Ji Cheng gritted his teeth upon hearing Feng Ju's words. He can't believe that Zhao Ming went out of the palace without his permission.

She is the Empress of Ji Dynasty and yet acting childishly, not caring about the rules and her security.

" Hah! She is now openly rebelling against me, is that it? huh? " He scoffed in disbelief at which Wen Ru could only shake his head.

" Feng Ju, send your reliable guards to search her secretly. Don't make it too obvious and the news about her leaving the palace should not be spread in the palace. Got it?" Ji Cheng said at which Feng Ju nodded and went back to execute his orders.

-

After roaming around the market the whole day and walking along the road, eating delicious street food, and looking at the items sold on the roadside stalls, Zhao Ming went to the lakeside and tiredly sat there to refresh her mind and wash her feet.

Due to the cold weather, the lake was frozen before but since the weather was changing and getting warmer, the water was not frozen anymore but cold.

Zhao Ming sat on a boulder and admired the beauty of the place. It was her first time coming out to see the landscape of this city.

Today she has walked almost all around the city, which caused her feet to hurt until she has no energy to even get up.

Since they came out sneakily, they couldn't take the carriage. Although she did take the local carriage to ride by using money, however, now she was almost out of money since she bought some clothes and hairpieces while shopping.

Lu shi sat beside Zhao Ming's feet and started massaging her leg, " Your Maj...Miss, your legs have gotten swollen due to walking so much today. You shouldn't have taken so much stress." Lu shi pursed her lips seeing the blisters on Zhao Ming's legs.

" It's okay. We don't get to see this beauty every day. It's good that we decided to come here even though it's far. Woah, I can't believe that I am alive to see this day." Zhao Ming looked at the mountains that were behind the lake and the trees around the area making it look more greener and beautiful.

Lu shi nodded and said, " Yes. It's really beautiful. But Miss, didn't you see these kinds of places with Master Zhao Bai when you used to go to the other villages before?"

Zhao Ming pursed her lips as she had no answer to this question of hers. She wanted to say that it was not her who has witnessed all these things but she couldn't say anything.

She stayed silent and enjoyed the sound of birds chirping, feeling the cold wind that was making her shiver and the calm atmosphere of the water made her relaxed.

Zhao Ming sighed and picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it in the lake leisurely. She was surprised to see how deep the lake is. She exclaimed in surprise, " Woah, it's so deep."

Lu shi nodded and said, " Yes. I heard that this lake is one of the deepest lakes in the city. This has been dug even before His Majesty came into the succession. In the reign of the previous sovereign, many people died by drowning in this lake. The order was passed to dry out the lake, however, in two years it was filled again because of the heavy rain." she sighed.

" Miss, you should be careful. You should not go near the lake." Lu shi said worriedly, remembering that she fell into the water and almost died once.

Zhao Ming shook her head, " Am I stupid that I would go near to this dangerous thing? I don't even know how to swim." she mumbled the last sentence so that Lu shi could not hear.

-

" Miss, shouldn't we go back now? The sun is about to set and soon it will be night. If we reach the palace late, then it will not be good. I am worried that those guards would have found out about our sneaking out of the palace." Lu shi said worriedly, making Zhao Ming think about its possibility as well.

" Hmm, Let's go." Zhao Ming replied.

"But how are we going to go now?" Lu shi asked worriedly. "Didn't you spend all the money on buying clothes and hairpieces? We can't take carriages without money, are we supposed to walk to the palace now? " Lu shi asked when fear struck her.

The palace is too far and if they decide to walk back, they can only reach there by midnight. They reached here by going here and there and riding on a carriage.

However, they don't have any way to go back now. No money and walking back to the palace seems nearly impossible if they want to go back in time.

Zhao Ming pursed her lips and said, " Well, at least let's leave from here. Upon reaching the road, we can ask for a ride from someone." she said casually, not finding any problem in it.

-

When she stood up to leave and turned around, two people suddenly jumped in front of her from the tree, frightening her. The two men were wearing black clothes, with their faces and head covered with cotton black cloth, only their eyes were visible to them.

She stepped back in a startle and held onto Lu shi's hand upon confronting the two mysterious men.

" Who..who are you?" she asked hesitantly while stepping back nervously. She was trying to appear as strong and serious but her hands were trembling.

She looked around and gritted her teeth realizing that no one was there other than them. The fear-filled inside her as she looked at them alarmingly.

By attending the palace courts, she was aware that there are thugs who kidnap people and sell them as slaves, or in worse cases, they can even kill the people just to loot them. For them, others' lives don't hold any value and only care about their goals and results.

" If...if you want money, then you found the wrong person. I don't have anything with me right now." she said hesitatingly. She wasn't wearing any outstanding clothes or accessories so she was expecting them to think about their choices knowing her condition.

" Your Majesty seems to be flustered right now. If you don't want anything unfortunate to happen, then please come with us." the man smirked and pulled a sharp knife out of his belt.

Zhao Ming's eyes widen in shock seeing that he knows her identity. Even Lu shi was addressing her as 'Miss' all the time to not reveal her identity to everyone. But how do they know who she is?

Her lips trembled to see them holding the sharp knives and they even had swords attached to their belt making her think about her actions carefully.

" Go with you? Where? Who sent you guys? What do you want?" Zhao Ming asked cautiously while stepping back in fear, holding Lu shi's hand tightly.

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