Chapter 111: A Message Delivered by Dart

Just after Yan Heru finished treating Yan Yi, she returned to her room only to be greeted by a strange, peculiar fragrance. While she lacked the heightened vigilance of Shen Hezhi, she immediately sensed that something was amiss.

Given her lifelong familiarity with herbs, her first thought was that the scent might be a poison. However, she comforted herself with the belief that her body, having been tempered by years of exposure to medicinal plants, would be immune to any ill effects. In doing so, she overlooked a crucial fact: this body was not the one she had inhabited in her modern life. It lacked that long-term exposure to herbs and possessed no such resistance. Consequently, after inhaling the fragrance, she drifted into a state of hazy unconsciousness. When she finally awoke, she found Mo Yi standing by her side, looking deeply concerned.

As soon as Yan Heru noticed her, Mo Yi, relieved, stepped forward to help her up. "Your Highness, how are you feeling? Do you feel any discomfort?"

Yan Heru shook her head. She felt no physical pain, but she knew full well that she had fainted due to that scent, and she silently chided herself for her carelessness. How could she have forgotten that this was not her original body? She had stayed in this world for so long that she was beginning to lose track of who she truly was. Wait—Yan Heru froze. Who exactly was she in this moment? She quickly suppressed the thought, pushing the existential doubt aside to focus on the pressing situation.

Recalling the strange scent, she immediately asked, "Where is the Prince? Where has he gone? And how did you find me?"

At the mention of Shen Hezhi, Mo Yi lowered her head. "We do not know where the Prince is. Shen Yi and Master Dongfang have already gone out to search for him. I only discovered you unconscious in the room when I was preparing dinner."

Upon hearing that Shen Hezhi was missing, Yan Heru sat up, startled. She reached for her shoes, intending to rush out and search for him, but she suddenly paused and sat back down on the bed.

"I cannot go looking for him in my current state. Where is Master Dongfang? Where are they searching?" She forced herself to regain her composure and began to analyze the situation.

First, there was the peculiar fragrance in the room. Shen Hezhi's disappearance was undoubtedly linked to it; otherwise, given his keen vigilance and formidable martial arts skills, he would never have vanished so abruptly. Second, since inhaling the scent led to unconsciousness, it was highly probable that the Prince had been incapacitated by the same means before being abducted.

Mo Yi replied, "Master Dongfang is currently searching house by house in the city, but after more than two hours, there has been no news."

Mo Yi was deeply worried about Shen Hezhi, but she knew her primary duty was to protect Yan Heru. Perhaps the mastermind behind the abduction was actually targeting the Princess all along. If anything were to happen to Yan Heru, the Prince would be even more distraught, and Mo Yi did not want to see the Ninth Prince return only to be consumed by worry for his wife.

As Yan Heru pondered the situation, a flying dart suddenly whistled through the air and embedded itself in the door frame. Mo Yi immediately shielded Yan Heru. Yan Heru peered out from behind her, but the area seemed deserted. "There’s no one here. It must be a message—look, there’s a note attached to the dart."

Mo Yi walked to the door, surveyed the surroundings once more to ensure they were alone, and retrieved the dart. As expected, a note was tied to it, which she promptly handed to Yan Heru.

Yan Heru opened the note, and the words written within sent a jolt of alarm through her.

"If you wish to see your husband again, come alone to the border of the Nanyang Kingdom. I will have someone waiting for you there at the hour of Zi tonight. It does not matter if you do not come tonight; perhaps you have not yet made up your mind. However, I will send someone every night. If I do not see you within seven days, your husband and you shall be parted by the veil of life and death forever. I suggest you consider the consequences carefully."

After reading the message, Yan Heru crumpled the paper into a ball in a fit of rage and tossed it aside. Mo Yi was startled by the reaction but remained still, sensing the Princess's intense anger. Though she was burning with curiosity about the contents of the note, she did not act impulsively, waiting silently for instructions.

After a while, seemingly struck by a thought, Yan Heru picked up the note again. She read it once more; though still angry, her emotions were more settled. She handed the note to Mo Yi. "Someone has indeed taken the Prince, and it appears they are targeting me."

After receiving permission, Mo Yi read the note, her expression one of shock. Why would someone on the border seek to harm the Princess? If there were a grievance, it should have been directed at the Ninth Prince. Yet, they had gone to the trouble of capturing him simply as bait for her.

A doubt surfaced in Mo Yi's mind. "If they are truly after you, Your Highness, capturing the Prince would have been an immense effort. If they are resorting to such roundabout tactics, perhaps their goal is not what is written on this note. It is possible this message is merely a distraction, and their true objective lies elsewhere."

Yan Heru agreed with Mo Yi's analysis. She had been thinking the same thing. If the enemy wanted her, they could have simply seized her, as she possessed no great martial arts skills beyond what she had learned from Mo Yi. Why go to such lengths to kidnap the Ninth Prince just to threaten her? It seemed unnecessarily complicated, leaving them both to wonder what the true motive was.