After the palace banquet dispersed, a dark figure landed in the residence of the national master and then sneaked into Huo Qizhou's study.
Huo Qizhou was carefully examining the letter brought by Twelve, his well - defined fingers rhythmically tapping on the carved ebony tabletop.
After Twelve told him about Shi Muyuan's question, he nodded. "I happen to have something to tell her. I'll go and answer this question myself tomorrow." Then he changed the subject and asked, "Has there been any sign of abnormality in her recently?"
"The Empress Dowager is still the same as before, but she has become much more vigilant recently."
"So many people want to harm her. After being deceived a few times, it's natural for her to be more vigilant." Huo Qizhou gave a soft laugh, folded the letter and put it into a wooden box. He rubbed his temples with his fingertips. Where did Shi Muyuan learn to write like this? It was really strenuous to read.
"You can go back first."
"Yes."
When Twelve returned to the palace, he saw Shi Muyuan and Yao Kun squatting beside a square pit. Xiao Xiao was holding an oil lamp on one side, curiously craning her neck.
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager." Twelve knelt on one knee, supporting himself with one hand, to pay his respects.
"You're finally back." Shi Muyuan stood up excitedly and grabbed him.
The words Twelve was about to say turned into a cough due to Shi Muyuan's grab. The culprit even kindly patted his back, telling him to be careful not to catch a cold. Twelve tensed up nervously and carefully shuffled a few steps away.
"Twelve, look at this hole. I just accidentally discovered a secret passage."
"It's reasonable that there should be a secret passage in the Shoukang Palace of the Empress Dowager for emergency use." Twelve was not surprised at all.
"Come down with me and take a look." Shi Muyuan looked at Twelve and then jumped down first, leaving Twelve and Yao Kun looking at each other blankly.
"Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager, it's getting late. It's not too late to explore it tomorrow." Xiao Xiao called out to her.
"What if someone comes looking for me while I'm down here tomorrow? I'd better finish exploring it all at once so that I can be more at ease." Although Shi Muyuan said so, the biggest driving force was her curiosity.
It was the first time in two lifetimes that she had entered a secret passage, and she was eager to know where it led. Maybe it led outside the palace, which would make it much more convenient for her to leave the palace in the future.
Unable to persuade her, Xiao Xiao had to find a fire starter and a dagger for her to take.
Leaving the still - injured Yao Kun to watch the entrance of the hole, Shi Muyuan, accompanied by Xiao Xiao and Twelve, walked deeper into the passage.
On the walls of the passage, there were row upon row of night pearls, illuminating the place brightly. There was no need for a fire starter at all. Shi Muyuan took down a fist - sized night pearl covered with dust. When she took it down, there were even spider webs attached to it.
Shi Muyuan was choked by the dust and coughed several times. The dust on the night pearl was almost inhaled into her lungs.
"It seems that no one has been here before!" Shi Muyuan waved her sleeves, trying to disperse the dust.
"The previous Daliang Dynasty was a great country, and no one dared to easily invade it. The palace was peaceful, so there was probably no need for these secret passages." Xiao Xiao protected her on the side. Although her kung fu was not as good as Yao Kun's, she could still fight.
There were no bones of predecessors in the secret passage as she had imagined. It was clean, with only dust. But Shi Muyuan didn't let her guard down. She didn't know how long this secret passage was.
She put the night pearl back in its original position.
Twelve led the way in front, and she and Xiao Xiao followed closely behind.
After walking for about ten minutes, Twelve suddenly stopped.
It seemed that he had made a discovery.
Shi Muyuan walked forward from his side, and several bones were clearly in front of her.
She picked up one and saw that it was a human bone. But why were there only a few scattered ones? Even if someone was dismembered, it wouldn't be like this. Shi Muyuan shivered and shook her head, trying to get rid of the terrible thoughts in her mind.
Twelve also picked up a bone, examined it for a while, and then showed it in front of Shi Muyuan, pointing to a place. "These bones were all broken."
"What's going on? Why were they broken here?"
"They were probably not broken here. These bones are almost from different parts of the body, and there are no bloodstains or broken bone fragments around. They seem quite fresh. There are tooth marks of small beasts on them, so they were probably brought here by some carnivorous animals."
Xiao Xiao felt a chill. What kind of description was "fresh"? She hoped Twelve wouldn't mislead the Empress Dowager.
"Either the exit is in a bad location, or there are other exits here." Shi Muyuan guessed.
"That should be the case." Twelve nodded and put the bone aside, then continued to lead the way. Sure enough, not long after, they saw a cave covered by vines. Xiao Xiao used the dagger to cut through the vines and cleared a path. When Shi Muyuan walked out, she saw trees covered with snow. It turned out that the exit was in a mountain forest behind the palace.
Shi Muyuan was a little disappointed. She had thought this passage would lead to the city of Changjing. Although she had left the palace, this desolate mountain area was obviously a standard escape route. No wonder there were wild beasts bringing fresh bones to gnaw on.
Suddenly, Twelve's voice came. "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager, look here."
Shi Muyuan walked back into the cave and looked at the place Twelve was referring to. Hidden in the shadow of the night pearls was a stone door, covered with dust, with only a small crack left. And there were many such cracks on the wall, so one wouldn't notice it at first glance.
But when Twelve stepped aside to make way for Shi Muyuan just now, he felt the flowing air. After observing for a while and pushing it open, they found that there was actually another path hidden here.
Sure enough, there was more than one exit.
Following the newly discovered path, after a while, they finally saw a beam of light different from the light emitted by the night pearls, shining directly on the ground in an oval shape.
Xiao Xiao quickly ran over to check.
The entrance of the cave was overgrown with moss, and some branches were growing in disorder, blocking the entrance. Twelve stepped forward to break them off, and then they could walk out.
What greeted their eyes was a dilapidated mansion.
The weeds were overgrown, and ivy was climbing everywhere. The branches were tangled, and the tiles on the eaves were also covered with vines and weeds. In the darkness, they looked like hanging heads, and there were spider webs flying everywhere. It was really terrifying at night.
The mansion was not big, and the things inside were neatly arranged. It seemed that there had been no fighting here. It was just that no one had been here for a long time.
Shi Muyuan reached out and touched a grand - master chair. The furniture had been damaged by insects and ants.
"It seems that this was a backup plan left by the people in the past!" Xiao Xiao sighed.
The things in the house were not bad, but due to years of disrepair, not much was in good condition.
Shi Muyuan walked around, sizing up the place. Standing in the middle of the yard with one hand on her hip and the other hand stroking her chin, she started to make a plan in her mind.