The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 214 Entering the Palace
Li Miao held Princess Si Rou in his arms and walked into the palace with Zhu Zai. After verifying their identities, they followed a young eunuch and walked deeper into the palace.

The Forbidden City covers an area of nearly 1,000 acres and is extremely vast. There are many palaces in it, and each palace has its specific purpose. Many times, officials who are well versed in the palace rules can roughly guess the emperor's thoughts just by the place where they meet the emperor.

Banquets held in the Forbidden City naturally have their own rules.

For example, the Fengtian Hall, Huagai Hall, and Jinshen Hall are mainly used for more important ceremonies. Banquets are usually held in these places during the three major festivals, namely New Year's Day, Winter Solstice, and Wanshou Festival. By then, all officials and royal family members will gather here, making the scene a spectacular one.

For example, the Wenhua Hall was generally used for lectures by royal family members or banquets after the imperial lectures, and was often used when the crown prince and princes entered the palace to attend government affairs.

This time, the family dinner was held in the Qianqing Palace.

This is the emperor's residence, and being able to participate in the banquets here is the emperor's way of showing favor.

The royal family members following Li Miao and Zhu Zai were not favored. It was obviously their first time in the Qianqing Palace, and they were all flushed with excitement.

Li Miao chuckled.

"Commander, look at those idiots in your family at the back, they are still happy."

Zhu Zai glared at Li Miao.

"We are in the palace now, and there are spies everywhere. Control your temper and don't talk nonsense."

"Yes, yes."

Li Miao smiled and then whispered.

"Speaking of which, Commander, we have found out the purpose of this family dinner. It is to set a trap for Emperor Jianwen."

"But, there is one more thing, I wonder if you have ever thought about it."

Zhu Zai turned and looked at Li Miao.

"what's up?"

"Emperor Jianwen is not only your ancestor for eight generations, but also the emperor's ancestor for eight generations."

"I don't know what evil power Emperor Jianwen practiced, but he picked you Zhu family members like pig's trotters, but who knows if our Majesty would like it too..."

Li Miao took Princess Si Rou's hand and pretended to bite it, scaring the little girl so much that she shrank into Li Miao's arms.

Zhu Zai's face turned pale and he quickly whispered.

"Haven't you already found out that he was possessed by Ji Tianrui, who used a poisonous insect to take away his celestial realm?"

Li Miao spread his hands.

"I just found the poisonous insect in his grave. I didn't say that Ji Tianrui would succeed."

"Commander, I told you that the emperor 'may' have been replaced, 'may'."

Li Miao said with a chuckle.

"And the poisonous insect of the Miao King didn't really replace the person. The person is still the same person, and he still remembers everything he should remember, but the things he cares about have changed."

In the pupae room in Miaojiang, Li Miao clearly saw how Ge Puqi, who was transformed into the Miao King by the poisonous insect, treated Yongjie.

She still remembers how she addressed Yongjie when they were together, and can easily act out how she loved Yongjie back then. She knows everything about Yongjie clearly.

She just—didn’t care anymore.

There were countless people in Shuntian Prefecture who made their living by guessing the emperor's thoughts, and any slight change would be pondered over and over again. If Ji Tianrui was possessed by someone similar to "soul-traveling", I'm afraid he would be discovered within three days.

"If the emperor already knew about the evil martial arts of Emperor Jianwen, he would still remember it even if Ji Tianrui replaced him. It goes without saying if he hadn't been replaced."

"You might also be one of the main dishes at this family dinner..."

Li Miao lowered his voice and spoke sinisterly.

"As a guard, I cannot enter the Palace of Heavenly Purity. If the emperor wants to eat you, I won't be able to save you in time..."

Zhu Zai shuddered suddenly and lowered his voice.

"Why didn't you say so earlier!?"

“I just remembered that too.”

Li Miao said with a smile.

Zhu Zai knew Li Miao too well. Seeing his lazy look, he knew that he was teasing him again. If he was really in danger, Li Miao would not have such an indifferent expression.

He stopped talking and just glanced at Li Miao. Li Miao saw that Zhu Zai noticed and stopped teasing the old man.

He handed Princess Si Rou to Zhu Zai, slowed down his pace, and fell behind the royal family members.

He stepped on corners covered by shadows and blind spots of the royal family's vision. This was a light skill he created by himself, called "Shadow Step".

At this time, no one noticed that he had already arrived behind the crowd.

Li Miao picked among several clan members and chose one of similar stature. He raised his hand and pointed at the side of his neck.

The man didn't say a word, and his body immediately went limp.

Li Miao stepped forward to catch it, then raised his hand and pressed it on the man's face.

In a moment, the man's facial muscles moved and he became like Li Miao now. Li Miao wiped his face again and became like him.

Then he took off his outer robe and changed his clothes. Li Miao looked himself up and down and nodded with satisfaction.

He cleared his throat and shouted in surprise.

"Oh, what happened to you!"

When the people in front heard the sound, they turned around and saw Li Miao holding the man with an anxious look on his face, and they all gathered around.

Zhu Zai walked over, stretched out his hand to pinch the man's pulse, pretending to be investigating.

After a while, he stood up and said in a cold voice.

"Humph, my guard is really useless. He was frightened by what happened just now and became possessed and fainted."

"My Lord, please find someone to send him back to my mansion."

The young eunuch nodded and asked someone to carry him away.

The rest of the people then continued walking towards the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Zai used the excuse of "My guard has caused you trouble" to chat with Li Miao and they got together again.

Li Miao took Princess Si Rou in his hand and spoke a few words in her original voice. Although the little girl didn't know what was going on, she stopped struggling when she heard the familiar voice.

"How's it going, Commander? You're not afraid now, are you?"

Li Miao said with a chuckle.

"Humph!"

Zhu Zai snorted coldly.

"What about that royal family member? It will be troublesome again when he wakes up."

"Oh, we are the Royal Guards."

Li Miao said.

"Find him something to do, lock him up for a few days, and serve him good food and wine. Release him after the matter is settled. I don't think his relatives and friends will dare to come to Jinyiwei to ask for him."

Zhu Zai let out a long sigh.

"That's it. It's not a big deal."

As the two were talking, they finally arrived outside the Qianqing Palace.

As soon as he entered the door, a young woman walked over quickly, looked around, and when she saw Princess Sirou in Li Miao's arms, tears welled up in her eyes.

"Sister!"

When Princess Sirou saw her, she couldn't help crying.

Zhu Zai secretly poked Li Miao's waist and whispered.

"Is this your lover?"

"one."

Li Miao also said in a low voice.

"Let's get acquainted. I'll need you to look after me when I travel around the world."

(End of this chapter)