Chapter 45: He Wants Her to Answer Him Personally

Nan Xueyin was escorted back into the Dali Temple Prison.

"Our Dali Temple Prison may not have as many interrogations as other jails, but that doesn't mean we lack torture implements! Zhou Lu, you know about this! You had best confess quickly—who exactly ordered you to kill the high-profile prisoner? Otherwise, don't blame the brothers for being impolite!"

Nan Xueyin steadied her breathing.

She had to bite the bullet and insist she was Zhou Lu; she could not reveal any information.

In order to extract the information they wanted, they would use severe torture, but they would not go so far as to kill her outright.

Therefore, she would stay here and wait for Xiao Mingyu to arrive.

He was the Prince; if he could arrive in time and use his status as a Prince to cause a stir, she could find a gap to escape.

"Hmph, not talking?"

The head jailer sneered, "Come! Bring all those torture implements up! We'll try them one by one!"

On the other side.

Shu Yu found Xiao Youlan outside the Baoci Palace. He had been kneeling outside the palace gate for a long time, completely indifferent to the frequent stares of the palace servants. There was no expression on his face, and his back was held very straight, like a jade statue standing imposingly under the night sky.

"What is going on here?" Shu Yu asked Feihong with a frown.

Feihong did not dare speak in front of Xiao Youlan; he dragged Shu Yu a distance away before lowering his voice: "His Highness sought out the Empress Dowager, saying he wanted to see Doukou. The Empress Dowager said she had no idea where Doukou was. His Highness didn't believe her, saying he already knew about the Empress Dowager's plan to choose a Crown Princess for him, and that Doukou's disappearance was likely related to this. Seeing that the Empress Dowager wouldn't budge, His Highness went to find the Emperor."

"And?"

"But the Emperor didn't know where Doukou went either!"

Shu Yu was stunned; this was truly strange.

"The Emperor heard that His Highness hadn't even attended the morning court session because he was searching for a palace maid, and had even gone to question the Empress Dowager. He flew into a rage and punished the Crown Prince by making him kneel before the Baoci Palace, telling him to stay there until he realized his mistake. His Highness said he could kneel, but after he finished, he requested that the Emperor and Empress Dowager must return Miss Doukou to him." Speaking to the end, Feihong let out a long sigh.

Shu Yu clicked his tongue, "Our Crown Prince is truly deep in love..."

Feihong looked at the Crown Prince's figure, his eyes filled with melancholy, "I only hope the Emperor and Empress Dowager can really return Miss Doukou. Otherwise, I suspect His Highness will really kneel here until he dies—you don't know, ever since he knelt down, His Highness hasn't moved once, nor has he said a single word!"

Inside the Baoci Palace, Momo Qiutong walked out.

Xiao Youlan seemed to sense something; he slowly raised his head, waiting for the Empress Dowager to relent.

Qiutong looked pained, "Crown Prince, by kneeling here, you are only hurting the Empress Dowager's heart! Please, get up. Miss Doukou was truly not hidden by the Empress Dowager."

Xiao Youlan's gaze dimmed, but he did not move an inch.

Qiutong was extremely helpless, "Your Highness, think about it: why would the Empress Dowager hide Doukou? She has always liked that girl Doukou!"

Xiao Youlan remained unmoved.

"It seems that unless Doukou returns, His Highness will absolutely not get up," Feihong lamented.

"But something big happened at the Dali Temple Prison, and I have to report it to His Highness," Shu Yu said, troubled.

Feihong didn't even think about it and said, "Report it quickly! If it's a massive matter, it might be good to divert His Highness's attention. If he goes to busy himself with other things, he won't continue kneeling here."

Shu Yu pondered it, and that made sense!

So he walked up with large strides and said, "Your Highness, Wang Yong, who was just escorted into Fengdu a few days ago and has been detained in the Dali Temple Prison, was killed by a jailer today."

Xiao Youlan didn't even lift his eyelids.

"It's quite funny, actually," Shu Yu said, as if trying to coax the Crown Prince into a better mood, "That jailer killed someone, but wanting to escape the blame, he actually used a woman's voice to call out to me, 'Official Shu'. I scolded him right then and there—he was far too indecisive!"

He muttered in a low voice, "Though, that woman's voice of his did sound quite a bit like Doukou's."

Upon hearing that name, Xiao Youlan turned his head abruptly, his gaze falling upon him.

Seeing he had a reaction, Shu Yu squatted down and continued, "Speaking of which, this Wang Yong was just a dog raised by the Prince to hoard wealth. I suspect Wang Yong's death this time has something to do with the Prince."

As he spoke, Shu Yu had a sudden inspiration and made a bold conjecture, "Hey, Your Highness, do you remember? Grand Secretary Wei once mentioned that the Prince keeps a mysterious Assassin by his side who is said to be very skilled in the Disguise Technique and can pretend to be either a man or a woman. Do you think it's possible that the jailer was that Assassin in disguise?"

Something inside Xiao Youlan loosened.

"But it's hard to say for sure..." Shu Yu quickly dismissed his own conjecture, and seeing Xiao Youlan suddenly stand up, he was startled, "Your Highness?"

Xiao Youlan had already strode away, "To the Dali Temple Prison!"

In truth, he had been pondering the whole matter the entire time.

If it were truly the Emperor or his grandmother the Empress Dowager who had hidden Doukou, it would be impossible for them to do it so flawlessly. Moreover, they wanted to choose a suitable Crown Princess for him, so they would certainly keep Doukou by his side to steady him; how could they suddenly and inexplicably move to hide her?

Doukou had vanished into thin air; before this morning, no one had noticed her movements.

Xiao Youlan uncontrollably recalled her eyes, the defined and powerful lines of her arms, and the donkey cart she had blocked for him on Ziwei Street.

Her person was always a blend of two qualities: on one side, charm and cunning, like a little fox with smooth, beautiful fur; on the other, coldness and sharpness, like a long sword piercing through the wind and snow.

A conjecture that Xiao Youlan did not want to admit, yet one that always hovered in his mind, was: perhaps she really was a spy sent by Xiao Mingyu and planted by his side.

She had disappeared suddenly because Wang Yong was caught, and Xiao Mingyu, worried about being implicated, had sent her to the prison to kill him.

But Shu Yu just said that the killer did not escape and even called out to him, "Official Shu".

Had Xiao Mingyu not come to receive her?

Did she want to return to his side in the Eastern Palace?

There were many questions he could not answer for himself.

He had to reach the Dali Temple Prison as quickly as possible and see her.

He wanted her to answer him with her own mouth.