Chapter 236
Book 21 Chapter 7 - Leisurely Chatting Within The Forbidden Palace
Using his grappling hook and the cover of snow, Xiang Shaolong traversed past two palatial buildings and landed within a gra.s.sy knoll located inside a courtyard.
This building was located directly behind the mansion which Dan Meimei had entered earlier. Most likely it was the place where palace servants and maids resided.
He wasn’t worried about running into guards or hounds here, as those would only be stationed outside of the royal palace.
All imperial palaces, whether it be the Zhao palace, the Qin palace, or the Chu palace, were unique places, totally segregated from the universe around them.
Unless the King of Wei came to grace Dan Meimei with his presence, he wouldn’t run into the King of Wei here either.
Right now, the most important thing was to find a place to hide. Only then could he seek out opportunities to procure food and find a way to escape.
Right now, he felt that the best option available was to hide for ten days or half a month. After the hullabaloo had subsided, he would sneak out the palace.
But just as Lord Longyang said, if he continued to steal food and drinks over a long period of time, sooner or later suspicions would be raised.
The ideal option would of course be to masquerade as a palace servant, but asking him to disguise his much taller and stronger than average body frame into a weak, delicate servant’s frame would be nothing more than the ravings of a madman.
Glancing around him, Xiang Shaolong saw that the wind and the snow continued to silently fall down everywhere. But light shone from each and every one of the side rooms.
Earlier, after he had traversed the various mansions, he had already memorized the various buildings like the back of his hand.
These various buildings which surrounded the central palace grounds were themselves surrounded by walls, forming an independent world.
Aside from the sentries stationed on the four surrounding walls, the only guards present were the ones stationed at the entry and exit points. No other security was present.
Dan Meimei naturally would have her own personal guards as well, but they were neither allowed to nor would attempt to enter her dwellings.
So, if he was able to sneak into this beauty’s palace, he would be in the safest of positions.
Right now, he was ensconced with an open air garden. There were gates to the east and the south, but the gates were guarded and tightly shut.
After having determined his path of movement, he made up his mind and once more flipped onto the roof.
Although the rooms of the servants were covered with ice and snow, it wasn’t a third as thick as that of the city walls. In addition, the eaves of the rooms had many locations which his grappling hook could attach to. Although it was not easy to move precisely, the difficulty was hardly insurmountable for him.
When he reached the gardens located next to the inner palace, he dropped down.
Based on the architectural standards of this era, most palaces would be constructed in a place with lots of light and with intersecting river systems.
The palace of the King of Wei was basically based on an array of intersecting lines. It could roughly be divided into the front, middle, and rear districts. Arranged in a rectangular shape, it sat with its rear in the north and facing the south. The northern district was divided into fifteen sections, with the King and Queen’s imperial residences occupying the primary position in the middle.
The central district was where the ‘Three Courts’ were held.
The ‘Three Courts’ referred to the Large Court, the Outer Court, and the Inner Court. Although the names were different, they basically were places where the monarch and his councilors took care of governmental affairs.
The southern district held the main gate to the palace as well as the headquarters of the local guard force. It was separated from the primary palaces by a series of five gates.
The reason why Xiang Shaolong paid so much attention to the layout of the palace was because he knew that most palaces had secret pa.s.sages.
This was something which the n.o.bility of this age would definitely install, in order to save their lives and flee as necessary.
Logically, the King of Wei’s palace should also have this sort of underground escape route. If he could find it, he could sneakily and stealthily depart the capital.
Dan Meimei’s personal rooms most likely had this sort of escape route as well. Most likely, there was at least a 90% chance of one.
With the ‘lock opening tools’ hidden within his shoes, and his previous lockpicking experience, the locks of this day and age would absolutely pose no great difficulty to him.
As long as he could find Dan Meimei’s personal rooms, he would be able to easily slip away.
He contentedly hid within a cl.u.s.ter of underbrush, focusing on observing the activities of the palace.
Dan Meimei had just returned not too long ago. Naturally, she would first bathe and change her clothes before retiring to her bedroom.
Right now, in the palace, the only place that was lit was the place in front of him. This logically indicated that Dan Meimei hadn’t yet gone to sleep.
The blizzard began to weaken, and Xiang Shaolong inwardly exclaimed that this was not a good sign. He decided to first slip into Dan Meimei’s personal rooms.
He scurried out of his hiding place and moved beneath the window of what appeared to be a stockroom. After ascertaining that n.o.body was within, he plucked out the miniature iron crowbar from within his shoes and slid it into the opening within the window, forcing it up.
After leaping into the room, he closed the window.
After accustoming himself to the illumination within the room, he saw rays of light peeking out from behind the door. Moving to the door, he pressed his ear against it to listen.
There was no sound from outside the door. Just as he was about to push the door open, footsteps suddenly could be heard coming from the left.
Xiang Shaolong was startled. He secretly exclaimed, ‘How dangerous!’ He hurriedly retreated and hid behind a large cabinet.
After the footsteps died away, Xiang Shaolong stepped forward. Pus.h.i.+ng the door open, he carefully looked outside.
There was a long hallway outside, with three doors on each side of the hallway. It seemed as though this was where Dan Meimei’s personal serving maids resided.
Xiang Shaolong felt that this was a miserably tough situation. If he simply charged out, if he ran into anybody, he would have nowhere to retreat.
But if he refused to take the risk, if Dan Meimei’s serving ladies were to tidy the room up or come to the stockroom to retrieve anything, the chances of him running into someone would be even greater.
Grinding his teeth, Xiang Shaolong rushed out.
The inner palace was divided into two sections, with the middle section being an open air garden. Right now, he was located near the rear entrance. The problem right now was that he didn’t know if Dan Meimei’s bedroom was located in the front section or the rear section. If he knew, he wouldn’t have to blindly fumble about like he was doing right now.
He swiftly arrived at a hallway crossing on the right. Just as he was about to enter the front section, two serving girls appeared headed in his direction, a scant few meters away.
Xiang Shaolong quickly drew back. He pushed open the nearest door and snuck inside without even checking to see if anyone was within.
Before he even had the chance to catch his bearings, the door was pushed open again and the two serving girls entered.
Out of options, Xiang Shaolong was forced to hide behind the opened door. All he could do was pray that they wouldn’t decide to close it.
Lamps were lit. Only now did he see that he was hiding within the inner palace’s dining room.
The two clearly were here to gather some food for Dan Meimei. Busy retrieving and then utilizing some supplies from the nearby cupboards, they didn’t even notice in the slightest the presence of this unwelcomed guest.
One of the serving maids said, "She seems to be in an extremely bad mood. This is the first time I’ve seen her scold someone so ferociously."
The other maid was much less brave. In a low voice, she reprimanded, "Don’t speak inappropriate things. If those vile gossips catch wind of it, it’ll be terrible."
After a short period of time, the two maids took two trays of tea and snacks and left the room.
Xiang Shaolong leapt out of his hiding spot. He s.n.a.t.c.hed a piece of leftover cake, then, walking on tiptoes, followed the two of them.
Xiang Shaolong used all of his skills, slithering like a snake and scurrying like a rat, moving fast then moving slow. He avoided several pa.s.sing servants before finally arriving at a main hallway.
The two maids ahead of him entered what appeared to be the inner hallway through a back entrance.
After having found the location of Dan Meimei’s bedroom, he hurriedly flipped on top of the roof. Arriving beneath the eaves, he used his steel tools to push a window open, then hurriedly ducked inside.
He had entered a rectangular shaped side room, gaudily decorated with the floor covered by a thick carpet. His feet felt very comfortable stepping onto it.
Because the stove in the corner had yet to be lit, he felt certain that Dan Meimei would not come to this room.
There was a large door in the southern side of the room. Based on the direction it was in, it most likely led to the inner rooms.
By now, he had attained a thorough grasp of the layout of the palace.
The main entrance gateway towards the north led to the main hall, which was followed by two side rooms to each side of the hall.
And Dan Meimei’s bedroom must be located towards the south, next to that open-air garden spot. The two rooms next door must be where her servants stayed.
He pressed his ear against the large door and listened intently.
He could hear some indistinct sounds, but not the sound of anyone speaking.
If he were to go seeking the pa.s.sageway, this was the best opportunity he would have. Once Dan Meimei returned to her bedroom, he would have missed this golden chance.
Xiang Shaolong once more snuck