"Have they confessed yet?" the Emperor asked casually while looking at the memorials.
"They are extremely loyal to Liu Yan Yu, no progress has been made for now," the chief eunuch replied, lowering his head with some shame.
"Normal, no rush. I have plenty of patience. I don't believe everyone is made of iron. Use our tactics on them one by one. Don't kill them all, leave me one alive," the Emperor said dismissively.
"Yes." Seeing that the Emperor wasn't intending to blame him, the chief eunuch breathed a sigh of relief.
The people on the rooftop exchanged glances and quietly followed behind the chief eunuch.
They saw him arrive at the Imperial Garden, not far from the Emperor's sleeping quarters, and disappear in an instant.
Wu Cai Wei quickly led them to where he had just vanished and observed for a long time but found no passage.
"Could it be that he discovered us and deliberately led us here, then slipped away from elsewhere?"
"No, there must be a secret passage here; we just haven't found it yet," Wu Cai Wei asserted. Thinking from the Emperor's perspective, he had just inquired about their situation and would surely want to check on them next. Imperial palaces have always had many secret passages, tunnels, and hidden chambers. After all, the Emperor needs to leave himself a way out. They had gone to great lengths to capture these people, and it was unlikely they would be kept in some cold palace where escape was easy and information could leak. A hidden chamber would be the best option.
Hesitating no longer, they searched meticulously, not missing the slightest detail, but after a long search, they found nothing.
Wu Cai Wei quickly pulled them to a nearby rockery to hide and waited for the chief eunuch to come out.
About an hour later, they saw him again. As he emerged, he looked around cautiously. Seeing no one paying attention to him, he took out a key from his robe and inserted it into a small hole on the ground.
Once they confirmed he had left, Wu Cai Wei led them back to the secret passage entrance and observed the ground carefully. Soon, they found a small hole. Wu Cai Wei pulled out a hairpin from her head and tried to probe it, but it wouldn't fit.
"Should we capture him?"
This time, hearing her disciple's suggestion, Wu Cai Wei nodded without hesitation and personally led them to pursue the direction the chief eunuch had disappeared.
Because they had been delayed for some time, after a short pursuit, faced with a vast garden with numerous paths, they didn't know which way to go. Wu Cai Wei, relying on her past experience as an Empress managing the inner palace, knew the general location of the chief eunuch's residence and led them to the correct place.
"Godfather, you're back so late, you must be tired. Your son will wash your feet and massage your back." A young eunuch eagerly stepped forward, serving him like a lord.
"Your eyesight is good, young man. Follow me, and you'll never suffer. The Emperor is in a bad mood lately; try not to get close to him unless necessary," the chief eunuch said, closing his eyes and enjoying the service.
"Yes, son will listen to godfather." The young eunuch washed his feet while his eyes darted around.
A barely perceptible cold smile twitched at the corner of the chief eunuch's lips. He knew what the boy was up to. The Emperor was in a bad mood, and he was particularly busy. He didn't want to bother with the boy for now, letting him enjoy a few more days of freedom. Betrayal would have its consequences.
The lamp in the room finally extinguished. Wu Cai Wei lifted a roof tile and sprinkled the medicinal powder from her sleeve.
After a while, they quietly opened the door and entered, successfully obtaining the key.
The key was inserted into the hole in the ground, and the rockery in front of them slowly moved, revealing a large opening, much to their astonishment. Wu Cai Wei quickly took out the sleeping incense and quietly lit it.
Feeling it was enough, they cautiously entered. When they saw the captives, if they hadn't been so familiar with them, they wouldn't have recognized them. They had been dressed impeccably that morning, but after seeing them for less than a day, they were disheveled with bloodstains all over their bodies. Their pale faces told everyone that they had endured inhumane torture.
Wu Cai Wei placed the homemade pills under each of their noses, and they slowly woke up. Seeing the people in front of them, they immediately showed expressions of joy.
The problem was, without their restraints, they couldn't even stand.
Each person could only support one with great effort, slowly moving towards the cave entrance. "Master, they have suffered so much; shouldn't we make them pay?"
"Don't worry. They injured my people; do you think they can get away unscathed? The sleeping incense just now was no ordinary incense. Without my antidote, they will suffer," Wu Cai Wei said meaningfully.
Although everyone was very curious about what was in the sleeping incense, this was not the place to talk. The primary task was to leave.
As they left, Wu Cai Wei deliberately did not block the cave entrance, wanting the secret chamber to be abandoned. The next morning, the palace maids cleaning the garden discovered the pit. Their years of survival in the palace told them that the fewer secrets they knew, the better. They quickly moved to another area to clean, pretending that what they had seen had never happened.
Many shared the same thought. As a result, the chief eunuch had not yet attended to the Emperor by mid-morning. The Emperor, sensing something was amiss, sent someone to check. Only then was his abnormality discovered. Upon entering the secret chamber, they found nothing but soldiers who had been knocked out.
"They actually trespassed into the Imperial Palace? Do they still have me in their eyes? If they had no intention of killing me, fine. But if they had murderous intent, how could I defend myself?" the Emperor thought to himself, growing increasingly uneasy about this group.
He immediately summoned the Minister of War and ordered him to transport gunpowder, cannons, and firearms to the palace. Although the current arsenal did not have many of these items, the Emperor had witnessed their power and did not believe that mortal bodies could withstand the force of gunpowder.
As soon as the captives were brought back, Wu Cai Wei instructed everyone to pack up and leave. They had challenged the Emperor's authority, and she didn't believe he would let them go easily.
Not long after they left, they suddenly heard a rumbling sound from behind, followed by the earth shaking.
"What is that?" They stabilized themselves, looking back in terror. If they weren't mistaken, the source of the sound should be the residence they had just left.
"Let's go quickly!" Wu Cai Wei and Ouyang Chen Xi exchanged glances, seeing panic in each other's eyes. If they weren't mistaken, the sound was likely from the gunpowder. They hadn't expected the Emperor to hate them so much that he would move the gunpowder. Fortunately, they had left early; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
This time, the two did not dare to harbor any侥幸心理 and frantically led them south. Fortunately, they had sent away all the servants who were not martial artists from their households some time ago. Although they left in a hurry this time, their years of martial arts training made it bearable for them.
"Do we have to hide for the rest of our lives?"
As soon as Wu Cai Wei spoke, Ouyang Chen Xi quickly tightened the reins on his horse. After a moment of thought, he said firmly, "No. I wanted you to live a good life with me, not to wander in exile with me."