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  But it's easier said than done, and plans will never catch up with changes.

  Ming Xuan fainted when the imperial edict was announced in the inner court. The royal physician diagnosed her pulse and declared that Princess Anping's pregnancy was unstable, requiring her to rest and preserve the fetus. Not only did this create a noble image for Pei Jingxun, who had endured pain to rush to the battlefield, but it also won the praise and admiration of the anxious citizens of Shengjing, and as intended, rendered the edict drafted by Empress Pei useless.

  The emperor was indeed unwilling to give up, and he had strict guards posted around the Anping Wangfu. In his eyes, Ming Xuan was already a bird in a cage with clipped wings. But this was not enough, and he drafted another edict in the name of Empress Pei, expressing great concern for the well-being of the Princess of Anping. He sent over imperial physicians and palace maids to care for her pregnancy, ostensibly to support the Princess while the Prince of Anping was away at war, but in reality to keep a close eye on her.

  The people from the palace stuck to her side, making it almost impossible for Ming Xuan to get rid of them and leave the Wang Fu to go to the White Cloud Temple. The palace maids were always busy in front of her bed, not leaving her line of sight for a moment, serving tea and water, all done by the group of palace maids, pushing out Dan Hong and Ya Niang.

  Lian Mingxuan really couldn't bear it and wanted to get up and walk around in the outer courtyard, but was always refused by her mother-in-law on the grounds that she needed to rest quietly for the sake of the fetus. This is what they call "self-imposed confinement". The Anping Wangfu had a group of door gods who kept all outside news from coming in and inside news from getting out, making it as tightly sealed as an iron bucket.

  At first, Ming Xuan was eager to leave here. She knew better than anyone that the city defense of Shengjing had long been breached, and at any moment, Lin Nan Wang would stand up from the hidden crowd, raise his arm and shout, and the soldiers he had planted in the streets would rush out with lightning speed, attacking the imperial city. Once Lin Nan Wang got rid of the emperor, this Anping Wang Fu would be even more dangerous than it was now.

  Yes. The Emperor only wants to use Ming Xuan to restrain Pei Jing Chen, but the King of Lin Nan is eager to get rid of him as soon as possible. Therefore, the Emperor will only detain Ming Xuan, and once the King of Lin Nan takes over the Imperial City, the Anping Palace will become a purgatory on earth.

  If you don't leave here, all the previous ideas are just a beautiful illusion, seemingly within reach, but shatter as soon as they are touched.

  But the people in the palace seemed to have made up their minds to block Anping Wangfu, and Mingxuan couldn't find any opportunity. Gradually, she was no longer anxious, but instead had a calm attitude of "since I'm here, I'll just relax". Every day during the daytime when the palace maids were on high alert, she would sleep in bed to make up for lost rest, and at night when it was quiet, those who came to "take care" of her retreated to the side room to rest, leaving only Dan Hong guarding her bedside. That's when she would discuss countermeasures with her most trusted maid.

  Dan Hong said in a low voice, "Today I had Su Wan go to the woodshed in the backyard. She walked through the underground passageway and all the way to the artificial hill in the rear garden of Zheng Hanlin's mansion. Since there was no one around, she secretly strolled around for a while and found a small door in the Zheng mansion's rear garden. Su Wan said that the lock on the door had grown a thick layer of rust, apparently it has been abandoned for a long time."

  She paused, "Su Wan looked through the door crack and recognized that the door was facing Liu Xiang. The one diagonally opposite was the west gate of her uncle's newly built mansion."

  The next door of Anping Wangfu is Zheng Hanlin of the Hanlin Academy, and the back walls of the two mansions are parallel to each other, almost connected.

  It is said that in the past, when King Xiangchu was still alive, the current residence of Zheng Hanlin's mansion was occupied by Wei Feng, a brave and fierce general. In those days, he fought against Rouran and suffered a disastrous defeat, resulting in King Xiangchu being shot to death with countless arrows, losing several cities in the northern border, which made the previous emperor feel ashamed and humiliated, causing public outrage. After King Xiangchu's death, someone had to take responsibility for this defeat; otherwise, how could they give the previous emperor a way out? Therefore, at that time, Wei Feng, the deputy general of King Xiangchu, became the target of the previous emperor's anger.

  The General Wei was lucky to have escaped with his life from the battlefield where thousands of people had died, but he never expected that as soon as he returned to the capital, he would be made a scapegoat by the previous emperor to appease the people's anger and would be sentenced to death. Although the previous emperor had dealt leniently with General Wei's family, they were still forced to scatter and flee in all directions. After Pei Jingzhen gained the loyalty of the Northern Army, he spent a lot of time and effort searching for General Wei's descendants, but it was as if they had vanished into thin air, leaving no news or trace behind.

  This mansion has been vacant for many years, just like the Xiang Chu Wang Fu, until four years ago when the Emperor ascended to the throne and granted it to his teacher Zheng Hanlin.

  Before Pei Jingchen went to war, he had told Ming Xuan that his maternal grandfather, the King of Xiangchu, and the General Wei had a deep friendship. They fought together in the northern border, shouted on the battlefield, and even set up their mansions next door. In the past, the King of Xiangchu's mansion and General Wei's mansion were connected by a side door, and for added security, a secret passage was also set up between the two mansions. Therefore, there is a secret path connecting Anping Wangfu and the adjacent Zheng Hanlin Mansion, but he doesn't know where it is.

  This extra reminder before parting unexpectedly became Ming Xuan's lifeline at this moment.

  Fortunately, the palace maids who came to monitor inside the palace were strict but not many in number. They could only keep an eye on themselves and couldn't manage the movements of all the maidservants in the mansion. Those imperial guards would hide in the dark as long as no one entered or exited the Anping Wangfu, and they wouldn't easily reveal their presence.

  So, Ming Xuan asked Yan Niang and Lao Cao, the former manager of the Wang Fu, to get in touch with each other. Let Lao Cao find that secret passage based on his past impression.

  Hard work pays off for those who are diligent. After several days of searching, Yan and Lao Cao finally found the unassuming woodshed in the backyard. The secret passage had not been used for a long time, and no one knew where it led to in the Zheng Hanlin Mansion, so Su Wan volunteered to explore it first. Fortunately, the passage led to the back garden of the Zheng Hanlin Mansion, and it seemed that few people passed through there. Moreover, there was an old side door that led to Liu Alley, which coincidentally had a new house built by Gu Yuanjing with a side door opening onto Liu Alley.

  Ming Xuan's eyes shone slightly, "So, as long as we think of a way to get to the backyard woodshed, we'll have a chance to leave the Wang Manor?"

  Dan Hong's expression also had a few points of excitement, "I inquired about the old people in Wangfu, and it turns out that Zheng Hanlin's household is very simple. Zheng Hanlin and his wife have three daughters and one son, all three daughters are already married, and there is only an eight-year-old young son at home. Zheng Hanlin did not take a concubine, so there are only three main masters in the house, and there are not many servants either. Therefore, part of the backyard was sealed off and unused, coincidentally, the exit of the secret passage is exactly that part, normally no one would pass by."

  As long as it's not exposed by others, things will become much simpler.

  "She continued, 'As long as we can open that rusty lock, we'll be able to leave safely. Then, through my uncle's new mansion, we'll take the horse carriage and quietly depart. By the time the palace eunuchs and maids discover it, we'll have gone far away.'"

  Ming Xuan's eyes slightly condensed, thinking that if she didn't have to worry about the emperor settling accounts after autumn, then she wouldn't have to be afraid of those palace maids and eunuchs reporting back to the palace. This method was indeed feasible.

  However, there were about a hundred people in the Anping Palace, and she left naturally. But what about those loyal servants who were devoted to them? Neither the Emperor nor the King of Lin Nan would let them off, the Emperor was fine, but the King of Lin Nan...

  Ming Xuan thought for a moment and asked in a low voice, "Do those palace maids usually come to our mansion and wander around?"

  Dan Hong shook her head, "The palace sent a total of eight palace maids and four wet nurses, they were divided into two shifts, only moving around the main courtyard of the Wang Fu, never going to other courtyards."

  She looked puzzled and asked, "Why did the princess ask this?"

  Ming Xuan's eyes deepened, and she replied in a soft voice, "It is highly likely that Lin Nan Wang will gather his forces to launch a surprise attack on the Imperial City. His ambition is to ascend to the throne without shedding blood, so he should not target the nobles of Shengjing City. Otherwise, just the number of imperial guards and dark guards would be enough for him to handle. Therefore, whether it's Yongning Hou Fu or Zhen Guo Gong Fu, I think as long as they close their gates tightly, there shouldn't be any danger. However..."

  She changed her tone, "But Anping Wangfu is different."

  Danhong's body shook slightly, she didn't have much understanding of politics, but these simple truths were clear to her.

  The northern army of King Anping defeated the vanguard of King Linsou, Wu Dinghou, and scattered them. If it weren't for this, King Linsou's invasion of Shengjing City would have been easy. Therefore, if King Linsou controlled the capital, King Anping would be a person he must eliminate, and the Anping Palace would be a thorn in his side.

  It's the same in the imperial palace, when a new master rises to power, they always have to do some intimidating things to establish their authority. It's only natural that Lin Nan Wang would use the Northern Army and the Anping King's Mansion as examples to warn the powerful officials and aristocratic families in Shengjing City: those who obey him will prosper, while those who defy him will perish.

  In that case, they can escape, but what about those who stay in the palace?

  Dan Hong's face showed a look of horror, fear and worry. "A horse-drawn carriage can only hold four people at most. Baiyun An Yu Zhen Shitai has rules that don't allow outsiders to stay overnight. I'm afraid that at most, it will be just me and Yan Niangniang who can accompany the princess out. As for the rest of you, Su Wan and the others will all be in danger...this..."

  She was so anxious that she almost burst into tears. "I heard the old people in Yongning Marquis's mansion say that back then, there were more than 300 people in Qin Guo Gong Fu, but they all..."

  The eldest daughter of the Duke of Qin was married to the second prince as his main wife and gave birth to a son, originally the most promising to become the prosperous door of the imperial clan. However, due to the victory of the ninth prince, all the direct descendants of the second prince were beheaded or exiled. More than 300 people in the Duke of Qin's mansion, either had their heads chopped off or were banished and demoted. The main line of the Duke of Qin's family was destroyed, not to mention the servants who also did not have a good ending.

  One day an emperor, one day a minister, it has always been this cruel since ancient times.

  Ming Xuan hesitated for a moment, grasping Dan Hong's hand tightly, and said in a deep voice, "I won't let anyone from the Anping Wang Fu get into trouble. In that case, we can only resort to the Empty City Strategy!"

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