Quick Transmigration: Survive to the End

As part of what was called "Lezi," Xie Yong and the others had already entered the palace.

Not only them, but most of the people who had been arrested by the city patrol guards also managed to escape.

As for their methods of entering the palace, they were all pretty much the same. They either directly replaced the officials who entered the palace or replaced the palace servants who went out to handle official business.

It wasn't that there weren't any newcomers who were still stuck in the game's mindset and chose to just rush in, but they were all shot through like sieves by the Imperial Guards and bounced out, wasting a chance.

Veteran players who witnessed this scene didn't feel sorry for him; he was reckless enough to deserve a lesson. As for the number of pop-up attempts, one only truly appreciates them after they've been lost.

Having witnessed the earlier spectacle, Xie Yong and his companions recognized many of the players' faces. Even if they didn't, these players, roaming the Zero Degrees, possessed a completely different aura from the natives; with careful observation, it was easy to distinguish the vast majority.

Xie Yong and Lao Pang both disguised themselves as officials, while Yan'er disguised herself as Lao Pang's wife. Taking advantage of their close seating positions, the three of them put on a talisman and spoke openly.

"This palace is beautifully built, more luxurious and elaborate than many of the ones in movies and TV dramas these days," said Old Fatty, who was the most knowledgeable about ancient times among the three, and felt that his eyes were not enough to take it all in.

"See those roof tiles up there? They're made from seashells. And these pillars, carved with dragons and phoenixes and covered in gold leaf—that's all money!"

Yan'er hadn't paid much attention before, but after hearing what he said, she started to observe more carefully.

"The flooring is quite nice, it's smooth and beautiful, it looks like jade at first glance."

Xie Yong couldn't help but clear his throat: "This is indeed jade."

"Brother Xie, you're not mistaken, are you?" Yan'er wasn't quite sure about the value of the roof tiles, but she knew how expensive jade was. The tiles in this hall, which looked like ceramic tiles, were made of jade.

The fat man glanced at it and said, "Boss, I'm not lying to you. The quality of this jade is alright, but not particularly good. Of course, it would still fetch a lot of money in modern times, since you could cut countless bracelets and small items from just this piece of flooring."

Yan'er didn't care about the value of these things at all. Just thinking about how she was standing on a lot of money made her want to be more careful and just use them as pavement.

They talked about some unimportant things after that, but Xie Yong didn't pay attention. He just kept searching around the main hall.

Old Fatty noticed his movements and asked, "Boss, what are you looking at?"

"Find someone."

Before the old fat man could react, Yan'er had already realized: "Yinyin entered the palace so long before us, how come we haven't seen her yet?"

Old Fatty thought for a moment: "In TV shows, when very powerful people enter the palace, don't they always go and sit with some empress or something for a while first?"

"Sister Yinyin might just happen to be related to some concubine; she should be here soon."

That's what they said, but when the emperor and empress arrived together, Yin Yin was still nowhere to be seen, which made Xie Yong even more puzzled.

Fortunately, he knew that Yin Yin was not in any danger, so he could only focus his attention on the banquet in the palace.

It was with just this one glance that Xie Yong realized there was a problem.

"Why are the Emperor and Empress both sitting at the table on the right? Is the other table reserved for the Empress Dowager? But there seems to be a secondary seat next to it. Is there someone else there?"

Hearing this, Old Fatty realized why he always felt something was off: "Maybe this Empress Dowager is like Empress Wu Zetian, just short of deposing the emperor and establishing herself as emperor. Otherwise, why would our mission be to find the Empress Dowager's treasures instead of the emperor's?"

"As for that co-pilot," the fat man chuckled, winking as he said, "her husband's gone, who knows she might be keeping male lovers."

Yan'er found these words particularly offensive: "What business is it of yours whether someone keeps male concubines or not? Adding a seat at the head of the table means they are someone of high status, okay?"

The fat man touched his nose and quickly changed the subject: "The emperor and empress have been here for a while, but they haven't announced the start of the banquet yet. They're waiting for the empress dowager on purpose."

No sooner had he finished speaking than someone shouted at the top of their lungs, "The Empress Dowager has arrived!"

The sound startled everyone present.

The players were all looking forward to it, since their mission was related to the Empress Dowager, while the other natives were filled with awe.

In a solemn atmosphere, the Empress Dowager entered the room amidst the watchful eyes of the crowd.

But why is the Empress Dowager holding someone's hand?

Are people holding hands at palace banquets?

The natives glanced up, then looked down again. The players, however, paid more attention for a while.

"Damn!" Old Fatty was truly glad he had used a talisman; otherwise, his shout alone would have echoed throughout the entire hall.

"Am I seeing things?" Old Fatty rubbed his eyes. "My God, it really is Sister Yinyin!"

“My sister is my sister. Everyone else racks their brains to get into the palace, but Sister Yinyin got her identity sorted out as soon as she arrived, and she even got right up to the Empress Dowager’s side in one go.”

"How high must one's status be to be so close to the Empress Dowager!"

Yan'er, who was wearing a fan's filter, didn't see anything wrong with it: "It's all because Yin Yin has good acting skills. If it were anyone else, even if they had this opportunity, they would have been seen through."

"Look at those guys who were suddenly dragged away just now. Wasn't it because they were discovered to be imposters and were forced to eject?"

Xie Yong found their praise of Yin Yin very pleasing to the ear and looked quite proud of it.

Yin Yin noticed their location but didn't do anything special.

Once she reached her seat, her eyes flickered as she looked at the Empress: "Sister?"

The Empress didn't care about any concerns: "It's rare for us sisters to see each other like this, so naturally we should talk to each other intimately."

Upon hearing this, the Emperor and Empress said, "Mother has missed Aunt for a long time. Aunt, please grant Mother's request."

The Empress ignored her adopted son and pulled Yin Yin down to sit, giving her no chance to refuse.

Once they were seated, the banquet officially began.

The food at this banquet was mostly stews, and the taste was actually quite good, but it always felt a bit lacking after being heated for a long time.

However, the singing and dancing were quite good; few modern revival dances could compare. As for the musicians, they would all be masters in modern times.

wrong.

Yinyin noticed the dissonance in the music and looked over there.

There was someone who was just pretending to be someone else.

The Empress naturally noticed this as well, and said to Yin Yin with a smile, "This fun has come to us of its own accord."