Tang Dynasty Hidden Guards

The note contained only one sentence: "To know the whole truth, go with her!"

Xue Wei recognized the maid who slipped the note as the young lady from the noodle shop that morning. She gave Xue Wei a deep look, then turned and left.

Xue Wei clutched the note tightly and followed the maid A Ping without hesitation. He had too many questions in his mind, and perhaps the Palace Master of Maoyue could answer them.

The scene was chaotic; everyone was focused on the outcome of the bet, and no one noticed Xue Wei's departure.

Only the woman in the corner coldly watched Xue Wei's figure disappear into the distance. After a long while, she let out a low, cold laugh, "If you want to die, then so be it!"

As she turned to leave, the female warrior in blue beside her whispered a reminder, "Didn't you say he had amnesia? Perhaps he doesn't even know who Zhou Yinfeng is."

The woman paused involuntarily.

...........

Xue Wei followed the maid A Ping to the inner courtyard of Maoyue Palace. They walked through a long corridor, where singing and dancing could be heard everywhere in the rooms next to the corridor.

After passing through a moon gate, the surroundings suddenly became quiet. In front of us was a two-story building, which was very exquisitely built. There was a sign on it that read "Maoyue Palace".

"Does the young master still remember my young lady?" Ah Ping asked softly.

Xue Wei shook his head. "I forgot!"

Ah Ping chuckled softly, "My lady is the Palace Master of the Rabbit Month of the Twelve Palaces, named Zhou Yinfeng, and she was also your former... confidante."

A soulmate!

Xue Wei pondered the word. Now that she's contacting him, does she want to relive their past romance?

"Please, young master!"

A-Ping led Xue Wei upstairs. She pushed open the door and said, "Please come in, young master. The Palace Master is waiting inside."

Xue Wei felt that his ex should be very familiar with this place, but this was his first time here, and everything felt unfamiliar. He took a deep breath, walked into the room, and quietly closed the door behind him.

The room was filled with a faint floral fragrance. He stood in the outer room, separated from the inner room by a curtain, but the curtain was rolled up, allowing him to clearly see the scene inside.

Xue Wei stopped in his tracks. The inner room was brightly lit, and in the center was a huge bathtub. A stunningly beautiful young woman was lying in the tub, her two fair arms extending out of the tub, gently caressing her bare shoulders. On her slender fingers was a white jade ring.

The young woman suddenly turned to look at Xue Wei, a seductive glint in her eyes. She chuckled softly, "Has Young Master Xue already forgotten me after only a year?"

She slowly stood up, like a large white sheep, and stepped out of the bathtub, still wet. Xue Wei's breath caught in his throat. He hadn't expected this scene. The most tempting thing in the world was approaching him step by step.

"Young master, do you still remember me?"

Zhou Yinfeng's charming voice was seductive as she pressed her entire body against him. Her soft, boneless arms wrapped around his neck like snakes, and her red lips breathed sweetly into his ear, "I have kept my chastity for you, young master, for a whole year. Quickly... quickly hold me."

Xue Wei was not a saint; a primal fire ignited in his lower abdomen, and reason began to slip away. But he was not an ordinary man either; a voice told him that now was not the time for indulgence, and that he had more important things to do.

He bit his lip hard, shaking off the burning desire in his heart. Just as he was about to push the woman in his arms away, a sharp pain suddenly shot through the back of his neck. Xue Wei instantly came to his senses. He had fallen into a trap. He shoved the woman away and retreated quickly.

My head started to spin, and Zhou Yinfeng's face had become ferocious. A poisoned needle popped out from the ring on her finger, gleaming with a cold, bluish light under the lamp.

Zhou Yinfeng turned around and drew a sharp sword from the rolled-up curtain. She leaped up like a swallow returning to its nest, and thrust the sharp sword toward Xue Wei's throat.

The reflexes and speed honed in the water dungeon came in handy. Xue Wei leaped backward, his back shattering the window with a "crack!" as he tumbled out. Zhou Yinfeng's sword missed its mark. She rushed to the window, peered down, and saw Xue Wei already getting up from the ground, stumbling and running away quickly until his figure disappeared into the night.

At this moment, A-Ping stepped forward and wrapped Zhou Yinfeng's body in a cloak, whispering, "It's a pity he got away."

Zhou Yinfeng sneered, "My scorpion stinger has already pierced the back of his neck; he won't live past dawn!"

"Now the young lady can report back to the madam!"

Zhou Yinfeng turned around and gave her a cold look. "You talk too much!"

Startled, Ah Ping quickly lowered her head, "This servant knows her mistake!"

"Hurry up and get ready! I'll go to the palace at dawn."

…………

Xue Wei's vision blurred, and he lost all sense of direction. He ran desperately, feeling like he was about to collapse. Just then, a woman wearing a veil appeared in front of him, coldly watching him. This was the last thing Xue Wei saw. His vision went black, and he knew nothing more.

In an inn in Sigongfang, Xue Wei lay on a couch, the blackness on his face gradually fading away.

A young woman wearing a veil stood with her hands behind her back by the window. The veil still obscured her pretty face, but one could vaguely see that her gaze had become very stern.

A female warrior in blue robes carrying a sword stepped forward and whispered, "Miss, the medicine seems to be working."

"Zhou Yinfeng's scorpion tail venom is incurable. It's not that my medicine worked, it's that he's tough."

"I heard he was given arsenic, but he didn't die. It seems his memory was also destroyed. Miss, he should have forgotten about Zhou Yinfeng."

"Are you pleading for him?" The young woman's voice turned cold.

"Qingling wouldn't dare!"

The young woman turned and walked out, stopping at the doorway and coldly saying, "Once the city gates open, throw him outside!"

…………

Xue Weisu woke up at noon the next day. He struggled to sit up, his head throbbing with pain.

He looked around blankly; all around him were wheat fields. He lay in a hut built by a field watcher out of wheat straw.

He slowly closed his eyes, recalling what had happened last night. There was no doubt that he had been careless last night, thinking that Zhou Yinfeng was the most beautiful courtesan, the former mistress of Xue Wei, and a top-notch prostitute who sold her art but not her body.

It was this realization that made him unaware of the impending danger. To make matters worse, Zhou Yinfeng set a trap for him with her beauty. She was naked not to seduce him, but to lower his guard. She had no weapon, and he did lower his guard, but he did not know that there was a poisoned needle hidden in her ring.

Why did Zhou Yinfeng want to kill him? She sent her maid to the noodle shop to find him yesterday morning, intending to lure him to the Twelve Palaces. She knew she had lost her memory and was eager to know the truth.

So that note, "To know the whole truth, go with her!" perfectly captured his thoughts.

But why wasn't he dead? Xue Wei thought of the young woman in the veil again. Had she saved him? Then why did he wake up in a shack outside the city?

Who is she? Was her saving him merely a coincidence, or is there another connection between them?

Countless questions swirled in Xue Wei's mind, but he couldn't find the answers.

He slowly stood up and walked heavily toward Luoyang, a city several miles away.

...........

Inside the palace, Zhou Yinfeng knelt on the ground with her head down, not daring to utter a sound.

A woman dressed in the robes of a fourth-rank official stood with her hands behind her back by the window. She wore a gauze hat and, from behind, looked exactly like a slender official.

The woman was about thirty-six or thirty-seven years old, tall and slender, with high cheekbones, a pale face, long and thin eyebrows, and exceptionally bright and cold almond-shaped eyes.

It's clear that she was very pretty and delicate when she was young, but time has quietly changed her appearance, and two fine crow's feet have appeared at the corners of her eyes.

She was none other than Shangguan Wan'er, a capable assistant to Empress Wu Zetian.

"Are you sure he's dead?" Shangguan Wan'er asked coldly.

"It's absolutely true. My scorpion stinger pierced the back of his neck. He shouldn't survive."

"should?"

Shangguan Wan'er snorted, "That's not necessarily true. He survived being forced to drink three cups of poisoned wine with arsenic in the Dali Temple prison, so don't jump to conclusions without finding a body!"

"This servant is incompetent!"

Shangguan Wan'er gently shook her head. "I want to kill him because I suspect he's a pawn the Zhang brothers are using against me. But if he really dies, I'll also be in trouble. I promised Princess Taiping I'd let him go. Whether he dies or lives, there are benefits, so let's leave him alone for now. Also, you should leave the Twelve Palaces and return to the Jade Guard!"

"Why?" Zhou Yinfeng's voice trembled.

Shangguan Wan'er turned around, her gaze sharp as she stared at her. "If he weren't dead, do you think he would have let you go?"

Zhou Yinfeng felt disheartened. Returning to the Jade Guard meant that her three years of hard work had been in vain, and the next time she was sent out, she would be under a different identity.

"This servant...understands!"

"Go! Keep your hands and feet clean, and shut everyone in the know up completely."