OBS Chapter 524: Searching for the Prince
Chapter 524: Searching for the Prince
Late at night, the heat wave was rolling.
The East Palace, which had long been silent, was still the same tonight as usual, with dots of light that could never be connected.
On this quiet and peaceful night, under the cool moonlight, two figures walked slowly along the edge of the illuminated street.
When the night patrol soldier saw the two men, he was about to step forward and question them, but he was frightened by the official certificate that one of them took out. He stepped aside, lowered his head and dared not say a word.
"Don't worry about me, just go and patrol the city."
"Yes, my lord!"
Li Cunxi and Ma Rong passed the soldiers and continued forward.
His target was the East Palace, which was just two streets away.
Without any effort, the two of them safely arrived outside the Eastern Palace. When the members of the Inner Guard who were responsible for monitoring the prince saw Li Cunxi's face clearly, they were immediately frightened and quickly retreated to their hiding place, not daring to show up again.
As smart as they are, they have already guessed the reason why Li Cunxi went out after curfew tonight.
He is nothing more than the crown prince in the East Palace.
One of them was brave enough to look and saw with his own eyes that Li Cunxi was holding a small oil-paper bag in his hand.
That is a common packaging method used by bakery shops in the city. I think there must be some kind of cake in it.
An inner guard also saw this scene and immediately whispered to his companion beside him:
"Your Highness, Duke Qin, the governor of Henan Province, only gave a bag of cakes as a gift?"
The guard next to him leaned his head out to take a closer look, then retracted his head, with a look of disappointment on his face.
"You idiot, don't you know that His Royal Highness Duke Qin is fair and upright, frugal and clean?"
"Wherever he goes to give a gift, it's always a bag of cakes."
"Do you know why?"
"Because he is kind and frugal!"
"He is such an honest man, how could he afford to give a cartload of silver to others?"
The guard who was still peeking out looked indignant.
He didn't think Li Cunxi was an honest official.
He had heard that officials often gave gifts to Li Cunxi, but the people who received the gifts were all the steward of the Li Mansion, the evil slave Ma Rong.
Oh, Ma Rong is following Li Cunxi.
The inner guards saw Ma Rong standing beside Li Cunxi, and he did not cover his face with cloth. His eyes just glanced at the hiding places of other inner guards one by one.
"I heard that many ministers in the court gave gifts to Lord Li."
"Although the gifts sent by those adults eventually fell into the hands of Ma Rong, the evil slave of the Li Mansion."
"But aren't bribes accepted by officials of this dynasty always collected by their stewards, guards, advisors, and the like?"
"In the end, it all falls into the hands of these officials themselves."
"I just don't believe that Lord Li is different from the others and can bear it and not ask his people to return the bribe."
The internal guard said this but his eyes were fixed on the positions of Li Cunxi and Ma Rong.
The two of them were already standing outside the main gate of the East Palace, but they were in no hurry to walk up the steps and knock on the door.
"Stop hiding! Lord Li and the evil slave Ma Rong are going to see the Crown Prince soon."
The internal guard who was disturbed by this internal guard looked depressed.
Spying on the prince was never a good thing.
Why is this idiot getting more and more excited?
Do you really think their internal security is doing something good?
If the future emperor succeeds to the throne, they must all be killed.
But this person who doesn't know what's good for him is still here, talking to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the popular Duke of Qin Li Cunxi.
"Hide well, don't make any noise, just squat here."
"If you get into trouble, don't blame me for not warning you, kid."
"Let me tell you, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and His Royal Highness Li Cunxi are people we cannot afford to offend."
"Your Majesty only asked us to monitor the prince, so we should not worry about other things, so as to avoid not doing the job well and getting into trouble."
The older guard pulled the younger guard back, and after some persuasion, he looked in a certain direction.
I saw that the pot of plant that was supposed to be placed on the window frame of the house had disappeared.
This means that the internal guards guarding there have returned to Taichu Palace to report to the emperor what happened there.
What they have to do now is to pay close attention to everything that happens in front of the Prince's gate.
The older guard, relying on his experience, raised his head slightly, revealing a pair of eyes, ready to look at Li Cunxi and Ma Rong in front of the prince's gate.
However, his eyes met Li Cunxi's the next moment.
The young head of the officials smiled brilliantly, then quickly glanced away, pretending not to see him.
The guard seemed to get an electric shock. He quickly sat down and dared not to look around again.
He knew the rules of the Inner Guard. If he was discovered and caught while performing surveillance tasks, he would not be able to return to the Inner Guard House alive. He would be punished and apologized on the spot.
Fortunately, Li Cunxi knew the rule and quickly looked away, and did not drag him out, so his life was saved.
"How about it?"
The young guard next to him blinked and wanted to ask the older guard if he had noticed anything.
Unexpectedly, the older guard shook his head like a rattle.
"I didn't see it, but you better not look up, or else I'm afraid something bad will happen to you and you'll be in big trouble."
The little guard quickly huddled into a ball, never daring to mention such nonsense as sticking his head out to take a look again.
Soon, Li Cunxi noticed all the internal guards' sentries and hiding places. His physical fitness of 110 brought about all-round changes. His eyesight also became much stronger in the dark, and he easily discovered the last few secret sentries.
After seeing the hiding places of these inner guards, Li Cunxi held his forehead with one hand, thinking that Li Xian might not even be Wu Zetian's biological son.
If he was really his biological son, why would he send more than 20 guards to guard outside after his biological son made it clear that he would not fight or compete with him?
There are more than 20 internal guards guarding the main gate of the East Palace alone, and you can imagine how crowded the other gates are.
The arrogant Wu Zetian never trusted Li Xian, and these internal guards were the best proof of this.
"Really, mother is kind and son is filial."
Li Cunxi said something secretly, and took Ma Rong up the steps and came to the outside of the vermilion lacquered gate.
He knocked three times gently, then stood quietly at the door waiting.
The old doorman quickly opened the door a crack and saw the person clearly in the moonlight, but he did not recognize Li Cunxi.
"Sir, why did you come to the East Palace so late at night?"
Li Cunxi smiled and took out the tortoise talisman and handed it to the old doorman:
"Please tell His Royal Highness the Crown Prince that Li Cunxi came to see you late at night and hopes that His Royal Highness will meet you."
The old doorman suddenly realized what was going on, and quickly opened a door on one side and bowed deeply to Li Cunxi.
"It turns out to be His Royal Highness Duke Qin. Please wait for a moment. I will have someone pass your tortoise talisman to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."