Dark Guards

"Wasn't the entire former imperial family killed already? The emperor's head is still hanging over the palace gates."

"I heard that a little palace maid told the current emperor a while ago that a little princess of the former emperor was still alive, hoping to curry favor with him.

"Apparently, that little princess wasn't favored because her birth mother died young, and she barely had any presence in the palace. So when the Imperial City fell, no one noticed her disappearance.

"If that little palace maid hadn't been the personal maid responsible for looking after her, no one would probably even know that a princess of the former imperial family was still alive."

"Could finding that little princess be why the whole city is under lockdown now?"

"Of course it is. The entire former imperial family was killed-even the daughters who had married out weren't spared. How could the current emperor possibly let that little princess go?"

"I heard the emperor personally issued a bounty. Whoever finds the little princess, dead or alive, will receive ten thousand taels of gold."

"Ten thousand taels of gold? You couldn't spend that much money in several lifetimes!"

Xue Fuyao watched the two walk away, her gaze cold as frost.

Because her rebirth had come at such short notice, she hadn't immediately dealt with the little palace maid named Yingtao.

Although she was a princess, Xue Fuyao's life had hardly been easy, since she was young and unfavored. She had no real authority, either, and could only find some excuse to send the maid away. She didn't even have the authority to have her beaten to death.

But that didn't mean she had forgotten what Yingtao had done in her previous life. She had originally planned to take revenge once she was a little older and capable of doing so.

After all, this five-year-old body imposed far too many limitations on her.

Yet she hadn't expected that, while she had chosen to let matters rest for now, the other party would insist on refusing to let her go.

Such a familiar reason-even the timing was much the same.

Xue Fuyao returned to her lodgings and began rummaging through her Storage Bag.

While sorting through the things she had brought out of the palace earlier, she had seen a map recording the secret passages beneath the palace.

"Found it!"

Xue Fuyao looked at the slightly yellowed parchment map.

There were two maps in total. On the surface, they looked like two identical maps of the palace, but when they were laid over each other and held beneath a light, every hidden passage was revealed.

These secret passages had been built by the founding emperor of the Xue Clan. That emperor seemed to have foreseen long ago that the dynasty he established would inevitably decline, so he had secretly left a contingency in place.

But he probably hadn't expected that, even with that contingency, it would still be of little use.

Xue Fuyao committed all the secret passages to memory. Besides those, there was also a token.

How could an emperor not have Dark Guards at his disposal?

This token represented a force of Shadow Guards made up of peerless experts. They would obey only the emperor's orders and were the sharpest blade in his hands.

In her previous life, it had been thanks to these Dark Guards that she had managed to leave the Imperial City after her identity was exposed.

Originally, she hadn't intended to use this force yet. After all, these Shadow Guards were her greatest trump card since her rebirth. But now, she had changed her mind. It was better to strangle danger in its cradle.

Then she clambered onto the bed on her hands and feet, closed her eyes, and went to sleep. Xue Fuyao didn't wake until the afternoon.

Once awake, she rolled out of bed, washed her face with icy well water, and headed outside.

The moment she stepped out, she heard children crying in the street, accompanied by the heart-rending cries of adults.

Looking toward the noise, she saw countless children locked in cages being hauled toward the palace. Behind those cages were the children's parents, weeping their hearts out.

Just then, a guard noticed Xue Fuyao, who had just stepped outside. He walked over and began feeling her all over to examine her. Only after touching a certain part did he let her leave.

Fortunately, the hair ribbon's disguise was very thorough.

Throughout the whole process, she wore a terrified expression, wanting to cry but not daring to.

Only after the guard had left did Xue Fuyao wipe the expression from her face, turn, and run in another direction.

She made her way to the entrance of a shabby tofu shop.

Knock, knock, knock. Knock!

Only in her previous life had she learned that this well-known, long-established tofu shop in the Imperial City was actually a contact point for the Dark Guards.

After a long while, steady footsteps sounded from inside. Then an old man with graying hair and a slightly hunched back slowly opened the door.

The old man's eyes were cloudy, but a sharp gleam flashed through them when he saw Xue Fuyao standing outside.

"What do you need?"

"I want a block of soft tofu," Xue Fuyao said in a low voice.

The old man didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked her up and down, only speaking slowly after a long moment. "Come in."

After entering the tofu shop, Xue Fuyao took out the token at once.

But she knew the token alone wasn't enough. After all, anyone might get their hands on it.

There were two such tokens of identification in total. One was a ring, which Xue Fuyao's Imperial Father usually wore on his hand, and the other was the token.

With her Imperial Father's death, the ring had fallen into the rebel leader's hands and naturally lost its validity, leaving only the token.

These Dark Guards were loyal only to the emperor-or rather, to the Xue Clan-so Xue Fuyao still needed to prove her identity.

She took out a dagger and cut her finger. Bright red blood flowed from the wound and dripped onto the token.

The blood was instantly absorbed by the token, which then began to glow with a faint golden light.

At the sight, the old man knelt immediately without the slightest hesitation. His aged voice became the deep, full voice of a middle-aged man. "Your subordinate Eleven greets the young master."

"Rise. I came to find you this time because there's something I need your help with," Xue Fuyao said in a low voice.

"Is it because of the wanted notices in the city?" Eleven asked.

Xue Fuyao nodded. "How many people can you contact right now?"

Eleven considered for a moment before saying, "There are fifty Dark Guards, and all are still here. They are currently scattered throughout the Imperial City, searching for you."

Although Xue Fuyao was dressed as a boy and even her features had changed, Eleven had recognized her at a glance, because His Majesty had once told them that only Her Twenty-Fifth Highness could undo the seal on the token.

"Your Highness, would you like me to gather them all and escort you out of the city?" Eleven assumed Xue Fuyao had suddenly contacted them so they could escort her safely out.