The Song Dynasty was the king for thirteen years before he knew that he was Tianlong.

Chapter 52: Song Dynasty Secret Guard
Zhao Ti couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly. Where were they going so late at night?

It's not that the Imperial City Division can't go out at night, but after Zhao Xu ascended the throne, almost all power was controlled by Gao Taotao. Gao Taotao seldom used the Imperial City Division on weekdays, so the Imperial City Division didn't have many errands, and even fewer at night.

Zhao Ti thought in his mind and slowly followed from behind.

The two men walked very slowly at first, as if they were taking a stroll, but after passing the Secretariat, they actually quickened their pace and headed straight west.

To the southwest of the inner city of Tokyo is Kaifeng Prefecture, and to the west is Taiping Xingguo Temple. The two men walked to the woods behind the Taiping Xingguo Temple and dived in, followed by Zhao Ti.

There are few people in West City at night. Most people who go out go to Zhouqiao Xiangguo Temple to watch the night market, or go to Dongcheng Zhengdian to drink. There is no one here at this time.

The woods behind Xingguo Temple were not big. Zhao Ti walked in quietly and saw the two men quickly taking off their clothes, revealing their regular clothes.

And the red sleeves he had seen before were actually still worn underneath regular clothes. Not only one of them wore it, but the other one too. At this moment, both of them were no longer so cautious and did not try too hard to cover it up.

Then the two of them walked out of the woods to the north, and walked very quickly towards the direction of Qisheng Temple.

By this time, it had become completely dark. Because the west of the city was not very prosperous, the lights were dim. Two figures were walking very fast in front of him. Zhao Ti had a blank expression on his face. The martial arts skills of these two people were even higher than he had expected.

Before, seeing the two of them breathing lightly and steadily, absorbing gently, I thought Bai Sheng was inferior to Su Da. But now looking at the rhythm of their body movements, they are far superior to Bai Zhan Su Da.

When did such a skilled fighter appear in the Imperial City? Zhao Ti was filled with doubts. If it weren't for his great improvement in martial arts, it would have been difficult for him to discover this.

Seeing the two people arrive at the Qisheng Temple, they quickly turned into a street to the west. Zhao Ti knew that this street was surrounded by some vacant houses belonging to the royal family. Because they were located in the west of the city, ordinary people were unwilling to live there, so they were not often rewarded.

The streets were quiet, and no house had hung lanterns, but fortunately it was Mid-Autumn Festival soon, and the frosty moon was bright enough to make out objects.

Zhao Ti's figure was like a wisp of light and smoke, floating in the shadows beside the wall. He saw the two of them arrive in front of a large house at the innermost part. He knocked on the door five times, four times, and nine times. Without waiting for someone to open the door, he looked around for a few breaths, then directly climbed over the wall and climbed in.

Zhao Ti stood in the shadows with a changing expression. What were the identities of these two people?
It seems unlikely that it was a spy from outside who sneaked into the imperial city. The Imperial City Department is extremely strict in recruiting personnel and the investigation almost goes back to the Spring and Autumn Period of the Five Dynasties.

Moreover, the people in the Imperial City Bureau also have the identity of the imperial guards of the capital. Some of them are descendants of the soldiers who followed Taizu in his campaigns. Unlike the military households of the border troops, these are all legitimate imperial guards families, so it is unlikely that they are spies.

So... could there be some hidden department outside of the Imperial City Department?

What if it is hidden from outsiders? Who is in charge of this office? No one in the court would know about it. This belongs to the secret guards. Is it controlled by the emperor himself?
His martial arts skills were not very high before, so he could not see any clues in the palace. But now that his martial arts skills have improved, he can see things that he had not seen before, and naturally he can understand them at a glance.

The Song Dynasty should have a secret guard led by the emperor or the empress dowager himself.

But the secret guards are highly skilled in martial arts and they hide the secret from outsiders, but the princes and princesses in the palace are not outsiders, so why should they keep it secret as well?

Zhao Ti stayed in the shadow for about half a minute, then he walked along the wall like smoke, went around the back of the mansion, and then his figure flew up like a night bird.

From the top of the wall, I could see a lot of trees, but the ground was dark and even the moonlight in the sky couldn't illuminate it clearly.

Zhao Ti frowned slightly. At this time, his white robe was too conspicuous and could easily be discovered. It was not a good idea to go in too deep. After all, he didn't know what kind of masters were inside. At this moment, a breeze blew, and the weeds below swayed. There was a faint light flashing. Looking closely, it seemed to be a bell or something.

He pondered for a few breaths, then jumped back to the ground, and then disappeared into the distance like a wisp of smoke.

On the second day, no one from the Zongzheng Temple came to inquire about his leaving the house the day before. When the Hai card arrived at night, Zhao Ti changed into a black traveling suit, then said something to Zheng Fu and went out through the back door.

He ran straight to the same street as yesterday. The sky was now covered with dark clouds and the moon was not as bright as yesterday. When he arrived behind the house, he gently jumped to the top of the wall and looked inside.

There were warning bells or something like that below, and maybe some traps and nets, so he couldn't land directly. He looked at the big trees. Although the trees were not safe either, fortunately the trunks were barely enough to identify whether there were any silencer mechanisms.

Calculating the distance between the trees in his mind, Zhao Ti flew towards one of them, and then used the momentum to move towards another big tree. In a moment, he was away from the wall. At this time, he vaguely saw that there seemed to be a small fish lake in front of him, with a Jiuqu Pavilion in the center. Just opposite the small lake, there were flickering lights in the houses.

He concentrated his mind and held his breath, circulating his sunflower qi, and like a leaf, he floated down lightly.

Then he continued to perform the Phantom Step, walking in the shadows, bypassing the lake and heading towards the candle-lit room.

There were no people or living creatures along the way, not even the insects chirping in the autumn night.

When he was only a few dozen feet away from the house, he suddenly heard a noise in the distance. He hurriedly hid and soon saw several people walking towards the house.

With the faint light, he found that these people were all wearing red clothes with faint patterns flowing on them, but he couldn't see the specific patterns.

These people came to the door of the house and knocked gently in a rhythmic sound. Then someone from inside opened the door. Zhao Ti looked from a distance and it seemed to be a famous little boy.

Several people entered and then the door closed. Zhao Ti thought for a moment and then sneaked towards the other side.

As he approached, he carefully observed the house. It was a common mansion-style house, with three windows and six panels, tightly closed, and double-layered window paper inside and outside. He could faintly hear voices coming through.

The voice was very low, with a local Tokyo accent, but he was talking about the border affairs between Song and Liao.

Zhao Ti listened for a while. Although it was intermittent, it seemed to be a coherent account of the man's trip to the border to do something and his battle with the Khitans.

Then the voice changed and talked about something else, but it was also about the border. Zhao Ti couldn't help but frowned slightly.

About a quarter of an hour later, the people inside finished talking and footsteps were heard coming out.

Then the door opened, and Zhao Ti looked inside. In the depths of the room, he saw a young, thin figure wearing embroidered robes, standing sideways with his hands behind his back, facing the door.

Looking at this figure, Zhao Ti couldn't help but narrow his eyes and his expression became solemn.

(End of this chapter)