Qiwu secret room

A Qiu never expected that the previously dormant Zhulong would suddenly move, and since beasts are much faster than humans, he was caught off guard and fell backward. Even the shouts of the God Lord were drowned out by the wind it stirred up.

Her last impression was of the terrifying, deep green eyes of a beast so close at hand, eyes like a bottomless pool that instantly sucked her consciousness in.

A-Qiu felt as if he had suddenly fallen into a huge icy pool, surrounded by endless darkness and silence.

It felt as if I were on a wasteland of time.

pain.

The pain was excruciating, as if my internal organs were being crushed, churning and churning within my body.

A deep fear consumed her heart.

But her body, which was originally more agile and nimble than that of ordinary people, was now frozen, completely out of her control and unable to resist in any way.

The voices gradually approached from afar.

Finally, footsteps and voices reached outside the door.

A soft, gentle female voice whispered, "What exactly does the higher-ups mean now? Are they asking us to stay or not?"

Another, slightly more mature voice deliberately lowered its tone and said, "His Majesty is extremely angry. If it were up to His Majesty and Consort Zhang, then naturally they would not spare him. The problem is..." The voice lowered even further and said, "The Grand Secretary Shangguan has just achieved a great victory in crossing the river. Now, no matter what we do, we must give him some face. Even His Majesty would not dare to deal with this child casually."

Before the man could finish speaking, a hoarse yet cold female voice suddenly rang out, shouting, "What are you two doing peeking around here?"

This voice was different from the previous two; it came suddenly, indicating that the person had been behind the two women for a while without being noticed by either of them.

Moreover, upon closer listening, the voice sounded somewhat familiar.

The two palace maids were clearly taken aback by the sudden appearance of this person, and were so startled that they were at a loss for words for a long time. After a while, the older one said tremblingly, "Greetings... Head Aunt. We are servants from Consort Zhang's palace. We have been ordered by Consort Zhang to come and see... whether the child is alright."

The head maid said coldly, "What do you mean, 'this child' and 'that child'? Do you think you can call Her Highness the Princess such nonsense?"

The younger one, seemingly bolder, retorted in a melodious voice, "Whether or not someone is a princess is up to His Majesty to decide. Since His Majesty hasn't given the order, we naturally wouldn't dare to presume to recognize a member of the royal bloodline." She paused slightly, then said with considerable pride, "Although Aunt was His Majesty's wet nurse, can she really make the decision for His Majesty to adopt a daughter?"

Just from these words, one can tell that this palace maid must be spoiled and arrogant, and must be the so-called favorite maid of Consort Zhang. Otherwise, she would not be so bold as to contradict the head maid even though she knows that this head maid is the emperor's former bodyguard.

The so-called "head maid" is the highest-ranking palace maid in charge of a palace. She is highly experienced and holds a prestigious position. Moreover, this maid was once the emperor's foster mother.

As A Qiu pondered this, a sudden realization struck her: how did she know all this?

Before the palace maid could finish speaking, a crisp, sharp slap rang out, followed by the sound of someone falling heavily to the ground.

All that could be heard was the trembling voice of the concubine who had been beaten: "Chu Yuanyi, how dare you hit me?"

Ah Qiu finally realized that the head maid outside the door was actually Chu Yuanyi. No wonder her voice sounded so warm and familiar, yet she didn't seem as old as she remembered.

Chu Yuanyi's voice was flat and dry as he said, "Others may fear Consort Zhang, but I don't. Even if your lady herself came, I could still slap her across the face. Do you believe me?"

Whether the palace maid believed it or not, A Qiu certainly did. Daring to risk everything to bring down the emperor, among the "Four Stars of Heavenly Secrets," Chu Yuan Yi was the most fierce and straightforward. Given her mature yet sharp straightforwardness and pride, even if the emperor himself came, she would likely still see him as the child she had raised years ago, and would naturally be able to bring herself to strike him.

The favored maid had never suffered such a loss before. Though her voice was still trembling, she sneered angrily, "You old codger surnamed Chu, I think you're blind and can't see the situation. Your mistress has never been favored by the Emperor, and now that she has made a grave mistake, being deposed is probably just a matter of time. Yet you still consider yourself half a mistress, protecting Qiwu Palace. I think you'll suffer a lot in the future!"

Chu Yuanyi sneered, "Her? She's not worthy of my protection. I only protect the imperial heir! Get out!"

He added, "If you trespass like this again, breaking your arms and legs will be the least of your worries!"

Ah Qiu heard the two palace maids leave dejectedly, still muttering something under their breath.

Chu Yuanyi seemed about to push the door open and enter, but A Qiu heard another set of light, nimble female footsteps approaching from afar. Chu Yuanyi's movement to push the door open paused for a moment, and then he heard her ask impatiently, "What are you doing here again?"

The disgust in his tone was even greater than when he had seen the two palace maids before.

The newcomer remained silent for a long while before speaking clearly and resolutely: "I have come here on the orders of the Grand Chancellor to take this child away. Please, Aunt Yuanyi, do not stop me."

A Qiu listened to the woman's voice, which was gentle yet firm, and it sounded somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

She was surprised to find that she had so many old friends in the palace.

Chu Yuanyi's next sentence already provided the answer. She said coldly, "Su Jinlan, when did it become your place to make decisions in Qiwu Palace? Even your master is under house arrest. No matter how far the Shangguan family's influence is, or how powerful the Grand Secretary is, as long as Chu Yuanyi is here, they can forget about interfering in Qiwu Palace."

She said emphatically, "This is also His Majesty's intention in appointing me as the head of Qiwu Palace. You must understand that."

Judging from Chu Yuan's tone, he had absolutely no good feelings towards Su Jinlan and her master, but he still retained a certain degree of respect.

A Qiu repeated the name "Su Jinlan" over and over in his mind several times, and suddenly his heart trembled as he finally remembered who this person was.

Outside the ruined Qiwu Palace, she had seen Su Jinlan carrying a food box and basket, secretly delivering it to Chu Yuanyi, who was hiding in the ruined palace. It seemed that this was not just once or twice, but rather a frequent occurrence. From Chu Yuanyi's scolding, she also learned that Su Jinlan was originally a palace maid serving Empress Shangguan, and that Chu Yuanyi's subsequent madness and disfigurement were caused by Su Jinlan's years of lurking poison.

Su Jinlan paused, then said softly, "Aunt Chu, this is no small matter; it involves a human life. Please step aside."

Chu Yuan laughed in anger, saying, "I'm the one guarding this place; it's none of your business as a member of the Shangguan family. Besides, if I don't allow it, what makes you think you can snatch someone out from under my nose?"

Her question was perfectly justified. A Qiu had met Su Jinlan before and knew that she didn't know martial arts. But even if she did, it was impossible for her to snatch someone from Chu Yuan, one of the Four Constellations of Tianji, and then fight her way out of the palace. That would definitely attract the attention of the Imperial Guards and the palace's top experts.

Su Jinlan remained silent, seemingly deep in thought.

When Chu Yuan saw that she did not answer, he softened his tone and said sarcastically, "If you have so much free time, you might as well go and guard your master. She did such a shameful thing. Even if His Majesty does not order her to die, are your family members not afraid that she will be ashamed and commit suicide?"

Chu Yuan was straightforward and outspoken. As soon as he uttered those words, for some reason, even A Qiu inside the door suddenly felt the air instantly filled with a silent sense of oppression and intimidation.

Chu Yuanyi, however, noticed Su Jinlan's unusual behavior first. Su Jinlan was a maid brought from Empress Shangguan's own home. She did not know martial arts and was no match for Chu Yuanyi in terms of power at the moment. Yet she was so stubbornly silent and holding her ground against Chu Yuanyi. This was quite different from her usual gentle demeanor, which made her seem particularly strange.

Considering that she was acting under the orders of Shangguan Jin, the Grand Chancellor, known as "the one in green robes with a sword who can conquer the Jiangnan region," whose power and prestige were at their zenith, and who never fought an unprepared battle, even Chu Yuanyi, with her self-assurance, couldn't help but feel a bit wary and apprehensive.

She said in a muffled voice, "Ms. Su, aren't you leaving yet?"

Su Jinlan then spoke, her voice lower and more composed than usual: "The Grand Chancellor knew that my aunt wouldn't release people so easily, and he also knew that my aunt was a hidden martial arts master."

Chu Yuanyi was greatly shocked and said sternly, "What nonsense is Shangguan Jin spouting? I have served the Empress since the time of the late Emperor Dezong, and it has been more than 20 years since then. The only time Shangguan Jin has ever seen me is at the Empress's investiture ceremony. How can he speak so carelessly?"

She still refers to Empress Shangguan as "your Empress" to this day, which shows that although she is in charge of Qiwu Palace, she has never truly served Empress Shangguan as her master.

Su Jinlan smiled and said, "The master was also afraid of misjudging Aunt, so for the past few years, he has been instructing me to secretly give Aunt a certain kind of medicine."

As a martial arts master, Chu Yuanyi was no stranger to the art of poisoning. He had also been wary of Su Jinlan over the years and was not entirely convinced. He said in a rough voice, "You and I have never been on good terms. All the clothes and food I have are never handled by you. If you want to lie to bolster your courage, you should at least come up with something else."

Su Jinlan said gently, "This kind of thing doesn't need me to do it myself. Aunt's food is prepared by the Imperial Kitchen. I only need to give this medicine to the palace servants in the Imperial Kitchen. They dare not disobey the Grand Chancellor, so they will naturally add a little bit every day to Aunt's favorite wine, 'Yanzichun'. This medicine is colorless and tasteless, and the amount is small, so Aunt will naturally not notice it."

Upon hearing this, A-Qiu suddenly understood.

This is likely the reason why Chu Yuanyi went mad and became mentally unstable in the years that followed.

Perhaps because he was the youngest, Chu Yuanyi was highly skilled in martial arts, but among the four of them, he was far less meticulous and shrewd than his three senior brothers and sisters.

Su Jinlan continued, "This medicine will not harm ordinary people who do not know martial arts, and it will not even harm ordinary martial arts practitioners. However, if a master who has cultivated innate internal energy has been exposed to this medicine for a long time, and then encounters a spice called 'Golden Sparrow Joy', if he still tries to fight, he will suffer a backlash. At best, he will lose all his internal energy, and at worst, he will go crazy."

Ah Qiu thought to herself, "In that case, the way this medicine is used is extremely ingenious. If Chu Yuanyi weren't a martial artist, or even just an ordinary person who knows a few punches and kicks, this medicine wouldn't harm her. Even if she were a martial arts master, the medicine wouldn't work unless she encountered 'Golden Sparrow's Delight'."

Furthermore, even if she encountered "Golden Sparrow's Delight," as long as she didn't force her, the drug wouldn't take effect, and she could still escape unscathed.

Having lived in the deep palace for many years, Chu Yuanyi never imagined that someone would dare to poison her. She angrily said, "The dignified gentleman, Shangguan Jin, has committed such a despicable act of poisoning. His intentions are sinister. How could this be the behavior of a renowned minister?"

Su Jinlan showed no remorse and said solemnly, "This medicine is a family secret of the Shangguan clan, used specifically to prevent those masters who want to harm ordinary people by relying on their superior martial arts. Do you understand, Aunt?"