Chapter 22: Xiao Cui hides her merits and fame

Xiao Cui led the group to the outside of Anping Palace. Seeing that it was General Wei who was leading the group, she was not afraid at all. Before the other party could speak, Xiao Cui said, "Greetings, General. The princess just went to bed. Can you come back another day?"

General Wei knew Xiao Cui. She was the maidservant of the most favored princess. Maids of this status benefited from the protection of their masters, and even officials like them sometimes had to be courteous to them.

General Wei is different from the generals fighting on the front lines. He is mainly responsible for the safety of the palace on a daily basis and has a better understanding of the human relationships and ways of the palace.

Seeing Xiao Cui like this, he knew that it was not convenient to enter Anping Palace for a search now. Although the emperor and empress had arranged that today's matter did not need to be checked so thoroughly, they still had to do what they had to do.

"A dangerous person was let out of the palace dungeon just now. For the sake of the princess's safety, I have been ordered to search. Please pass on the message, aunt." General Wei explained the whole story. He thought that he and his subordinates could at least take a walk around Anping Palace, but he did not expect that this maid in Anping Palace would not give way.

"My princess hasn't had a good sleep for a long time. She just went to bed. Please forgive me for not letting you in. Don't worry, the guards outside Anping Palace and the princess's personal guards didn't see any suspicious people. I think the person you are looking for is not here."

General Wei felt a little embarrassed after being rejected twice by a maidservant of a princess. There were so many people watching him, how could he manage his subordinates if he just gave up like this?

"We are only following orders. If aunt insists on not passing the message, your subordinates can only ask the princess to atone for her sins." General Wei said as he prepared to force his way in. He also had the emperor's order, so couldn't he even break into Anping Palace?

But General Wei had just set foot in Anping Palace, and his feet had not even completely stepped on the steps in front of Anping Palace, when some masked men wearing tight clothes that were completely different from those of ordinary guards appeared around him.

Judging from their body shapes, there should be both men and women.

Moreover, these people all have royal symbols on their bodies.

These are the secret guards trained by the royal family.

The actions of these people are the will of the emperor.

"General Wei, please go back."

General Wei once again replied, "I am conducting a search under the orders of the Emperor."

But the secret guards seemed to have received special orders, and they did not give in after hearing what General Wei said: "General Wei, please ask His Majesty again."

What this meant was that what happened in Anping Palace had been reported to the emperor by these secret guards.

General Wei knew that he probably wouldn't be able to enter Anping Palace today, but he couldn't just leave either.

He sent his men to inform the emperor, and he left half of his men at the gate of Anping Palace, while the other half went to search the next place.

Chu Si had been paying attention to the situation outside. As long as General Wei and his men showed any signs of forcing their way in, he would immediately prepare to leave. If the secret guards in Anping Palace tried to stop him, he would take the sleeping Ye Jinshu as a hostage.

The sounds outside Anping Palace had been deliberately suppressed, but Chu Si was still able to hear them a little more clearly by using his inner strength. Although he couldn't hear them all, he understood one thing.

General Wei couldn't come in because Ye Jinshu was sleeping.

When this realization appeared in Chu Si's mind, at that moment he had a new understanding of the tyranny of Anping Palace.

But the strange thing is that this kind of arrogance is not directed at him now. In fact, he was even protected because of this kind of arrogance. Instead, he felt at ease and even looked at Ye Jinshu in front of him with more favor.

Xiao Cui came back soon, bringing the secret guards with her.

Everyone moved very carefully, for fear of waking up Ye Jinshu who had finally fallen asleep.

Xiao Cui's eyes fell on Chu Si's sword-holding hand, as if she was hesitating whether to let the "killer" continue to fight now that the princess had fallen asleep. Xiao Cui walked to Chu Si's side quietly, and said in a voice that would not disturb Ye Jinshu's ear: "You should move away slowly. If the princess doesn't wake up for a while, you should take the jade token given by the princess and leave the palace first, and let Ji Yanqing bring it in tomorrow."

Chu Si didn't fully understand Xiao Cui's meaning, but he knew that as long as Ye Jinshu didn't wake up after he moved the sword away, he could leave Anping Palace openly.

Although he had doubted at the beginning whether this was a trap set by Anping Palace, he had already understood after what happened just now that these palace maids, eunuchs, guards and even secret guards were acting based on Ye Jinshu.

And now there is only one reason for their action, to let Ye Jinshu have a good sleep.

Chu Si slowly moved the sword away from Ye Jinshu's neck. Xiao Cui then realized that she had specifically asked Ji Yanqing to prepare an unsharpened knife yesterday, but now the sword in front of her was clearly extremely sharp.

Thinking of what General Wei had just said, Xiao Cui felt her scalp tingling for an instant.

She suppressed her body's instinctive reaction and was about to find a chance to signal the secret guard, but suddenly she saw the scar on the assassin's hand.

There was a long and thin wound on the assassin's right index finger, extending obliquely and with a fork at the end. It was a very unique wound. Xiao Cui thought that she would never see a second such wound in the palace in her lifetime.

The owner of this wound is the Fourth Prince.

That annoying guy who always speaks up for Ye Ruoyan.

When Xiao Cui thought of this, she set her gaze on the eyes of the "Ji Sui" in front of her.

If you don't look carefully, you won't notice it. Now Xiao Cui took a special look at this person's eyes, and they are exactly the same as the Fourth Prince's!
This is the Fourth Prince!

The Fourth Prince is the person General Wei was looking for just now!

Xiao Cui discovered a shocking piece of news in silence, and she couldn't wait to wait for the princess to wake up and share it with her!

When the princess finds out about this, we’ll see if the Fourth Prince dares to go against Anping Palace again.

Thinking of this, Xiao Cui had to let the Fourth Prince go. Only if the Fourth Prince escaped could the princess use this as a handle.

After Chu Si moved the sword away for a while, he found that Ye Jinshu showed no signs of waking up and his breathing was still steady. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He can go now.

Leave Anping Palace openly.

Upon seeing this, Xiao Cui took the Fourth Prince aside first. After making sure that Ye Jinshu would not be disturbed, she asked Chu Si to wait at the door for a while while she asked General Wei's men to stay away to avoid being questioned.

Chu Si didn't expect such a good thing to happen. Xiao Cui's great feat of stopping General Wei single-handedly was still engraved in Chu Si's mind. He didn't doubt Xiao Cui's ability at all. However, just in case, he chose a position where he could take Ye Jinshu as a hostage at any time when Xiao Cui left Anping Palace.

After Xiao Cui left, she went to the place where Ji Sui had changed his clothes, and sure enough, she saw the big fool still waiting there.

She quickly asked Ji Sui to change his clothes and leave with the token, and then returned to Anping Palace to send Chu Si away.

After doing all this, Xiao Cui kept her achievement and fame to herself, and began to wait quietly for Ye Jinshu to wake up.

　Sorry, everyone. I want to apologize to everyone here. Because of my deep affection, it has rained heavily for several consecutive days, which has caused inconvenience to everyone's travel. I am very sorry.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)