Empress, please lay down your armor, for I will save the world with a single sword!

Thinking about all sorts of things,

Wu Liang leaped up, like a dark cloud, and landed lightly and gracefully in the courtyard of Jinghua Pavilion.

The name of this courtyard is ethereal, and it looks even more eerie at night.

It was pitch black, without a single light, so quiet you could hear your own heartbeat. A few clumps of flowering trees cast shadows in the wind, like ghostly hands.

Wu Liang pressed himself against the wall and reached the outside of the main house.

He held his breath and listened carefully to the sounds coming from inside the room.

I listened for a long time.

Apart from the sound of the wind and the occasional chirping of insects from who-knows-where, there was nothing else.

Dead silence.

He shook his head slightly. There was no one inside; not even a breath could be heard.

However, just to be on the safe side, he reached out and, with his fingertips pressed against the window crack, very slowly and without making a sound, pushed the window open a crack.

Using the dim moonlight outside, he squinted and peered inside.

The room was furnished quite elegantly, with the outlines of tables, chairs, and screens visible. His gaze swept toward the bed in the inner room.

It's empty.

The blankets were neatly folded, and the pillows were placed upright, showing no signs of anyone having slept there.

Wu Liang's initial expectation immediately cooled down.

Undeterred, he pushed open the window of the side room and looked inside, only to find it empty and deserted.

Four places: Qingwu Courtyard is Pei Chang'an's, Yunshui Pavilion is the place of that pair of "fake phoenixes and fake dragons" who played around so much, and Jinghua Pavilion is just an empty courtyard...

I've already visited three places, but I haven't even caught a glimpse of Jiang Qingluan.

How can this be good?

Could it be that Jiang Qingluan, that little vixen, is being held in some more secret place, somewhere that isn't even marked on the map?

or……

That old fox Pei Xiao never actually placed her in the Prince's mansion.

A sense of unease and a vague sense of unease, like tiny insects, began to creep into his heart.

Wu Liang took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

There's one last place.

Qiyun Temple.

He recalled the location: in the rear courtyard, on the far west side, near the edge of the Prince's mansion.

Having discerned the direction, Wu Liang no longer hesitated. His figure once again blended into the darkness, silently stealthily heading towards Qiyun Academy.

The further west he went, the closer he got to the depths of the inner quarters, the more pronounced the uneasy feeling in Wu Liang's heart became.

There are far too many guards here.

It was completely different from the relaxed atmosphere of the previous courtyards.

With both visible and hidden sentries, you could sense them almost every certain distance.

The patrol teams were densely packed, and their footsteps were exceptionally clear in the quiet night, crisscrossing and overlapping, leaving almost no blind spots.

Wu Liang had to be on his toes and bring his amazing dragon-like steps to their fullest potential.

Like a snake slithering through the crevices of rocks, he used the shadows of artificial hills, the corners of corridors, and even a clump of dense flowers and trees to narrowly bypass three obvious lines of guard.

When he finally reached the outside of the high blue brick wall of Qiyun Courtyard, his back was covered in a thin layer of sweat.

He crouched among the branches of a large tree outside the wall, cautiously peering out to observe.

Upon seeing this, my heart sank even further.

Surprisingly, there was a patrol team of six people in the courtyard, carrying lanterns and marching in neat steps, circling the courtyard again and again.

The lantern's light flickered, casting a dim glow over the courtyard.

Why is the security so tight?

This is a world apart from the previous three courtyards!

Wu Liang's eyes lit up.

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

The tighter the security here, the more important the people inside are, and the less room there is for anything to go wrong.

Jiang Qingluan... is very likely here!

The thought made him excited, and his breathing quickened.

After searching for half the night, I finally got close to finding it.

But he didn't dare to make any rash moves.

The group of people in the courtyard were walking slowly but methodically, with almost no blind spots. Forcing their way in was out of the question, and climbing over the wall would immediately get them spotted.

We have to wait for an opportunity.

Wu Liang, like a night owl, lay motionless on the tree, his eyes fixed on the movement and rhythm of the group below.

I waited for a full fifteen minutes.

Finally, the patrol of guards reached the area directly beneath the tree where he was hiding, with his back to the courtyard wall and facing the center of the courtyard, and was about to turn around.

It's now!

Wu Liang flicked his finger, channeling his inner strength into his fingertip, and a small pebble that he had been holding in his hand was silently launched out!

The pebble traced an arc and struck the trunk of an old tree across the courtyard, near the moon gate, with a soft "thud." It bounced off and landed on the ground, causing a rustling sound as the branches and leaves swayed.

"Who goes there?! Stop right there!"

"There's movement over there! Quick!!"

The guards below were shocked. The leader gave a low shout, and the six men turned around instantly, drew their swords, and shone their lanterns toward the direction of the sound, rushing over as if facing a formidable enemy.

Take this opportunity!

Wu Liang leaped down from the tree, not falling straight down, but using the momentum of his descent to make an extremely light turn in the air, like a willow catkin blown by the wind, silently drifting over the courtyard wall and landing steadily in the shadows inside the courtyard.

The moment its feet touched the ground, it didn't stop!

He transformed into a blurry, ethereal figure. In the gaps between the lantern lights and under the cover of the artificial hills and flowers, he darted and shifted with incredible speed, moving so fast that he was barely a wisp of wind, and in the blink of an eye, he was under the window of the main room.

Coincidentally, the window wasn't closed properly, leaving a gap about two fingers wide.

God help me too!

Wu Liang was secretly delighted. He quickly glanced left and right and saw that the guards were still searching nervously under the tree opposite. Without hesitation, he gripped the window frame with his fingers and gently pushed it open. The window slid open even wider without him noticing.

He ducked down, like a slippery eel, and darted inside. He then gently closed the window, leaving only the original narrow crack.

Inside, it was pitch black.

It was so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

Only a tiny, almost negligible sliver of moonlight shone through the crack in the window.

Wu Liang had just steadied himself inside the room when, very close by, a dark shadow moved extremely slightly.

Right by the window!

Wu Liang was so frightened that his heart almost jumped out of his throat!

My hair stood on end instantly!

The room was dark, like a cellar, with no lights on. He assumed no one was there, or that everyone was sleeping in the inner room.

Who would have thought that right next to the window, in the darkest spot, there was actually someone sitting there?!

The other party had obviously also noticed him as an uninvited guest.

The dark figure trembled violently, as if it were about to stand up, and let out a very short inhale, about to cry out in alarm!

In the blink of an eye, there was no time to think!

Wu Liang moved like lightning, instantly appearing in front of the dark figure!

His left hand shot out like an iron clamp and tightly covered the other person's mouth!

It was soft and warm to the touch, carrying a hint of a woman's fragrance, but this was clearly not the time to be gentle and considerate. If the guards outside were alerted, things would be disastrous.

Wu Liang simultaneously reached out with his right hand and grabbed the other person's neck.

He doesn't know acupressure, so he can only choke.

"Don't move! Don't make a sound! Or I'll kill you right now!!"

……