Chapter 99: Qishan Fengchan 6: Zhai Palace
The four disciples hadn't seen each other for a long time, so engrossed in their conversation that they almost forgot the time. Liang Qiu, mindful of having to get up early to deliver food, sent Xun Shu to bed. As for the remaining two, since they didn't need to get up early anyway, he let them go.
There were only two rooms in the courtyard. Liang Qiu gave the main room to Chu Miao and Xun Shu, while he and Yuan Zhou spent the night in the east wing.
Just after the Yin hour, the lights in the courtyard, which had been off for a short time, came back on. Liangqiu and Xun Shu quietly loaded the vegetables they had prepared the previous night onto the donkey cart and drove it towards the Zhai Palace.
The small courtyard and the Zhai Palace were not far apart, separated by a forest. A donkey cart would take about two quarters of an hour to reach them. When the two men arrived at the side gate of the Zhai Palace, which served as a gateway for the palace servants, several farmers, like them, who had arrived early with fresh produce, were already standing at the gate.
It was not yet the hour of Yin, the sky still dark, the chill of the night still thickening, white frost still clung to the flowers and grass along the roadside. The stars and moon were clearly visible in the sky, countless stars twinkling ceaselessly, piecing together a variety of celestial patterns. Xun Shu stared at it for a moment; it seemed no different from last night.
A moment later, there was a noise at the palace gate, and several armored guards emerged. Liang Qiu patted Xun Shu's arm, signaling her to come back to her senses. The two of them, driving their donkey carts, followed at the end of the procession, awaiting inspection and questioning before entering the Zhai Palace in an orderly fashion.
Xun Shu squinted his eyes to look at the imperial guards inspecting in front of him. He was curious at first, but as he looked, he suddenly found a figure standing in the corner without armor. The figure looked more and more familiar. When he took a few steps closer, he could not see the face clearly and could not help but gasp.
Why is Li Xuanhe here?!
It was still dark in the morning, so why would a junior official from the Dali Temple come to the city gate and mingle with the imperial guards? Did he defect to the imperial guards?
They had just had a fight the day before, which ended in a cold war, and now they were probably completely broken up. He definitely wouldn't help her hide her identity, and might even kick her out of the Sai Palace and never let her near it again... What should I do?!
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Li Xuanhe had naturally risen early, waiting for the rabbit. He stared at the figure at the end of the team, rustling and scurrying, wishing he could hide among the vegetables. He sneered inwardly, gnashing his teeth in anger.
He thought of what happened a few hours ago.
Ever since Xun Shu left the Princess's residence, he had sent two secret guards to follow her. The capital was about to erupt, and Daliang was no longer as peaceful as before. Xun Shu carried a secret that countless people wanted to know; how could he let her leave alone? Fortunately, Xun Shu was always slow to notice someone following her, and he never guessed that he knew all her whereabouts.
Until yesterday.
The two secret guards watched helplessly as Xun Shu and her fellow apprentices entered a small courtyard nestled in the fields. The courtyard was surrounded by flat vegetable plots, where the seedlings barely reached knee height. The secret guards had nowhere to hide, unable to approach the courtyard unnoticed. They could only remain in the woods further away, waiting and carefully observing their surroundings.
Fortunately, this place was not far from the Zhai Palace, so the two men immediately sent a message to Li Xuanhe. After receiving the message, Li Xuanhe sent someone to investigate and soon discovered the identity of one of the people, a man named Liangqiu. This man was a farmer from Anle Town who supplied vegetables to the Zhai Palace. Although it was unknown what Xun Shu's relationship with him was, or how they knew each other, he would bring fresh vegetables into the Zhai Palace through the side door every day.
Then Li Xuanhe came here early to wait for the rabbit...Xun Shu was the rabbit.
The team moved forward little by little, and no matter how much Xun Shu hesitated, he finally walked in front of Li Xuanhe.
A guard came over to look through the food on the donkey cart, checking for hidden items. Another guard was about to step forward to question Liangqiu and Xunshu and check their tokens, but Li Xuanhe rushed forward first.
The Shaoqing of the Dali Temple took the task personally, which was exactly what the imperial guards who were checking wanted. They paused, turned around and hid in a corner, no longer caring about what was happening here.
Li Xuanhe took the sign Liang Qiu handed over, looked through it carefully, and pointed at Xun Shu and said, "Only your name is on this sign. Who is she?"
Liang Qiu rubbed the mud off his hands and smiled ingratiatingly, perfectly portraying the simplicity of a farmer. "This is my distant cousin. She arrived in Anle Town a few days ago and wanted to watch the Fengshan ceremony. Yesterday, she heard that I was going to the Zhai Palace to deliver food today, and she insisted on following me, wanting to see the world. My lord, please be flexible and let us in. I will keep an eye on my cousin and make sure she doesn't wander around and cause trouble for you, my lords."
Xun Shu tilted her head slightly, a touch of evasion, avoiding Li Xuanhe's gaze. A myriad of emotions mingled, filling her heart, mind, and every part of her body, leaving her feeling uneasy and uncomfortable. If she could turn back time, she would have given the opportunity to deliver food to the palace to Yuanzhou or Chu Miao. If they had come, perhaps no one would have searched, and Li Xuanhe wouldn't have caught them red-handed. But she had come, and she had encountered him.
What a bad fate.
Xun Shu didn't want to cause trouble for Liang Qiu, so she could only slowly say, "Your Excellency, I, Xun Shu, have never witnessed a grand Fengshan ceremony, nor have I ever been to the Zhai Palace. Today, I want to come with my cousin to see the world. Your Excellency, rest assured, I will not wander around. I will leave after I finish my work. I will not linger."
Li Xuanhe handed the token back to Liang Qiu and sneered, "What do you think the Zhai Palace is? Can you just enter it if you want? His Majesty is currently residing in the Zhai Palace, and the inspections inside and outside are a hundred times stricter than usual. And you actually want to use a token to bring someone into this palace, just to see the world?"
Liang Qiu's voice was hoarse and he didn't know what to say.
He had not considered this matter carefully. He had seen other vegetable farmers bring their children into the Zhai Palace before, so he thought he could bring Xun Shu in this time. However, he forgot that His Majesty could not rest here during the ceremony as usual.
Xun Shu turned his head, tugged at Liang Qiu's sleeve, and said softly, "Since they won't let me in, I won't go in. Be careful and be cautious."
Li Xuanhe's eyes fell on Xun Shu's fingers pulling Liang Qiu's sleeve, and his lips were pursed into a straight line.
The coarse linen clothes looked prickly, so why did she hold them so tightly?
He had originally decided not to argue with Xun Shu today. Every time he argued with her, she acted as if nothing had happened, and in the end, he was the only one who suffered. It would be better to cling to her and explain everything to her so she wouldn't die unjustly... But seeing how close these two were, he couldn't help but get angry.
Li Xuanhe snorted coldly, saying with a half-smile: "I don't know when you got a cousin."
Xun Shu lowered his eyes and didn't even look at him.
Liang Qiu glanced at Li Xuanhe, then at Xun Shu, and then suddenly realized what had happened. He felt relieved instantly: "So you two know each other."
Xun Shu ignored Li Xuanhe and continued to look at Liang Qiu, cautiously warning him, "Yes, so I can't pretend to be your cousin. You go in alone, I'll go find Miss Chu and Young Master Yuan."
Miss Chu and Young Master Yuan...this means that the person in front of them cannot be trusted.
Liang Qiu's smile faded a little, and he understood what she meant. He nodded gently, "Okay, Xiaoshu, be careful. I'll be back soon."
Xun Shu held his head high, turned around and walked away, like a proud and heroic little rooster.
Li Xuanhe was almost laughing at her anger. Although he gritted his teeth, he couldn't help but said, "I'm short of a maid here. Can you serve me tea and water and wash my feet? It's up to you if you want to come."
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Xun Shu followed Li Xuanhe anyway, looking dejected, like a drowned rooster. She couldn't understand why she felt inferior to him when he was clearly the one who made the bigger mistake.
But thinking about it carefully, he had helped her sneak into the Sai Palace. She should be more humble when asking for help.
She followed him, muttering to herself, her thoughts swirling around, sometimes angry, sometimes sad, and sometimes relieved. She was so absorbed in this one-man show that she didn't notice when Li Xuanhe stopped, and she bumped into his back without noticing.
She was flung back a few steps and was about to fall when Li Xuanhe noticed something was wrong with her and wrapped his long arm around her waist, helping her to steady herself. Seeing that she was fine, Li Xuanhe let go and stepped back a few steps, his face stern. "You have to be careful in the palace. How can you be so reckless?"
Xun Shu pouted and said obediently, "I understand."
The Zhai Palace was bustling with people, and some had already noticed the commotion and were curiously examining Xun Shu and Li Xuanhe. Li Xuanhe, unwilling to be scrutinized, put his arm around Xun Shu's wrist, pulling her along as they hurried a few steps into the nearby courtyard.
There were many people accompanying the Fengshan Ceremony at Mount Qi this time, and the royal family members were all housed in the courtyard inside the Zhai Palace. Li Xuanhe also lived in this courtyard not far from the palace gate because of the eldest princess.
After closing the gate, Li Xuanhe released Xun Shu's wrist. Xun Shu looked around curiously, surprised to find that the courtyard was even smaller than her own at the Pingyang Marquis's residence. Everything in the courtyard looked quite old, and it seemed as if it had been there for an unknown amount of time. This gave Xun Shu the illusion that this place wasn't as refined as the coffin shop.
So the palace is so poor?
With no one else in the courtyard, Li Xuanhe no longer suppressed his emotions. He stared at Xun Shu expressionlessly, his anger mixed with sourness: "Who was that person just now? Was he your senior brother?"
Xun Shu was a man who could not lie. He did not know what to say for a moment and could only stiffly answer perfunctorily, "He is a vegetable farmer in Anle Town."
Xun Shu's face was filled with deep wariness, her almond-shaped eyes fixed on him warily, without a moment's slack. Li Xuanhe knew Xun Shu had completely lost her trust in him regarding the Sitian Pavilion incident, so upon seeing her expression, he didn't press the issue further, softening his tone. "Alright, I won't ask who he is. Then could you please tell me why you had to enter this Zhai Palace?"
"I'm curious. I've never seen the emperor or the prince, but I want to sneak in and take a look. Is that not possible?" Xun Shu raised her chin slightly, and unconsciously raised her voice. "I'm just a little girl from the countryside who hasn't seen the world. I'm not like you. I'm curious about how beautiful and wealthy this Zhai Palace is, what the emperor and the prince look like, whether they have true dragon energy, and how long they can live. Is that not possible?"
How beautiful and magnificent is the Zhai Palace? Li Xuanhe was delighted: "Now that your wish has been mostly fulfilled, is this Zhai Palace what you imagined it to be?"
Xun Shu looked at the cracked door panel, the rusted door knocker, and the broken lines of the lotus relief on the screen wall. He praised it hypocritically: "The carved railings and jade bricks are magnificent."
Li Xuanhe had noticed Xun Shu's temper back when they were still in the coffin shop. He seemed gentle and good-tempered on weekdays, but if they argued over anything, he would be as stubborn as the old buffalo in the east end of the town.
Li Xuanhe sighed and decided to give in first, at least to tell her all the explanations that he had not said that night.
Just as he was about to speak, the door to the courtyard was suddenly pushed open, and Chi Xiao rushed in. He ignored Li Xuanhe's angry gaze and Xun Shu's surprised expression, and without even the time to greet him, he lowered his voice and said to Li Xuanhe, "My dear, something has happened. Prince Chen is dead."
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