After I got into the drama, I led the plot astray

Gongsun Wen felt that it might be safer for me to act alone. Now that I have gone deep into the heart of Beixiang, I have to rescue people from the King of Beixiang and escape successfully. This is a very dangerous thing. I am not even sure that I can leave alive.

Gongsun Wen said: "After today, if I am still alive, I will take you to the East China Sea to watch the sunrise."

I patted his horse and said, "Come on, don't waste time, just go. If you can escape, don't come back to find me. You have to believe that my luck is better than yours. What if you come back and fail to save me, but get caught instead? I will have to save you again, and we might both die in this trip."

Gongsun Wen's eyes instantly turned red when he heard this. He gritted his teeth and said, "If you dare to die, I will definitely destroy Beixiang."

I said, "Stop talking big. It's been so hard to save my father, and you're still razing Beixiang. You're still dreaming."

After I said that, I ignored him and rode away on my horse.

I really didn't lie to Gongsun Wen when I said I was going to the palace. My intuition told me that Zhao Zhenyuan was in the palace, and he was seriously injured and was about to die.

There are more street patrols today, and you can encounter a team every few steps.

I was riding an old horse, and I was dark and thin, like a poor country boy who had just come to the city from the countryside. No one stopped me along the way.

When we were almost at the gate of the palace, we saw a team of people delivering vegetables and meat to the palace. I don't know if it was because the snow on the ground was too thick or the meat and vegetables on the carriages were too much and too heavy, but the wheels of one of the carriages cracked with a click, and with a "boom", the baskets of meat and vegetables fell to the ground, and the frozen meat and vegetables rolled everywhere.

The leader of the vegetable transport team was frightened. He hurried over and kicked the coachman, cursing.

The groom was also frightened and knelt on the ground, shouting and kowtowing continuously.

Now is a time of trouble, and the guards guarding the palace gate came over irritably to drive them away, not allowing them to shout at the gate.

The team leader was so angry that he kicked the groom several times.

Now that the carriage is broken, it will take a lot of time to find a new one to transport the meat and vegetables. The guards are still driving them away, and the team leader is so anxious that he is sweating profusely.

I hurried over, picked up the bamboo basket, picked up the scattered meat and vegetables back into the basket, then pointed to my horse, indicating that I could help them transport the meat and vegetables into the palace.

I can't speak the language of Beixiang Kingdom, so I can only pretend to be mute.

The team leader took a look at my horse. Although my horse's skin looked very bad, it seemed to be quite strong. Now there was really no other way but to use the horse to transport the vegetables.

The leader took out a handful of copper coins from his pocket and stuffed them into my hand as a reward for me, and asked me to load the basket of vegetables onto the horse.

Although I looked thin, I was very strong and I easily lifted a large basket of vegetables and tied it to the horse's back. The team leader saw that I worked efficiently and had great strength, so he happily talked to me a lot. Unfortunately, I didn't understand a word he said.

I followed the convoy carrying meat and vegetables and entered the palace through the side door.

This palace is too small, not much bigger than the residence of a first-rank official in Dayu. The house is not grand or beautiful enough. There are no pavilions or towers, let alone bridges, flowing water, or pleasing flowers and plants. Each courtyard is very close to each other, and you can hear the shouts of the neighbors next door. It is more down-to-earth than ordinary houses in Dayu. It is said that the residences of the crown prince and adult princes were built outside the palace. Only the emperor and his concubines lived in this palace.

I helped move the bamboo baskets containing meat and vegetables to the kitchen. The kitchen was also pitifully small, only about 20 square meters, and there were only four or five maids busying around. These people did not look like imperial chefs in any way.

The kitchen was too small to accommodate all the meat and vegetables, so I helped move the rest to the utility room next door.

The leader was very happy to see how diligent and capable I was, and he gave me a few copper coins.

It was almost lunchtime, and the maids were too busy to handle the work, and kept cursing, so I volunteered to help cut vegetables and wash meat. The leader saw that the maids were very satisfied with their performance, so he asked me to stay and help, and he left with the others.

Thanks to my help, the meal that would have taken two hours to prepare was now ready in one hour. After the palace maids came and took the meal away, the old women happily pulled each other to have lunch together.

Although it was a palace, the food was very simple. There was a stewed lamb, which was still bubbling in a large iron pot. If you wanted to eat it, you could just scoop it into a bowl with a large shovel. There was also a pot of stewed fish. The large pieces of fish were stewed with spices. It was hot and spicy, and it was very delicious with rice. Finally, there was some cabbage stewed with pork. The half-fat and half-lean pork was boiled in water until soft and then the cabbage was added. It was very fresh and delicious. This dish suited my taste very well. It was the first time I had vegetables since leaving the capital, and I was so greedy.

After lunch, these old women agreed to play cards. I was very tactful and gave each of them a silver ingot. They were so happy that their mouths almost split open with laughter. They didn't chase me away and let me wander around the backyard, but warned me not to go to the front yard to avoid disturbing the ladies.

Since the King of Beixiang had transferred a large number of guards to the Black Forest, there were fewer guards in the palace. I stole a set of eunuch clothes and put them on, imitating the eunuchs and walking around the palace with my body bent.

Fortunately, Zheng Xian forced me to be a eunuch twice, otherwise I would not be able to do this job.

The Beixiang Palace is different from Dayu. Not only is the house small and there are few people, but the patrolling guards did not question me when they saw me. I walked around the palace and met the same patrol team several times, but they acted as if they didn't see me and just walked straight past.

At first I suspected that this was their trick to lure me into a trap, to make me let my guard down, but after walking around for a few times, I found that they were really careless. They would not question not only me, but anyone walking in the palace.

This way, I felt much more at ease. I no longer had to walk so carefully, and I no longer had to worry about running into the guards and being arrested.

I sensed Zhao Zhenyuan's presence in the palace, but it was so weak that it was difficult for me to determine his location.

After walking around the palace five times and still not finding anyone, I couldn't help but start to get anxious.

I don’t know when my narcolepsy will break out. If it breaks out before anyone finds the disease, we’ll both die here.

Finally, I set my sights on the Daming Palace.

Daming Hall is where the King of Beixiang sleeps and works, which is equivalent to Zheng Xian's Hall of Supreme Harmony. However, compared with the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Daming Hall is much more shabby. The total area is not as big as the imperial study in the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Logically speaking, I walked five times in such a small place, and the only thing I didn't do was to lift the tiles on the roof. There is no reason why I can't find Zhao Zhenyuan, but I just can't sense a single bit.