Simultaneous Transmigration: The Re-merging of 99 Selves

Chapter 117 Night Raid on the Imperial Palace

The night in the Forbidden City is silent and boundless, with only a few scattered stars twinkling in the inky sky.

A group of eunuchs carrying palace lanterns were walking silently along the passageway.

The leader was a middle-aged eunuch with a sallow complexion. As he walked, he suddenly stopped, shrank his neck, and looked back into the darkness behind him.

"Brother Wang, what's wrong?"

The young eunuch beside him immediately stopped, bowed, and asked cautiously.

The other eunuchs also stopped and bowed even lower.

Eunuch Wang squinted and stared into the darkness for a long time, then listened intently, but found nothing.

He slowly shook his head and said in a deep voice, "It's nothing, it's just that I always feel like someone is watching us."

"Brother Wang, you must be mistaken," a young eunuch quickly said with a smile. "This is the inner palace, heavily guarded. Not even a fly can get in. How could there be any outsiders here?"

"Yes, yes, Brother Wang, you're just too cautious."

The other eunuchs echoed this sentiment.

Eunuch Wang nodded slightly, but still remained vigilant.

He instructed, "That's true, but we serve the Emperor, so we must be careful in everything we do. If anything goes wrong, even Huang Daban won't be able to save our heads."

"Yes, yes, Brother Wang is right." The eunuchs nodded in agreement.

Only then did Eunuch Wang wave his hand and lead the group forward.

The flickering light cast long shadows of them, which gradually disappeared at the end of the corridor.

On the rooftop in the shadows, Zhao Yu slowly straightened up.

"Tsk tsk, truly worthy of the Imperial Palace." Lan Fenghuang emerged from the shadows, still shaken. "They were just a few lowly eunuchs, yet they were so perceptive that they almost discovered us."

"That's normal."

Zhao Yu casually replied, "The current emperor is obsessed with Taoist cultivation and has gathered many Taoist masters around him. Taoist martial arts are the most upright and peaceful. Under their subtle influence, even these eunuchs, who hear and see so much of it every day, can develop some internal energy."

"Although your lightness skill is good, you can't completely conceal your aura. It's understandable that they noticed something was off."

Lan Fenghuang retorted defiantly, "Why do you say I was discovered? Couldn't it have been you who slipped up?"

Zhao Yu shrugged and didn't argue with her.

He looked up to check the direction, then said, "Follow me, stay close, don't fall behind."

After saying that, he moved swiftly and silently floated away, landing on the roof of another palace.

Lan Fenghuang looked at Zhao Yu's fluid and graceful lightness skill, a hint of admiration flashing in her eyes.

Although she was stubborn, she knew very well that Zhao Yu's martial arts skills, especially his lightness skills, were indeed far superior to hers.

The two stealthily made their way through the patrolling guards and sentries, and after many twists and turns, they finally arrived at a magnificent palace.

The palace's plaque bears three large, gleaming golden characters—Qianqing Palace.

"This is it."

Zhao Yu lowered his voice and said, "The Jiajing Emperor is staying in the West Warm Pavilion behind the Qianqing Palace tonight. You wait here, I'll go in first to scout ahead, and once I'm sure there are no problems, I'll take you in."

"Wait a minute." Lan Fenghuang quickly grabbed him.

Zhao Yu turned to look at her: "What's wrong?"

Lan Fenghuang hesitated for a moment, but still couldn't help asking, "What exactly did you do to that little eunuch? How come he was so obedient? He answered everything you asked, and afterwards he seemed to remember nothing."

In the vast Forbidden City, finding the residence of the Jiajing Emperor with only Zhao Yu and his companion was clearly like finding a needle in a haystack.

So Zhao Yu found a lone eunuch, used a soul-shifting technique to control him, and then found out where Jiajing was.

Then he made him forget everything that had happened.

However, this scene was somewhat terrifying to Lan Fenghuang.

Zhao Yu, a perfectly healthy person, was completely at his mercy after only saying a few words, and afterwards he couldn't remember anything at all, which was truly frightening.

Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if she had also fallen for Zhao Yu's tricks.

Therefore, she was surprisingly quiet throughout the journey, and only now, unable to hold back any longer, did she finally ask a question.

Seeing the wary look on her face, Zhao Yu couldn't help but laugh: "I thought you were going to hold back for a while before asking."

"Who's holding back!" Lan Fenghuang blushed and slapped Zhao Yu. "Tell me quickly, did you use that move on me or not?"

"Don't worry, there isn't."

Zhao Yu explained with a smile, "This martial art is called the Soul Transfer Technique, which comes from the Nine Yin Manual. It can only control people whose internal energy is far lower than your own, and it's extremely unstable. As long as the other person's internal energy is developed, or they are subjected to strong stimulation, they will immediately regain their senses. It looks powerful, but it's actually quite useless."

"A chicken rib?" Lan Fenghuang curled her lip, not believing his words.

In a contest between masters, a slight difference can lead to a huge error.

If this move is suddenly used in a life-or-death struggle, causing the opponent to lose focus for a moment, it would be enough to decide the outcome.

This is no mere trifle; it's clearly an unparalleled divine skill.

Lan Fenghuang asked curiously, "What is the Nine Yin Manual?"

"That's a long story, I'll tell you when I have the chance. Now is not the time to talk about that, we need to get down to business."

Having said that, he ignored Lan Fenghuang, crouched down, and like a raccoon, scaled the palace wall and sneaked into the Qianqing Palace.

As soon as he landed, Zhao Yu's expression turned serious.

As expected of the emperor's residence, the defenses here are ten times more stringent than those outside.

There were guards patrolling openly, and sentries were stationed everywhere in secret.

Moreover, most of these sentries were skilled martial artists, far from ordinary martial arts practitioners.

This is understandable, as Emperor Jiajing, Zhu Houcong, inherited the throne as a prince. The succession of a minor branch of the imperial family to the main branch was inherently unstable.

In addition, his suspicious nature naturally makes him lack a sense of security.

However, these people's martial arts skills were simply no match for Zhao Yu's.

The martial arts of the Ming Dynasty had regressed far compared to those of the Southern Song Dynasty.

Zhao Yu nimbly dodged all the sentries in a few quick movements and soon arrived outside the West Warm Pavilion.

He hid behind a pillar and observed for a moment.

I noticed two eunuchs on night duty at the door, struggling to stay awake and yawning incessantly.

After confirming that Zhu Houcong was inside, Zhao Yu quietly retreated.

He returned to the outside of the palace walls and found Blue Phoenix waiting there.

"How is it?" Blue Phoenix asked hurriedly.

"No problem." Zhao Yu nodded. "Come with me."

Before Lan Fenghuang could react, he reached out and put his arm around her waist.

"You..." Lan Fenghuang was about to exclaim when she quickly covered her mouth.

She felt a sudden lightness in her body, and then she was lifted up by Zhao Yu.

After a few leaps, the two landed on the roof of the West Warm Pavilion.