The two lackeys, having climbed onto the branches of a tree by the perimeter wall, looked down and found that Prince Xian had disappeared.
They were instantly puzzled. Prince Xian’s Qinggong and martial arts were so poor, he couldn’t have possibly jumped that fast. Could someone have been waiting below the wall to help him?
This explained why Prince Xian, such a timid person, dared to leap over such a high wall.
However, who could have rescued Prince Xian in such a short amount of time left them quite bewildered.
But after a moment of stunned silence, they quickly came to their senses and ordered their subordinates, who were standing below the tree, to cut it down. They wanted to prevent anyone residing inside or outside the palace from using the tree branches to enter or exit the imperial palace.
If they had discovered the issue with the tree and had it cut down in time, people would no longer be able to enter and exit through the wall. The imperial palace walls were topped with sharp iron spikes, so those with ordinary martial arts skills would not be able to climb over them without a point of leverage.
After giving their orders, the two lackeys also jumped down from the wall to search for Prince Xian.
Outside the wall on this side, there was only a tall, large, and lush osmanthus tree. Next to the osmanthus tree was a large stable, which was usually used to house the horses and carriages of court officials attending morning court.
They searched the vicinity of the wall, even thoroughly checking the osmanthus tree, but they did not enter the stable to look for Prince Xian. The stable was too smelly with dung, so they didn’t go in. After walking around the outside of the stable and finding no trace of Prince Xian, they left.
After they left, Prince Leng and his consort, along with Prince Xian, emerged from the stable.
“Gag, gag, gag…”
Prince Xian ran out of the stable and immediately vomited. Prince Leng and his consort, however, walked out leisurely. He looked at them and complained speechlessly, “Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, the stable is too smelly. Can’t you two smell it?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Prince Leng and his consort glared at him and replied in unison, “We don’t smell anything!”
Hearing their words, Prince Xian’s eyes widened, and he looked at them with disbelief, exclaiming dramatically, “Have you both lost your sense of smell?”
Prince Leng and his consort just glared at him again without speaking.
In truth, they didn’t want to tell Prince Xian the truth. When they had hidden in the stable earlier, they had thrown Prince Xian into the very back of the stable, while they guarded the entrance. Even then, they could still smell a faint odor of horse dung. So, Leng Ruo Li took out two small oxygen masks from her space and placed them over their noses and mouths, thus sparing them from suffering.
Seeing that Prince Leng and his consort were ignoring him, Prince Xian suddenly felt dispirited and immediately changed the subject.
“Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, from tonight onwards, the entire capital has changed. Third Brother escaped from prison, and I don’t know what methods he used, but he has actually placed Father and Grandmother under house arrest.”
“You are the only prince still allowed to live in the palace. Do you know the current situation of Father and Grandmother?” Jun Mo Han asked him with a heavy expression.
“Tonight, Prince Ning suddenly led a group of people and confined the masters of each palace. The masters of each palace hadn’t even realized how Prince Ning escaped from the Dali Temple prison before he imprisoned them in their respective sleeping quarters. Fortunately, I sensed something was wrong and managed to escape. Then, I sneaked into Father’s imperial chambers.”
“But I didn’t see Father in his imperial chambers. I only saw the panicked Eunuch Li tied up in Father’s imperial chambers, so I ran away… Later, I was discovered by Prince Ning’s lackeys… I then ran into the cold palace, intending to escape the imperial palace by climbing a tree and jumping over the wall. But Prince Ning’s lackeys turned and chased after me. The rest, you must have seen.”
Prince Xian truthfully recounted everything he knew that night to Prince Leng and his consort.
“What about Grandmother? How is she doing now?” Leng Ruo Li asked anxiously.
Grandmother was the elder who had treated her the best since she arrived in this ancient era. Every time Leng Ruo Li spent time with Grandmother, she could feel the sincere affection the Empress Dowager had for her. She truly did not want to see anything happen to Grandmother.
“Grandmother… I was discovered by Prince Ning’s lackeys before I could go see her. I estimate she has also been placed under house arrest by Prince Ning,” Prince Xian replied earnestly.
“Prince Xian, you should return to Prince Leng’s mansion first. Your Second Brother and I still need to enter the imperial palace to find out the whereabouts of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager,” Leng Ruo Li said, glancing at the imperial palace wall with a slight frown.
“Then be careful. Prince Ning has spies everywhere in the palace now. If they discover you entering the palace, you will not only be in trouble yourself but also endanger Father and Grandmother,” Prince Xian said with a rare serious expression.
“Yes, yes, we will be careful. You be careful on your way back to Prince Leng’s mansion too. Don’t run into those lackeys again,” Leng Ruo Li also showed concern for Prince Xian.
With that said, Prince Leng and his consort parted ways with Prince Xian. They chose a secluded part of the palace wall. This time, Leng Ruo Li released the golden eagle from her space, and the couple rode the golden eagle into the imperial palace, landing steadily in a courtyard within the palace. They no longer used the foolish method of Qinggong to scale walls.
After they dismounted from the golden eagle, Leng Ruo Li put the golden eagle back into her space to rest.
Then, Prince Leng and his consort surveyed the small courtyard where they stood.
Leng Ruo Li found this small courtyard very unfamiliar.
“Jun Mo Han, which part of the imperial palace is this?”
“If I’m not mistaken, this should be the back courtyard of the Imperial Robe Bureau,” Jun Mo Han said, looking at the clothes being hung to dry on bamboo poles around them.
“Oh, no wonder the courtyard is filled with clothes and fabric hung everywhere. So this is the Imperial Robe Bureau,” Leng Ruo Li suddenly realized.
Hearing this, Jun Mo Han nodded.
Just as the two were about to walk out of the main gate of the Imperial Robe Bureau, footsteps were heard from the corridor. Leng Ruo Li pulled Jun Mo Han and quickly hid in her space.
Through the mirror of her space, they saw a nanny and a young eunuch hurrying to the entrance of the Imperial Robe Bureau and stopping.
This nanny was the same wet nurse Xiao who Leng Ruo Li had summoned to Changshou Palace for a confrontation that day.
At this moment, she took out a small bamboo tube letter from her sleeve and placed it in the young eunuch’s hand, earnestly instructing him, “Xiao Linzi, you must deliver this small bamboo tube letter to the Great General of Zhennan tonight. Do you understand?”
“I understand, Godmother! Don’t worry!” the young eunuch nodded seriously and agreed.