Chang Baixing had been lying on the ridge of the Chongwen Hall in the Prince's East Palace for more than an hour, and his hands and feet were already frozen. "Damn it." Chang Baixing cursed secretly. It was the eighth day of the first lunar month in the second year of Emperor Ruizong Jingyun of the Tang Dynasty (AD 711). All the officials were still on their annual leave, and every household was staying by the warm hearth to prepare for the Shangyuan Festival. Walk out the door when the dripping water turns to ice. Fortunately, there has been no snow since the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, or, tomorrow morning, I am afraid that someone will follow his footsteps to the place where he is staying.Chang Baixing heard a group of patrolling guards walking past the hall again, with the clear and audible sound of kicking footsteps and the occasional clashing of spears and armor in their hands.The guards are in a group of four. Every time the incense is burned, it takes about 300 recitations of the Buddha's name, and a group of guards will pass by.

After several nights of investigation, Chang Baixing discovered that the information provided by his employer contained many major errors: First, the employer told him that Prince Li Longji would spend time with the Crown Princess in the Yichun Palace on the east side of the East Palace every night.It took Chang Baixing two nights to realize that this was not the case at all. At least in the past few days, the prince has been living in the Hall of Longevity in the Yiqiu Palace on the west side of the East Palace, and there is no woman attending him at all. Second, the prince didn't return to the Hall of Longevity until after the third watch every night. Before that, he sat in the Chongwen Hall in the south of Yiqiu Palace from the watch watch, either reviewing official affairs, or talking with the courtiers on duty. Judging from the serious and cautious expressions of the people passing by, it was obvious that they were not chatting.However, Chang Baixing did not tell his employer about all this discovery, because he has not yet made up his mind whether to take such a big risk for this business.

At this time, he was lying behind the roof ridge of the Chongwen Hall on the west side of the Chongwen Hall, listening carefully to the movement in the courtyard.He knew that, like the previous two times, the prince would probably leave for the palace now. Sure enough, the guards in the courtyard were in a hurry, and the ladies in the palace lit the palace lanterns and stood guard in front of the palace.Chang Baixing turned his head to the side as much as possible, and looked with one eye out of the ridge of the roof, only to see a young man as long as a crane walking out of Chongwen Hall.The previous few times, Chang Baixing didn't dare to do anything wrong, but secretly listened to the movement of the prince and his party. Tonight, he couldn't hold back his curiosity no matter what, and decided to take a look at the prince's appearance.

Regrettably, under the faint halo of the palace lanterns, the face of the prince could not be seen clearly at all, only he was dressed in loose and comfortable uniforms and the peaceful and noble gait unique to the Li family, and dozens of people who walked carefully bodyguard. Surrounded by female officials and guards, the prince passed through the right long forest gate and entered Neifang, leaving only a few guards on duty in front of the Chongwen Hall. If someone said that he could escape unscathed after assassinating the prince under such strict protection, I wouldn't believe it if he was killed.While secretly scolding himself, Chang Baixing slowly raised his frozen elbows, shifted the weight of his upper body to his left arm, stretched out his right hand wearing a suede glove, and extinguished the letter in the bamboo tube in front of him. fragrant.

When he reversed his arm and inserted the bamboo tube back into the leather pouch, he once again felt the major defect of the new leather pouch.This new leather pouch was much harder than the old leather pouch he had used earlier. Not only was it sticking everywhere, but it was always running from the back of his hips to the front of his body, which made it very inconvenient for him to take tools.He thought to himself, if he had to run away, with such a thing stumbling in front of him, even the most stupid guard would catch him.Another point is that the straps for inserting tools on this leather bag are also absurdly arranged, and the wishful hooks for unlocking are placed on the top row, which can easily be taken out by the sleeves and lost when picking up tools by yourself; But the leather knife in the suitcase was inserted next to Menxiang and Xinxiang. Damn it, if it was summer, would you still light a fart after cutting your fingers?

time to go.Chang Baixing moved his left hand from under his body again, letting his chest and legs stick tightly to the roof tiles, but his toes didn't use any force, just laying them there dutifully, so as not to accidentally break the roof tiles and alarm the vigil people.He carefully touched every inch of the front and back with his two hands to see if there was anything missing, and then he got up like a nimble Siamese cat and walked back to the corner of the hall.Still like just now, he touched every tile he walked on, and after confirming that there were no traces left, Fang Yuan stepped down from the pillar.

Chang Baixing never panics when he comes out to do things, and there is no need to panic.He believes that as long as he is careful enough in every link and puts enough effort into it, if the heavens do not intend to destroy him, he will never miss it. For several days in a row, he went to the Prince's East Palace to step on the plate, and he always walked along the west wall of the East Palace, because the other side of the west wall was the Taiji Palace where the emperor lived.Perhaps because the prince was afraid of rebellion, the wall between the emperor's palace city and the prince's east palace didn't even have a corner door.And because this palace wall is sandwiched between the two palaces, the guards patrolling here are also extremely slack.It seems that the strongest place is the weakest place, and the old man's words are not false at all.Chang Baixing thought of his father, that old thief who spent money like water and gave away his fortune. He stole all over the world all his life, but when he died, his family had no money left. A lot of trivial talk of experience.

However, in Chang Baixing's own experience later, he discovered that every point of his father's tireless reminders was a good way for him to survive and survive. On the Longshou Mountain to the northeast of the East Palace is the Daming Palace.When Chang'an City was built in the early Sui Dynasty, they built the imperial palace in the most low-lying place in Chang'an City because of Fengshui. In addition, the Qingming Canal in the south of the city and the Cao Canal in the west of the city continuously poured water into the Taiji Palace. The sea pool, which makes the palace extremely humid.Therefore, in the eighth year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong built this Daming Palace on the Longshou Mountain in the northeast of the palace city, on the east side of the Weiyang Palace ruins in the Han Dynasty, as a place to support the Supreme Emperor.Since then, Taizong, Gaozong, Zhongzong and other emperors lived in Daming Palace when they were in Xijing.Today's Wansui is also living there at this time. After the death of Empress Wu Zetian, Li Zhongzong, Empress Wei, and even today, political affairs have changed frequently. In just a few years, there have been four or five coups, so the guards around Daming Palace are very strict.

If you plan to go out from the north of the East Palace, you are throwing yourself into a trap.He is as clear as a mirror about this. To the south of the East Palace is Tianjie, which is an extremely wide side street between the palace city and the imperial city. Here, after the officials who go to court during the day are off duty, there is not a ghost on the whole street.Because the Prince’s East Palace is at the easternmost part of the imperial city, exit the south gate of the East Palace——Jiafu Gate, and go east to Yanxi Gate, which is Yongxingfang. The Zuojinwu Guard responsible for the security of the East City is located in Yongxingfang The southwest corner of the building is one block away from Yanxi Gate.Of course Chang Baixing would not pass through these palace gates. To be honest, it was a bit funny, as long as it was at night, Chang Baixing would have to climb over the wall when he returned to his home.Furthermore, Chang'an Gongcheng, which is three feet five feet high, is not as good as a threshold to Chang Xing. The threshold can sometimes trip him up in the clear sky and broad daylight, but he has never made a mistake when he climbed the wall.

As long as you leave Miyagi, things will be much easier.The curfew in the Tang Dynasty was very strict. After the gates of the neighborhoods were closed, no one dared to seek punishment in front of the Jinwu Guard's gate. Therefore, the gate of the Jinwu Guard was very deserted except for the occasional patrolling soldiers.It was very convenient for him to slip through there. A few days ago, Chang Baixing temporarily rented a small single-door courtyard in Taichang Legong's residential area in Yongxingfang, where the Jinwu Guard was located, as a hiding place for him to hide from the Eastern Palace at night.

Now that he was going back, he could have a good early sleep.