Chapter 399 The Mute Slave's Identity? Luo'er Disguises Herself Again!
accompany?
Li Qingluo looked up at Duan Rongshi.
Seeing his pitiful eyes, she couldn't bring herself to say no.
He had been with her all along, so how could she bear to leave him alone in this desolate and lonely Guifu Palace?
She touched her chin, a thoughtful expression on her face: "It's not entirely impossible..."
Li Qingluo left with Eunuch Hai early the next morning.
She fell into the hot spring last night, and naturally her whole body got soaked.
After Duan Rongshi repeatedly urged him to stay, he rested in the sleeping quarters of Guifu Palace.
She slept in the main hall.
Duan Rongshi spent the night on a couch outside a screen.
When they parted, Duan Rongshi stood inside the window under the green trees, gazing at her silently without blinking.
Li Qingluo turned her head back several times.
They only met up with Ling Fengzi, who had come to make contact, after leaving the palace gates.
Hai Gonggong bid farewell to Li Qingluo, saying, "Don't worry, Miss, this servant will take good care of His Highness."
Li Qingluo knew that this Eunuch Hai must be Duan Rongshi's confidant in this palace.
"Then I will trouble you to take care of it, sir."
Eunuch Hai: "You're too kind, young lady. It is my honor to have the opportunity to serve His Highness."
"I would like to trouble you, young lady, to leave the palace and perhaps bring back some things for my mother?"
Li Qingluo: "Your mother?"
Grandpa Hai: "My mother is Granny Ning, who lives in Guiyuan."
Guiyuan!?
Li Qingluo seemed to have understood quite a few things.
She took the small package from Grandpa Hai, which contained a family letter and some silver.
"This servant knows that my mother is happy in Guiyuan, but please tell her to spend her money as she pleases, and not to worry about finding me a wife."
"I'll never be able to get married in my lifetime."
"But I have no regrets. I can still help Your Highness with things, so at least I can still live like a human being."
After saying goodbye to Eunuch Hai, Li Qingluo mingled with the group of young Taoist priests again.
This time, we left the palace with Qingyangzi, so it went even more smoothly than last night.
Kill Seven and Kill Nine were waiting for her outside the palace.
The two breathed a sigh of relief when she finally came out.
The three of them went to Guiyuan Garden first.
After finding Granny Ning, Li Qingluo handed her the package.
When Grandma Ning saw her son's letter, she was overjoyed and danced with delight.
The others also happily huddled together to read the letter.
Li Qingluo still didn't know how to bring up the matter of Grandpa Hai advising Granny Ning to spend money generously.
Granny Ning asked first, "Miss, is he really doing well working in the palace?"
Li Qingluo: "You know he works in the palace?"
Grandma Ning: "Of course. When he was ten years old, he was running around in the street and got trampled by a horse, so he decided to go to the palace to help His Highness."
"It's been almost six years since I last saw him."
Granny Ning wiped her eyes, and the other mute servants comforted her with heartache.
Li Qingluo asked a question she had wanted to know for a long time: "Did you all live in the palace before?"
Although everyone paused and hesitated for a moment, they still answered her.
"Yes. We old folks used to be people from the palace."
These elderly people all had their tongues cut out.
They were not born deaf and mute.
But what about the young mute slaves?
"Actually, we can talk."
Suddenly, a young mute slave looked at Li Qingluo and spoke.
Li Qingluo was quite startled.
"So you guys aren't mute after all?"
The young mute slave only uttered that one sentence before resuming his sign language.
"His Highness forbids us from speaking in the Osmanthus Garden."
"He told us to get used to being mute, so that we could protect ourselves."
Li Qingluo: "Then who are you?"
The mute slave said, "We are their descendants. We have lived in this Osmanthus Garden for seventeen years."
Seventeen years!
When Duan Rongshi was six years old, his mother died suddenly in the palace.
He just turned twenty-three this year.
Isn't it exactly seventeen years?
Li Qingluo: "But I heard that after the Imperial Concubine passed away, His Majesty massacred Guifu Palace, leaving no one alive."
What's going on?
The mute slaves dared not say any more.
He could only reply in sign language: "The young lady is His Highness's confidante."
"You should ask His Highness about these matters yourself, young lady."
After bidding farewell to the mute servants of Guiyuan, Li Qingluo did not return to General Xiuli's Mansion first, but instead went to Prince Su's Mansion.
Zhuiyu and the other two were not there, but Eunuch Wu was still at the Prince Su's residence.
Li Qingluo, accompanied by Eunuch Wu, went to see Qin Ling and asked him for something.
Li Qingluo returned home just as it was getting dark.
After sleeping all night, I went out again as soon as it was light.
This time, it's a long trip.
Li Qingluo, along with Sha Qi and Sha Jiu, met with Ling Fengzi.
After the three of them disguised themselves as young Taoist priests, they still entered the palace smoothly.
The once heavily guarded palace has now been turned into a marketplace by Qingsong Temple, with people coming and going as they please, and even the guards at the palace gates are helpless.
Li Qingluo first sat cross-legged outside Zichen Shop for an hour, ate with her fellow disciples, and then was taken to Guifu Palace.
When Lord Hai opened the door, he saw another unfamiliar young Taoist priest and was somewhat displeased.
What does this mean?
Qingyangzi: "This is our junior brother, Master Luoyi, from our Taoist temple."
"Although he looks young, his Taoist cultivation is only slightly inferior to mine."
"The Imperial Preceptor is going to hold a ritual at Guifu Palace soon, so he needs Junior Brother to come and stay there first to set up the ritual and collect the resentment within the palace."
Eunuch Hai: "You know perfectly well that our Highness dislikes strangers getting close. Does the Master intend to send this young Taoist priest in to his death?"
Qingyangzi smiled and said, "Don't worry, young eunuch, your prince won't be willing to kill him."
Before Li Qingluo followed the reluctant Eunuch Hai inside, she saw a white figure standing at the end of the long street.
"That is Consort De."
Qingyangzi murmured something to himself, then turned and left.
Li Qingluo stared at the white figure a few more times.
Her aloof and solitary demeanor is like that of an orchid, standing proudly alone in the world.
However, when she cast her icy gaze upon him, even Li Qingluo felt a chill.
The doors to Guifu Palace were slammed shut once again.
Li Qingluo overheard Eunuch Hai muttering complaints: "They send all sorts of people into our palace. Daoist Qingyangzi really doesn't care about His Highness at all."
"I'm afraid that one day when he finally rises to the top and can sit on equal footing with His Highness, he'll no longer have His Highness in his eyes..."
Li Qingluo: "Then how can it be considered that I care?"
Grandpa Hai was startled.
The voice just sounded somewhat familiar.
Li Qingluo took out two hardened steamed buns from the package.
"This was specially made for you by your mother, try it."
Grandpa Hai was shocked and gasped.
Li Qingluo touched her face: "Qin Ling's disguise skills are truly unparalleled in the world."
"Luo'er!"
Duan Rongshi saw that she was wearing a Taoist robe and came again, standing inside the window and waving to her.
Li Qingluo then said, "It's too early to say that."
After she ran towards Duan Rongshi, Eunuch Hai, still clutching two steamed buns in his hand, was utterly shocked: "Is that the young lady?"
He rubbed his eyes vigorously.
Last night, even though she was a young Taoist priest, wasn't she a beautiful and elegant woman?
How come he has suddenly become a rugged and honest-looking man?
When he saw the young Taoist priest rush into the prince's arms and the two embrace tightly, Eunuch Hai felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
"It must be something wrong with my eyes."
"This is all fake, it's not real, I'm still dreaming..."
Grandpa Hai left as if in a dream.
Li Qingluo and Duan Rongshi had already begun discussing the key to her disguise.
“Your Highness, Qin Ling said that because of the hasty preparations, this face can only be maintained for seven days at most. After seven days, I will regain my original appearance when I come into contact with water.”
Duan Rongshi didn't mind: "Seven days is enough."
He reached out and pinched her cheek, finding it amusing.
"What were you thinking? Such thick eyebrows, and a full beard on your chin."
"Are you deliberately trying to prevent me from taking a bite?"
Li Qingluo clasped his hands together and said, "Your Highness, please do not disturb my Daoist mind!"
"I must abstain from lust for the time being!"
Duan Rongshi laughed loudly a few times.
Not far away, Eunuch Hai, who was squatting on the ground covering his ears, was almost crying: His Highness sounds so happy. But he himself is so heartbroken.
Because he was already on the verge of complete collapse...
Last night, today, which one is the real girl?
Does Your Highness prefer men or women?
Night fell quickly.
After having dinner early, the two played chess on a low couch by the window.
Li Qingluo's chess skills have not improved much.
She was too busy on weekdays, and whenever she had a spare moment, she would use it to practice swordsmanship and calligraphy, leaving almost no time for the chess pieces.
Seeing that she was so careless, Duan Rongshi gave her a rare stern look.
"Then I will punish you by making you play fifty games with me over the next few days."
"Otherwise, don't even think about leaving the palace!"
Fifty games?
Does that mean we need to play six or seven games every day?
This is going to kill her!
Li Qingluo had no choice but to beg for mercy: "Your Highness, please have pity on me. Can't we play one game a day?"
Duan Rongshi was furious: "Li Qingluo, do you know how many people in this world would beg to play a game of chess with me?"
"You're so ungrateful!"
Li Qingluo: "Who is it?"
Duan Rongshi did not reply to her.
He simply said, "My chess skills were first taught by my mother."
Li Qingluo froze instantly.
He rarely mentioned his mother.
Although Li Qingluo was extremely curious, she never dared to ask.
Just like those mute slaves, if they were unwilling to speak on their own initiative, she would stop asking.
She picked up a chess piece: "Then, Your Highness, would you please teach me?"
"I just hope you won't complain about my terrible chess skills like you did last time."
Duan Rongshi raised his hand and gently patted her head.
At this moment, Eunuch Hai knocked on the door and said, "Your Highness, Consort De has brought you osmanthus cake."
Duan Rongshi: "Come in."
A beautifully arranged plate of osmanthus cake landed in my hands.
Duan Rongshi reached out to take it, but Li Qingluo quickly pushed his hand away.
"No!"
"Your Highness, this pastry is a slow-acting poison!"
"Whether you eat it or touch it with your hands, you won't notice it at first, but over time it will turn you into a mentally challenged and stupid person!"
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