When he saw Tan Shiyi invite Princess Qinghua to the forging room, Chen Lin could not help casting him a glance.
Although the man showed nothing out of the ordinary and had offered a perfectly reasonable explanation, Chen Lin knew he must have some ulterior motive.
But after weighing their respective combat strength, he did not speak up to stop him. He accompanied Princess Qinghua as they followed Tan Shiyi toward the back courtyard.
The back courtyard was spacious, with many servants and maids coming and going, most of them entering and leaving one large building.
That building was also Tan Shiyi's destination.
After following him inside, Chen Lin discovered that it was practically a showroom, filled with a dazzling array of precious tools, all neatly arranged.
"The forging room was built underground because it requires earth fire. I must ask Your Highness to grace it with your presence."
Upon reaching a flight of descending stairs, Tan Shiyi stopped and offered an explanation.
"Certainly. Let's go. I'm curious about what an earth fire chamber looks like myself. I've only heard of one, never seen one."
Receiving a meaningful glance from Chen Lin, Princess Qinghua agreed.
Although he had prompted Princess Qinghua to say that, when Tan Shiyi turned to descend the stairs, Chen Lin stepped forward and blocked her path.
He glanced at the stairs and said, "I have every confidence in Master Tan's character, but for Her Highness's safety, I must inform the emissary group of her whereabouts."
With that, he took a pigeon-shaped strange beast out of his Space Bag, tied a rolled-up message to its leg, and released it.
This was a Message Pigeon, a popular means of communication in this realm. It flew very fast, and every country had regulations prohibiting the killing of Message Pigeons.