"But now, the Empress is missing, and the Imperial Palace needs someone to take charge!"

"Having me is enough; the Princess is in poor health and not fit for labor."

"Wang Cai, are you trying to take control of the harem and then seize power while the Emperor and Empress are away?" Su Ya thought that saying this would certainly frighten him.

Who would have thought he would still wear a smiling face.

"I only follow the Emperor’s orders. The Emperor asked me to obey the Empress’s commands, so I am loyal only to the Emperor and the Empress. Princess, no matter what you say, I cannot defy the Empress’s orders."

Glancing coldly at her two palace maids, he said calmly, "The Princess needs to bathe and change her clothes; what are you standing there for?"

The two palace maids, frightened, immediately began to carry Su Ya away. She struggled fiercely, screamed, and cursed, but she, being a noblewoman, was no match for the two maids accustomed to heavy work.

Soon, she was taken away. Wang Cai immediately said to the guards, "Search thoroughly through every corner."

"As you command!"

There were quite a lot of things in Zhaohua Palace, with guards inspecting every box and cabinet, even knocking on the walls and crouching down to tap the floor to check for secret passages or such. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

The bed was turned over, and after a few knocks, the guard discovered it was hollow underneath.

"Master, there’s something suspicious here."

Everyone gathered over, prying up the bedboard, and sure enough, there was a hole in the ground.

A trace of anger flashed in Wang Cai’s eyes, and he ordered, "All of you, go down and see if the Empress is inside."

After a while, a guard emerged and said:

"Master, this seems to be a tunnel leading elsewhere. The Empress was probably taken away, she’s not in the tunnel. The others have already gone down the tunnel to search."

Narrowing his eyes, Wang Cai pondered briefly and instructed:

"Immediately have men block the city gates, allowing no one to leave. Say the Empress’s phoenix seal has been stolen, and we must catch the thief. Not a single person who knows about this is allowed to leak it; otherwise, they will be killed without mercy."

"As you command!"

Outside the Imperial Palace, Su Yan was disguised as an ordinary pregnant village woman, sitting in a carriage that jolted violently as it sped along, causing her head to bump against the carriage walls several times.