Chapter 195: We need to hold a strategic meeting even when we go down to the cave
"Ajiu, follow Xuanyi and go back to the Imperial Master's Mansion first."
"It's the safest there."
"But..." Jiu was a little reluctant. She wanted to follow him.
"Be obedient." Xiao Yu's eyes softened.
"I'll pick you up once I've cleaned up all those bugs."
The little girl puffed out her cheeks and looked unhappy.
She held on tightly to the corner of Xiao Yu's clothes and refused to let go no matter what.
"Brother Xiong Xiong, you are lying!"
She accused, her voice tinged with a hint of grievance.
"You said you'd take Jiu with you to fight the bad guys! Now you're leaving me alone again!"
Xuan Yi stood aside, looking at his prince's icy face, which had been cold for thousands of years, and showed a hint of headache. He almost couldn't help laughing out loud.
The only person in the world who can make His Royal Highness the Regent feel troubled is probably this little fortune teller.
"Ajiu," Xiao Yu patiently tried to reason with her, "The place we're going to this time is very dangerous, and, it's very dirty."
"I'm not afraid!" Ajiu shook his head like a rattle. "Can anyone be more stinky than that bad prince? With Xiongxiong brother here, Ajiu is not afraid of anything!"
"It's not a question of whether you're afraid or not." Xiao Yu frowned slightly. "There are many invisible things underground that can hurt you."
"I'm not afraid! I can see them! I can even tell Brother Xiongxiong where they're hiding!" Jiu puffed out his chest, his face full of pride. "The adults said I have a 'gift'!"
Xiao Yu: “…”
He found that reasoning with this little girl was more tiring than arguing with those old foxes in the court.
"Xuan Yi." He gave up communicating and gave the order directly.
"I'm here."
"Send her back to the Imperial Master's Mansion. If she doesn't cooperate..." Xiao Yu paused, his eyes sweeping over Ajiu's stubborn little face, "touch her acupoints and carry her back."
"Yes!" Xuan Yi suppressed his laughter and accepted the order.
"Wow--!"
When Ah Jiu heard this, he was shocked!
The fierce brother actually wanted someone to pierce her acupoints! And he wanted to carry her back!
This is simply a great shame and humiliation!
The little girl's eyes suddenly turned red, her mouth pursed, and golden beans fell down with a plop.
She didn't say anything, just looked at Xiao Yu pitifully with her big watery eyes filled with tears.
The look was accusatory and aggrieved, with a hint of helplessness like an abandoned little animal.
Xiao Yu's heart seemed to be stabbed by something, neither light nor heavy.
What he hates most is women crying.
But for some reason, when he saw the little girl crying, he couldn't get angry at all.
On the contrary, I feel a little... helpless.
"Alright, alright, stop crying." He sighed, his tone softening unconsciously, "Be obedient, Xuan Yi also needs someone to protect him. Only when you go back can he feel at ease."
"Really?" Jiu sniffed and asked doubtfully.
"When have I ever lied to you?" Xiao Yu frowned.
Ajiu thought about it and it seemed so.
Although Brother Xiongxiong is fierce, he always keeps his word.
"Well... okay then." She loosened her hand that was tightly grasping the corner of her clothes, but still put forward conditions with concern.
"Then you have to promise me that you will crush that stinkiest black nematode! And you have to catch that wicked prince and let Jiu predict when he'll get into bad luck!"
"Okay." Xiao Yu nodded and promised, "I promise you."
"Pink pinky!" Jiu stretched out his chubby little finger.
Xiao Yu looked at her white and tender finger stained with tears, was silent for a moment, and finally stretched out his finger and hooked it with hers.
"We'll make a promise to each other for a hundred years, no changes!"
The little girl then burst into laughter and followed Xuan Yi contentedly, looking back every few steps.
"Your Majesty."
Two men wearing black armor walked in and knelt on one knee.
"Xuan Er, Xuan San, meet the prince."
These two are the top masters in the Xuanjia Army besides Xuan Yi, and are also the commanders of Xiao Yu's personal guards.
Each of them is a fierce general on the battlefield who can defeat a hundred enemies alone.
"Get up."
Xiao Yu's gaze fell back on the underground model.
"Tell me what you think."
Xuan Er, a calmer man, stepped forward and pointed to several red-dotted areas on the model. He spoke in a deep voice, "Your Highness, based on Censor Qian's description and the entrance he discovered, we infer that he entered the 'Kunning Secret Passage' built by the previous dynasty."
"This secret passage was used by the imperial concubines in the previous dynasty to escape in the event of a coup. Therefore, its structure is extremely complex, with numerous forking paths. Furthermore, many locations are equipped with traps to prevent pursuit."
"Although these mechanisms have been around for hundreds of years, most of them are likely no longer effective. But if one or two of them are still able to function, it would be quite fatal."
Xuan San's temper was even more explosive. He continued, "The mechanisms are trivial! What I'm worried about is the formation underground!"
He pointed his finger heavily at the center of the model, which was directly below the Purple Palace in the imperial palace.
"The Imperial Palace is the location of the Great Zhou's dragon vein! Throughout the dynasties, countless masters have set up protective formations here! These formations are intricately intertwined, layered upon layer, and have long since merged with the earth's veins! If our people rashly go down and trigger any large-scale indiscriminate attack formations, the consequences will be..."
He didn't say anything else, but everyone present understood.
The consequence is that no matter who the invader is, he will be instantly crushed into powder by the formation that has accumulated the country's fortune for hundreds of years!
There won't be even a glimmer of room for resistance!
This is the biggest risk of their trip!
Prince Yu and that old monster from the Wugut tribe dared to cause trouble down there. They must have some special method to circumvent or temporarily block the formation.
But Xiao Yu and the others didn't.
They are the real "invaders".
"Your Highness," Xuan Er added, "Also, we cannot be sure how many men Prince Yu has deployed down there. The secret passage is narrow, which is not conducive to large-scale operations. Our number cannot be too large; it must be the elite of the elite."
"Otherwise, if they use human wave tactics and block us in a narrow passage, we will be trapped."
Xiao Yu listened quietly, tapping the table rhythmically with his fingers.
Again and again.
The entire study fell into a depressing silence.
Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps broke the silence.
"Yu'er!"
The person who came was none other than the current emperor, Emperor Jingming.
He had taken off his dragon robe and put on a set of tight clothes that was convenient for movement.
"Your Majesty, why are you here?" Xuan Er and Xuan Da were shocked and quickly knelt down to salute.
"No thanks!" Emperor Jingming waved his hand and walked straight to Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu took out a red-gold token engraved with intricate dragon patterns from his arms.
"Brother, this is the Imperial Guard's tiger talisman. From now on, you will personally take charge of the defense of the entire palace."
"Also," Xiao Yu pulled out a small, pitch-black token emitting a hint of coldness from his sleeve and handed it over, "This is the 'Spirit Suppression Token' left behind by the first generation of Imperial Master. It might be able to block some low-level warning formations. Take it and wait for us at the entrance to the cold palace."
He looked at Emperor Jingming, his expression becoming more serious than ever.
"Brother, you are our backer. You are also our only way out."
"If... I mean if, we haven't emerged in an hour, you will immediately activate the 'Purple Star Array' and permanently seal the entire underground passage and everything within it."
"Yu'er!" Emperor Jingming was horrified. "Then you..."
"Without us."
"Only the country and people of the Great Zhou."
After saying this, he no longer paid attention to the stunned Emperor Jingming, and turned to look at Xuan Er and Xuan San.
"Count all the people."
"The twenty most skilled in tracking, stealth, and array breaking among the Xuanjia Guards."
"Take all the evil-breaking talismans, soul-clearing pills, and sky-shaking thunders you can bring."
"We'll set off in a quarter of an hour."
"Let's go and meet these bastards who dared to tamper with Tai Sui!"
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