The first time in history

Qian Mingduo climbed into the palace through a small broken hole under the palace wall. This broken hole was called "the small door for private meetings" by people in the palace.

Some maids and guards who are sentimental find it difficult to express their emotions freely in this palace full of rules and constraints.

In the dead of night, some of them would venture out of this small hole and into the dense reeds outside the palace wall, where they could freely express their feelings and longing for each other. They could also express their deep affection and love to each other.

Qian Mingduo first went outside Zheng Dan's palace and chatted with the two guards on duty. Then he walked slowly towards Guanwa Palace.

The sky gradually turned pale, Qian Mingduo dragged his tired body, pretended to inspect the Guanwa Palace, and then slowly approached the main hall. The Minggang guards on the platform in front of the hall saw Qian Mingduo and bowed to him.

"Cough, cough, cough" Qian Mingduo pretended to cough and coughed a few times.

"Are you feeling unwell, sir?" the guard asked softly.

"No." Qian Mingduo coughed loudly again. "I'm allergic to pollen, and my nose is blocked and I have a lot of phlegm."

"Sir," the guard asked in confusion, "What is...allergy?"

"When the candles are lit, there seem to be flies flying in the hall." When Xi Shi heard Qian Mingduo's voice, her heart finally settled down.

She stayed awake all night, worrying about whether the plan to rescue Mr. Tian tonight could be successfully completed. She was also worried about Qian Mingduo, whose sword wound had not healed yet, and she didn't want him to participate in the rescue.

However, since Qian Mingduo has superb martial arts skills that can defeat the enemy with one move, it would be best if he could participate.

"I just wonder if Mr. Tian is out of danger?" Xi Shi thought to herself.

"The so-called pollen allergy," Qian Mingduo raised his voice slightly, and Xi Shi listened quietly. "It means that pollen, catkins and other things enter the nose, causing discomfort to people."

"I see!" The guard nodded thoughtfully.

"But the birds on the branches never suffer from this allergy." Qian Mingduo smiled and said, "Even the birds trapped in the cage, placed next to the flowers every day, will not suffer from this allergy."

"Once I regain my freedom, I will soar into the sky." Qian Mingduo coughed deliberately a few times, "Unlike me who has a stuffy nose and itchy throat!"

"Your Excellency is right." The guard nodded and said with a smile.

"What a crap excuse this is," Qian Mingduo laughed inwardly. "What kind of necessary connection is there between pollen allergies and caged birds? What a bunch of nonsense."

Seeing the lights in the hall go out, Qian Mingduo knew that Xi Shi must have understood the implication in his words just now.

Qian Mingduo nodded to the guard, then walked down the stone steps and headed towards his residence.

Qian Mingduo slept until 3 p.m. and woke up. The wound on his shoulder was a little itchy, and he thought it might be caused by the hot and humid weather. He peeled off the gauze on the wound and found that the dark red wound had begun to scar.

He took out a piece of cotton cloth and was about to wipe the wound. He looked up and found Jiang Ying standing in front of his door, looking at him silently.

"Why haven't I seen you these days?" Jiang Ying stepped in, took the cotton cloth from Qian Mingduo, looked at the two bottles of wound medicine on the small table, and threw the blue one out the door without thinking. Then, in Qian Mingduo's surprised eyes, she opened the white medicine bottle she had brought.

"Some parts of the wound have already scarred!" Jiang Ying used cotton cloth dipped in golden wound medicine and gently wiped the wound. "But you also have to pay more attention. There will still be blood oozing from the places that have not scarred."

"Don't let the wound get wet in the next few days." After applying the medicine, Jiang Ying took out a piece of black cotton cloth from the area close to her chest, which contained a piece of snow-white gauze.

"After I finish bandaging you, you can go find your sister who brought you medicine." Jiang Ying carefully wrapped Qian Mingduo's wound with gauze, and she deliberately used a little more strength when tying the gauze rope at the end.

Jiang Ying thought Qian Mingduo would scream in pain, but she found that the wound did not seem to be Qian Mingduo's own, because he looked at her expressionlessly, without showing the slightest pain.

"You..." Jiang Ying glanced at Qian Mingduo. She didn't know what she should do, so she turned around and wanted to leave.

Qian Mingduo grabbed her hand and pulled her into his arms.

Jiang Ying sat on Qian Mingduo's lap and wanted to stand up, but unexpectedly Qian Mingduo held her waist tightly, making her unable to move.

"What are you doing?" Jiang Ying blushed and said, "Don't do this."

"Do you know who gave me the bottle of golden wound medicine that you threw away?" Qian Mingduo said with a faint smile.

"How should I know?" Jiang Ying turned her face away.

"That was sent by Empress Zheng Dan's maid." Qian Mingduo raised his head and said, "Now that you have bandaged me, can I go to see Empress Zheng Dan now?"

"Why did Empress Zheng give you medicine for wounds?" Jiang Ying bit her lip and said coquettishly.

"That night, after the assassin confessed, I went to Empress Zheng Dan's place and arranged for guards to stand guard in front of her palace. She was probably grateful for my consideration for her, so she sent a maid to give me the golden medicine."

"You got hurt because of Miss Xishi." Jiang Ying pouted and said, "If anyone wants to give you medicine for wounds, it should be Miss Xishi who gives it to you, right?"

"Then why don't you take me to Miss Xishi and ask her for a bottle?"

"I don't want it!" Jiang Ying didn't seem to be angry anymore after hearing that the golden wound medicine was sent by Empress Zheng Dan. She looked at Qian Mingduo and said with concern, "Why don't you take good care of yourself these days? Why are you running around all day? I can't see you all the time."

"A few days ago, Xiao Wuzi reported a situation to me." Qian Mingduo said, "It was about some things about the assassin who tried to kill Empress Zheng Dan. I have been secretly investigating this matter these days."

"Is that so?" Jiang Ying nodded. She seemed to remember something and said, "Old Sun, who was on duty with Xiao Wuzi, reported to me that he hadn't seen Xiao Wuzi for two days. Did you arrange for him to join you in the secret investigation?"

"No." Qian Mingduo pretended to know nothing and said, "Our guards on duty are already short-handed, so why would I ask him to check again?"

"That's strange." Jiang Ying said thoughtfully: "Where did Xiao Wuzi go?"

Qian Mingduo shook his head and thought to himself: "It is estimated that in a few days, Xiao Wuzi will return to Chu State and see his old mother."

There were footsteps outside the door. Jiang Ying was afraid of being seen by others, so she stood up quickly.

It turned out that a few guards were preparing to go to the servants' canteen to eat, and they passed by Qian Mingduo's door laughing.

"Let's go to the kitchen to eat too." Jiang Ying said with a sigh.

After dark, Qian Mingduo slowly walked to the outside of Zheng Dan's palace.