"City Guard Battalion?"
"Pei Hong!"
Damn it, Pei Hong moves fast!
Zhao Yi quickly composed himself, lowered his voice, and asked the woman, "Is there a place to hide here?"
"Humph! Why should I help you?"
Given the situation, the woman was still being so uncooperative, which really irritated Zhao Yi.
"Captain Zhang, there's no one inside!" At that moment, a voice came from outside the door.
Zhao Yi held his breath and listened.
A moment later, a rough voice sounded from outside: "Send men over the wall and open the door!"
"Yes!"
Zhao Yi's nerves tightened instantly, and his mind raced.
The next second, he leaned close to the woman's ear and said sternly, "I don't know what kind of misunderstanding you have about me."
"But you'd better figure out the situation right now!"
"If I were Consort Hui's person, the two of us falling into the hands of the City Guard Battalion would definitely implicate Consort Hui."
"Let's evade the City Guard Battalion's search first, and I'll prove my identity to you!"
Hearing this, the woman's body twitched slightly.
At that moment, a slight commotion came from the outer wall.
The woman gritted her teeth and whispered, "There is a secret chamber inside!"
With that, Zhao Yi dropped the woman right away, stood up, and gently closed the door.
The exact moment he closed it, a soldier from the City Guard Battalion jumped down outside the courtyard.
Zhao Yi turned around; the woman had already packed up the sword and dagger on the ground.
Zhao Yi stood in place, guarding against the woman.
At that time, the sound of the door opening came from outside the courtyard. The woman's gaze turned sharp, and she turned and walked toward the inner room on the left.
Zhao Yi breathed a sigh of relief and followed cautiously.
Entering the inner room, the woman had already pushed open the cabinet in the corner, revealing an extremely narrow secret chamber inside.
The woman went in first. Zhao Yi hesitated for a moment and asked, "Won't this secret chamber be discovered?"
"Once the mechanism inside is locked, it cannot be opened from the outside," the woman replied coldly.
Zhao Yi stopped thinking twice, squeezed in, and closed the cabinet.
The moment it closed, Zhao Yi felt a chill on his neck.
It was pitch black inside the secret chamber, but Zhao Yi knew that the blade pressed against his neck was a dagger.
Zhao Yi couldn't be bothered to argue with the woman.
Commotion quickly arose outside the secret chamber.
"Search everywhere carefully! If we catch the female spy, Left Thousand-House Commander Pei has promised a reward of a thousand taels!"
"Yes, Captain Zhang!"
"Thud, thud, thud..."
"Clang, clang, clang..."
Inside the secret chamber, they held their breath and dared not make the slightest sound.
Yet unexpectedly, the woman beside him let out an irrepressible nasal sound.
Zhao Yi's heart skipped a beat, and he turned to look at the woman.
Soon, the woman let out another muffled groan.
Zhao Yi's mind raced, and sudden realization dawned on him.
The woman's poison was acting up!
Zhao Yi reached out to get the antidote on his body, but the moment he moved, pressure came from the dagger at his neck, seemingly conveying a silent warning.
Move an inch, and I'll slit your throat!
Zhao Yi had no choice but to stop!
"Thud-thud... thud-thud..."
A round of knocking echoed close at hand.
Zhao Yi knew someone was knocking on the cabinet outside the secret chamber.
He looked anxiously at the woman on his right.
At that moment, Zhao Yi felt the dagger at his neck trembling.
Clearly, the woman was trying her absolute best to suppress herself!
"Captain Zhang, nothing found."
"Then call off the search and fall back!"
"Hoo..." Zhao Yi let out a long breath.
"Ugh-ah..." The woman beside him finally couldn't hold it back, letting out a suppressed moan.
Before long, the two of them walked out of the secret chamber.
The woman's dagger remained pressed against Zhao Yi's neck.
Yet now that her poison was acting up, her body was in utter agony; she writhed continuously all over, one hand scratching frantically at her body.
"You've been poisoned!" Zhao Yi said very calmly, "I have the antidote on me!"
"Don't move!" Just as Zhao Yi reached out to retrieve the antidote, killing intent flared in the woman's eyes, and she sternly barked to stop him, "Dare to move again, and I'll kill you!"
After catching her breath a few times, the woman gritted her teeth and said, "Don't think I don't know the tricks of you people from the Xuanying Bureau!"
"You pretended to come rescue me, and to win my trust, you even deliberately got people from the City Guard Battalion to search!"
"And when you found out I was poisoned, you just happened to have the antidote!"
"How could there be such a coincidence!"
"You're a man sent by the Xuanying Bureau, aren't you?"
Zhao Yi was dumbfounded.
He hadn't expected this woman to have such an imagination.
On second thought, however, her suspicion wasn't entirely unreasonable.
Excessive caution was always better than complacency.
"Take off your veil!" the woman snapped.
Things having reached this point, Zhao Yi didn't feel like explaining any further. He slowly raised his hand.
Just as his hand moved to pull off the veil on his face, he suddenly changed direction and unleashed a fierce palm strike at the woman's right wrist.
Then, pivoting counterclockwise, he closed in on the woman, grabbed her left wrist with his left hand, and formed his right hand into a claw to grip her throat.
"Don't move!" The woman raised her left hand, wanting to resist. Zhao Yi gave a low roar and increased the force in his hand, whereupon she dared not move again.
Zhao Yi swept his left leg out, causing the woman's knees to buckle, and she dropped to her knees on the ground. Following through, Zhao Yi twisted her arm behind her back and subdued her on the floor.
Casually untying his own belt, he bound the woman's hands and let out a long breath.
"Ugh-ah..." The woman's poison hadn't worn off yet. Enduring the intense itching all over her body, she writhed incessantly.
Seeing this, Zhao Yi took out the antidote, pinched the woman's cheeks, and prepared to feed it to her.
Yet the woman kept her mouth tightly shut, refusing to open it.
Alas, her strength was depleted at the moment; she didn't hold out for long before the antidote was forcefully shoved down her throat.
Zhao Yi pulled over a stool and sat down in front of the woman.
Meeting the woman's hostile gaze, Zhao Yi spoke slowly, "Lady Cuiyao, actually, I am His Highness Prince Qing's man."
Zhao Yi recounted the whole story from beginning to end, his gaze fixed on the woman.
"You should believe me now, right?"
Feeling that her body was no longer itching so intensely, the hostility in the woman's eyes gradually faded.
Yet confusion still lingered in her eyes: "What is your honorable name, sir?"
"You don't need to know my name." Zhao Yi looked at the woman, his tone turning cold, "You just need to remember not to have any further dealings with the people of Beiyi."
"Otherwise, I will ruthlessly eradicate anyone who might pose a threat to His Highness Prince Qing!"
"I've said all that needs to be said. Take care of yourself!"
With that, Zhao Yi stood up, untied the woman, and walked away directly.
The woman stared in the direction of Zhao Yi's departure, her brows deeply knitted, deep in thought.
...
"Young Master Zhao, I... I..."
When Hongling woke up, she found herself lying in bed. Pulling back the quilt to look, she was stark naked.
Yet she couldn't remember anything of what had just happened.
She could only look up at Zhao Yi, who was already fully dressed, casting a look of appeal for help.
Zhao Yi gave a wicked smile. "Lady Hongling, this young master just had you take a kind of medicine. This medicine can stimulate your potential, bringing both of us to the peak of ecstasy."
"Of course, this medicine has a slight side effect: you won't remember what happened during this period after taking it."
"Rest assured, though, it won't do any harm to your body."
As he spoke, Zhao Yi pulled out a banknote, pulled back the quilt over Hongling, shoved it into her bosom, and flashed a lewd smile.
"Lady Hongling, you were so wild just now; this young master was very satisfied."
"From now on, you are not to entertain anyone except this young master, understand?"
Hongling smiled shyly and nodded obediently: "This maid understands. This maid will just wait for Young Master Zhao."