Chapter 52: Great Song Dark Guards

Zhao Ti could not help but narrow his eyes slightly; where were the two of them going at such a late hour?

The Imperial City Bureau was not forbidden from going out at night, but after Zhao Xu ascended the throne, power was almost entirely held by Gao Taotao. Gao Taotao rarely employed the Imperial City Bureau in her daily affairs, so the Bureau's assignments were few, and night patrols even fewer.

Zhao Ti pondered in his heart and slowly followed from behind.

He saw that the two initially walked very slowly, as if strolling, but after passing the Ministry of Rites, their pace suddenly quickened, heading straight west.

Southwest of the inner city of Dongjing lay the Kaifeng Prefecture, and directly west stood the Taiping Xingguo Temple. The two walked to the woods behind the Taiping Xingguo Temple, dove right in, and Zhao Ti immediately followed.

Few people were out in the Chengxi at night; most who went out went to the Zhouqiao or Xiangguo Temple area to watch the night market, or else went to the East City's main restaurants to drink wine. No one walked here at this hour.

This patch of woods behind the Xingguo Temple was not large. Zhao Ti stepped in silently and saw the two rapidly changing their clothes, revealing the commoner attire underneath.

And that flash of crimson sleeve he had seen earlier was actually still worn beneath the commoner clothes; not only did one of them wear it underneath, but the other did too. At this moment, the two were no longer so cautious and did not cover it up too carefully.

Then the two exited the woods to the north and walked extremely fast again, heading toward the Qisheng Academy.

By now the sky had turned completely dark. Because the Chengxi was not prosperous, the lights were dim. Two figures walked ahead as if flying. Zhao Ti's expression remained unchanged; the Martial Arts at This Moment of these two were even higher than he had anticipated.

Earlier, seeing their breathing light and steady, their inhalation calm, he had only thought they were inferior to Bai Sheng and Su Da. Now, observing the rhythm of their Human Body Method, they were superior to Bai Zhan and Su Da by an unknown amount.

Since when did the Imperial City Bureau have such skilled hands? Zhao Ti's heart was filled with clouds of suspicion. If his Martial Arts at This Moment had not greatly advanced, it would have been hard to discover this matter.

Seeing the two arrive beside the Qisheng Academy, they quickly turned into a street to the west. Zhao Ti knew this street; beside it were idle residences belonging to the royal family. Because it was located in the Chengxi, ordinary people were unwilling to live there, so they had not been granted out much.

The street was solemn and quiet; no residence hung lanterns. But fortunately, Mid-Autumn was approaching, the frosty moon was bright as a mirror, making it possible to distinguish objects.

Zhao Ti's figure moved like a wisp of light and smoke, drifting in the shadows along the wall. He saw the two arrive before the largest residence at the very back, then lightly knocked on the door five light knocks and four heavy knocks, nine times in total. Without waiting for anyone to open the door, after surveying the surroundings for a few breaths, they directly leaped onto the wall and flipped inside.

Standing in the shadows, Zhao Ti's expression shifted; what identity did these two truly hold?

If they were spies infiltrating the Imperial City from outside, that seemed unlikely. The Imperial City Bureau recruited personnel with extremely strict investigations, almost tracing back to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

Moreover, the people of the Imperial City Bureau themselves held a layer of identity as the Jingji Imperial Guard. Some were descendants of soldiers who had followed Taizu fighting south and north in those years. Unlike the military households of the border armies, these were all root-and-branch pure Imperial Guard families, so it was unlikely they were spies.

Then... could there be some hidden bureau outside the Imperial City Bureau?

If it was hidden and unknown to outsiders, who commanded this bureau? Those above in court would not; this belonged to the Dark Guards. Could it be that the Emperor personally commanded them?

Previously, his martial arts were not considered high, and he could not see any clues within the palace. Now that his Martial Arts at This Moment were high, seeing things he could not see before, naturally one thought and he understood.

The Great Song should have a corps of Dark Guards, personally commanded by the Emperor or the Empress Dowager presiding over court.

But the Dark Guards possessed profound Martial Arts and were hidden, unknown to outsiders. Yet the Imperial Princes and Princesses within the palace were not outsiders; why did they also have to be kept in the dark?

Zhao Ti stayed in the shadows for about half a ke, then moved along the wall like smoke, circling to the back of this large residence. Then his figure, like a night bird, leaped upward in one bound.

From the wall top, he saw many trees inside, but the ground was dark and deep; even the moonlight from the sky could not illuminate it clearly.

Zhao Ti frowned slightly. At this time, a white robe was too conspicuous and easy to be discovered; it was not good to go too deep inside, after all, one did not know what kind of skilled hands existed within.

At this moment, a gentle breeze blew, the weeds below swayed, and a faint light flashed. Focusing his gaze, it seemed to be bells and such objects.

He pondered for a few breaths, leaped back down to the ground, and then vanished into the distance like a wisp of light smoke.

On the second day, the Court of the Imperial Clan did not come to inquire about the matter of leaving the residence yesterday. When the Hour of Hai arrived at night, Zhao Ti changed into black travel gear, then gave some instructions to Zheng Fu, and went out through the back door.

He headed straight for the alley from yesterday. At this time, black clouds covered the moon in the sky, not as bright as yesterday. Arriving behind that residence, he lightly leaped to the wall top, then looked inside.

Below were warning objects like bells; perhaps there were also pits and nets. He could not land directly. He looked at those large trees; although the trees were also not entirely safe, fortunately, the tree trunks were barely distinguishable for the presence of traps and mechanisms.

Calculating the distance between the trees in his mind, Zhao Ti leaped toward one of them, then used the momentum to leap to another large tree. In no time, he was far from the wall. At this moment, he vaguely saw ahead what seemed to be a small fish lake, with a Nine-Curve Winding Pavilion extending to the center. And opposite this small lake, lights flickered dimly within the houses.

He concentrated his spirit and closed his breath, circulating the Sunflower True Qi. Like a leaf, he floated lightly down to the ground below.

Then he continued to employ the Phantom Step, his body moving entirely within the shadows, circling around the small lake and heading toward the room lit by candlelight.

Along the way, he saw no people, nor any living creatures; even the insects of the autumn night made no chirping sounds.

Just when he was only a few dozen zhang away from the houses, suddenly a commotion came from the distance. He hurriedly hid himself. Before long, he spotted several people walking toward the front of the house.

Borrowing the faint light, he discovered these people were all wearing red clothes, with faint patterns flowing on them; he could not clearly see what specific pattern it was.

He watched as these few arrived before the house door and knocked lightly. The sound had a rhythmic cadence. Then someone inside opened the door. Zhao Ti looked from afar; it seemed to be a young boy with hair tied up.

The few entered, then the door closed. Zhao Ti thought for a moment, and his figure moved in succession, sneaking over to the opposite side.

Arriving close, he carefully observed this house. It was a common mansion form, with three windows and six doors, tightly closed. The window paper was double-layered, inside and out. Faintly, voices of conversation could be heard leaking through.

The voices were extremely low, in the local accent of Dongjing, but they were speaking about the matter of the border markets between Song and Liao.

Zhao Ti listened for a while. Although the speech was intermittent, when connected, it seemed this person had gone to the border to handle a matter, recounting the experience of fighting with the Khitan people.

Then another voice changed, speaking of another matter, but it was also about the border. Zhao Ti could not help but frown slightly.

About a ke later, the few inside finished speaking, and footsteps came from outside.

Subsequently, the door opened. Zhao Ti's gaze peered inside. He saw only that in the depths of the room, there was a young, slender figure in brocade robes, hands clasped behind his back, standing sideways to the door.

Looking at this figure, Zhao Ti could not help but tighten his gaze, his expression filled with Seriousness.