Ragged clouds veiled the moon, and the sky had gone completely dark. Lights were sparse deep within the palace; only the glow of two lanterns could be seen moving back and forth among the towering halls.
Beside the Son of Heaven's bedchamber stood a library containing ancient and modern classics and all manner of documents for ready reference. At night, its interior was pitch-black, and its entrance was likewise locked.
Timing the gap between the guards' rotations, Ye Jingtang silently reached the side hall. He listened closely, confirmed that the unidentified figure in black had moved deeper inside, then carefully pushed open the window that had already been pried loose and slipped in.
Although it was only a side hall, the interior was still quite spacious. Nanmu bookshelves over ten feet tall stood around the walls and through the middle, with a rolling ladder beside the shelves along one wall. At a glance, the collection probably numbered no fewer than tens of thousands of volumes.
Thump, thump...
In the quiet room, where a falling needle could have been heard and there was no wind or other noise to interfere, Ye Jingtang could clearly hear a faint heartbeat toward the back of the library.
Relying on his Martial Saint cultivation, he moved along the bookshelves like a ghost, peering through the gaps toward the rear. There stood a large desk, with a wall carving of coiling dragons behind it and smaller shelves on either side holding scrolls, files, and the like. It looked like the Liang Emperor's usual reading spot.
The shadow in night clothes had already moved behind the large desk. Timing his movements until Eunuch Yin departed again, he shifted the brush mountain at the corner of the desk.
Click.
After that faint sound, the Coiling Dragon Relief behind