On a hazy moonlit night with twinkling stars, night travelers move freely and lightly among the streets and alleys like fish playing in the water, occasionally avoiding the patrol soldiers with heavy footsteps, and occasionally avoiding the night watchmen who are beating clappers and shouting "It's dry, be careful with fire", feeling the warm breeze 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 wanderer.
Xia Daohua traveled extensively to the mansions of princes and nobles, observing the lives of countless common people. In less than a month, she had already mastered the capital's fabric.
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 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 established by the ancestors of the Great Chu Dynasty to provide future generations with a way out in times of crisis.
However, this matter was not discovered by Xia Daohua, but was revealed to her specifically by Gu Mingzhen - Gu Mingzhen knew Xia Daohua's abilities, and although he did not know that she had a space supermarket, he was full of 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, but 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 difficult 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 puzzled: "Why does the prince trust me so much?"
Gu Mingzhen said earnestly, "We've escaped together, and I know a bit about your abilities. Besides, this matter really shouldn't be made public, and the people I need are not conveniently allowed to go to the palace... The last thing is, after my last meeting with Old Wei, I was really worried, so I secretly investigated..."
It was probably at that time that Gu Mingzhen came into the sight of Lao Wei, Wei Jizu, Wei Shiqi and the others’ relationship with Xia Daohua!
After hearing this, Xia Daohua thought for a moment, then nodded directly and agreed happily. 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 enter the palace to take a look.
A place like the palace might hide some treasures that can upgrade the space.
Even if there is no treasure, it’s okay as long as I can steal Lao Wei out!
According to Gu Mingzhen, the last time he saw Lao Wei, he 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, so deliberately and unintentionally that ordinary people could not see them.
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 ran off the track and the place became increasingly sparsely populated, until he finally ended up in the cold palace.
The palace here was dilapidated and in disrepair. The people living here were all palace servants who had been convicted and fallen out of favor. The maids and eunuchs who served them were often the unlucky ones who were trampled upon and beaten by thousands of people...
This area naturally didn't have any beautiful scenery to speak of. On the contrary, it even had a somewhat desolate feeling, like a desolate mountain.
The building was dilapidated, the sky was dark, and the surroundings were quiet. Occasionally, one or two faint sobs or bursts of creepy howls could be heard. Even though Xia Daohua was very brave, she was still frightened when she heard such a sound.
She calmed herself down and took a closer look, only to find that this place was the territory of the cold palace.
On a whim, Xia Daohua whipped out an infrared thermal imaging camera and scanned the rooms in the cold palace one by one. She wanted to question someone, but didn't want to alert anyone else, so she decided to pick the room with the fewest people and find the most neglected person.
After a quick scan, I discovered that despite the dilapidated and desolate environment, there were quite a few empty rooms with no one in them. There were only two or three side halls and a back hall, each holding about ten people.
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, chattering incessantly, some were sobbing and crying silently, and some seemed to have lost all vitality, just kneeling, falling down, or even lying on the ground with their legs spread out, with unkempt hair, disheveled clothes, and dull eyes. They all looked emaciated, just like the walking corpses.
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, knowing this little bit of knowledge could not soothe Xia Daohua's anxiety about not being able to find the right person to ask.
If it really 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 lowered, their hands cupped, 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 two little girls' backs, trying hard to remember where she had heard that voice before. Then, the pleading for mercy rang out again, and a deep, hoarse voice angrily shouted, "Don't ask him!"
A burst of violent laughter 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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