While the snow dragon in southern Xinjiang is sleeping, the Dragon Garden is extremely quiet. The bamboo forest exudes a faint fragrance of bamboo, mixed with the intoxicating body fragrance of Chi Danmei, which is refreshing.
Qi Ning pondered for a moment before asking in a low voice: "Auntie, with your martial arts skills, would it be easy to enter the palace even without this secret passage?"
Chi Danmei smiled charmingly and said softly: "Don't praise me so much. If the island owner comes, not to mention the palace, even in a place with tighter security than this, the island owner can come and leave whenever he wants. Walking away is like entering a deserted place.”
"Master Baiyun Island naturally doesn't need to say it." Qining said: "Otherwise, how can he be called a great master."
Chi Danmei said: "Although I can't enter a place where no one is around, it's not too difficult to get in and out of this palace." She smiled softly and said: "When Senior Brother Bai and I arrived at Daguangming Temple, I once thought about sneaking into the temple, but Senior Brother Bai stopped me from doing that." When she mentioned Bai Yuhe, a trace of sadness suddenly appeared between her eyebrows.
Bai Yuhe was expelled from the school by Mo Lancang, the master of Baiyun Island. Qi Ning was also present. He knew that Chi Danmei was thinking about the friendship between his classmates and was also worried about Bai Yuhe.
Qi Ning nodded slightly and said: "I think it is not difficult for aunt to enter the palace. Aunt, you said that one of the two black robes has great martial arts. Based on your judgment, is he higher or lower than you? ?”
"That can't be said for sure." Chi Danmei said, "I have never fought against him. I have only seen his movement skills a few times. I can tell at a glance that he is not an ordinary person." After thinking about it, he said, "If you say that he Better than me, that's not necessarily true, but his martial arts skills should not be inferior to mine, and he and I should be between equals."
"According to this, if that person wants to sneak into the palace, he can get in without using this secret passage." Qining said: "But they sneaked into the palace through the secret passage, does that mean that the other person's martial arts is actually very good? Ordinary, even... may not know martial arts?"
Chi Danmei nodded and said: "Yes, I have also seen the other person's movement. If it is not deliberately concealed, it is indeed quite common."
Qining held his chin, thought for a while, and said: "Since the two of them sneaked into the palace together, they are naturally accomplices. They also know each other's details, so there is no need to hide it. If both of them are capable of sneaking into the palace , they will not enter the palace through this underground secret passage." After a pause, he continued: "If they are entering the palace to assassinate, they will naturally choose people with excellent martial arts, but one of them has mediocre martial arts, which means that The two of them sneaked into the palace not for the purpose of assassination."
Chi Danmei nodded and said: "It was the first time I saw them half a month ago. Since then, they have sneaked into the palace through this underground secret passage every three days. Tonight is the fourth time they have entered the palace. . If it was really for assassination, there would be no way he could come in and out so frequently."
"What my aunt said is absolutely true. There are many palaces in the palace. If you want to enter the palace to assassinate, you must have known the location of the assassination target in advance and have a good understanding of the topography of the palace." Qi Ning said thoughtfully, softly: " If the purpose of entering the palace several times is to explore the terrain of the palace, it is really unreasonable. Even if they are allowed to stay in the palace for a few months in the deep palace courtyard, they may not be able to fully understand the terrain. "
Chi Danmei also frowned slightly: "Then why do you think they entered the palace?"
Qi Ning sighed: "I don't know either." Thinking of something, he stared into Chi Danmei's charming eyes and whispered: "Are they like you?"
"Same as me?" Chi Danmei frowned: "Same as me?"
"It's to steal things from the emperor." As soon as Qi Ning spoke, he shook his head: "No, no, they know the secret underground passage leading to the palace, so they don't know the topography of the palace." Something suddenly occurred to him. , stared at Chi Danmei, and whispered: "Auntie, tell me... are we thinking in the wrong direction?"
"Thinking in the wrong direction?" Chi Danmei still didn't understand: "What do you mean?"
Qi Ning said: "We all thought that the two of them sneaked into the palace from outside, but is it possible that they are people from the palace, and they did not sneak into the palace, but returned to the palace?"
Chi Danmei was stunned, thought for a moment, and said: "You mean they are from the palace? They always enter the palace at night, and they must leave the palace before Mao hour...!"
"Maybe they were ordered to go out of the palace to do business." Qi Ning said: "Every time they come back in the middle of the night, they just report things, or...accept new tasks." Qi Ning said.
Chi Danmei: "According to orders? Whose orders, your little emperor? He is the emperor. If he really wants to issue an order, why should he be so sneaky?" Her beautiful eyes turned and she whispered: "Your little emperor used to be Don’t I have great trust in you? I entrusted you with such an important mission as the envoy to Dongqi, so why are you becoming more and more distant from me now? If he ordered people to do the mission secretly, why didn’t you even know about it? ?”
Qining looked solemn.
The young emperor ascended the throne not long ago. Although he is the orthodox successor to the throne, he is young after all. Neither his qualifications nor his prestige are actually enough to intimidate the ministers. On the contrary, Sima Lan, a veteran of several dynasties, can be said to be the leader in the current dynasty in terms of qualifications and prestige. He is second to none, and he has always assisted in the affairs of the government. Nowadays, most of the affairs of the government are in the hands of Sima Lan.
After King Huainan committed suicide, the power of the Sima family further grew. Although everyone in the court knew that the Jinyi Qi family could barely check and balance the power of the Sima family after King Huainan, the fact was that the Sima family controlled the government affairs far beyond the level of the Jinyi Qi family.
Of course the little emperor also knew this.
Longtai knew that Qining was Li Daitaojiang's fake prince, but he still let Qining inherit the title. One of his purposes was to use Qining to control the Jinyi Qi family so that the Jinyi Qi family could become the emperor's people. In fact, Longtai was When the emperor's identity first met with Qi Ning, the two parties had already tacitly reached an alliance contract. Since then, the little emperor has indeed been using the little power in his hands to strengthen the power of the Jinyi Qi family.
What makes Qining confused is that Longtai suddenly changed his temper after the wedding. As Chi Danmei said, the little emperor seemed to be alienating himself. Qining did not believe that this was just because the emperor was addicted to beauty. , but Qining himself couldn’t figure out the reason.
A gust of wind blew by, and the bamboo forest made a rustling sound. Qining then said: "Auntie, do you know where they are going?"
Chi Danmei said: "Last time I followed for a short distance, but I didn't want them to find out, so I kept a distance. This palace is like a maze. If you are not careful, you will lose someone. Where are they going? , I don’t know either, but they will definitely be back here before midnight.”
Qining smiled bitterly and said: "You mean, we are waiting here now?"
"Otherwise, so what?" Chi Danmei rolled her eyes at him: "I told you such a big secret, and you don't look happy?"
"No." Qi Ning shook his head and said: "It's just that I don't know how to proceed with this matter. If those two people are indeed the emperor's people, I naturally can't make it public, or even mention it in front of the emperor. Since the little emperor is You secretly issued the decree without telling me, so naturally you don’t want anyone, including me, to know about it. But if they are not the emperor’s people, then what do they want to do by sneaking into the palace?”
Chi Danmei chuckled and said: "That has nothing to do with me, anyway...!" Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly stopped talking, stretched out her hand to hold Qining's hand, and whispered: "Squat down!"
Qi Ning quickly squatted down after her. At this time, he heard a slight noise. Chi Danmei came close to his ear and whispered: "Someone is coming!"
Qi Ning actually heard that something was wrong with the sounds outside, and nodded slightly, thinking to himself, could it be that the two people from before were back so soon
The two of them hid in the bamboo forest and looked out through the gaps in the bamboo forest. Under the dim moonlight, they saw a figure running to the edge of the bamboo forest, holding something in his arms, looking unusually panicked. Looking left and right, he seemed to be looking for a way. Qining saw that the man was wearing night clothes and his face was covered. The things in his arms were wrapped in brocade, and they were not small. He couldn't tell what they were for a moment. .
Suddenly, he saw the man ducking into the bamboo forest. Although the bamboo forest was not big, it was very dense. After the man came in, he immediately squatted down in the bamboo forest. He was only four or five steps away from Qining. He was far away, and he didn't know if he was too panicked, but the man didn't notice Qi Ning and Chi Danmei behind him. Chi Danmei and Qi Ning looked at each other, and the two of them also held their breath and watched what happened.
At this time, I saw another figure floating over. His body skills were obviously much better than that of the man in black. He was using his bare hands and was not dressed like a palace, but he was not wearing night clothes. He was wearing a gray gown with a tie around his waist. There was only a belt, but his face was covered with a cloth. Under the moonlight, only his eyes were exposed.
The man stood outside the bamboo forest, looking around. The man in black squatted in the bamboo forest, motionless.
Qi Ning and Chi Danmei already understood at this time that the man in black came here in a panic, obviously to avoid the man in gray.
The man in gray clothes looked around, then turned and left. His movements were extremely light. Looking at the body movements of the gray clothed man, Qi Ning knew that his martial arts was really good. His lightness skills seemed to be two points better than his own.
After the man in gray left, the man in black remained still. After waiting for a short moment, it seemed that he was sure that the man in gray had left. The man in black stood up slowly, still without looking back, and walked softly out of the bamboo forest. , Qining stared at the back of the person in black, and saw her waist swinging slightly when she walked, and the back had a sense of déjà vu, and he felt surprised. At this time, he had already seen that the person in black was a woman. But for a moment, I couldn't remember where I had seen that familiar figure.
As soon as the man in black walked out of the bamboo forest, he suddenly stopped and sighed: "Your Excellency, this trick of playing hard to get is really clever!" It was a woman's voice.
When Qi Ning heard the voice, his body was shocked, and a look of surprise appeared on his face. Chi Danmei saw it and wondered why Qi Ning had such a reaction. She saw Qi Ning's eyes widened, and those dark eyes Eyes like stars were staring at the back of the man in black.
After the man in black finished speaking, a man slowly walked out from the side. It was the man in gray who had returned.