The night has finally arrived. Ye Ningjie and Zhou Yan were already behind Xianqi Palace. The place seemed deserted. Maybe because the palace was no longer occupied so the guarding of the soldiers was not the same as before.
Ye Ningjie stepped first into the very thick and tall bushes. She ducked down, then found a hole in the perimeter wall that was only three feet high.
"Are we going to crawl over there?" Zhou Yan asked in a half whisper. If they entered through that hole, they would look like mice.
"Yeah. It's better if we don't make trouble here openly." Ye Ningjie replied as she checked the situation of the pit. It was very dark in there with the smell of musty air. However, she didn't care.
Ye Ningjie slowly crawled into the hole in the wall. The ground down there was moderately moist, but luckily it wasn't muddy. Zhou Yan followed behind her without protesting. The man was quite obedient to Ye Ningjie.
After crawling for a while, they finally arrived at the palace's backyard. The atmosphere again felt lonely. There were several soldiers standing guard lazily near the corridor.
Ye Ningjie immediately pulled Zhou Yan behind a tree. She waited for a while until finally one of the soldiers there spoke to his comrade.
"I don't know why we still have to guard this place. Aren't there a lot of dead people here? I feel quite goosebumps."
"After all, this is a big palace. Maybe this palace will be occupied by a new king so we have to guard it," replied another soldier.
"The new king? Do you know who it is?"
"No. I was just guessing!"
Ye Ningjie snorted. She ignored the soldiers and started to look around. This palace had been abandoned by her for many years, but she still remembered its layout if it had not been changed.
Under the bright moonlight, Ye Ningjie led Zhou Yan to sneak into the palace. The soldiers there guarded poorly. It makes their movement easier.
The place Ye Ningjie was going to visit was the ancestral hall. She wanted to see if there was a death memorial tablet of her father and mother or not. If their memorial tablet was there, then her father and mother were properly buried.
Corridors are not strictly guarded. Ye Ningjie could even see that some soldiers were stealing the opportunity to sleep. Good. They make things easier.
After going through several turns, they finally arrived in front of the ancestral hall. That place only kept the death memorial tablets of the previous Xianqi Kings and their descendants. Nothing of value could be stolen so the place was not guarded by anyone.
Ye Ningjie managed to get in there with ease. She also did not forget to close the door tightly.
The ancestral hall felt quite dark. She immediately lit a candle that was near the door. No one should have noticed this because the ancestral hall was in a place jutting from the center of the building.
When the candle is lit, the rows of death tablets come into view. Each tablet is engraved with the names of ancestors who have died from generation to generation. There were so many of them and Ye Ningjie didn't care about each one.
She drew closer to the front row, then saw two death memorial tablets that instantly made her eyes tear up. It was the death memorial tablet belonging to her father and mother, King Ye Tian and Concubine Mu Rong.
Ye Ningjie immediately knelt before the row of death memorial tablets. She lowered her head, took a deep breath, then performed prostration three times.
"Father, Mother, sorry I am late," she said quietly. "Are you blaming me for not knowing anything about your deaths?"
The pain and loss that had been suppressed for days finally exploded and turned into tears. She sobbed.
"I should have known. If I had known that, at least I would have fought alongside you guys. Even if I had to die, I would at least be a more useful daughter."
Her back shook with sobs. It was very painful. She hasn't been home in years. And when she came home, all she found was a death memorial tablet of her parents.
Why did they leave so fast? She hasn't even grown into a woman yet. She had not had time to make them happy, had not had time to give them anything they deserved. Why now?
Thinking of that brought tears to her eyes. Until finally Zhou Yan approached and gently patted her on the shoulder to calm her down.
"You're innocent. They must be glad you're alive now."
Ye Ningjie wiped her tears. She took a deep breath as she braced herself. She shouldn't be too deep in sorrow. After all, there are still things to be done.
She looked at her father and mother's tablet in turn. "Father, I believe you cannot possibly stage a rebellion. I will find out the truth. Whoever is behind all this, even if it is the emperor, I will not let him go."
"I will make whoever that person regret," she hissed through her teeth. Her eyes narrowed with a trace of coldness.
Right after she said that suddenly her sharp ears caught the sound of someone moving outside the room. She turned her head to look at Zhou Yan. The man also looked at her, it seemed they felt the same way.
"Hurry and hide now," she whispered.
She quickly got up and moved to put out the candle. After that, she pulled Zhou Yan to hide behind a large cupboard that kept the ashes of the ancestors. She was sure that someone would come in.
Her hunch was not wrong. Moments later the closed door suddenly opened.
A man in black robes entered the room with calm steps. His body looks very tall. His face was covered by a golden mask that was more and more obscured in the dark room.
Ye Ningjie peeked carefully. The man seemed to take the candle that was there. Not to be lit, but to be brought to the nose. The man seemed to be smelling the scent of a candle.
Ye Ningjie's heart started to pound. The candle was just lit, surely the man would be suspicious!
Ye Ningjie immediately looked at the window, then considered whether or not to escape through the window. While she was thinking, suddenly the black robed man closed the door without leaving the room
"Come out," said the black-robed man. His voice was calm and deep.
Ye Ningjie felt quite depressed. She looked at Zhou Yan, then the man whispered to her, "I will deal with him. Then you must take the opportunity to escape."
"Zhou Yan..." Ye Ningjie didn't agree with the idea. However, before she could speak further, Zhou Yan had already jumped out of hiding. The man immediately dashed before the black-robed man.
"Your senses are quite good," Zhou Yan said as he pointed a sharp sword.
"One more person," said the black-robed man calmly. As if not afraid at all if the sharp tip of Zhou Yan's sword pierced his throat.
"What do you mean?" Zhou Yan asked not understanding.
"One more person is still hiding. Come out alone or will I drag her out?"