Everyone Has Become Silly

"Look at you, so stingy!" Colin Gu laughed. "I'm not trying to steal your junior sister—why are you so eager to put her down?"

"Heh!" Leon Zane chuckled. "Your Majesty really understands me."

"Miss Whitefan, is there any special reason for your visit to Danyang City this time?" Colin Gu asked again.

Bianca Whitefan's throat tightened, but she didn't say a word.

Both Colin Gu and Chloe Zhu instantly recognized her voice.

She didn't know any voice-changing techniques—what should she do now?

"Your Majesty, Your Highness, please forgive us," Leon Zane jumped in, putting on a show as he started making things up. "My junior sister came down from the mountain to deliver a message from our master, asking me to return for the New Year. But on her way here, she ran into two ruthless bandits. She hurt her throat fighting them, so she can't speak for at least ten days or half a month."

"I see!" Colin Gu said. "Looks like I need to issue an order to crack down on bandits!"

"That's right, Your Majesty! You're truly a ruler who cares for the people!"

...

Finally, the emperor and empress took their leave, and only then did Evan Xiao and the other two depart.

It was Qingluan who escorted them out.

Once they left the Zhu Estate, the three of them fell silent.

"So? Did you find the person you were looking for?" Qingluan asked them.

Still, no one answered.

After a long moment, Leon Zane finally asked Bianca Whitefan with a frustrated look, "Can't your Proximity Rune be a little more precise?"

"Weren't you the one who told me before that if the range was too small, we'd never find the person? You specifically asked me to make a rune with a huge detection radius! I poured my heart and soul into making this rune with a range of a hundred yards!"

Leon Zane: "...Then can't you just make another one with a smaller range?"

"Me?" Bianca Whitefan shot him a look. "I'm just a 'good-for-nothing,' remember? You're the genius—why didn't you plan ahead and think this might happen?"

Leon Zane: "Fine, fine! It's all my fault! I'm not arguing with you!"

Qingluan glanced at Leon Zane, then at Bianca Whitefan, and asked curiously, "What are you two even arguing about? Today was such a great chance—still no luck?"

Bianca Whitefan replied with a troubled expression, "Now I'm certain—the person is still in the Zhu Estate."

"What? The Zhu Estate?" Qingluan was shocked. "Why do you keep saying it's my home?"

"Whenever Colin Gu is in your house, my rune keeps reacting. The moment he leaves, the reaction disappears!" Bianca Whitefan explained. "That proves the person we're looking for is still in your home."

"So who is it, then?"

Bianca Whitefan shook her head. "My rune's range is just too big—a hundred yards."

A hundred yards... That meant as long as the Saint Maiden was within a hundred yards of Colin Gu, Bianca's rune would pick up on her.

So, she was sure the person was in the Zhu Estate, but she couldn't tell exactly who it was.

"Ugh! What now? We went in circles and ended up right back where we started..." Leon Zane groaned. "There are over eighty women in the Zhu Estate—who could it be?"

Evan Xiao glanced at Leon Zane and asked, "Imperial Advisor, did something rattle you today?"

"Rattled? Other than getting tricked by your women, nothing else rattled me today!" Leon Zane replied, looking thoroughly confused.

"No wonder—you've turned silly," Evan Xiao said with a smirk.

"How am I silly?"

"We've actually narrowed things down a lot. There aren't eighty-something women—just a handful now."

"Huh? What do you mean? Which ones?" Leon Zane still hadn't caught on.

"Among the Zhu family women who were at the palace last time, one of them is our target!" Bianca Whitefan reminded him.