The next day, He Yuan was in high spirits. This was the day. Servants were running around and the imperial palace was teeming with soldiers.
Using the mini chaos as a cover, he snuck out of the palace and prepared a carriage at the back gate. His teeth hurt when he calculated the amount used to buy the fast carriage but he quickly swallowed his heart ache when he remembered it wasn't his money.
He also bought some unremarkable clothes and a few ingredients in order to make more human skin masks for disguising the Wei family members.
Once everything was prepared, he snuck back into the imperial palace and pretended to be busy by flitting from one place to another like an imperial butterfly. He wasn't worried about his 'followers'.
Yesterday, Wei Yun'er must have felt a bit guilty and reduced the number of tails assigned to him. Why she wanted his loyalty, he had no idea, but he wasn't staying to find out.
The ones that remained to tail him were probably called away earlier today too. This was a coronation and anything could go wrong, they needed all the protection they could afford without overdoing it.
Else he was sure Xian Taiwen would have directly called in his troops from the frontline for protection. The sound of bells reverberated through the entire capital signalling the start of the event.
He Yuan slipped to his room and went over his plans again and again. This was his first time pulling off something as dangerous as this. It hasn't even been up to two months since he started this task and he was already forgetting that he used to be the CEO of a corporation.
Time slowly flied past and He Yuan paid attention to the sounds of jubilation without skipping a beat. Soon enough it was time for the imperial banquet of celebration.
He Yuan was so nervous and he couldn't stay still from the steady pump of adrenaline rushing through his veins.
DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! The bells rang out repeatedly.
It was time. The beginning of the yin hour was here. He Yuan swiftly grabbed his belongings and rushed in the direction of the dungeons.
There were still sounds of celebration coming from the great hall but he paid no mind. They could be this rowdy, it only meant that the power couple had retired for the night.
He ran into a bunch of servants on the way but they were all unresponsive. He even spotted a few shadow guards hanging upside down on different trees like bats.
He Yuan was impressed. Even at this point they stayed alert enough to hold themselves firmly on the trees. Too bad they were no match for Wei Luo's genius.
Finally, he reached the dungeon. After a while of observation, he grabbed the keys and slipped past the lucid guards into the dungeon.
Dashing past horribly smelling cells while counting their numbers, He Yuan finally reached the cell containing the Wei family. He couldn't even begin to thank the now emperor and empress for jailing them together.
They looked horrible but that was a thought for later so he quickly opened the cell.
"Who are you? What do you want with us?" Xu-di cried out as she shielded her daughters in her bosom.
General Wei just shook his head bitterly. "They couldn't even wait for public execution and have directly sent assassins to kill us off in here." The twins shivered at their father's words.
He Yuan just scoffed inwardly. If you know how you would truly end up with a public execution, you would thank your ancestors and dance happily at the prospect of dying at the hands of an assassin.
"Mother, father it's me Wei Luo. I came to get you out."
"Impossible! My Luo Luo doesn't look like that!" Xu-di quickly declared in disdain.
He Yuan was stunned. In the end, beauty reigned supreme. The mother would even deny her child because he looked basic. He quickly shook his head. "I'm wearing a human mask, hurry and change into this so we can escape."
He wanted them to get changed first because he didn't know if they would encounter someone who wasn't under the influence of the poison as they left the imperial palace. He really didn't want to harm an innocent in order to keep a secret.
"Luo Luo is it really you?" Even as the twins asked this, they were already changing into the disguise offered so he didn't answer them.
General Wei just stared at them with tears in his eyes. "You all should go with Wei Luo. I'll remain here, as a soldier my duty is to the throne and my nation even at the point of de-"
Before he finished speaking, He Yuan had already sprinkled paralysis dust on the man. He didn't go through all this trouble only to listen to the old man spout nonsense about loyalty and dedication to his nation.
This was his business! The amount of point and rating he would get in the end depended on customer satisfaction. He didn't want to become a goat!
He quickly disguised the general but when he tried to lift him, he couldn't. He was in the body of a fifteen year old who hadn't practiced an ounce of martial art all his life, how could he lift the general?
"Come help me lift your husband. Hurry!" He ignored Xu-di's stunned look at his mannerless behaviour. He really couldn't help it, he was feeling really pressured.
Anyways he silently apologized to the leaser in his heart for staining his flawless reputation with the dirt of impoliteness.
Together, they used an arm each to balance the general as they gingerly snuck out of the dungeons. Once they got out, they quickly headed towards the back gate without looking back.
Soon enough, they were all settled in the carriage and He Yuan shakily grabbed the reins. He was trembling all over as he whipped the horse to move. He'd never been involved in any criminal activity before and this felt criminal to the max!
They soon got past the gates of the imperial capital and even then, He Yuan took the pain to come down and sprinkle the guards with memory wiping dust. He was really not taking any risk.
Five miles away from the capital, he finally realized that he hadn't packed up food for the Wei family members. He was too focused on reenacting prison break that he forgot something so important!
He shook his head at himself. They were going to change carriages at the next stop anyways so they would just have to endure for a while more, he'd feed them when they got there safely.