Tang Ci quickly found Shao Qingge's contact information and called him using his own communicator. After two beeps, a gentle mechanical voice came through the phone: "Hello, the owner is not home. Please leave a message if you need anything."
Tang Ci left a message for Shao Qingge, asking him to call her back. He then called the company, but the assistant said CEO Shao was not there. He tried calling Shao Qingge's personal phone, but couldn't get through.
Tang Ci looked at Xiao Lou: " Shao Qingge is not at home, not at the company, and his private number is unreachable."
Xiao Lou speculated, "Could he be with Ye Qi?"
Tang Ci glanced at the information he found and said, " Ye Qi is currently a freshman in the Mecha Piloting Department at Ninth Military Academy. It's July now, and their school is on summer vacation. Perhaps CEO Shao went to pick up Ye Qi in person?"
Upon hearing " Ninth Military Academy," Lu Jiuchuan asked, "We graduated from this school too, right?"
Tang Ci nodded: "Yes. You are from the Military Command Department, and I am from the Mecha Piloting Department. I am Ye Qi's senior."
Xiao Lou said, " If CEO Shao goes to pick up Ye Qi, the military academy is located in Southern Cross Star, which is a long way away. It would take two days and two nights to get to Capital Star. The phone call might not go through because the signal is blocked in Southern Cross Star?"
Tang Ci asked, "By the way, Professor Xiao, doesn't your Peach Blossom Spring have the ability to forcibly summon teammates? Could you try pulling them over directly?"
Xiao Lou thought this was unlikely. In the past, when recruiting teammates, everyone was in the same city or even the same maze, very close to each other. Now it's the interstellar age; you can't teleport across planets, can you? That's too scientific.
Starships and highly intelligent mechs still require space jump technology to travel between stars. If humans could teleport directly between galaxies tens of thousands of light-years apart, what would be the point of having these mechs?
Although rationally he thought it unlikely that Peach Blossom Spring would summon teammates, Xiao Lou still wanted to try. He activated Tao Yuanming, released The Peach Blossom Spring, and sent an invitation to his teammates.
Soon, six people appeared under the peach tree.
In addition to Xiao Lou and his three companions, there were also Long Sen and Qu Wanyue.
Qu Wanyue walked over and said, " After Long Sen got home just now, he inexplicably asked me a bunch of questions about my university days. He only believed I was real after I answered them all. He even nervously told me, 'This instance has clones?'"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "Yes, we found Xiao Lou's clone in the palace."
He couldn't help but glance at Long Sen. This guy was really something else. His wife still had to ask about her past experiences to tell the truth from the falsehood. Compared to Yu Hanjiang recognizing clone in 3 seconds with just a look, Long Sen's level was too low. He needed to practice more.
Long Sen noticed Yu Hanjiang's disdain, scratched his head, and asked with a smile, " Professor Xiao, is there something important that you suddenly summoned your teammates?"
Xiao Lou explained, "We couldn't find information about Liu Qiao, Lao Mo, Sister Huaying, and Senior Gui, so we wanted to try using Peach Blossom Spring to gather the other teammates."
Long Sen looked at Tang Ci: "Even Mr. Tang can't find out?"
Tang Ci said, "The names of those four people are not in the federal identity database at all."
After waiting for a while, there were still only six people under the peach tree, and Liu Qiao and the others were nowhere to be seen. Xiao Lou said helplessly, "It seems that it is impossible to teleport across the universe. We need to be on at least one planet to enter Peach Blossom Spring."
This was also within Xiao Lou's expectations, so he wasn't too disappointed. At least, the fact that Liu Qiao and the other three couldn't get into Peach Blossom Spring indirectly confirmed his speculation: "None of the six are currently at Capital Star."
Lu Jiuchuan stroked his chin: "So, there must be another storyline?"
Xiao Lou said, " CEO Shao and Ye Qi should be back. Their homes are in Capital Star, so they're likely on their way back. But we haven't been able to find any clues about the remaining four, and we don't know what roles or tasks they've been assigned." He looked at Qu Wanyue: " Teacher Qu, do you have any news about Xiao Liu and the others?"
Qu Wanyue shook her head: "I have never met them in this world. I am a dance teacher at Passers Art Academy, and none of my students or colleagues have any information about the four of them. By the way, I know General Lin's daughter, Lin Yan. It is said that she is His Highness the Prince's fiancée?"
Lu Jiuchuan glanced at Yu Hanjiang: " Xiao Lou has a fiancée?!"
His gaze was incredibly complex, as if to say, "He already has a fiancée, why the hell aren't you hurrying up?!"
Ignoring her brother's gaze, Yu Hanjiang calmly asked, "What kind of person is Miss Lin?"
Qu Wanyue, seeing that he didn't mind, spoke frankly: " Lin Yan is the most talented student I have ever taught. She has been doing ballet since elementary school, has a great figure, and a gentle and generous personality. Her father is a three-star general in the military, and her mother is the president of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. His Majesty chose this young lady as the prince's fiancée, probably because of her powerful family background."
Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou: "It does sound like a good match."
Xiao Lou touched his nose: "Cough, I'm not familiar with her."
Qu Wanyue asked doubtfully, "But in my memory, Lin Yan seems to really like His Highness the Prince, and she often tells people how wonderful he is. Professor Xiao, are you sure you're not familiar with her?"
Xiao Lou shook his head: "Never seen it."
Qu Wanyue paused for a moment, then asked, "Could it be that Miss Lin knows that clone?"
Xiao Lou only remembered his father mentioning that he had a fiancée, and that the marriage had been arranged while his mother was still alive. As for what the girl actually looked like, Xiao Lou had never seen her.
.
Yu Hanjiang also sensed something was wrong: "Everyone, disperse for now. Be careful, leave your communicator codes, and stay in touch. Teacher Qu, you can try to get some information out of that Miss Lin again. Let us know if you have any leads."
Qu Wanyue: "Understood."
They exchanged phone numbers.
After leaving Peach Blossom Spring, Yu Hanjiang, following Xiao Lou's advice, used the [ Thumbelina ] card in Lu Jiuchuan's hand to shrink Xiao Lou and put him in his pocket; at the same time, he used [ Qin Guan ]'s Telepathic Connection to connect their consciousnesses.
Yu Hanjiang drove back to the palace.
As Xiao Lou approached the palace gates, he couldn't help but feel nervous. What if all the card effects within the palace area automatically became ineffective? Wouldn't he have to grow bigger as soon as he entered?
Yu Hanjiang calmly passed through the guards' inspection and entered the palace gate.
Fortunately, Xiao Lou's worst fears came true; he remained safely in Yu Hanjiang's pocket.
Xiao Lou breathed a sigh of relief, and then heard Yu Hanjiang's voice in his mind: "You guessed right, as long as the card is used outside the palace, its continuous effect will still be effective after entering the palace. However, new cards cannot be used inside the palace, which will make it more difficult to deal with unexpected situations."
All instant cards cannot be used within the palace area. The only cards that can be used are those with " longer duration of effect". For example, Thumbelina's transformation lasts for 24 hours, and Telepathic Connection's passage also lasts for 24 hours. It is activated outside the palace and remains effective after entering the palace.
Yu Hanjiang brought the shrunken Xiao Lou back to Gemini Palace, thus ending the card's transformation state. He then casually sent a message to his teammates: " Xiao Lou and I tested it. The card's continuous effect remains active even after entering the palace, even when used outside."
In this way, Qu Wanyue can use the [ chameleon card ] to sneak into the palace in advance on the day of the birthday banquet.
**
That night, Yu Hanjiang slept in Xiao Lou's bedroom.
Since there were no guest rooms, he and Xiao Lou had to sleep in the same bed.
Back in the secret chamber of Peach Eight, they had been husband and wife for a lifetime, sharing the same bed every night. However, at that time, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang had not yet expressed their feelings for each other and were too shy to touch. So, every night, the two of them would lie on their backs in bed, properly assuming a sleeping position, as if they were lying side by side like corpses.
But things are different now. They've already confessed their feelings to each other, and they're sleeping in the same bed. They're both young and vigorous adults; what if they can't control themselves...?
Xiao Lou felt increasingly embarrassed as she thought about it. After taking a shower, she immediately went to bed, turned over, and pretended to sleep.
Yu Hanjiang also took a shower in his bathroom.
When he came out, he found that Xiao Lou was facing away from the bathroom, only taking up a quarter of the space next to the bed, leaving a lot of room for him. Yu Hanjiang lifted the covers, crawled into bed, and stretched out his long arm to gently hug Xiao Lou from behind.
A deep male voice came from beside her ear: "Sleeping on the edge of the bed, aren't you afraid of falling off?"
Xiao Lou's ears burned, and he moved closer to Yu Hanjiang. Yu Hanjiang hugged him from behind, and the two of them smelled of the same shower gel. Xiao Lou thought to himself, now they seemed more like a couple than they did back in Red Heart 8? Nestled in Yu Hanjiang's arms, his back pressed against the man's firm chest, the heat emanating from him made his heart race.
Just as she was lost in thought, a low chuckle suddenly reached her ears: "Hmm, they really do sound like a married couple."
Xiao Lou: "…"
I forgot that it was still connected to the Telepathic Connection.
His thoughts could be transmitted to Yu Hanjiang's mind.
Xiao Lou's face flushed red instantly, and she dared not think of anything else, quickly closing her eyes.
Yu Hanjiang simply rolled over and pinned him to the bed, his deep eyes fixed on him as he whispered, " Xiao Lou, we've been through so many escape rooms together, do you know which one I like the most?"
Xiao Lou was embarrassed to answer, but an answer kept popping into her mind.
Red Heart 8.
Yu Hanjiang brought her lips close to his ear and said, word by word, "I also like Red Heart 8 the most —because in that world, we were husband and wife for a lifetime, and we still have memories of our wedding night."
Xiao Lou: "......"
Connected via Telepathic Connection, she felt a little ashamed; nothing she thought could escape Yu Hanjiang's notice. Xiao Lou simply reached out and gently hugged the man pressing down on her: "You know what I'm thinking. Actually, I already liked you back then."
Yu Hanjiang said gently, "Me too."
The kiss came unexpectedly. The moment his teeth were pried open, Xiao Lou's mind went blank. He had no idea when Yu Hanjiang's hand had slipped into his loose pajamas and casually stripped off his clothes.
This was the first time Xiao Lou had ever been so completely honest with someone.
Naked and held in Yu Hanjiang's arms, Xiao Lou looked like a cooked shrimp, his eyes downcast and too embarrassed to look at him. Yu Hanjiang's burning kiss landed on his lips, then moved downwards...
Xiao Lou was so nervous that her whole body stiffened, and she felt that something was amiss.
Intimate sounds came from the bedroom. Xiao Lou closed her eyes and gripped the sheets tightly with both hands.
But Yu Hanjiang didn't go all the way. He knew that the current environment wasn't suitable for putting a strain on Xiao Lou's body. Yu Hanjiang calmly stepped on the brakes, took a deep breath to steady his racing heart, and said in a low, hoarse voice, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." He paused, then explained, "I'll leave some marks on you so we can distinguish you from Clone."
Xiao Lou blushed and said, "This is using public office for private gain."
Yu Hanjiang readily admitted, "Yeah. Actually, I just wanted to get a stamp to prove that you're mine."
Xiao Lou: "......"
Is it possible to prove it by "stamping the whole body"?
In fact, Xiao Lou knew why Yu Hanjiang did this—because he had a fiancée, and Yu Hanjiang was unhappy, so he left him covered in hickeys.
Don't be fooled by this man's usual aloofness; he has an extremely strong possessive streak.
However, Xiao Lou could understand; if Yu Hanjiang had a fiancée, he certainly wouldn't be happy either.
To prevent the situation from getting out of control, Xiao Lou had no choice but to hug Yu Hanjiang and promise, "My fiancée is just a figurehead. I don't know her well, and it's impossible for me to marry her. If my father forces me to marry her, I will be honest with her and tell her that I love you."
Yu Hanjiang was finally satisfied. He leaned down and kissed Xiao Lou's lips, then rolled over and lay down next to Xiao Lou, pulling him tightly into his arms: "Sleep."
Xiao Lou closed her eyes in relief.
****