Chapter 18: The Forbidden Palace's Inner Court

  The road back to the city seemed more desolate than before. Qing Xia had learned horse riding in the 21st century, but even so, she couldn't compare with these ancient people who lived on horses all year round. After a bumpy ride, she felt dizzy and her eyes were blurry, and the wounds from fighting in the dungeon earlier were still bleeding profusely.

  Helpless, he had to abandon his horse halfway. Fortunately, Qing Xia was good at running in the wilderness and could run tens of kilometers without a word. Tonight's action was unexpectedly smooth, and there was still plenty of time. Qing Xia gritted her teeth, hastily bandaged her wound, and rushed towards Shengdu.

  Nature can no longer enter from the city gate, fortunately at this time the city wall is rugged. For Qing Xia, a good rock climber, nature does not pose any threat. Under the bright moonlight, only Qing Xia was seen tightly attached to the city wall, climbing up like a gecko.

  Hiding and escaping was Qing Xia's specialty, she quickly returned to the city, Qing Xia no longer hesitated, and sprinted towards the direction of the inner city.

  In less than half a cup of tea's time, she had already sneaked into the inner city of the palace. Although she hadn't been here for many days, as a super memory agent, no matter where she went, as long as she took a rough look at the layout map, she would never get lost. Familiarly passing through the front gate, she entered the rear palace. When she dodged the eastern palace guard's secret whistle and approached the Lan Pavilion, the east side of the city suddenly lit up, and the noise could be heard even from half a city away. It seemed that the guards in the dungeon had discovered Qi An's escape.

  Qing Xia thought for a moment about the distance from Chengdong to Huangcheng, furrowed his brow, and instead of returning to the main bedroom of Lanting Hall, he went to the spacious bathroom.

  It was easy to evade the guards, and after a quick battle shower, Qing Xia wrapped herself in a large bathrobe and quietly returned to the master bedroom.

  The house was quiet, it was usually the time when people were most tired. Without much thought, he slipped in through the back window and walked into the master bedroom unnoticed.

  Inside the bedroom, incense wafted gently, filling the air with fragrance. Chu Li lay on the massive bed, still in the same position as when Qing Xia had left earlier, without moving an inch. After glancing at the hourglass, which showed less than two hours had passed, Qing Xia climbed onto the bed contentedly and lay down beside Chu Li. Having made such a ruckus throughout the night, Qing Xia felt so comfortable lying on this spacious bed that she almost cried out in delight. Without even considering the calamity still lying unconscious beside her, she pulled up the covers, closed her eyes peacefully, and drifted off to sleep.

  However, tonight's events were destined not to let her rest peacefully. Before long, a flurry of hurried footsteps rushed from outside the palace, and the attendants outside stirred, whispering something about how the Crown Prince had ordered that no one was allowed to enter without his permission. It was unclear what the person outside had said, but Chu Li's personal attendant, Shi Xuan, finally plucked up the courage to knock on the door, his voice trembling as he called out softly: "Your Highness, Your Highness? Military Counselor Liu has an urgent matter that requires your presence."

  Chu Li was still fast asleep, without any reaction. Qing Xia frowned slightly, by rights he should have woken up by now, if not, wouldn't everything be exposed? Just then, Shi Xuan called out softly again, apparently that so-called Liu Si Ma couldn't wait any longer, looking like he would burst in through the door if Chu Li didn't wake up soon. Qing Xia's eyebrows rose slightly, and she stretched out her hand, pinching Chu Li's handsome face fiercely!

  "Uh..." Chu Li suddenly groaned, waking up with a start, his eyes blurry. Finally, like a lion, he turned his head sharply and glared at Qing Xia, saying in a low voice: "Was it you who pinched me?"

  "What a ridiculous question." Qing Xia glanced at him disdainfully, "Besides you, it's just me here. Who else could it be?"

  "How dare you!" The half-asleep man suddenly became furious and shouted loudly.

  "There's someone outside looking for you, they're getting anxious to the point of madness. If I don't call you, I'm afraid they'll rush in." Qing Xia seemed nonchalant, with an air of indifference. At this time, the voices outside seemed to respond to her words, calling out slightly louder: "Your Highness? Your Highness? Liu Sima has important military news to report. Your Highness? Are you awake?"

  Chu Li immediately threw off the unpleasantness and clearly knew that Liu Sima's late-night visit would not be a trivial matter. He quickly jumped out of bed and said to Qing Xia in a low voice, "Help me change clothes."

  Qing Xia couldn't help but feel annoyed at his self-righteous look, and her heart was filled with anger. However, this wasn't the right time to argue with him. So she put on a calm face, got out of bed, and roughly picked up his clothes from beside him, helping him get dressed in a huff.

  Chu Li's originally dark face suddenly looked better. The corners of his mouth slightly curled up, with a childish and complacent look, closing his eyes in a self-satisfied manner. Qing Xia saw this and became even more enraged, exerting a bit more force on her hands, the strap around Chu Li's neck tightened instantly, almost choking him to death.

  He put on his clothes and shoes, stood up straight, and walked towards the door with a majestic air. Just as he was about to walk out, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, as if remembering something, and turned around abruptly, shouting angrily: "How could I have fallen asleep? How could I not remember anything?"

  Thanks to him, he remembered so quickly. Qing Xia wore a white cotton pajamas, lazily leaning on the bedpost, holding the white jade stone pillow with one hand, and said faintly to Chu Li: "You forced me, I'll just knock you out, it's that simple."

  Chu's eyes widened in shock, completely unable to believe that Qing Xia would be so honest. Just as she was about to speak, the servant's voice outside the door trembled again: "Your Highness, are you awake? Liu Sima..."

  "Shut up!" Chu Li suddenly roared, and outside, a uniform sound of kneeling and kowtowing immediately echoed. The furious man glared at Zhuang Qingxia, who seemed to be unaffected, and said in a low, menacing tone: "You wait, I'll settle this account with you later!" After that, he turned around and walked out.

  "Shout! Shout! What's the ghost shouting about!" Chu Li Huo Da's loud roar, a group of people whispered a few words and left in an instant. In no time, every household in the outer city lit up their lamps. Qing Xia leaned against the window, covering the wound on her abdomen, looking at the eastern sky which was already slightly whitening, with a desolate and bleak feeling in her heart.

  She could only do this much, hoping that Qi An would be able to escape safely. As for the rest, she couldn't care less anymore.

  Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night for the majority of people, but Qing Xia climbed onto her bed and fell fast asleep in no time.

  When she woke up, the sun was already high in the sky. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Xiangju's big smiling face and hadn't reacted to what was happening yet. The eight main maids of Lanting Hall knelt down on the ground with a thud, facing Qingxia and said in unison: "Congratulations, Your Ladyship, you have great fortune."

  A string of voices came continuously from the outer hall, Qing Xia turned her head to look, and saw a large group of slaves kneeling in the outer hall, each with a smiling face, looking like they had picked up a treasure.

  "What are you doing?" Qing Xia's head was as big as a bucket, and she was now suffering from headaches and backaches. She really didn't know what to do, and although she was usually quick-witted, she was now completely bewildered.

  "Congratulations to the empress for finally receiving imperial favor and honor, our humble servants in the Orchid Pavilion wish you an early conception of a dragon heir to branch out the royal family." Xianggui smiled sweetly, but a scar on her face from a whip was somewhat unsightly.

  Qing Xia's head suddenly enlarged with a loud bang as she heard the words, and she thought to herself that it was no wonder. Chu Li had left late last night, and she had slept in until now. Everything seemed to be pointing in one direction: after not being favored for a whole year since entering the palace, Zhuang Qing Xia had finally been graced with the emperor's presence by the unmatched, wise, and handsome Crown Prince of Southern Chu last night.

  Oh, this is really a wonderful thing worth rejoicing about.

  The threshold of the Lanting Hall was almost trampled to pieces all day long. All the concubines and beauties, big and small, from the front and back, left and right, of the entire harem, swarmed into the Lanting Hall to pay their respects to Zhuang Qingxia, the new noble of the Chu Palace.

  After all, the current emperor has been weak and ill for a year, lingering on his deathbed. As for this emperor, the people of Southern Chu have no good impression of him, except that he had a decent son, this emperor seems to be useless in every way. In his youth, he was dissolute and did not ask about government affairs. The two wars against Qi were both lost due to his reckless behavior, and even required his own son to go to another country as a hostage just to barely protect the country. A year ago, the mighty army of Chu with millions of soldiers, under his childish command, was defeated by the barbarians in the south who held stone tools, causing the southern barbarian tribes to kill all the way to Shengdu, resulting in the city being burned to ashes. If it weren't for the timely return of the Crown Prince, Chu would have perished long ago.

  So, in the Chu palace, the actual person in power is just Chuli. What everyone is waiting for is nothing more than when that old emperor will kick the bucket.

  Thus, Zhuang Qingxia rose to prominence and became one of the most powerful women in the Chu Palace, with Lanting Hall being unmatched in splendor for a time, its grandeur even surpassing that of Danyi's Yunxiang Hall.

  Thus, the whole day passed in a flurry of activity at the Orchid Pavilion. Qing Xia, despite her reluctance, still forced herself to put on a brave face and respond to the women who came to pay their respects. As night began to fall, accompanied by the dark shadows, an unexpected guest also arrived at this most lively place in the imperial harem.

  There will be another chapter tonight, everyone wait for Dong Er. Today is the last day of recommendation, friends who haven't collected it yet, collect it for Dong Er, otherwise you won't be able to find me later. This title seems to be unsearchable on the book academy's search engine because the comma can't be typed... Hehe......