After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

Hearing this praise, Zhang the blacksmith breathed a sigh of relief, sweat trickling down his forehead. He forced a smile and said:

"As long as our valued customer is satisfied, that's all that matters."

Lu Chong paid with gold.

Zhang the blacksmith's apprentice brought over the scabbard, but Lu Chong shook his head:

"There's no need for that."

He found a rope in the shop, tied the knives together, wrapped them all in a black cloth, and carried them out the door.

As the sun began to set, the streets were bathed in golden light. He carried six knives weighing thirty pounds on his back and slowly walked back to Wangfu Street.

.........

The sun set behind the city walls, its golden light dissipated, and darkness gradually fell.

Spring has arrived, and as night falls, the chirping of insects begins to fill the courtyard.

Even when the wife was not present, dinner was still quite lavish.

Ning Nan, however, did not have much of an appetite.

He only ate a couple of bites and then stopped.

After Zhen Susu stopped coming, he had no way of getting any information from the outside world.

He was indeed imprisoned.

Xu Xiyin had clearly used a method to get the Northern Dynasty to bring him to Miaofeng Mountain within five days and hand him over.

However, Xu Xiyin's letter seemed to disappear into thin air, failing to stir up the slightest ripple in the Northern Dynasty.

For many days, no one from the Northern Dynasty came to tell him about this, nor did they take him to Miaofeng Mountain.

He took a silent breath, and couldn't help but frown from time to time, making some guesses.

Did Emperor Yongzheng or Han Chang forbid the princess from visiting him?

That's possible.

On the contrary, it is abnormal to always allow the princess to visit him.

However, apart from Susu, he had no other means to contact the outside world.

Ning Nan tossed the fifteenth volume of "Reading History and Geography" onto the table, his eyes darkening slightly.

Some possibilities couldn't help but pop into my mind, such as Susu having already been arrested.

Either Master Xu has been arrested, or Hongfeng has implicated him. King Jing and the Southern Dynasty delegation have already fallen into the hands of the Northern Dynasty, so there's no need to take him to Miaofeng Mountain...

Anything is possible.

Ning Nan could only stare intently, analyzing each point one by one, while simultaneously eliminating others one by one.

From time to time.

He would write something down on a piece of paper to summarize the situation, and after a while, he would tear the paper into pieces, throw it into the stove to burn, and smell the burnt smell.

…………

The Prince Duan Mansion is a large mansion with five courtyards, as well as east and west side courtyards.

The only problem is that the Prince's mansion has relatively few servants, only about sixty.

Among them, there were six gatekeepers, one head steward, three second-class stewards, four cooks each with their own specialties, eight eunuchs, and eight younger maids, four serving the prince and four serving the princess consort.

After all, Prince Duan had not yet married his principal wife and had no children, so the number of servants was inevitably a bit small.

There are thirty-four guards in the mansion.

According to regulations, a prince's residence can be equipped with twenty guards. The Duan Prince's residence exceeds this limit.

However, each prince could receive two hundred rations per month, which was more than enough for Prince Duan at this time.

To the north of the west wing of Prince Duan's Mansion, there is a small courtyard with peach trees, a small pond, a rockery in the pond, and willows planted along the edge of the pond. This courtyard is called Peach Abode.

In addition to the regular staff of Prince Duan mentioned above.

In the past two weeks, Prince Duan's residence has received an additional thirty elite guards from the palace, who stand watch day and night at Taoju. They rotate shifts three times a day.

The west courtyard is very large, but apart from the door leading to the main courtyard, there are only two doors leading outside.

A door located on the north side of the west courtyard wall.

One door is located in the middle of the south side.

These two doors are kept closed year-round, and are only opened when goods are being transported in or out of the west courtyard.

Several events have occurred in Beijing in the past few days, resulting in a significant reduction in the defensive strength of the inner city.

Someone saw a large army leaving the city the day before yesterday, led by the imposing Prince Duan.

When the master of Prince Duan's mansion left the city, he took some of the guards with him.

However, with twenty guards still in the mansion, plus the thirty fierce palace guards, the Prince Duan's mansion remained impregnable.

Under the cover of night,

Lu Chong stood in front of the south gate of the west courtyard.

To prevent the weapons in the cloth bag from clanging together, he stuffed it with a lot of cotton. The knives were all stuck in the cotton.

Then, by slinging the black cloth bag over his back, drawing the knife became very easy.

"Zizheng is changing shifts."

The old spy, who had been in the capital for half a month, had already figured out the rotation time, so he wasn't in a hurry. He spent some money at a small tavern ahead, watched the sky, and estimated the timing, waiting until now to arrive.

Tonight, from midnight to 1 AM, there will be no one patrolling this street.

By the time of Chou (1-3 AM)... there will be even less patrolling.

Knock, knock, a quarter of an hour before midnight, he knocked on the south door.

A bright moon hung in the sky.

The moonlight was like water.

The doorman opened the small window in the door, looked outside, saw that it was this old Manchu from Liaodong, smiled, and opened the door.

"Still gambling today?"

Lu Chongdao said, "I lost thirty taels to my brother yesterday, so I have to make up for it."

The doorman rubbed his hands together and said with a grin, "Did you bring gambling equipment? Manager Du won't let us hide dice on our person."

Lu Chong entered the room and rolled his eyes:

"Manager Du just bought one of my celadon porcelains a few days ago, worth 150 taels! What's wrong with a little fun?"

The doorman was a little envious, not of Steward Du, but of the old Manchu man in front of him who could casually buy a celadon piece worth 150 taels and give it away!

He scoffed, "Alright! If it weren't for Steward Du pointing you in the right direction, would you, Ningguta, be able to get by in the capital?"

The gatekeeper's room was just a few steps away; it was small and had an oil lamp lit inside.

Lu Chong grinned, his face crinkling with wrinkles: "That's true, I've made quite a few friends."

The two entered the gatehouse.

The doorman rubbed his hands together, his gambling addiction starting to rise: "What are we betting on today?"

He glanced at the black cloth bag carried on the back of the old Manchu man in front of him.

Carrying so much? Is it all old ginseng?

Lu Chong grabbed the other person's neck with his right hand, snap, just as the other person's eyes showed a hint of confusion.

He then snapped the other person's neck.

"Let's make a big bet," the old spy said.

…………

They stripped the other person of their clothes and stuffed the dead doorman under a narrow bed.

After changing into the blue cloth servant's clothes in the gatehouse and putting on a small cap, Lu Chong spat into his palm and rubbed his hands together.

He tore off his beard, revealing a rough chin.

The southernmost part of the west wing is a courtyard, built in the style of a courtyard in the water towns of Jiangnan.

There are three pavilions inside, and each pavilion contains a stone-carved chessboard.

The mansion of Prince Duan was previously inhabited by one of the current emperor's brothers. After that brother was stripped of his official status, he naturally moved out.

Nowadays, Prince Duan is not interested in things like playing chess; he only invites guests to sit here when they come over.

Lu Chong carried a black cloth bag and headed north along the west courtyard wall.

Not long after.

Two patrolling guards carrying lanterns were seen coming from the north along a narrow path.

"What do you do?"

It was dark and the guards carrying lanterns couldn't see clearly, so they raised the lanterns a little higher and squinted.