Chapter 54 - Meeting The Empress

Members code

Group 1 : 01 (leader), 02, 03, 04, 05

Group 2 : 06 (leader), 07, 08, 09, 10

Group 1 looks at each other and nods. They jump away from the tiles' roof and return to the house to send the report to the emperor.

...........

The next day, Group 2 just arrived in South Empire. They immediately booked rooms then went to the tea house where Group 1 resided. As Group 2 was disguised as noblemen, it is not weird for them to carry around a beautiful-looking and expensive pigeon in a cage.

06 : "How is it? Did you found where is Her Majesty?"

01 : "We found but we haven't meet Her Majesty yet. It seems like Yu Zhougong keeps Her Majesty inside his chamber."

06 : "Woah. Don't tell me, he already..."

01 : *shaking heads* "Luckily, not. From what we heard, it seems Yu Zhougong hasn't touched Her Majesty in that way."

06 : "Touched or not, he already can't escape from His Majesty's outrage the moment he took away our Empress."

06 and the other members of Group 2 look more leisure than Group 1. Even though they act more carefree but their skills are on par with those in Group 1. It's just their face and expression are better than those stone-faced men. 07 and 08 put down the birdcages on the table. Usually, only one is needed but they brought an extra just in case if something happened to the main pigeon.

02 takes out the spectacular ground-dwelling pigeon with long, extravagant plumes trailing down from the neck. Dark green intermixed with gray, blue, and bronzy orange, depending on the light. The tail is snow-white, but only readily visible when the bird is flushed.

This Nicobar pigeon was raised by Wu Zhang Wei himself and sometimes by the elite army. In this way, the pigeon could recognize its owner and know where to return to even if it's was brought far away from Wu Empire. 02 ties a small piece of paper on the pigeon's leg. Inside it, he has written what needs to be reported to their emperor. He then released the bird through the room window.

09 and 10 are having a meal on the first floor but at the same time looking out the situation. While 04 and 05 from Group 1 are on the rooftop of the tea house, keeping watch the area around the tea house.

07 and 08 acting like wealthy Casanova. One hand on the back and another hand swings the fan, looking here and there, smiles seductively and winking at any girls they met. It is not hard to make those ladies blush. With their noble aura and good-looking face, no girls would reject it.

Inside the medium-sized room, it is a little bit cramped with four adult guys hanging around. 06 helps himself and pours a cup of tea. He was too immersed in his character and acts like a young lord. 01 can't help but twitch his eyes, feeling annoyed with the other guy.

"So, what do you guys plan to do?" 06 asked.

"I'm going to the palace again tonight. I'll try to meet Her Majesty." 01 said while taking a seat opposite 06.

"Meet Her Majesty and then what? Do you want to take Her Majesty away? You know that..."

01 interrupts, "I know. I won't take Her Majesty away. I just want to make sure Her Majesty is all right and I want to let Her Majesty knows that we're here. So, even though it won't help much but at least Her Majesty might feel a little bit relieved when he knows His Majesty already sent people over to bring him back."

06 slowly nods, agreed.

"Then, you? Don't you think you should start doing your job?" 01 squinted his eyes and scanning 06 from head to toe.

"Don't worry. The other guys already started. They will return in the evening and then I will do my job after the sun sets." He smirks.

Other people who heard what he said might not understand his vague words but for a person that has spent years with him will immediately understand. 'After the sun sets' meaning things that only open at nighttime, such as brothels and beauty houses.

01 can never understand people like him. Act vulgar and indecent. Even the emperor is loyal to the empress, why would a lowly person like him acting all mighty.

"Don't look at me like that, 01. It is not wrong to indulge yourself in a little bit of fun and pleasure. Spending time with the girls and ger can help you to release some stress," 06 scoots closer to him and nudges on his shoulder.

01 grunts and pushes him away. "I don't need that kind of fun and pleasure. Training swords and having a match is the kind of fun that I need. Others are just a nuisance."

06 laughs out loud and pours another cup of tea. He shakes his head, "*sighs* I can't wait to see you eat your own words. Must be nice seeing a stone-faced like you acting all clingy and lovey-dovey." 06 letting out another big laugh.

02 and 03 were sweating buckets. They look at each other then secretly begging the leader of Group 2 to stop teasing their leader. They're in a dreadful situation but 06 still have time to play around.

01 just sighs heavily then walked away. The best way to face people like 06 is by ignoring him. The more he feels agitated, the better 06 will feel. So he just needs to pretend like he didn't hear anything.

As 01 predicted, 06 feels a little bit discouraged when the other person ignored him.

"Go back to your room. We'll meet again tonight. Don't go overboard. His Majesty won't let you off easily if he knows about this." 01 walks out of the room and going to this first floor to order some lunch for his members.

.........

Around xū hours (7-8pm), 06 starts his job and heads towards the most famous brothel in the capital city. 07 and 08 also came along but they acted like they're not very familiar with each other.

09 and 10 didn't go along with them and stay at the roadside stall near the brothel.

04 and 05 stay back at the tea house. Meanwhile, an hour later, 01, 02 and 03 invade the imperial palace again. In swift movements, they already arrived on the rooftop of Daxing palace without being noticed by the imperial guards. After making sure, Yu Zhougong is not in the chamber using their hearing, 01 alone breaks into the chamber. The other two stay on guard and keeping out for any uninvited guests.

01 is already in the chamber. He looks all over the chamber but there's no sign of the empress. 01 is having a hunch that the empress is in the chamber but he can't found him anymore.

Half an hour passed and 01 still wandering inside the chamber. 02 and 03 who were waiting on the roof are getting more anxious. They already reported to the emperor that they have found the empress but now, no sign of the empress could be seen.

Suddenly, his ears perk up. His acute sense of hearing heard a very faint of familiar voice. It sounds very near yet very distant.

01 walks slowly towards the source of the voice until he reached a bookshelf. He clearly knows there is no other room besides the current chamber he's in so it is impossible to assume the voice is from the chamber next door.

01 is still in a daze when he suddenly heard voices coming in his direction. In a flash, he jumps up and clutches on the top of the nearest bed inside the chamber. He sticks on the bed top like a lizard.

Two men, one male servant and the other one is the imperial guard enter the chamber. The male servant carries along with a tray full of dishes.

"Isn't it a little bit late for dinner?" thought 01.

01 watches the two men's moves. The male servant didn't serve the meals on the dining table but instead, that guy walks towards the bookshelf that he bumped into just now. 01 squinted and lowers his head a little bit to have a better look.

His eyes widen when he saw the imperial guard who tagged along pushed the bookshelf to the right, revealing a door behind it.

The imperial guard knocks twice and the male servant says, "Physician Li, I'm bringing your dinner."

After a few seconds, the door was opened roughly and a gust of wind blew the hair of the person behind the door. "Didn't I say that I don't want to eat dinner?" Xiu Ying frowns looking at the two familiar figures in front of him.

"But Physician Li, Regent Yu told us to make sure you eat the dinner. If not, we'll be punished. If you don't like this kind of dish, do tell us. We'll change it right away." The male servant walks into the hidden room.

Xiu Ying waves his sleeve. "Fine. Fine. Just put it over there. Just clean it up tomorrow morning. No need to come again after this."

The male servant puts down the tray on the small table and takes his leaves with the imperial guard. Xiu Ying slams the door as soon as they left. The imperial guard pushed back the bookshelf to its previous state. All these were witnessed by the 01 who is still hanging on top of the bed.

Right after those two people left, 01 jumps down but without making any sounds. He went towards the bookshelf and did as the imperial guard did before.

He knocks on the door but not too loud.

Click!

"What else do you wa-"

Xiu Ying froze looking at the unknown figure in front of him. "Wh- Who are you?"

01 immediately kneels and folds his hand to the front. "Greetings, Your Majesty. I'm called 01 and came here as an order by His Majesty, Emperor Wu Zhang Wei." He then slips his fingers in between his black uniform and takes out a small pouch, presents it to Xiu Ying.

Looking at the familiar design of the small pouch, Xiu Ying's hand trembles while reaching for it. Xiu Ying holds the pouch with both his palms and brings it near to his lips. Tears slowly forming in the corner of his eyes. Xiu Ying almost slumps down on the floor but 01 managed to catch him.

"Your Majesty! Are you alright, Your Majesty? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Xiu Ying just shakes his head. Smiles formed on his tiny mouth. "I'm fine. I just miss my husband so much."

01 breathes a sigh of relief. He supports Xiu Ying till he reached his bed. "How is His Majesty doing? Is he doing fine? Did he get enough sleep and eat?"

01 kneels on one knee again. "Truth to be told, His Majesty is not doing really fine. If Her Majesty Empress Dowager didn't force him to eat, His Majesty won't eat. He barely sleeps and spends most of his time inside the study room. His Majesty is really worried about Your Majesty."

"But! Your Majesty, my visit today is not to bring Your Majesty away from this place right now. I just want Your Majesty to know that His Majesty had sent us to find Your Majesty and protect Your Majesty before His Majesty comes."

Xiu Ying pouts. "So I can't go back right now?"

"I- I'm sorry, Your Majesty. It is only ten of us so no matter how powerful we are, it is quite impossible to defeat thousands of men if we were attacked at once."

Xiu Ying nods, "Well, that's true. Then, when can I go back?"

"Please wait for a few more days, Your Majesty. His Majesty already has set up his plan carefully. He doesn't intend to just take Your Majesty back but His Majesty... will take over this whole empire."

Xiu Ying almost choked on his words. "Whole empire?! Wh- Why would he d- do that?"

"It is better to hear it from His Majesty himself. I don't have any right to say anything on this matter."

Xiu Ying pinches the area between his eyebrows.

"Your Majesty, I have to go now. I just came to inform you to wait for a few days and please be very careful in everything you do. Inside the pouch, I gave just now, there are few pills which could be useful to Your Majesty."

01 takes out another pouch, "And here, there is concoction powder of Suanzaoren (Ziziphus spinose ), Fuling (Poria cocos ), and Gancao (Glycyrrhiza uralensis).

Mix all those three and it can be used as a sedative.

01 then pulls out a small dagger that was hidden on his calf. "This, use this for protection or during an emergency. His Majesty told me that Your Majesty knows how to use this so I think there's no need for me to say more."

"And the last one blows on this thing if you encountered any danger. If we're near, we'll come to immediately." He gives a tiny whistle made out of bamboo.

"Your Majesty, I'll take my leave first. Tomorrow night, we'll be on a watch like today. If you need us, just blow that thing."

Before Xiu Ying could say anything, 01 already leaves the hidden room in haste. He also managed to make the room looks uninvaded.

..........

Nearing the dawn, 01, 02 and 03 return to the tea house. Three of them take a rest while 04 and 05 take the turn on watch.

During lunch hour, 06, 07 and 08 came over.

"So, how's on your side?" 06 asked.

"I met Her Majesty."

His words make all of them beam in happiness. Besides Her Majesty's safety, their own safety and well-being also a top priority. Her Majesty is safe and sound, so their lives are secured.

"Her Majesty was locked in a hidden room. I was lucky when I went there, those people were sending Her Majesty dinner so I found out the way to the hidden room." 01 was gripping his fist tightly when he remembered the condition of the small room.

How could an empress was locked in that kind of room?! Unforgivable!