Chapter 390: Practice Makes Perfect (3)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
At the same time, in the Eternal Joy Palace…
The empress dowager had changed into the attire of a madam. She was wearing an autumn dress and had a woman’s bun and a small pouch hanging from her waist. She looked like a little wife preparing to go out while walking in front of Daoist Xuanji.
Daoist Xuanji was dressed as a scholarly lady again and held a small umbrella in her hand.
The two of them were dressed like this, so they were naturally prepared to leave the palace and stroll around the streets. But Daoist Xuanji knew the empress’s physical condition, so she had to come over to take a look before going out.
The two of them passed through the corridors and arrived near the Peaceful Hall. Daoist Xuanji used the excuse of going in to get something to enter the bedchamber.
The empress dowager thought that the empress was holding court in the Hall of the Supreme Principle and that there was no one in the bedchamber, so she didn’t go in and wandered in the garden outside the hall.
Just after taking a few steps, she saw someone in the waterside pavilion in the center of the Roaring Dragon Pond.
“Huh?” The empress dowager stopped in her tracks and squinted to take a closer look. After discovering that the black-robed figure in the waterside pavilion was Ye Jingtang, she walked to the lake and put on the air of an empress dowager. She folded her hands at her waist and looked out.
Ye Jingtang had just come out of the bathroom and had yet to enter a meditative state. Sensing someone by the lake, he naturally opened his eyes. When he saw that it was the empress dowager, he stood up and jumped over the blue waves of the Roaring Dragon Pond.
Tread, tread…
The empress dowager looked at the scene of Ye Jingtang crossing the waves under the autumn sun and couldn’t help recalling when Liren carried her while flying. But in the end, they had almost fallen into the lake. Looking at Ye Jingtang now, she still felt that his charm was peerless.
But as the empress dowager, she couldn’t show her admiration with little stars in her eyes. She just stood with her hands folded at her waist and waited.
“Greetings, Your Majesty.”
“No need for formalities. Why are you here?”
“I’m taking the next two days off. Since I’m free, I came over to practice.”
Ye Jingtang landed by the lake. Because the empress dowager was petite, delicate, and not very tall, when they were alone, he had to bend down slightly to avoid looking down at her from above and offending her.
The empress dowager had to raise her head to look at the person opposite her. She was a little lost in his beauty, so she took small steps and walked unhurriedly by the lake. “How are your injuries?”
“I’m basically fine.”
Because of the close distance, Ye Jingtang could smell the faint fragrance of cinnamon. Looking at the empress dowager’s beautiful wifely attire, he asked, “Is Your Majesty preparing to leave the palace?”
The empress dowager nodded, “I’m preparing to go out with Daoist Xuanji to visit the people incognito. Are you free?”
Ye Jingtang was free, but he would probably become a baggage-carrying machine if he went out on a date with the empress dowager and Daoist Xuanji. He really didn’t want to go, but he couldn’t refuse. “I have no official business today. Your Majesty has a precious body, and there are risks when going out. I’ll be Your Majesty’s guard.”
The empress dowager wanted to bring Ye Jingtang along because Shuishui only followed her around while drinking wine and let her shop by herself when they went out. It was very boring.
Ye Jingtang obviously knew how to please women, so it should be more fun to go out with him.
Seeing that Ye Jingtang was sensible, the empress dowager was satisfied. She circled the Roaring Dragon Pond with him until Daoist Xuanji walked out of the bedchamber.
When Daoist Xuanji found Ye Jingtang chatting happily with the empress dowager, she turned around and looked at the small bathroom. She was deep in thought, but she didn’t catch them red-handed, so she didn’t think much of it. She walked over and said, “Let’s go.”
She threw her small umbrella to Ye Jingtang.
Ye Jingtang knew that the day of shopping until his legs broke was about to begin. He sighed inwardly and followed behind the two high-ranking women with the small umbrella.
Ye Jingtang originally thought that since the empress dowager was leaving the palace, she would take the east gate of the Imperial City or be carried out by Daoist Xuanji.
But he didn’t expect that the two women, who were chatting along the way, would return to the Longevity Palace and go to the room in the side hall.
The entrance to the tunnel leading out of the palace was in the room. Now, it had been renovated. There were handrails and stairs installed, and the walls of the tunnel had been painted white. There were even various calligraphy and paintings hanging along the way.
What was even more special was that because the tunnel was too long, in order to take care of the delicate empress dowager, the empress had actually installed a wooden track commonly seen in mines in the tunnel. On it was a small carriage with exquisite workmanship.
The empress dowager was quite satisfied with this renovation. She lifted her skirt, sat in the carriage, and let Daoist Xuanji sit beside her.
There was not much room in the small carriage. The two women had to squeeze their butts together when sitting. They were very close to each other. Ye Jingtang obviously couldn’t get in, so he consciously went to the back and pushed the small carriage deeper into the tunnel.
Creak, creak!
When the empress dowager returned last night, she had been pushed back by eunuchs and palace maids. Seeing that Ye Jingtang was doing this work behind her, she felt that she was treating him unfairly. After thinking for a while, she turned around, leaned against the backrest, and chatted with Ye Jingtang. “The people from the Ministry of Works are really useless. Horses can’t enter here, and I’m afraid of big dogs, so 1 asked them to get a small carriage that can run on its own. In the end, we raised so many skilled craftsmen, but none of them could make it.”
“Run on its own?” Ye Jingtang looked at the small carriage that could only seat two people side by side and smiled. “It’s not that it can’t run on its own, but it should be quite difficult to build it…”
The empress dowager shook her head and said, “It’s not difficult. You’ve heard of Fan Qiqiao, right? In the previous dynasty, the Fan family made a small box. With a twist, the pony inside could run for a while and even tinkle. I used to have one, but unfortunately, I opened it to look inside and couldn’t put it back…”
Ye Jingtang knew that Fan Qiqiao was the master who had created the Mr. Horn. He said, “Fan Jiuniang from Literary Virtue Bridge seems to be Fan Qiqiao’s granddaughter. Can’t Your Majesty ask her to help fix it?”
“Her ancestors clearly had warnings not to open the things they made. But 1 didn’t listen to their advice and broke it. If 1 send it to Fan Jiuniang, I’ll definitely be laughed at secretly. Moreover, Fan Jiuniang doesn’t have the true inheritance. She does have some skills, but she likes to make evil things. Hmm…”
When the empress dowager said this, her eyes flickered, and she wanted to say something but hesitated.
Daoist Xuanji was rather open-minded. She helped the empress dowager add, “Fan Jiuniang has figured out a Mir. Horn with a built-in mechanism. After turning it, it can—”
“Hey~! Why are you talking so freely?” The empress dowager’s face flushed red. She raised her hand and patted Daoist Xuanji’s shoulder. Perhaps afraid that Ye Jingtang would misunderstand, she turned around and explained, “There used to be something like that in the palace. 1 only heard about it from a palace maid, but I’ve never seen it before.”
Ye Jingtang saw that the two women were suddenly talking about boudoir supplies. How could he continue? He just pushed the carriage seriously and pretended not to hear anything.
The three of them chatted along the way. Because there were lights along the way and they had been here before, it only took half an hour to go through the long tunnel and arrive near Jasper Pavilion.
The tunnel led to the harem. For safety reasons, the exit at Jasper Pavilion was completely sealed off. There were many iron gates along the way that needed to be opened manually, and the exit was directly in the garden of the Prince of Jing Estate.
Ye Jingtang pushed the carriage to the bottom of the stairs at the exit and followed the empress dowager out of the tunnel. In front of them was a five-story tall building.
Shang Jianli, who was in charge of patrolling the Black Office, heard the noise in the tunnel and waited at the exit.
Because the Prince of Jing was in the palace, the empress dowager didn’t go to Jasper Pavilion. Instead, she took Daoist Xuanji to the main entrance of the estate.
After Ye Jingtang greeted Shang Jianli, he wanted to leave with the two women, but Shang Jianli stopped him with a look.
Ye Jingtang was slightly puzzled. He went over and asked, “Sir Shang, what’s the matter?”
When Shang Jianli first met Ye Jingtang, he had still been the famous Black Impermanence of Jianghu. Now, he had become a proper errand boy. There was even a hint of lament on his face.
After Shang Jianli bowed to the empress dowager and Daoist Xuanji, he said softly, “A few days ago, two boxing masters near the Imperial Boxing Dojo were harmed by evil people. The murderer attacked cleanly and didn’t leave many traces. She Long and 1 went to investigate, but we couldn’t identify the murderer’s background. There’s no way to investigate the case. Sir Ye, you have sharp eyes. If you have time, please help us take a look. If we can’t find any clues, Madam Meng will deduct two months of our salary.”
Yun’an City had a permanent population of over a million, and there was a large floating population. The martial temperament of the people was too abundant, and there were basically murders every day.
But the Imperial Boxing Dojo was a place to nurture martial arts masters and military officers. Half of the constables of the Black Office came from there. It was considered a government-run military academy, and there were a lot of retired old Grandmasters serving as instructors. It was really rare for something to happen there.
Ye Jingtang had handled several cases and had some experience. He thought for a moment and said, “Okay, I’ll go there in the afternoon to take a look, but 1 only investigate based on my intuition. 1 can’t guarantee that 1’11 be able to see anything…”
Daoist Xuanji was waiting with the empress dowager and listening to the two of them chat. When she heard this, she said, “We’re just strolling around anyway. I’ll accompany you to take a look.”
The empress dowager was very curious about everything.. When she heard that she was going to investigate a case, she became interested and walked straight to the Imperial Boxing Dojo with the two of them…
