Concubine Ling was staring at the carved wooden window in a daze. Although it was daytime outside, the room was not very bright, and the candlelight reflected her lonely expression.

"I am guarding my empty boudoir with tears falling by the candle, and I am becoming haggard with the fallen flowers in the lonely courtyard." Concubine Ling lamented quietly.

She had been in the palace for many years, and gradually became a concubine from a small palace maid. Her family members were also taken care of and became nobles and high-ranking officials of the Cotton Kingdom. However, as time went by, the emperor got tired of playing with her and no longer came to her palace. Only some servants and maids came to clean the house regularly every day.

"Squeak--" The courtyard door of the hall was pushed open and Wang Xiaohai walked in.

Wang Xiaohai thought that this place was so run-down, it couldn't possibly be a warehouse. A warehouse should be somewhere crowded and guarded by soldiers. So he planned to capture someone to question. Searching room by room was foolish. How long would it take to find it? Would he have to search the entire palace? Wang Xiaohai thought to himself that he had been so foolish and stupid before. He should have just found someone familiar with the palace and gone straight to the treasury!

Someone's voice! Wang Xiaohai looked in the direction of the voice and saw a woman with cloud-like hair and jade hairpins, wearing a gorgeous silk dress, crying in front of the candlelight.

When Concubine Ling saw Wang Xiaohai break into the room, she was so frightened that she was about to scream.

Wang Xiaohai stepped forward and covered her mouth, preventing her from making any sound.

Concubine Ling struggled desperately and hit Wang Xiaohai's hands with her hands, but for Wang Xiaohai it was just like tickling, like the wind blowing.

"If you promise me not to scream, I'll let go," Wang Xiaohai said. "Just nod your head if you agree. I don't want to kill anyone."

Concubine Ling nodded, and Wang Xiaohai released his hand that was covering her lips.

"You are not a guard, who are you?" Concubine Ling asked about Wang Xiaohai's identity. She really wanted to know who was so bold. People living in the palace all live in fear and speak less and act more.

"It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is whether you want your life?" Wang Xiaohai threatened. "You live in the palace and dress so well. You must be the emperor's woman. How could you be so poor that you don't even have a servant?"

Wang Xiaohai's words hit the nail on the head for Concubine Ling. The emperor was a passionate man with ninety-nine concubines. The emperor himself could not remember the names of all the concubines, let alone her, who was unfavored and neglected. Many concubines were like her. Servants and maids were shared resources, and everyone took turns cleaning at regular intervals. There were no exclusive maids or servants.

"If you want my life, just take it. There's no point living alone like this anyway." Concubine Ling looked as if she had lost all desire to live.

Wang Xiaohai didn't expect that it would be so troublesome to just grab someone to lead the way. It really is true that good things take time.

"You are not afraid of death, but aren't you afraid that I will give you to that person?" Wang Xiaohai said.

Concubine Ling was horrified upon hearing this. This man was someone she didn't know, and he was indeed very likely to do this. In that case, she might as well die! At least if she died at the hands of an assassin, she would still have a good reputation for being loyal and brave. But if she was raped, she would not only lose her body and reputation, but also bring shame to her family.

"What do you want?" Concubine Ling finally compromised and gave in. Wang Xiaohai had seized her weak spot.

"Lead the way, take me to the treasury." Wang Xiaohai said.

"Are you doing this for money?" Concubine Ling stood up and asked.

"Nonsense! Robbers are all after two things: money and women." Wang Xiaohai said, "Hurry up and lead the way. I'll let you go once we see the treasury."

Concubine Ling's autumn eyes were like water. After a moment's thought, she gritted her teeth and said, "I can lead the way, but you must agree to one condition. Otherwise, I will most likely lead you the wrong way on purpose."

"You are not qualified to negotiate with me." Wang Xiaohai said.

Concubine Ling took out her hairpin and placed it on her neck. She said, "Can we talk now? The storehouse is a very secluded place. Ordinary servants wouldn't know about it."

Wang Xiaohai thought she was talking nonsense. The palace usually had a lot of expenses and purchases, and the storeroom must have been visited by many people. Most of the palace must have known about it. This woman dared to deceive him, but he might not be able to talk to her easily even if he caught someone else. He decided to listen to her conditions first. "What are the conditions? Tell me, and I'll see if I can agree to them."

"Take me away from this palace and this country. I want to see the outside world," said Concubine Ling.

"Is that all you ask?" Wang Xiaohai was a little incredulous. "Isn't it good for you to live in the palace? You have no worries about food and clothing, and you live in comfort and ease."

"Birds in cages live carefree lives, fed every day. But when their cages are opened, they still fly away, soaring freely in the sky," Concubine Ling said. "I live here, and I could see what it will be like two years ago. Now I can also see what it will be like in ten or twenty years. I see myself still living in this house ten or twenty years from now, shedding tears by the empty window and the red candle. That won't change. What will change is that I'll gradually get more wrinkles at the corners of my eyes and more white hair at my temples."

"You are just jumping from a small cage to a bigger cage." Wang Xiaohai could understand Concubine Ling's thoughts very well. He couldn't bear to stay on this planet forever. If he knew that there was no hope of getting out, it would be fine. But if he had the ability to go to another planet or another world, he would leave without hesitation. He was a wanderer and a traveler at heart, and was destined to find it difficult to stay in one place for too long.

"Why not change to a bigger cage if you can? People who don't want to change will not be able to seize the opportunity and can only stay in the small cage forever. If you change to a big cage, you will have the opportunity to change to an even bigger super cage in the future. But if you don't take the first step, you will always be a person in a small cage." Concubine Ling said a very philosophical word.

Wang Xiaohai was deeply touched and said, "Just based on what you said, even if you don't want to lead the way, I will help you escape. A true friend is priceless!"

"Although the treasury has a lot of silver, how much can you take? How much can you fit in your pocket?" Ling Fei said, "I have some jewelry under my dressing table that I have saved up. You can take it. It is worth several thousand taels of silver. It is small, valuable, and easy to carry."

"No need, you can keep the jewelry yourself. I have my own way. Just lead the way." Wang Xiaohai said.

When the time comes, he will enter the warehouse, open the virtual store system of the other dimension, and move the silver and treasures into the recycling interface without bringing any bags.

Concubine Ling packed her luggage, held it in her arms, and walked out of the palace. Wang Xiaohai pretended to be her guard, with his head lowered, his left hand pressing the scabbard, and his right fist waving.

On the way, the two encountered several groups of guards looking for assassins. They all bowed respectfully to Concubine Ling and retreated.

"Brother, why are you following the concubine?" Others did not have the courage to ask Concubine Ling, so they asked Wang Xiaohai.

"The queen was going to the warehouse to visit an old friend. She heard that an assassin had broken into the palace and was worried that it would be unsafe on the road. She happened to meet me and asked me to help protect him," said Wang Xiaohai.

"Oh." The group of people didn't ask any more questions and left in a hurry to look for the assassin.