At the old palace woman's voice, the gate of the palace opposite opened.
“Your Highness, why are you lying here again?” A palace maid came out carrying a lantern.
She helped the consort up from the ground and led her back into the palace.
Hidden behind the ornamental rockery, Duoduo patted her chest, still shaken.
That had nearly scared her to death!
The palace maid's footsteps were incredibly light. If Duoduo's hearing had not been so sharp, she would have been discovered!
Duoduo recalled the register she had seen earlier. It seemed this old woman was probably the consort who had gone mad.
Then Duoduo remembered that the consort had been wearing green clothes. Lying on the ground, she had blended almost perfectly into the weeds.
Otherwise, Duoduo would never have kicked her.
Duoduo crept beneath the window. She was too short to see what was happening inside.
Noticing that the bedroom door had not been fully shut, Duoduo slipped over.
Through the crack in the door, she saw the consort hanging her head while the palace maid scolded her.
“Your Highness, you have a perfectly good bed. Why did you run out into the grass to sleep?”
“What if a snake, insect, or ant had bitten you? How would I answer for it?”
The consort pointed at the place where Duoduo had kicked her, looking deeply aggrieved.
“It hurts!”
The palace maid glared at her. “Where did you bump yourself this time?”
“The moment I take my eyes off you, you manage to cover yourself in bruises!”
Though her words were stern, the palace maid gently lifted the consort's clothes to examine the injury.
“It’s nothing. You probably just got poked by something.”
“Kicked!” the consort complained.
The palace maid went to the dressing table, brought back a jar of salve, and applied it to the consort's wound.
“In the middle of the night, who would kick you?”
“You must have been sleepwalking again.”
“I’ve put medicine on it. Now be a good girl and lie down in bed. It’ll feel better tomorrow.”
The palace maid coaxed the consort in a soft voice.
“It doesn’t feel good!” The consort pouted.
After finishing with the salve, the palace maid coaxed her into the inner room.
Duoduo shook her little head.
This consort was actually rather fortunate.
Although she lived in the Cold Palace, she still had a loyal servant to protect her.
Duoduo shook her head and slipped toward the palace on the left.
The palace on the left was deathly silent, as though no one lived there at all.
Using a stone beneath the window, Duoduo cautiously peered inside.
It was pitch-black.
She could not see a thing.
Duoduo sighed inwardly.
The Cold Palace was truly cold.
There was not even a candle burning.
Just then, the moon emerged from behind the clouds, and its pale light spread across the entire Cold Palace.
Duoduo hurriedly leaned toward the crack in the door again and looked inside.
The room was very simply furnished. A tea set sat on the table, and everything had been tidied up neatly.
It seemed that a consort did live here.
Apart from the furniture, however, there was nothing else.
Duoduo could not find any useful information.
Now that the light had brightened, she was even less daring to move.
She crouched beneath a tree, nibbling on her finger as she wondered whether she should go and investigate the bedroom on the right.
Duoduo was still considering whether sneaking into the Cold Palace at night had been a mistake.
In the end, she decided to take a look at the palace on the right.
At least then, she would not have any regrets.
Once she had made up her mind, Duoduo carefully stood up.
There was a stretch of ground between her hiding place and the bedroom on the right, and the moonlight illuminated it clearly.
Duoduo tilted her head and glanced at the moon.
It looked as though the moon had just woken up, hanging brightly in the sky.
Duoduo looked around once more.
If she did not want to be seen, the only way was to circle around through the bedroom of the mad consort she had just encountered.
Without another moment's hesitation, Duoduo darted quickly toward the rear left.
Ever since Duoduo had begun training with Li Jin, she had never taken the sandbags from her feet except when sleeping.
The sandbags had grown from one or two pounds at first to five or six pounds later on.
Duoduo had long since trained herself to be as light as a swallow.
Naturally, she had removed the sandbags before entering the palace.
Without their familiar weight dragging her down, Duoduo found walking strangely uncomfortable.
When she thought she was running, she was actually leaping.
She was as light as a butterfly, landing without a sound.
She was as swift as a leopard, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Duoduo soon reached the area outside the bedroom of the mad consort.
She did not stop, but continued running toward the bedroom on the right.
“What was that?”
The palace maid inside happened to be coming over to close the door.
She saw only a shadow flash past her eyes.
The palace maid opened her mouth wide and stared with bulging eyes, but not a sound came out.
Too many people had died in the Cold Palace.
Strange things happened there all the time.
The palace maid clamped both hands over her mouth and stumbled toward the bed, her head spinning and her legs weak.
She burrowed beneath the covers and began to tremble violently.
Duoduo had no idea that someone had seen her.
By then, she had already reached the bedroom on the right.
Voices drifted out from inside, though they were kept very low.
Duoduo could not make out what they were saying.
She could tell, however, that the speakers were a man and a woman.
A faint light seeped from beneath the door.
Duoduo did not dare peek inside, afraid the people within would discover that she was eavesdropping.
Suddenly, the light inside went out.
Duoduo glanced left and right, then quickly hid in a nearby corner.
With a creak, the bedroom door opened.
A figure stepped out.
He looked around, then swiftly headed toward the exit of the Cold Palace.
Duoduo remained hidden in the darkness, not daring to move.
A long while passed before she heard the door of the bedroom on the right close.
Duoduo stood where she was and waited for quite some time before cautiously poking her head out.
There was no one there.
Only the bright moonlight continued to illuminate the entire courtyard.
After hesitating for a moment, Duoduo slipped along the base of the wall to the window.
There was no light or sound inside.
Duoduo did not dare act rashly. The person inside might not actually be asleep.
With the moon so bright, the moment she raised her head, her shadow would certainly appear on the window lattice.
Duoduo sighed inwardly.
Forget it. She would come back during the day.
Duoduo glanced at the sky. She had been out for quite some time and needed to hurry back.
Keeping close to the wall, Duoduo carefully ran toward the exit.
When she reached the gate of the Cold Palace, she discovered that it had been closed!
Could it be that the gate had been left ajar earlier specifically for that man?
Duoduo grew curious about the person she had just seen.
Moreover, she had caught only a fleeting glimpse of his shadow, yet it seemed strangely familiar.
Duoduo cautiously looked around, then walked to a low section of the surrounding wall.
She backed up a dozen or so steps before breaking into a run.
When she reached the wall, she alternated her feet, kicking rapidly against the bricks.
In a few swift movements, she vaulted onto the top of the wall.
“Who’s there?”
Suddenly, a sharp shout rang out through the night.
Duoduo hurriedly jumped down from the wall and sprinted toward the Palace of Benevolent Peace.
At that moment, a shrill whistle pierced the silence of the night.
