Questioning, This Was Purely an Accident

Normally, this chair couldn't be lifted by two maids, but now, this maid not only raised it overhead, she even swung it down at Serena with all her strength. You could see just how badly she wanted Serena dead.

Serena knew exactly how heavy that chair was—if it hit her, she'd be lucky to survive. She hurriedly dodged, but just then, a black-clad figure flashed in front of her and caught her in his arms...

There was a loud crash—the solid wood chair shattered on impact, and the maid let out a miserable scream before collapsing to the ground.

Serena breathed a sigh of relief and was just about to look up to see who had saved her, when suddenly a sharp pain shot through the back of her neck. Her vision went black, and her body went limp, completely out of her control.

The black-clad man scooped Serena up around the waist, slung her over his shoulder, and bolted. When Ninth Royal Uncle arrived, he only saw a flash of black vanishing into Autumn Grace Court.

Ninth Royal Uncle hurried after him, but the man’s lightness skill was exceptional. They were far apart to begin with, and Nolan completely lost sight of the figure.

With no other choice, Ninth Royal Uncle turned back. Staring at the chaos in Autumn Grace Court, he forced down his fury and said, "Zuo An, can you tell me what exactly happened here?"

"If I say it was an accident, would you believe me?" Zuo An stared at the corpses strewn everywhere, momentarily stunned.

He hadn’t even made a move before these people committed suicide. There was no challenge at all.

"An accident? Fine, I’ll believe you. But what about Serena? Where is she now?" Ninth Royal Uncle ground out, teeth clenched.

"Well..." Zuo An thought for a moment. "It looks like she was taken away by a man in black."

"Taken away? Weren’t these men in black here to kill Serena?" Ninth Royal Uncle pointed at the corpses of the failed assassins, his tone ice-cold.

Zuo An nodded blankly. "Yes."

"Then are you sure that man in black took Serena away and didn’t kill her?" Ninth Royal Uncle pressed again.

Zuo An thought for a moment, then said seriously, "That man in black came later—he wasn’t with this group. It looked like he actually saved Serena. With her in his hands, she shouldn’t be in immediate danger."

"It better be that way, or else..." Ninth Royal Uncle shot Zuo An a cold glare, then ignored him and turned to the people behind him. "Pass my order: Seal the city immediately. No one leaves, only enters. Search every corner—dead or alive, I want her found."

He’d barely finished speaking when the Eastmont Governor-General came running over, panting. Hearing Nolan’s order, his first reaction was to protest, but one icy look from Nolan made him fold instantly, nodding repeatedly.

"Hmph..." Ninth Royal Uncle let out a cold snort, his eyes now utterly frigid. He said to the Eastmont Governor-General, "In your own jurisdiction, someone dared break in and commit murder. You’d better give me an explanation, or you can forget about keeping your job."

Without House Lewis’s backing, he couldn’t hold onto the Governor-General’s seat. But if he offended Ninth Royal Uncle, not only would he lose his post—he’d be finished in officialdom for life.

The Eastmont Governor-General broke out in a cold sweat, nodding nonstop.

The Eastmont Governor-General felt a sense of impending doom. Ninth Royal Uncle held a banquet in Shandong, only for someone to ruin it—no matter how you looked at it, it seemed like a sign of Shandong’s people resenting Nolan.

Underhanded tricks in the shadows were one thing, but storming in to kill in broad daylight wasn’t just a slap in the face to Ninth Royal Uncle—it was a slap in the face to the Governor-General too.

Cursing House Lewis in his heart, the Governor-General didn’t dare slack off. He scrambled out of Blossom Garden, ordering a citywide lockdown and search. No matter what, Serena had to be found.

With this disaster, the birthday banquet was cut short. Ninth Royal Uncle’s face was dark as ice, his whole body radiating killing intent. Anyone with half a brain knew not to provoke him now—soon, Blossom Garden emptied out.

After getting a full report from Zuo An about Autumn Grace Court, Nolan stopped paying him any mind. He turned to his own men and gave orders to mobilize every resource he had in Shandong to track down Serena. As for the Governor-General?

Nolan didn’t believe for a second the Governor-General could find Serena. If she ended up in his hands, she’d be delivered straight to House Lewis for that astronomical bounty.

Serena’s life was worth a fortune!

With the city sealed off—no exit, only entry—the news that Serena was attacked on her birthday and her whereabouts unknown spread instantly.

"How could this happen?" Third Young Master Lewis heard the news and dropped his cup with a crash, shattering it.

Seeing Third Young Master Lewis lose his composure, the Governor-General grew uneasy and asked, "Third Young Master, you weren’t behind this, were you?"

"How could I possibly do such a thing?" Third Young Master Lewis replied righteously, "Governor, commoners don’t fight officials. Even if Ninth Royal Uncle crushes House Lewis, we wouldn’t dare challenge him openly."

In other words, House Lewis only strikes from the shadows. Open daylight attacks like today’s aren’t their style.

The Governor-General agreed; even if House Lewis is arrogant, they wouldn’t openly break the law. If Nolan caught them, not even the Emperor could save them.

"Then who could it be?" The Governor-General grew troubled. If it wasn’t the assassins and not House Lewis, then who had Serena now?

"That’s something you’ll have to ask Ninth Royal Uncle. Plenty of people want Serena dead." Third Young Master Lewis quickly regained his composure.

Whether Serena dies or disappears, it’s good for House Lewis—Nolan will be too busy to deal with them.

After a whole day searching the city, dusk fell with no sign of Serena. At night, finding her would be even harder, and the longer she was missing, the greater the danger.

Many people want Serena dead, but as for who would kidnap her, even after thinking for ages, Nolan couldn’t figure it out.

In his study, Nolan paced back and forth, his mind racing with the latest reports from his subordinates.

The events at Autumn Grace Court today were a string of uncanny coincidences—a near-perfect trap. Serena was lucky to survive.

Outside Autumn Grace Court, arsonists set a fire. Serena’s guards discovered them, but were tied up fighting, so when the black-clad men rushed in, the guards couldn’t respond in time.

Those black-clad men were sent by the Empress, who had many reasons to want Serena dead—for the Crown Prince and for Imperial Noble Consort Helena. This didn’t surprise Nolan.

As for the two maids who attacked, they hadn’t planned it in advance—they acted on impulse. Those two were House Lewis’s plants in Blossom Garden.

They waited for a chance to strike at Serena, and the chaos in Autumn Grace Court seemed like the perfect moment.

So things ended up like this: the arsonists distracted the guards, the black-clad men kept Zuo An busy, House Lewis’s maids made their move, and then a fourth, hidden party exploited the chaos to abduct Serena.

It was all an eerie coincidence—the four factions had never met before, but somehow all acted at the same time and fit together perfectly.

If even one of those four groups hadn’t acted today, Serena would have been fine. But they all showed up at once!

Coincidence? It really was almost too much of a coincidence." Nolan traced his finger over the word "accident" on the paper...