Las bellezas de la dinastía Song

Capítulo 67

The other guards responded, and several of them stepped forward to arrest and escort him away.

I gripped Jin Ling's hand tightly, while holding several packets of powder in my other hand. I was thinking of scattering the powder and escaping when there were fewer people around.

A guard stepped forward and tugged, and with a soft, crisp sound, something fell from my sleeve.

The commander, who was about to leave, stepped forward, picked it up, glanced at it, and his expression suddenly changed. He looked at me intently for a few moments, then held it with both hands and respectfully handed it over.

I was somewhat bewildered, and without thinking, I reached out and took it. Before I could even see what I had just received, the leader waved his hand and left with his men.

"Wait a minute," I said hastily.

The commander stopped and looked at me questioningly.

But I stopped myself in my tracks. How should I ask the question? How could I ask it without being abrupt or revealing myself?

What I hold in my hand is the token I stole from Dark Night that day.

Was it because of this token that he let me go? Or did he misunderstand who I was?

The commander of the imperial guards, seeing that I had called out to him but hadn't spoken, suddenly smiled slightly. "Since you've received the Crown Prince's order, please hurry and carry it out; the Crown Prince doesn't wish to wait any longer."

Well?

I was speechless. He had already turned around and walked away.

The Crown Prince? What Crown Prince?

I stared suspiciously in the direction he left. Who told him I was working for the Crown Prince? Pshaw!

"Master, look! Another squad of imperial guards is coming," Jin Ling said in a low voice.

Just as I was about to hide, I suddenly frowned, swaggered up to Jin Ling, and walked towards them.

The guards opposite me stared at me with suspicion, their hands on their sword sheaths.

I raised the token in my hand, smiling slightly, but my palms were sweating a little.

We'll soon find out if the previous guards let us go because of this token.

Chapter 139: The Eastern Palace

They released their grip on the sword sheaths, a look of relief on their faces, and then bowed respectfully to me. "What are your orders, sir?"

Uh, is it really because of this token?

I wondered excitedly what this token was for.

"Do you know where the Crown Prince is?" I asked casually, but what I really wanted to know was what this token was for, but I didn't dare to be so direct.

Although I know this token seems to have great power, I don't know its limits. If I overstep my bounds and get caught, I'll be in big trouble.

How did Dark Night get this token? Or did he take on a job assassinating someone in the palace, and someone else got it for him? Anyway, let's just get through today first. Let's wander around and see if we can find any news about Xiao Zheng.

Or, how about we find an opportunity later to knock out one of the guards alone and interrogate him about the authority behind this token?

"The Crown Prince should be in the palace. I'm not entirely sure," a guard stepped forward, pointed to the palace behind him, and answered respectfully.

"Hmm." I nodded haphazardly, then remained silent, letting them bow and leave.

Is this the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace?

Let's sneak in and take a look first.

We slipped in quite easily, probably because no one expected anyone to dare to break into the Crown Prince's palace, which gave us the opportunity.

After wandering around the Crown Prince's palace, he found a place that resembled a study and hurried inside.

"Master, do you think we can find anything in this study?"

"What are these? Look at all these, they're all memorials. Xiao Zheng's matter is a minor one, it's impossible for it to be included in a memorial. Let's look elsewhere later."

Just as he was whispering with Jin Ling and quietly hiding, he suddenly heard a chorus of kneeling sounds and welcoming voices, "Welcome back to the palace, Crown Prince!"

No way? He's only just entered the Eastern Palace and the Crown Prince is already back?

Jin Ling and I both froze. We heard the Crown Prince's footsteps coming from this direction, getting closer and closer. We quickly ran behind the curtain, pressed ourselves against the wall, and didn't dare to utter a sound.

The heavy curtains concealed our figures, and we tried to slow our breathing as much as possible, not wanting to be noticed.

There was more than one set of footsteps. The first one was steady and powerful, followed by several others, some soft and some slow, until they stopped not far in front of us.

"Your Highness, the wedding date has been set. Selected by the Imperial Astronomical Bureau, the auspicious day for the welcoming ceremony is the 13th day of the tenth month of the Renxu year of the Tianxing calendar, at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), which is ten days from now. Minister Zai Tao will be the chief envoy, carrying the imperial insignia, accompanied by a deputy envoy carrying the imperial edict of name inquiry; the ceremonial guard and drum band will lead the way, followed by the officials delivering gifts… At the same time as the wedding, a golden book and golden seal will be presented to the Crown Princess… In recent years, the treasury has been depleted, and after the efforts of Ministers Zai Tao and Zhu Yi, the wedding expenses have been reduced to approximately one million taels…"

Good heavens, one million taels? This royal wedding is truly extravagant.

I was speechless with astonishment.

A deep voice rang out, tinged with impatience, "Alright, these matters don't need to be reported. Just hand them over to the Imperial Observatory. As is customary, minimize the scope of reporting."

"Yes," came the reply from the previous official from the Ministry of Rites.

Another voice rang out, "Your Highness, today's court discussion has touched a nerve with Li Jinhuan's faction. In their haste, they will likely become divided and difficult to deal with."

"Those old bastards have been holding positions without doing anything all day long. They not only do no work, but they also plunder the people and collude to disrupt the government. The Crown Prince should have dealt with them long ago."

"Yes, if we can deal with them, the atmosphere in the court will likely be completely transformed."

"However, those few treacherous villains are in cahoots and collude together, making them extremely difficult to deal with. If it weren't for the Crown Prince's firm stance, I fear I would have been falsely accused by them today and would be unable to clear my name."