My Lord, the princess doesn't want you anymore.

Cui Hongjing shook his head gently. "They will be fine. If they don't even have this ability, they are not worthy of cooperating with this king."

"That's true." Zhuang Xiang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. "Mr. Li's intelligence and martial arts are indeed unparalleled in the world, and he is also handsome... No, I mean... of course he is not as good as you, Your Majesty... The princess will not be attracted to him, he is so ugly..."

Zhuang Xiang said things against his will, his voice getting lower and lower, and finally his head was retracted into his collar.

Cui Hongjing then moved his glare away from his face and suddenly rushed out of the tent like an arrow.

Zhuang Xiang had heard some slight movement outside the tent, but he was not as fast as the prince. When he went out, he saw that it was Xiang Zhong.

"To the old general?" Zhuang Xiang tried his best to make his voice sound relaxed. "It's so late, and the old general hasn't fallen asleep yet? This is really hard work, really hard work..."

Cui Hongjing bowed slightly to Xiang Zhong as a junior, and calmly made a "please" gesture.

Xiang Zhong calmly straightened his clothes, without saying anything polite, and without the slightest embarrassment of being caught eavesdropping, he entered the tent and sat down.

Although Xiang Zhong was only a deputy general on this trip, he always had a very high prestige in the army. He had made great military achievements when the late emperor was still alive. The late emperor appointed him as the general of Pu State.

Although Cui Hongjing was a prince, he was still a junior in front of him.

"I was half asleep when I heard some noise over here, as if something was flying over here. I saw the light in the prince's tent was still on, so I came over to take a look." Xiang Zhong spoke only after Cui Hongjing sat down.

Cui Hongjing smiled slightly, poured a cup of tea himself, and pushed it in front of Xiang Zhong with both hands: "Please - I don't know how long the old general has been here?"

Xiang Zhong looked calm, "Your Highness, what you are asking is, how long can I stay here? With your martial arts skills, I'm afraid you would have noticed me before I even get close."

"Is the old general trying to hide something by speaking in such a tone?"

Xiang Zhong did not answer, but picked up the teacup on the small table, drank it all, put it down, and raised his eyelids, "As far as I can remember, I have only been on an expedition with the prince once before. This is the second time."

Cui Hongjing didn't respond and just listened to him continue.

"I remember that in the ninth year of Zhenyuan, the old tribes of Nanyue started a rebellion in Yuezhou again. It was I who strongly recommended the prince to be the deputy general. At that time, the prince was only fourteen years old."

Cui Hongjing refilled Xiang Zhong's teacup before speaking slowly, "That was my first time on the battlefield. I didn't understand many things, so I relied on the old general's guidance. I still remember that in the last battle, I was outnumbered and almost died in Yuezhou, but it was the old general who saved my life."

"It is my duty as an old minister to protect the prince. Your Majesty, don't worry about it."

"How dare I forget your life-saving grace? Otherwise, wouldn't I be no different from an animal?"

"Speaking of which, with your martial arts skills, even though you were only fourteen years old, you would never put yourself in such a dangerous situation. That time, you also wanted to save the lives of the people. In a desperate situation, you flew down the city wall alone and killed the rebels by yourself. This pure heart and courage really make this old minister admire you."

"You are overpraising me, old general."

After a short silence, Xiang Zhong sighed, "I remember that when the late emperor was still alive, he loved you the most... The late emperor was very kind to me. To be honest, the late emperor treated me like a close friend. He often told me that among all the princes and grandchildren, you are the most like him."

Cui Hongjing pulled a bitter smile from the corner of his mouth, "This prince also knows that my grandfather doted on me too much. Not only the princes and grandchildren, but also many court officials have objections, which has made me many enemies. Old general, please don't mention the past anymore."

"Thinking carefully, I have never spoken to Your Majesty like this. If it weren't for this expedition, there would be no chance." Xiang Zhong's lips trembled slightly. He wanted to say something, but held back.

He stood up and shook his robes. "It's getting late, so I'll take my leave. Your Majesty, please take a rest. We have to travel again at daybreak."

"Goodbye, old general." Cui Hongjing respectfully escorted Xiang Zhong to the door of the tent, bowed again, and then entered the tent.

"Your Highness?" Zhuang Xiang was a little anxious. "I wonder if he heard what we just said. Your Highness, why did you let him go like this?"

Cui Hongjing took a deep breath and murmured, "I have heard what he wanted to say... Go to sleep for a while, I believe there will be good news soon..."

***

The fire in Muling Lane shook the entire capital. By late night, the palace, which had been in turmoil all day, finally quieted down.

The palace wall was high, but it couldn't stop Li Mo. He easily climbed in.

The Jinxiu Palace where Concubine Wan lived was surrounded by two layers of imperial guards, and guards were patrolling back and forth at all times.

"Everyone, pay attention and watch carefully. We must ensure the safety of the imperial concubine." The captain of the guards warned everyone softly while patrolling.

"Yes!"

In the darkness, Li Mo's eagle-like eyes searched around Jinxiu Palace several times, with a hint of sneer on the corner of his mouth.

Then he left.

Cui Hongjing was right, this was just a sleight of hand, and Concubine Wan was most likely transferred to another party.

Li Mo has come to check out the place for two consecutive nights. Based on the information he has learned so far, he speculates that Concubine Wan may be under house arrest by Cui Qimo in two places: the Jinxiu Palace and the cold palace.

At this moment, he was almost certain that Concubine Wan was not in Jinxiu Palace.

He walked silently through the deep plum forest in the palace. The red plums had withered, but the fragrance of plums seemed to linger in the air.

He couldn't help but think of the woman named Mei again. The corners of his lips rose unconsciously. He slowed down his pace a little, and soon continued to move forward.

The cold palace is located in the northeast corner of the harem, remote and quiet, so the environment is naturally not good. Because there are very few palace servants to take care of it, the trees around it grow in a disorderly manner.

Li Mo was lurking in the messy bushes, looking at the cold palace which was as calm as a pool of stagnant water but hidden dangers, and he was not anxious at all.

It has been a long time since the beginning of spring, and occasionally there are brief chirping of insects in the grass.

The sound of insects made Li Mo feel extremely calm.

He remembered the place where he lived when he was a child. There was a small stream in front of the yard. In the summer evenings, frogs would croak everywhere, and various insects, whether known or unknown, would chirp happily. Sometimes, he would snuggle in his mother's arms, and his mother would gently pat his back and hum a song for him. The song and the chirping of insects outside the house were like the most beautiful hypnotic music in the world, and he would always fall asleep quickly and sweetly. When he woke up, he was still lying in his mother's arms.

Those days were so beautiful, so beautiful that when I think back on them now, they seem like a distant dream.

But sometimes, he would have nightmares, very scary nightmares…

Suddenly, he flew out of the bushes, stuck to the wall of the cold palace, looked around, and climbed in.

Li Mo had been scouting the cold palace for two days, and on the surface it seemed very peaceful, with only a few normal palace servants coming in and out in accordance with the rules. But he found that these palace servants had actually been replaced, and some of them were imperial guards who were extremely good at concealing their skills.

"Meow——" Li Mo suddenly made a cat's cry in the darkness, and immediately two palace servants appeared from some dark corner.

Li Mo threw the stone in his hand quickly. The two palace servants fell silently.

Li Mo waited for a while, and seeing no movement, he came out from the shade, dragged the two men into the bushes, and directly pressed their fatal points.

The cold palace was not big, so it was not difficult to find Concubine Wan, because where Concubine Wan was, there must be imperial guards hiding.

With Li Mo's hearing ability, he could detect someone breathing within ten feet.

Finally, he set his sights on an extremely dilapidated courtyard.

We can only force our way in, but we have to do it quickly, otherwise it will alert more guards and cause trouble.

"Who is sneaking around there?" Guards immediately rushed out.

Li Mo walked out with a smile on his face.

The guards surrounded them without saying a word.

There were not many people on the other side, only about a dozen, but each of them was very skilled and more difficult to deal with than Li Mo had imagined.

It’s a pity that their opponent is Li Mo, a man whose martial arts skills even Cui Hongjing thinks are unfathomable.

Suddenly, another dark shadow emerged from the darkness.

……