Forcing me to become a concubine? Remarrying the Ninth Prince, she'll be pregnant all over the

The imperial physicians had no better idea, and under pressure from Shen Huai'an, they had no choice but to give it a try.

However, it was stated that whether Lin Wantang's life could be saved depended on her fate.

Shen Huai'an reluctantly left, instructing the imperial physician to treat Lin Wantang properly. However, the physician worked until late at night, but to little avail. Lin Wantang remained lying on the bed, her fate unknown, and she was unlikely to wake up.

The imperial physician was extremely anxious. As he went to give instructions on the medication, Sanxi quickly ran into the bedchamber, knelt down before Lin Wantang, and whispered, "Miss, I have survived only because of the great kindness of Eunuch Jiang. Now I will risk my life to repay Lord Wei. If you do not wake up, I will be sorry."

After speaking, Sanxi stood up again, his body trembling as he began to remove his official robes...

Sanxi moved closer to Lin Wantang and gently tried to remove her clothes, but her hand was grabbed. Sanxi was so shocked that she almost cried out and fell to the ground in a panic. When she looked again, she saw that Lin Wantang had opened her eyes.

Her eyes were somewhat confused, and after a moment she regained some of her senses. She forced herself to sit up weakly and looked at Sanxi, who was only wearing his undergarments, with a puzzled expression: "Father-in-law, what... what are you doing?"

"Miss, you're awake! That's wonderful!"

Sanxi, suppressing his excitement, struggled to his feet and knelt, saying, "Miss, I am Eunuch Jiang's apprentice. For years, I have been lurking in the Eastern Palace, delivering messages for my master. Now that you are in trouble, it is my duty to help you escape. Please, Miss, quickly change into my robes and carefully flee!"

Lin Wantang was surprised. She remembered Wei Wujiu saying that Sanxi was Jiang Fulu's man and could be trusted, but to help her escape from the palace...

She frowned and thought carefully, then shook her head: "No, let alone whether it's feasible for us to escape after we've changed clothes, even if Shen Huai'an finds out, that eunuch will surely die. Besides, all nine gates of the palace are locked, and the imperial guards take turns patrolling and guarding them. Not even a fly can get out, let alone a living person like me."

Things that are too risky are not worth risking your life for.

Sanxi had also considered these things, and hurriedly said, "Miss, you don't need to worry about these things. This servant's life is worthless and death is not worth regretting. Miss, just change into my robes and try your best to get to Hechun Palace where Consort Ning lives. Consort Ning is still out with her, and there are only a few palace maids in the palace. I have already sent them away under various pretexts."

"The palace is empty. Miss, simply sneak into the right side hall, and under a row of mother-of-pearl inlaid cabinets, forcefully tap the bluestone slab. Beneath it lies a secret passage that leads directly outside the palace!"

Lin Wantang was startled. She had heard that there were secret passages in the palace, but rumors were not credible and no one took them seriously. How could Sanxi be so sure?

Sanxi added, "This tunnel was built during the reign of Emperor Taizu. A restless concubine in the harem helped plot a rebellion and assassination attempt in order to secretly meet her lover. The plot failed, and Emperor Taizu ordered the tunnel to be blocked. However, when Emperor Jing died, Empress Xiaowen ordered the tunnel to be dug up again as quickly as possible to protect the princes and princesses, and the tunnel was reopened."

Back then, the young Wei Wujiu also escaped through this secret passage, with several loyal palace servants taking turns protecting him at the cost of their lives, thus gaining a sliver of hope.

"Miss, what I said is true, and I would never dare to deceive you!" Sanxi kowtowed heavily.

Lin Wantang had no choice but to suppress her doubts and forcefully help Sanxi up. Considering the urgency of the situation, she quickly changed Sanxi into his official robes. To prevent Sanxi from being implicated, she added, "Father-in-law, I'm sorry."

Sanxi smiled and was about to advise her to leave quickly when Lin Wantang acted swiftly, grabbing Sanxi and slamming his head against the corner of the table. As blood gushed out, she inserted a needle into the back of his neck.

"Father-in-law, it was not my intention to hurt you. With these injuries, plus the golden needles holding you in place, you are unable to move or speak. Even if Shen Huai'an finds out, he may dispel his suspicions about you."

After explaining, Lin Wantang bowed solemnly to Sanxi, who was lying on the ground, and said, "Father-in-law, I will repay your kindness today in the future. I hope you will take care of yourself!"

After saying this, she put on the official hat of Sanxi to cover her face, deliberately hunched her body, and quickly left the hall.

Sanxi had given prior notice, and the many palace servants outside the palace did not suspect anything. Lin Wantang managed to bypass the palace and then carefully made her way to Hechun Palace along the palace road, deliberately avoiding the patrolling imperial guards.

With daylight fast approaching and movement becoming increasingly difficult, Lin Wantang dared not stop for a moment. She hurried along, and as Hechun Palace came into view, she was about to run a few more steps when a voice suddenly called out to her from behind—

"Who goes there?"

Lin Wantang's heart skipped a beat, and she subconsciously paused, but dared not turn around rashly. She was worried that her figure would be seen through, so she hunched over even more, and her legs began to tremble as if she were pretending to be nervous and afraid.

"This servant...this servant is from the Qianqing Palace, my humble name is Er Gou..." She deliberately spoke in a high-pitched and thin voice, which was extremely disgusting and repulsive.

Sure enough, the imperial guards patrolling behind him cursed in disgust, then said, "Why aren't you doing your duty up front? What are you doing here? Sneaking around like that, you don't look like a good person! Turn around!"

If Lin Wantang turned around as instructed, the man would make her raise her head again.

That would expose everything.

She nervously broke out in a cold sweat, racking her brains to make up a lie: "Reporting to the general, this servant is here on the Emperor's orders to find a white marble Buddha in the Hechun Palace storeroom. The Emperor said that Miss Lin would probably like it. Anyway, Consort Ning is ungrateful and colludes with the rebels, so there's no need to keep any good items in the palace."

"This servant was distracted and inadvertently heard your call, sir. I was so startled that I wet my pants. I cannot turn around now, sir. Please forgive me..."

"Forget it! What a nuisance!" The Imperial Guard found her eyes dirty and felt that her words made sense, so he was relieved and didn't pay much attention to her.

Lin Wantang felt as if he had been granted a pardon, but his tense heart dared not relax. He hurried along, but inadvertently forgot to disguise his hunched posture. The Imperial Guard caught his hunched posture out of the corner of his eye and shouted again, "Hey, something's wrong! You stop right there!"

This time, Lin Wantang dared not stop. Since Hechun Palace was right in front of her, she took off running and rushed to the palace gate. However, the palace gate was tightly closed, and she couldn't push it open with her meager strength. She gritted her teeth and pushed with all her might. If she still couldn't push it open, the Imperial Guards would catch up with her...

But at this critical moment, the heavy palace gate slowly opened from the inside, and a long, slender hand rushed out, grabbed her, and dragged her inside in the next second!

Lin Wantang was terrified. She was also being held tightly in someone's arms. Before she could tell what was happening, she looked up again in a panic and froze for a moment.