My brother entrusted his child to me, and I livestreamed raising the baby, making the Empress cry wi

The sky gradually darkened.

Yao Jingyuan sat on the couch in the outer hall, telling Shu Rou stories and playing games with her such as the Nine Linked Rings and the Rattle Drum.

His voice was gentle, and his hands never stopped moving, but his eyes kept glancing at the cracks in the window and door.

"Daddy, Daddy, tell me more about that dragon!" Shu Rou hugged a cloth tiger and rolled around on the bed.

"Alright, Father, please tell me." Yao Jingyuan replied with a smile, then paused and asked casually, "Rou'er, does that divine messenger usually come to see you at three-quarters past Hai hour?"

"Hmm...more or less, anyway, it's completely dark!" Shu Rou said casually, prying open the cloth tiger's ears.

"What does he look like? What clothes does he wear?"

"He covered his face, I couldn't see his face..." Shu Rou tilted her head to look at him, "You can see it when he comes tonight, Father."

"Father just wanted to find out in advance." Yao Jingyuan smiled, stuffed the rattle back into her hand, but was quickly memorizing every piece of information in his mind.

He continued to probe, speaking casually, revealing almost everything about the divine messenger that Shu Rou had been holding onto.

He has to find this person and kill him!

I absolutely cannot let him block my path to survival!

……

Lin Ye didn't read any further.

Yao Jingyuan's technique for getting information out of people was really not very good; he just kept repeating the same few questions in different ways, while Shu Rou kept spilling out information like beans from a bamboo tube.

We've already heard all the information we needed to hear. What's left is just the father and daughter asking silly questions and giving silly answers—it's not very informative.

When he opened the Heavenly Mirror, it was still afternoon in Da Yan. Now it was already dark in Da Yan, and palace lanterns were being lit one after another, casting long and short orange-yellow light spots in the passageway.

There are only a few hours left until Hai hour.

He stood up, turned on the telescope and the television together, and let the images continue to flow.

Then he went to a restaurant for lunch and turned on his computer to deal with some backlogged work.

Time flowed by like water amidst the clatter of keyboard clicks.

After he finished processing the last email, closed his laptop, poured himself a cup of tea, and carried it back to the sofa...

The great flames within the celestial mirror had completely faded into the deep of night.

The sky was like an overturned, inky cauldron, with only a few scattered stars. The moonlight was completely obscured by thick clouds, and the entire palace was immersed in a thick darkness.

Only occasionally did the lanterns carried by the night patrol guards flash by in the distance, like will-o'-the-wisps drifting in the netherworld.

Lin Ye put the cup on the coffee table and then sank into the sofa.

Then, switching the view from the top of the sky back to Shu Rou, I continued watching the play in a rather pleasant mood.

Inside the inner palace.

Shu Rou, dressed in a white undergarment with her hair down, was pacing back and forth on the floor of the hall.

His steps were small and quick; he would walk a few steps, then stop to listen to the sounds outside before continuing.

Two small hands were clasped together in front of her, fingers twisting together, nails digging into flesh, leaving crescent-shaped marks.

She bit her lower lip, her eyes constantly glancing towards the window, her pupils filled with a mixture of anxiety and anticipation.

The divine messenger always arrived late at night.

Soon, soon.

……

Outer hall.

Yao Jingyuan lay on a soft couch, thoughtfully leaving the inner sanctum to Shu Rou and her "divine messenger".

Only one candle remained lit in the hall; the others had all gone out. Moonlight seeped through the window paper, casting a thin layer of silvery-gray light on the ground.

He lay on his back on the couch, the blanket covering his chin, his breathing steady and even, as if he were fast asleep.

But his eyes were open.

In the dim light, his pupils were fixed on the ceiling, his ears darting around like radar, catching every sound—

The distant footsteps of the night patrol guards, the whistling of the wind through the pillars outside the palace, and the soft, gentle footsteps of Shurou walking back and forth inside the palace.

suddenly.

A series of hurried footsteps sounded.

Upon hearing this, Shu Rou, who was inside the inner palace, was immediately overjoyed.

finally come!

She quickly ran to the bedside, plopped down on the edge, straightened her back, and neatly placed her hands on her knees, trying her best to appear dignified and reserved.

But she couldn't suppress the corners of her mouth from turning up, and her eyes were shining with eagerness.

Yao Jingyuan felt a sudden, inexplicable chill shoot up from his tailbone to the top of his head.

Something is wrong!

That voice—it sounds like…there's more than one person.

The dense, orderly, and metallic clanging sounds grew clearer and clearer...

Yao Jingyuan's heart skipped a beat, and alarm bells rang in his mind!

Why would a divine messenger need to bring so many people?

That faint, dense metallic scraping sound... it's armor!?

……

Lin Ye narrowed his eyes slightly in front of the Heavenly Mirror.

His celestial mirror perspective was unaffected by light. While Yao Jingyuan was still relying on his ears to judge, he had already clearly seen the situation in the passageway outside the hall.

A whole squad of imperial guards, in full armor and marching in unison, were approaching the sleeping quarters.

The person leading the group walked with very steady steps; if you looked closely, you could see that each step he took on the stone path was the same distance apart.

This is not some "divine messenger".

These are people from the palace.

Lin Ye zoomed in and glanced at the waist badge of the guard leading the team.

Moreover… she was someone who served the Emperor.

Shu Jingwei has made her move!

He slowly curled the corners of his mouth into a smile.

next second.

"squeak--"

The door to the outer hall was gently pushed open.

Moonlight streamed in through the crack in the door, enveloping a row of dark figures.

Yao Jingyuan's eyes widened suddenly.

Imperial Guards!

A squad of imperial guards, dressed in full armor, their swords gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

Their movements were perfectly synchronized, like a series of precisely operating machines, without any unnecessary noise or a single word spoken.

The leader's gaze swept around and precisely locked onto Yao Jingyuan on the bed.

He raised his hand and made a silent gesture.

Two guards moved forward like ghosts, one covering the mouth and the other dragging the person away, their movements so fast they were almost invisible.

Yao Jingyuan didn't even have time to shout.

A hand with iron gauntlets slammed into his mouth, the cold metal shard striking his teeth, and the taste of blood instantly filled his mouth.

Another hand grabbed him by the back of his collar and dragged him off the bed like a tattered sack. He fell heavily to the ground, and the pain made his vision go black.

Yao Jingyuan began to struggle desperately.

He kicked his legs wildly on the ground, the soles of his shoes scraping against the floor tiles with a screeching sound.

He strained his neck until the veins bulged, his head thrashed wildly from side to side, and he squeezed out muffled "uh-uh" sounds from his throat.

But it was like an ant trying to shake a tree, unable to break free from the iron clamp-like shackles binding it.

His gaze searched haphazardly in the darkness, his eyes bloodshot.

Then he saw—

An eye peeked out from a crack in the window of the inner sanctum.

It's Shu Rou.

Those clear, black and white eyes were cautiously peering out through the crack in the door.

Yao Jingyuan's eyes instantly lit up with ecstatic joy.

He blinked desperately at that eye, twisted his neck violently to try and shake off the hand covering his mouth, and his jaw almost dislocated.

Her eyes were filled with a plea for help—Rou'er! Save your father!