Chapter 840

Hu Xiaotian nodded, gestured to him, indicating he should go attend to his own affairs. Hu Xiaotian was extremely familiar with the terrain around the Imperial Gardens Bureau, tiptoed toward the wine cellar. Upon reaching the wine cellar, he saw the gate indeed sealed with a strip, and a new large lock had been placed on it.

Hu Xiaotian drew a dagger from his waist, since preparing to enter the palace required readiness; this fellow lacked the skill to pick locks, but the dagger could cut iron like mud. He swung it hard at the lock bolt—clang! —the dagger severed the bolt, the large lock fell, and Hu Xiaotian grabbed it, fearing too much noise would alert the nearby little eunuchs wandering about. Fortunately, the wine cellar lay in a relatively secluded spot within the Imperial Gardens Bureau; when Hu Xiaotian held power, he had strictly ordered the little eunuchs not to come here without cause. Although he had left the bureau several months ago, its eunuchs had long remembered this rule, and over time it became natural—no one would come here unless something special happened, let alone at night.

Hu Xiaotian directly ignored the seal on the door, pushed open the wine cellar gate, then from inside secured the gate; having come, he had no intention of exiting that way. He was extremely familiar with the interior layout of the wine cellar; even with his eyes closed he knew the path, let alone that he had now cultivated the Formless Divine Skill to some degree, enabling his eyes to see clearly in the deep night.

The secret passage of the wine cellar was no longer a secret; Quan De'an, Li Yuncong, Ji Feihua, and Qiqi all knew the situation here—perhaps Quan De'an's motive for sealing the wine cellar lay precisely in this. Qiqi had left the Reserve Excellence Palace to reside in the Zilan Palace; could she have already figured out all the secrets of the underground passages beneath the wine cellar?

Hu Xiaotian proceeded along the wine cellar's underground passage all the way; originally he had worried the passage might be sealed afterward, but fortunately his concern proved unnecessary—the passage remained unchanged, and Hu Xiaotian encountered no obstacles before arriving at the well inside the Zilan Palace.

Standing inside the well, he looked up and saw a bright moon hanging in the night sky at the well opening; moonlight reflected in the well water, its pure light shining onto the entire well wall. Hu Xiaotian couldn't help recalling the scene when he had come via the secret passage to meet Long Xi Yue at night, feeling a warm surge in his heart. This journey to Da Yong, after painstaking effort, had finally rescued Long Xi Yue unbeknownst to gods and ghosts; if not for the sudden palace coup in Kangdu, he should now be reuniting with Long Xi Yue in Haizhou. Remembering her gentle and lovely appearance, Hu Xiaotian felt his blood suddenly boil.

Suddenly voices came from outside; Hu Xiaotian's thoughts snapped back to reality. The urgent task was to settle his own problem—only with Qiqi's help could he smoothly complete this mission and continue to openly linger in the palace as his eunuch.

The sound came from near the well opening, sounding somewhat familiar. After thinking carefully, Hu Xiaotian realized the speaker was Li Yan.

Li Yan said: "You few, go look around everywhere for any suspicious spots; you must examine them carefully. No oversight is allowed."

A eunuch replied: "Lord Li, Your Highness does not permit us to stay here."

Li Yan said: "Then stand guard outside. If Your Highness suffers any mishap, the Miscellaneous School will hold you responsible!"

"Yes!"

Hu Xiaotian heard Li Yan's voice full of aloof arrogance; this man had once been Ji Feihua's left and right hand. Unexpectedly, Ji Feihua had fallen into trouble, yet he remained unharmed and even managed to serve Qiqi closely—suggesting he might have long been a hidden spy within Ji Feihua's circle.

Hu Xiaotian had never liked Li Yan; thinking that Li Yan might have betrayed Ji Feihua aroused a deep disgust from within. He suddenly realized he still harbored feelings for Ji Feihua—though she acted ruthlessly, she had treated him decently, and everything she did seemed to follow her own principles. Compared to Quan De'an and Li Yuncong and their ilk, Ji Feihua, while not noble, was no more vile than they.

Standing at the pinnacle of political power, whatever one does leaves no choice. In such a place, if a person can still hold to their original heart, how difficult that would be.

Hu Xiaotian retreated into the passage, waited there for about an hour, then returned to the well. He listened closely; the group of eunuchs should have already left. The surroundings of the well were quiet, and Hu Xiaotian employed the Golden Spider Eight Steps, climbing up the smooth well wall.

Sneaking into the Zilan Palace via this passage was not Hu Xiaotian's first time, yet the feeling was completely different. Formerly, when he came at night to meet Long Xi Yue, his heart held a gradual sense of happiness; now the palace's master had become Qiqi, and Hu Xiaotian's heart no longer held that former happiness, replaced by an unprecedented heaviness, even a hint of nervousness that made him feel a bit amused at himself. What was there to be nervous about? Even if Qiqi had become the Prince of Yongyang, she was still an underage girl—what could she do to him? What would she dare to do? This little girl might be tough to handle, but he was no pushover.

With both hands gripping the edge of the well opening, he peered out with a pair of eyes, only to see that inside the Zilan Palace's inner court there was not a single palace servant, while the study had a light on. Hu Xiaotian even felt an illusion, as if Long Xi Yue were still in the Zilan Palace, never having left, waiting for him in the study.

Hu Xiaotian surveyed the surroundings, then tiptoed to the study door, peered through the crack, and saw a girl facing him seated at the desk, memorials piled like mountains upon it; she was reading attentively, occasionally pausing to make notes with her brush.

In Hu Xiaotian's impression, he rarely saw her so serious; this little girl, young but crafty, who knew if she were feigning mysticism? After pondering, he decided to knock and enter, lightly tapping the door.

Qiqi said: "Who is it? Didn't I say not to disturb this prince's rest?"

Only a few days apart, and she already calls herself "this prince."

Hu Xiaotian mustered courage, pushed the door open and entered, pinching his voice to say: "Your Highness the Princess, it's me!"

Seeing it was him enter, Qiqi's beautiful eyes flashed a hint of joy, then her expression turned icy cold: "You actually managed to come back alive!" One could not tell from her tone whether she was pleased or angry; regardless, her steady composure alone earned Hu Xiaotian's admiration.

Hu Xiaotian bowed deeply, making as if to kneel: "Xiaotian pays respects to Your Highness the Princess, thousand years, thousand years, ten thousand years!" According to past experience, Qiqi would likely stop him from kneeling eight or nine times out of ten, but this time she gave no verbal sign to stop him, so Hu Xiaotian forced himself to kneel, silently cursing, "little slut, petty wretch, making me kowtow at first sight—what a worthless Prince of Yongyang, indeed her airs have grown much greater."

Qiqi said: "When did you return?"

Hu Xiaotian took the opportunity to lift his left leg, intending to rise and speak.

But Qiqi promptly noticed his intention: "Speak while kneeling!"

"Damn you, kneel your mother!" Hu Xiaotian seethed inwardly; helpless before power and authority, he obediently knelt again: "I report to Your Highness the Princess, I have just arrived today."

"Just arrived and you come see me? According to protocol, that doesn't seem right." Qiqi's gaze remained fixed on the memorials.

Hu Xiaotian said: "Because the person I most want to see in my heart is the Princess; in this palace, the one who treats me best and whom I can trust most is only the Princess."

Qiqi sighed: "Your tongue truly spouts lotus blossoms—you speak so well, a pity it's all lies."

Hu Xiaotian groaned: "Heaven and earth, Conscience, every word I speak is true; if I utter falsehood, may I be struck by heavenly thunder..."—yet in his mind he thought, if lightning strikes, let it strike you, this petty wretch.

Qiqi said: "You're accustomed to lying; your oaths naturally count for nothing." She finally set down the memorial in her hand, rose, and walked slowly to Hu Xiaotian's side: "Clearly you could have returned openly to report, yet you insist on sneaking about—it seems you truly revel in being a thief, never tiring of it."

Hu Xiaotian sighed: "Please, Princess, understand my difficulties; I truly had no choice."

Qiqi said: "How did you get in?"

Hu Xiaotian was tongue-tied, wondering whether to tell her about the passage.

Qiqi said: "Actually, even if you don't speak, I know—there is a passage in that well in the courtyard leading to the Imperial Gardens Bureau's wine cellar; you must have first schemed to infiltrate the bureau, then crawled through the wine cellar's passage, right?"

Hu Xiaotian thought inwardly, "Your guess is no surprise; previously you forced me to bring you through the passage to search the underground treasury of the Jade Pool. Evidently, during my mission to Da Yong, you must have found time to examine every passage thoroughly—anyone not a fool would see how I got here." He replied respectfully: "The Princess truly possesses divine foresight; nothing I do can escape your notice."

A cold smile curled Qiqi's lips: "You praise me with your mouth, but in your heart you don't believe it; you must think it's nothing special, after all you and I once investigated the secrets of those passages together, discovered the routes of these three passages, so of course it's no surprise you could figure it out."

Hu Xiaotian's smile turned awkward: "This little girl is truly too sharp; everything I think gets guessed by her."

Qiqi said: "Recently many things have happened in the palace; layers of checkpoints have been set up at every major thoroughfare, inspections far stricter than before, yet it seems there is still a single leak in a hundred safeguards—your ability to sneak in proves the palace's defenses have a flaw; tomorrow we will surely investigate their responsibility thoroughly."

Hu Xiaotian felt his scalp tighten; he hadn't expected his actions to bring disaster upon a group of guards, and he hurriedly said: "Your Highness, please calm your anger."

Qiqi said: "I'm not angry at all; now tell me how you managed to enter the palace."

Hu Xiaotian said: "The Princess is so smart, even if I don't speak, you could guess it." (To be continued~^~)