The low-key prince summons trainees from the Imperial Household Department at the start of the game.

Three days later, Zhou Xing "accidentally" met one of them in the Imperial Garden.

That afternoon the sun was shining brightly, and Chunlan accompanied him to the Imperial Garden to fly kites.

Chunlan made the kite herself, with bamboo ribs and paper. She drew a crooked swallow on it, and when it flew, its tail swayed back and forth. It looked quite realistic.

Zhou Xing ran back and forth on the grass, pulling on the string. He ran too fast and stumbled, falling on his backside.

Chunlan rushed over to help him, but he dusted himself off, stood up, and pointed at the kite flying away, shouting, "The kite! The kite flew away!"

The kite string slipped from his hand, and the paper swallow wobbled and drifted over the artificial hill, over the bamboo grove, and finally got caught on the branch of an old locust tree in the north corner of the Imperial Garden.

Chunlan stood on tiptoe but couldn't reach it, and she was so anxious that she kept pacing around in circles.

Zhou Xing pouted, looking like he was about to cry, which made Chunlan even more anxious.

Just then, a deep voice came from the other end of the passageway.

"Your Highness, please do not be anxious, I will come and fetch it."

Zhou Xing turned his head and saw a very tall guard striding towards him.

The man was in his early thirties, with a broad back and thick shoulders, thick eyebrows and a wide face, and a pair of bright, piercing eyes like copper bells.

He was dressed in the standard armor of the Imperial Guard, with a standard long sword hanging at his waist. He walked with a powerful stride, each step carrying a solid weight.

Strangely, his aura was extremely well concealed, and he appeared to be only a third-rank cultivator, unremarkable and inconspicuous among the guards.

He walked to the old locust tree, looked up at the kite hanging on the branch, and without any apparent effort, he simply leaped up, lightly touched the trunk with his toes, and landed steadily on the thickest horizontal branch.

He reached out and took the kite, then jumped directly down from the tree branch, which was nearly two zhang high. When he landed, his knees were slightly bent to absorb the impact, and the stone slab beneath his feet didn't even crack.

This light-footed skill wasn't exactly earth-shattering, but it was clean and efficient, without the slightest hesitation.

Zhou Xing silently labeled him in his mind.

Xu Chu, courtesy name Zhongkang, was Cao Cao's top bodyguard in his previous life, known as the Tiger Fool who fought Ma Chao naked.

The system gave him the cultivation level of a seventh-grade martial artist, but at this moment his aura was steadily suppressed at around the third grade, neither arrogant nor timid, perfectly hidden in the average level of the Imperial Guard Camp.

For someone as fierce and unparalleled as Tiger Fool to suppress his cultivation to the third rank requires an extreme level of self-control.

"Thank you, General!" Zhou Xing took the kite, looked up at his little face, and said thank you in a childish voice.

His eyes sparkled, full of the innocence and adoration of a seven-year-old.

Xu Chu knelt on one knee, placed his right hand on his left chest, and performed a standard salute for an imperial guard.

His voice was deep and resonant, like a drum being gently struck: "This humble general is Xu Chu, a centurion of the Imperial Guard. The kite is stuck in the tree, and it is only right that this humble general should serve."

He slightly raised his head, his large, bell-like eyes reflecting Zhou Xing's image. His face was expressionless, but Zhou Xing read something in his eyes that only the two of them could understand.

That's confirmation.

He confirmed that the seven-year-old child in front of him was the one he was to serve.

Zhou Xing tilted his head and asked in an innocent tone, "General Xu, your kung fu is amazing! Can you teach me?"

Xu Chu was slightly taken aback, then a very faint smile appeared on his lips.

He lowered his head again, his voice respectful and restrained: "Your Highness is of noble birth, and matters concerning learning martial arts must be requested from His Majesty and Her Majesty the Empress. This humble general dares not overstep his bounds."

This answer was perfectly tactful, neither agreeing nor refusing, demonstrating the proper conduct expected of an ordinary guard.

But Zhou Xing knew that the subtext of those words was that now was not the time.

Chunlan caught up, panting, and took the kite from Xu Chu's hands, thanking him repeatedly.

Xu Chu waved his hand, stood up, bowed to Zhou Xing again, and then turned and strode away along the passageway.

His back was as broad and sturdy as a mountain, his armor reflecting a dark luster in the sunlight, and he walked at a steady pace, as if everything that had just happened was nothing more than an ordinary chance encounter.

Zhou Xing continued running around on the grass, holding onto the kite string.

He wore an innocent smile, but his peripheral vision followed Xu Chu's retreating figure until the tall man disappeared around the corner at the end of the passageway.

Xu Chu was a centurion of the Imperial Guard Battalion, responsible for guarding the east side of the Qian Yuan Hall.

The Qianyuan Hall was where Emperor Wu of Zhou handled state affairs and received ministers every day; it was the power center of the entire Zhou court.

The centurion in this position had daily contact with the ministers of the six ministries, the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, generals from all over the country, and high-ranking officials from various regions who came to the capital to report on their duties.

All kinds of news would first flow through the corridors of Qian Yuan Hall.

There was another centurion like this in the Imperial Guard Battalion: Dian Wei.

Two days later, Zhou Xing passed through the palace gate on his way to pay his respects to the Empress.

Two rows of guards stood at the palace gate, their helmets and armor gleaming, their eyes fixed straight ahead.

One of them stood out, not because he was flamboyant, but quite the opposite; he stood like an iron tower, motionless, without even blinking an eye.

Instead of the standard long sword, he wore a pair of short halberds at his waist, which was extremely rare in the Imperial Guard.

Most guards used swords and knives; only a very few warriors who were extremely confident in their physical strength would choose a heavy weapon like a short halberd.

As Zhou Xing passed by him, he paused slightly.

The towering man stared straight ahead, but his lips moved slightly, and a very low voice escaped from between his lips, audible only to Zhou Xing.

"This humble general, Dian Wei, greets Your Highness."

Then they remained motionless, as if nothing had happened.

Zhou Xing did not stop or look back, and continued walking towards Fengyi Palace with his short legs.

His heart skipped a beat for a fleeting moment, then quickly returned to calm.

Dian Wei was a palace guard.

What does this mean?

This means that everyone entering or leaving the palace—ministers, envoys, relatives of the emperor, and even other princes and princesses—would be under his watchful eye.

Dian Wei could see all this: who came in, who came out, when they came in, when they came out, how many followers they brought, and whether their expressions were happy or sad.

He was a sixth-rank martial artist, but after concealing his cultivation level, he only appeared to be an ordinary third-rank martial artist.

An ordinary third-rank palace guard would not arouse anyone's suspicion.

As for the other two, Li Yuanfang and Zhan Zhao, Zhou Xing has not yet encountered them.

According to the identity implanted by the system, Li Yuanfang is a secret agent of the Imperial Guard, specializing in night patrols and covert protection of the palace.

The nature of his job as a secret agent meant that he would not easily appear in public. His activities were mainly at night, and his area of ​​operation covered the entire palace.

This person is the most discreet pair of eyes among the four.

Zhan Zhao was an instructor of light-footed martial arts and also led patrols of various palace gates.

The position of instructor of light-body skills requires frequent travel between palaces to guide the guards' movement training, and also allows them to regularly leave the palace to teach at the guard training camp in the capital.

This means that Zhan Zhao can not only come into contact with the palace guards, but also with the military officials outside the palace, and even with martial arts practitioners in the capital who may cross paths with him through exchanges of martial arts skills.

Four lines, four positioning methods.

Xu Chu stood on the east side of the Qian Yuan Hall and could hear the whispers of the court.

Dian Wei, stationed at the palace gate, could observe the movement of people.

Li Yuanfang walks in the night, able to see things that are invisible during the day.

Zhan Zhao moved freely inside and outside the palace, connecting the military officers within and outside the palace into a cohesive network.

All four of them belong to him.

Zhou Xing sat by the window of the side hall, playing with the nine-linked rings in his hand.

The nine-linked rings were a toy that Chunlan found for him, saying it was for children to improve their intelligence.

He solved the puzzle with practiced ease, as if he were typing on a keyboard.

Chunlan, who was doing needlework nearby, glanced at the table and said with a smile, "Your Highness is so clever. This servant spent half a year trying to solve this nine-linked ring puzzle when I was a child."

Zhou Xingchong smiled sweetly at her, his hands still moving.

The nine-linked rings made a crisp metallic clanging sound at his fingertips, one ring inside another, much like the power structure within this palace, where each link was interconnected and a change in one part could affect the whole.

He lowered his head and continued to focus intently on unraveling the toy in his hands.

Outside the window, dusk was falling, and palace lanterns were lit one after another.

The faint sound of the court bells signaling the end of the day's affairs could be heard from the direction of the Qianyuan Hall; it was the signal that his father, Emperor Wu of Zhou, had concluded his day's political duties.

The imperial guards were changing shifts, with new guards taking up their posts and the old guards retiring to their barracks to rest.

Among the guards dressed in identical armor and marching in unison, four people were silently guarding a secret known only to them, with a tacit understanding that transcended time and space.

They are here, they are ready.

Meanwhile, the Ninth Prince Zhou Xing was still trying to solve his nine-linked rings puzzle.