Vol 21 Chapter 7 (1/2)

Book 21 Chapter 7 - Leisurely Chatting Within The Forbidden Palace

Using his grappling hook and the cover of snow, Xiang Shaolong traversed past two palatial buildings and landed within a grassy knoll located inside a courtyard

This building was located directly behind the mansion which Dan Meimei had entered earlier Most likely it was the place where palace servants and maids resided

He wasn’t worried about running into guards or hounds here, as those would only be stationed outside of the royal palace

All imperial palaces, whether it be the Zhao palace, the Qin palace, or the Chu palace, were unique places, totally segregated from the universe around them

Unless the King of Wei carace Dan Mei of Wei here either

Right now, thewas to find a place to hide Only then could he seek out opportunities to procure food and find a way to escape

Right now, he felt that the best option available was to hide for ten days or half a month After the hullabaloo had subsided, he would sneak out the palace

But just as Lord Longyang said, if he continued to steal food and drinks over a long period of time, sooner or later suspicions would be raised

The ideal option would of course be to uise his e body fra s of a madman

Glancing around hi saw that the wind and the snow continued to silently fall down everywhere But light shone from each and every one of the side rooms

Earlier, after he had traversed the various s like the back of his hand

These various buildings which surrounded the central palace grounds were the an independent world

Aside fro walls, the only guards present were the ones stationed at the entry and exit points No other security was present

Dan Meiuards as well, but they were neither allowed to nor would attes

So, if he was able to sneak into this beauty’s palace, he would be in the safest of positions

Right now, he was ensconced with an open air garden There were gates to the east and the south, but the gates were guarded and tightly shut

After having determined his path of movement, he made up his mind and once more flipped onto the roof

Although the rooms of the servants were covered with ice and snow, it wasn’t a third as thick as that of the city walls In addition, the eaves of the roo hook could attach to Although it was not easy to move precisely, the difficulty was hardly insurmountable for him

When he reached the gardens located next to the inner palace, he dropped down

Based on the architectural standards of this era, ht and with intersecting river systems

The palace of the King of Wei was basically based on an array of intersecting lines It could roughly be divided into the front, ular shape, it sat with its rear in the north and facing the south The northern district was divided into fifteen sections, with the King and Queen’s i the primary position in the middle

The central district here the ‘Three Courts’ were held

The ‘Three Courts’ referred to the Large Court, the Outer Court, and the Inner Court Although the names were different, they basically were places where the overnmental affairs

The southern district held the ate to the palace as well as the headquarters of the local guard force It was separated froates

The reason why Xiang Shaolong paid so much attention to the layout of the palace was because he knew that es

This was soe would definitely install, in order to save their lives and flee as necessary

Logically, the King of Wei’s palace should also have this sort of underground escape route If he could find it, he could sneakily and stealthily depart the capital

Dan Meimei’s personal rooms most likely had this sort of escape route as well Most likely, there was at least a 90 chance of one

With the ‘lock opening tools’ hidden within his shoes, and his previous lockpicking experience, the locks of this day and age would absolutely pose no great difficulty to him

As long as he could find Dan Meimei’s personal rooms, he would be able to easily slip away

He contentedly hid within a cluster of underbrush, focusing on observing the activities of the palace

Dan Meio Naturally, she would first bathe and change her clothes before retiring to her bedroom

Right now, in the palace, the only place that was lit was the place in front of hione to sleep

The blizzard began to weaken, and Xiang Shaolong inwardly exclain He decided to first slip into Dan Meimei’s personal rooms

He scurried out of his hiding place and moved beneath the hat appeared to be a stockroo that nobody ithin, he plucked out the miniature iron crowbar fro within the , forcing it up

After leaping into the room, he closed the

After accusto hiht peeking out froainst it to listen

There was no sound from outside the door Just as he was about to push the door open, footsteps suddenly could be heard co from the left

Xiang Shaolong was startled He secretly exclaierous!’ He hurriedly retreated and hid behind a large cabinet

After the footsteps died away, Xiang Shaolong stepped forward Pushi+ng the door open, he carefully looked outside

There was a long hallway outside, with three doors on each side of the hallway It see maids resided

Xiang Shaolong felt that this was a ed out, if he ran into anybody, he would have nowhere to retreat

But if he refused to take the risk, if Dan Mei ladies were to tidy the roo, the chances of hireater

Grinding his teeth, Xiang Shaolong rushed out

The inner palace was divided into two sections, with the ht now, he was located near the rear entrance The probleht noas that he didn’t know if Dan Meimei’s bedroom was located in the front section or the rear section If he knew, he wouldn’t have to blindly fuht now

He swiftly arrived at a hallway crossing on the right Just as he was about to enter the front section, two serving girls appeared headed in his direction, a scant few meters away

Xiang Shaolong quickly drew back He pushed open the nearest door and snuck inside without even checking to see if anyone ithin

Before he even had the chance to catch his bearings, the door was pushed open again and the two serving girls entered

Out of options, Xiang Shaolong was forced to hide behind the opened door All he could do was pray that they wouldn’t decide to close it

La within the inner palace’s dining room

The two clearly were here to gather so some supplies frohtest the presence of this unwelcouest

One of the serving maids said, “She seems to be in an extremely bad mood This is the first time I’ve seen her scold someone so ferociously”

The other maid was much less brave In a low voice, she repriossips catch wind of it, it’ll be terrible”

After a short period of time, the two maids took two trays of tea and snacks and left the room

Xiang Shaolong leapt out of his hiding spot He snatched a piece of leftover cake, then, walking on tiptoes, followed the two of them

Xiang Shaolong used all of his skills, slithering like a snake and scurrying like a rat,servants before finally arriving at a main hallway

The two maids ahead of hih a back entrance

After having found the location of Dan Meimei’s bedroo beneath the eaves, he used his steel tools to push aopen, then hurriedly ducked inside

He had entered a rectangular shaped side rooaudily decorated with the floor covered by a thick carpet His feet felt very co onto it

Because the stove in the corner had yet to be lit, he felt certain that Dan Meimei would not come to this room

There was a large door in the southern side of the room Based on the direction it was in, it most likely led to the inner rooms

By now, he had attained a thorough grasp of the layout of the palace

The ateway towards the north led to the main hall, which was followed by two side rooms to each side of the hall

And Dan Meimei’s bedrooarden spot The two rooms next door must be where her servants stayed

He pressed his ear against the large door and listened intently

He could hear so

If he were to go seeking the passageway, this was the best opportunity he would have Once Dan Meiolden chance

Xiang Shaolong once more snuck out of this side room Soon afterwards, he arrived within Dan Meimei’s bedroom

This was a very spacious roos In one corner, the fireplace was burning brightly, causing the roo air In the middle, there was an enorainst the wall, with thick rugs surrounding it

The other corner of the roo wall Naturally, that is where she would go for relieving herself

All the other dressing tables were filled with all sorts of necessary cosmetic supplies, ordered neatly and successively

Xiang Shaolong felt a huge headache co on Not only would it be difficult to find a secret tunnel in such a location, the very act of trying would immediately be visible and alert others

The first thing he would have to do would be to lift up the rugs, and maybe even have to move the couches and other furniture around That would be the sa in the room How could others not help but overhear the sounds?

Even if everyone here was deaf, Dan Meio to sleep How could he have the opportunity to put everything back into its proper order?

The ed to find the tunnel, there was no way he would be able to rearrange everything above into the proper configuration, to the point where nobody would notice that things had been ood as directly alerting the soldiers of Wei that he had fled from the tunnel

Just as he orrying about what to do, the door opened