Dad, don't be greedy! My brother climbed into the emperor's bed, and I became famous overn

Gu Mingli followed behind Yi Shi, continuing to tiptoe forward.

The two turned the corner of the first long corridor and carefully crossed the central axis.

The Hall of Mental Cultivation is just ahead.

Gu Mingli suddenly stopped in front of the palace gate.

Strangely, there was absolutely no movement outside the palace tonight, not even a single person on night watch could be seen.

"Young master, why have you stopped?"

Yi Shi waved from the front and urged them in a low voice.

Gu Mingli pressed himself against the wall with great vigilance, peering out into the spacious courtyard outside the sleeping quarters.

"Ten, something's not right. How could there be no one on guard outside His Majesty's bedchamber so late at night? This doesn't make sense; something's definitely amiss!"

Upon hearing this, Yi Shi gave a dry, awkward laugh.

My silly young master! That's because His Majesty knew that you, this "big snail," were coming to deliver a surprise tonight, so he specially issued an order in advance to remove all the imperial guards on duty at the gate!

Before Yi Shi could even come up with an excuse to get away with it, Gu Mingli's eyes lit up, and he turned around alertly, disappearing into the nearby Gong Alley in a flash.

"Hey, young master! Where are you going?"

"The main entrance is definitely a trap; let's go around to the back entrance through the alley!"

"No! Young master! Wait a minute!"

He panicked and chased after her frantically, taking two steps at a time.

We're doomed!

His Majesty did transfer the people from the front courtyard, but he concentrated them all in the back courtyard of the palace and the sleeping quarters!

"Young master...please don't go over there..."

However, Gu Mingli was incredibly fast. He didn't usually exercise, but now he was practically flying when he was doing the task.

Wearing the extremely conspicuous giant snail shell, he plunged headfirst into the narrow alleyway beside the palace, preparing to secretly sneak in through the small door behind the hall.

Just as they rounded the corner, they bumped into two eunuchs carrying dim yellow lanterns, who were chatting and laughing as they patrolled the night.

The lights shone on them, and the two sides met face to face.

Gu Mingli slammed on the brakes.

Holy crap!

Damn it! We've been seen!

However, the system did not display a message indicating that the task had failed.

Gu Mingli's eyes darted around, activating his extreme survival mode.

Fortunately, along the walls on both sides of the palace alley, there are several large bronze water vats used for fire prevention.

These vats are usually filled with clean water. But now it is early autumn, the old water in the vats has just been emptied, and the new water from the Imperial Household Department has not yet been poured in.

Gu Mingli had absolutely no time to hesitate.

He rushed to the nearest large vat, braced himself on the rim with both hands, and lifted one leg to flip inside.

Her movements were quite nimble, but unfortunately, the hem of her night-wearing skirt was too long, and it tore open with a "rip".

Gu Mingli didn't care about anything else at this moment. She tugged at her skirt a couple of times and then scrambled to hide at the bottom of the vat.

A muffled thud.

The back of his head slammed heavily against the cold wall of the jar, and the snail on his head buzzed.

And in the alleyway.

The two eunuchs stood there dumbfounded, stiffly turning their heads to look at each other.

It's over! It's all over!

They saw the "girl" with a large snail on her head!

If His Majesty finds out that they "discovered" the Snail Maiden and forced her to hide in a water vat... how many heads do they have left to chop off?!

The elderly eunuch reacted very quickly; he immediately lowered his head and puffed out his cheeks.

With a "pfft," a large wad of saliva, carried by the wind, blew out the candle inside his lantern.

The alleyway was suddenly plunged into darkness.

"Oh dear! Why did this broken lantern go out!" the old eunuch exclaimed dramatically.

As he spoke, he raised his hand and slapped the arm of the little eunuch beside him, who was still in shock, hard, while frantically giving him meaningful glances.

"I told you to change the candles, why didn't you? It's pitch black, this old servant can't see anything at all! Oh dear, how are we going to get here? Hurry back and relight the candles!"

The young eunuch was jolted awake by the slap and instantly understood his master's life-or-death hint.

"Oh dear! It was my fault for being so forgetful! I forgot to change the candles! Now look what's happened, we can't see anything at all! There's clearly nothing in this alley! Master, please slow down, I'll help you back the way we came to relight the lamps!"

Gu Mingli squatted in the water tank like a quail, listening to the conversation between the two people outside. His heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down, and he quietly breathed a long sigh of relief.

That's wonderful! Respecting the elderly and caring for the young is a virtue, and poor eyesight is also a sign of kindness!

You two hurry up and get out of here!

As it turns out, the tension hasn't completely subsided yet.

The next moment, a hazy, dreamlike array of colorful bubbles floated out of the water tank with a soft "gurgling" sound.

Gu Mingli looked up silently, bewildered.

The large snail above my head was now seriously engaged in its work.

It started blowing bubbles like crazy.

The speed and density of the bubbles were comparable to those used in modern concert stages.

In no time, most of the alley was filled with bubbles.

Gu Mingli almost broke down.

"Holy crap! System! What the hell is going on?! What the hell are you doing?!"

The system popped up happily.

[Host, this snail prop will automatically trigger an "Ultimate Romantic Atmosphere Effect" upon impact! Hopefully, it will bring a touch of sweetness to your hard-earned infiltration~]

Sweet my ass!!

Gu Mingli's face turned green.

"Turn this damn mode off right now! I'm sneaking in, not walking the red carpet!"

【Okay, sir! Since this is a voice-activated prop, please say the command loudly: Turn off effects.】

Loud?!

Gu Mingli suppressed his urge to tear the system to shreds, took a deep breath, pressed himself against the cold tank wall, and whispered through gritted teeth, "Turn off the special effects..."

The big snail didn't hear it.

"Turn off special effects!!"

Gu Mingli raised his voice slightly, sweating profusely with anxiety.

The snails finally stopped blowing bubbles.

Gu Mingli looked up at the sky in despair.

Good guy!

The moon is so beautiful tonight!

Because the sky was filled with sparkling, colorful bubbles!

The entire back alley of the palace is like a dreamlike fairy tale world!

The alleyway had been quiet for a long time.

Gu Mingli even began to suspect that the two eunuchs outside might have fainted from fright at the fantastical scene, or that they might have already quietly run away.

He swallowed hard and tried to slowly raise his head.

A large snail, exhaling one or two strings of residual bubbles, slowly rose from the edge of the water tank, resembling some kind of eerie deep-sea creature emerging from the water.

Then, amidst the romantic, fluttering bubbles, Gu Mingli stared directly at the two petrified figures in the alleyway, utterly shocked.

Gu Mingli: "..."

The two eunuchs: "..."

A gust of autumn wind blew by, and the three people looked at each other in silence.

Gu Mingli closed his eyes in pain, then smoothly shrunk back to the bottom of the jar.

It's okay, appearance reflects the heart, he can pretend he didn't see it.