Chapter 47 Going to the Capital
On the mountain forest road, Ruan Xing rode a chestnut pony slowly. After using one simulation, Ruan Xing successfully acquired the basic riding skills.
Anyway, I have money. I have more than 4 million points in the simulation, and I have more than 30,000 taels of silver notes on me. It doesn't matter if I make a living this once or twice.
Then you have to choose between the Imperial Palace branch and the National Master Palace branch.
Judging from her memories of the previous assassination attempts by the old eunuchs, the old eunuchs sent by the palace were not much higher in realm than hers. They should have been acquired skills as well. It’s just that the effects of the true qi used in their skills were slightly different, and their moves were more sophisticated than hers. Moreover, there were several of them bullying her alone, so she was caught between a rock and a hard place and found it difficult to cope with them.
But maybe the emperor thought she was not capable enough and did not send a master of innate talent.
Ruan Xing decided to go through both branches first.
[Simulating]
At the age of six, you left Jiangning City, traveled day and night, and finally arrived at the capital Huaining.
Late at night, you tried to break into the palace. You were discovered just after you climbed over the first wall and were besieged by guards. After injuring several guards, you used the [疾] spell and crossed a hundred feet in a few breaths and stepped into the second wall. More and more people besieged you, including many masters in the acquired realm. You used the [破] spell to try to break the encirclement, but for some reason your [破] spell was not as powerful as before. You wanted to summon a sword, but the sword did not give you any response, and you died.
[End of simulation]
Please select the reward for this simulation:
1. Memories from when I was six years old.
2. A random item that was on my body when I was six years old.
3. A random skill mastered at the age of six.
4. The realm of cultivation reached at the age of six.
Ruan Xing chose to remember. She observed carefully and discovered the reason. When she stepped into the first palace wall, she did not make any sound, and no guards saw her in person. But a few seconds later, the patrolling guards rushed over from all directions as if they knew her location. After passing the second palace wall, she clearly felt in her memory that the air began to have a sense of stagnation and resistance like water, so the effect of her talisman became weaker, and it seemed to have an isolating effect, making it impossible for her to call on the sword for help.
What is this? Is it a formation? With such a magical effect, Ruan Xing guessed that this should be the formation of the immortal world, but she knew nothing about it and had no idea how the guards knew her location. Breaking into the palace by force was not feasible, so she would try the Imperial Master's Palace next.
The Palace of the National Master is not inside the Imperial Palace, but is located in the northernmost part of the city. In the middle is a towering Star-Picking Platform, and around the platform is a circle of high and low buildings, which are the Palace of the National Master.
[Simulating]
At the age of six, you left Jiangning City, traveled day and night, and finally arrived at the capital Huaining.
Late at night, you tried to break into the Imperial Master's Palace and you died.
[End of simulation]
Ruan Xing:?
what's the situation?
She quickly selected her memory, but what she saw was that her body was instantly annihilated the moment she entered the Imperial Master's Palace.
Barrier...?
This seems to be much more powerful than the one in the palace.
It seems that the legendary national teacher is really a cultivator with real abilities.
Ruan Xing hadn't originally intended to force his way in, he was just trying to see in the simulation what information he could get by breaking in. Getting these two points was already very important, so he had to think of a way to sneak in.
Thanks to my body's current bone age of six years old, it should be easy for me to become a palace maid or something...right?
But she had no connections, so for this simulation, she could only wait at the gate of the National Master's Palace to see when the recruitment information would be posted.
During the few days she waited at the gate, the door of the National Master Palace was closed and no one went in or out. Three days later, a young man who looked like a Taoist child came out from the back door. He drove an ox cart to the market to buy groceries. Ruan Xing followed him all the way until they reached a sparsely populated place. She used white true energy, the [Break] character spell, and the sword to launch a surprise attack, killing the young man on the spot.
The young man did not react to resist. He had neither Qi to protect his body nor any defensive spells, so he must have been not very strong.
Ruan Xing hid his body in the cellar of a roadside house, changed into his clothes, and drove a ox cart back to the National Master Palace. However, after she entered the National Master Palace, her body disappeared again.
Gan!
Ruan Xing couldn't help but curse inwardly. How on earth could this barrier recognize people? How come it could always recognize her?
Ruan Xing looked through her memories again and again, trying to find out whether the boy made any hand gestures when he went out, and also to see if she had missed anything like a magic weapon key when she was stripping off the boy's clothes.
This time, she found an unexpected surprise.
When the boy drove the ox cart out, she was pretending to be an ordinary six-year-old child squatting in the corner and poking at ant holes, observing quietly with her peripheral vision. She waited until the boy's cart passed a distance in front of her before she got up and followed. It was at this time that she heard two people chatting on the road.
"It's really strange. Why did the Imperial Master Palace come out to buy things himself? Usually, they are all sent in."
"You don't know this, right? Have you heard about the case in the palace before? Many people were arrested! The imperial merchant Cui, who was in charge of the Imperial Palace, was also arrested! You say the Cui family is really unlucky. The old one was arrested and hasn't been rescued yet, and the young one was transporting goods and was robbed by horse bandits outside the city."
"Is someone deliberately targeting their family? What does the tribute case have to do with the imperial merchants? Besides, there are also horse bandits outside the gates of the capital, at the feet of the emperor."
"Hehe, what's wrong with being an imperial merchant? Imperial merchants have a lot of money. Even if they have nothing to do with the case, they've been arrested. They must be fined three times before they can be released. And don't you know how many merchants are jealous of the Cui family's position? Now the leader of the Cui family is in prison. As long as they pretend to be bandits and intercept the Cui family's goods and delay for a few days, and the Cui family can't deliver the goods, can they still keep the title of imperial merchant?"
"Oh~ what you said makes sense, brother. Then I can give you the credit for suppressing the bandits, and kill two birds with one stone! According to the efficiency of the patrol department, they should be able to catch those horse bandits soon."
"Almost. We've been waiting for three days. The Imperial Master Palace has come out to buy things on his own. It must be a matter of the next two days..."
Three days... Ruan Xing was startled and sat up suddenly. Isn't that today!
If she rescued the Cui family's convoy transporting goods, wouldn't she be able to take advantage of the opportunity when they were delivering goods to the Imperial Master's Palace to sneak in?
But… even if she rode as fast as she could, traveling day and night, she would only reach Huaining City tomorrow morning in the simulation. When she entered the city, there was no news and no signs of fighting, which was enough to prove that the incident did not happen at the South Gate where she entered, but at the North Gate near the Imperial Palace. That's right, they were delivering something to the Imperial Palace, so it was proper to go through the North Gate.
Then she wouldn't be able to make it today, unless... Ruan Xing touched the dozens of [疾] character spells in her bag.
Used them all?
A little distressed.
That's all! Let's try it out first.
[Simulating]
At the age of six, you used the [疾] character spell, traveled day and night, and arrived at Huaining City before dark.
You enter the city from the South Gate and walk along the main road to the North Gate. It is already dark, and the gate guard tells you that the gate will be closed soon. If you leave now, you will not be able to enter the city today. You don't care and ask the guard about the horse bandits outside the North Gate. The guard says he has never heard of it. You don't believe it, so you go out of the city gate and search along the road to the north. Finally, five miles away, you find some messy wheel tracks on the road and some bloodstains on the ground. The bloodstains extend in two directions. You decide to search in the direction with the heavier tracks.
After walking about a mile, you found several broken vehicles in a forest. The cargo was scattered all over the ground, and the mules and horses pulling the vehicles were lying on the ground covered in blood, dead. You went forward and checked all the vehicles, but found no human bodies.
You go back to the original path and search in the direction with less blood. After walking half a mile, the blood stopped at a depression on the downhill slope. There were remnants of cloth on several rough tree trunks, and several stones were artificially arranged to look like a bonfire. You squatted down to observe and found that the sparks had not completely extinguished. The people here should have just left not long ago, so you took out the dagger and stabbed yourself in the heart. You died.
[End of simulation]
After selecting the memory, Ruan Xing continued the simulation without stopping. This time she wanted to look in the second direction first.
[Simulating]
……
You decided to search in the direction where the bloodstains were lighter. After walking half a mile, the bloodstains stopped at a depression on the downhill slope. A disheveled girl was looking at you vigilantly. You explained to her that you had no ill intentions, but just saw bloodstains on the road and wanted to see if anyone needed help. Perhaps your sincere words and childish face touched her, and the girl relaxed her vigilance a little. She asked who you went out with and where your family was. You didn't know how to answer for a moment.
Seeing you exposed, the girl drew out her sword and threatened you fiercely not to follow her. Her hands were shaking, and you could tell she didn't know any martial arts. Then the girl stomped out the campfire, stepped back step by step, and helped the bloodied and unconscious man behind her to leave with difficulty. Before she had taken a few steps, you suddenly heard a rustling sound of breaking wind, and several people wearing black masks on horseback surrounded you.
You tried to resist and rescue the girl, but their actions were well-trained and they were not like ordinary horse bandits at all. Soon you were at a disadvantage and were no match for them. You were about to use the [Break] spell, but found that they had no intention of killing you. Instead, they tied you up and dragged you away on their horses.
You are imprisoned in a dilapidated temple halfway up the mountain. There are dozens of other men who are also tied up in the temple. They are dressed like caravan guards.
Three days later, you and the girl had not eaten or drunk anything and were about to faint from hunger. The bandits came again. They took off the guards' clothes and put on their worn-out bandit clothes, and then killed them, including the man that the girl had been protecting.
You and the girl were untied, put into a carriage and taken back to the city. As you entered the city, you heard people outside cheering, celebrating the return of the Patrol Security Bureau after successfully suppressing the bandits.
The girl pulled out her hairpin and tried to commit suicide with hatred on her face. You stopped her and after talking to her for a few words, you stabbed your heart with her hairpin and died.
[End of simulation]
This time, due to Ruan Xing's deliberate choice, the memory had a lot more different content, especially the final conversation between her and the girl.
Ruan Xing asked in a hoarse voice, "Is your last name Cui? Tell me, what is your name?"
The girl was in the same situation, but she was also dehydrated and her tears were streaming down. She couldn't hide the hatred and despair in her eyes at all. She said self-deprecatingly, "What's the point of asking these questions now? No matter who you are or what you want to do, it doesn't matter. They may think you are a child of the Cui family. If you don't want to be humiliated, dying now would be a wise choice."
"No, it works. Tell me your name. And if you die now, won't you be humiliated? They will spread the word that you committed suicide because your innocence was tarnished by the bandits! You clearly knew that those people were not bandits, so why didn't you try to save yourself and prove your innocence?"
"It's useless. The Cui family is just a small imperial merchant. Now they are not even imperial merchants. Who will rule our family?" The girl said sadly: "My name is Cui Yurong. I have a younger brother and a younger sister. My brother is Cui Yuhong and my sister is Cui Yuqiong. If you want to live, you can use my sister's name. If you have the chance in the future, go to Shangyao City to find my brother and sister and tell them not to avenge me and my father, just live well..."
"Okay, if what you said is true, I promise you." Ruan Xing snatched the hairpin without hesitation and stabbed it into his chest in Cui Yurong's shocked gaze.
Ruan Xing thought about what to do next and started the simulation again.
……
The girl held the hilt of the sword in front of her chest with shaking hands, her eyes full of vigilance, "Who are you?"
Ruan Xing didn't give her time to hesitate or talk nonsense, and directly called out: "Cui Yurong!"
"how do you know……"
"I'm here to save you. Those people will be here soon. Take off your coat and burn it, then follow me!"
In the previous simulated memory, Ruan Xing knew that Cui Yurong was not injured, otherwise she, a weak woman who knew no martial arts, would not be able to survive for three days without food or water due to excessive blood loss. All the blood in her body came from the men who were traveling with her.
"But he..."
Ruan Xing jumped down the short slope and roughly pushed the man's head aside to feel his carotid artery. There was still a faint beat, but Ruan Xing said without blinking, "He's dead. If you don't leave, you'll be dead too."
Without waiting for Cui Yurong to react, Ruan Xing stripped off her clothes, wiped Cui Yurong's face and hands with the clothes, rolled them into a ball and threw them into the campfire, then pulled her towards the northwest.
Cui Yurong was dragged away by her in a daze, and said weakly: "That's not the direction to enter the city..."
"I know." Ruan Xing interrupted her again and said, "Those people have already searched that place. They won't search it again in a short time. Let's go over there and hide first."
The place she took Cui Yurong to was exactly where the carriages were when she first investigated. There were corpses of mules and horses there, and the smell of blood was quite strong, so the smell of blood on Cui Yurong would not be easily discovered. Moreover, they dismantled the carriages so piecemeal, and every carriage and wooden box had to be taken apart to check. They were probably worried that there were secret compartments inside for people to hide. Since they had already checked it so carefully, they would basically not check it a second time. As long as she took Cui Yurong to hide, they could rush to the city gate when it was almost dawn. Anyway, she still had more than 30,000 taels of silver notes on her, so she could just buy another batch of the goods Cui Yurong transported when they arrived in the city at a high price.
Thanks to Rosetta for the monthly ticket~
Thanks to book friend 20240505085011622 for the monthly ticket~
Thanks to Qiong_aA for the monthly ticket~
Thanks for the monthly ticket from Ji E Ru Qiu~
Thanks to Lou Huai for the monthly ticket~
(End of this chapter)
