
"Hidden weapon," she said.
He stared at the flute. The flute stared back.
Of course. Of course it was a hidden weapon. Nothing she owned was ever just one thing. Knowing her, it could play lullabies and poke someone's eyes at the same time.
Still holding the suspiciously precious box, he nodded toward the tunnel behind them. "How do you know this secret passage?" he asked.
Before Linyue could even think about answering his question, her so-called guard reappeared from the shadows. He didn't say anything, just gave Shu Mingye a small nod like yes, I too survived the eyeball-poking adventure.
Linyue, as usual, ignored everything else and said briskly, "Let's go."
Without warning, she shoved the wooden box back into Shu Mingye's hands.
He sighed. Deeply. Profoundly. Then accepted his fate as a part-time luggage handler and muttered, "I'm a King."
They walked. And walked. And twisted. And turned.
At this point, Shu Mingye was completely convinced that the entire tunnel system had been designed by a drunken mole.
Eventually, they stopped at a narrow staircase carved from stone. At the top corner, hidden behind a thick web of cobwebs (and possibly a very judgmental spider), was a small, rusty handle.
Linyue didn't hesitate. She gathered her spiritual energy, grabbed the handle, and twisted.
With a loud click and the dramatic grind of ancient stone, a square of the ceiling above them began to shift. Light slipped in—dim at first, then a little brighter. A fresh gust of night air swept down the stairs.
They climbed up into the night.
Shu Mingye squinted at the sight that greeted him.
A fence. A very unimpressive, half-a-person-tall wooden fence that surrounded them like a lazy attempt at security. It did not scream "secret imperial escape route." It barely whispered "abandoned garden corner."
He slowly turned his head to get a better look. Behind them stood a large, crooked tree.
The Moonlight Tree.
It was once a sacred tree. Legend said it bloomed only under the full moon, its silver flowers shining like tiny stars. Poets wrote about it. Painters painted it. Someone probably even tried to marry it.
Ever since the demons arrived and ruined everything, as demons tend to do, the tree had withered. Now it looked like a haunted, cursed tree. No leaves. No flowers. Just brittle branches poking at the sky like angry fingers.
People had tried everything to revive the tree over hundred years. Spiritual water, music, firecrackers, motivational speeches. The tree stayed dead, and mildly offended.
He Yuying stood there looking at the creepy tree and added helpful commentary, "This tree must be haunted."
Shu Mingye stared up at it in silence. Then, with a sigh, he muttered, "We're on the northeast side of the palace."
Of course they were. He recognized the sad tree, the sad fence, and the extra-sad statue nearby. "Not far from our chambers," he added.
He hesitated. Then finally said what he'd been thinking since they climbed out of that tunnel:
"I won't go back."
There was no point. After everything—the assassination attempt, prison break, the missing general who was now short an eyeball, the suspicious emperor—he couldn't exactly walk back to his room and tuck himself into bed like a well-behaved palace guest. No one would buy that. The emperor had probably already sent someone to check on him and found nothing but cold sheets and disappointment.
He had already planned for this. As soon as things reached this point, he'd return to the south, back to Shulin. There, he had control. He had power. He had snacks.
As long as the emperor had no solid evidence, he couldn't touch him. But if he stayed here any longer, the man would definitely find something to blame him for. Even his breathing might be considered "rebellious."
More importantly… the kidnapped general was going to Shulin too. Which meant she would come back as well.
Shu Mingye looked down at the box in his hands, then sideways at the woman who was currently brushing cobwebs off her sleeve.
"All right," she said simply. No questions. No fuss.
That was it?
Shu Mingye stared at her, mildly offended by how unbothered she was. He should've gone with the other guards earlier, snuck off through the tunnel like a responsible adult. That would've been the smart choice.
But no. He had paused. Just one second of hesitation. And now?
She didn't even care whether he stayed or left. Somehow, that annoyed him more than it should've. He still had a mountain of questions stacked up in his head.
A fake princess, a kidnapped general, secret passages under the palace, where did it end? Did she also pose as a ghost at night? Was she secretly running a dumpling stall in the mornings? At this rate, she might as well be. But there was no time to dig into any of that. There was no "let's sit down and share our deepest secrets" moment waiting for them. He had to hurry back before things turned even worse.
As for her, Shu Mingye was disturbingly confident she'd be fine, as long as she didn't stand up in the throne room and yell, "Surprise, I'm not a real princess!" everything should be fine. Probably.
He was just turning to leave when something lit up under his robes.
His spirit transmission jade glowed. With a frown, he tapped it and sent a flicker of spiritual energy through. A panicked voice immediately burst out, "LORD, WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"
It was General Shanjun. Definitely panicking. The man usually spoke slow and steady. Now he sounded his pants was on fire and trying not to cry.
"There's a group of high-level cultivators ambushed us while we were clearing demons. We can't hold them off. The demons are still pouring in!"
Shu Mingye exhaled hard through his nose.
Of course. Someone out there apparently couldn't sit still for five minutes and just had to stir up trouble the moment he got stuck deep in the imperial palace. The soldiers were already busy keeping demons at bay, now assassins too?
Worse, most of his elite guards were with him, helping break Prince Han out of prison and politely escorting chaos through palace tunnels. Which meant back in Shulin, the defense was… thinner than usual.
He could only leave it to Shanjun now. Beside Boyi, Shanjun was one of the few people he trusted not to set the state on fire by accident. Normally, if it were just demons, they could hold the line. But now?
Demons and cultivators?
He mentally began calculating. Best-case scenario? He rode nonstop and arrived in three days, looking dramatic but late.
He was in the middle of planning about twelve disaster escape routes when her voice floated over—light, smooth, and far too amused for someone who had just kidnapped a general.
"It seems you have a lot of fans," Linyue said, her lips twitching with what might be sympathy or maybe it was just barely-hidden laughter. "I'll leave first then."
Fans? Was that what they were calling armed assassins now?
Before he could form a reply, perhaps to politely suggest she go get her head checked, she had already turned around and walked away. Calm. Graceful. Not even a bit hurried.
She didn't even glance back. Not at him. Not at the chaos. Not even at the wooden box in his hands.
He stared after her retreating figure, mildly offended on behalf of the box.