The Mid-Autumn Festival in August, a day for family reunions.
This year held a different significance for Su Xiaoqi: Yu Jing's arrival.
As the Empress of the Northern Chu Kingdom, it was unusual for her to be away for so long.
However, she had sent word to the ruler of Northern Chu.
She stated that her daughter refused to return to Northern Chu with her.
Therefore, she had to stay to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with her.
After the festival, she would depart.
And this time, she would not be leaving alone.
She would take Chu Yunlang, whose health had been restored, and Chu Yunwei, who was a hostage.
Chu Yunwei no longer had any reason to remain in Daliang; he could return with Yu Jing.
The Privy Council had initially disagreed with this arrangement, but Emperor Yongxing's strong backing made it possible.
In his words, and Shen Yun's, Northern Chu had left a princess for them, which was more than enough.
The Mid-Autumn banquet was held in Liuyuan.
Guests included members of the Yu State Duke's mansion, the Shen family, and the Du family.
Xiao Yi and his group were also present.
Even Liang Xi'er and her daughter stayed behind.
Initially, Prince Xiang's mansion was unwilling to have them not return for such an important day as the Mid-Autumn Festival.
But Liang Xi'er was resolute.
Of course, she had also promised Prince Xiang's mansion that after celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival in Liuyuan, she and her mother would return to Prince Xiang's mansion and stay with the Princess Consort for half a month.
In any case, Liuyuan was now under the watchful eye of the energetic Shen Mingzhu, so her temporary absence was not an issue.
Princess Consort Xiang, being good with calculations, counted on her fingers. For one meal and half a month's stay, she immediately agreed with a slam of the table.
Liuyuan had prepared the meal with great care.
Everyone ate with great enthusiasm.
Afterward, everyone dispersed throughout the garden to admire the moon and eat mooncakes.
This time, Su Xiaoqi had specially prepared snow skin mooncakes for everyone.
Just as everyone was happily admiring the moon and chatting, Shen Yun suddenly arrived with news of trouble in the capital. The Emperor had issued an order for him to rush there immediately.
Su Xiaoqi felt a pang of reluctance to see him go.
They reached the second gate, where she spoke: "Husband, what happened?"
"Prince Zhou was assassinated. The Emperor has ordered me to investigate the matter with the Imperial Guards."
Su Xiaoqi frowned: "Husband, if my memory serves me correctly, you are the Vice Minister of Rites. How is it that you are now involved in solving cases?
What are the Prefect of Shuntian, the Grand Court of Revision, and the Ministry of Justice doing?"
For some reason, Su Xiaoqi felt a subtle sense of unease.
It was as if something bad was about to happen.
She looked back at Liuyuan, where lights shone brightly, with a large group of people; naturally, nothing would happen there.
But Shen Yun was only accompanied by Zhang Lei.
It was already dark, and to enter the city at this hour...
Su Xiaoqi was worried and insisted that Shen Yun bring Zhang Feng and Zhang Dian along.
Shen Yun, unable to refuse her, agreed.
He knew that if he didn't listen to her now, she might not be able to sleep that night.
Shen Yun was already mounting his horse.
Seeing the worry etched beneath Su Xiaoqi's brows, he couldn't help but press his heels into the stirrups, lean down, grip Su Xiaoqi under her armpits, lift her high, and hold her.
He lowered his head, covered her lips, and kissed her lightly, saying half-jokingly:
"If my wife is reluctant, I shall take my wife with me."
Su Xiaoqi, still recovering from his intense movement, quickly shook her head: "That won't do. There's still a large family waiting for me in Liuyuan.
If I leave with you like this, how will I explain it to them later."
"Mother and the others know you are with me; they won't blame you.
As for the others, they will understand." Shen Yun felt increasingly that this was feasible.
On this day of Mid-Autumn family reunion, he truly couldn't bear to leave his wife.
"No, go quickly and come back quickly." Su Xiaoqi, having been reassured by his actions, kissed him lightly on the lips and turned to jump down.
Given the height, Shen Yun couldn't bear to let her jump and, with a turn, set her down.
Su Xiaoqi waved goodbye to him.
Shen Yun slapped his horse's flank, and the black horse shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.
He feared that if he lingered any longer, he would be too reluctant to leave.
Su Xiaoqi waved gently towards the disappearing black silhouette.
She returned to Liuyuan to continue their revelry.
At this moment, with her heart filled with thoughts, Su Xiaoqi did not notice a gaze that had been fixed on her from within the crowd.
It was not until the third watch that sleepiness gradually overcame everyone.
They retired to their respective rooms.
Without Shen Yun, Su Xiaoqi naturally couldn't sleep.
However, she was too tired today, and coupled with the comfortable room arrangement, she was about to drift off to sleep.
But just as she closed her eyes, she heard loud knocking on the door.
Su Xiaoqi was startled awake, quickly put on her clothes, got up, and rushed to open the door.
Standing outside was Zhang Yu.
Her face was filled with anxiety as she said: "Madam, we just received news from the capital that Master has met with trouble."
"What..." Su Xiaoqi's body trembled, and she almost fell over.
"Madam, please don't be nervous. Master has only sustained minor injuries and is not in serious danger. He only needs Madam to come to the capital for treatment."
"Alright, alright, I'll leave now." Su Xiaoqi left without a word.
Zhang Yu was also anxious, walking and scolding Zhang Lei and the others, wondering how three people watching the Master could have let him get injured.
Hearing this, Su Xiaoqi paused, feeling that something was strangely amiss.
But she couldn't quite articulate what it was.
The carriage had already been prepared, and Su Xiaoqi got into it, thinking that regardless of whether Shen Yun was alright or not, she had to go back and see.
If he was well, it would be even better.
If he was in trouble, she could be there to provide timely treatment.
The carriage drove off, silently.
Zhang Yu sat with Su Xiaoqi in the carriage, comforting her.
She said that since Zhang Lei and the others hadn't come personally, it indicated that the Master's condition was likely not serious.
She didn't need to rush. There was an important matter to attend to later, so she might as well take a short nap now.
Su Xiaoqi, however, was consumed by worry and couldn't sleep.
Furthermore, the further they traveled, the more she felt that something was not right.
The entire sequence of events today seemed off.
Yet, she couldn't pinpoint what was wrong.
She decided to lift the carriage curtain and look outside.
However, it was dark, and the official road was lined with endless camphor trees.
In the distance lay dark, rolling mountains, and she could see nothing clearly.
As the carriage swayed, the very sleepy Su Xiaoqi finally succumbed to sleep.
When she awoke, the sky was already bright.
But tragically, she discovered that she was bound.
Her hands and feet were all tied. Zhang Yu, who had been by her side, was also bound.
She even lay at Su Xiaoqi's feet like a dead pig, unable to move.
Su Xiaoqi took a quick look and realized that the other party likely knew Zhang Yu's capabilities and had drugged her beforehand.
She took a deep breath, intending to detoxify herself.
However, she found that she had not been drugged or poisoned.
It seemed that this person knew her extremely well.
They knew that ordinary medicine would be ineffective against her, so administering it would be futile.
She wondered who had attacked her, whether they intended to kill her or capture her to threaten Shen Yun.
Su Xiaoqi's mind raced in an instant. She felt a deep sense of unease and her heart was restless.
At the same time, she regretted that she had already sensed something was amiss last night. When Zhang Yu came to deliver the message, she should have thought more carefully and not believed it so easily.
But at the time, they had used Shen Yun's supposed injury as an excuse; how could she not believe it?
Even if she hadn't fully believed it then, she would still have chosen to go.
Because she couldn't afford the risk!
The opponent truly understood her completely.
They had calculated all her thoughts and possibilities.
Moreover, even if she had miraculously escaped yesterday, there would likely still be subsequent schemes targeting her.
And it might even endanger innocent people.
Now, it was just her alone, and that was all.
Su Xiaoqi suddenly came to a realization.
Furthermore, when she lost consciousness last night, they hadn't done anything to her.
It was likely they wouldn't kill her for the time being.
She needed to remain calm so that she could figure out a way to save herself!