Shen Yu was taken aback. "How could someone escape from the Hidden Dragon Guards?"

"Tell me, what happened exactly?" Shang Junlin's voice turned cold.

"After my men brought the person back to the capital, I personally went to pick him up. At first, he was very cooperative. But when we were getting close to the palace, he suddenly disappeared."

"He disappeared suddenly?"

"Yes, I locked him in a room with tightly closed windows and arranged Hidden Dragon Guards to guard the surroundings. Initially, he kept talking and trying to communicate with people outside. When he realized no one was responding, he gradually grew quiet. About fifteen minutes later, when I went back in, there was no one inside."

The leader of the Hidden Dragon Guards couldn't lie, and besides, there were other witnesses present besides just him. It was unlikely that everyone would conspire to tell the same lie.

"He managed to escape so easily. How was he captured in the first place?" Shen Yu asked.

"Our men found him in the King of Yue's fief. At the time, it seemed like he was hiding from someone, and he didn't put up much resistance when our men took him away. He didn't make any suspicious moves along the way," the leader of the Hidden Dragon Guards furrowed his brow. "He seemed too compliant."

The Hidden Dragon Guards had captured the person on Shang Junlin's orders. Initially, Shang Junlin had given the command to dispose of the person directly. Whether the words he spoke were true or false, they provoked the King of Yue to take action against Shen Yu. Based on this alone, Shang Junlin didn't want to keep the person alive.

Later, it was Shen Yu who suggested meeting the person, and that was when Shang Junlin changed his mind.

"So, you managed to lose the person once you reached the capital. Well done," Shang Junlin's temperature dropped abruptly, and he harbored a great deal of hostility towards the person who had caused the King of Yue to deliberately befriend Shen Yu.

"I won't punish you for now. The person is missing in the capital. No matter what means you use, within three days, I want to see this person. If you succeed, your merits will balance out your faults. If you can't achieve this, you needn't continue in your position."

"Yes."

Silently, the leader of the Hidden Dragon Guards disappeared from the room, like a Buddha1.

"Has that person been captured in the capital?" Shen Yu poured two cups of tea, placing one by Shang Junlin's side.

"Yes," Shang Junlin frowned, clearly in a bad mood. "I had planned to inform you when the person arrived, but it seems they managed to lose sight of him."

"If he could escape under the noses of the Hidden Dragon Guards, it means either there's an insider in the capital, or there's something wrong with the person himself. I'm quite curious, with so many opportunities along the way, why did he choose to escape only after entering the capital?" Shen Yu took a sip of tea.

"I'll have the Hidden Dragon Guards and the Forbidden Army pay close attention to the situation in the capital." Whether it was the former or the latter, the fact remained that the person had gone missing in the capital, and Shang Junlin had to take it seriously.

What Shang Junlin didn't say was that he was genuinely worried about what kind of extraordinary ability the person possessed. Based on the words he had spoken to the King of Yue, whether they were true or not, piqued the King of Yue's interest in Shen Yu. For this reason alone, Shang Junlin didn't want to leave the person unchecked.

"How about paying a visit to the King of Yue? Maybe he knows something," Shen Yu suggested.

Since the person had a connection with the King of Yue, it was unlikely that they had only exchanged a few words. Besides the incident, had they spoken about anything else?

In his past life, Shen Yu had never seen such a figure by the side of the King of Yue, nor had he ever heard the King of Yue mention this person. Was it because this person didn't exist in his past life, or was there something that had happened in between that caused the King of Yue to completely forget about him?

The events of the past life couldn't be retraced, but in this life, the King of Yue was still imprisoned in the dungeon. Perhaps some useful information could be obtained from his mouth.

After several days, Shen Yu once again saw the King of Yue.

The current King of Yue looked even more different from the image Shen Yu had of him in his previous life. He seemed like a stone that had lost its radiance, with only a dull interior left, as if he had borrowed external forces to make himself shine.

Shen Yu couldn't help but doubt if he had truly loved this man in his past life.

Feeling the approaching footsteps, the King of Yue raised his head in a daze. But when he saw who it was, his eyes no longer held a murky look but were replaced with shades of shock and hatred.

"It seems you haven't lost your wits," Shang Junlin's tone was indifferent as if he were stating something insignificant.

"Why isn't the Emperor staying in the palace? Why come to me? Have you finally realized that the person you placed in your beloved's heart isn't right for you?" The King of Yue didn't bother to hide his malice.

"Aren't you pretending as well, Your Highness? You can't even compare to His Majesty in the first place, and now..." Shen Yu looked the King of Yue up and down with a clear disdain on his face.

The King of Yue's eyes burned with even greater resentment. He was like this because of them! If it weren't for the deceitfulness of these two individuals, he wouldn't have fallen into such a state! He should have been enjoying the love and admiration of his subjects in his fief, indulging in fine wine and delicious food, rather than being trapped in a damp, dark dungeon, deprived of daylight.

Taking a step forward, Shen Yu was surprised to find that the King of Yue involuntarily stepped back. A strange look appeared on his face. What kind of person did he become in his past life that he would be attracted to someone like this? Why had he willingly done so much for him?

The mystery of his past life seemed to be growing larger and larger.

Shang Junlin walked over and embraced Shen Yu's waist, interrupting his thoughts.

"Do you know someone named Zhu Wang?" Shang Junlin hadn't forgotten the purpose of this visit.

The expression on the King of Yue's face suddenly changed. He burst into laughter. "So, it turns out he didn't just tell me, but he also told you. No wonder you, who have never shown any affection for anyone, dote on Shen Yu so much. Hahaha! Now you're asking me this question in front of him. Aren't you afraid that I'll reveal your secret to him?"

"What secret? Are you referring to the phrase 'He who obtains Shen's descendant will obtain the world'?" Shen Yu's eyes half-lowered, and his gaze fixed on the King of Yue.

"You know?!" The King of Yue's laughter abruptly stopped, and his expression twisted with a mix of amusement and malice. "Since you already know, are you still willing to stay by his side willingly?"

He couldn't see the expression on Shen Yu's face, but if he could make these two people unhappy, then he would be content. Malice almost overflowed from his heart.

"Shen Yu, don't forget, the Marquis of Zhenbei has more than just one child. Whether you believe it or not, today, my good brother, who treats you so fondly because of that phrase, can also easily hand everything over to Shen Qingran. He has always been like this, not caring at all about other people's feelings."

Feeling the arm around his waist suddenly tighten, Shen Yu patted it soothingly. He himself could see and feel what kind of person Shang Junlin was, but as for the King of Yue...

"So, do you admit that you have been colluding with Shen Qingran while getting close to me? From the very beginning, you had ulterior motives. What you want is neither me nor Shen Qingran, but what we represent behind us. You are just like that, so how dare you confidently speak about others?"

The King of Yue's words were once again blocked in his mouth. He opened his mouth but found himself unable to retort.

Ignoring the look of disarray on the King of Yue's face, Shen Yu continued to question, "I'm curious, no matter what, you're still a prince. Can't you handle it when someone says something about you? Oh, right, not only did you believe it, you even took action based on it, and in the end, you ended up imprisoned. Do you really think that person's words are true and trustworthy?"

The King of Yue paused, realizing he had never considered the possibility that the phrase could be false. When he heard the proverb, he summoned his confidants to discuss countermeasures. What was he thinking at that time? Regardless of whether the phrase was true or false, he had to give it a try. But afterward, why had he convinced himself that the phrase was correct?

After thinking for a moment, the King of Yue suddenly calmed down and said, "Since you believe that the phrase is false, why did you come to ask me?"

"King of Yue, I have never believed in such things. I just want to know your motives for getting close to Ah Yu. Ah, Yu grew up in the capital without any connection to you, so why did you choose him?" Shang Junlin's tone remained calm, except for a slight fluctuation when he mentioned Shen Yu.

"Isn't that something you already know?" The King of Yue looked at Shen Yu. "I admit that my intentions for getting close to you were impure, but apart from that, everything else came from my sincere..."

"Including your sincere connection with Shen Qingran?" Shen Yu interrupted his self-proclaimed passionate words.

The King of Yue fell silent.

"Stop with these talks of sincerity or insincerity. Even you don't believe them when you say them out loud. I just want to know what Zhu Wang did to make you so firmly believe in that phrase."

"I encountered him accidentally when I first arrived at my fief. The locals called him 'Mr. Zhu.' He saved me once, and before leaving, he gave me a sachet, saying that the contents inside could help me overcome three difficulties. I accepted the sachet with skepticism, and not long after, I encountered the first adversity."

Even if the King of Yue didn't say the rest, Shen Yu and Shang Junlin could guess what happened. The sachet indeed helped the King of Yue overcome three difficulties. With that premise, it wasn't surprising that he would form connections with Shen Yu and Shen Qingran because of that phrase.

"He disappeared, and I couldn't keep him. Later, something happened, and he briefly stayed at the palace before disappearing again."

This aligned with the information obtained by the Hidden Dragon Guard.

As Shen Yu and Shang Junlin left the dungeon, instead of alleviating their doubts, they became even more curious about Zhu Wang's existence.

"Your Majesty, how credible do you think the King of Yue's words are?" Shen Yu asked on their way back to the palace.

Shang Junlin replied, "I remember those three incidents. At that time, not long after the King of Yue arrived at his fief, there was a rebellion. Before the court could take action, the rebellion was already suppressed. I always thought it was the force left behind by the late emperor that intervened."

"Why would a rebellion occur in the prosperous fief of the King of Yue, where the people lived in peace and contentment?"

The late emperor favored the King of Yue and granted him the fief, which was a great place. When Shang Junlin ascended the throne, he was too occupied with other matters and just wanted to send the King of Yue away as soon as possible, so he didn't pay much attention to the state of that fief and simply sent him there.

Shang Junlin frowned. "Because there were too many matters to attend to at that time, and the King of Yue handled the rebellion in his fief on his own. I didn't ask much about it. Ah Yu, do you suspect that there was something wrong with that rebellion?"

"The King of Yue made it sound like it was orchestrated by someone else, but I don't quite think so. What if it was planned from the beginning?" Shen Yu rested his chin on his hand. "If the sachet came before the rebellion, it shows that Zhu Wang indeed has some ability. However, who can be certain that the sachet came first?"

Now there were even more questions. Why did that person do all this? Was it solely to make the King of Yue firmly believe in his words? More specifically, was it to make the King of Yue believe in the phrase "He who obtains Shen's descendant will obtain the world"?

"We'll find out what they're planning once the Hidden Dragon Guard captures that person."

Suddenly, the carriage stopped, and a guard reported from outside, "Your Majesty, there's someone claiming to be 'Mr. Zhu' who wishes to see you."

Author's Note: Two updates. I request some literary nutrition (。-w-)