Five days ago, Wu Zhu made his last visit to the palace and confirmed that the key was hidden somewhere in the Hall of Embracing Light. Therefore, Fan Xian's first exploration was here. Perhaps it had been peaceful for too long, but the Hall of Embracing Light, where the Empress Dowager resided, was filled with a sense of tranquility. The palace maids on night duty were all asleep, and even the young eunuch in charge of the incense burner was dozing off.

A faint fragrance drifted by, and both the young eunuch and the palace maids fell into a deep sleep.

In the dim light, Fan Xian slipped into the inner chambers along the relatively dark corners. His eyes looked at the extravagantly decorated bed in the distance, and he frowned slightly. Was the old woman under the thin silk quilt the Empress Dowager?

He didn't have time for too much emotion, nor would he indulge in the pointless fantasy of history possibly changing in his hands. He simply walked forward calmly and stood beside the bed, without even glancing at the woman who was possibly the most powerful in the world.

Calmness was the most important quality that Wu Zhu and Fei Jie had taught Fan Xian.

There were no lurking experts as he had anticipated. In Fan Xian's prior plans, he always thought that in the imperial palace, there would be hidden assassins who were never seen in the light, like in Gu Long's novels, always surrounding the Emperor and Empress Dowager.

He didn't bother looking around the Hall of Embracing Light for possible hiding places. Instead, he directly slipped under the Empress Dowager's bed. He closed his eyes and began to feel the wooden boards beneath the bed. The wood was of excellent quality, but his actions seemed rather strange at this moment.

After a short while, he opened his eyes in the darkness under the bed. His eyes were clear and bright, and a hint of joy mixed with absurdity flashed through them.

Back in Danzhou, he had hidden the nameless cultivation manual in a hidden compartment under the bed board. In "The Deer and the Cauldron," Mao Dongzhu also hid the Forty-Two Sutras in a hidden compartment under the bed. It turned out that there was also a hidden compartment under the bed of the Empress Dowager of Qing.

Human imagination, at times, really seemed quite poor.

With a gentle application of force, the dagger was inserted from the side, and the blade broke through the wood silently. The Empress Dowager on the bed turned over and mumbled a few words. Fan Xian remained expressionless, as if he hadn't heard anything, and continued to operate steadily. After a while, he removed the hidden compartment. He didn't dare to reach in and rummage through it, but his night vision was strong, so he simply and luckily saw the item.

Inside the hidden compartment were no jewels or silver notes, only a piece of white cloth, a letter, and... a key.

Fan Xian looked at the shape of the key, frowned slightly, and a strange expression appeared on his face. He didn't take out the white cloth and the letter, but simply put the key in his pocket and slipped out.

A moment later, he reappeared under the palace wall.

—————————————————————————————

Getting into the carriage, Fan Xian looked at Wang Qinian and said softly, "What I need is speed."

"Yes." Wang Qinian didn't know what the mission was today. He only knew that he had to pick up the master at this street corner and then go to see the person he had invited back.

"I don't want anyone to know that I am in this carriage."

"Don't worry, Master. This is a carriage borrowed from the樞密院 (Shumi Yuan - Privy Council). No one dares to stop it, and no one knows."

"Very good." Fan Xian relaxed slightly, leaned back in the seat, and frowned. Today, he had first gone crazy with poetry after drinking fake wine, and then he had to explore the imperial palace at night, which had taken a great toll on his mental state.

The carriage arrived at a certain courtyard, a courtyard that Fan Xian was completely unfamiliar with. The two got out of the car silently, put on their hoods again, and walked directly to a secret room underground. Wang Qinian said in a muffled voice, "Master, this is the locksmith."

In front of the two men, there were many metal tools that the two men could not recognize on a small wooden table, shining faintly in the light. The owner of the tool was a middle-aged man who looked honest and simple, with a dark iron color on his face, but he was smiling honestly.

Locksmith is an occupation and a title, but this middle-aged man named Locksmith is not only because of this, his name is Locksmith, from which you can know the extent of his skills.

Fan Xian nodded and said to Wang Qinian, "You go out and wait."

Wang Qinian lowered his head and left the secret room. He knew that there were some things that he would never know, which was the safest thing.

"This matter concerns the interests of the nation. I request you to contribute to the country in the capacity of the樞密院 (Shumi Yuan - Privy Council)." Fan Xian said calmly to the locksmith through the mask on his face.

The locksmith's heart trembled. Thinking of the many foreign missions that had come to Beijing recently, he immediately thought that he had guessed something. He quickly saluted, not knowing what he was going to do.

"Be fast, be accurate." Fan Xian took out the key from his belt, "Exactly the same."

The locksmith took it and looked at it carefully, and frowned: "There is no such lock in the world."

"I don't care, I just want you to copy this key. Can you or can't you?"

"It's difficult, this key is too complicated. Even if the shape is exactly the same, no one can detect it, but I can't guarantee that the copied key can open the corresponding lock."

"Very good, start." Fan Xian was unexpectedly happy after hearing the answer, but his voice was still cold.

The locksmith was nervously copying the key, and the sound of grinding iron was heard from the secret room from time to time. Fan Xian was also nervously watching the entrance of the secret room. He didn't know how long Wu Zhu could hold back Eunuch Hong. Eunuch Hong lived too close to the Hall of Embracing Light. If Eunuch Hong returned to the palace, it would be difficult for him to put this copied key back.

Finally, the locksmith finished the work in a sweat and handed the key in his hand to Fan Xian. Fan Xian compared the two keys and found that the copied key was really exactly the same, even the rust spots left on it were almost the same. His mood finally relaxed a little, he smiled slightly and asked: "What did you do before?"

His face was covered with black cloth, so this smile looked a little weird.

"Little man... a thief." The locksmith was sweating profusely, not knowing what he would face after completing such a strange job.

Fan Xian thought to himself, so it was a colleague, squinting at the remaining tools and molds on the table, frowning, walking to the table, humming, and the tyrannical True Qi in his body burst out, destroying all the molds in his hand into fragments.

After telling Wang Qinian to destroy those metal tools as well, and send the locksmith to the south for a period of time, Fan Xian felt relieved and embarked on the road to re-enter the imperial palace.

—————————————————————————

Re-entering the Hall of Embracing Light, the sweet fragrance had faded, the night wind was still gently blowing, and the atmosphere of peace and harmony filled the palace. Fan Xian slipped under the bed like a ghost, put back the copied key, took out the adhesive he was carrying, and rearranged the hidden compartment. Then he quietly exited the palace.

He didn't know how long it had been since the last drumbeat, and Fan Xian knew it was time for him to leave. But at this moment, his eyes fell on a small courtyard on the other side of the imperial palace. That was Guangxin Palace, where the Eldest Princess lived.

Fan Xian's actions today were perfectly arranged. If he didn't want to create extra problems, he should immediately withdraw from the imperial palace and then wait for things to gradually ferment. But whether it was because he was overwhelmed by the joy of getting the key, or because of something else, Fan Xian's next actions were somewhat unexpected.

He believed that under the cover of darkness, even in a heavily guarded palace like the imperial palace, he could walk freely. Walking along the corridor, he relied entirely on the night-walking skills that Wu Zhu and Fei Jie, the two masters of darkness, had honed, and approached Guangxin Palace with great difficulty. He even brushed past a yawning palace maid along the way.

Guangxin Palace was still lit, which clearly meant that someone was inside. The separate Guangxin Palace was different from other palaces in the imperial palace, and there was also a small wall outside the palace.

As the saying goes, "I have crossed the great rivers and mountains, so why should I be afraid of this stinky ditch?" But Fan Xian knew that many peerless experts were ultimately killed by mediocre people, so he carefully went around to the back of the palace, closed his eyes and calmed his breath, and climbed up along the thick pillar.

His palm landed on the smooth pillar surface. Fan Xian had consumed too much mental energy and True Qi today, so he couldn't help but feel a little impetuous, so it seemed a little strenuous to climb up. He carefully got on the roof of Guangxin Palace, not daring to boldly lift the tiles to peek, but squinted and looked for the skylight tiles that were extremely difficult to find among the glazed tiles.

Perhaps his luck was too good. The palace roof did not need skylight tiles, but the Eldest Princess was a person who liked skylight entering the room, so Fan Xian found one, squatted down carefully, lowered his head, ensured the stability of every simple movement, and strived not to make any sound.

Under the skylight tiles, the light was not bright, but with Fan Xian's eyesight, he could still see clearly and hear clearly. He narrowed his eyes and knew that he had guessed correctly, and his luck was really good.

……

……

The Eldest Princess Li Yunrui leaned lazily on the couch, her face full of languidness, looking charming and moving. She was only wearing a white loose robe, and her body curves were exposed under the thin silk, revealing a hint of youthfulness among the maturity. If the men in the world saw this dress, they would probably fall at her bare feet.

As the Emperor's closest sister, she naturally didn't need to use her beauty to seduce people, and the person in front of her was seventy years old. Before tonight, he was known as the world's greatest moral and literary master, and he was not a character who could be seduced by beauty.

Zhuang Mohan coughed twice: "The foreign minister's matter is over. I hope the Eldest Princess will not break the agreement."

The Eldest Princess played with the fake scroll that she had made at great expense, smiled sweetly, and the whole room was filled with spring, softly and timidly saying: "I want Master Zhuang to step on that Fan Xian and make him no longer have the face to stay in Kyoto. Can Master Zhuang do it?"