Chapter 109 Quickly hide in the corridor...
Quickly concealing himself in the shadows of the corridor, the intruder cautiously surveyed the entire courtyard. He confirmed that, as his intelligence had indicated, aside from the regular guards and a few assigned eunuchs and maids, there was no one else in the backyard tonight. The intruder secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
These people were guards whom the Second Prince had painstakingly placed in the Prince Cheng's residence. His real name was Zhao Qu. He possessed excellent martial arts skills, had a clean background, and was also shrewd. The Second Prince originally intended to keep him as a long-term pawn in the Prince Cheng's residence.
The hope was that he could gradually climb the ranks, and even strive to become a trusted confidant of Prince Cheng.
Unfortunately, before he could even establish himself, he vaguely heard that Prince Cheng intended to reorganize his guards, especially his close guards, because of this promotion. He was likely to transfer all the reliable personnel to other positions, and these "outsiders" would probably be marginalized or even dismissed.
This news made Zhao Qu extremely anxious. Although he had been on duty in the inner courtyard of the Prince's mansion during his infiltration, he had never been able to get close to the core area. The closest he had been to the masters of the Prince's mansion was as one of the guards when the masters went out.
At the time, Zhao Qu even wished that some reckless person would attempt an assassination, so that he would be able to demonstrate his loyalty to his master. Unfortunately, on his only two occasions of carrying out escort duties, he returned safely, so he naturally couldn't show any ability.
If he were to be dismissed in such a disgraceful manner, he would certainly have no future with the Second Prince. Not only would he have no future, but given the secrets he knew, it would be questionable whether he could even escape safely.
Therefore, tonight he had no choice but to take this opportunity to risk coming to Prince Cheng's study, hoping to obtain some secrets to ensure that he would not be easily disposed of by the Second Prince in the future.
"We can't wait any longer. Regardless of whether there's anything or not, let's search first." After secretly peering into the courtyard again, Zhao Qu steeled his heart. Taking advantage of the noise from the banquet in the distance and the cover of the shadows of the trees, he skillfully pried open the latch on the study window, nimbly slid inside, and then gently closed the window.
The study was pitch black, with only the faint light from the lanterns outside the window casting blurry outlines of the furniture.
The air was filled with a faint scent of ink and a unique floral fragrance. Zhao Qu naturally dared not light a tinderbox. However, before Prince Cheng moved in, he had thoroughly explored the entire mansion. Although the mansion had undergone many renovations, its general layout was still in his mind.
Relying on his memory and the faint light, Zhao Qu carefully and quickly began a thorough search.
On the desk were some ordinary official documents, gazettes, a few military books, account books, diagrams, and even a few storybooks.
When Zhao Qu saw the ledger, his heart pounded, thinking he was about to make a big profit that night.
But looking at the dim lantern light shining through the window, he immediately realized that these account books were just ordinary ledgers from a few shops.
The letters found in the drawer were nothing more than ordinary official greetings and exchanges with relatives and friends.
This huge study seemed to contain no secrets at all.
He continued his search while cursing under his breath, this time focusing his attention away from the objects that were openly displayed.
After circling the study twice, he was still unwilling to give up and went to search the bookshelf again, trying to find any hidden compartments or mechanisms. Judging from the layout of the entire study, this bookshelf did not match the size he remembered, making it the most suspicious place.
His fingers carefully explored the thick spine and dividers of the book, and as time passed, more and more fine beads of sweat appeared on Zhao Qu's forehead due to tension.
The sounds of banquet music drifted in from afar, and Zhao Qu recognized that the piece being played was a zither piece called "Spring Sparrow." The beautiful music seemed to resonate in his heartstrings, making his heart tremble even more.
Since he had decided to act tonight, he must have made thorough preparations, including his timing. "Spring Sparrow" was the third to last piece of music tonight, and to ensure he had enough time to escape and avoid arousing suspicion from the other guards, he had to leave after "Spring Sparrow" finished playing, no matter what.
Excessive tension caused the fine beads of sweat on his forehead to grow larger, slowly sliding down one by one. Unfortunately, one of them dripped into his eye. A strong sensation of stimulation made his eye sting instantly, and he instinctively blinked repeatedly.
Perhaps he was still lucky tonight, because in the blink of an eye, Zhao Qu suddenly noticed something unusual about the inside of the bookshelf.
He immediately forgot about the stinging pain in his eyes from the sweat, focusing intently on that slightly unusual spot. Then, beneath the black mask, a wide smile spread across his face. It really was here...
In the dim light, on the smooth lacquered surface of the bookcase, there was a tiny, almost imperceptible circular pattern.
If he wasn't mistaken, these were the marks left by pressing with a finger. With excitement in his eyes, Zhao Qu stretched out his finger, placed it carefully on the original fingerprint on the inside of the bookshelf.
When his fingers touched this area, he knew he had found the right place. Although he couldn't see it with his eyes, the touch told him that there were tiny gaps in the wood here, and that the wood was slightly different from the others.
Zhao Qu took a deep breath to calm his racing heart and carefully pressed the button.
It went down; that area really did sink a little.
A soft click echoed in the study as a hidden compartment slid out from the bottom of the bookshelf.
Zhao Qu was overjoyed and was about to investigate further when he suddenly caught a faint sound of footsteps coming from outside the window.
No one should be approaching this study at this time! Zhao Qu felt a chill run down his spine. Could there be other intruders?
However, Zhao Qu rejected his judgment in the next lesson, because he could tell that although the footsteps were extremely light, they were steady and confident, which was not the footsteps of an infiltrator.
"Secret Guard!" The two words instantly exploded in Zhao Qu's mind.
Indeed, the person who came must be a secret guard from Prince Cheng's mansion. The unusually light footsteps were not because he was also on an infiltration mission, but simply because it was a habit he had developed over the years. His steady and confident gait also showed that he was not at all guilty about entering this place for the first time, because he was a guard himself.
Zhao Qu cursed under his breath and immediately decided to abandon the investigation. But what should he do with the hidden compartment he had already discovered? Should he restore the bookshelf to its original state and pretend that nothing had happened tonight? Or should he take the contents and quickly leave?
Zhao Qu made his decision almost without hesitation. Given the speed of the guards and his distance from the study, even if he did nothing and simply ran away, he wasn't confident he wouldn't be discovered. So he might as well take a gamble.
He quickly squatted down and stuffed all the contents of the hidden compartment into his clothes. Then he pulled out a dark, round object and threw it toward the bookshelf on the other side of the study.
As the object struck the bookshelf, a loud bang was followed by a plume of white smoke.
As soon as the sound rang out, the person in the study moved with lightning speed to the window. Then, using the noise and smoke as cover, they silently slipped out.
"Who goes there?" The previously steady footsteps outside the door suddenly quickened, and the study door was pushed open with a loud bang.
At the same time, the voice that had already rolled over moved a few times and disappeared into the night, as if it had never existed.
At this moment, in the study, a tall figure looked around warily, his eyes immediately landing on the hidden compartment, which was now empty.
In the corner of the bookshelf where the loud noise came from, a dark, round sphere was still releasing its last bit of smoke, but its only function seemed to be to make noise and release smoke; it did not cause any other harm.
The window behind the desk was wide open in the dark, and it was clear what had just happened in the study just by looking at the scene.
Wei Sa did not chase after the person, but instead took out a jade whistle from her bosom and blew it.
Having successfully escaped, Zhao Qu quickly made his way through a maze of turns and entered a small courtyard, heading straight for the outhouse in the corner. This courtyard was where the eunuchs of the Prince's mansion lived, and tonight they were all serving in front of it.
He quickly changed into the guard's uniform he had hidden inside, and the night clothes he had taken off were sunk deep into the latrine. The clothes might be discovered, or they might simply disappear without a trace as they were transported out of the city with the large buckets of manure, but at least for the next three days, they would certainly not reappear.
Smelling the faint stench emanating from his body, Zhao Qu felt only satisfaction.
Regardless of whether his actions tonight have picked up any special smells, after entering this stinking latrine, he will only smell of excrement to anyone who smells him.
As for the item he took from the hidden compartment, the Second Prince was also attending the banquet tonight, so they naturally had plans for what to do next. Smuggling such a small item out would be a piece of cake.
After taking a slightly longer route, when they returned to the guard post, Zhao Qu's arms were empty.
Looking up at the sky, the bright moon hung high, and shadows occasionally flashed across the rooftops. Although the eunuchs and maids of Prince Cheng's mansion were still busy as usual, the atmosphere in the shadows was completely different from before.
However, none of this matters to Zhao Qu anymore. In fact, it is even beneficial to Zhao Qu. With such an event tonight, Prince Cheng will probably be even more eager to get rid of these "useless" guards and replace them with his own trusted confidants.
The music in the flower hall had now reached its final note.
Tonight is coming to an end, but it is also just beginning.
......
"Your Highness, I feel that something must have happened at Prince Cheng's residence tonight." Inside the spacious carriage of Prince Huai's residence, Consort Guo looked at the Second Prince, whose face was flushed and who seemed to be drunk. After hesitating for a moment, she still voiced her guess.
"Oh! Why do you say that?" Li Fang's voice carried a hint of pleasant languor.
"I just felt that when a servant was pouring wine for Prince Cheng's table, he seemed to whisper something in his ear, and then Prince Cheng's face changed. After that, he seemed to want to end the banquet tonight as soon as possible. Didn't he tell the Seventh Prince that he wouldn't leave until he was drunk when he started the banquet? The new wine that was served later was a bit too strong, as if he couldn't wait to get you brothers drunk."
The more Consort Guo spoke, the more reasonable she felt, and the more she thought she was a keen observer.
"Stop the car," Li Fang suddenly ordered.
"Your Highness, why do you suddenly want to stop the car? Is there something you need, or have you forgotten something at the Prince Cheng's residence?" Consort Guo looked bewildered at the Second Prince's order.
"Get out of the carriage," Li Fang said calmly, glancing at Consort Guo.
"Huh?" Consort Guo could hardly believe her ears. It was so late at night, and His Highness was actually telling her to get out of the carriage on their way back to the manor!
"Get out of the car and take the back one." Li Fang's voice left no room for argument.
Consort Guo's face flushed red with embarrassment and anger. His Highness was actually telling her to get out of the carriage! She had come with the Second Prince, only to be forced to get out halfway back. Where was she supposed to put her face now?
And she hadn't offended His Highness! In an instant, Consort Guo felt tears welling up in her eyes. She turned to look at the Second Prince with a sorrowful expression, trying to persuade him to change his mind.
The Second Prince seemed oblivious to the mist in her eyes and the pitiful look on her face, only using his eyes to signal her to hurry up and leave.
Consort Guo had no choice but to leave.
The noise from getting off the bus was a bit too loud.
After a crisp snap, the voice of Consort Guo scolding her maid came from under the carriage: "Your hand is broken, you can't even support your mistress anymore!"
The second prince didn't care about this; he could tolerate this little temper tantrum.
After the carriage started moving again, he pressed three buttons on the spot where Consort Guo had been sitting. A hidden compartment popped up at that spot, and inside was indeed the stack of items that Zhao Qu had stolen from the study that night.
After a cursory glance at the stack of things, the Second Prince's face immediately turned extremely ugly.
He lightly tapped the car wall twice with his fingers.
"Your Highness, what are your orders?" the coachman's voice rang out respectfully from outside.
"Find a reasonable excuse to get rid of him, the sooner the better."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"There's still no progress on the ledger issue?" Li Fang practically spat out these words through gritted teeth.
"Your Highness, please forgive us. We are doing our best to investigate." The coachman's voice outside carried a hint of barely perceptible fear.
"A bunch of useless trash! The goods are almost ready to be delivered to Lao Wu, and you're still investigating, still investigating." Li Fangfang said this in a very low voice, but the anger in his words seemed to be burning people to ashes at any moment.
At this moment, the smugness of his subordinates successfully stealing confidential information from the Sixth Prince's study had completely vanished from Li Fang's mind. What surged into his heart was only wave after wave of anxiety and urgency, as well as the guilt and fear that he had suppressed deep down and almost dared not face.
Among the stack of items, the most important was a secret letter between the Fifth Prince and the Sixth Prince. The Fifth Prince, Li Sheng, mentioned that the surname was Li. He would soon have a secret ledger from Liangzhou.
Even if this ledger couldn't bring down the Guo family and the Second Prince's power overnight, it was enough to severely damage them. Li Sheng used the ledger to extend an invitation to Li Hui to form an alliance.
Judging from their words, this wasn't the first time these two had communicated.
As for the Second Prince, both the account book from Liangzhou and the two men joining forces against him would pose a great crisis.
"No wonder, no wonder!" Recalling everyone's behavior at today's banquet, the Second Prince suddenly realized many details that he had not paid attention to before.
He always thought the seemingly harmonious relationship between the fifth and sixth brothers was just an act put on by the fifth brother for his own benefit; that's just how he is.
Even if these two are acting, what about their queen? Their queen seems to be getting along far too well with them.
They didn't seem like it was their first meeting at all.
So in fact, the two of them had been colluding in private, and they wanted to kick out the one who was the most promising first.
That's right, it must be like that. It's even possible that the seventh brother was involved in this alliance. Otherwise, given his consistently arrogant nature, his attitude towards the sixth brother would be far too kind.
The more the Second Prince thought about it, the more he felt that his brothers below him had all joined forces to deal with him first. The pride he had felt these past few days of being favored by the Emperor had completely turned into a sense of crisis.
In the still slightly chilly spring night, he couldn't help but sweat soak his heavy clothes.
"No, I need to find a way to break this deadlock. Now that they've united, I need more allies."
Suddenly, the second prince had a flash of inspiration. Shouldn't the woman he had been pursuing for several years be moved by his sincerity?
His position as queen has been vacant for so many years; isn't it time for it to be given to someone?
......
"Sigh, Wei Sa, look at you! You, the commander of the secret guards, were actually tricked by such a street performer. You'll be too ashamed to show your face if word gets out."
In Prince Chengjun's study, Qin Ji, who had tried his best to hide his anxiety and displeasure when seeing off his guests, now looked relaxed and even had the mood to tease his own commander of the secret guards for "making a big mistake and seriously neglecting his duties."
"My lord, perhaps you remember, but I was forced into this situation." Looking at his lord rolling the black iron ball around on the table, Wei Sa tried to defend his reputation.
"What's inside? Gunpowder? Why is it so weak?" Like Qin Ji, Xiao Yan Hui's attention was also mostly on the black sphere.
"What is gunpowder, Your Highness? It is nothing more than the residue of alchemists who failed in their alchemy. Some opera troupes or street performers will remix it to perform illusions, and charlatans will use it to pretend to be gods and ghosts. It is a kind of trick used by all sorts of people in the martial arts world."
Although she didn't know what the princess meant by "gunpowder," Wei Sa still explained the origin of the black ball to her two masters, who both looked puzzled and eager to learn.
After exchanging a knowing glance, Qin Ji and Xiao Yan put the matter of the black ball aside and brought the topic back to the intruder in the study that night.
"Wei Sa, you need to take care of them tomorrow. Make sure my good second brother knows before the second brother's men make a move. I understand."
"Yes, my lord."
"Your Highness, I noticed you and Fifth Sister-in-law had a very pleasant conversation tonight," Qin Ji turned to Xiao Yan and asked.
"Of course, we not only had a very pleasant conversation, but we also made an appointment to have some new jewelry made together. Fifth Sister-in-law also said that the Prince Ning's Mansion wants to build a similar scene to the bamboo forest and pond in our house." Xiao Yan raised her eyebrows with a hint of pride.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, Your Highness, to take care of Fifth Sister-in-law." Qin Ji was about to blurt out, "My Your Highness is so lovable," but then she remembered Wei Sa and swallowed the words back.
"You guys keep talking, I just came to take a look at this thing." Xiao Yan stood up and casually reached for the black ball on the table. She wanted to take it back to her room to study it a little.
Before his hand could even touch the black ball, Qin Ji stopped him, saying, "This is not something you can play with casually."
Others just thought this thing was a product of failed alchemy. Apart from making a noise to scare people or emitting some smoke to deceive them, it had no other use. But didn't those two understand what this thing was?
This is the most primitive gunpowder. Even though it has already been detonated once, Qin Ji is still worried about letting Xiao Yan take it back to play with. What if something goes wrong? Who would he cry to then?
"Double standards." He was just rolling that black ball around on the table a moment ago.
However, seeing that Qin Ji had already easily put the item into the drawer behind his desk and carefully locked it, it was clear that he would never hand it over to her. Xiao Yan Hui was too lazy to argue with Qin Ji over something that was now practically an empty shell.
She ignored the two men and went back to the main courtyard to rest, no longer concerned about how many more schemes they had to discuss.
Although she was still forcing herself to stay awake after today's banquet, she was actually exhausted. If it weren't for that little bit of curiosity she had earlier about the [illegible], she would have gone back to her room to shower and sleep long ago.
"If the Princess asks you to get this for her later, you must not comply." Watching Xiao Yan return to her departing figure, Qin Ji solemnly gave Wei Sa this instruction.
"Yes, does Your Majesty think this thing is dangerous?" Wei Sa asked with some curiosity.
You should know that the king has never refused anything his princess wanted. Even if he didn't have it on hand, he would try every means to get it for her. How could he have repeatedly told her not to touch it like this?
Qin Ji did not answer Wei Sa's question, but instead asked, "Has Fifth Brother noticed anything?"
"The Fifth Prince was merely curious about what happened in our residence tonight, but he didn't try to find out anything further," Wei Sa reported.
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