Chu Qing casually made up an excuse and successfully managed to stay in the palace overnight.
The one who invited her to stay was, of course, the Empress, Lan Wanyu.
Although it could be seen as a bit of an exploitation of the young girl Lan Wanyu, since it wouldn't endanger her, Chu Qing didn't feel overly guilty.
When the night grew quiet and everyone was asleep, Chu Qing opened her eyes in the darkness.
After gradually getting used to the dark, Chu Qing silently left Weiyang Palace with Hong Ling.
Despite her large belly, it didn't hinder her from lightly leaping onto the rooftops.
Hong Ling watched as Chu Qing moved so nimbly. Her face turned deathly pale, and she kept her hands outstretched to protect her.
After leaping from rooftop to rooftop in the palace, they finally met up with Wei Sheng.
The three of them didn't say a single unnecessary word and immediately sneaked into Changle Palace.
At this moment, Changle Palace was completely dark. In the otherwise quiet night, there came a snoring sound from the inner hall.
Chu Qing looked at Wei Sheng and then made a gesture to him.
Wei Sheng immediately understood and disappeared in a flash.
Chu Qing and Hong Ling found a place to hide.
Sure enough, not long after.
They heard the sound of a fight.
Wei Sheng had lured away the expert in Changle Palace.
After it grew quiet again, Chu Qing and Hong Ling sneaked into the Empress Dowager's bedroom. To prevent the Empress Dowager from waking up suddenly, Hong Ling quickly administered some sleeping drugs to the Empress Dowager and her maids.
Seeing that they hadn't alerted anyone else, they found the place where Wei Sheng had told them the secret chamber was located.
Chu Qing and Hong Ling carefully felt along the wall and finally felt a protrusion. Then Chu Qing carefully pressed it.
The wall suddenly began to shake and then split in the middle, revealing a door hidden inside.
Wei Sheng had found this door before, but he hadn't gone in.
This was because the door was rigged with a mechanism, and they could only open it after unlocking the mechanism.
Hong Ling frowned tightly and silently began to unlock the mechanism on the door.
Chu Qing didn't disturb her. Instead, she carefully inspected the surroundings.
It was then that she found an old - looking booklet in a wooden box.
Chu Qing had an intuition that there was something in this booklet.
Sure enough, after she opened the booklet, Chu Qing slightly raised her eyebrows in surprise.
Because...
What was written in this booklet... was actually...
About her?
Not the current Chu Qing...
But her from her past life, Shangguan Wanyu.
Humph...
Her good daughter - in - law... actually kept a booklet about her? Chu Qing couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine.
The contents of the booklet were all trivial matters.
And also...
Words cursing her.
However, all those words revealed the Empress Dowager's jealousy towards her.
Chu Qing flipped through a few more pages and actually found... that the booklet even had her birth date and time from her past life...
Chu Qing felt a sense of unease.
Once the birth date and time fell into the hands of someone who hated you...
All sorts of terrifying things could happen.
"Princess!" Hong Ling seemed to have discovered something and softly called out to Chu Qing.
Hearing this, Chu Qing quickly walked over.
"What's wrong?"
Hong Ling's face looked rather shadowy in the candlelight.
"Princess... this mechanism is actually related to... the late Grand Empress Dowager..."
"What!" Chu Qing exclaimed involuntarily.
Then she quickly covered her mouth, afraid that the sound would be too loud and attract people from outside.
"I just unlocked a small mechanism and got a birth date and time. And this birth date and time... if I remember correctly... should belong to the Grand Empress Dowager..."
Humph...
Even the secret guards of the Ning Palace knew her birth date and time...
After muttering to herself, Chu Qing followed Hong Ling's finger and then suddenly squinted her eyes and smiled.
Just now, Chu Qing hadn't stepped forward, so she had missed such an important piece of information.
This mechanism...
Was designed by someone she had once commissioned.
The Empress Dowager, Lady Xiao, hated her so much, yet she still used her mechanism.
It was really...
Ridiculous!
She probably thought that since she was dead, no one else could unlock this mechanism.
Too bad...
She wasn't dead.
Next, in front of Hong Ling's wide - eyed and stunned gaze, Chu Qing quickly unlocked the mechanism that she and Wei Sheng couldn't solve.
Without paying attention to the shock and surprise in Hong Ling's eyes, Chu Qing directly pushed the door open.
The secret chamber was opened.
...
On one side of the secret chamber, long - burning lamps were lit. The long and narrow passage was flat and straight, indicating that this secret chamber wasn't underground.
After the two turned a corner, they saw what was actually hidden in this secret chamber.
An old woman with gray hair was slumped on a pile of dry grass.
After hearing the sound, she very slowly opened her eyes and said in an extremely cold voice, "What? Come to take your anger out on me again today?"
However, after she saw that the people coming were not the Empress Dowager but two strangers, the woman frowned but didn't say anything else.
On the other hand, after seeing the woman's appearance clearly, Chu Qing stood there stunned.
This woman... was actually the concubine who had once been extremely favored by her son!
She...
Wasn't she missing?
Unexpectedly... she had been locked in this secret chamber by the Empress Dowager for decades!
"Who are you?"
The woman didn't rush to ask for help. Instead, she very cautiously said in a cold voice.
Chu Qing thought for a long time before she remembered the other person's name, and then she tentatively said:
"Qin Zhen?"
This concubine... should be called Qin Zhen.
Sure enough, Chu Qing hadn't remembered wrongly.
Qin Zhen opened her eyes wide in great shock, and her dry lips trembled slightly.
She didn't expect that after decades...
There was actually still someone who recognized her?
There was actually...
Still someone who remembered her name!
Restraining her inner excitement, Qin Zhen's voice still carried a hint of defensiveness: "Who... are you exactly? Why do you know... my... name!"
Seeing this, Hong Ling didn't say anything.
Although she was very confused in her heart, this wasn't the time to ask too many questions.
Looking at the once gentle woman who had now become extremely old and in a sorry state, Chu Qing felt a bit of sourness in her heart, and her tone involuntarily became extremely gentle: "You don't have to be afraid. I... am not one of Lady Xiao's people, so I won't harm you."
Hearing this, Qin Zhen did seem a bit more relaxed than before.
She was really afraid that the other person was one of the Empress Dowager's people.
Coming here was just to tease her, to watch her fall into despair after being filled with hope.
Although she was a bit more relaxed, there was still suspicion in her cloudy eyes: "How did you find this place?"
Chu Qing patiently replied, "Because I met... your maid outside."
After hearing this, Qin Zhen's emotions clearly became a bit agitated: "Ying'er... is still alive?"
"Yes... but the Empress Dowager's people said she had gone crazy... and... her tongue has been cut off..." Chu Qing replied with a solemn look on her face.
Qin Zhen's pupils trembled, and then she said angrily:
"Xiao Ran is so vicious! It's fine that she tortured me! But she even didn't spare my maid! Afraid that Ying'er would tell something... she... cut off her tongue! Good, good, good! Since you two little girls have found this place today, I... will trust you! Do you... want to hear the biggest secret about this so - called Empress Dowager of the Great Yan Kingdom!"