They concluded the culprit was from within the Imperial Palace, but a full day of investigation turned up nothing unusual.
Forget them—even a master detective would have been stumped by Ye Qianning's methods. Not a single clue had been left, and it had already been three days since the theft.
Locking down the city gates now would have been futile. But that was where the coincidence lay.
Some moron had chosen this exact moment to abduct someone from the palace, running right into the guards on patrol.
When the Beili Emperor discovered that the person in his secret chamber had been abducted, he dispatched a massive manhunt. The Imperial Palace was sealed, the Capital City was locked down, and an all-out pursuit began.
Consort Yuan connected the two incidents, so she also sent people to give chase.
