Tyrant, I am from Military Intelligence 9th Division

  In the morning when I woke up, I felt much better. After doing some stretching exercises in the house, I walked out of the door with my head held high.

  The gloomy atmosphere of many days was swept away. With the door bolt inserted from inside, Qing Xia took out paper and pen and began her preparations.

  Carefully climbing up the wall, fortunately in this southern climate warmth, even in winter, there is lush greenery. Qing Xia has done a good job of hiding and begins to seriously observe the place where she is located for the first time.

  To the west, in the direction of the main gate, there were many more sentries, about twenty or so, fully armed and standing guard 24 hours a day. In the direction of nine o'clock, there were obvious signs of flattened grass, indicating that there were hidden sentries lurking.

  To the north, adjacent to the water, is a vast lake. Originally, there was an elegant suspension bridge on it. When I arrived in Qing Summer, it had already been dismantled. Without diving equipment, entering the icy and bone-chilling lake at this time of year is no different from seeking death, so we can rule that out directly.

  To the south was Qianqing Fourth Residence, bustling with people coming and going, seemingly more lively than this side. However, upon closer inspection by Qing Xia, she discovered over a dozen hidden sentries, big and small. The southeast corner tower, which appeared to be merely decorative, also concealed secrets. In matters of stealth, one must catch the opponent off guard to succeed. Now, with everyone's eyes fixed on her, waiting for her to make a move, even with Qing Xia's exceptional skills, she didn't dare be so reckless.

  In the end, only the eastern wall was left. Behind it was a dense forest. The Chu Palace and Qing Xia's modern Forbidden City were different, with more natural marks. Not to mention the vast area of land, the garden had some of the charm of Jiangnan gardens, with less artificial decoration. It was strange that there were also many hidden sentries on this side, and even a team of patrolling soldiers marched along the wall, which had deep trenches dug under it, filled with water from the lake in the north. Qing Xia saw this and couldn't help but pause for a moment, thinking that He Shun must have been standing in the icy water to deliver her medicine yesterday. Although the climate in South Chu was milder, it was still winter after all, with temperatures around 0 degrees Celsius, and the water temperature was even more chilling. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but feel a little affection for that loyal soldier.

  After observing for a while, Qing Xia sat on the stone pedestal in the courtyard, holding a brush and paper. Before long, she had sketched out a floor plan of the Qianqing Temple, with dozens of hidden passages marked with circles, dense like ant holes. Qing Xia furrowed her brow, drew for a moment, thought for a moment, and then relied on her super strong memory to draw out the floor plan of the Chu Palace and the layout diagram of Shengdu.

  Perhaps it was a professional habit, every time she arrived in a new city, Qing Xia would always find the best escape route. After doing all this, the sun had already set in the west. Qing Xia walked to the east wall and found that in the same position as last time, there was still a package wrapped in oil paper with a crimson bottle hanging quietly from a thin rope on top of it.

  Qing Xia spent three whole days recording the shift changes of the Imperial Guards, discovering that they were on a three-shift rotation system, with each shift changing every four hours. Perhaps Chu Li's established system was flawless, but when it came to these soldiers, they couldn't help but be a bit lax. After all, mobilizing such a large force to guard a weak and sickly woman seemed pointless to everyone. And Chu Li couldn't tell them that he was waiting for Prince Qi to fall into his trap again, so he gave Qing Xia an opportunity.

  She tied her trousers and embroidered shoes together with a thin rope, tied up her long hair, hid the dagger that had been hidden on her body in her trouser leg, and finally carried a long rope and tied it to her thigh. The wide skirt was dropped down, and everything was hidden inside. After doing all this, the moon was already high in the sky. She took a deep breath, then opened the door of the house.

  It was already midnight, the bright moon hung round in the sky, casting a faint glow. On the ground covered with white frost, a young man in a jade belt and python robe stood still beside the courtyard, his eyes fixed on Qing Xia standing at the door, his eyes shining like stars.

  "It's so late, where are you going?"

  Qing Xia's heart skipped a beat, but her face remained calm and expressionless. She said coldly, "We've all arrived at this place, where else can I go?" Her body swayed slightly as she quickly picked up a cup from inside the house, using the door to block the other person's line of sight. Qing Xia walked out with the cup in hand, her eyes fixed straight ahead. She came to the corner of the house, opened the lid of the water vat, scooped up a cup of water and tilted her head back to drink it down.

  His eyebrows furrowed tightly for a moment, his voice had a suppressed anger: "I heard that you're ill."

  "Chu Li," Qing Xia said softly, slowly turning around, sneering and saying: "You shouldn't have come here."

  Chu Li's expression hesitated for a moment, and the black air in his eyes grew even stronger. He said in a low voice: "Whether I should come or not, I know it clearly in my heart."

  Qing Xia slowly shook her head and said lightly, "Different paths don't converge, Zhuang Qing Xia was never on the same path as you. You imprisoning her is justified. But if you have her in your heart, you'll eventually reap what you sow."

  "Zhuang Qingxia, you're overestimating yourself." Chu Li snorted and said with a huff: "I came here just to confirm that you haven't died yet. The thing Qi An put on me back then, I'll get it back a hundredfold, a thousandfold!"

  Zhuang Qingxia looked at him with a determined gaze, only to feel a wave of sorrow rising from the bottom of her heart. From an onlooker's perspective, Zhuang Qingxia had been imprisoned by Chu Li for the sake of Qi Taizi, Bei Pan. It was reasonable that Chu Li should have destroyed her completely in this feudal society, especially when he could have done so at the very beginning. However, Chu Li did not do so; instead, he carefully considered how to verify the matter, merely wanting to give Zhuang Qingxia a chance to survive.

  Perhaps, compared to that Prince Qi who took advantage of this foolish woman, Chuli was the one who truly loved her. Only, he wouldn't choose the right way. But all of this had nothing to do with her, what she cared about was that Chuli was standing here, and she couldn't escape tonight.

  "Do you really think Qi An is stupid enough to fall for this kind of trick again? Or do you really think I have such a great importance that a man would give up his throne to rescue me? Just look at yourself, and you should know it's impossible."

  "It's not up to you or me." Chu Li's mouth curved into a sly smile, his eyes gleaming with malice as he said in a cold voice, "Do you know who the representative from Qi Guo is for this ascension to the grand hall? Your old lover is about to arrive."

  Qing Xia was taken aback, a hint of surprise flashing across his face. Chu Li suddenly burst into a rage, turning around abruptly and saying in a cold voice: "You have hope of escaping now, so don't be half-dead anymore. If I see you drinking cold water to kill yourself again, you'd better prepare for your own funeral!"

  The man turned around and left abruptly. Qing Xia looked at Chu Li who was leaving in a hurry, slightly stunned, and suddenly had an epiphany. He shouted loudly: "Wait a minute!"

  Chu Li's footsteps halted in confusion as dark clouds of doubt filled her face. Qing Xia hastily retreated back into the house, only to slowly emerge a moment later and say, "Nothing's wrong, you can go now."

  "You're fooling me!" Chu Li shouted loudly, Qing Xia shrugged indifferently and saw Chu Li storm out in a huff.

  As soon as the gate was closed, Qing Xia quickly took off her brocade cheongsam and revealed a short jacket she had just put on after entering the house. Although this was the underwear that women wore inside during this era, it was still much more convenient than wearing such luxurious clothes, and since it was dark at night, no one would be able to see.

  Agilely climbing up the eastern wall, as expected, due to Chu Li's arrival, all the guards gathered at the front gate to bid farewell to Chu Li, leaving only a few hidden sentries in place. With ease, he flipped out of the wall and crouched down, carefully making his way around to the front gate. Chu Li's brocade boots were moving among the crowd, Qing Xia silently calculated the time, when suddenly a gust of cool wind blew, tree branches rustling, and in an instant, with a forward roll, he flashed into the crowd. Everyone was kneeling on the ground, staring at their own feet, who dared to raise their head to gaze directly at Chu Li? Taking advantage of this moment, Qing Xia stealthily slipped under Chu Li's dragon carriage, his hands and feet clinging to the bottom, his entire body stuck to it like a gecko.

  This series of movements was smooth and silent, without being detected by anyone. It wasn't until the dragon carriage was pulled away by the fine horses that the people in the back dared to slowly let out a breath and stand up.

  This way, it saves a lot of trouble. If other methods are used, they will have to find ways to break through the layers of guards and escape from the palace. And outside the palace, there are also layers of imperial city guards and high city gates.

  Chu Li had been training troops in the large camp outside the city for a long time, and who would dare to come up and inspect the emperor's carriage today? So, at this moment, Qing Xia was leisurely climbing under the dragon carriage, with a thrill of excitement in her heart. When they arrived at the desolate wilderness outside the city, who could still be a match for this modern-day super agent?

  Just as he was getting excited, the dragon carriage suddenly stopped. Qing Xia's face changed color in shock, it's over, could it be that this bastard Chu Li doesn't want to leave the palace tonight and wants to stay overnight instead?

  Just as he was lost in thought, a familiar voice suddenly rang out. A pair of black boots walked up to the dragon throne, and the man knelt down on the ground, shouting loudly: "Pay respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince!"

  …