They had said they were going to admire the flowers, but Shen Yangge had no idea where the palace's rear garden was. Fortunately, someone led the way, and all he had to do was follow.
He did not know whether he was imagining it, but they encountered very few palace maids or servants along the way. Even when they did see one, the servant hurriedly bowed in their direction, then lowered their head and slipped away as fast as their feet could carry them.
There was even less chance of accidentally running into a consort.
Shen Yangge kept these observations to himself. Once they reached the rear garden, he kept his gaze straight ahead, looking first at the rockeries, then at the flowers and tender grass, while Chu Xuanzhen stood behind him the entire time.
He admired the flowers; Chu Xuanzhen admired him.
The palace maids and servants stood quietly at their posts, eyes lowered, utterly obedient and not making a sound.
Occasionally, though, one or two would cautiously steal a glance before quickly lowering their heads again.
Admiring the flowers had only been an excuse to put Chu Xuanzhen off. Now that they were actually here, Shen Yangge could hardly glance around twice and announce that he was done. He patiently made a circuit, then spotted a little bottom sticking out of a flower bed.
Shen Yangge's mouth twitched. Since Chu Xuanzhen had also noticed it behind him, he had no reason to hesitate. He lifted the child out of the flowers. The boy wore the clothes of the Imperial Medical Bureau.
That little face looked somewhat familiar. Shen Yangge thought back carefully, then suddenly remembered hiding in a child's room at the Imperial Medical Bureau during his first escape. The boy had apparently been called... "Xiao Zhi?"
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