Gu Moran, "Fine, then change into a hunchback, wear an old coat, and smear ash on your face. The people at the back gate will smell it and just want you to leave quickly."
Batuer handed the beef jerky to Zitang and nodded earnestly, "Okay."
Lin Qingdai looked at her. "Do you dare to go to the Grand Commandant's Residence?"
Batuer patted her chest. "This servant dares. As long as the Grand Commandant doesn't lay a hand on me, I've heard he's highly skilled in martial arts, and I can't withstand him."
Lin Qingdai picked up the token and wrapped it in a handkerchief.
I'll give you the token.
Gu Moran.
"When you see the Grand Commandant, remember to say this."
Batuer pricked up his ears.
Gu Moran, word by word, "Before the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, there were loopholes in the security outside the imperial prison. It's possible that some former members of the Xiao Clan from the previous dynasty were transferred away under false pretenses."
Lin Qingdai added, "Furthermore, Miss, please ask the Grand Commandant to prioritize the defense of the capital."
Batuer repeated it after him.
I paused for a moment when reading "former members of the Xiao Clan of the previous dynasty".
Lin Qingdai frowned.
Batuer immediately changed his mind and recited it again.
This time it went smoothly.
Lin Qingdai spoke again, "If someone is really following you to death, then abandon the carriage and go around through the alley. There's an old locust tree outside the west wall of the Grand Commandant's Residence; go around it and knock on the third blue brick."
Batuer's eyes lit up. "Madam has always been at odds with my princess, and you even told this to me?"
Lin Qingdai put the sword back on the shelf and snorted coldly.
"Who's that petty?"
"You're all from the Prince's mansion, do you think I wouldn't trust you?"
Batuer immediately shut up.
Zitang had already turned around and gone out to arrange the clothes and the bucket cart.
The muddy smell of rain hadn't dissipated in the courtyard, and a few drops of water dripped from the eaves as the wind blew.
Batuer had just changed his clothes and was about to leave.
Lin Qingdai suddenly spoke up, "Add one more sentence."
Batuer looked at her.
Lin Qingdai said expressionlessly, "Tell the Grand Commandant that Madam Lin is suspected of being pregnant."
Batuer slipped and nearly hit the door frame.
Gu Moran was also taken aback for a moment.
Lin Qingdai put the sword back on the rack. "My father will check the records based on what you said earlier, but he'll take action himself based on this."
In the Grand Commandant's Residence's study, Lin Zhenshan had just taken off his outer robe.
The voice of a personal guard came from outside the door.
"Grand Commandant, the man has been brought here."
Lin Zhenshan did not look up.
"Enter."
The door opened.
Batuer stepped in.
The smell followed her into the study.
The guard stood by the door, his face pale, and he shifted his toes half an inch outward.
Batuer lowered his back, smeared soot on his face, thickened his eyebrows, and wrapped a tattered towel around his head.
As long as he doesn't speak, he really does look like a man who empties chamber pots.
"Greetings, Grand Commandant. I am Batuer, serving Murong Xue."
The teacup in Lin Zhenshan's hand stopped in mid-air.
He looked up, saw her attire, and frowned.
"Are Murong Xue's people still listening to Lin Qingdai?"
His gaze fell on the dirty boots at Batuer's feet, then swept across the doorway.
"Did Lin Qingdai send you here like this?"
Batuer his hands in a fist salute.
"I have an urgent matter."
Lin Zhenshan glanced at her coarse cloth jacket, then at the pale faces of the guards outside the door.
"It was urgent, so you sent night soil?"
Batuer's answer was very honest.
" The Grand Commandant's Residence is not easy to enter."
"Smells can easily get in."
The study fell silent for a moment.
The guard turned his face away, his shoulders pressed tightly together.
Lin Zhenshan stared at Batuer.
The bottom of the teacup touched the table, making a soft sound.
"Let's get down to business."
Batuer opened the oilcloth package.
There were only three lines of writing on the scrap paper.
Changing guards in the imperial prison.
The Xiao Clan of the previous dynasty.
The Empress Dowager's birthday banquet.
After reading it, Lin Zhenshan's impatience subsided somewhat.
"Retrieve the city defense exchange book."
The guard immediately turned and went to do it.
Lin Zhenshan visits Batuer.
"Why not have Qingdai's people deliver it directly?"
Batuer said, "The prince said that the main gate of Prince Yi's Residence has been too lively lately."
Lin Zhenshan sneered.
"When is Gu Moran not lively?"
What else did he say?
Batuer straightened his back and began to speak, repeating the words he had been told.
"Before the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, there were loopholes in the security outside the imperial prison. It's possible that some former members of the Xiao Clan from the previous dynasty were taken away under false pretenses."
Lin Zhenshan's gaze fell on the scrap paper.
Is there anything else?
Batuer closed his mouth for a moment, then opened it again.
Madam Lin also said...
Lin Zhenshan looked up.
Batuer finished speaking in one breath.
She is suspected of being pregnant.
Silence fell over the study.
The guard at the door had just stepped in when he abruptly pulled his foot back in.
The token in Lin Zhenshan's hand stopped in mid-air.
After a moment, he looked at Batuer.
Say it again.
Batuer swallowed hard.
Keep your voice down.
" Madam Lin is suspected of being pregnant."
Lin Zhenshan stared at her.
"Suspected?"
Batuer nodded.
"Yes, that's what we said."
Lin Zhenshan's expression turned even uglier.
"Are you making a fool of me? Lin Qingdai has only been married for a month, and they didn't even consummate their marriage when she last came back!"
"She got pregnant in just a few days?"
Batuer felt a tightness in his back.
She's never been married, so she doesn't know.
I quickly added a sentence.
"Perhaps our prince is just quick in bed."
The guards at the door lowered their heads, their shoulders tense.
Lin Zhenshan slowly placed the token on the table, unsure of what to say.
The tea has gone cold.
The stench lingers in the house.
The change of guards in the imperial prison, the Xiao Clan of the previous dynasty, the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet.
Add to that the fact that Lin Qingdai is suspected of being pregnant.
If it weren't something important, Lin Qingdai wouldn't have said such nonsense.
Lin Zhenshan's temple twitched twice.
"Have you brought the city defense duty roster?"
The guards quickly brought over the thick book.
The booklet was opened, its pages carrying the dry, musty smell of the Ministry of War's warehouse.
Lin Zhenshan pointed down the patrol line near the prison.
East Alley.
Main entrance.
West Alley.
His hand stopped on the third section.
From 9 PM to midnight tonight, there was a gap in the shift schedule for the West Alley.
Normally, this gap could be covered up by handover errors.
If the prison is flooded, the prison cart will exit through a side gate, circle into the old city ward, and be out of sight of the patrols.
Lin Zhenshan pressed his fingertip on that blank space.
Who changed the value?
The guard lowered his head and flipped through the supplementary register.
"The troop rotation order submitted by the Military Affairs Bureau yesterday stated that due to the large crowds in the South Market before the Empress Dowager's birthday banquet, a troop has been transferred South Market."
Lin Zhenshan remained silent.
He climbed over to the side door of the prison.
Outside the side gate lies the old city ward.
Further north from the old city ward, one can connect to the Imperial Guard route.
He closed the booklet and looked at Batuer.
What else did Gu Moran say?
Batuer said, "If the Grand Commandant asks, tell him that the person in the imperial prison may not be an ordinary remnant of the previous dynasty."
Lin Zhenshan's gaze fell on her face.
How did he know?
Batuer pursed his lips.
"The prince said it was just a guess, without concrete evidence."
"Without evidence, you dared to push the 'night-scented cart' to the Grand Commandant's Residence?"
Batuer looked up.
"When fighting in the Northern Territory, scouts would report enemy smoke even before they had completely surveyed a mountain."
Lin Zhenshan's hand stopped on the book.
That finally sounds like something a soldier would say.
He leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over Batuer.
"You are someone close to Murong Xue."
Batuer his hands in a fist salute.
"Yes."
Lin Zhenshan asked, "How is the situation in your Northern Territory?"
[Four chapters complete. Thank you Wujing and the novel for the flowers, JK for the likes, and all the other readers for their support! Good luck to all the students taking the college entrance exam!]