Starting from the imperial palace guards, his clones spread all over the world.

Chapter 426 Tell you a secret
Liang Jin looked up and saw a nimble figure in the distance landing on the watchtower as lightly as an eagle.

Just from this agile movement, Liang Jin could judge that this man's martial arts skills had at least reached the third level.

And Liang Jin had seen this person before.

He is the deputy commander of the Southern Forbidden Army, Hong Wei.

Liang Jin couldn't help but feel deeply moved.

I still remember the first time I met Hong Wei. At that time, I was as small as an insignificant ant in front of Hong Wei.

However, now, times have changed, and Liang Jin has the strength to defeat Hong Wei.

Liang Jin didn't stare at Hong Wei.

For a master of Hong Wei's level, just looking at him for a few more seconds would make him feel something.

So Liang Jin quietly slid down from the top of the corridor like a civet cat, and returned to his post, standing guard as usual.

Today, taking the opportunity to help Su Lian, Liang Jin also tested the response of the imperial guard system in the palace to emergencies.

This gave him a rough idea in his mind.

King Huaiyang Zhao Yu, who was in the iron cage, kept a close eye on Liang Jin's every move from beginning to end.

Naturally, the noise made by the imperial guards just now did not escape his ears.

At this moment, his eyes no longer had the foolish look of the past, and were replaced by full of surprise.

Liang Jin felt his gaze and turned to grin at him.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu instantly put on that silly smile again:

"Hehe...hehehe..."

Liang Jin also laughed:

"hey-hey."

The laughter of the two rang out in this small corner, and then soon fell silent.

After a while, the movements of the imperial guards gradually subsided.

The so-called assassin was naturally not found.

Liang Jin released and retracted the war puppet extremely quickly. Except for the two imperial guards, no one else saw the so-called assassin.

Even the sentry on the watchtower only blew the horn because he noticed the unusual behavior of the two imperial guards.

Naturally, these two imperial guards were scolded by their superiors. After that, they could only return to their posts in disgrace.

After all, all possible blockades and searches have been carried out, but there is still no sign of the assassin. We can only speculate that the assassin most likely does not exist.

What's more, the imperial guards serve in the imperial palace, and their psychological burden is much heavier than that of ordinary soldiers, so it is not completely impossible for them to have hallucinations.

The superiors didn't want to cause trouble for themselves, nor did they want to make trouble out of nothing, so they could only order to strengthen the vigilance and the matter was dropped.

……

On the other side of the palace.

Inside the laundry room.

Guo Min had already dressed up carefully, wearing a neat dress, an exquisite headdress on her head, and her luggage was also neatly organized.

It is a serious and solemn matter for a palace maid to leave the palace, and the whole process has a complicated procedure.

Now Guo Min is ready and most of the processes have been completed smoothly.

At this moment, she was standing quietly in the courtyard of the laundry department, waiting for the chief eunuch of the Jingshifang to come and complete the final process.

The palace maids around her came and went, and whenever they passed by Guo Min, they couldn't help but take a few more glances.

In the past, when these palace maids saw Guo Min, they would at least respectfully call her "Qianshu", or at least "Auntie".

But now, not only do they no longer call her by that name, but they also whisper about her and even make fun of her unscrupulously.

"This old witch is finally leaving!"

"After waiting for so many years, we finally got her away. Our good days are about to come."

"Look at her miserable appearance. She has done so many bad things. She will definitely not live long!"

……

The palace maids were often beaten and scolded by Guo Min. Now that Guo Min is about to leave, naturally everyone is gloating and can't wait to see her lonely look.

Especially in the past, they didn't dare to curse Guo Min even behind her back, but today they can curse her secretly without worrying about anyone complaining or being punished later.

As the saying goes, tea cools down when people are away.

Guo Min was actually mentally prepared for this.

But she never expected that the "tea" would have gone cold before she even stepped out of the palace.

Guo Min knew clearly that she had offended many people in the laundry department over the years and was disliked by many.

But she always felt that she was capable and well-organized, and after working in the laundry department for so many years, she must have gained the respect of some people.

However, she never imagined that what others respected was only her position as a secretary.

She had just handed over the position of Censor to her successor yesterday, but today, no one showed her respect anymore.

Even when she was about to leave the palace and was already filled with anxiety about the future, no one was willing to accompany her, comfort her, or see her off.

This shows how much the people in the laundry department hate her.

"I do not care!"

Guo Min gritted his teeth and said in his heart.

She still remembered that when her previous assistant secretary left, he told her that some people were highly respected and would be seen off by many people before leaving the palace, which seemed to be a very glorious thing.

However, once you step out of the palace, the inside and outside of the palace become two completely different worlds, with no intersection between them.

So there is actually no difference between having someone see you off and having no one see you off.

Guo Min naturally understood this principle.

"Don't come to send me off, I don't want it!"

"I will leave the palace in a little while, and we will have no more fate!"

"They are all a bunch of white-eyed wolves!"

Guo Min gritted his teeth and cursed in his heart.

Although I said this, I couldn't help but feel a sore nose.

Humans are not plants or trees, so who can be heartless? After all, Guo Min has been in this laundry bureau for almost twenty years and has been with these people for so long.

Now that she is about to leave completely, she finds that everyone hates her so much, and she can't help feeling very uncomfortable.

At this moment, a burst of footsteps came.

Guo Min's heart moved slightly. Could it be that someone really came to see him off?

She looked over hastily and joyfully, only to see two people slowly walking in from the main door of the Jingshifang.

When Guo Min saw who was coming, he couldn't help feeling disappointed.

These two people were the eunuchs of the Jingshifang. The one walking in front was the chief eunuch of the Jingshifang.

Guo Min hurriedly saluted the two men, because she knew that they came to give her final instructions.

The chief eunuch stood up straight with his head held high and his chest puffed out, and shouted in a shrill voice:
"Guo Min, Assistant Secretary of the Laundry Bureau, is leaving the palace today!"

"Remember, any maid who has left the palace is not allowed to enter the palace again, is not allowed to disclose any palace affairs, is not allowed to let the chief eunuchs of this palace deliver messages on their behalf, and is not allowed to send people to the palace gate to pay their respects to the master."

"According to the records of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Guo Min has been in the palace for over fifteen years. According to the rules, she is awarded thirty taels of silver on the day she leaves the palace!"

After saying this, the chief eunuch raised his hand slightly, and a few pieces of silver appeared in his palm.

He reached out and handed the silver to Guo Min.

But after doing all this, the chief eunuch did not leave. Instead, he stood in front of Guo Min and looked at her with squinted eyes.

Guo Min knew in her heart that if the chief eunuch had not arranged for an attendant to lead the way, she would not be able to leave the palace today.

So Guo Min hurriedly took out half of the thirty taels of silver and handed it to the chief eunuch, saying respectfully:
"Thank you, father-in-law!"

The chief eunuch glanced at the silver in his hand, the corners of his mouth rose slightly, and then he put it into his sleeve.

Then he instructed the attendants around him:

"Xiao Fuzi, please lead Guo Min out of the palace."

After saying this, the chief eunuch turned and left.

The eunuch called Xiao Fuzi immediately said in a shrill voice:

"Guo Min, come with me."

Having said that, he took Guo Min out of the laundry and walked away.

Xiao Fuzi walked very quickly, with no intention of waiting for Guo Min. It was obvious that he just wanted to finish this job as soon as possible.

Guo Min followed for a few steps and couldn't help but look back at the laundry department for the last time.

She had come to this place at the age of thirteen and had spent the best years of her life here. Now that she could leave, she should be happy, but for some reason, her eyes were moist and her heart was filled with sadness.

At this moment, Guo Min saw many palace maids gathered at the door of the laundry department.

She couldn't help but feel happy. Could it be that they were here to see her off?

But Guo Min soon saw clearly that these palace maids were pointing at her and laughing from afar.

This caused a surge of anger in Guo Min's heart:

"People here don't like me, so why should I stay here?"

"Even if someone is willing to come and see me off now, I will never look back!"

Guo Min muttered to himself as he turned his head and continued walking.

She was filled with melancholy, as if even her breathing was accompanied by a deep sigh.

Even because of the tears that blurred her vision, she hurriedly wiped away the tears with her fingers.

Those people hated her and wanted to see her in a miserable state.

She must not cry in front of those people!
suddenly!

A cry came:

"Aunt! Aunt!"

Guo Min was shocked.

Aunt? Are you calling me?
Definitely Not!
Now that everyone is laughing at her, how could anyone still be willing to call her aunt?
Guo Min sighed secretly and continued to move forward.

But the sound was getting closer and closer, accompanied by a burst of anxious footsteps:

"Auntie! Auntie, wait for me!"

Guo Min just felt that the voice was extremely familiar.

She told herself that she must not look back.

If any palace maid deliberately bullied or teased her, she would lose even the last bit of her dignity.

Guo Min then quickened her pace, wanting to leave this sad place as soon as possible.

But at this moment, the footsteps had already come behind Guo Min, accompanied by a burst of rapid panting:

"Auntie, I finally caught up with you!"

"Fortunately, I made it in time and didn't miss it."

Only then did Guo Min stop.

She straightened her body with a stern face and looked back.

This sight greatly surprised her:

"Xiaolian?"

The person who came was Su Lian.

Guo Min remembered clearly that Su Lian had long since stopped working in the laundry department and had gone to the harem to serve the empress.

Could it be that she... came here specifically to send me off?

This made Guo Min unbelievable and hard to believe.

In this palace, people are inherently cold and indifferent. Su Lian is no longer her subordinate, so why would she come to see her off?
What's more, he was not very nice to Su Lian in his early years.

"You...why are you here?"

Guo Min deliberately made his voice sound nonchalant, and even deliberately acted cold and indifferent.

But her voice alone unconsciously carried a hint of trembling and a hint of anticipation.

Su Lian held Guo Min's hand tightly, her eyes suddenly reddened:
"Aunt, if you leave now, I'm afraid I'll never see you again."

"So I have to come and see you off no matter what."

The corners of Guo Min's eyes twitched slightly.

really!

She really came to see me off!

At this moment, Guo Min couldn't help but feel excited.

Who said no one came to see me off? Didn’t someone come after all?
Especially since the one who came was the most promising one among her subordinates!
At this moment, Xiao Fuzi frowned and urged impatiently:

"Guo Min, hurry up!"

"You really don't understand the rules. The separation should have been handled long before we came. Why are you still dilly-dallying now?"

"Hurry up and don't waste my time!"

As he spoke, Xiao Fuzi even reached out to pull Guo Min away.

Guo Min gritted his teeth, then quickly took out five taels of silver and stuffed it into Xiao Fuzi's hand:
"Please do me a favor, father-in-law. We will be back soon."

In the past, Guo Min would have thought that spending five taels of silver just to say a few more words was hopelessly stupid.

But now, she spends it willingly.

Xiao Fuzi weighed the silver in his palm and a satisfied smile appeared on his face:

"Hurry up then, I'll just wait for you for a while."

As she spoke, Xiao Fuzi considerately walked away a little, leaving Guo Min and Su Lian some space to talk alone.

Guo Min turned to look at Su Lian, with mixed feelings in his heart, and couldn't help but sigh:

"Xiao Lian... I didn't expect that the person who came to see me off would be you."

"I really didn't expect that..."

"Auntie wasn't good enough to you before. If I could do it all over again, I would definitely love you well."

Guo Min's words were not just a courtesy, but a true expression of his feelings.

Su Lian was an emotional person. After hearing what Guo Min said, she could no longer hold back her tears.

"Aunt, you've been very kind to me."

"If it weren't for my aunt, I would still be washing clothes in the laundry every day."

"My aunt is leaving this time, and I have prepared a gift for her."

As she spoke, Su Lian hurriedly took out a hairpin from her bosom.

It was an exquisite ox horn hairpin, beautifully carved and very beautiful.

"Aunt, you can carry it with you from now on. Whenever you see it, you will think of me."

Su Lian gently put the ox horn hairpin into Guo Min's hand.

Guo Min tightly grasped the ox horn hairpin, and finally couldn't hold back the tears.

When Su Lian saw Guo Min crying, she couldn't help but burst into tears.

She cried loudly and knelt down in front of Guo Min with a plop:

"I have no relatives since I entered the palace as a child. I first recognized two brothers, and later I met my aunt."

"Auntie taught me for so many years. In my heart, you are my dear auntie."

"Now that Aunt is leaving, I will no longer be able to serve you. Now I kowtow to Aunt a few times, which can be regarded as a way to show my filial piety to Aunt!"

As she spoke, Su Lian kowtowed several times.

At this moment, Guo Min could no longer pretend to be indifferent, and the emotions in his heart surged out like a tide.

She hurriedly squatted down to stop Su Lian from kowtowing, then hugged Su Lian tightly and started crying too.

At this moment, Guo Min's heart was filled with joy.

Not only did she preserve her dignity, she also proved to the palace maids who were waiting to see her make a fool of herself in the distance that she was not alone.

More importantly, Guo Min suddenly felt that his years of working in the laundry department were worth it.

After all, in this extremely cold palace, there are still people who truly care about her.

Guo Min regretted that he had not treated Su Lian well in the past, but fortunately, it was not too late now.

She leaned close to Su Lian's ear and whispered:
"Xiao Lian, listen to what your aunt says. This palace is like a den of dragons and tigers. If you're not careful, you'll get into disaster."

"Now I am free, but you still have to stay here for more than ten years. Especially you, little girl, you are like a child who never grows up. You are a worry to me. I am worried about you."

"So... Auntie wants to tell you a secret."

"If nothing happens, then you must keep this secret to yourself for the rest of your life and never tell anyone."

"If one day you offend an important person and face the grave penalty of losing your head, then you can reveal this secret."

"When the time comes, this secret may save your life."

(End of this chapter)