Assassin (1)
As it was the Lantern festival, Imperial Guards were under tremendous pressure than regular days, and it was all because the Emperor, the Empress and other royal family members were celebrating the festival in an open space. When the commander of the Imperial Guards was checking all the necessary protection measures, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy in his heart.
Suddenly, a subordinate ran over to him while panting and reported that someone was leaving the palace tower.
Hearing the report, the commander frowned, ‘Which spoiled young master is that? Does he think that the palace tower is his own backyard garden?’
However, when he heard who was going down the palace tower, he was at a loss and didn’t know what to think. Not wasting more time, he hurriedly turned around to help the man himself open the door.
Mu Mingtang, who was following Xie Xuanchen, walked out of the palace step by step. Seeing so many guards around her, she sighed and thought that the Emperor was indeed a very cautious person. It could clearly be seen from the level of security he had assigned to them.
Xie Xuanche noticed Mu Mingtang looking around curiously, so he pointed to the guards on both sides as he walked, explaining to Mu Mingtang: “This is the Imperial Guard Army and their duty is to serve the Emperor. They don’t belong to any fraction. As they only listen to the Emperor’s orders, that’s why they are called the ‘Imperial Guard Army’. They mainly defend the palace city but also act as ceremonial guards when encountering festivals or other celebrations. Just like today, they are responsible for the safety of the Emperor.”
Mu Mingtang somewhat understood what Xie Xuanchen meant, but she was still curious: “The Emperor is still in the tower, so are they letting people come and go from the tower as they wish just like us?”
“Of course not. Although they have not set a civil ban because of the festival, the palace gates are already locked. After all, the Emperor’s safety is the most important thing during such times.” Xie Xuanchen replied.
‘Is that so?’ Mu Mingtang listened to Xie Xuanchen saying how strict the ban was at the moment and no one was allowed to enter or exit the palace gates. However, guards opened the doors and let them leave easily.
Mu Mingtang clicked her tongue in disgust. ‘Indeed, it is sinful to be privileged.’
After Xie Xuanchen left the palace, many people undoubtedly became nervous. When Xie Xuanchen came to participate in the festival, he had brought a large group of his own guards for protection but when he left, the Emperor had only allocated some of his own guards to go with them.
When Mu Mingtang finally entered the local crowd, she was immediately swept by the festival spirit, and began to excitedly gaze at the lights on both sides.
The streets were illuminated from all directions, completely covered with strings of circular lanterns. Additionally, the stores on either side were decorated with colourful lanterns making the atmosphere even more lively. Along with the lights, the street vendors displayed various tricks to attract customers.
Mu Mingtang had only walked a short distance, but she had stopped several times and went to every stall curiously.
After some time, Mu Mingtang saw other sugar figurines on the road and excitedly pulled Xie Xuanchen: “Look, there are sugar figurines! I haven’t eaten a single bite of my sugar figurine, let’s buy another one, okay?”
When she mentioned that, Xie Xuanchen snorted coldly as he said, “You didn’t take a bite? Isn’t it because you gave it away?”
Mu Mingtang was amused by his actions and forcibly pulled Xie Xuanchen with her: “I know, I shouldn’t have done that, but as a compensation, I’ll give you a cute sugar figurine, alright?” ”
A group of imposing Imperial Guards with armors were guarding them, however, they were now holding flowery ornaments and all other stuff other than their weapons, posing an overall weird picture. When those guards saw that Xie Xuanchen and Mu Mingtang went to buy sugar fugerins, they looked at each other as if they could not believe their own eyes.
‘What is Prince An trying to do? Does he want to destroy our image?’
Both Xie Xuanchen and Mu Mingtang didn’t care about the big guys behind them, and stopped in front of a candy stall. She looked at various sugar fugerins with twinkling eyes as she didn’t want to buy another monkey fugerin. After looking for a while, she asked Xie Xuanchen: “Are you born in dragon year?”
“Well, yes.” Xie Xuanchen nodded. He and Mu Mingtang were four years apart. So one was a dragon and the other was a monkey.
Mu Mingtang suddenly let out an “oh” and said, “Year of the dragon, no wonder your name is Xuanchen. It was easy to guess.”