Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
An Xiaoning had been searching for an opportunity to leave the palace at night. However, she had yet to succeed.
It was indeed not a place where one could come and go as they pleased.
She initially planned to find another chance to escape tonight. However, Xiao Chi secretly stuffed her a note.
It read: “Don’t close your door at two o’clock in the morning.”
An Xiaoning did not know what he meant but still went ahead and left the door ajar.
At two hours after midnight, Xiao Chi showed up at her door.
“Mu Ning?”
Leaning against the headboard, she reached out to switch on the lights and asked, “What’s the matter?”
Xiao Chi placed a black plastic bag on the ground and instructed softly, “Young Sir said that he’d like to show you some kindness on account of your son. He sent you this prop, lest you die here.”
An Xiaoning smirked and said, “Is that so? I really have to thank your Young Sir then. Please also tell him that this is what he should be doing, I won’t be grateful toward him.”
“Okay, I will tell him exactly what you said,” Xiao Chi answered, slightly peeved.
“You may get lost now.”
An Xiaoning got down from the bed to close the door. She then squatted down and opened the black plastic bag, which came with an instruction manual. She perused the instructions before taking a look at the contents of the bag. After memorizing the instructions given, she burned the manual and flushed it down the toilet bowl.
She changed into her favorite outfit and placed her other clothing into her luggage. After checking it through thoroughly to ensure that she did not leave any evidence behind, she took out a piece of paper and pen to write another note.
The content of the message was slightly different from the previous one she’d left behind.
This time, she wrote: “I’m leaving now. I initially wanted to bid you a proper farewell a few days ago, but you didn’t allow me to. I have no choice but to resort to this. I guess you’ll be infuriated, but it’s not worth blowing your top over such a small fry like me. Take care, we won’t meet again. —Mu Ning.”
An Xiaoning then placed the note on the table. She brought the pile of items and made her way to the middle of the second floor while wearing her night vision goggles.
She did not manage to escape after sneaking out of the window toward the lake, but it seemed like it will be a success this time.
When she successfully reached the top, An Xiaoning turned on the switch on the deflated, lightweight balloon-like item. To her surprise, it began inflating automatically and propelled her upwards toward the sky.
There was only a slight breeze, leaving no trace at all.
An Xiaoning stared at the world below her while rising up slowly into the sky.
A smirk formed on her face as she thought to herself, Goodbye, Autumn Palace. Goodbye, Tuoba Gucheng. Goodbye to everything here.
She knew that from this moment onwards, she would never be Mu Ning again.
Since the moment An Xiaoning flew out of the palace, the air security system of the Autumn Palace had already been activated and they had begun trying to track her down.
Once An Xiaoning landed outside the palace, she hurriedly packed her belongings and proceeded to collect her car from the car park. She then sped along the expressway toward A City, after which she got inside Mei Yangyang’s car and stuffed the items into the trunk.
She instructed Mei Yangyang to return the items to Jin Qingyan while she drove off to check into another hotel.
An Xiaoning did not care even if the sky came crashing down on her. She decided to have a good night’s sleep, despite knowing that the security personnel in the Autumn Palace were probably searching for her.
As expected, the security team of the Autumn Palace had already begun searching for her around B City soon after she left.
Tuoba Gucheng was informed about the situation at three o’clock in the morning.
When he first heard that someone had sneaked out of the Autumn Palace, he did not suspect that it was An Xiaoning at all. However, he instructed his bodyguards to call for An Xiaoning when he realized that she had yet to come downstairs even after breakfast.
“Your Highness, Mu Ning is not in her room. She probably went out.”
Tuoba Gucheng nodded and waited for a while more before instructing his bodyguards to look for her.
They did not manage to find her anywhere else.
At last, Xiao Chi said intentionally, “I heard that someone fled the Autumn Palace last night using an unconventional method. It can’t possibly be Mu Ning, can it?”
A sullen expression formed on Tuoba Gucheng’s face as soon as Xiao Chi stopped speaking, and he immediately headed upstairs.
He pushed open the door of her bedroom, only to find that everything in the room was organized and tidy.
The pot of lilies on the window ledge had already withered.
When he approached the bed, the note left on the table caught his attention.
Tuoba Gucheng held the note in his hand and looked down to read the message written on it, overwhelmed with panic and dismay. Last night… it was her, indeed!
That damned wretch actually escaped without his permission.
Did she really abhor being his bodyguard?
Tuoba Gucheng crushed the note in his hands and proceeded to unzip the luggage she had left behind. The luggage contained her clothes and shoes.
There was no other news about her.
Tuoba Gucheng made his way downstairs.
“Xiao Chi.”
“Yes, Your Highness. Do you have any orders for me?” Xiao Chi asked, feeling jittery and nervous.
“You were the one who got Mu Ning into the palace back then, right? Where does she live?” asked Tuoba Gucheng.
Xiao Chi had already prepared an answer to such questions way beforehand. “Your Highness, it was a friend who introduced me to her. I decided to bring her to work in the palace after noticing that she was rather proficient in martial arts. I’ve tried asking about the details of her personal life but she refused to reveal much.”
“Where’s that friend of yours now?”
“He’s already sacrificed his own life,” Xiao Chi answered with a look of agony.
Clenching the note tightly in his fists, Tuoba Gucheng instructed, “Bring me the personal identification documents Mu Ning submitted when she applied for the bodyguard position.”
“Alright.”
A few minutes later, Xiao Chi returned with a copy of An Xiaoning’s personal identification card and details.
Tuoba Gucheng did not open the document immediately and instead held it tightly in his hands while remaining in his seat quietly, seemingly deep in his thought.
He had a deep frown on his forehead and a menacing look on his face. After pondering for a long while, he leaned against the couch and opened the document.
After reading the information written on the document, he waved at Xiao Chi and dismissed him, “You may leave first.”
“Yes.”
Noticing the austere expression on his face when she made her way downstairs, Lin Shishi asked, “Hubby, did something happen?”
He put the document away and said calmly, “Nothing much, it’s just, Mu Ning has already left. Let’s go have breakfast.”
Lin Shishi did not dwell much on the matter since Mu Ning was merely a bodyguard. “Just bringing me a glass of milk will do, I don’t feel like eating anything else,” she instructed the servant.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Lin Shishi sat down beside him and said, “You seem really troubled. Mind sharing what’s on your mind?”
He smiled and said, “It’s really nothing major. By the way, I haven’t been spending much time with you because I’ve been so busy lately. Would you like me to make a trip down to A City together with you?”
“Do you really have the time to go with me? The elections are still ongoing. But I really am getting extremely bored in here,” said Lin Shishi, pleased to hear his suggestion.
“I can take a couple of days off and accompany you to visit your parents. It won’t matter.”
“When would you like to go?” Lin Shishi asked, beaming with joy.
“We shall go later. I’ll instruct my subordinates to prepare some gifts.”
“Alright then. I’ll go change into a fresh set of clothes now,” said Lin Shishi, after which she skipped upstairs merrily.
