The effects of the Itch Dust would fully dissipate after seven days at most. Which meant, if the Eldest Prince intended to make a move against her, these few days were his best—and last—opportunity.
After reinforcing the security around the Eastern Palace, Yun Shu had even deliberately left a small, seemingly inconspicuous loophole. She was simply waiting for the Eldest Prince's men to walk right into the trap.
Yet five days passed.
The lingering effects of the powder on Yun Shu's body had long faded. Still, no one made a move.
No ambush. No subtle threats. Nothing.
Holding the plump and now significantly larger cat in her arms, Yun Shu raised it to eye level and gave it a gentle shake.
"Fufu, do you think Wei Yuan's sudden defection the other day disrupted the Eldest Prince's plans?"
"Meow~"
Fufu blinked its round, innocent eyes, hind legs kicking faintly in the air as if in lazy protest.
"You mean... the Eldest Prince didn't abandon his plan, he's just cooking up something bigger?"
Yun Shu tapped Fufu's soft, furry belly with her finger, face deadly serious as she continued, "If I guessed right, give me one more meow. If I'm wrong, write it down and tell me what I missed. Deal?"
Fufu curled its tail and replied with a long, drawn-out, "Meow~"
"I knew it!" Yun Shu grinned, arching a brow with satisfaction.
She was about to playfully tease Fufu some more when Ting Xue entered in haste, her expression darker and graver than Yun Shu had ever seen before.
A cold knot twisted in Yun Shu's gut. She quickly placed Fufu on a nearby divan.
"What has happened?"
"News just came from outside the palace," Ting Xue said solemnly, handing over a sealed envelope. "Miss Tang has been abducted.
This was left by the culprits. It's addressed specifically to Your Highness."
"Abducted?" Yun Shu's brows furrowed deeply. "Did they send elite fighters?"
She had, after all, considered the possibility that the Eldest Prince—if unable to strike directly—might target her maternal grandfather or cousin instead. Just in case, she had even requested additional backup from Emperor Xuanwu himself.
Among these reinforcements were a few reserve members of the Dragon Shadow Guard.
Dragon Shadow Guards, though elite, had a relatively short prime—fifteen to twenty years at most. Their training was rigorous, so it was common to maintain a pool of reserve members. These reserves, once deemed ready, could replace active-duty members. Even without formal promotion, a reserve Dragon Shadow Guard could still easily outmatch any ordinary dark guard.
With two of them personally assigned to protect Tang Xinhua, Yun Shu had considered her cousin's safety assured. Unless the Eldest Prince had gone to outrageous lengths, deploying an entire unit of trained assassins, it shouldn't have been possible to take her.
But if he had done that, surely such a move would have caused chaos and drawn unwanted attention.
The Eldest Prince wasn't that foolish.
So how, then, had Tang Xinhua been taken?
"The messenger left word from the dark guard Your Highness assigned to Tang Xinhua," Ting Xue quickly added. "He says, 'Please rest assured, the ones who abducted Miss Tang are not to be feared.'"
Yun Shu fell silent.
So this was a counterplot. A feint wrapped in a real crisis.
But who had permitted them to use her cousin's life in such a dangerous gambit?
Despite her trust in the Dragon Shadow Guard, an uneasy feeling stirred in her chest. She took a steadying breath and drew out the note from within the envelope.
If you wish to save Tang Xinhua, then, Your Highness the Crown Princess, come in person with five hundred taels of gold to the ruined temple at Ten-Mile Slope.
Do not think to bring guards. Do not think to send another in your stead.
Unless you wish to see Tang Xinhua dead.
"Fetch five hundred taels of gold from This Palace's private vault," Yun Shu commanded coldly, tossing the note aside. "This Princess will be leaving the city."
"Leaving now? Isn't that too dangerous?" Ting Xue's heart skipped a beat. She moved as if to dissuade her, but Yun Shu was already set on her course.
"This Princess has her own plan. Just bring the gold."
"...Yes, Your Highness."
Though her concern lingered, Ting Xue could not imagine that their Crown Princess—wise beyond her years—would walk blindly into danger. Swallowing her unease, she turned to fulfill the order, glancing back anxiously with each step she took.
Yun Shu wasted no time. As soon as Ting Xue left, she summoned one of the Dragon Shadow Guards from her personal retinue.
"Take This Princess's token and head to the Capital Garrison. If you see fireworks in the sky, bring reinforcements to that exact location immediately. If there are no fireworks, stand down and wait."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Ten-Mile Slope lay not far from the Capital Garrison. Should anything go wrong, Yun Shu was confident reinforcements could arrive swiftly.
In fact, she suspected this was precisely why the meeting was set there. The Eldest Prince likely feared she might value her own safety over her cousin's and refuse to appear. By choosing this location, he hoped to lower her guard, to make the trap more palatable.
And if she was right, it also meant he had no real intention of killing her outside the city walls. More likely, his goal was to lure her away, then find a way to infect her with smallpox...
Yun Shu carefully donned her recently modified medical mask and gloves—camouflaged cleverly as an ordinary veil and silk gloves. These were the tools she had painstakingly prepared for just such a contingency.
Once Ting Xue returned with the locked chest of gold, Yun Shu took three additional Dragon Shadow Guards and quietly slipped out of the palace.
They rode hard.
By the time they reached the ruined temple at Ten-Mile Slope, dusk had begun to fall. A masked man in black, wielding a massive broadsword, sat idly on the temple's broken threshold.
Upon seeing Yun Shu approach on horseback, he slowly rose to his feet, a mocking grin on his lips though his eyes remained cold.
"Your Highness is bold indeed. To think you would actually come."
"Let me guess," he said, voice oily with insincerity. "You must have brought a good number of guards trailing behind, haven't you?"
"Spare me the nonsense. Where is my person?"
Without dismounting, Yun Shu unhooked the heavy wooden chest from her saddle and placed it before her. Opening it with a click, she revealed row upon row of gleaming gold.
"You asked for five hundred taels. This Princess has brought them. Now release her."
The masked man's eyes lit up at the sight of so much wealth.
"Of course, of course. So long as the gold is real, the person will be returned. I'm but a man of the Jianghu, seeking coin, not enemies. No need for enmity between us, Your Highness."
"Jianghu?" Yun Shu let out a cold laugh.
She snapped the chest shut and tossed it to the ground, key and all.
"This Princess has never heard of a Jianghu rogue who dares to threaten a Crown Princess.
What? The one behind you couldn't even be bothered to come up with a half-decent identity for you?"
The masked man smirked.
"This is no false front."