It doesn't matter what the lord is.

I could hear Bai Huang's words as he patted my shoulder:

"Please, Lid, you are the only one who has reached level zero and can pretend to be a girl! Please, wear it again, this is my lifelong plea!"

But in fact, I have a feeling that this is far from the end of everything, but a new beginning.

When will these hard days end!

There was no time to complain. I pulled my embroidered tulle jacket like a mafia member tightening his windbreaker, adjusted my bangs, grabbed the handrail of the cart, and walked out slowly. There were also some city lords wandering in the corridor, but no one paid attention to me. After all, I looked a little inconspicuous with my head down.

I walked through the dark corridor without anyone noticing anything unusual about me. It was not until I pushed Bai Huang, Alayya, Heji, and Fang Yuan out of Xuanqing Palace and walked near the heavily guarded Imperial Guards that a Imperial Guards soldier suddenly came up to me and said:

"Wait, stop! Yes, I'm talking about you. Don't move!"

I shuddered, looking timidly, looking up at him, blinking pitifully.

I don’t know what to say, so I’ll just try to be cute.

He looked down at me coldly, his face solemn.

Ruined.

I watched him put his hand into his sleeve, obviously intending to take something out, and I couldn't help but fall into a state of alert.

Finally he drew a note and gave it to me.

I opened it and found an address on it.

When I looked at him again, his resolute face flushed slightly, and he said seriously:

"Here is my contact information, can we get to know each other?"

I know your sister!!

60. The Night is Still Long

I took the note from the guy who handed me the contact information and put it in my skirt pocket with mixed feelings. Anyway, I have to return this skirt sooner or later, and maybe it can help me find a good marriage.

I pinched my throat and said to him gently:

"Thank you. But I have to go back now, otherwise I will be blamed."

The member of the Royal Guard stood at attention and called out to the person in front of him:

"What are you looking at? Get out of the way and stop blocking other people's way!"

He seemed to have some prestige among the guards, and the soldiers who had been standing in awe immediately made way for him. I bowed deeply to this old man, puffed up my cheeks and said mischievously:

"Thank you~ I'll contact you when I get back! But my schedule is very full recently... Woohoo, see you after the New Year~"

A happy smile appeared on his stern face, and he kept nodding:

"well."

I pushed the cart and ran away, all the way to a place far outside the Xuanqing Palace, to a relatively secluded garden. The white phoenix in the box laughed like a barbell. I pushed the cart slowly with an expressionless face, and walked until I was almost out of the palace. Then I opened the wooden barrel and wooden box and let the four people out.

Alayya ran out of the box almost immediately and hid behind me.

Bai Huang climbed out of the box with a reluctant look on his face, tidying up his messy hair. He repeatedly asked to exchange guards with me, but I rejected him with a look of contempt.

Although it's a bit unfair to say this to Heji, anyone who does this deal would be stupid.

The five of us continued to walk out of the palace. When we reached the gate of the palace, we were stopped by the guards as expected. But this time Bai Huang was not afraid at all. According to the script we had prepared before, he directly told the guards that we were directly under the king's orders, and the king ordered us to secretly leave Xuanqing Palace and go to the city to find the murderer.

Of course the guards didn't believe us, but our words were very convincing:

"Now all 36 city lords are surrounded in Xuanqing Palace, but there is still no clue about the matter. His Majesty the King suspects that this matter is related to Jinyiwei, Imperial Guards and others, so he asked us to investigate secretly. You don't release them, are you also in collusion with them? You dare to stop someone at the city lord level, who do you think you are?"

The guards were so confused by Bai Huang's scolding that they thought that the guards were the imperial guards and they would not be blamed if something happened, so they just let them go. And because the matter was confidential, they did not dare to make it public, so the five of us left the palace smoothly.

The first thing to do after leaving the palace is to divide the work.

I asked them to come over and said:

"Listen, things are urgent right now, and we can't leave Xuanqing Palace for too long. By tomorrow morning at the latest, they will find out that we sneaked out. If the murderer is not found by then, we may be used as scapegoats. Just like what the commander of the Royal Guards said, we will be sentenced for treason. So before tomorrow morning, we must return to Xuanqing Palace."

Bai Huang and others nodded.

I raised my index finger and continued:

"We need to investigate the Chao Palace, Xi Palace, the prison, the residences of the ten ministers and ten generals, and other places now. Therefore, I suggest that the five of us do not act together. First, it will be too conspicuous, and second, it will be inefficient. I will take Alayya to the prison, Baihuang, you and Heji will go to Xi Palace, and Fangyuan will go to investigate the Chao King. Remember, no matter who asks, we must say that we are directly under the king's orders. The king has been staying in the inner hall, and they have no way to verify it. Because of our special status, they can only choose to believe us. But be careful not to make excessive demands. If they resist too much, you can retreat first."

Bai Huang immediately rubbed his hands:

"I understand. Heji, let's get going quickly! Let's finish it early. There is a pure and lovely girl in the house waiting for me to return!"

You are still thinking about that palace maid! !

Bai Huang and He Ji left in a hurry. Fang Yuan seemed a little reluctant, but he still went to carry out the mission obediently. Only Alaiya and I were left.

I took Alayya directly to the prison. To be honest, I had some selfish motives in assigning the tasks this way, because Tamros gave me a really strange feeling at the time, and I wanted to go to the prison to confirm it myself.

Before I went, I took off my makeup. Unfortunately, it was easy to take off my makeup, but I had no clothes to change. I was still running around in the clothes of a palace maid. When I ran to the prison, the warden, the jailer and others looked at me like a monkey in the zoo. Fortunately, I had experience on stage before and was thick-skinned enough to not care about it.

When I entered the prison, I easily convinced the jailer to take me to see Tamros with my prepared excuse.

Tamros was held captive in a secluded house.

He had disheveled hair, wore heavy shackles, and was dressed in prison uniform. Hearing footsteps, he raised his head slightly and looked over here. When he saw me, he smiled strangely and said indifferently:

"What a rare visitor! What a rare visitor! Why are you dressed like this, brother Lide? What are you doing here looking for me?"

I asked the jailer to leave and said to Tamros:

"You were the ones who were responsible for the king's assassination, weren't you?"

Tamros looked at me and replied in a very exaggerated way:

"Assassinated? What do you mean assassinated? What happened in the capital? How can I, who is in prison, know those things? Brother Lide, even though our deal has fallen through, you can't throw all the dirty water on me."

He leaned back, patting his chest covered with blood scabs, and said:

"Haha...Brother Lide, I can see that you are a smart man. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come here to find me today. It's a pity that I don't have the answer you want. Please leave as soon as possible."

I glanced at the wound on his chest and asked:

"If I remember correctly, the king should have ordered your safety. After all, you haven't been convicted yet. Who tortured you?"

Tamros smiled, showing his bloody teeth, narrowing his eyes, and said to me:

"Who else could it be? Some people want to extract a confession from me, to fuel the fire and kill more enemies."

"There are also people who want me to die in this prison, to put an end to everything and leave no evidence for anything."

His voice gradually turned cold:

"I, Tamros, usually treat them well! But how did they treat me? I've known for a long time that people will get cold when they leave, but I didn't expect that everyone would take advantage of their misfortune! Humph... Since I came in, I haven't eaten a grain of rice or drunk a sip of water. Do you know what will happen if I eat and drink? Take a look!"

He laughed and pointed to the ground, where several insects lay motionless with their four legs in the air, with a few grains of leftover rice and a little water in front of them.

Tamros's laughter was like that of a demon:

"With human nature like this, what else do we need people for? This capital might as well be destroyed! You! None of you can escape. The old year... the new year... everything is not over yet. Let me tell you... this night is still long."

61. The night of fire

Looking at Tamros's unruly look, I thought for a while and asked:

"I have a question for you."

Tamros moved his eyes to my face.

I said calmly:

"Where is the little Princess Lana being held captive?"

To be honest, it doesn't matter to me what happens to the capital. I don't have any strong desire to save anything. Unlike Bai Huang, I have a relatively peaceful state of mind about the lives of 300,000 people. The only thing I care about in the capital is the silly little princess.

I can't guess what Tamros and the others want to do, but as long as Lana is safe, they can do whatever they want, whether it's usurping power or revolting. I, Lid, am the lord of Yuxi City, not the lord of the capital, so why should I care about the lives of these people?

But Tamros did not answer my question. He sneered and said:

"Lana? Humph... Brother Lid didn't accept our deal back then. Isn't it a little too late to ask this question now? Let me tell you, Her Highness Lana is still alive, but it's hard to say for sure. However, you don't have to worry, because you will never find her, and you will never be able to save her! This is the price of your arrogance..."

After saying this, Tamros lowered his eyelids again.

He looked like he was asleep, staring at the ground in front of him, his eyes unblinking, the sneer on his lips still hanging there, as if mocking the world. No matter what Alayya and I asked, he didn't say a word.

When I came out of the prison, my mood obviously became worse, and I asked in a low voice:

"Alaiya, what time is it now?"

Alayya replied:

"Master, it should be past midnight, and it's the New Year."

I squinted my eyes, thinking back to what Tamros had said.

——The night is still long.

I was thinking about what to do next when I suddenly saw Bai Huang and Heji rushing towards me.

Bai Huang ran to me, propped himself up on his knees, and said, panting:

"The Xiwang Mansion is very strange. The guards outside have dispersed, and the mansion is quiet. I don't know what happened inside. Heji and I want to go in and take a look, but the guards at the door will not let us in no matter what. Lid, this matter is definitely related to Xiwang and his men. How is Tamros now?"

I replied:

"He's very stubborn and won't say anything. He seems to have some hidden card, and doesn't seem to be desperate."

Bai Huang said "Hey" and said:

"What trump card do they have? He's already been imprisoned, is there anyone who can save him? He Ji and I have seen that there aren't many people in Xiwang Mansion who can fight. Going against Jinyiwei is like hitting a stone with an egg."

I think so too.

If King Xi is not in the palace, he is most likely in the inner hall of the palace. The prince who was once under house arrest and the king who suddenly announced that he was assassinated, now that these two people are together, it is not difficult to imagine what happened. After all, King Xi is the king's son. If he wants to see his father on New Year's Eve, the king probably won't refuse. If King Xi has evil intentions and did something to the king, the current situation makes sense.

But the question is, is Prince Xi really crazy? Even if he really kills the king, the only one who can inherit the throne is his brother. He is just giving others a wedding dress. As long as he cannot suppress the Imperial Guards, the Imperial Guards and the Tiance Mansion, these three forces will almost certainly ensure that Prince Chao sits on that position, because the moment Prince Xi pointed the knife at his father, he was no longer legitimate.

How could he not understand such a simple truth?

The four of us stood in front of the prison, thinking about it. The most difficult and precious thing in the world is intelligence, and the four of us in the capital have no intelligence network at all. It is not easy to guess the whole picture of the matter based on a few scattered clues.

Just as we were thinking with our heads down, a fire suddenly lit up on the street in the distance.

The crowd was surging and there was chaos. Some people walked directly towards the prison, and some people were shouting. It seemed that several forces had started fighting. Bai Huang, Alaiya, Heji and I immediately rushed over there, but when we arrived at the scene, we could only see the fire still burning, many people lying on the ground, and the scene was in a mess. There were also some people in black clothes who stayed behind to guard. Bai Huang stepped forward and asked:

"What happened?"

The armored warrior glanced at Bai Huang and refused to say anything more.

Bai Huang said loudly:

"We are the city lord's representatives directly under the king's order, and we are ordered to find the murderer who assassinated His Majesty the King. Now that you have made such a big fuss here, we need to understand what happened!"

The warrior in armor then spoke sparingly:

"No need to investigate. The murderer has been arrested by us."

Bai Huang showed a look of obvious shock:

"What?! Who is the murderer?"

The warrior casually pointed at the tall building behind him that was burning. From the top of the building, a plaque fell and hit the ground. Three large gold-plated characters were clearly printed on the plaque: Tiance Mansion.

The entire mansion was burning, and it seemed that no one was going to put out the fire.

The warrior said:

"General Jin Ling of Tiance Palace attempted to assassinate His Majesty but failed. He has now been imprisoned by our Imperial Guards and Jinyiwei. This matter was also approved by His Majesty the King himself. The case will be closed soon. Please go back."

Bai Huang grabbed the warrior's sleeve and asked loudly:

"Jin Ling assassinated the king? Where did the news come from? Where did the evidence come from? Why would he, a general of Tiance Mansion, assassinate His Majesty the King at this time? This is totally illogical. Why do you want to lock him up?"

The warrior replied grimly:

"Because this is an order from His Majesty the King. Do you understand?"

Bai Huang loosened his sleeves indignantly.

I couldn't help but put my hands on my temples and pressed them repeatedly. When Jin Ling was in trouble, I seemed to remember something all of a sudden, but I didn't grasp the inspiration at the first time, so I could only sort it out slowly afterwards. But no matter what, that bad premonition kept deepening. I closed my eyes, and just when I seemed to be about to realize it, two fat arms suddenly hugged my thighs.

"Boss! Boss... Woohoo, so you are here. I have very important information to tell you."