As Jiang Tian jumped between the palaces again, he further felt the benefits brought by a small amount of ability. At least before, he had to climb walls and tiles, borrow part of the foothold and length, or accelerate the take-off. The distance and height that can only be reached can be easily achieved in one leap.
With the dual assistance of the external "guidance" module and the "field" mode, he can even soar briefly in the air like a large flying squirrel over a large square in front of the palace, or a city wall towering several feet; Leaves unnecessary traces and movements; hides from most sight.
On the other hand, the "Induction/Transmission" mode, which is severely weakened to a range of twenty steps, allows him to easily detect changes in the terrain ahead and sense that buildings are blocked, in addition to his extraordinary senses. Internal outline and personnel dynamics; think of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages in advance.
It’s just that the energy reserves consumed during this period are difficult to replenish; so they must be used sparingly. Another good news came from this empty coordinate system - Wan'er; a brief verbal exchange was enough for Jiang Tian to confirm a very important key.
More than a year and a half have passed, reaching August of the second year of Shangyuan (675); but as a severely disturbed time and space node, Prince Li Hong is still alive. In other words, he took the initiative to use his illness as an excuse to avoid being summoned to Dongdu in April this year, and successfully avoided a sudden death.
And he recovered from his previous serious illness, which is undoubtedly a joyful thing. As long as there is always the big tree of Prince Li Hong to protect him and bring about more changes, Jiang Tian's follow-up cultivation and destiny transformation plan will be much easier with twice the result and half the effort.
However, on the Qianqiu Festival (birthday) of Emperor Gaozong not long ago, Li Hong, as the eldest son and the prince in charge of the country, still had to take some of his close followers and set off from Chang'an to congratulate and celebrate. Therefore, only Concubine Pei was left to take charge of the internal affairs of the East Palace; it also gave some people a chance to take advantage of her.
It stands to reason that during this period, Mrs. Zheng and her daughter should have maintained considerable vigilance and should not have gone out easily or left the influence of the East Palace. But I don’t know why, Mrs. Zheng still went to keep the appointment. Because Wan'er was symbolically grounded, she only got the news after the fact.
So when they were temporarily separated, there was a certain information gap in the middle that was enough to be artificially manipulated and induced; it's just that Jiang Tian didn't know that there was an unknown mastermind behind the scenes, and the purpose of manipulating all this was to see Mrs. Zheng. , maybe we can get an accurate answer?
According to the girl, Madam Zheng just left her a note, saying that she was attending a gathering of family members in the East Palace. Ping'er, who suddenly came to report the news, said that she overheard someone whispering and trying to It's not good for Mrs. Zheng, but there are no more specific circumstances.
On the other hand, according to Wan'er's explanation, this kind of private gathering of the East Palace's family members/women/female officials has been held several times before; there were no obvious problems. There were not only intrigues and calculations in the palace, but also intrigues and calculations. The urgent need for communication channels and human relations;
What's more, it is still within the scope of the East Palace. In other words, Zhou Bi, who has always been from Prince Li Hong, has made them somewhat accustomed to it. So the girl back then didn't even realize he was there. It wasn't until someone suddenly came to report the news that he panicked for a moment and almost fell into someone's trap.
But fortunately, Jiang Tian happened to arrive at this moment, following her inner call. In the blink of an eye, Jiang Tian had already leapt out of the Mingfuyuan complex where most female officials and married women lived, and arrived at the Prince's Inner Square in the East Palace, and the Shanshui Pavilion separated from the palace by a wall.
However, in the huge octagonal pavilion banquet hall connected by a hundred-step corridor, the corresponding party has basically ended, and only some rough palace servants and slaves are left, cleaning up the mess of cups and plates. But there were no signs of fierce fighting or conflict, and everything seemed calm.
However, overhearing the whispers of the palace maids who were secretly dividing the leftovers of the feast and preparing to take them back, it was obvious that all the participants, including Madam Zheng, had already left the banquet and gone home. But Jiang Tian felt that things were not that simple, and he had another method of verification.
Then, he triggered the "subtle" mode in the vision panel, and loaded the cat's mimicry of smell; the next moment, the overwhelming smell and taste made him dizzy in an instant, and he almost fell from the sky. The tile roof slipped; but he slowly got used to it.
Then, Jiang Tian used this to distinguish from a large number of mixed smells, the vanilla smell that was unique to Mrs. Zheng's commonly used lavender; then, he locked on this faint smell that was about to dissipate, and followed it all the way to the corridor, but did not return. The direction of the Prince's Inner Square bypassed the Chi Pavilion.
Now there is an obvious problem. Then he traced all the way to the southwest, and this vague aura remained; Jiang Tian came to the Shangshi Inner Courtyard separated by a wall, which was also the place where Mrs. Zheng used to deliver messages in the past, but this belonged to the imperial city, and It is not the territory of the East Palace.
As the name suggests, the Shangshi Inner Courtyard is an institution that specializes in providing all kinds of food and delicacies for the palace. In addition to being responsible for providing daily meals for thousands of people in the imperial city, it is also responsible for hosting important venues such as palace banquets and state banquets. At the same time, we will train corresponding chefs, fire workers and other specialized service personnel.
Of course, for the sake of privacy and security in the palace confinement, as the emperor of the Tang Dynasty and the concubines of the Three Palaces and Sixth Courtyard, as well as the underage princesses and princes they raised, they also have their own exclusive internal dining room and small dining room. Despite this, the Shangshi Inner Courtyard is still the most lucrative place in the palace.
It is also the department that is easiest to communicate and come into contact with outside the palace; it is easy to be entrusted and influenced by all kinds of people; it is a major relationship household in the imperial city. However, Madam Zheng's breath stopped here for a moment, and was covered up by more other smells of fireworks.
However, Jiang Tian had already found his target; a young eunuch in brown clothes with a pockmarked face and tied sleeves was leaning against a wall with his neck hunched, his eyes flickering in anticipation of something. Just when Jiang Tian quietly touched the top of him, his nose trembled again and he smelled something familiar.
Obviously, he had been in close contact with Madam Zheng; the next moment, Jiang Tian without hesitation slapped his paw on the sinus junction of blood vessels and nerves on the back of his neck, knocking him out instantly. Then, as I climbed along the wall, I was once again suffocated by a thick and complex aroma of incense.
This inconspicuous house is fully furnished. However, the doors and windows are tightly sealed, with only one light-transmitting opening on the ceiling; the unknown incense burning in the copper toad stove on the ground is slowly infecting and filling the air, making people feel bored and extremely hot.
The disheveled Madam Zheng was lying on her back on the innermost screen couch unconscious. Her eyes were tightly closed, her face was extremely red, sweat appeared on her forehead, and her tightly wrapped dress was rolled and torn apart due to the heat or other reasons.
From this, the pink arms and plump thighs are exposed, and even the snow-white patch hidden on the edge of the clothes rises and falls with the rapid breathing and heartbeat. It doesn't look like he's simply drunk, but more like he's been drugged at night and is waiting for someone to pick up his body?
Thinking of the part about picking up corpses, Jiang Tian suddenly became vigilant; could someone have gone to great lengths to get her here just to do something? The next moment, Jiang Tian heard the sound coming from far and near, but it was the stumbling steps of someone supporting him.
At this moment, Jiang Tian suddenly understood something; then without hesitation, he knocked down the heavy incense burner with one paw, wiped out the remainder and took away part of it. He rushed to Mrs. Zheng's side again, and a ball of water appeared out of thin air, pouring it on her unconscious face, choking her and waking her up instantly.
"..." The next moment, Madam Zheng struggled to get up like a dehydrated fish. Her wet and messy temples showed confusion, hesitation and panic, but she saw someone squatting next to her with eyes that were dark and piercing. All the long-haired black raccoon flowers; couldn’t help but try cautiously:
"Mr. Tanuki?"
"It's me!" Jiang Tian nodded and said, "But do you know what your situation is now? And where you are?"
Madam Zheng looked around her surroundings and once again showed a struggling and confused expression: "I... I must have drank a few more cups of cinnamon twig dew at the banquet in the inner palace, and then asked someone to help me." I went back to rest, how could...how could I be in this strange place?"
"This is already outside the East Palace. It seems that you have fallen into the trap of others' schemes." Jiang Tian looked at her meaningfully again and said: "If Wan'er hadn't been praying day and night, I would have been saved in this world. The incarnation of my body is condensed again, I'm afraid it will leave you with a great regret."
At this time, footsteps from outside also approached the door, and then someone pushed the door open. However, the moment the other person put his head in, he suddenly felt a pain in the back of his head and lost consciousness; then a short strong wind sounded, and he entered Several other people in the small courtyard also fell to the ground one after another.
But it was a few low-level eunuchs in brown clothes and hats, and an unlucky guy who was also drunk and unconscious, who was carried by them, fell headlong onto the cold pebbles. Jiang Tian just glanced at the other party's clothes and determined that he seemed to be an official of the East Palace.
Obviously, this is another party who was arranged to create some kind of fait accompli. Afterwards, these eunuchs were easily dragged into the room by Jiang Tian, and then his claws were used to scratch their clothes. Finally, the furnace of incense was relit and the doors and windows were sealed.
Then he threw the unlucky guy who was sent into a ditch and let the water wash away him. While slowly sobering up, Jiang Tian once again said to Mrs. Zheng who was still stumbling and unsteady: "Are you willing to believe me again?" Me once? Then close your eyes and don’t open them without instructions..."
(End of chapter)
