In the front the sugar candy stall, there was a little girl with twin braids in her father"s arms. She was holding onto a b.u.t.terfly-shaped sugar candy and was reluctant to eat it. She felt as though it was too pretty and kept on shouting, "b.u.t.terfly! Pretty little b.u.t.terfly!"
At a stall selling hairpins, two sisters were trying out different hairpins on each other as they tried to find the prettiest one.
There was a stand with lantern riddles, where a handsome and talented youth managed to win a prize after guessing the correct answer. He gave his prize to the woman he admired.
There was a pair of lovebirds confiding in each other as they rowed a boat down the lake glowing in the soft moonlight.
However, all these bustling scenes seemed completely unrelated to Bai Luochu. Right now, her attention was placed on following the luxurious carriage in front of her. She expanded her spiritual energy to the limits in order for her to detect any hidden dangers in her surroundings.
It was the start of her infiltration and it was smooth as she got through the crowded bazaar without a hitch. She was weaving through the crowd with ease and she made it look too easy.
Although she wasn"t strong enough, she still had her bizarre movement skills. With her constant practice these past few days, she was already at 40% proficiency. She hoped that with her skills, she would be able to successfully infiltrate the imperial palace.
However, the situation didn"t seem to be as simple as Bai Luochu imagined. After she left the bazaar along with the carriage, she felt that something was out of place as she traversed on the main road towards the imperial palace.
The path was devoid of human presence and no commoner would step food on it. The structures on both sides of the road were also very orderly, making it even more challenging for Bai Luochu to find a place to conceal herself.
Since Bai Luochu had already made it here, she had absolutely no reason to turn back!
When she thought about it, Bai Luochu extended her spiritual energy to her limit as she tried to look for a suitable place to conceal herself.
Once Bai Luochu expanded the range of her spiritual energy, she realized that there was a pair of eyes staring at her which shocked her to the core.
Since when did the person notice her? How long had he been tracking her? Why was she unable to detect his presence earlier?!
The gaze didn"t seem hostile and at this point, Bai Luochu didn"t want to retreat. She continued her journey even with the additional pressure put on her.
Bai Luochu was still releasing all of her spiritual energy as she circulated more spirit qi to execute her movement skill to its peak state.
No matter how hard she tried, it was useless. The closer she got to the imperial palace, the more eyes fell on her. Furthermore, all of the gazes brought along with them a subtle pressure. It seemed as though they were trying to make her retreat willingly.
Bai Luochu understood that these people were the experts hiding in the imperial palace. They were hiding along the path and their first priority was to guarantee the safety of these members of the n.o.bility and those from the aristocratic clans. They were also there to prevent any uninvited guests from trying to infiltrate the palace during this busy period. After all, their job was to prevent a.s.sa.s.sins from entering the imperial palace.
Bai Luochu couldn"t help but let out a sigh. She was too careless and too rash when she heard that the Phoenix King Valley was going to visit. Back then, she immediately responded to the Ninth Prince and didn"t think that all her preparation would still be insufficient for her mission to infiltrate the palace.
She wasn"t strong enough! In that instant, Bai Luochu made a decision. She had to restore herself to her peak state as quickly as she could!
Just as Bai Luochu was at a loss of whether she should advance or retreat, a few men who wore armor with a similar design started to surround her. The spears in their hands emitted metallic ringing as they dragged it along the ground, attracting the attention of everyone in the area.
"Tsk, it seems like I"m not going to be able to settle this without some violence..." Bai Luochu clicked her tongue but she didn"t seem afraid.
Just as Bai Luochu was intending to kill her way out, a voice echoed through the sky. It was gentle and pleasant to the ears. Most importantly, Bai Luochu felt as though she had heard the voice before.
"A servant should behave like a servant. Why did you leave your Master behind?"
Bai Luochu was stunned and when she turned around, she saw a person pus.h.i.+ng a wheelchair across the crowd towards her. The person in the wheelchair was precisely Pei Qingfeng who barged into her chamber in the middle of the night!
Why was he sitting in a wheelchair even though he looked perfectly normal? Were his legs broken?
When Bai Luochu saw Pei Qingfeng, her eyes instantly lit up! Wasn"t he a prince? How could she let go of this opportunity?!
Furthermore, it was obvious that Pei Qingfeng was here to help her. Since he had taken the first move, she would be a fool if she failed to take the chance.
"Yes!" Bai Luochu responded simply and stood beside Pei Qingfeng.
In fact, Pei Qingfeng was hesitating before he made the decision to save Bai Luochu. After all, this was the entrance of the imperial palace and today was the Empress Dowager"s birthday banquet. Everyone present were people who were from the upper echelon of society and their eyes were sharp. The Second Prince who was never close to any female actually helped a mysterious young lady out of a difficult situation. If some meddlesome individuals were to see it, he didn"t know what story to cook up in order to justify himself
But this la.s.s was really interesting...
After hearing the duo"s conversation, the guards that were closing in quickly stopped. There were some aristocratic descendants who had boldly opened up the curtains of their carriage and were preparing to watch a show. They wanted to catch a glance of the person who was important enough for the Second Prince to speak up.
"Why are you still standing there?" Pei Qingfeng acted like he was going to reprimand her while the corner of his mouth arched upwards to form a trace of a smile. It was rare for him to see this shrewd little la.s.s suffer.
Seeing Pei Qingfeng"s fox-like appearance and the smile on his face he was desperately trying to hide, Bai Luochu"s mouth involuntarily twitched as she walked over to push the wheelchair.
Bai Luochu knew that this sly fox was definitely trying to embarra.s.s her!
Didn"t she just request for two sets of expensive herbs? The poison array in his body was rarely seen and it was also extremely difficult to neutralize. Had it not been for the lack of money, she would have asked for more. She didn"t believe that the old fox didn"t know the difficulty of neutralizing the poison array in his body. Wasn"t he messing with her because of her diagnosis fee? What a petty and stingy person…
Seeing how Bai Luochu was frowning, Pei Qingfeng laughed.
Bai Luochu felt rather resentful towards Pei Qingfeng when he laughed. However, with countless guards surrounding her and with so many experts who could easily kill her with the flick of a finger, she couldn"t possibly vent her anger on Pei Qingfeng. After all, he managed to help her avoid a wave of trouble.
Without any other choice, Bai Luochu clenched her teeth and forced a smile. Maybe because she was biting down too forcefully, the corners of her mouth started to twitch as her eyes narrowed to a line. It even seemed like she was beaming as she looked at the Second Prince.
When Pei Qingfeng saw that Bai Luochu was so angry that her face was twitching, he was delighted. The current Bai Luochu looked like an angry rabbit ready to bite someone. In Pei Qingfeng"s eyes, she looked really adorable.
Pei Qingfeng might be in a pleasant mood, but he still knew that there was a limit to how far he could take things. Tsk, even a rabbit would bite if it was cornered, let alone the fact that this la.s.s wasn"t as obedient as a little rabbit. He should quickly stroke the rabbit"s fur before it gets too angry. If she really turned hostile, he would be the one suffering a loss.
"What are you doing here?" Pei Qingfeng asked softly as this was the biggest suspicion in his heart. This was the imperial palace they were talking about, not some random inn or restaurant. It wasn"t somewhere Bai Luochu should be.
Seeing how blunt Pei Qingfeng was, Bai Luochu no longer had the intention to lie to him. She blurted out, "I want to enter the palace. Do me a favor, will you?"
"What do you want to enter the palace for?" Pei Qingfeng had a suspicious look in his eyes. After meeting her once, he knew that she was a person who wouldn"t act unless she could benefit herself.
"Just looking around... After all, I"m an ignorant fool" Bai Luochu spread out her hands and smiled. "Moreover, with my cultivation, I won"t be able to do anything even if I wanted to."
Pei Qingfeng didn"t believe the first half of Bai Luochu"s reply. How could she be an ignorant fool?! She was someone who could instantly diagnose him with the well hidden poison array inside his body! As for the second half of her explanation, he felt that she wasn"t lying. If it wasn"t for him, she probably wouldn"t be able to enter the gates of the imperial palace.
After thinking for a moment, Pei Qingfeng laughed and asked, "What benefit will I get for bringing you into the imperial palace?"
Tsk! Was this karma?
Even though the knowledge she possessed wouldn"t be of help to many people, this was Pei Qingfeng they were talking about. Anything she could bring out would definitely benefit this sickly prince considering the fact that she was a medical genius.
Bai Luochu considered for a moment before replying, "The poison array in your body. I can tell you a method to help you alleviate the pain."