Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 401 End of Night
Yang Yuan stood on the stone steps in front of the Dianqian Yamen in the southwest corner of the imperial palace, looking at the sky.

The air is a bit humid this evening and there is a chance of rain.

It will rain tonight, this is what the old charlatan Han Qianchen told him two days ago.

So Yang Yuan chose to take action tonight.

If it rains, some traces will be washed away by the rain.

Murders happen in the dark of night, and fires happen when the wind is high; that's because the conditions are right.

If it rains tonight, it would be perfect for slaying the dragon.

Suddenly, Yang Yuan's ears moved.

Although he didn't hear anything, he could... sense it.

Yang Yuan looked towards the direction of "Xiangyao Palace" and saw two people about to turn the corner.

Sure enough, it was Xiao Luo and an old eunuch.

Xiao Luo walked in front and the old eunuch walked behind, and it was obvious that Xiao Luo was the dominant one between the two.

Both of them walked very lightly, and their bodies barely moved, as if they were gliding ghosts.

"Xiao Luo!" Yang Yuan greeted with a smile.

"Yang Yuhou." Xiao Luo walked closer, and his originally lonely look turned into a look of joy.

Now, Xiao Luo is the master of Baolong Palace.

The previous palace master trained a total of eighteen young eunuchs, and chose the most talented one, Luo Tingxia, as his successor.

Now that the previous hall master was killed by Yagyu Sanshitake in Xiangji Temple while protecting Zhao Gou, Xiao Luo had to end his worldly experience early and return to the deep palace.

The death of his master, coupled with the boring and depressing life in the palace, made Xiao Luo always frown.

But he had no choice, as his life path had been paved since he could remember.

Seeing Yang Yuan, Xiao Luo was deeply moved.

What a colorful life it was when I was with Yang Yuan. They had seen the sea together and killed bandits together...

But in this palace, the emperor retreated like a turtle, and their guards could only retreat like turtles in a hidden place nearby.

Xiao Luo shuddered at the thought that he would spend his whole life like this, until one day he was older than his master.

Yang Yuan asked, "Why, are you going out of the palace?"

Xiao Luo is a eunuch in the inner court. If he appears here, he must have left the palace.

Xiao Luo said: "Well, I'll go out for a while and be back soon."

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "What's the big deal? Why would you have to come here in person?"

The old eunuch behind Xiao Luo sighed silently. It was supposed to be him who made this trip, but the Palace Master insisted on accompanying him.

In fact, he also knew that the Palace Master was just looking for an excuse to go out for a walk.

Yang Yuan said to the sighing old eunuch: "This eunuch, let alone the fact that the emperor is in poor health now, even in normal times, the places the emperor goes to every day are just the bedroom, Chuigong Hall, and a few gardens in the inner court.

You guys are always repeating the same thing, following and protecting, and you just keep going around in these few places. After a while, who wouldn't get annoyed? I think you can take turns to divide the work.

Look at us, the Dragon Guards. Even though the number of soldiers on duty has doubled according to the decree, we still take turns on duty, and everyone has a rest period."

The old eunuch smiled bitterly and said, "Yang Yuhou, you don't know that we also take turns on duty, three shifts, three days a shift, but our Palace Master..."

At this point, he suddenly realized that he had said too much, so he changed the subject and shook his head, saying, "Our Palace Master is still too young, and his mind is not calm enough."

Xiao Luo rolled his eyes and said impatiently, "Let's go."

Having said that, he took the lead and walked out.

Yang Yuan looked at their backs with a smile on his face.

When the leader of Baolong Palace changed, the secret guards of Baolong Palace were also changed.

The retired eunuchs basically lived out their days.

This is what Xiao Luo accidentally revealed to me when we were chatting yesterday.

So, in Xiao Luo's generation, there are eighteen members in Baolong Hall, divided into three shifts, taking turns every three days. Please find out the number of people on duty every day.

Yang Yuan was good at math and immediately calculated the exact number of people in his mind.

Then, a three-dimensional image of the layout of the Funing Palace's sleeping hall appeared in his mind, and he began to guess where these six people might be hiding.

There should be no secret guards in the emperor's bedroom.

Although they were eunuchs, the emperor would not be willing to expose all his private matters in front of them.

Then they were deployed outside the Funing Palace.

Yang Yuan couldn't help but look up at the sky again.

I don’t know whether the fortune teller’s prediction is accurate or not. It would be great if it really rained tonight.

The rain can not only wash away many traces, but also hide the sounds, which is very helpful for him to take action.

For most people in this world, even if they have special skills, it is extremely difficult to sneak into the palace and get close to the emperor.

That's an almost impossible task.

the reason is simple.

The Imperial Palace was under strict security by five levels of guards.

The palace guards' vigilance was the best plan developed after countless generations of people with deep interest in the matter had conducted repeated research.

The roaming patrol personnel, the fixed-post personnel, the visible guards, the covert guards, plus their repeated consideration of the directions and angles of defense, have woven a tight protective network.

Even if there is a top master, if he wants to sneak into such a place quietly, he still needs extremely patient observation and judgment, as well as superb skills.

What cannot be saved in this process is time.

Therefore, even if there is such a person who can escape without alerting any guards along the way, it might be dawn before he sneaks into the third level of palace restriction.

But for Yang Yuan, this most difficult hurdle was also the easiest one for him to pass.

Because he was already in the last position of the five levels of alert.

Next, the biggest challenge is how to avoid being discovered by the eunuch masters in Baolong Palace.

This is not a problem at all for Yang Yuan.

Because when he was in contact with Xiao Luo these days, he discovered a strange phenomenon. That is, he could sense anyone from the Baolong Palace when they were within more than 20 steps of him.

Yang Yuan discovered early on that he could sense Xiao Luo as soon as she approached him.

This also led to the fact that Xiao Luo, who liked to listen to Wall Songs, could never listen to Yang Yuan's Wall Songs.

Yang Yuan has always been surprised that he could sense Xiao Luo's aura.

Xiao Luo is a eunuch, it’s impossible that he has also practiced dual cultivation, right?
But when Xiao Luo and the people from Baolong Palace appeared beside him, Yang Yuan discovered that even though those old eunuchs had profound skills and walked like ghosts without any sound, he could still sense it.

Yang Yuan carefully observed the expressions of Xiao Luo and the old eunuch who accompanied him, and it was obvious that they could not sense Yang Yuan's presence in advance.

It felt as if Yang Yuan's Sleeping Dragon Technique was naturally capable of suppressing the unique techniques of the Baolong Palace.

Although Yang Yuan didn't know why, it didn't stop him from making good use of it.

Since he could sense the people from Baolong Palace in advance, he didn't have to worry about running into a eunuch master after sneaking into Funing Palace, or being discovered by them hiding in the dark.

However, Yang Yuan's sensing ability has a range and cannot cover the entire Funing Palace.

Therefore, the more information he could know about Baolong Palace, the better chance he would have of success.

Yang Yuan stood there silently for a while, looked at the setting sun, and then patrolled the area.

As the Dragon Guard Commander, he knew the alert positions, numbers, and patrol intervals of his soldiers very well.

……

In the Funing Palace, Empress Wu's face was full of frost, and she said grimly: "You all swore solemnly that the poison the emperor was poisoned with was nothing to be afraid of, and that the remaining poison in the emperor would be eliminated in three to five days.

Now you are telling me that the poison is even more severe than it was two days ago?"

Several imperial doctors were speechless.

Guan's injury suddenly recurred today, and it looked as serious as on the first day.

But before this they had always said that the emperor's external injuries and poison were not a big problem, so it was no wonder that the queen was furious.

A medical officer plucked up the courage to say: "Your Majesty, I have carefully examined the emperor's condition. The wound is healing and there is no sign of suppuration or corruption.

The only possibility is that it comes from the poison on the hidden weapon."

But this kind of strange poison is unheard of, and I...

I need to go back and look through ancient books to see if there are any cases of symptoms caused by the corresponding poison.

We need to know what kind of poison this is so that we can prescribe the right medicine."

Empress Wu calmed down a little and said in a deep voice, "Go, don't mention the emperor's condition to anyone."

She didn't need to remind them of this, as all the imperial doctors knew the rules.

The imperial doctors agreed and tiptoed out.

Empress Wu sighed softly and walked back to the couch. Liu Wanrong hurriedly moved a brocade cushion to the Empress.

Queen Wu sat down and felt Zhao Gou's forehead, and found that he still had a low fever, just like the symptoms of the previous few days.

Although it doesn't seem that the emperor is in danger of his life, it's not good for him to be bedridden all the time. He is the king of a country.

Although Zhao Gou was lying quietly, his breathing still seemed very rapid, as if he didn't have enough air.

Queen Wu hesitated for a moment. Although it was a little difficult to say, the emperor was always waking up and sleeping for a while. If she didn't ask him now, she was afraid that he would fall asleep again in a while.

Empress Wu mustered up her courage and whispered, "Your Majesty, I have something to say, although it may be unpleasant to hear. However, this is related to the country, so I have to ask for your advice."

Zhao Gou sat on the couch with his back leaning against the pillow. He already knew what the queen wanted to say. Although he did not speak, anger was revealed in his eyes.

Queen Wu saw the anger in his eyes, but...she couldn't help but ask about the affairs of the country and family.

Empress Wu made up her mind and whispered, "Your Majesty has inherited the Song Dynasty for a long time. Now it is time to establish a successor to consolidate the foundation of the country."

Zhao Gou glared at Queen Wu, his eyes growing more and more angry.

He suddenly roared angrily: "Queen, you are so bold! Cough cough cough cough..."

Zhao Gou's face turned red and he started coughing violently.

The eunuchs and maids in the hall all bowed their heads in fear, not daring to speak a word.

Liu Wanrong hurried forward, gently stroked his chest, looked at Empress Wu pleadingly, and whispered, "Your Majesty..."

Liu Wanrong shook her head slightly, signaling the queen to stop talking. But as the queen, she had no choice but to deal with matters concerning the foundation of her ancestors.

Empress Wu pursed her lips, tears welling up in her eyes, but she still said stubbornly: "Your Majesty, it's time to appoint a crown prince."

Zhao Gou stared at Empress Wu with a stern gaze like a snake, and asked in a deep voice: "Are you looking forward to my death?"

Empress Wu said: "It is better to take precautions before they happen. How could the emperor..."

Zhao Gou was furious and trembling all over, he said: "You are just thinking about my death?"

"The official family..."

"Get out, get out!"

Zhao Gou pointed his spear at the door and shouted loudly.

Empress Wu was helpless and remained silent for a moment before she stood up, bowed and said, "I'm leaving now!"

Seeing Empress Wu walk out of the palace, Zhao Gou punched the edge of the couch hard, then glared at Liu Wanrong and asked, "Do you think I will die?"

Liu Wanrong said in panic: "The emperor... the emperor will not die. The emperor will live a hundred years."

Zhao Gou laughed and coughed a few times, grabbed Liu Wanrong's wrist, pulled her to his side, and stared at her with a crazy look.

Zhao Gou whispered, "I'll tell you a secret. In Baolong Palace, there is a set of magical skills taught by a strange person. Practicing it can prolong your life.

The only drawback is that after practicing it, you can’t get close to women.”

He couldn't tell his woman that in order to practice that kind of kung fu, he needed to first stab himself and become a eunuch with incomplete limbs.

Especially, he was the emperor of a country, if this were to be spread out, he would be the laughing stock of the world. So he could only say that he was not interested in women.

Zhao Gou let go of Liu Wanrong's hand. There were several dark blue finger marks on Liu Wanrong's fair and delicate skin.

Zhao Gou said proudly: "When the day comes that I decide to cultivate my mind and not be interested in women, I will practice the Dragon Protection Skill.

Humph! Death? Even if I can't live to be a hundred, it's easy for me to live to eighty!"

PS: I am so tired that I will code the next chapter during the day~
(End of this chapter)