Mistakenly Treated The Princess As A Concubine - Chapter 110

The night was as cool as water. Wen Zhuojin soaked in the chilly dragon canal and swam for half an hour.

Wen Zhuojin decided to follow the person into the water, gambling that since this person chose such a method, there must be some feasible way.

After swimming for a while with the person, Wen Zhuojin realized the difficulty.

Firstly, there were patrolling soldiers around the dragon canal. Swimming slowly to avoid disturbing them or diving underwater until they passed would only cost some time.

The real challenge was that the dragon canal’s current flowed towards the palace, meaning they were swimming against the current. Moreover, there were several underground passages where one couldn’t breathe while swimming below. Most people would suffocate before making it through.

The person Wen Zhuojin was following had come prepared, carrying bamboo tubes and an air bladder.

Wen Zhuojin had nothing with her, but she had some talent for holding her breath, able to swim a considerable distance on a single breath.

Even so, after swimming through several sections, the last and longest underground passage nearly overwhelmed her. Running out of breath, she had to speed up.

She emerged to breathe, only to see the person she had been following.

After passing through the channel, they were outside, with no guards nearby.

Under the moonlight, the person revealed half of their face, hair plastered to it like a water ghost.

Wen Zhuojin’s scalp tingled as she watched the person swim towards her.

“One of us!” Wen Zhuojin whispered.

The person ignored her and swam past, thrusting a dagger towards her.

Wen Zhuojin frowned, bracing herself to respond.

Both were exhausted, but the other person was at a disadvantage, dragging another person with one hand.

That person was a fake princess abducted from the palace.

Given the intensity of holding their breath earlier, it was unclear if the fake princess was still alive, but she was motionless, dragged along.

Although Wen Zhuojin had the upper hand, the other person seemed professional, using tools and skilled in swimming, quickly gaining the advantage and cutting Wen Zhuojin’s arm several times.

In trying to escape, Wen Zhuojin nearly lost her life.

She regretted following this person but it was too late.

To survive, she had to fight with all her might in the water.

Just as Wen Zhuojin was weakening, a change occurred. The fake princess, after being shaken, coughed and woke up, struggling and pushing the person.

Sensing danger, the fake princess pulled a hairpin from her head and stabbed the person’s neck. With a scream, the person let go and drifted back towards the underground channel.

The fake princess, now free, began to drown.

“Help, help…” The fake princess couldn’t swim, sinking and resurfacing.

Wen Zhuojin reacted, grabbing the fake princess just before she was swept into the channel.

The coughing woman waved her hairpin defensively.

Wen Zhuojin was reminded of a past scene when she first saved Yan Qinglan, who also held a hairpin.

Before she could think further, footsteps approached.

The scream had alerted nearby patrolling soldiers.

Without hesitation, Wen Zhuojin took the hairpin, pulled the woman to the edge of the channel, and hid.

“Quiet, don’t make a sound!” Wen Zhuojin whispered.

The struggling woman suddenly stilled.

Wen Zhuojin heard people arrive, search the area, and leave.

After waiting, Wen Zhuojin brought the woman out.

“Incense, I need incense, give me incense!” The woman clung to Wen Zhuojin, possibly suffering from withdrawal, attracted to the scent on Wen Zhuojin.

Wen Zhuojin used some incense she had previously given to Qing Chenning to calm the woman.

After rendering the woman unconscious, Wen Zhuojin rested, considering her options. Returning to Lanyuan or Wu Jiu Lane was not possible.

The house where she hid gold was known only to her, but bringing someone there was inconvenient and she didn’t want others to know about it.

Other properties were too far, and Wen Zhuojin was too exhausted.

She decided to return to the Marquis’s residence, the nearest option.

She rarely returned there, and her courtyard was mostly empty, with the gate usually closed and only cleaned occasionally.

Needing to change her wet clothes and think, Wen Zhuojin brought the woman to her small courtyard in the Marquis’s residence.

Leaving the woman in a side room, Wen Zhuojin found clothes and washed up.

By the time she finished, dawn was breaking.

Wen Zhuojin checked on the woman, who looked increasingly like Yan Qinglan in her sleep.

But Wen Zhuojin, familiar with Yan Qinglan’s features, noticed differences: the woman’s skin was less fair, her eyes less delicate, her face thinner.

Shaking her head, Wen Zhuojin selected suitable incense and medicine for the woman, fed her, and wrapped her in a quilt to prevent her from struggling upon waking.

Not wanting to personally care for the woman but having saved her, Wen Zhuojin decided to find a reliable place and someone to look after her.

Her trusted maids, Jin Rui and Bai Tan, who had grown up with her, were the best candidates.

Without resting further, Wen Zhuojin climbed over the wall to leave.

Feeling weak from exhaustion and hunger, with a headache and low spirits, Wen Zhuojin forced herself to stay alert.

The outside situation was as she expected.

After the previous night’s events, the streets were still under strict control, with soldiers everywhere.

The city gates were closed, requiring special passes for entry or exit, with rigorous checks.

The deserted streets made it hard to gather information.

Wen Zhuojin checked Lanyuan on her way.

Most of her people were at Lanyuan, with some at shops.

Surprisingly, Lanyuan and its surroundings were unguarded, as if nothing had happened, with people going about their business, just unable to leave.

Wen Zhuojin suspected a trap, observing for a while before deciding to enter and find her maid, Jin Rui.

Meanwhile, inside the palace.

Yan Qinglan had not slept all night, dealing with matters arising from imprisoning Yan Qi and searching for Wen Zhuojin.

When Qing Chenning detailed Wen Zhuojin’s visit to the palace the previous night, Yan Qinglan felt as if she had fallen into an icy abyss, her thoughts frozen, chilled to the bone.

So close.

Yet, at the last moment, something went wrong.

Yan Qinglan couldn’t figure out where the mistake was, how Wen Zhuojin had found out.

Just the day before, Wen Zhuojin had been infatuated with her, her behavior as enamored as ever.

After just one day apart, she knew so much!

Had Jiangxiao sent someone to speak to Wen Zhuojin?

When did she find out, why did she come to the palace, where was she now?!

Yan Qinglan had many questions, but more than that, she felt panic.

Wen Zhuojin hadn’t come to see her, or rather, hadn’t let herself be seen, entering the palace silently.

That meant Wen Zhuojin had seen her last night.

She knew what she had done last night.

It was the bloodiest time in the entire palace, even in Yunjing City.

And it had to be at this time.

Had she finally seen her true nature and become afraid, all past words and emotions gone?

Yan Qinglan felt something stuck in her chest, very uncomfortable.

Everything was as bad as the worst predictions.

After searching all night, there was no trace of Wen Zhuojin in the palace, but some other things were discovered.

“Your Highness, there was a fire in Zichen Hall last night, and that person is missing. Her room was locked, she couldn’t have left on her own.”

“We searched everywhere but couldn’t find her, only a body, one of Jiangxiao’s disciples, also one of the previously escaped.”

A embroidered envoy reported to Yan Qinglan.

Yan Qinglan, who was reviewing memorials, trembled, her brush leaving a blot of ink.

Wen Zhuojin was missing, and now the double was gone too.

The already panicked Yan Qinglan had an even worse premonition.

“Your Highness, we don’t know how many of Jiangxiao’s people came last night, the one found is already dead. Perhaps others took that person. I fear they might use her to cause trouble. If they spread rumors that she is the real one and you are the fake, it would be very troublesome.”

The embroidered envoy expressed concern.

Only Jiangxiao’s people knew about the existence of the fake princess double.

They took her, likely to confuse the situation. If she appeared in public a few times, spreading rumors at this critical moment would be like adding frost to snow.

Yan Qinglan pondered for a few moments, this possibility indeed existed, but what felt worse was that the double might have been taken by Wen Zhuojin.

“Continue searching within the palace, increase the strictness of the city’s defenses, guard the four city gates strictly, allow entry but no exit for three days. No need to send people to Lanyuan, but place more embroidered envoys inside, in the incense-making courtyard and the main courtyard. If Wen Zhuojin is found, do not disturb, report immediately.” Yan Qinglan ordered.

Securing the four city gates, Wen Zhuojin should not be able to leave Yunjing City for now. Lanyuan is loosely guarded outside but tightly inside, unsure if Wen Zhuojin would go there.

These days, Yan Qinglan was busy, originally planning to see Wen Zhuojin after finishing her work, but now the situation had changed into an unsettling form.