Stealing From the Sheng Palace at Night
If it was not so late and quiet, and if he was not so close to the watchful eyes of the Sheng Palace’s hidden guards, Ban Zou really would have wanted to slap himself. How could he have been so negligent. He should have realized that it was a trap the moment the words “Your Highness” had come out! Aside from when she spoke with outsiders, when had she ever referred to him as Your Highness the ninth prince? She had always called him by name, alright? How could he have forgotten about this?
Ban Zou realized that he had made a serious mistake, but he did not know how he should make up for it. Should he go into the Sheng Palace to search for her? Truthfully, he did not have the ability. He was not omnipotent. His qinggong and hiding abilities had not reached a point where this would be possible. Although he could get into the imperial palace, he did not dare try with the Sheng Palace. The Sheng Palace had well-hidden hidden guards. This was beyond certain. If he followed her in at this time, it was very likely that he would become deadweight for his master. Once something happened to him, based on his master’s personality, she would definitely extend her hand to save him. When that time came, the two would be stuck inside, and he could never pay her back even if he had 100 lives.
But if he did not follow her in, what could be done? Ban Zou’s heart burned with anxiety. Should he go and look for His Highness the seventh prince once more? Could His Highness the seventh prince get into a place like the Sheng Palace? Even he did not dare hope for this. Standing in place, he wondered to himself. In the end, he gritted his teeth and helplessly turned around and quietly rushed toward the Yu Palace.
Forget it, if he was cursed at or even killed, it would be better than throwing that idiot into the Sheng Palace. At this moment, Ban Zou felt a bit as if he was dying for a great cause. At the same time, he cursed Feng Yu Heng a million times internally; however, it was not for implicating himself. Instead, he cursed her for being too bold and daring to enter the Sheng Palace on her own. What should he do if something was to happen?
He went to Xuan Tian Ming’s residence with these sorts of emotions. When he was just 50 paces from the Yu Palace, he was noticed by the hidden guards, but he removed his mask, and the hidden guards of the Yu Palace recognized him and did not pay him any mind. When he reached Xuan Tian Ming’s courtyard, someone spoke with the wind and told him: “Master is in the study.”
Thus Ban Zou changed direction and headed toward the study. Only then did he manage to find Xuan Tian Ming.
At this time, Xuan Tian Ming was in the middle of writing something. The tip of his brush was moving with gusto; however, it also had a harsh aura. In regards to Ban Zou’s arrival, he did not appear to be surprised, even taking the first step to ask: “What is it, did you lose track of your master?”
Ban Zou trembled and dropped to his knees before Xuan Tian Ming. He did not say a single word and just kept his head down while waiting to be dealt with.
As a result, he waited for a long time but did not hear any movement. He could not help but look up and found that Xuan Tian Ming was still writing. After writing a few things, he finally said: “It’s fine. You just need to go back to your manor to wait for her.”
“But…” Ban Zou frowned, “Master went to the Sheng Palace.”
“This prince knows. Don’t worry, she will return home safely. You can leave.”
Ban Zou was chased out like this. At the time he left the palace, he even suspected that there may have been a rift that had formed between Feng Yu Heng and Xuan Tian Ming.
At this time, there was a person standing in a void space 50 paces away from the Sheng Palace. It was Feng Yu Heng, who had just come out of her pharmacy space. In the past, she could not hear the sounds outside while she was inside the space. Although she could hear some vague sounds, to hear words clearly, she had no other choice. Even in the past, when she had gone into the third prince’s palace, she had to come out of her space to listen to others speak. But ever since her space had leveled up, and the underground firearms storage had appeared, she could clearly hear all of the sounds from the outside. This was a huge benefit to Feng Yu Heng on this trip.
At this moment, she was standing inside her space and carefully listening to Ban Zou’s movements outside. When she determined that Ban Zou had left, she finally began to move. Although Ban Zou was one of her people, she did not want for Ban Zou to see her mystically disappear and reappear. It would be best to avoid such fantasy elements. After all, this was unlike when they were dealing with the Duan Mu family, where there was a forest to hide in.
Ban Zou left, and she had already determined the distance to the person that was hiding inside the vat of water. Her first step was very risky. She took eleven steps inside her pharmacy then squatted down. Bringing her right hand to her left wrist, she thought to herself “exit.” In the next second, she appeared back in the real world, squatted next to the vat of water.
At this time, Feng Yu Heng had stopped breathing and thought to “enter” as quickly as possible. The expert inside the vat of water was definitely an expert; however, he did not notice anything was off. After all, in the world, there was not another person with Feng Yu Heng’s “godly” power. No matter how proficient the expert, they could not defeat Feng Yu Heng and the power of her left wrist.
She just used her space and calculated one step at a time. Every time she entered, she would find her exit then listen carefully. Being certain that there would be nobody where she planned to come out, she would move to exit. Of course, after exiting, she would immediately re-enter. Even if she was seen during this period of time that lasted less than half a second, they could only believe that they had been mistaken. As long as Feng Yu Heng did not exit, even if they searched the entirety of the palace, they could not find any trace of her.
Feng Yu Heng had a very clear goal with this visit. She did not come to kill anyone, nor did she come to start a fire. She would not be going to Xuan Tian Mo’s courtyard. Her goal was only for the sake of the word “riches.” Of course, if the riches happened to be in his courtyard, she could only try and snatch them. Either way, even if she was discovered, it would just be a failed mission. To try and catch her would be impossible.
But where would the wealth of the Sheng Palace be hidden? This was something that Feng Yu Heng was rather troubled over. Xuan Tian Ming’s wealth was hidden underground, and the entrance was at the bottom of a manmade pond. There was a mechanism that parted the waters to allow access. She did not know where the eighth prince hid his wealth. If it was in the same place, it would be rather problematic. The sound would be too loud, and there was no need to protect it. The only way to remain unnoticed would be if the hidden guards became fools. But she could choose to swim down. It was just a pity that the surface of the pond would freeze during the Winter. Also, she was not too good in the water. Third, if she was to use her space, and the pond was too deep, her space was not large enough.
At this time, Feng Yu Heng had already reached the center of the palace. Standing there inside her space, she pondered if she should head toward the study. Normally, the secrets of the residence would be contained in the study.
At this time, however, the sound of footsteps outside could be heard. The sound was a bit messy, and they belonged to two people. They definitely did not know martial arts, thus they should be servants. Feng Yu Heng followed them for a few steps until she reached the edge of her space before exiting and re-entering. Like this, she just followed along, and she followed along for quite a long time. Only when the two people stopped in their tracks the sound of flowing water could be heard outside. Only then did dark lines appear on her face. Fuck, she had followed them to the latrine, and it was the men’s latrine. Fortunately, she was inside her space; otherwise, it really would have been an awkward scene.
Just as she was preparing to leave, she heard the two people that had entered the washroom quietly begin to converse, as one of them said: “His Highness has not returned for a long time, but he does not know about the matter of the area under the rockery being flooded. During tonight’s banquet, the guards had to go down there to clean it up. I also went along to carry the buckets of water. My arms are so tired that I still can’t raise them up.”
The other person immediately replied: “It’s been snowing the entire time recently. For some reason, the snow keeps getting under the mountain. It’s fortunate that it did not continue to snow today. Otherwise, those babies down there would have been ruined. You’re also quite unlucky. How is it that you were just passing by that area, yet you ended up needing to carry buckets of water. That’s the most tiring work.”
“Of course!” That person said with frustration: “If it wasn’t for me wanting to take a look at that little slut, I wouldn’t have gone to the backyard. But not going to take a look, I end up feeling flustered. In any case, it’s the new year, and we need to have a bit of an interesting experience. Who knows when His Highness will be going back to the South. Won’t we end up dying from the yearning? Thinking of using the time when His Highness was not in the palace to get a bit more intimate with that little slut, who knew that after the act was completed, someone would pass by the front. There was nothing that I could do and could only exit through the back.”
The other person laughed, “It seems that it’s not just your arms that are shaking. It seems that your legs were also shaking!”
The two laughed for a while before adjusting their pants and leaving.
Feng Yu Heng rolled her eyes while listening. The servants of the residence secretly meeting with the maidservants did not have much imagination. If it was not in a garden, it was behind some rockery. In any case, find a room, alright. In the future, how should she walk through the gardens? She thought about her own manor. It seemed that there were no male servants aside from the hidden guards. There were male servants in the front yard, but they were all older men, and they were obedient. The people that she had chosen should be fine. While thinking about these nonsensical things, she began to move.
Some mountain in a garden. Although she was not clear on the directions, going further toward the back would be the right choice. The Sheng Palace had the same setup as all of the other princes’ palaces. It was just that the inner setting was determined by each person’s likes. It sounded as though there was a mountain in the backyard. It should not be tall; otherwise, she would have taken note of it. The two servants had said that the treasures under the mountain had nearly been ruined by the leaking water. If she had not made a mistake, that should be the Sheng Palace’s treasury. It seemed that it had also been constructed underground, but it had not been constructed properly, or it had not been maintained properly over the years and began to leak. It seemed that the master not being around for years was no good. Even the servants would hide things from him. Not taking good care of it, even that sort of place would begin leaking. Really.
As she thought to herself, she quickly began to turn towards the back. Finally reaching the back, she found that there were far more hidden guards. She could spot more than ten, and this did not include those that she could not spot. Feng Yu Heng was a bit nervous. The last time she had appeared, she had seen the small mountain ahead. It was a man made mountain, and it looked to be part of the landscape. It was very short. But the area below it had been hollowed out, the area would be too large.
Her space was limited in size. In order to get into the mountain, she would need to turn around one more time. This time, she would be exposed in the open. How could she avoid being chased by the hidden guards?
She furrowed her brow and began to ponder. In the end, however, she went to the second floor. From the second floor, she would quickly appear then disappear. There should not be anyone that would notice her, right? After all, what sort of person could suddenly appear in the middle of the air without any sign. The hidden guards would also not be focused on that. Of course, she did not discount the possibility of being found. But if she moved a bit quicker, as long as she could get inside her space, there should not be any problems.
This was a very risky move. Feng Yu Heng went to the second floor. After choosing her exit location, she settled her nerves then appeared as quickly as possible before returning to the space; however, she could clearly feel a wind blow past her.
Shock filled her heart. She had been noticed!