Chapter 21
Xue Jin'an admitted that he had been seduced.
Xue Jin'an doesn't consider himself to be the kind of person who necessarily pursues the most expensive, best, and newest configuration of a luxury phone, but just as no product manufacturer in the world can ignore the product launches of its competitors, no mobile phone manufacturer can refuse to attend mobile phone technology exhibitions.
—He used to be a cell phone, but now he's a human, so his brain automatically calculates that human = fellow human = cell phone, which makes perfect sense.
Not to mention, this exhibition is free for a limited time, and some people even brought brochures of the exhibits. If you don't go, you're not a true tech enthusiast!
With a pure, scheming heart, Xue Jin'an nodded, recalling the way humans used to travel in his memory—a true otaku, he used to be a sword cultivator with his mind full of cultivation, fighting and getting stronger, and later a otaku with his mind full of anime games and surfing the internet, he didn't like going out for a stroll at all, but it didn't matter, there were some references in the novels and anime he had read.
For example, elementary school students going on spring outings, ambiguous romantic entanglements leading to group dates, and bored people going out to stroll around an abandoned hospital in the suburbs in the middle of the night instead of sleeping.
Hmm... they all seem a bit strange, but it doesn't matter, they're all things that can be used as a reference.
He turned around, went back into the house, and pulled out a small cloth bag. He filled the bag to the brim with the list he had compiled. Some items were simply stuffed in, such as water and snacks; other items were replaced with similar ones, such as toilet paper for tissues and tinder for flashlights.
Although Xue Jin'an had only a vague understanding of why people carried these things when they traveled, there must be a reason for it, and it was perfectly reasonable for him, who had just become a human, to follow local customs.
Fu Lu and Shou Quan watched in stunned silence as he slung his bag over his shoulder and left. For a moment, they couldn't even begin to ponder what scheme the Fifth Prince might be plotting this time.
Shouquan gently reminded him, "Master, you're going to the Imperial Study today, shouldn't you bring some...books?"
Fu Lu took out half a box of old, yellowed books from the wardrobe's inner compartment. These were the books that Consort Zhen used to teach the original owner to read. The original owner had learned half of them. When Consort Zhen passed away, Zhaoyang Palace was briefly opened, and the master even paid respects and kept vigil for a few days.
Everything in the main hall of Zhaoyang Palace was registered, and the emperor did not allow anyone to take it away. The guards at the palace gate almost snatched the blood dragon wood bracelet from the master's hand, but Cuiyun gave her some silver and said some nice words to stop them. Because of this, Fulu always thought good things about Cuiyun. Even though she entered Yihe Palace as a head maid not long after Consort Zhen fell from power, he felt that Cuiyun was lucky and was happy that she had a good future and did not have to suffer.
But in the end, Fulu still wanted to leave something for his master, so he secretly took out the half-box of books that had been placed in the side hall, one by one—the East Water Pavilion in the side hall of Zhaoyang Palace was the former residence of the Seventh Prince Xue Jin'an.
It's a pity that the book was brought out but was not used. Fulu only learned some characters by following his master and could barely recognize all the characters in the book. But recognizing them doesn't mean understanding them. He couldn't read the book at all, let alone teach his master to read.
So the book was just piled up in the interlayer, and the pages turned yellow and curled at the edges.
"There's no room for it, and I'm just going to take a look." Xue Jin'an righteously and firmly rejected this "unreasonable request" to bring books.
"Then bring the sword with you!" Shouquan handed over the newly acquired sword with a lotus pattern engraved on the hilt.
Xue Jin'an walked out of the room with a cloth bag on his back and a sword slung over his shoulder. He stood obediently in front of the Fifth Prince and paused when he saw that the prince's hands were empty.
"I'm ready, we can go now." Although this tour guide wasn't the kind of person in the novel who wore a hat and held a small flag, considering the differences in era and time, it's not incomprehensible that the tour guides in the world of ancient books were not so professional.
Anyway, since it was the Fifth Prince who said he would take him to the Imperial Study, he had to automatically accept the role of "leader's tour." Xue Jin'an opened his contact list and silently changed the Fifth Prince's nickname to "temporary tour guide."
The Fifth Prince, who was still pondering what Xue Jin'an meant by looking at his hand—whether there was something in it—suddenly felt an itch in his palm, as if a small triangular flag was missing.
He clenched his fist, raised his right hand, and unconsciously cleared his throat, raising his voice slightly, "Those going to the Imperial Study, line up here. Don't run around. Check your bags; don't bring anything you shouldn't. We're leaving soon. Today is the Imperial Study assessment, and Father will be taking these officials with him—"
The Fifth Prince's words came to an abrupt halt. Seeing his raised hand, Fu Lu Shou Quan, who had instinctively and obediently lined up behind his master, suddenly realized and let out a drawn-out "Oh."
Although they still didn't know what malicious intentions the Fifth Prince harbored, the Emperor's appearance clearly indicated a major drama, and Fu Lu and Shou's already uneasy hearts instantly tightened.
Since they couldn't stop their master's actions, they might as well go and see what was going on, so they could react immediately if anything happened.
The Fifth Prince didn't care whether Xue Jin'an went alone or with two followers, it wouldn't affect his plans. However, that didn't mean he could accept that he had accidentally given away information he shouldn't have.
The Fifth Prince didn't think this was an accident. He covered his mouth, his brows furrowed tightly, and questioned Xue Jin'an sharply, "What did you do? Was it... Gu?"
This world has martial arts masters with internal strength, and naturally there are also masters of poison and Gu poison. Moreover, they are very much in line with the stereotype that most of them come from ethnic minorities in the mountains of the south, just like the Yunnan region where the original owner's uncle Zhou Yushu went, which has provided many Gu masters to the Central Plains.
The Fifth Prince's expression turned to disgust when Gu was mentioned, as if he had spoken of something filthy. This was understandable, given that Gu masters are rarely portrayed positively in any novel, and the appearance of Gu worms certainly doesn't appeal to most people.
But Xue Jin'an was a data-driven person. He instinctively organized the Fifth Prince's information and automatically analyzed several reasons for the Fifth Prince's aversion to Gu, following the logical line. The most likely reason was: "Your heart disease is caused by Gu worms."
"It's none of your business." The Fifth Prince's subconscious reaction increased the credibility of his answer.
After he finished speaking, he immediately realized that he had not denied it. He stiffly changed the subject, saying, "The security checks are very strict. It will be very troublesome if they find anything that shouldn't be there."
As he spoke, he stepped forward to examine Xue Jin'an's bulging cloth bag, and the first thing he saw was a section of it...
"A bamboo tube?" The Fifth Prince curiously took it out. Hearing the sound of liquid flowing inside, his first thought was that it contained a colorless and odorless poison that looked like water.
Under Fu Lu's guidance, they unscrewed the bamboo lid and discovered that it contained only water.
Even the Fifth Prince couldn't maintain his taciturn persona anymore, and said with a heavy heart, "Why did you bring water? Are you going to die of thirst in the Imperial Study? Besides, why is a prince like you drinking water from a broken bamboo tube?"
Fu Lu didn't dare say that the bamboo tube was actually newly made a couple of days ago, and that the one he had used for almost a year before was really broken, so broken that it looked shabby.
Unfortunately, Qifeng Courtyard was too poor; they didn't even have a complete set of clean porcelain, which was extremely inconvenient. So, Fulu used his ingenuity and made many bamboo tableware, bowls, ladles, chopsticks, and plates from the Green Bamboo Courtyard. Fulu was quite glad that he had acted quickly. Later, after the Fourth Prince moved into the Green Bamboo Courtyard, he didn't give Xue Jin'an a friendly look. If he knew that the bamboo he used to make the tableware came from his own courtyard, he would probably ridicule him for a while.
A prince using a bamboo tube to drink water once could be considered a display of elegance and a pursuit of novelty, but using it repeatedly would be somewhat tacky.
The Fifth Prince was unaware of these things, but just looking at the bamboo tube made his heart pound. He knew his Seventh Brother was not doing well, but he couldn't believe it was this bad. No wonder he wanted to kill his Fourth Brother.
Seeing his brothers, all so dashing and well-dressed, in the Imperial Study this time, the Seventh Prince's anger will surely flare up even more. The Fifth Prince is already somewhat impatient to see them fight.
The Fifth Prince led the way to the Imperial Study with great pride, but before they arrived, he deliberately took Xue Jin'an back to Hanxiang Courtyard in a swaggering manner.
Consort Rong's head maid, Hongling, was much better at managing her expressions than Consort Zhen's maid, Cuiyun. She only lingered on Xue Jin'an for a moment, and the change in her expression was extremely difficult to discern with the naked eye.
However, Xue Jin'an had a high-definition camera and could clearly see that her facial features were lowered by an average of two points.
To fit in, the Fifth Prince also packed a cloth bag for himself and stuffed it with a lot of melon seeds and fruit. He shook the paper that was filled with his brothers' special skills, which Xue Jin'an saw as a "product brochure".
"Come on, I'll take you to the Imperial Study. I guarantee you won't regret it." The Fifth Prince laughed heartily, as if he had spotted a badger in a melon patch.
"—Your Highness, are you going to the Imperial Study?" Hongling stepped forward in shock, stopping a step away with restraint. Her expression returned to normal, and her tone softened. "You've just recovered from a serious illness and are still weak. Her Majesty has already granted you leave. You don't need to participate in today's assessment..."
"If Mother is displeased, then just give me a good beating." The Fifth Prince coldly curled the corner of his mouth, ignored the terrified palace maids and eunuchs kneeling on the ground, turned around and left without looking back.
The Fifth Prince was eager to see a spectacle, even creating one where none existed, but little did he know that his luck was running out, and he was about to become the spectacle himself.
The Fifth Prince remembered the time of the assessment and arrived right on time. From afar, he saw that the entrance to the Imperial Study was heavily guarded, with twice as many guards as usual. The imperial carriage was parked to the side, and two rows of eunuchs and palace maids waited respectfully with their heads bowed.
A low-key carriage was parked nearby, with a man wearing a straw hat and a coarse linen shirt sitting inside. He seemed to be the driver, but he was holding a book in one hand and playing with a valuable jade pendant in the other. His face was completely obscured by the straw hat, so his appearance was not visible at all.
Clearly, the emperor had ended the morning court session early and was already in the Imperial Study, accompanied by other people, indicating that the assessment had begun ahead of schedule.
The fifth prince looked displeased. He knew that his father had arrived, and no matter how he tried to sow discord, his brothers would pretend to be friendly and respectful and would not make trouble in front of their father.
"I don't want to go anymore," the Fifth Prince muttered, pausing slightly but not stopping. He was eager to introduce his seventh brother, the King of Hell, to his good brothers.
Xue Jin'an's gaze lingered on the "groom" for a moment before quickly turning away. He heard an unusually short sound, like the sound of a hidden weapon.
"Assassins! Protect the Emperor—!!" The eunuch's shrill voice pierced the Imperial Study.
In an instant, there was a "whoosh" of weapons being drawn, and the Imperial Guards rushed in. The coachman was a little slower to react, but he also dropped his book and was about to draw his weapon to save the emperor.
Just then, Xue Jin'an's safety features activated: [Object detected falling ahead, anti-fall mode activated!]
Xue Jin'an suddenly retreated, only to be met by an assassin who appeared out of nowhere and lunged at him with a claw.
The assassin hadn't expected him to react so quickly, but in this situation, he didn't have time to recover and grabbed the Fifth Prince by the neck.
"Oh no! He's going to take the Fifth Prince hostage!" The coachman drew his bowstring taut, ready to shoot the assassin, but the assassin pulled the Fifth Prince in front of him to use as a shield.
He immediately became hesitant and dared not act rashly, fearing the consequences.
He dares not act rashly because he has hostages? Then let him be without hostages. Xue Jin'an's mind quickly came up with the optimal solution, and he drew his lotus sword from his waist with lightning speed.
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