An eight-year-old kid emptied his scumbag father's warehouse and followed his grandparents into

Seeing the palace gates nearby open and the masters of each household emerging one after another, they couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. One maid in pink even grabbed her companion's sleeve in excitement.

"Great, it's our turn now," someone cheered immediately, their voices filled with relief. Several maids were already eagerly tidying up their dresses and hair.

"Let us out!" Someone else banged on the door, their palms hitting the heavy wooden door with a dull thud. One daring woman even used her shoulder to push against the door, prompting others to follow suit.

Almost everyone in the room stood up and crowded forward, making rustling sounds from the friction of fabrics and jingling sounds from the collision of pearl hairpins, and they almost broke the door open.

Only Jing Chunxi was sitting there leisurely. Even though everyone around her had left and she was the only one left on the bench, she still dangled her legs back and forth, the tips of her embroidered shoes drawing tiny arcs of light in the candlelight, and she didn't seem to be in a hurry at all.

"Why don't you open the door for us? Let us out quickly." The maids and servants became anxious when they saw that no one opened the door, and they banged on the door.

An old woman in a brown bodice even started banging on the door with a copper basin, and the harsh sound of the metal colliding echoed in the small room.

The masters who had already walked out of the door could not go this way, but were stopped on the right. The guards held their spears horizontally to form a barrier, preventing them from approaching the row of houses on this side.

Seeing that the crowd was too crowded, some people had already squeezed out. Further ahead was the corridor leading to the palace gate. They must want to go back as soon as possible.

But most people did not leave. They gathered together and whispered, discussing what had happened. The women's skirts swayed gently in the night breeze, like a restless sea of ​​flowers.

"How can we go home if we don't let the servants out? Can we let them stay here overnight?"

Feeling that Ling'er was pulling her hand tightly, the force was almost pinching into her flesh, and she kept pushing with her small hands, signaling her to move forward, Princess Hongjun had no choice but to take two steps forward and speak to the imperial guards who were blocking them.

She deliberately raised her voice so that the captain of the guards in the distance could hear her.

They were eager to know whether Jing Chunxi had been caught. As long as she was still in the house, it meant that she was fine.

The Princess kept glancing at the row of houses, but all she saw were shaking window papers, blurry figures, and noisy sounds.

"My daughter just came out to use the toilet and hasn't returned yet. I want to see if she is locked up inside." A lady dressed in the uniform of a fourth-rank official heard someone speak and hurriedly stood up. Her tall and thin figure was very conspicuous in the crowd. She was very thin, but her face was a little round. You could tell at a glance that she was a kind person.

She looked extremely anxious, and as she spoke she was twisting a handkerchief embroidered with plum blossoms in her hands, which had been crumpled beyond its shape.

As she spoke, she tried to squeeze in, but was stopped by a guard holding a large sword. The gleaming blade was in front of her, frightening her so much that she took two steps back and almost stepped on her skirt.

The guard's cold and hard voice was particularly clear in the night: "An assassin has entered the palace. Martial law has been issued. No one is allowed to move without permission. Everyone should stay put."

The voice, without a trace of warmth, seemed extremely cold in the winter wind, and many people couldn't help shivering.

"There are assassins in the palace. Please cooperate with the search."

When they heard the clanging of the guards' swords mixed with the loud shout, they realized that the cause of the incident was an assassin who had sneaked into the palace.

The frost on the guard's armor had not yet completely melted, and the white breath he exhaled condensed on his beard and eyebrows. His voice was like ice: "Officials and female relatives of all officials, please leave!"

"Hurry up and go, lest the night be too long and full of dreams." A lady wearing a crimson satin jacket with embroidered patterns clenched the brocade handkerchief in her hand, and looked at the gilded armor flashing coldly under the palace lanterns, and she couldn't help feeling fear in her heart.

The noble lady with a bun next to her suddenly remembered something, turned to the man beside her and whispered: "Let's go back first, the maid will ask the coachman to pick us up later..." The second half of the sentence turned into a sigh and dissipated in the breeze.

"We're all servants anyway, so don't let yourself get into trouble." The young lady in the apricot-yellow horse-faced skirt covered her face with a round fan and sneered. The bracelet on her wrist made a crisp sound when it hit the white marble railing. "Tomorrow, have the butler come and take the person away with the indenture."

Several nobles were worried about the lives of their servants. After hearing the gossip, the nobles who originally wanted to stay for a while to find out the news and wait for the maids and old women to go back together suddenly made up their minds and wanted to go back home immediately.

Skirts embroidered with gold and phoenixes swept across the steps, and pearl hairpins and jade pendants clashed with a chaotic, clear sound in the twilight. In less than half a cup of tea, the bustling outer court gates were mostly empty, with only a few brave families, or those who cared for their elderly servants, still huddled behind the coiled dragon screen wall to peek out.

Princess Hong squeezed Ling'er's sweaty little hands until they turned white, and the tassels of her golden phoenix hairpin trembled like a startled bird.

Prince Jing caught a glimpse of the jade pendant with dragon pattern swaying at Prince Hong's waist, and his black python robe brushing against the unmelted spring snow on the steps. He winked at him and quietly retreated to the shadow beside the stone lion on the right. A moment later, Prince Hong walked past into the darkness beside him and disappeared.

The chief guard swept his eagle-like eyes as he entered the newly opened room, and drew his embroidered spring sword from his waist three inches away: "Old women on the left, maids on the right!" The scabbard slammed heavily on the palace wall, "Who dares to fish in troubled waters--" The second half of the threat, accompanied by the clanging sound of iron armor, was chilling.

After hearing these two sentences outside, Jing Chunxi slowly stood up in the house, and her fingertips brushed across the fine pleats on the hem of her skirt.

She suddenly loosened the silk belt around her waist, making the shirt, which originally fitted her well, looser and making herself look less thin.

The plain jade hairpin was swiftly withdrawn, and her carefully tied up bun instantly cascaded down. Her fingers flew, and in a blink of an eye, she had tied her long black hair into the most common double buns among little girls, even deliberately pulling out a few strands to let them dangle by her ears.

The carved door of the adjacent dressing room creaked open, and the first to emerge was an elderly maid, her coarse cloth shoes rustling against the gold bricks. Next came a round-faced maid in an indigo bodice, clutching half a piece of uneaten Poria cocos cake.

Behind them were several distinguished guests, including both ladies and young ladies.

"My dearest!" A tearful cry suddenly erupted. A woman dressed in the attire of a fourth-rank noblewoman rushed forward and embraced the slender girl, wrinkling the lotus pattern on her moon-white shirt.

After calling out "Mom", the girl's face was full of surprise. The two of them hugged each other and left the team without being scolded. Several guards just glanced at the girl for a second longer, and since she was not the person they were looking for, they ignored them.

The two of them stepped out and hugged each other for a while, calming down, but they were reluctant to leave. Instead, they took a few steps closer to Princess Hong. The girl's eyes were always glued to the figures that came out one after another.