freenovelworld Chapter 197 Where is Li Duanren?
Chapter 197 Where is Li Duanren?
The conversation was conducted in a low voice, with a hint of impatience.
"It's best not to say things you shouldn't. Don't you know where you are?"
However, Princess Li Duan was so shocked that her limbs stiffened, and she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave in an instant.
My mind was buzzing.
What did she hear?
She must have heard correctly, right?
What do you mean by killing Sheng Junyao? What do you mean by saying that good news will naturally come at the end of the year?
What good news?
Princess Liduan dared not think any further. She almost instinctively took two steps back before suddenly realizing that she couldn't be discovered.
"Who?"
However, it was too late. She turned and ran, opening her mouth to shout, but in her terror, she couldn't make a sound.
A hand tightly covered her mouth, and before she could struggle, she was plunged into darkness.
Xue Wanning looked at Princess Liduan, who had collapsed into the man's arms, with resentment and suspicion, and asked in a trembling voice, "What should we do? She must have heard it."
The man gave her a cold look. "More trouble than you're worth."
Xue Wanning's face turned pale, but she couldn't refute it.
She was also anxious and resentful, which is why she couldn't help but ask such a question. Since breaking off her engagement with Sheng Junyao, her life has been very difficult.
At first, she regretted it, but regret couldn't change anything. She could only find a way to climb up the ladder so that she could trample the people she hated underfoot.
Especially Sheng Junyao; she could never be at peace as long as Sheng Junyao was alive.
If she hadn't known that Sheng Junyao was doomed, why would she have set up this trap and gotten herself into it?
"Take off your cloak!" the man hissed.
Xue Wanning snapped out of her daze and hurriedly took off her cloak, handing it to the man.
The man quickly wrapped the unconscious Princess Liduan in his arms and lowered his voice: "We can't kill her here. I'll find a way to get her out of the capital first, and then find an opportunity to make my move. You go back now and don't give anything away."
Xue Wanning nodded hurriedly, turned around and walked a long way away. After checking that no one was around, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
……
Lin Shuang instructed people to set out lunch in Princess Liduan's courtyard, but after Lu Yangyang and the others sat down, Princess Liduan still hadn't returned.
Lu Yangyang couldn't help but frown, and looked up at Lin Shuang, saying, "Go and call your county princess back."
Lin Shuang responded and went out.
After a while, Lin Shuang returned and said to Lu Yangyang with a worried look, "Miss Lu, I don't know where the county princess has gone. I just searched around but couldn't find her. I wonder if she has secretly hidden somewhere. How about this, you eat first, and I will call some people to go look for her together."
This is the Princess's residence, Li Duan's own place, so nothing should happen here.
However, given Li Duan's personality, she would at most be a little depressed, but she wouldn't really be heartbroken about it.
Even if she went to confront Xue Wanning and had a fight with her, she wouldn't hold a grudge.
"Then hurry up and go look for her. Oh, and check the banquet area up ahead to see if she's there," Lu Yangyang said after thinking for a moment.
Lin Shuang nodded hurriedly.
With Princess Liduan absent, Lu Yangyang unusually lost her appetite. What made her even more uneasy was that after about 15 minutes, Lin Shuang still hadn't returned, and neither had Princess Liduan.
Lu Yangyang was also losing her appetite. She stood up and said to Sheng Yunjiao and the Ninth Princess, "You two keep eating. I'll go see what's going on."
The two exchanged a glance and stood up as well: "Let's go together."
The three of them left the courtyard together. Today was the birthday of the Eldest Princess, and Consort Shu was going to take this opportunity to select a consort for the Crown Prince, so there were an unusually large number of guests. As a result, most of the servants in the Eldest Princess's residence were transferred to the front courtyard to help.
The Princess's residence only has two masters, so there are naturally far fewer servants than other residences. Normally, this wouldn't be noticeable, but today, with all this commotion, the entire courtyard feels empty.
Lu Yangyang's heart skipped a beat for no reason; she felt that something was wrong.
This feeling of unease intensified when she arrived at the front courtyard. The banquet was very lively, but neither the Eldest Princess nor Consort Shu was there. When the Fourth Princess saw Lu Yangyang and the Ninth Princess, she came over with a smile to greet them, "Miss Lu, I've heard so much about you. You even said you'd ask Li Duan to introduce you to me, but I haven't had the chance yet."
Lu Yangyang politely bowed and said, "Yangyang greets the Fourth Princess."
The fourth princess helped her up: "Don't be so polite. I'll come visit you when I have the chance to leave the palace. I'm really curious about how you treat patients."
"Your Highness is too kind."
"That's no compliment. My maternal grandmother praised you to us when she came to the palace last time." The Fourth Princess smiled and patted her hand. Then she said to the Ninth Princess, "Little Ninth, I was just saying I'd send someone to find you. My mother had to go back to the palace first, and my aunt is a little tipsy and has gone back to rest. You'll come back with me later."
The Ninth Princess nodded in agreement.
Lu Yangyang quickly scanned the area and asked the Fourth Princess, "Has the Princess seen Princess Liduan?"
"Li Duan? Isn't she with you? She hasn't come over since the banquet started," the Fourth Princess replied in surprise.
Lu Yangyang's expression changed slightly.
"They might be going to see the Eldest Princess. I'll go ask." Lu Yangyang felt uneasy, so she told the Fourth Princess and hurriedly turned and left.
After taking a few steps, she pulled Sheng Yunjiao back and whispered, "If I don't come back, you should go back to the manor first."
Sheng Yunjiao nodded.
Lu Yangyang quickly left the banquet.
Then she went straight to the Princess's courtyard. The Princess's courtyard was unusually quiet, with several guards patrolling back and forth. Lu Yangyang felt a little strange. Just as she was about to go in, she saw the old woman next to the Princess walking over: "Miss Lu, what are you doing here?"
"Granny, has the county princess come?" Lu Yangyang asked anxiously.
The old woman shook her head: "He hasn't been here. His Highness just drank some wine and is a little drunk. Has something happened to the County Princess?"
Lu Yangyang was uncertain: "She was in a bad mood and wanted to be alone. I didn't see her for a while, and I looked for her for a long time but couldn't find her. I thought she came to see His Highness."
"Perhaps he has hidden somewhere. You go back and wait, and I will arrange for someone to look for him," the nanny replied.
Lu Yangyang looked up at the nanny, feeling a little strange, but didn't think much of it and nodded, saying, "Then I'll go look in the courtyard again."
After saying that, he quickly turned and left.
The old woman watched Lu Yangyang walk away and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Inside the princess's bedchamber, the princess knelt on the bed with disheveled hair and clothes in disarray, coldly watching the jade pendant swaying by the headboard.
Behind her, the emperor held her shoulder tightly with one hand and gripped her waist with the other, his grip so fierce it seemed he wanted to break her.
After a long pause, he suddenly stopped, leaned on her shoulder, and let out a breath.
Happy birthday, Zhizhi.