A thin mist still hung over the palace road in the early morning. His robe swept across the dew-covered flowers and grasses by the roadside, stirring up a shower of tiny water droplets.

After turning a corner of the palace wall, the vermilion gate of Yutang Palace was already in sight.

Gu Zhixing rushed forward, taking three steps at a time, and was about to raise his hand to knock on the door when he suddenly stopped.

The palace gates were tightly shut, and there wasn't even a palace servant on duty in front of them.

"Knock on the door for me!"

Gu Zhixing said coldly.

Chongyang quickly stepped forward and pounded on the door knocker.

The dull thud was particularly jarring in the quiet morning, but after knocking for a full quarter of an hour, there was still no response from inside.

Gu Zhixing narrowed his eyes, staring at the tightly closed palace gates and sneering.

If it were an ordinary person, they would have left knowingly at this point.

But who is Gu Zhixing?

He's a notorious troublemaker in the capital; when has he ever followed the rules?

"Let's go take a look at the back."

He flicked his sleeve and turned to walk around the side of the palace wall.

A row of crabapple trees is planted outside the back wall of Yutang Palace. They are in full bloom now, with pink and white flowers in full bloom.

Gu Zhixing stood under the tree and looked up. The palace wall wasn't too high; with his skills, climbing over it wouldn't be a problem.

"Chongyang, squat down."

He pointed to the base of the wall.

Chongyang squatted down with a bitter face, but before he was ready, Gu Zhixing had already stepped on his shoulder.

Just then, a rustling sound suddenly came from behind the bushes.

"who?"

Gu Zhixing turned around alertly, only to meet a pair of astonished eyes.

The Third Prince, Gu Yanqing, emerged from behind the crabapple tree. A few petals clung to his moon-white robe, indicating that he had been standing there for some time.

The two locked eyes, and the air seemed to freeze for a moment.

What are you doing here?

Gu Zhixing raised an eyebrow and asked, his foot still on Chongyang's shoulder.

Gu Yanqing was visibly taken aback for a moment, then quickly resumed his usual gentle expression: "Just taking a walk."

"Just taking a stroll?"

Gu Zhixing chuckled and glanced at Gu Yanqing.

The Third Prince's residence, Qinghui Palace, is located at the southernmost part of the palace, while Yutang Palace is closer to the north side. This "casual" travel is quite a distance.

However, he was too preoccupied with settling scores with Shen Jintang to bother with further investigation.

Turning to Chongyang, he said, "Hold on!"

After saying that, he used the momentum to leap up and grabbed the top of the wall with both hands.

Just as he was about to climb over the wall, his gaze inadvertently swept into the courtyard, and he suddenly froze.

Seeing this, Gu Yanqing couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"

Gu Zhixing did not answer, but stared intently into the courtyard, his expression becoming unusually strange.

Gu Yanqing was puzzled, but he didn't care about anything else. He quickly walked to the wall, used a nearby rock as a stepping stone, and peered inside.