Rising Phoenix

The Hu Wei Army acknowledged the order and hurriedly rushed forward to fight the fire and save the victims. To the side, Feng Zhiwei had a bitter smile on her face as she spoke, holding together her half burned robe, “This Minor Minister will leave first to change.”

Ning Yi glanced at her and said, “Mister Wei has worked hard, but with such a great fire, Mister Gu unfortunately will not be able to save anyone. He should also go change robes first.”

Feng Zhiwei smiled sincerely.” Your Highness is the one who is truly laboring, please continue working hard and bearing this burden.”

She bowed and retreated, passing the gathered crowd and reaching a silent palace room. Yan Huaishi quickly stepped out from behind a small copse of flowers and trees.

“You were right!” The young man was ecstatic, “Boldly fixing the road while silently creating a detour! The Tian Bo Pagoda has another entrance!

Feng Zhiwei smiled confidently — everyone else had thought that Crown Prince had been driven into a corner and trapped in the attic, his only way out to beg for an audience to prove his loyal heart, but Feng Zhiwei had already begun suspecting on her ride over, thinking that the Crown Prince’s fighting and path of retreat seemed too well planned, nothing like a haphazard and panicked escape.

So, before she had stepped out to speak with the Crown Prince, she had Yan Huaishi and his followers canvas the area, carefully combing through the paths around the building. Some of the Yan Family retainers were talented, and as expected, had discovered the Crown Prince’s secret escape route.

“The building has no underground tunnels, and is situated by an artificial lake.” Yan Huaishi said, “Prince Chu was careful, and also sent people out to check, but one of my retainers is the founder of the Shao Zi School. He said that the Tian Bo Pagoda was built in the Da Cheng Dynasty, and had a very unusual design. Within the building is another hidden building, with a thin sandwiching gap between the two — this space was not built to hide people, but to hide a staircase that runs through the entire building, leading to the back of the building. My retainer says that this kind of staircase only appears in ancient tombs, and utilizes an intricate design, and after using it to climb upward, it must be used to descend… watch.”

Feng Zhiwei looked around. On one side of the artificial lake stretched a long range of artificial mountains leading up to the back of the Tian Bo Pagoda.

“That mountain…”

“This mountain is empty and utilizes a very mysterious mechanism.” Yuan Huaishi said, eyes filled with astonishment. “Past this mountain, diving down into the belly of the lake, is a tunnel that runs to the easternmost Jing Zhai building, very close to the eastern gate!”

The tunnel was surprisingly built in midair, through the mountain!

No wonder even Ning Yi’s meticulous nature failed to find this escape route, even after careful examination of the building. The Tian Bo Pagoda had no tunnels beneath it, and this side of the lake had nothing. Who would think of checking the far side of the water?

Feng Zhiwei narrowed her eyes — the Tian Bo Pagoda stood alone with an artificial lake behind it. Not matter how you looked at it, it seemed like a dead end, but when she had read that mysterious booklet, that person had boasted about all manners of deceptive tricks, and smirkingly bragged about the various mechanical wonders utilized in different ancient tombs…

“Heaven has allowed me to find this secret tunnel.” Feng Zhiwei looked up, Shao Ning’s excited face flashing across her mind.

After a moment, she said: “Let us go look.”

Yan Huaishi stiffened. He knew how important this decision was, and that it might lead them to go against Ning Yi, but he said nothing and called his follower over to lead the way. This founder of the Shao Zi School could not stop praising the Tian Bo Pagoda’s wonderful design, and was surprised that either the Da Cheng or Tian Sheng Dynasty had such a master.

“What manner of school is this Shao Zi School?” Feng Zhiwei suddenly asked.

Yan Huaishi replied: “Grave robber.”

Understanding dawned on Feng Zhiwei — so the owner of that little booklet had been an experienced grave robber…

Since this matter was so important, Yan Huaishi only brought the old leader of the Shao Zi School to show the way. Clearly, they did not need to enter the tunnel, and only needed to wait by the exit.

To wait outside the palace gates was impossible, so they must wait by the Jing Zhai building.

Feng Zhiwei had no intention of seizing the brother and sister pair from the Crown Prince — they were not inextricably tied to the Crown Prince, and if the Crown Prince escaped he would not bring two burdens with him. If they were smart, they would protect themselves.

Born into the Imperial Family and nurtured by all kinds of talent, if they still had no ability and could not protect themselves, they would surely die the next time a disaster occurred, so why would she worry herself over them?

Why should she go against Ning Yi and become his enemy?

Ning Yi had to kill Shao Ning, or else with such a beloved blood relation of the Crown Prince by His Majesty’s side, the danger was no less than when the Crown Prince had still been favored.

Feng Zhiwei did not want to be the killing blow, but also did not want to act against Prince Chu. For now, she strode forward to the tunnel’s exit in order to better control the situation.

The Tian Sheng Imperial Palace had been built on the ruins of the Da Cheng Dynasty Palace. The Jing Zhai building had been the place of meditation for an Imperial Concubine to the deceased Da Cheng Emperor. Because of its remote location, people rarely came to this area.

A small building stood in the inner courtyard, curtains covering the walls from roof to ground. When Feng Zhiwei arrived, the Crown Prince had yet to reach the exit. Gu Nanyi stood by a dark courtyard pillar, lost in thought.

Suddenly, he lifted his hand to touch the pillar — Feng Zhiwei immediately turned to watch this statue that never made any unnecessary movements.

Gu Nanyi’s finger had separated from the pillar, and as his hand fell, a large chunk of black paint fell together with it.

Was Young Master Gu bored, and peeling at the pillar for fun?

Feng Zhiwei watched the dry paint fall and puff into dust as it hit the ground, disappearing without a trace.

Suddenly, footfalls could be heard from below and Feng Zhiwei and the others hid behind the doors. A group of blood covered guards rushed forward, and after swiftly checking all directions, dragged a large chest out from under the statue of a Buddha. More footsteps soon followed, and the Crown Prince and the others climbed outward.

Shao Ning stood in an imperial dress in the middle of a group, though she was not as heavily guarded as the Tenth Prince Ning Ji. Hairs strayed from her crooked bun and dangled in front of her face, and she spoke coldly: “Big Brother, what is the meaning of this? Do you really think you can fight with Father Emperor? Are you going to kill me and Tenth Brother now?”

“What is little sister saying.” The Crown Prince turned, his face oddly calm. “How could this prince kill you?”

Shao Ning rolled her eyes only to hear the Crown Prince bark out a strange laugh. “This prince still needs you to stand in his place, paying respect to Father Emperor every morning and every night.”

“What do you mean?”

His laughter cried out again like the hoot of an owl, sending shivers down everyone’s spines. Shao Ning examined her brother with confusion.

The Crown Prince said nothing and only laughed, his eyes darting across the gathered men around him before gesturing for the guards to leave, leaving only the three siblings and a black robed man.

His eyes fell on the black robed man, and as the guards marched away, Feng Zhiwei’s eyes zeroed in on the strange figure. After a single look, surprise filled her heart.

This person’s figure, why did it look familiar?

The man’s slender body leaned against the side of a door, a poorly shaped mask on his face, hiding his features.

The Crown Prince leaned in close and whispered into Shao Ning’s ear.