C69

This is the back garden of the imperial palace, and from here on the east side, the red buildings are the residences of the various emperors, collectively known as the prince's palace. However, after the prince is bestowed with the title of emperor, he has to leave the palace and enter the prince's palace, right next to the prince's palace is the place where the princes and princesses of the imperial palace learn to live, the building on the west side of the rear garden is the back palace where my royal father's concubine resides, outsiders cannot easily step inside it. As Han Xiao led Xiao Ke Er and Xiao Moke towards the Phoenix Sage Palace, he acted as a qualified tour guide and introduced them.

"Ahh, Han Xiao, we came here to find you. We won't be running around the palace with nothing to do, but where are we going first? Shouldn't we return to your prince's hall and let us have a meal first?" Xiao Moke curiously asked as he watched the prince's palace get further and further away.

"I don't live in the prince's palace." Han Xiao said indifferently.

"If you don't live in the prince's palace, then where do you live? Could it be that you are already living in the crown prince's palace? " Shawmak asked.

"I live in the Palace of the Phoenix. The Empress lives in the northern part of the Cloud Palace." Han Xiao pointed to his own Phoenix Sage Palace.

"The empress's place?" Hearing Han Xiao say that he lived in the Empress's house, not only did Xiao Moke lose his composure, but even Xiao Ke'er had lost her composure. The two of them had strange expressions in their eyes as they looked at Han Xiao, obviously thinking about something.

The two of them rolled their eyes as they looked at Han Xiao and said indifferently, "My birth mother was the late Empress Xiao Yun'er, so she has been living in Phoenix Sage Palace ever since I was born."

"So that's the case. But logically speaking, even if it's the empress's child, they should still live alone after they reach adulthood. Furthermore, doesn't your Cloud Ming Dynasty have a new empress?" Shomoka asked, rubbing his chin.

"The Emperor has a deep affection for the late empress, so there has been no new empress since her death." Xiao Jianfeng explained from the side.

"So that's how it is. Then Han Xiao, your royal father must have doted on you, right? Otherwise, he would have let you stay in the Palace forever." Xiao Ke Er sighed with emotion.

"In Han Xiangtian's eyes, I'm the murderer of his wife Xiao Yun'er, and I'm not his son at all. Moreover, when I was just born, they treated my soul as a waste because I had limited knowledge of the immortal soul, and if it wasn't for Wei Jinggrong saying that I had been fed to spirit beasts a long time ago, then because Xuan'er came to the Imperial Palace and pointed out that my soul might have seen through the fact that I was still useful, Han Xiang would have recognized me as his son."

"When the Seventh Prince was young, he lived a very miserable life. Because he wasn't recognized by the Emperor in the first seventeen years, no one took care of him, and no one even sent him the food he ate every day. The Seventh Prince went to the imperial kitchen to get it himself." Thinking of Han Xiao's experience, he could not help but feel his heart ache. He should have been the most respected Crown Prince, but because of Han Xiangtian's hatred and Wei Qinggrong's miscalculation, he was not even as good as someone from the palace.

It was difficult to imagine that someone would actually have such a miserable life. Furthermore, compared to Xiao Ke, who clearly knew about the life of Han Xiao when he was young, even though he was born in a prince's mansion, he also knew how miserable the life of a prince that the Emperor didn't pay attention to was. He once saw a prince being bullied by several eunuchs and maids while he was in the Imperial Palace, so he didn't pay attention to it at that time.

Feeling Xiao Ke Er and Xiao Mo Ke's silence, Han Xiao lightly smiled and said, "You don't need to be like this either. Those matters are already in the past, and I've lived a good life and have even gotten to know you."

"Seventh Imperial Brother looked like you from afar. I didn't expect that it really was you. Who are these people?" Han Xiao had just finished speaking when he heard Han Zhao's voice. Turning around, he saw Han Zhao and the Scholar of the Hall of Literature, Zheng Xian, walking towards him. Although they hid it well, Han Xiao could still feel the hostility in Han Zhao's eyes.

"Third royal brother, Lord Zheng and his wife are my friends at the Abyss Level Academy. Come find me here for a while. What are you two doing?" Han Xiao said with a smile.

"So it's actually my friend from the Seventh Emperor's Academy. I thought he looked unfamiliar." Han Zhao looked at Zheng Dai and continued, "It just so happens that Scholar Zheng and I are going to talk to you about the final preparations for the Hall Competition. Seventh Imperial Brother, do you have the time right now?"

"I would like to discuss it with you three royal brothers but you also saw that it's not easy to split your body in two with my friends here, so I'll leave the autumn test to you and Lord Zheng. I have no objections." Han Xiao said with a faint smile.

"You can't put it like that, Seventh Imperial Brother. After all, royal father has asked you and me to host the Autumn Hall Competition together, so I can't not let you know a lot of the details. Also, you don't want royal father to think that you don't like his words and want to disrespect the imperial edict, right?" Although his words sounded like he was thinking for Han Xiao's sake, but Han Xiao could tell that Han Zhao was actually forcing him to participate in the Autumn Hall's examination.

He thought that since the fall of the year examination, he had only been involved in the security inspection of the Hall and the Hall of Martial Arts, and had not participated in anything else. If he wanted to find out his mistake, it should be very difficult, and thinking this way, Han Xiao turned around and said to Xiao Jianfeng, "Cousin Jianfeng, you and Little Lei Zi will bring Ke Er and Xiao Moke back to Phoenix Sage Temple to rest. I will go and discuss the details of the autumn examination with Third Royal Brother, Master Zheng."

"Yes, this subordinate will obey. Please come this way." Xiao Jianfeng respectfully said.

Seeing that Han Xiao had something on his mind, Xiao Ke'er and Xiao Moke could only follow Xiao Jianfeng to Phoenix Sage Temple to rest.

After seeing Xiao Ke Er and Xiao Moke leave, Han Xiao turned his head and said apologetically, "Third Imperial Brother, where are we going, Lord Zheng?"

"Let's first go to the Hall of Arts and the Martial Hall to confirm the safety of the two halls. Then, we'll go to the Hall of Servants to check on the preparation of the guards who will be taking the test on the day of the Hall Competition. At the end, if you have the time, come to my Three Sovereign Hall to discuss the details." Han Zhao said indifferently.

"Since this is the case, let's go to the Hall of Arts and the Martial Hall first." Han Xiao said.

After that, Han Xiao followed Han Zong and Zheng Xian to the Hall of Arts once more, went to the Hall of Wen and Martial Arts to look at the preparation of the guards, and again confirmed that there were no problems. Han Xiao followed Han Zong and Zheng Xian to the Hall of Wen and Martial Arts once again to look at the preparation of the guards, and once again confirmed that there were no problems, he saw that it was already evening.

"I didn't expect that it's already time for dinner. Should Seventh Brother eat here?" Han Zhao asked with a smile on his face.

"Ke Er and the others are still waiting for me, so I won't disturb Third Imperial Brother." As Han Xiao said this, he stood up and walked out of the Three Sovereign Palace.

Seeing that Han Xiao was about to leave, Han Zhao also stood up and asked him to stay for a while before sending Han Xiao off.

After he finished transferring the information from the Hall of Wen and Martial Arts this afternoon, Han Zhao directly said that he would be in charge of the safety of the Hall of Arts and Martial Arts, while he was in charge of the order and other matters during the Hall of Imperial Guards' examination. Although it seemed that he was only responsible for a simple matter, Han Xiao knew that Han Zhao must have his reasons for giving him the information from the Hall of Arts and Martial Arts, and perhaps something unexpected would happen on the day of the Hall's examination.

When he arrived at the entrance of the palace, he saw Xiao Ke Er and Xiao Moke quickly approaching him. When he saw the worry in their eyes, he smiled and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that? Don't tell me that you don't recognize me after seeing me for the entire afternoon?"

"Han Xiao, we were worried about you because we saw that your Third Imperial Brother had ill intentions towards you, but you didn't appreciate our kindness." Xiao Ke Er said, in dissatisfaction.

"Ke'er, thank you. Han Zhao still can't do anything to me. Little Lei Zi, have you finished preparing dinner?" Han Xiao turned his head and asked.

"The Seventh Prince has long since been prepared. It should still be hot by now." Little Lei Zi said.

"Since dinner is already ready, let's go in and eat. After walking around for half a day, I'm so hungry that my chest is sticking to my back." Seeing that Han Xiao seemed to really have nothing else to do, Xiao Ke Er and Xiao Moke no longer worried about eating with Han Xiao.

The sun rose and set in the blink of an eye. In these two days, Xiao Ke Er and Xiao Moke had been busy with the Autumn Hall Competition, so Xiao Ke and Xiao Moke spent most of their time accompanying Little Lei Zi to and fro around the Imperial Palace. However, after two days, they started to get annoyed, and didn't want to go any further.

"Han Xiao, where are you going today?" In the morning, Xiao Ke Er stood in front of the entrance of Phoenix Sage Palace and asked Han Xiao with a dissatisfied expression.

"Today is the day of the autumn Hall's written examination. I will be going to the Hall of Arts to preside over it, so I'll let little Lei Zi take the lead." Han Xiao wasn't finished when he was interrupted by Xiao Ke Er.

"I don't want to wander around anymore. Han Xiao, do you want us to follow you?" Xiao Ke Er asked.

This won't do, we can't let anyone else attend the Autumn Hall Competition. How about this, Little Lei, you take my identity token and take Ke Er and Xiao Moke to the Cloud gambling den to play. If not, we'll take them on a tour around the Imperial City. With that, Han Xiao circled around Xiao Ke'er and quickly ran towards the Hall of Wen. As for Xiao Ke'er, she looked at Han Xiao's back and pursed her lips before saying unhappily to Little Lei Zi, "Hey, aren't you going out? Hurry up!"

Seeing Xiao Ke Er's fierce expression, Little Lei Zi could only nod and call Xiao Moke to bring the two of them out of the palace.