On a hazy moonlit night with twinkling stars, night walkers move freely and lightly among the streets and alleys like fish swimming in the water, occasionally avoiding the patrol soldiers with heavy footsteps, and the night watchmen who knock on the clappers and shout "It's dry, be careful with fire", feeling the warm breeze blowing on their faces, and their mood becomes peaceful.
The worries that had been bothering her in her heart these days had now become dormant, briefly giving way to the good mood of a night walker.
Xia Daohua visited the palaces of princes and nobles and observed the lives of countless common people. In less than a month, she had already understood the structure of the capital.
The center of the capital is the Imperial City.
There is a secret passage connecting the imperial city to the Cangyun Mountain outside the city, and there are also secret passages connecting the imperial city to the various royal palaces.
However, according to the rules, these secret passages should be tightly sealed on weekdays and only opened at the end of the dynasty. This rule was set by the ancestors of the Great Chu Dynasty in order to provide a way out for future generations in times of crisis.
However, this matter was not discovered by Xia Daohua, but was revealed to her by Gu Mingzhen - Gu Mingzhen knew Xia Daohua's abilities, and although he did not know that she had a space supermarket, he had full trust in her ability to sneak and hide.
Therefore, after Mrs. Gu invited her to tea several times, Gu Mingzhen directly asked her for help - not only did he tell Xia Daohua about the secret passage, he also suspected that some bad guys had broken into the palace through the secret passage and secretly kidnapped the emperor.
He always suspected that the reason behind all the absurd actions of the emperor was this - he should not be free at this time, and those orders did not come from the emperor's heart.
However, although Gu Mingzhen discovered something was wrong, he did not dare to speak out - firstly, his identity was sensitive, and if he or his people raised doubts, it would be hard for people not to doubt his motives; secondly, he felt that the Great Chu was in a precarious situation at the moment and could no longer withstand any turmoil, so he had to maintain the stability of the court at all costs.
Xia Daohua was a little puzzled: "Why does the prince trust me so much?"
Gu Mingzhen said earnestly, "We have a friendship of fleeing together, and I know a little bit about your abilities. Moreover, this matter really shouldn't be known to outsiders, and the people I need are not convenient to go to the palace... The last one is that after I met Lao Wei last time, I was really worried, so I secretly investigated..."
I think it was at that time that Old Wei, Wei Jizu, Wei Shiqi and others' relationship with Xia Daohua came into Gu Mingzhen's sight!
After hearing these words, Xia Daohua thought for a moment, then nodded directly and agreed readily - on the one hand, the reasons listed by Gu Mingzhen convinced her, and on the other hand, she was worried about Eunuch Wei. However, the most important thing was that she also wanted to take a look inside the palace.
A place like the imperial palace might contain some treasures that can upgrade the space.
Even if there is no treasure, it’s okay if I can steal Lao Wei out!
According to Gu Mingzhen, the last time he saw Lao Wei, Lao Wei was only half dead. After so many days, Lao Wei might only have one breath left...
That night, Xia Daohua sneaked into the palace at night.
She was wearing a nightgown, even her head and face were covered tightly, leaving only a pair of sparkling eyes exposed. Hidden in the darkness, she was acting without intention, and ordinary people could not really tell.
She also specially chose a pair of special shoes with cute cat paw-shaped soles, so that if she left footprints, it would most likely not arouse suspicion.
Xia Daohua had thought everything through and prepared thoroughly, but unfortunately she got lost in the palace.
Not only did he fail to find the emperor's bedroom, but he went astray and the place became increasingly sparsely populated, until he eventually ended up in the cold palace.
The palace here is dilapidated and in disrepair. Those who live here are palace servants who have been convicted and fallen out of favor. The palace maids and eunuchs who serve them are often the unlucky ones who are trampled on and beaten by thousands of people...
This area naturally didn't have any beautiful scenery. On the contrary, it even had a somewhat desolate feeling like a wild mountain.
The building was dilapidated, the sky was dark, and the surroundings were quiet. Occasionally, there was a sob or two, or a burst of creepy howls. Even though Xia Daohua was very brave, she was frightened when she heard such a sound.
She calmed herself down and took a closer look, only to find that this place was the cold palace.
On a whim, Xia Daohua took out an infrared thermal imaging device and scanned the rooms in the cold palace one by one. She wanted to find someone to question, but she didn't want to alert others, so she planned to pick the room with the least people and find the most neglected person.
After a quick look, I found that although the houses here were dilapidated and desolate, there were quite a few empty houses with no one in them. There were only two or three side halls and a back hall, with about ten people imprisoned sparsely.
Xia Daohua turned off the thermal imaging device, moved closer and peeked inside through the hole in the window paper, and found that these people in the cold palace were really miserable.
Some people were crying and howling persistently, some were sobbing and crying silently, and some seemed to have lost all vitality and just kneeled, leaned, or even lay on the ground with their legs spread out, with unkempt hair, untidy clothes, and dull eyes. They all looked emaciated and looked like zombies.
The eunuchs and palace maids who were able to move freely seemed to be in pairs, and no one was left alone.
This is the rule in the palace, and Gu Mingzhen and Gu Shanrou have both told Xia Daohua about it.
However, even though she knew it, this little bit of knowledge could not soothe Xia Daohua's anxiety about not being able to find the right person to ask questions.
If it doesn't work, just catch them both at once!
Just as Xia Daohua made up her mind, she heard a familiar groan.
To be precise, it sounded like a very faint plea for mercy.
But the voice was strangely familiar.
The two palace maids stood shoulder to shoulder, with their heads down, their hands clasped, and taking small steps. They were shivering all over, but they forced themselves to stand straight and hurried away at the fastest speed allowed by the palace rules.
Xia Daohua stared at the backs of the two little girls, trying hard to figure out where she had heard that voice before. Then, the voice begging for mercy rang out again, and a low, hoarse voice angrily shouted, "Don't ask him!"
A violent laugh suddenly rang out, but on such a night and in such an environment, this laughter was even more frightening than the crazy talk and howling of the palace servants before.
Xia Daohua felt as if a thunderclap had exploded above her head - she remembered that the extremely weak voice begging for mercy was the voice of Eunuch Wei!
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