"When Aunt Bai was poisoned, Yu Yun hadn’t even been born. When Zhu Qingqing was poisoned, she was less than two years old. Who could she have possibly poisoned?"

Han Li and Ao Wu were rendered speechless by his words, but they were the type to argue even when they were wrong. They stubbornly insisted, what if it *was* Yu Yun?

Anything’s possible!

Mo Yan couldn’t be bothered with them and asked Yu An what she wanted to do.

Yu An hesitated for a moment. "Forget it. Let’s ignore her for now and finish the act we planned."

"Act? What act?"

Han Li looked completely lost.

Ao Wu said scornfully, "It’s obvious you weren’t listening to An’an. An’an is going to lure the snake out of its hole!"

「The next day.」

When the Beastmen called their friends and went to line up for food, they discovered that only Chef Jiao had shown up, and he had come empty-handed.

Lei Wang once again unleashed his cash-power, spending two hundred gold coins to secure the first spot in line. He looked around but didn’t see Yu An, so he asked Chef Jiao.

Chef Jiao wore a grief-stricken expression. "Everyone, there’s no need to line up! Princess Yu An was kidnapped last night! We’re searching for her right now. If anyone sees the Princess, please report to the Imperial Palace. You will be handsomely rewarded!"

As soon as he said this, the scene erupted into chaos. Lei Wang had the strongest reaction.

It wasn’t that he was concerned about Yu An. He was just furious that he had spent money again and still couldn’t get any food.

He angrily told his attendant, "Go! Have everyone in the mansion search for Yu An! Everyone!"

’I’d like to see just who is so bold!’

When the news reached Yu Yun’s Princess Mansion, she was in her room speaking with an old woman.

Yu Yun recounted the previous day’s events, feeling extremely anxious. "Granny, do you think Yu An has discovered something?"

The old woman’s face was covered in wrinkles, but her eyes were sharp as a hawk’s. "What’s there to panic about? Don’t lose your composure. I am here for everything. You just need to complete the tasks I give you, one by one."

"A few problems here and there don’t matter, as long as the final outcome is good. Go on now. Don’t betray the trust the Master has placed in you."

"However," the old woman said with a hint of wariness, "the Gu Worms I placed on Bai Ruo and that Iron-eating Beast Clan cub have died. Yu An was in the exiled land during that time. It’s possible she was the one who did it."

"Fortunately, I altered Bai Ruo’s memories in the past, making her believe that the Beast Emperor was the one raising all these Gu Worms."

The old woman let out a hoarse laugh, her voice grating. "It’s a pity I was only able to cultivate three memory-altering Gu Worms, and two have already been used."

"But as long as they serve their purpose, it’s worth using any number of them. By now, I’m afraid Yu An already sees the Beast Emperor as her true enemy."

Yu Yun still felt uneasy, but in front of the old woman, she could only be obedient.

The moment she lowered her head, the old woman’s figure vanished. Yu Yun looked up and pressed a hand to her wildly pounding heart.

She had known since she was very young that she was not the daughter of the Beast Emperor and Cui Su. Their real daughter had died long ago; she was an imposter.

Yu Yun didn’t know who her birth father was, either. The old woman had only said that he was immensely powerful and that there was only one purpose for having her impersonate the Beast Emperor’s daughter.

That purpose was to seize the Phoenix Bloodline within Yu An, allowing her to possess the bloodlines of both her biological Beast Father and Princess Yu Huang.

In other words, if she succeeded, Yu Yun would become the "daughter" of Yu Huang’s bloodline.

As for why her birth father wanted to do this... Yu Yun had a vague idea.

Her birth father had been in love with Yu Huang, but Yu Huang did not love him back and had a child, Yu An, with another male. Unwilling to accept Yu Huang living happily with another, her father had orchestrated a series of plans to tear them apart. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

But Yu Huang had lost her memories in an accident, becoming cold and ruthless, approachable by no one. Her birth father wanted her to replace Yu An, to stay by Yu Huang’s side and create opportunities for him.

In any case, this matter was to her own advantage. ’I have no reason not to do this.’

Yesterday, she had planned to poison those little cubs and use them to control Yu An, but unexpectedly, she had failed.

A vicious glint flashed in Yu Yun’s eyes as she began to ponder her next move.

"Princess, a message has arrived from the Ghost Market..."

Upon learning that Yu An had been kidnapped and that the kidnappers wanted to meet her that night to exchange the hostage for money, Yu Yun grew incredibly excited.

’It’s like getting a pillow just when you’re sleepy, and I was just worrying about what to do next!’

Amidst her excitement, Yu Yun remained vigilant. "Who kidnapped Yu An? And how? Have you investigated thoroughly?"

’Yu An lives in the Imperial Palace and is protected by five Beast Husbands. How could she be kidnapped so easily?’

"We’ve investigated. There are no issues with their identities, but they refuse to say how they kidnapped Yu An. They say it’s their secret."

Yu Yun thought for a moment and decided to go see for herself.

Inside the Ghost Market, Zhou Dayong sat in a chair, pretending to be calm, but internally, he was panicking.

This was his first time acting. He was terrified he’d do a bad job, that the other party would see through his act and ruin Yu An’s plan.

The others were the same, their legs trembling so badly they had to play it off as impatient fidgeting.

Before long, Yu Yun arrived, wearing a mask and a black cloak.

Yu An’s hands and feet were bound. The knots looked tight, but in reality, she could break free in an instant.

She kept her eyes tightly shut, feigning unconsciousness, while her ears listened intently to the sounds outside.

"You finally decided to show up?"

Zhou Dayong was the first to speak, saying impatiently, "I’ve been waiting for you all day! Are we making this deal or not?"

The person behind Yu Yun drew their sword. "How dare you speak to..."

Zhou Dayong jumped in fright, but he quickly composed himself.

"Put it away," Yu Yun said, deliberately lowering her voice. "Who told you to move?"

Zhou Dayong snorted coldly. "You’re a sensible master, at least!"

The voice sounded somewhat familiar to Yu An, but before she could think about it too much, the two parties began to sit down and talk.

"The person’s right here." Zhou Dayong plopped down onto a chair and held out his hand. "Where’s the money? You hand over the money, you get the person."

Yu Yun smiled. "The money is ready, of course. But before we hand it over, let me verify that this is the person I want."

Zhou Dayong clicked his tongue impatiently. "Go on, go on. Check her."

Yu Yun took a careful look. After confirming it was her, she asked casually, "How did you manage to kidnap her? From what I know, this Yu An is an Imperial Princess."

"None of your business," Zhou Dayong said irritably. "Just tell us if she’s the one you want or not."

"She is the one I want," Yu Yun said, signaling her subordinate to place the gold coins on the table. "I was just thinking, you all are quite skilled. If you were willing to work for me, I would certainly pay handsomely..."

"Not interested." Zhou Dayong waved his hand dismissively. "Brothers, grab the gold coins! Let’s go!"

A dozen or so men moved swiftly, hoisting the gold and taking off. Zhou Dayong said magnanimously, "I rented this transaction room, so you don’t have to pay. See you around."

With that, he also left, closing the door behind him.

The Ghost Market has transaction houses specifically for secret deals. Zhou Dayong had deliberately chosen the most remote one, and as he left, he locked the door from the outside.

This made it convenient for Yu An and her group to trap them like a turtle in a jar.

Yu Yun felt something was strange, but Yu An was right here. Other than her own people, there was no one else in the room.

Now was the perfect time to take the Phoenix Blood. Yu Yun walked toward Yu An step by step, the sharp dagger in her hand glinting with a cold light.

She was aiming for a killing blow. Just as the dagger was about to plunge into Yu An’s heart, a green vine shot out and wrapped around it.

The next second, Yu An’s eyes snapped open, meeting Yu Yun’s gaze from behind the mask.