Hearing Chu Chen's words, Li Mengdie was immediately furious, wishing she could slap him across the face.
In the end, she couldn't pull herself together. There was no way, Chu Chen was too strong, even stronger than last time.
Li Mengdie felt as if all her strength had been drained away.
"This is just a small shock for you. Next time, if you act like this again, I won't be so lenient, understand?"
Looking at Li Mengdie's desire to kill him yet her inability to do so, Chu Chen couldn't help but feel excited.
Meanwhile, Li Xinyue, who had taken soldiers to search for Li Mengdie outside, was still searching desperately.
For a full hour, they searched non-stop but found no clues.
Later, Li Xinyue stationed guards at all major thoroughfares. In Shuangyue City, people rarely came out at night.
Anyone seen would likely be suspicious.
However, after questioning all the guards, Li Mengdie's whereabouts remained unknown.
As the sky gradually brightened, Li Xinyue had no choice but to give up.
Although she decided not to search anymore, she didn't tell the soldiers to stop.
"You continue searching. If there are any clues, follow them to the end. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Your Highness."
Li Xinyue returned to the Empress's sleeping quarters with her guards. From a distance, someone came to greet them.
"Welcome, Regent."
After a night of turmoil, these palace maids had barely slept, their eyes were red.
Li Xinyue ignored the maids' greetings and walked slowly back to the warm chamber.
When the maid uttered that greeting, Chu Chen and the other person on the warm chamber bed were startled.
The soundproofing of the warm chamber was incomparable to that of the Prime Minister's mansion.
At this moment, Li Mengdie had just regained some strength and could move.
Chu Chen quickly handed her clothes and said, "Hurry and put them on and hide in the wardrobe. I'll distract Li Xinyue later."
Hearing this, Li Mengdie immediately said with displeasure, "Why? I'm not someone who can't be seen. Is this necessary? I'm not leaving."
Chu Chen stomped his foot and said, "How can you not leave? You are still a prisoner, even a rebel. Li Xinyue could kill you, and we wouldn't be able to say anything."
Li Mengdie panicked slightly at this, but still maintained her indifferent demeanor.
"Then let her kill me. I'm not afraid anyway."
Saying that, Li Mengdie prepared to lie down. Chu Chen couldn't help but say, "Don't you want to achieve great things?"
Li Mengdie's body trembled slightly, and her expression changed.
Seeing that it had an effect, Chu Chen continued, "You hide quickly now, don't let Li Xinyue find you. I'll explain to her properly."
"Then the three of you, mother and daughters, will reconcile, you can conquer territories abroad, and the Empress can rest assured."
Chu Chen heard the footsteps outside getting closer and became anxious, "Hurry up, or it will be too late!"
Li Mengdie's mind hadn't fully caught up yet, but her hands were already moving.
She quickly put on her clothes and then slipped into the wardrobe in the distance.
Chu Chen quickly got into the bed and lay down, pretending that nothing had happened.
Li Mengdie reached the wardrobe and just closed the door when she heard a sound at the warm chamber door.
The door opened, and Li Xinyue pushed it open and walked in, closing the door behind her.
Li Xinyue walked to the desk and looked at the memorials from before.
She wasn't in the mood to sleep now and was still thinking about Li Mengdie. She planned to read a few memorials to change her mood.
Suddenly, she smelled a strange fragrance in the room.
The scent seemed somewhat familiar, as if she had smelled it somewhere before, but she couldn't recall where.
Suddenly, Li Xinyue thought about Li Mengdie, and a thought struck her.
Could it be that Li Mengdie had been here not long ago?
Thinking of this, Li Xinyue quickly stood up and walked around the hall.
However, Li Xinyue didn't see Li Mengdie's figure and felt a little disappointed.
"Second sister, where did you go? Why don't you show yourself?"
Li Xinyue sighed and finally sat back in her seat.
Suddenly, she felt as if she saw something different. There seemed to be movement on the bed.
Li Xinyue walked to the bedside and took a deep breath.
She saw a figure under the quilt on the bed, and it was impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman.
Li Xinyue became wary. Although she had no ill intentions towards Li Mengdie, what if Li Mengdie was hiding here and intended to harm her?
After preparing herself, Li Xinyue pulled back the quilt and was stunned. The person in the quilt was Chu Chen?
"Chu Chen, why are you here?"
Li Xinyue scratched her head, full of curiosity.
When she went out to search earlier, Chu Chen had also disappeared, and Li Xinyue was puzzled.
She hadn't expected him to be here.
Recalling the scent she had just smelled, Li Xinyue couldn't help but feel suspicious.
Chu Chen and Li Mengdie had disappeared together. Did they have a relationship?
However, thinking this way seemed too far-fetched. After all, Chu Chen and Li Mengdie were enemies. Chu Chen had almost killed Li Mengdie before.
Moreover, Chu Chen had foiled Li Mengdie's plan this time. Li Mengdie must hate Chu Chen to death now, right?
At this moment, Chu Chen slowly opened his eyes, pretending to have just woken up, and looked at Li Xinyue in front of him.
"Your Highness, you're back?"
Li Xinyue nodded, a smile appearing on her face.
"I'm back. Why are you sleeping here?"
Chu Chen paused, then smiled awkwardly and said, "Apologies, Your Highness. I went to pursue Li Mengdie. I thought I could catch her, but I didn't expect her to keep running away."
"Later, I gave up and decided not to pursue her anymore."
"I then rushed back with all my might, wanting to report to you to avoid you worrying."
"However, I came here and couldn't find you. I was too tired at the time and thought the fighting outside should be almost over, so I slept."
"I slept for less than half an hour, and then you woke me up."
"By the way, Your Highness, how did the fighting outside go? Are there any clues about Li Mengdie?"
Li Xinyue shook her head, accepting Chu Chen's explanation.
"We've basically defeated and persuaded them to surrender, but we didn't catch Li Mengdie. We don't know where she ran off to. In which direction did you go when you left?"
Chu Chen glanced north and said, "We went north. She might have gone to Zhao or the Xiongnu."