Li Hong took the jade pendant, turned it over in his hand and looked at it. It was indeed a piece of top-grade jade. This thing was very precious to ordinary people, ordinary wealthy businessmen, or other officials, but for Li Hong, there were plenty of this thing in the palace. Every year his father the emperor and his mother the queen would give him a few pieces.

The crystal pendant that was once regarded as a treasure by the Emperor and the Empress Dowager now seems cheaper, and its price is lower than that of jade.

"In that case, remember to find Bai Chun after you arrive in Taiyi City. She will arrange it for you. Take this." After Li Hong finished speaking, he took off a jade pendant from the cheetah's body and handed it to Zong Chuke together with the jade pendant.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Zong Chuke naturally understood that this was the prince's care for him. No, it was because of him that he cared for the people of Lantian.

"You don't have to return the piece I gave you. You are a county magistrate of the sixth rank, but you don't even have a decent jade pendant. If it gets out, people will laugh at you. So I'll give it to you." Li Hong said with a smile.

"Thank you very much for your gift, Your Highness. I will treasure it and work harder to bring welfare to the people of Lantian." Zong Chuke was overjoyed and turned the jade pendant over and over again, looking at it with joy.

"Master." Wu Fa suddenly reminded in a low voice.

Wufa and Wutian look more like farmers than Zong Chuke. They are of medium height and have an appearance that cannot be more ordinary.

Zong Chuke almost thought that these two people were from Taiyi City and came as guides for the prince. When he heard them talking, he was shocked. He didn't expect that they were actually the prince's guards.

...

...

"Huh?" Li Hong no longer paid attention to Zong Chuke, looking at him, unable to speak.

"Master, we have found out everything. The people guarding Cuiwei Palace are from Weiwei Temple..." Fang Zhan and Heng Qiao appeared out of thin air at some point in time.

"Just tell me who's in there. The guards are not important. Don't you know what I want to know?" Li Hong became annoyed when he mentioned this. He interrupted impatiently and asked directly for the result.

Zong Chuke, who was standing aside, found himself a little redundant at this moment. It seemed that what was being said was obviously not something that he could listen to at his level.

But if I say goodbye now, the prince's face is as cold as ice, and he has just rewarded me with a fine jade pendant. If I take the initiative to resign, will it be impolite or make the prince angry?

Before he could figure it out, two more people appeared beside him and hurriedly bowed their heads to apologize to the prince.

"Yes, sir, please forgive me." Heng Qiao and Fang Zhan said hurriedly.

Heng Qiao glanced at Fang Zhan and continued to say to Li Hong: "The people inside are Helan Minzhi, the Japanese envoys, Xiao Shoudao, Xiao Shougui and others. They are drinking and having fun."

Li Hong had guessed that it was probably Helan Minzhi who took advantage of the favor and moved into Cuiwei Palace. He thought Wen Ting and Wen Zhen would also be involved, but he didn't expect that it was Xiao Shoudao and Xiao Shougui! These two were really courting death!

"Which hall?" Li Hong frowned and his tone became calmer, but Zong Chuke felt a chill.

"Hanfeng Palace." After Heng Qiao finished speaking, he closed his eyes, waiting for the prince's anger to erupt.

"Hanfeng Palace! Hanfeng Palace! Good, good, Helan Minzhi, you have guts! Whichever guard is closest to here, mobilize them here immediately! Cheetah, immediately draft an order from the East Palace and summon the heads of the Ministry of Rites, the Honglu Temple, the Ministry of Personnel, the Zongzheng Temple, and the Shaofu Supervisor to Taiyi City!" Li Hong's face was filled with gloomy murderous intent!

Everyone present could feel the prince's suppressed anger and rage!

"Is there any other place to enter Cuiwei Palace?" Li Hong asked Fang Zhan.

"My Lord, except for the Jinhua Gate, the other two gates are guarded by people from the Weiwei Temple. We can only break in by force, but we need to wait for the people from the guard post to arrive..." Fang Zhan replied cautiously and respectfully.

"It's too late. If the news leaks out, who knows if they will run away. We must go in immediately." Li Hong waved his hands irritably. This time when he came to Taiyi City, there was no good news waiting for him, only some bad things.

After listening for a long time, Zong Chuke finally understood. It turned out that the prince was refused entry to Cuiwei Palace by others. No wonder he chose a small path that few people took to go up the mountain.

I just don’t know if Helan Minzhi is the queen’s nephew. If so, he is too bold to even turn away the prince!

At this moment, when he heard the prince ask if there were other ways, he thought for a moment, looked at the jade pendant in his hand, and whispered, "Your Highness, I remember that Immortal Sun said there was a small path that could lead to Cuiwei Palace, but I don't know if it is still there now."

"Let's go and ask the old immortal." After Li Hong finished speaking, he turned around and went up the mountain again.

Zong Chuke and the others hurriedly followed him and came to the place where they had just been. They saw Sun Simiao still sitting there. He was still startled when he saw Li Hong. He slowly stood up with his hands on the ground and asked, "Your Highness, why are you back again?"

"Old immortal, I heard from Zong Chuke that you know a path leading to Cuiwei Palace?" Li Hong asked directly.

Sun Simiao was stunned. Why did the prince take the small path instead of going through the main gate?

So he asked curiously: "Prince, what are you doing...?"

Having lived to this age, not to mention his status and achievements, even if he was an ordinary old man at this age, he would no longer be bound by the laws of the Tang Dynasty.

Therefore, it was he who could disregard his identity and status and could ask and treat Li Hong in a normal manner.

In fact, let alone Li Hong, even if Li Zhi came in person, Sun Simiao would have the right to shout at him, but Sun Simiao was devoted to medicine, indifferent to fame and fortune, and lived in seclusion in the mountains for many years. Otherwise, he would not have lived to be over a hundred years old, and could live for several decades.

"Didn't I tell you that I was chased out after taking a few steps to Jinhua Gate? That's why I asked you for help." Even if Li Hong had been reincarnated nine times and ten times, he was just a young boy now. No matter how upset or angry he was, he still had to answer Sun Simiao's questions calmly.

"So, you want to sneak in? No problem, but you have to promise me one thing." Sun Simiao didn't waste any time. He walked briskly up to Li Hong and stretched out his hand to invite Li Hong to come forward.

The two walked side by side in front, and Sun Simiao continued, "You have to promise me that you won't punish me just because I know this path, okay?"

Li Hong turned his head to look at Sun Simiao. It seemed that as he got older, he became more childish and even had the leisure to joke with him.

"No problem. I will forget about this path after I walk it today. Is that okay?" Li Hong glanced at Sun Simiao and said.

"Okay, then I'm relieved. I discovered this path by chance when I was collecting herbs. The mountains there are so steep that when Cuiwei Palace was built, there was really no way to connect them, so they left this path behind."

As the trees grew taller and the forest became denser, the path became narrower and narrower, until in the end, only one person could pass through.

Sun Simiao led the way in front, Li Hong followed closely behind, and Lawless guarded on both sides to prevent any accidents.

Xiaoxue followed closely behind, and needless to say, Zong Chuke could only follow at the back.

"Jingzhe, go forward and clear the way for the old immortal." Li Hong looked at the medicine hoe in Sun Simiao's hand, which was waved at the branches sticking out on both sides from time to time, and moved forward with difficulty, so he said to Jingzhe.

"Yes, it seems that the prince's reputation for kindness and filial piety is well-deserved." Sun Simiao has been walking in the mountains for many years, and his steps are still very steady. After hearing Li Hong's words, he was still able to speak calmly, and he didn't look like a hundred-year-old man at all.

"Then you haven't heard the rumors outside that the prince has a vengeful character?" Li Hong was in a leisurely manner. He had people guarding him on his left and right, and behind him. He was not afraid of stepping on empty air or anything like that.

"Haha, I've heard that, I've heard that. But as far as I know, the prince's vindictiveness is directed at hateful people, not at the common people, right?" With Jingzhe paving the way, Sun Simiao felt a lot more relaxed, and at the end he could even look back at Li Hong.

The forest became more and more hazy, the sunlight was blocked, and only a few rays of light managed to shine in. Everywhere you looked, there were weeds and trees, and from time to time you could hear the rustling sounds of frightened animals in the grass as they fled in panic.

This place was not very far from Cuiwei Palace, so after walking for a short while, they arrived at a corner of a cliff. There was a gap between the mountain and the palace wall that was only wide enough for one person to pass through, and one had to bend over to get through.

"It's here. When it was built, the mountain was too thick and hard to be broken open, so a hole like this was left behind." Sun Simiao said, pointing to the small hole in front of which Jingzhe was clearing the weeds.

Li Hong looked up and thought, if they wanted to truly connect the mountain and the palace wall, they would probably need explosives. With the current technology of Taiyi City, it would take several explosions to break it apart.

Before Li Hong could say anything, Sun Simiao continued, "If you, the Crown Prince, are concerned about your status, I'm afraid you won't be able to pass."

"How could that be? I'm small and I can walk in just by standing up straight." Li Hong kicked Jingzhe, signaling him to hurry up.

When Fang Zhan and Heng Qiao saw this, they hurriedly joined in clearing the weeds, leaving only Wufa, Wutan and Xiaoxue to guard Li Hong.

Seeing that the weeds were almost cleared, Sun Simiao smiled and said, "Okay, you guys go in. It's getting late, and I should go back. Otherwise, if we come out of this forest in a while, we won't be able to see anything."

"Fang Zhan and Heng Qiao will send the old immortal back, and then wait for Cheetah directly at Jinhua Gate." Li Hong said to the two.

"Master, but what should we do here? If a few of us go in, what if..." Xiaoxue said hurriedly. How could they transfer two people away just because of an old Taoist? Who knows what kind of situation they will encounter after going in.

"It doesn't matter. Even if you give them a hundred guts, they wouldn't dare to do anything. Just do as I say." Li Hong ordered.

"Thank you so much, Your Highness. Chuke, who are you...?" Sun Simiao asked Zong Chuke who was at the back.