“Dear Miss, don’t be angry, this is what the Emperor Brother instructed. We are simply old servants who must comply,” Eunuch Li said sincerely and with fear in his eyes.
“Fine, I’m a little bit tired, all of you may go now!” Yun Jiuge could not find out anything useful from Eunuch Li. She waved her hand to dismiss all of them.
“Miss, we have yet to begin on the rules in the palace yet!” Eunuch Li said while looking carefully at Yun Jiuge.
He had been the Head Eunuch for more than 20 years in this harem. He had seen countless white-skinned women, but this was the first time that he had seen such an imposing white-skinned noble.
He felt like kneeling and fawning over her when he faced her, just like when he saw the Emperor Brother.
“The rules are simply that I should know my place and not go out. Rest assured, I won’t even take half a step out of Chuxiu Palace before the Emperor Brother summons me,” Yun Jiuge said impatiently.
“Since Miss already knows the rules, this old servant will say no more. Yes, the main rule in the palace is that no one can leave without permission after dark. If there is anything you need, please bear with it for the night and send a person to inform me the next day,” Eunuch Li could not help but touched on the rule again.
“Rest assured, Eunuch Li, I understand all these rules. I will not let anyone go out of the palace at night,” Yun Jiuge was so intimidating that they spoke no more in front of her.
“Then this old servant will take his leave now,” Eunuch Li said. He believed that Yun Jiuge was a reasonable person, he did not want to stay and become someone she would dislike.
However, he left behind four head palace maids, eight lower palace maids, and six eunuchs to serve Yun Jiuge.
After Yun Jiuge assigned the maids and eunuchs to Elderly Lady Wang, she went by herself into the inner palace to rest.
When Elderly Lady Wang realized that Yun Jiuge trusted her so much, she became very excited, and immediately set up everything in Chuxiu Palace.
Later that night, when everything was quiet, the lower palace maid that was on the night shift in Chuxiu Palace yawned quietly but she was immediately pinched by the elder maid. She signaled with her eyes that the lower palace maid must stay awake.
The lower palace maid’s shoulders shrank back, she woke up immediately and waited to be summoned by the noble who was sleeping in the inner palace.
In the inner palace, Yun Jiuge, who was slept for a while, slowly woke up and opened her eyes. She moved her fingers lightly, and a faint green mist drifted out.
The two palace maids who were standing by, both yawned, and slowly closed their eyes. They fell into a deep sleep, including the eunuch in the side palace.
Yun Jiuge got up, took out a black robe from the Magic Bottomless Bag before putting it on. She then quietly left Chuxiu Palace.
It was desolate outside, the dark palace was lit with only a few red lanterns, without anyone in sight.
“Go east, I suspect those white-skinned women were locked up in the tower,” Zi Shang said. The moment that Yun Jiuge entered the palace, Zi Shang had already figured out the situation in the imperial palace.
Yun Jiuge looked up and saw an eight-story tower in the east, enveloped in grey mist. The tower looked very out of place and odd. It was difficult to imagine that the concubines lived there.
“Don’t waste time looking at the tower. Let us go and return quickly,” urged Zi Shang. Their sleeping gas had its limitations, they would be found out if they did not make it back in time.
Yun Jiuge quickly withdrew her gaze. She went under the shadow at the corners and quickly headed towards the tower.
“Wait, there is a guard, move to the right now,” warned Zi Shang just in time.
Yun Jiuge pressed herself hard against the icy cold wall, looking at the guard who held a spear as he patrolled back and forth in the distance.
The guards had dark gray skin, their eyes were slightly dull. Although they were wearing thick armor, they walked around silently, ghost-like.
Yun Jiuge thought to herself, no wonder no one was not allowed to go out at night in the palace. The ordinary person would be terrified to see the ghost-like guards.
“These guards are all Fiendish Corpses, you must be careful,” Zi Shang told her solemnly. He suspected that this place had something to do with the Fiendish Corpse Secret Realm and now he knew for certain after having seen the guards.
“What are the levels of these Fiendish Corpses?” asked Yun Jiuge as she couldn’t help but shuddered. The fierce killing scene at the Fiendish Corpse Secret Realm floated into her mind subconsciously.
“These are just ordinary Fiendish Corpses, you don’t have to worry too much, just keep going,” Zi Shang’s voice was a little hurried.
He also felt that things were getting weird. He wanted to take Little Jiuge away from this damned place as soon as possible.
Yun Jiuge avoided the line of guards patrolling, and finally reached the bottom of the tower.
As she got nearer, she found the tower heavily guarded. The Fiendish Corpses were everywhere.
“Don’t be afraid, these low-level Fiendish Corpses can’t see through your Invisibility, just walk in from the left,” instructed Zi Shang. He found that the patrolling soldiers’ sight was pinned to a single corner.
Yun Jiuge quietly walked down the path towards the tower from the left.
As she approached the tower, she smelled something pungent coming from the tower itself.
She could even see the black and red clouds floating about inside, it was very similar to the Fiendish Corpse Secret Realm. She thought to herself, this must be the exit point.
Yun Jiuge was excited and was just about to enter the tower.
Suddenly, a small palm covered her mouth, and she was dragged outside.
Yun Jiuge automatically elbowed her attacker, she hit something soft, it was a woman!
“It’s me,” said a familiar, sweet voice near Yun Jiuge’s ears. It was Yu Sha who grabbed her.
Yun Jiuge no longer resisted, and left the tower with Yu Sha who then removed her hand over Yun Jiuge’s mouth.
Yun Jiuge turned around and saw Yu Sha dressed as a palace maid standing before her. But her skin was a light gray, her eyes a faint red, her lips pale purple. She looked just like the gray-skinned people.
“You…” Just as Yun Jiuge started to ask, Yu Sha placed her finger over her lips and said, “We can’t talk here, come with me.”
She led Yun Jiuge away from the patrolling guards and the tower. They went over to Lihua Garden which was not far from Chuxiu Palace.
The white spiritual pear flowers there glowed faintly at night. Of course the entire pear garden was empty, no one was allowed to come out and appreciate the night scene.
“Alright, we can talk here,” said Yu Sha. She looked around, turning from side to side before releasing a sigh of relief.
“Yu Sha, why are you here, and why have you become a gray-skinned person?” Yun Jiuge asked quickly.
Yu Sha explained, “I was seriously injured when I fell together with you. After I was exposed to the Fiendish Qi here, my skin became pale gray.
I searched for your whereabouts but found no clues but I correctly guessed that you would come to the palace so I sneaked in.” Yu Sha heard that there was a white-skinned noble in Chuxiu Palace that day and so she had a hunch it would be Yun Jiuge. But, it was not easy to enter during the day so, she could only slip in at night, and coincidentally found Yun Jiuge checking out the tower.
“What clues have you found in the palace? Why didn’t you let me enter the tower just now?” Yun Jiuge asked.
“All the white-skinned women who were sent to the Great Zhou Emperor had been placed in that tower. An assassin at the Foundation Establishment Cultivation level went in and never got out again. The tower is not as simple as it looks on the outside,” replied Yu Sha.
She had been observing the palace for some time. She discovered that whenever the Emperor Brother sent in a group of gray-skinned people into the tower, no one ever came out alive.
