She stiffened and lowered her head. When a snake emitting a green glow, coiled into several layers and raising its head to flick its tongue at her appeared, an instinctive fear made her pupils instantly dilate, and a fright erupted inside her chest. Just as she was about to suppress her internal fear and scream out—

Murong Ze quickly covered her mouth. Murong Jie opened her mouth, tears streaming down as Murong Ze sighed, spun around, and carried her on his back, softly comforting her.

"Good girl, close your eyes, don’t be afraid, elder brother will take you away from here."

At this moment, Murong Jie was like a startled rabbit, nodding helplessly. Even though she received protection from her elder brother, she couldn’t stop that instinctive fear, and her body was trembling uncontrollably due to this reaction.

Why, why is it so terrifying down the well? 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

How many more such places are there in the palace?

Thinking of the corpses just seen—a mixture of eunuchs and palace maids—even though Murong Jie was usually so spoiled, she had never truly harmed those around her. But now, seeing the ground full of corpses and crawlers, she felt as though she was about to collapse, sobbing and trembling seemed to be her only response.

At this moment, Murong Ze too felt uncomfortable. Fenglin Garden was just a side courtyard of Yong’an Palace. Because Mother Concubine had a high status, she had always lived alone in Yong’an Palace, and no other concubines resided there. Father Emperor confined her there but did not directly send her to the Cold Palace, much considering him. So, could he also think that these bodies should be the palace maid and eunuch originally serving Yong’an Palace?

With this thought, Murong Ze’s heart began to throb. How many people has Mother Concubine secretly harmed over the years?

Murong Ze dared not continue thinking about it. He forced himself to endure the nausea and quickly walked forward along the waterway beneath the well. The further he walked in, the thinner the air became, the stench more unbearable. The siblings not only couldn’t keep clear-headed, but their heads were increasingly dizzy. When they finally reached the end, he began to carefully search all around. Unexpectedly, he found nothing and was about to give up when a groggy Murong Jie called out to him.

"Elder brother, look quickly, there’s a round stone over there, it looks a bit loose, can you kick it with your foot?"

Murong Jie was indeed smart. She could tell her brother was looking for some mechanism, so she also observed very carefully. Although she was short and just a girl, she was very meticulous. So when Murong Ze curiously tapped it lightly with his foot, a square gap immediately appeared above the waterway. The siblings saw this and collectively breathed a sigh of relief.

Eager to escape, Murong Ze first lifted Murong Jie up, then lightly leaped up himself. When they both left, the mechanism actually closed by itself.

The surroundings were still silent, but fortunately, there was faint light here. In sight was a stone chamber made of stones with only a stone bed and a stone table, impossibly simplistic. Wiping it lightly with a finger revealed it was spotless, indicating this place was frequently visited.

Murong Ze paced back and forth in this room, eventually fixing his gaze on the wall lamp. Carefully turning it, the stone door slowly opened in the next second. Amidst Murong Jie’s exclamation, Murong Ze grabbed her hand, leading her step by step inward, until they stopped before a sliding door.

Murong Ze carefully observed this narrow place and finally tentatively tapped the wooden board above the stone wall. After a while, the wooden board opened, revealing Consort Hua’s face, still sharply wise and strong despite being somewhat pale.

Seeing her children, she exclaimed delightedly, "You’re here, come up quickly!"

She opened the wooden board, first pulling Murong Jie up, followed closely by Murong Ze who also jumped up. The board fell again, restoring silence around them.

Sitting on the soft couch, Murong Jie, with her pale little face, kept her lips pressed tight, refusing to look at Consort Hua or speak to her. She even hugged her shivering body tightly, retreating to a corner of the couch.

Consort Hua noticed Murong Jie’s unusual behavior and looked at Murong Ze with confusion, "What’s wrong with Jie’er?"

Murong Ze lifted his eyes with a troubled expression, "What’s wrong? Anyone would be this scared seeing corpses in a secret passage, wouldn’t they?"