Report to the Empress and the Eldest Princess: They're using the system to poach your men.

Chapter 194 Lin Wanyi also disappeared

[My lord, this—this doesn't seem to be the way back to the palace, does it?]

Halfway there, Xiao Tong realized that Shen Sangwan was leading Consort Lan out of the city, with no intention of returning to the palace.

Did I say I wanted to return to the palace?

Despite refusing to admit it, Shen Sangwan tied the person to her back and rode a fast horse straight to the manor where Lin Wanyi had recently moved to outside the city.

Ruoli and Ruoxin had been watching over Lin Wanyi. When they saw Shen Sangwan arrive, one of them led the horse and the other took Consort Lan from Shen Sangwan's hands.

"Your Highness, what is this—?"

"Get the people inside first."

Lin Wanyi's estate was a small village about twenty miles from the capital. She didn't dare to ride too fast along the way, and it took her almost two hours.

In the real world, she had never driven for four or five hours straight. Riding a horse for nearly four hours without stopping, and having to constantly call out to Consort Lan behind her, almost made her throw up.

After settling the horse, Ruoxin went to prepare some pear soup to soothe Shen Sangwan's throat.

"Your Highness, please slow down. There's still a lot cooking in the kitchen."

In her haste to leave the city, Shen Sangwan hadn't prepared any water or food. Now, feeling parched, she drank two large bowls of water.

"Your Highness, why does the Imperial Concubine appear like this?"

After Ruoli placed the person on the soft couch in the inner room, she asked a question that seemed somewhat incredulous.

Since Shen Yuchen ascended the throne, Consort Lan seemed to have disappeared into the shadows. Now that she has been seen again, she has become so thin.

"I don't know much about where Princess Ming is either. Go and have her come here. I have some questions for her."

“Since His Highness left yesterday, Princess Ming has been crying for a long time. Perhaps she hurt herself from crying, because she has been in bed all day. When Ruoxin brought her breakfast this morning, she just left it on the table. When she checked at noon, it hadn’t been touched at all.”

Shen Sangwan shook her head slightly, a hint of regret in her eyes.

"Alright, I'll go see her. Also, prepare dinner."

"Would Your Highness like to stay the night?"

Ruoxin blurted out a comment without thinking.

What followed was the look of disbelief from Ruoli and Shen Sangwan, as if they were looking at someone who was stupid.

"Your Highness, I will go and make your bed right away."

Ruoxin, who had just left the house, slapped herself on the forehead. "Your Highness is already having dinner here. It takes almost two hours to ride a horse during the day, let alone at night. The road is bumpy and difficult to travel on. You should rest for the night and go back tomorrow. How could you ask such a stupid question?"

He kept slapping his forehead and talking to himself as he walked, looking from a distance like a rambling old woman.

Lin Wanyi's bedroom was on the east side. Shen Sangwan tidied up a bit before knocking on the door. When she didn't get a response, she pushed the door open and went in.

They went straight to the bed, but it was empty.

Looking around, there wasn't a soul in sight.

"Ruoli, Ruoli!"

He immediately went out of the inner room and called out to Ruoli.

"What about people?"

Still unaware of the situation, Ruoli peeked into the room, then immediately knelt down, "It was my dereliction of duty..."

"What's the use of you kneeling here? Send someone to look for him!"

Shen Sangwan glared at the other person with a sense of disappointment and frustration, and couldn't help but want to kick Ruoli like she had kicked Xiaotong.

But then she thought that Ruoli was, after all, a woman, and not as thick-skinned as Xiaotong, so she forced herself to endure it.

"Yes, yes, I will send someone to find it immediately."

After everyone left, Shen Sangwan went back into the room and carefully examined the furnishings.

The lunch that Ruoxin had changed was still on the table, but she only took a couple of bites before putting the bowl and chopsticks back.

The bedding was very messy, not like what one would expect after getting up from sleeping in a bed.

It's more like someone forcibly took her away, and what she left behind after struggling.

"Xiao Tong, can you sense Lin Wanyi nearby?"

[Xiao Tong?]

"Yes, Master, I'm here!"

Upon hearing the first word, Shen Sangwan smiled, but her face fell instantly upon hearing the rest.

I'm asking if Lin Wanyi is around here.

Oh—it's not there.

Shen Sangwan looked at Xiao Tong, who was deliberately dragging out her words, and unconsciously clenched her fists.

Upon hearing the cracking sound of bones grinding together, Xiaotong immediately changed her attitude.

[Master, Princess Ming and you aren't very close, so it's normal that I couldn't sense anything. But according to Ruoxin, she came over around noon to change the food, and she was still there then, which means that the time she disappeared was around the time you arrived here from the capital—hiss...]

Shen Sangwan was initially listening attentively to the other person's analysis, but later realized that Xiaotong's words were no different from talking nonsense and were wasting her time.

He simply dragged the person out, grabbed their ear, and said, "My brain hasn't degenerated to that extent."

[Waaaaah, it hurts so much~]

Xiao Tong, who was covering her right ear with her hand, looked at Shen Sangwan with teary eyes, repeatedly gesturing for her to let go of her ear.

Is there any way to find her?

Xiao Tong pouted and shook her head slightly, not daring to make too big a movement, because her ears were really hurting terribly.

"We could find Xiao Yan Yan even when she was just a soul, so how can you not find such a grown, living person?"

Shen Sangwan was somewhat skeptical of Xiaotong's attitude and increased her pressure.

[Ouch—Master, have you considered that Xiao Yan is your best friend? You two used to be so close, you even shared the same pants. I can naturally sense your faint scent. But Lin Wanyi isn't familiar with you at all. Even if you rip my ear off today, there's nothing I can do!]

He tried to get his head as close to Shen Sangwan's hand as possible so that his small ears could feel a little more comfortable.

Seeing that there was no sign that the other party was lying, Shen Sangwan had no choice but to let go of Xiaotong.

He sat down on the stool, staring at the unfinished food.

"Come here and check if there's anything wrong with this food."

At this moment, Xiaotong's ears were as red as boiled shrimp, and she gently rubbed them as she moved over.

[There seems to be a problem. It looks like they added a drowsy drug. It's not noticeable when the food is hot; the strange aroma only comes out when it's cold. But judging from the small amount I've eaten, it probably won't have much effect.]

Xiao Tong leaned closer and even took a sniff, almost as if she was about to grab a handful and take a couple of breaths.

"That's strange. I moved her to this remote place, how could she still be kidnapped? And Lin Wanyi doesn't seem to have offended anyone, so why would someone go to such lengths to take her away from here?"

"Master, is it possible that the King of Light faked his death to escape, and then his men found our trail and kidnapped us from here?"

Shen Sangwan nodded in agreement; this was the first time he hadn't said anything pointless and that his words made a lot of sense.

He patted the other's arm forcefully, "Not bad, little one!"

As soon as Ruoli entered, she heard Shen Sangwan say something that seemed to come out of nowhere.

The raised foot was neither forward nor backward.

The way he looked at the other person also became somewhat strange.