Rumble——
The sound of the ground shaking came from deep within the tunnel and spread far away.
Yejingtang held Benben under his left arm and the Empress Dowager under his right arm. He ran at full speed for more than ten zhang. Only then did the cascading bricks and stones behind them stop, and the rumbling in the tunnel quickly subsided.
From the explosion of the wall to the collapse of the tunnel, it all happened in the blink of an eye. Under such great changes, the two women didn't even have time to figure out what had happened. They were just filled with shock and suspicion and tensed their bodies.
At this moment, there was also the light of a fire starter in the front. A middle-aged female palace guard holding an official sword came towards them.
Yang Lan, the hidden guard, had followed them in just to prevent Yejingtang from having improper intentions. She really didn't expect that such a terrifying battle could suddenly break out in this tunnel that had been sealed for two hundred years. She asked in surprise:
"What's going on?"
Yejingtang didn't stop walking. He directly handed the Empress Dowager into Yang Lan's arms:
"There are people ambushing on the other side of the tunnel and they collapsed the tunnel. Let's get out quickly."
The Empress Dowager had been keeping her eyes tightly closed. When she heard the voice and realized that she wasn't dead, she quickly hugged Yang Lan's neck.
Dongfang Liren heard the voice and suppressed the look of shock on his face. He looked back towards the rear:
"Who are those people over there?"
"I'm not sure, but their martial arts are extremely high. Their techniques are ingenious yet simple, and they can be said to be flawless. However, they lack stamina. I've never encountered such people before."
As Yejingtang spoke, he picked up Dongfang Liren horizontally and looked down at him:
"How is your injury?"
Dongfang Liren hadn't paid attention to anything else before. When he heard this, he realized that his leg was a bit painful. He hugged Yejingtang's neck and said calmly:
"I was scratched by a piece of gravel. It's not serious."
The four of them walked quickly. After running for a short while, they came to the stone chamber on the way.
Yang Lan carried the Empress Dowager into the spacious room and found that the door-blocking stone at the exit had fallen down. She suddenly stopped in her tracks and then let out a sigh of relief.
When Dongfang Liren saw that the exit was blocked, he was also startled. But upon closer inspection, he saw that Yejingtang had placed a stone pier under it in advance. The way he looked at Yejingtang changed.
Yejingtang put Dongfang Liren down, took out a fire starter, and squatted down to look. He could confirm that it was because the vibration just now was too strong, which caused the door-blocking stone to fall.
The door-blocking stone was three chi wide. It was blocked by the stone pier and directly cracked the stone pier, but there was still a gap of about two chi, through which one could barely crawl out.
Yejingtang thought for a while and was about to crawl in to check.
But when Dongfang Liren saw that Yejingtang was about to crawl under the huge stone, he quickly pulled him back:
"Come back. This stone probably weighs tens of thousands of jin. If it falls down, you'll be cut in half on the spot. Don't take the risk."
Yejingtang looked at the cracks on the ground. Although he felt that the risk was not great, there was still a risk. The Prince of Jing and the Empress Dowager moved slowly, and he didn't dare to let them crawl through. So he said:
"I'll go over and check the situation first and then ask someone to move the door-blocking stone."
"Wait a moment."
Yang Lan was the small leader of the hidden guards and had high martial arts skills. But she admitted that she didn't have the confidence to destroy the tunnel that was more than ten zhang long in a few moves.
Originally, she had followed behind to prevent Yejingtang from acting on his lust and doing something inappropriate to both of them. But judging from the brief battle just now, if Yejingtang really wanted to do something, he probably wouldn't have much trouble dealing with her, an aging woman, as well.
Yang Lan knew that her martial arts were not as good as Yejingtang's. If the powerful enemy on the other side of the tunnel charged over, it would be very difficult for her to block them. So she put down the Empress Dowager and flashed through under the door-blocking stone:
"You stay here and protect the two Highnesses. I'll go and call for help."
Yejingtang didn't follow her. He looked up and, after confirming that the structure of the stone chamber was extremely firm, turned to look at the situation of the two of them.
Dongfang Liren was wearing a silver dragon-patterned skirt. The upper part of his clothes was intact, but there were many holes in the skirt part. The Empress Dowager was in the same situation, but being protected by the two of them, her situation was much better.
Yejingtang took a closer look, squatted down halfway, and lifted Benben's skirt.
Dongfang Liren was taken aback and quickly stepped back half a step, pressing down on the skirt:
"What are you doing?"
The Empress Dowager said softly: "Treating your injury. What else could he be doing?" As she spoke, she pulled Dongfang Liren to sit down beside the small stone platform in the stone chamber.
Dongfang Liren pursed his lips: "When the medical woman comes later, let the medical woman do it. You're not a doctor..."
Yejingtang placed the fire starter on the edge of the stone platform, held Dongfang Liren's white boots, and lifted the skirt to check.
Dongfang Liren always dressed very formally. He was wearing white boots on his feet and thin trousers inside.
At this time, there were several holes in the white trouser legs. There were several abrasions on the side of his leg, and there were also some bruises caused by stones.
For such an injury, not to mention a martial artist, it wouldn't even be considered a problem for an ordinary laborer. But for a princess who had been brought up in luxury since childhood, it looked a bit shocking.
Yejingtang carefully took off the shoes, untied the string of the cloth socks. Before he could pull them down, Dongfang Liren's face turned red, and his foot arched slightly:
"Ah..."
Yejingtang blinked his eyes and looked at Benben without saying anything, but the meaning was probably — I've seen your whole body, and I've even been rubbed by your fur...
There was a strange look in Dongfang Liren's eyes. If it were in private, it might be okay for Yejingtang to touch his foot. But now the Empress Dowager was right there...
Yejingtang pulled down the cloth socks, and a crystal-clear foot appeared in front of him. It was as if it was carved from mutton-fat jade. One could faintly see the blood vessel patterns through the fair skin. When his hand touched it, the toes shrank.
Dongfang Liren maintained the demeanor of a noble and dignified prince, but there was obviously some embarrassment in his eyes. Seeing Yejingtang squatting in front of him, gently rolling up his trousers, he pursed his lips, wanting to say something to break the strange atmosphere.
But before Dongfang Liren could speak, he found that Yejingtang took out a small bottle from his waist and was about to pour it on his leg...
"Wait!"
The tenderness in Dongfang Liren's heart disappeared immediately, and he quickly said:
"Will this hurt?"
Yejingtang paused for a moment and said frankly:
"It's Jinchuang San (a kind of medicine for treating wounds). It can disinfect, stop bleeding, and remove blood stasis. It will hurt a bit."
Dongfang Liren originally wanted to show the demeanor of a strong person and endure it, but he was afraid that he would scream and lose his composure later. So he raised his hand and tapped his chest twice, and then his body went limp and he fell on the Empress Dowager's shoulder.
Yejingtang held the fair and cool foot, sprinkled the white medicine powder on the calf, tore off a piece of the skirt, and wrapped the leg. He did the same for the left leg and then looked at the thigh.
Dongfang Liren's face was flushed, and his limbs were numb and immobile. When he saw this, he quickly said:
"There's no injury on the thigh."
Yejingtang checked the surface of the skirt. There were indeed no holes, and he looked at the Empress Dowager.
?!
The Empress Dowager was supporting Liren and had been staring intently at Yejingtang touching Liren's foot. Her face was a bit hot. She had seen all the subtle glances between the two of them and found it quite interesting.
When she found that the gentle and peerlessly handsome guard was looking at her and seemed to want to do the same to her, the Empress Dowager sat up a bit straighter:
"Um... I'm fine."
"How can you be fine? Your skirt is torn..."
Dongfang Liren's gaze was serious. When his limbs almost recovered, he bent down and picked up the Empress Dowager's legs and placed them on his lap.
Yejingtang stood up and looked elsewhere.
Dongfang Liren lifted the red skirt, and the snow-white and delicate calves and ankles appeared in front of him. He paused for a moment and frowned:
"Empress Dowager, aren't you wearing pants?"
??
The Empress Dowager originally thought that Yejingtang was a gentleman. When she heard this, her face suddenly turned red, and she slapped Dongfang Liren's shoulder:
"What are you talking nonsense about? I am wearing pants!"
Dongfang Liren looked at the small and delicate jade feet that didn't even have socks on. He knew that the Empress Dowager must be like his sister and not wearing pants. But with Yejingtang present, it wasn't appropriate to say more. He just helped the Empress Dowager explain:
"It's hot in summer. The lower clothes in the palace are relatively short. Don't think too much about it."
Yejingtang knew that she was probably wearing the same kind of small bowknot panties as Lady Luo, the female knight, and Miss Yuhu. They could be easily pulled off from the side. He secretly sighed and didn't turn around to look around.
Dongfang Liren held the palace shoes and carefully examined the Empress Dowager's calves. He found that there were only some faint redness and very shallow abrasions. There was no need to apply medicine. He let out a sigh of relief and gently massaged them with his hands.
The Empress Dowager still felt a bit of pain, but she didn't say anything. Maintaining her dignified demeanor, she looked at Yejingtang:
"Your injury isn't serious, is it?"
Yejingtang looked at his tattered robe:
"I'm fine. I'm not injured at all."
Dongfang Liren motioned to his side: "You should also bandage it. What's the point of enduring it when there's time to apply medicine?"
Yejingtang saw that no one had come yet, so he sat down beside Benben, crossed his legs, tore open his trouser legs, and applied medicine to himself.
Dongfang Liren was massaging the Empress Dowager's calves. After thinking for a while, he said:
"Yejingtang, have you found out something? There were people in the tunnel described in an old book. How could we just happen to run into them..."
Although it was not easy for Yejingtang to explain the source of the information, running into people in the tunnel could already be considered as evidence. He explained:
"These two days, I've been investigating the murder case on Zhujie Street. I originally wanted to find some books related to architecture. When I was chatting with the bookstore owner, I found this book. I also heard that His Highness the Crown Prince of Wu is also interested in it..."
?
The Empress Dowager blinked her eyes: "Dongfang Yin has an appetite, but I haven't heard that he has a lust for women... Could it be that he has thoughts about me?"
Dongfang Liren held down the Empress Dowager who was having wild thoughts and said seriously:
"Then what? Did you go to the Prince of Wu's Mansion yesterday?"
Yejingtang nodded: "I didn't have any leads, so I went to the Prince of Wu's Mansion to take a look. As a result, I found that there was indeed this book in the study of His Highness the Crown Prince of Wu. There was even a crease on the page about digging the tunnel..."
Dongfang Liren thought that Yejingtang was really a bit too bold and frowned:
"What does that prove?"
"I'm just suspecting. When I was searching randomly, I found the traces of molten oil outside the viewing tower of the Prince of Wu's Mansion. I wondered if His Highness the Crown Prince of Wu was plotting something bad secretly..."
The Empress Dowager said inexplicably: "You suspect that Dongfang Yin is plotting something bad just because he reads erotic and strange books?"
It was not easy for Yejingtang to explain the reasoning process, so he casually explained:
"I've always been so imaginative when investigating cases. At first, I just suspected. I originally thought that this tunnel had long been abandoned and that His Highness the Crown Prince of Wu was digging another tunnel. But when we came in today, we found that someone was working in this tunnel that had been sealed for two hundred years. That can only mean that His Highness the Crown Prince of Wu discovered this tunnel and is doing something shady secretly..."
Dongfang Liren listened for a moment, his face serious. After thinking for a while, he said:
"It's not that I don't believe you, but except for the traces of molten oil in the mansion, all the other information is just baseless speculation. If it were an ordinary official, I could arrest him without reason and interrogate him. But Dongfang Yin is the heir apparent of a feudal prince. If the court tortures him without evidence, it would be like trying to force the Prince of Wu to rebel. Even if the emperor issues an edict, the court officials will stop it."
Yejingtang knew this. He turned to look at the collapsed tunnel and felt a bit of a headache:
"We've already alerted the enemy. By the time we dig through the tunnel, the other side will have already cleared up all the traces. It will probably be difficult to find evidence again."
Dongfang Liren said: "As long as Dongfang Yin is plotting something bad secretly, we will always be able to find some clues. I'll arrange for people to secretly investigate as soon as I get out. If we can really confirm this matter, you will be credited with the first merit..."
While they were chatting, there were dense footsteps coming from behind the door-blocking stone.
Yejingtang stood up when he saw this and started communicating with the arriving palace people...