In a courtyard facing the street, Mo Hou led Meng Qi and three others to push open the door of the wing room.

  "Long live the master." The people inside the house quickly stood up, their faces filled with reverence and respect bordering on piety.

  As soon as he saw him, Meng Qi understood the Demon Sect's infiltration plan, because this was a middle-aged eunuch, and from his attire, he should be a high-ranking eunuch. It seemed that he was a secret pawn set up by the Demon Sect many years ago, and today he was finally put to use.

  The imperial city is indeed as solid as gold soup, but who can grasp people's hearts? Meng Qi suddenly raised this feeling.

  The demon queen nodded slightly: "This matter is dangerous, are there any unfulfilled wishes you have?"

  Once this matter is discovered, Mo Hou and Meng Qi can still rely on their martial arts to escape, but this eunuch will have no luck!

  The middle-aged eunuch exclaimed: "I am willing to go through fire and water for the revival of the Holy Gate, no matter what the cost!"

  "Alright, very good, this matter is settled. You can now return and take on the heavy responsibility." The Demon Queen was not a leader who had practiced martial arts to the point of stupidity, so she naturally knew how to give encouragement and win people's hearts.

  She turned her head and looked at Meng Qi and others, introducing: "Yu Tongen, a eunuch in charge of procurement."

  Ordinary eunuchs are generally referred to as inner attendants or inner officials. Those who can be called "Ta Jian" are at least the heads of certain affairs in the imperial palace. This Yu Tong'en is obviously the person in charge of procurement outside the palace, and he has sat in this lucrative position. His relationship with the grand eunuchs inside the palace cannot be said to be bad, so Meng Qi felt much more at ease after hearing this.

  After nodding to each other, the Demon Queen said concisely: "After entering the palace, wait for nightfall and the closing of the palace gates. I will directly go to the Diligent Governance Hall to launch a surprise attack on Wang De, binding him up. You all sneak into the Taiji Hall to confirm the old man's situation."

  Qinzheng Hall was the place where the emperor handled daily affairs, next to it was the Politburo's guard station. When Wang Dejian, the right prime minister, stayed overnight in the Forbidden City, he usually lived here. It was very close to the Taiji Hall, which served as the emperor's bedroom. With the power of the right prime minister, guarding this place was equivalent to guarding the Taiji Hall, preventing someone from assassinating the emperor and altering his will. As an outsider, it was not in line with etiquette to stay directly in the emperor's bedroom, and Wang Dejian was a great Confucian who respected ancient rituals.

  "I need the internal defense layout and patrol route map." Meng Qi, although having the Phantom Technique on him, but with many experts gathered in the imperial palace, it's possible that someone might see through his disguise at any moment, so he must prioritize normal infiltration.

  Yu Tongen didn't say much, and directly handed over a few sheets of paper to Meng Qi: "Read it and burn it."

  Later, Meng Qi studied defensive deployment and patrol routes with Luo Shengyi and Ruan Yushu, discussing the plan for sneaking in.

  When it was late in the afternoon, the sun gradually fell westward. Yu Tongen stood up and said: "I have to go back to the palace to buy some things, please."

  He led Meng Qi and others through a secret passage to the warehouse in the neighboring courtyard, where there were pigs, cattle, sheep, melons, fruits, vegetables and other things, which were loaded into nine carts.

  "The pig belly and cow belly have been hollowed out, you can hide inside, remember to breathe lightly." Yu Tongen reminded.

  Meng Qi slightly furrowed his brow: "With one more person, the tire tracks and sounds of the wheels pressing on the ground are different."

  The weight is obviously different, and the guards guarding the palace gate are all quite skilled servants, it's impossible to not notice this aspect.

  "The dozen or so bags of flour at the bottom only had a real layer on the outside, and inside were paper scraps, silk fabrics and other light materials, just enough for one person." Yu Tongen did not neglect this matter.

  Because one person's weight is easy to conceal, several people would be more troublesome, so Meng Qi and Mo Hou were divided into four cars. There was also a fifth car that didn't have any issues, with some being empty and others being real.

  Meng Qi unhesitatingly chose a fat pig and crawled inside, the smell of blood assaulted his nostrils, making him want to vomit, and he found it hard to breathe.

  He operated the Golden Bell Cover Heart Method, his breathing became weak, and he fell into a half-tortoise-breathing state. Then, Yu Tongen used silk threads to sew up the abdominal incisions of the fat pigs, cows, and sheep one by one, and covered them with vegetables, melons, and fruits. At first glance, it was hard to tell them apart.

  Having done all this, he summoned the eunuchs from outside the courtyard, harnessed the horses, and drove the carriages back to the palace.

  Meng Qi only felt his body rising and falling, sometimes bumping into protruding objects, shaking slightly. After a while, the carriage stopped, and he vaguely heard a voice: "Fish Gonggong, another big harvest."

  Yu Tongen's voice was sharp with laughter: "These days you all have been working hard, our family will naturally prepare good meat and dishes for you."

  "Thanks a lot, Mr. Yu." The palace guard walked up and casually rummaged through the fruits and vegetables, poking at the cattle, sheep and pigs.

  Feeling that he was getting closer and closer to the hiding fat pig, Meng Qi suddenly lifted his spirits, his body tense, ready to strike at any moment.

  At this time, Yu Tongen leaned over and whispered with a smile: "Our family has delayed work to listen to the play, fearing that Wang Zongguan will scold us. Please let our family hurry up."

  He quietly slipped a package of silver to several guards.

  "Fish Gong, you've always been a drama enthusiast, I wonder which famous actor you've set your eyes on this time?" The head of the guards heard the implicit meaning behind the words and retreated with a sly smile.

  Yu Tong En attached a smile and said: "Let's talk about it later."

  The carriage started again, passing through the deep gate and entering the imperial palace.

  Listening to the empty and reverberating sound, Meng Qi felt a quiet and ethereal feeling, and sighed in his heart that even if the defense arrangement was done perfectly, there would always be loopholes in people's hearts.

  The horse carriage turned many bends and finally arrived at the warehouse of Yu Shen Fang. Yutong En said loudly, "It's getting dark, you all go have dinner quickly, find some servants to come over and move the goods."

  Caishi is the lowest level of existence in this world's eunuch system, only able to do manual labor.

  "Thank you, Lord Fish!" His eunuchs under him were all delighted and thought that Lord Fish was too kind to them!

  After they left, Yu Tongen coughed a few times and gave a secret signal - his personal eunuch had gone to prepare dinner for him.

  One by one, the silk threads snapped, and Meng Qi and others crawled out and hid in the depths of the warehouse.

  Meng Qi smelled a bloody smell on himself, looked at the demon queen and Ruan Yushu who were still spotless in their white dresses, and couldn't help but think to himself, "Could it be that they've been using their true energy to resist the environment's invasion all along? What a waste..."

  After the porters unloaded their goods, Yú Tóng'ēn sent them away and took Mèng Qí and others to leave the warehouse, hiding in the Imperial Kitchen. At this time, night had fallen, dinner was over, and except for a few rough servants who were always steaming and keeping warm with rice cakes, there was no one else, making it very suitable for hiding.

  Several people hid on the beam, and the fragrance of pastries wafted into their nostrils.

  Ruan Yushu gazed intently at the steamer and pastries below that didn't require warming, muttering to himself:

  "Pea shoots yellow, lotus seed cake, hoof cake, sesame roll, bean paste roll, emerald pea cake, osmanthus sugar steamed chestnut powder cake..."

  Meng Qi faintly heard her swallowing saliva and stifling a giggle, so he forced himself to say with a straight face: "Go ahead, I'm treating you."

  "Really?" Ruan Yushu suddenly turned his head and stared at him.

  "Dinner has just passed, and for a while no one will think of having dessert. By the time someone realizes it, we've already confirmed the situation and left the palace." Meng Qi said with a smile.

  Even if someone discovers it, they will first suspect the little eunuch or the rough servant of stealing food, and by the time it is investigated clearly, the time will have passed.

  Ruan Yushu rarely agreed with Meng Qi's opinion and nodded slightly, quietly sliding down the pillar. Taking advantage of the opportunity when several rough servants were watching the fire, she stretched out her slender hand and grabbed many pieces of pastries that didn't need to be kept warm - all in a heap, grabbing only one piece at a time, so as not to leave any traces.

  Then she crouched down again, turned to the steamer behind her, and slowly lifted it up with a seam, grabbing a few pieces of cake.

  Throughout the process, she was meticulous and accomplished it in one breath, as if she had rehearsed many times in her heart.

  Back on the beam, Ruan Yushu was eating quickly with a small mouth, suddenly she stopped and hesitated to lick her lips, handed one to Meng Qi, her eyes always looking forward, as if looking back would be regretful: "For you."

  Meng Qi smiled secretly in his heart and bluntly took over what was handed to him, putting it into his mouth. The taste was indeed not bad.

  Luo Shengyi and Mo Hou both closed their eyes to meditate, waiting for the night to deepen.

  After more than half a time, Yutong En made a signal outside, and the four of them left the imperial dining room to find him in the corner of the garden.

  He handed three sets of guard uniforms and flying claw ropes to Meng Qi and others, then turned around and left directly. Throughout the process, no one spoke a word.

  Meng Qi and the other two each found a hiding place and changed into guard uniforms.

  "Half a time later, I will take action. Can you reach Taiji Temple?" The Demon Queen asked as usual.

  The Taiji Temple has many masters guarding it, if the Jingzheng Temple side is quiet, Mo Hou asks herself that it's also difficult to sneak in, so the timing must be grasped properly.

  Meng Qi nodded and said, "No problem."

  There is a patrol route map and defense layout. The biggest problem is the guard of Taiji Temple, which should be able to reach near the emperor's bedroom in half an hour.

  The demon queen didn't say another word, her footsteps neither fast nor slow as she left, her silhouette swaying, seemingly merging into the darkness bit by bit, "truly" merging into the darkness, and soon disappeared from sight.

  Meng Qi and the other two exchanged a glance, but didn't communicate, and set off in the direction and route they had previously agreed upon. Along the way, they grasped the timing perfectly, always managing to pass between two shifts of guards, crossing the long corridors and doorways when the rooftop sentries' gazes shifted.

  Before long, the three people were only one temple away from the Taiji Temple, but the guards here became more dense. Several teams of guards patrolled back and forth, with no opportunity to find a blind spot in time or space. The distance between the hiding pavilions and temples was quite far, making it impossible to rush over using the Phantom Shape Technique.

  Meng Qi had long been prepared, took a deep breath, and with his spirit radiating outward, wrapped himself, Ruan Yushu, and Luo Shengyi in it, like a gecko climbing up the pavilion roof, and flew out like a strange bird, passing over the heads of the first team of guards.

  Due to the effect of Phantom Technique, the sound was faint and did not attract the attention of the guards.

  In mid-air, Meng Qi was about to fall when he suddenly threw out his flying claws and grabbed onto the eaves of a nearby pavilion.

  With a snap, the flying claw caught onto the flying eaves, and a faint sound was emitted.

  Just then, one of the guards slipped and made an even louder noise.

  Meng Qi pulled with force and he was again lifted off the ground, landing in the shadow of the rooftop. Ruan Yushu and Luo Shengyi also arrived almost simultaneously.

  Thanks to the Phantom Shape Great Technique... Meng Qi exclaimed in relief. This technique had a poor effect in actual combat nowadays, but it was still his divine auxiliary.

  While the guards were questioning the person who slipped, Meng Qi and the other two jumped over the roof, directly onto the wall, hiding on the wall near the Taiji Temple.

  Outside the Taiji Temple, there is a guard every dozen or so steps, and on the roof, there are several people, all of whom are masters with bulging temples.