Palace Fighting Naive Concubines’ Ascent to Power
Chapter 309 Qiankun Residence

Chapter 309: Chapter 309 Qiankun Residence

"Ah, this..." Hu Miaomiao stopped smiling, touched his round belly, wondering why His Majesty suddenly came out with such a sentence.

Could it be that something unusual had been discovered? Had someone found the traps he had set?

That shouldn’t be possible. He had laid out bait and set up multiple obstacles, which could both attack and defend.

The residence a few streets away, he prided himself on having made it almost indistinguishable from a real one, and an ordinary person wouldn’t be able to see through it.

Even if someone did see through it, it wouldn’t matter. He always sent his men to the residence opposite, which was very meaningful. If someone really found it, that opposite residence would ensure they could enter but never return.

The guarded residence opposite was highly secretive, employing the principles of the Mysterious Gate, called the Qiankun Residence, encompassing the very essence of Qiankun within.

From the outside, it looked like an ordinary residence, with its main gate and courtyard behind it no different from any other. But beyond that, it was a different story altogether, with a highly complex layout.

The real residence lay at the very center, surrounded by a layer of winding paths and houses, which— to the eyes of anyone unacquainted with the ways of this place— seemed no different from those of an ordinary residence. Without knowing the way, one wouldn’t be able to reach the core; they would just keep circling the periphery without noticing anything was amiss.

Back when the government was unstable, the remnants of the Rebel Prince’s followers turned the Capital upside down in search, yet could not locate the Rebel Prince. Instead, His Majesty made use of their movements to eradicate the remnants completely.

Of course, the Rebel Prince confined in the central residence believed he was in a normal house. There were doors in that central residence, but they were all dead ends, mere decorations.

The real doorway was actually in this Star Shift Residence where they stood; the two residences combined embodied the concept of all creation and celestial movements.

Of course, one could forcibly scale the high walls of the Qiankun Residence to reach the periphery, but it would be just as difficult to exit from the inside to the outside without someone knowledgeable to lead the way.

That was the beauty of the Qiankun Residence. One couldn’t reach the center from the outside, and likewise, it was hard to exit the residence after forcefully escaping from the center.

The Rebel Prince, caught in the trap without realizing he was entrapped, thought he was sending out signals, but he was merely deceiving himself. What awaited him was the elimination of his followers, while he would remain imprisoned forever, guarding the imperial tomb.

Such a residence acted as an added layer of insurance. Whether for protection or imprisonment, it was extremely secure.

If thieves managed to sneak in, they could be captured while they wandered the outer layer.

And if there were truly skilled individuals who could decipher the maze of the outer area and reached the central residence, there would still be time to protect and move the person away from the Star Shift Residence.

In conclusion, it served both offensive and defensive purposes.

Fearing that Beauty Lian’s relatives might come to harm, His Majesty even employed such a residence. How could it possibly be discovered?

Hu Miaomiao fell into deep thought, while the Emperor had already walked far ahead. Hu Miaomiao snapped out of it with an "aiyo" and hurriedly followed.

Upon reaching the fake mountain, Hu Miaomiao, taking the lead with a laugh, opened the secret passage and made an inviting gesture, following up with a flurry of flattering words.

The Emperor, expressionless, walked inside. He had automatically filtered out the nonsense spouted by his servant.

Lian Bingcheng, having turned through several doors in a row, walked with his hands behind his back in the courtyard, his lean face stern with furrowed brows, deep in thought about something.

Having been wandering for so many days, having covered morning, noon, and night, although he couldn’t see what was happening outside the residence, why was there not even a whisper of noise from outside?

Could it be that the residence is situated in a remote, sparsely populated place? In the wilderness?

Could he have guessed wrong, and the residence is not in the Capital?

No, that can’t be right, with the structure, layout, and roof tiles being typical of those used in the Capital.

Logically speaking, every inch of land in the Capital is worth its weight in gold. It’s rare to find a place so sparsely populated. The residence isn’t particularly large either, not the kind that Nobility would own, just a typical house. Shouldn’t there be people passing by outside anyway?

He couldn’t figure it out, Lian Bingcheng grew more and more puzzled.

In the courtyard, Lian Bingcai, who was aimlessly wandering around out of sheer boredom, picked a piece of meat from between his teeth and spit it out with a "ptooey" to the side, then picked at his teeth again. The meat had made him uncomfortable all over, but he felt relieved after picking it out.

His sharp eyes caught sight of his brother heading to the other side, and he couldn’t resist thickening his skin and trotting over, putting on a smile and saying, "Big brother, haven’t you eaten yet? The food today is great, Fat Master has prepared a feast of good wine and dishes. I couldn’t find you just now, so I asked Beauty to start eating first, and left quite a bit for you. Go eat now, don’t starve yourself."

He hadn’t gone looking at all and had just started eating once the food was brought to the table, but sweet words still had to be said—respecting an elder brother after all, he understood.

Lian Bingcheng didn’t utter a word, not even sparing him a glance from the corner of his eye, completely ignoring his useless younger brother as he continued walking forward without stopping.

Lian Bingcai followed him doggedly, earnestly continuing, "Big brother, did you go on another patrol around the residence? Have you found anything, or do you need any help from your brother?"

He was just saying it for the sake of conversation; his elder brother was always muttering to himself, having been wandering around since the first day they arrived. He truly didn’t understand what for—it would be better to sleep with that time.

Seeing that his elder brother’s expression hadn’t changed at all and that he still looked completely indifferent to him,

Lian Bingcai lost his patience, stopped walking, and called out directly to his brother’s retreating figure, "If you ask me, having good food and drink here, not having to be on tenterhooks all the time, always thinking about leaving is pointless. Fat Master said that there are people out to get us and that it’s safer for us to stay here. He’s protecting us. Once those bastards who want to harm us are caught, we can go wherever we want."

As he spoke, he began picking his teeth again, muttering complaints to himself, "Just waiting for Fat Master’s word is all, not even sure what this fuss is all about. Although living here is good, it’s just so boring..."

Upon hearing these words, Lian Bingcheng couldn’t help but stop walking, turned his head with his hands behind his back to give his foolish younger brother a look to see just how stupid he could be.

Nowadays, being under someone’s thumb and yet his brother seemed happy like a fish eternally content; it was an unprecedented and unheard-of situation.

Fooled by a few words from a fat man, he believed it wholeheartedly. He hadn’t seen anyone this stupid before—they were born of the same mother, so how could his brother be so foolish?

Lian Bingcai, while picking his teeth, glimpsed his brother looking at him. He stopped what he was doing, put on a smiling face again, and was about to ask his elder brother if he needed anything, when he saw his brother looking at him as if he were a fool, swept over him with a gaze from head to toe, and then turned and walked away with a flick of his sleeve.

"Hmph," Lian Bingcai snorted. Who would want to fawn over such cold indifference?

If it weren’t for wanting to find out about that matter, he couldn’t care less about his elder brother.

Looking down on him from a young age, it’s only a Scholar title, what’s there to be proud of? If he had the ability, why didn’t he become a Scholar, become an Official Master and look after his brother for a change?

Truly, his brain must have been ruined by reading too much—obtuse, lacking tact, hopeless, and rigid in thought; it was all about his elder brother!

Just look at Er Gouzi, who used to live next door; his brother’s mind was so flexible. He made a fortune doing business and took Er Gouzi with him to enjoy the finer things in life.

Why couldn’t he have a brother like that, sigh...