Chapter 12: Jun Ning as Quiet as a Mouse

Jun Ning, although he didn't know why Qiong Hua was so careful in protecting him, not only afraid of his true gender being discovered but also afraid of him being seen by others, made him feel like he was living in the shadows, unable to see the light of day.

But he trusted Qiong Hua in his heart, knowing that Qiong Hua was doing this to protect him and would never harm him.

He glanced at the space in front of him, pointing a finger at the large water tank placed among some weeds not far away and shook Qiong Hua's hand, which was already damp with cold sweat, saying, "Mother, why don't I hide in that large water tank?"

"They're not blind, they'll find you even if you hide in the tank." Qiong Hua said anxiously, her voice trembling.

Jun Ning held onto a sliver of hope, "That place is hard to find, they might not find it."

Qiong Hua shook her head, "Better safe than sorry, what if they find you, what then?"

"What then?"

Sob, sob, sob, he hadn't thought about that yet.

Qiong Hua tightly held Jun Ning's small hand, meeting his bewildered gaze, saying, "Anyway, you can't hide there. Listen to Mother, be good."

Jun Ning nodded his head, quickly thinking about where he should hide, should he... he...

Qiong Hua was also pondering this problem, but despite thinking for a long time, she couldn't come up with a good hiding place.

In her panic, she was infuriated with the people searching, and cursed them out loud.

"In this Cold Palace, there's either madmen or fools locked up, hardly anyone is sober, really don't know what kind of people could be hiding here? These idiots, how did they end up searching here?"

"And which bastard offended people, causing even the Cold Palace to be searched? Poor my Yi Yi, who did nothing wrong. What if she's seen by those people, what then?"

"..."

Bastard Jun Ning stayed as quiet as a chicken.

They could beat him to death, and he wouldn't dare admit that the little rascal the Imperial Guard was searching for was him.

He...he was not innocent at all...

"Cough cough..." Jun Ning cleared his throat, saying, "Mother, why don't I hide outside?"

"But how are you going to get out?" Qiong Hua muttered to herself, then suddenly remembered that Jun Ning had managed to get food before by going through the doghole from the Cold Palace, "Of course, you can crawl out through the doghole to hide."

How could she forget this?

Qiong Hua spoke as she pulled Jun Ning towards the doghole, "This time, you can crawl out through the doghole to hide. Mother permits it. But remember, don't do it again. And after these people leave, quickly come back, and don't wander outside aimlessly."

Jun Ning nodded while saying, "Got it, Mother." Pausing, he pointed to the position behind him and said, "But Mother, you're going the wrong way. The doghole isn't on this side, it's over there."

Upon hearing this, Qiong Hua stopped awkwardly in her tracks.

Jun Ning attempted to free his hand from his mother's grip, "Mother, I can go by myself, can you let go of my hand?"

"You child."

Qiong Hua released her hand, and Jun Ning quickly ran towards the direction of the doghole.

His joyful manner seemed nothing like escaping dire circumstances but more like finally having a chance to rush outside to play.

Qiong Hua wanted to pull him back and properly educate him, but just as Jun Ning's bottom crawled out from the doghole, the door to the Cold Palace was opened from the outside.

A group of Imperial Guards came in with a fierce aura.

The old nanny who was previously persuading the Imperial Guards not to come in hurriedly followed behind, seemingly afraid that they would discover something.

Luckily, after coming in, she only saw Qiong Hua and didn't see Jun Ning.

Qiong Hua let out a sigh of relief as she saw the nanny relaxing.