Chapter 719: What are you doing running over here?

The commotion is so loud, we can hear it here," Lu Qi nodded, "It must be that somewhere in Jingcheng got blown up."

"Second Brother!" Tuan Tuan exclaimed, "Did Second Brother blow up those water tanks? Father and Third Brother will be coming in right away!"

Xiao Er and Lu Qi exchanged a glance, both somewhat doubtful, "This fast?"

However, the three waited silently for a moment; after that boom, the surroundings fell completely silent, with no further sound.

"It's not the Second Young Master," Xiao Er shook his head: "Nor is the Prince attacking the city, otherwise it wouldn't be so quiet."

"Besides, Jingcheng isn't an empty city; there are still so many civilians here."

"At this hour, the civilians are all asleep; the Prince would certainly not attack the city at night, disregarding their lives."

Lu Qi nodded and said: "That makes sense."

"Uncle Two," Tuan Tuan tilted her little head, "What was that just now?"

Xiao Er shook his head: "Miss, I don't know either."

"Let's go take a look!"

"Huh?" Lu Qi blinked, "Miss, we should head back; what time is it now? If we're still out of the palace and can't return, what then?"

Tuan Tuan's eyes rolled: "If we can't get back, we'll just hide for a day at the Fortune Luck Teahouse!"

Lu Qi: "……"

It's not impossible, but if we truly can't get back, the Eldest Young Master and the others will be frantic, and it won't be easy to explain when we return.

He turned his head to look at Xiao Er, jerked his chin at him: "Xiao Brother, I'm the Miss's subordinate; I have to listen to her."

Xiao Er glared at Lu Qi, "What do you mean? Are you trying to make me oppose the Miss?"

"Uncle Two, Uncle Seven said he listens to me! What about you?" Tuan Tuan wrapped her arms around Xiao Er's neck and gave a little hop.

Xiao Er hastily reached back to steady her: "I……"

Tuan Tuan poked her little head out from his shoulder, rubbing her small face against his big face nonstop: "Uncle Two, you also listen to me, right?"

"But Miss, the Eldest Young Master……" Xiao Er's heart went soft from her rubbing, yet he still struggled to put up a bit more resistance.

Tuan Tuan pulled out her killer move, planting several firm kisses on his big face.

As she kissed, she murmured: "Uncle Two is the best! Uncle Two also listens to me! Uncle Two will always stand by my side, right?"

Lu Qi lowered his head, trying not to laugh.

Xiao Er gave him a fierce glare, utterly resigned: "All right, Miss, let's go now!"

"Yay!" Tuan Tuan waved at Lu Qi: "Uncle Seven, let's go, let's go!"

The three slipped out of the Imperial Palace silently and came onto the roofs of a row of civilian houses beside the main street of Jingcheng.

Since those six imperial edicts were issued, no business in Jingcheng dares to open its doors at night, and the civilians honestly stay hidden at home.

Many houses had candlelight shining through, obviously awakened by the recent boom, yet no one dared to come out.

All around was utter silence.

Tuan Tuan wrinkled her nose, lifted her little hand to fan: "It smells awful!"

Lu Qi sniffed: "That's the smell of sulfur, Miss; it must have been blown over by the wind."

Xiao Er looked carefully around, pointed a finger: "Look over there!"

Lu Qi and Tuan Tuan followed his gaze; in the northwest direction, countless startled birds circled over a patch of cypress forest.

A clump of grayish-white dust hovered in midair.

The three followed the direction of the dust and made their way over.

As they neared, Xiao Er's steps halted, and Lu Qi stopped as well: "What's wrong?"

Xiao Er whispered: "It's the Imperial Ancestral Temple!"

"Huh?" Lu Qi startled, "Did the Imperial Ancestral Temple get blown up?"

The three lay on the roof and looked: only see outside the main gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple stood several dozen Imperial Guard,

some still holding torches as they patrolled back and forth.

Tuan Tuan asked softly: "Uncle Two, what is the Imperial Ancestral Temple for?"

"A place to enshrine the spirit tablets of past emperors."

"I know!" Tuan Tuan exclaimed, suddenly understanding: "Mother said before, the spirit tablets are the ancestors, namely Father's grandfather and so on!"

Xiao Er smiled: "Miss, you're really smart!"

He swept his gaze over the wall: "They're not many; we'll go in from the side."

The three arrived at the outer wall of the western side of the Imperial Ancestral Temple's courtyard.

Lu Qi leapt onto the wall, crouched low to scan the surroundings, then turned and gave a hand signal.

Xiao Er, carrying Tuan Tuan, immediately followed.

Inside the wall lay a broad courtyard paved with blue stone; on each side stood a row of side halls, and in the center ran a straight passageway leading far to the majestic main hall.

Along the passageway stood several pairs of stone statues, civil and military officials with solemn postures; scattered in the courtyard were broken branches and tiles, evidently shaken loose by the recent tremor.

That clump of grayish-white dust was shrouding the rear of the main hall.

Lu Qi pointed his hand there, and Xiao Er nodded.

The three used the shadows of the side halls' columns to sneak over, leapt onto the roof of the main hall, and looked backward.

They saw that the eastern half of the sleeping hall behind the main hall had already collapsed more than half.

Shattered glazed tiles and grey bricks littered the ground; the collapsed area had been blasted into a huge black pit, at whose edge stood several Imperial Guard holding torches aloft.

Xiao Er furrowed his brow: "Who dares to blow up the Imperial Ancestral Temple?"

"They seem to be searching for something, Uncle Two." Tuan Tuan gazed curiously at the big pit.

Inside the pit, over a dozen Imperial Guard wielding iron shovels were clearing the bottom.

A man stood behind the ring of Imperial Guard at the pit's edge, his face indistinct.

"How could the Imperial Guard come blow up the Ancestral Temple in the middle of the night?" Xiao Er racked his brains but couldn't figure it out.

Lu Qi gave him a light nudge and said, "Besides the spirit tablets, what else is in the Ancestral Temple?"

"Nothing else." Xiao Er stared fixedly at the Imperial Guard below, "Lu Brother, look, these Imperial Guard are all the Palace's inner guards."

Lu Qi took a close look: "Indeed, there is a bright yellow trim around the collar and cuffs, different from those of the gatekeepers outside."

"Why would the Palace's inner guards be out here instead of in the Palace?"

Only saw the Imperial Guard taking turns, iron spades flying, rubble and dirt cleared out basket by basket, the pit dug deeper and deeper.

"Clang—"

A crisp ring, the iron spade struck something hard.

"We've hit something!" an Imperial Guard shouted, wiping sweat from his face.

Several Imperial Guard gathered around, squatting with him to clear away the loose earth.

They swapped the iron spade for a short shovel, carefully clearing around the hard object bit by bit, revealing a stone slab.

An Imperial Guard picked up the iron spade, inserted it into the slab's seam, and together with two others exerted force simultaneously.

After a dull scraping sound, a corner of the stone slab was lifted.

A puff of dust and smoke billowed from the crack, rolling a few times in the torchlight before dispersing.

Several people then worked together to shift the stone slab inch by inch.

Tuan Tuan lay on Xiao Er's back, his big eyes wide open.

Xiao Er and Lu Qi also strained to look, the three of them involuntarily craning their necks.

After a moment, several Imperial Guard at the pit's edge bent down, together with the people in the pit, binding something with coarse hemp rope.

Over a dozen people exerted force together, lifting a wooden crate up.

The crate was large enough to hold a lying person, its four corners bound with bronze fittings that glowed a dim light in the fire's glow.

Tuan Tuan blurted out, "Uncle Er, are they digging up Imperial Uncle's father?"

Xiao Er: "……"

Lu Qi choked slightly, almost laughing out loud.

Just then, a figure slowly emerged from behind the Imperial Guard, stopping beside the wooden crate.

The firelight shone from the side.

A bronze mask was worn squarely on his face.