Su Fan found a place to change into the Imperial Guard's uniform. Otherwise, before he could even get close, the palace maids and eunuchs would flee, mistaking him for an assassin.
Wearing the Imperial Guard's clothes would save Su Fan a lot of trouble.
After changing, Su Fan soon encountered a eunuch. This time, the eunuch showed no reaction to Su Fan.
"Your Excellency, could you tell me how to get to the Imperial Study?" Su Fan asked the eunuch.
The eunuch looked at Su Fan with some surprise.
"As an Imperial Guard, you don't know where the Imperial Study is?"
"I've just started my duty and am not familiar with the palace, I got lost," Su Fan said with some embarrassment.
Getting lost in the palace was indeed quite humiliating.
"Go straight from here, turn right at the end, then pass two intersections, turn left, and then turn right, and you'll be there," the eunuch told Su Fan.
"Alright, thank you," Su Fan said, thanking the eunuch.
Following the eunuch's directions, he wound his way through the maze-like paths. Then, Su Fan got lost again.
"Who the heck built this place? It's so convoluted!" Su Fan was speechless.
The walls were so high, and there were no landmarks. It was easy to lose one's bearings inside.
There were no palace maids or eunuchs around. Su Fan couldn't even find anyone to ask for directions.
"Turn right at two intersections, then right again... yes, that's it!" Su Fan recalled the eunuch's words and turned right.
The further he walked, the quieter the surroundings became, making Su Fan feel like he might have taken a wrong turn.
"Is this place really inhabited?" Before Su Fan stood a residential palace, but it was overgrown with weeds, looking nothing like a place where anyone lived.
"Awooo~" A hawk's cry startled Su Fan.
Suddenly, the surroundings felt chilling.
"I heard many people died tragically in the palace. Could this be a haunted place?" Su Fan muttered to himself, feeling a bit uneasy.
However, his curiosity still drew him into the courtyard. The dry grass on the ground crunched with each step. Su Fan reached the entrance of the palace. Outside the door was a meal tray with simple food, lacking any hint of meat. The door was locked with a chain, leaving only a palm-width gap.
It seemed someone was indeed here. But who would be locked up here?
Suddenly! A pitch-black face appeared in the gap, staring directly at Su Fan. Startled, Su Fan instinctively took a step back.
"What the heck!" Su Fan exclaimed, his heart pounding.
"Who are you?" The owner of the black face in the gap was a woman. She asked Su Fan in a cold, clear voice.
"You... who are you?" Su Fan retorted.
The woman sized up Su Fan's attire through the gap.
"You're an Imperial Guard? Did the Emperor send you! Is he going to let me out!" The woman seemed somewhat excited upon seeing Su Fan's uniform.
"I just got lost. Who are you? Why are you locked up here?" Su Fan shook his head and asked again.
The woman was instantly disappointed.
"Since the Emperor didn't send you, you should leave quickly. If you're discovered, it will implicate you," the woman said weakly, her voice laced with fatigue.
"Don't you want to get out? Are you content to be locked up here?" Su Fan asked curiously. The woman seemed to feel that as long as the Emperor didn't release her, she would stay there forever.
"One must be punished for their wrongdoings. I will not leave without his forgiveness," the woman said softly.
"Are you an Imperial Concubine?" Su Fan guessed, based on her tone and her mention of the Emperor.
"Imperial Concubine? Heh! That has nothing to do with you. Leave now," the woman sneered dismissively. Realizing she wasn't familiar with Su Fan, she retracted what she was about to say.
"Alright. If you need any help, feel free to ask," Su Fan said politely. Whether he would actually help her depended on his mood.
"Wait, I actually do have something I'd like your help with," the woman suddenly called out.
"Uh..." Su Fan thought, *I was just being polite, why are you taking it seriously?*
"How are the princesses doing these days?" the woman asked Su Fan.
Su Fan was taken aback. Princesses? Su Fan thought of Xiao Xue'er. *She's doing great, I almost fell into her hands.*
"They're doing quite well, full of life," Su Fan said with a forced smile.
"Help me deliver this to her," the woman said, handing him a hand-sewn sachet through the gap.
"Don't tell her it's from me." Su Fan took the sachet, his mind already making some guesses.
"Are you her mother?" Su Fan asked.
The woman didn't reply. She slowly retreated back into the room, which was very dark. Su Fan could no longer see her figure.
[Ding! Side Quest: Deliver Sachet, Reward: 20000 Experience]
Su Fan put away the sachet. "I will deliver it to her," he said. Twenty thousand experience points was a significant amount. It was a simple task, and it would be foolish not to accept it.
"Senior, how do I get to the Imperial Study?" Su Fan asked sheepishly into the room.
"Go out, walk to the end, turn left, keep going, turn right after one intersection," the woman's voice came from inside the room again.
Su Fan suddenly understood. He had remembered the direction incorrectly. He had turned right when he should have turned left.
"Thank you," Su Fan said, and left the desolate place. Following the woman's directions, Su Fan finally saw a familiar environment.
"Eunuch Li!" Su Fan saw Eunuch Li approaching.
"Young Master Su?" Eunuch Li looked surprised to see Su Fan.
"I have news regarding the Crown Prince. Could you please inform His Majesty?" Su Fan said to Eunuch Li.
"I will go and inform His Majesty immediately. Please wait, Young Master Su," Eunuch Li said, turning and heading into the Imperial Study to report to the Emperor.
Soon, Eunuch Li emerged again.
"His Majesty wishes to see you." Su Fan nodded and entered the Imperial Study.
"Su Fan pays his respects to His Majesty."
"You are dismissed. Have you found the Crown Prince?" Xiao Yuan was only concerned about the Crown Prince's whereabouts. The ancestral rites were only two days away, and if the Crown Prince didn't appear, it would affect the royal family's prestige.
"I have found traces of the Crown Prince. He will appear at the ancestral temple alone to pay respects to the late Emperor at the hour of Wei on the day before the ancestral rites," Su Fan told the Emperor.
"Tomorrow at the hour of Wei? Is the news certain?" Xiao Yuan asked softly.
"It is certain. The Crown Prince told Master Xuanmiao of Nangong Temple this, and I learned of it from Master Xuanmiao," Su Fan explained to the Emperor. Xiao Yuan immediately believed Su Fan. He knew that the Crown Prince had some connection with Master Xuanmiao of Nangong Temple. The fact that Su Fan could mention Master Xuanmiao's name meant he wasn't lying.
"Well done. Eunuch Li, reward him with a thousand taels of gold and ten bolts of silk," Xiao Yuan instructed Eunuch Li.
"Yes, Your Majesty." Eunuch Li went to prepare Su Fan's reward. However, Xiao Yuan made no mention of promoting Su Fan.