Chapter 305

Baobao playfully punched his shoulder, her beautiful eyes shining brightly in the darkness; walking forward they had already reached the end, she looked up and saw the cave mouth went straight up. Hu Xiaotian balked: 'It's so high; we probably can't climb up.'

Baobao said: 'How can one give up halfway? If you won't climb, I will!'

Hu Xiaotian shone the lantern on the four walls, seeing that the cave mouth had a recess at regular intervals, obviously for hand and foot holds. Baobao, eager to lead again, had already climbed up a short stretch and reached out her hand, signaling Hu Xiaotian to hand her the lantern. Hu Xiaotian had no choice but to follow her up. They took turns holding the lantern; by midway the candle was almost burnt out, so Hu Xiaotian replaced it, thinking to himself, if only they had a strong flashlight, all problems would be solved.

After climbing about seven zhang, an opening appeared on the right side; Baobao peered into the hole, which was pitch black and she could see nothing. She took the lantern from Hu Xiaotian's hand, preparing to bring it closer, when suddenly she heard a coughing sound from inside the hole, and she hastily blew out the lantern.

But then a series of coughs came from inside; after a while the coughing stopped, and a voice said: 'Sir Li, this is the fifth volume of the Dakang Tongjian that Sir Qiu has just finished; please keep it for now.'

Hu Xiaotian couldn't hear clearly, so he climbed a bit higher, his shoulder pressing against Baobao's thigh.

Baobao glared at him in the dark, feeling like kicking him down, but fearing exposure, she could only suppress the urge.

A sinister voice said: 'The Dakang Tongjian, heh heh. But I don't know how Sir Qiu wrote it.' This person was obviously Sir Li.

The first speaker said: 'Naturally, it's written truthfully.'

Sir Li gave a heh-heh laugh, obviously not believing a word of it.

Light streamed into the hole; Baobao lay in the hole looking inside, seeing two blurred figures. One set down a chest and said: 'Sir Li, I've heard that the Cangshuge contains a copy of the Heart Sutra hand‑copied by Emperor Taizong; may I be allowed to view this sacred relic?'

Sir Li laughed again: 'The Cangshuge has suffered five fires in the past century, destroying most of its books. The Heart Sutra you mentioned was indeed once kept there, but seven years ago the Retired Emperor had it taken away and kept it with himself; everyone knows this.'

'Oh?' the voice sounded somewhat disappointed.

Sir Li said: 'The Cangshuge has long lost its former glory; Commander Liu, let's go.'

The light in the hole grew dimmer and dimmer until it vanished completely.

Baobao whispered: 'This is the Cangshuge.'

From below came Hu Xiaotian's disdainful voice: 'No need for you to say that.'

Baobao said: 'You wait here, I'll go up and have a look!' Without waiting for Hu Xiaotian's reply she already climbed up; after climbing about two zhang she reached the top and found no passage on the wall leading into the Cangshuge, so she returned disappointed to the ground, back to that very hole. She saw that a light had been lit below—it was Hu Xiaotian who had already returned to the ground first. She relit the lantern.

Baobao leapt down from a point three zhang above the ground and whispered: 'There's no passage up there.'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Maybe they dug all the way here.'

Baobao said: 'Strange, why would it lead to the Cangshuge? Could there be some treasure hidden here?'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Anyway, I'm not interested in reading; it's getting late—shouldn't we be going?'

Baobao said: 'There are still two other passages.'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'You can't eat a whole fat cow in one bite; you have to eat rice grain by grain and investigate things one by one. Taking too long easily arouses suspicion. Let's go back first and talk later.'

Although Baobao hated to not be able to uncover all the secrets of the tunnel at once, she also understood that what Hu Xiaotian said made sense.

For Hu Xiaotian, the only place not yet investigated was the middle passage. Quan De'an gave him an ultimatum: within ten days he must clear up the matter of this underground tunnel. Hu Xiaotian returned to his room, found the map that Wang Desheng had left behind, and drew a book symbol at the right‑hand passage; Wang Desheng had never marked it clearly, suggesting he perhaps hadn't had time to investigate this spot. Recalling how Wang Desheng had launched his attack, he likely entered the underground wine cellar through that middle passage. The Cangshuge and the tunnel are still not connected; the passage leading to the Jade Pool is wet, so if Wang Desheng had gone that way his clothes would surely be soaked through. Hence the only possibility is the middle passage. Yet on the map the middle passage bears no mark, just like the Cangshuge; the only explanation is that Wang Desheng discovered this passage not long ago and simply hadn't had time to tell anyone else.

While Hu Xiaotian was drawing the map, a voice from outside—Shi Xuedong's—called out, saying someone from the Qianning Palace had come to see him.

Hu Xiaotian first thought of Wang Desheng, for Qianning Palace is the residence of Empress Jian, and Wang Desheng is the eunuch attending her personally; but when he went out he saw not Wang Desheng but a Qianning Palace eunuch named Zhao Jinxi, who greeted him with a smile: 'Sir Hu! I, Zhao Jinxi of Qianning Palace, offer my respects.'

Hu Xiaotian saw the other's attire and knew he was just an ordinary eunuch like himself. In the palace, eunuchs have a clear rank hierarchy: high‑ranking ones such as Quan De'an, Liu Yuzhang, and Ji Feihua are fourth‑grade chief eunuchs, while low‑ranking ones like Hu Xiaotian are grade‑less petty eunuchs, the most numerous in the court. Even without a grade, there are distinctions of status; everyday sweepers and errand boys certainly cannot compare to Hu Xiaotian, who holds real authority as a purchasing eunuch, and Hu Xiaotian cannot be compared to Zhao Jinxi, the empress's personal attendant.

Hu Xiaotian hurried forward, clasped his hands and greeted: 'Sir Zhao, I didn't expect your exalted presence; please forgive my failure to welcome you properly—do come inside and take a seat.'

Zhao Jinxi smiled, his eyes narrowing to slits: 'Sir Hu, I won't go in myself; the Empress has sent me to invite you to Qianning Palace.'

Hu Xiaotian blinked, thinking he had never had any dealings with Empress Jian; the last time he went to Qianning Palace it was Qiqi who had lured him there under the Empress's banner—could this girl be repeating her trick? He asked: 'I don't know what the Empress summons me for.'

Zhao Jinxi laughed: 'As a servant, how dare I ask about the Empress's affairs? Please, Sir Hu, come with me; you'll find out when we reach Qianning Palace.'

Hu Xiaotian nodded; the Empress herself had summoned him, and as a petty eunuch he dared not refuse. He told Zhao Jinxi: 'Sir Zhao, please go back and report first; I'll make a quick arrangement and then go.'

Zhao Jinxi said: 'The Empress said I must accompany Sir Hu, and we should go now.'

Hu Xiaotian secretly thought, 'Oh no, the Empress summoning me is nine out of ten not a good thing,' and after thinking he called Shi Xuedong to one side and whispered: 'Brother Dong, hurry to the Reserve Elegance Palace and tell the little princess that I'm going to Qianning Palace.'

Shi Xuedong said: 'She surely won't see me.'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Just tell her I sent you, and she will naturally see you.'

Shi Xuedong nodded and hurried off.

Hu Xiaotian then returned to Zhao Jinxi's side, smiled and said: 'Sir Zhao, let's go.' The reason he had sent Shi Xuedong to find Qiqi was because he feared the Empress might act against him. Although Qiqi is sharp‑tongued and odd, she probably bears him no ill will, and at present she is the only one in the palace he can turn to for help.

Hu Xiaotian followed Zhao Jinxi to Qianning Palace; upon entering the courtyard he saw Wang Desheng standing by the gate, his eyes flashing with vicious hatred.

Hu Xiaotian secretly thought, 'Oh no, today it might not be so easy to get out of this.'

Wang Desheng said coldly: 'Hand the person over to me. The Empress is resting right now.'

Zhao Jinxi nodded and smiled at Hu Xiaotian: 'Sir Hu, please wait a moment; you should know this Sir Wang.'

Hu Xiaotian chuckled: 'Of course I know him—but I wonder whether today the Empress summoned me or Sir Wang did.'

Zhao Jinxi gave Wang Desheng a smiling glance, said nothing, and turned to leave.

Wang Desheng said: 'Of course it's the Empress who sent for you, Hu Xiaotian—you wouldn't dare suspect the Empress of lying, would you?'

Hu Xiaotian replied: 'How dare I, how dare I! The Empress is so exalted—how could she do such a thing? I just fear that some people are using her name to issue false edicts.'

Wang Desheng snapped: 'Bold! Nonsense—don't you see what place this is? How could you spout nonsense here?'

Hu Xiaotian showed no trace of panic, smiling: 'The nonsense is what Sir Wang said, the idle talk is also Sir Wang's—I haven't uttered a single dirty word from start to finish.'

Wang Desheng stepped closer, lowered his voice: 'Hu Xiaotian, don't think I don't know your background—you're the son of a rebel, crawling into the palace to save your life, and you live worse than a dog.'

Hu Xiaotian said: 'Are you saying I live worse than you? That's true—even a dog beside the Empress is more noble than I.'

'You…' Wang Desheng flushed with rage; relying solely on words, he was no match for Hu Xiaotian.

At that moment a palace maid in a lotus‑coloured long dress came out and said to Wang Desheng: 'Little Dezi, has the Empress asked whether anyone has come?'

Wang Desheng's expression changed in a flash—from a furious scowl to a spring‑breeze smile as he saw the maid, and he said: 'Sister Yunxiang, someone has come; I'll take him in at once.'

Hu Xiaotian also smiled at the maid and said: 'Sister Yunxiang, I'm Hu Xiaotian from the Bureau of Imperial Gardens; if you ever want any fresh seasonal fruit, just send someone to fetch me and I'll bring it right over—let's get acquainted.' He reached out his hand to shake hers, a habit formed over years that he couldn't change on the spot.

Posted in the fifth watch, it seems Zhangyu won't be able to climb the rankings today, but I still want to thank everyone for your support—without you, Zhangyu would always be fighting alone. The Medical Union plot has been gradually unfolding up to now, and will only get more exciting thereafter. Zhangyu is an emotional writer; the more praise you give, the better he writes; the more Monthly Tickets you cast, the more he writes. Please cast all your Guaranteed Monthly Tickets! (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for Recommendation tickets and Monthly Tickets; your support is my greatest motivation.)