Daily Intelligence System: Don't Kill Me, Honey!

Chapter 1917 - 450: Chen Jie’s Grand Plan: Digging a Tunnel into the Imperial Palace

The next day, the plan went on as usual. Chen Jie found Zhang Dingbian and told him that someone had already gone to rescue Kang Maocai; he just needed to conserve his strength and, tomorrow, follow them in to storm the Heavenly Prison.Then he went to find Yan Heng, and under Zhao Ya’s lead, they arrived at Zhao Ya’s residence on Vermilion Bird Street.

The residence wasn’t large, but on Vermilion Bird Street every inch of land was worth its weight in gold; only the royal family would buy a house here and then not even live in it.

There were a few old servants who normally maintained the house’s cleanliness, but as soon as they met them, Chen Jie and the others knocked them out. Once the matter was over, they would give these old servants some Silver Coin and then transfer them to Jiangnan.

Once everything was in order, the three of them finally had the chance to inspect the courtyard.

The courtyard was a two-entry compound with a total of eight rooms. On Vermilion Bird Street, at the very least, it should have been the residence of a Fourth Grade or above official, yet here it had been left to go to waste.

Vermilion Bird Street, adjacent to the Imperial City, was where civil and military officials and the Imperial Family resided, wealth pressing in on all sides.

This small courtyard had once been the residence of a Fourth Grade official, but later that official was drawn into factional struggles and was taken down by Tuotuo’s faction; the small courtyard was then fawned over and offered up by sycophants to the Ruyang King, who casually rewarded it to Zhao Ya.

Zhao Ya had stayed here when she came to the Great Capital to travel in the past.

Yan Heng came here, looked over the courtyard, especially checking what kind of people lived in the surrounding houses. After confirming that most were civil servants, he nodded and said, "Not bad, this place is indeed suitable for digging."

Digging would inevitably produce sound, and the people living nearby were scholars. Scholars were always a bit dull-headed, and their hearing was extremely poor. While it was unavoidable that some noise would leak out as they dug, such sounds would be nothing in the ears of those who did not practice Martial Arts. But if there happened to be a Molten Furnace Realm, or even Dragon Realm expert nearby, it might give them away.

These scholars’ ears were not sharp, and the rank of these civil servants was not high, around Fourth Grade or so. Among the servants they kept, it would be very hard for there to be anyone above the Dragon Realm. So as long as they were careful this time, they would not alarm anyone.

Having thought this through, Yan Heng was very satisfied. He stood up, leapt onto a large tree in the courtyard, and stretched out his hand, sighting along it straight toward the Imperial Palace. "Straight-line distance, about three and a half li. Past this point, there’s a plaza."

This was a requirement of the Imperial Palace: within a kilometer of the palace perimeter, no buildings or even trees were allowed. The bare stretch was all paved stone streets.

The reason was simple. If there were trees, they feared someone might hide among them and plot against the court’s civil and military officials, or even the Emperor, entering and exiting.

So it had to be completely unobstructed at a glance.

Yan Heng took some measurements, then finalized a plan and timeline. In the end, he looked at Chen Jie and said, "Lord Dharma King, the fastest we can do is to break through inside the palace wall by midnight tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jie said, "Midnight is fine. Then start."

Yan Heng nodded, then immediately led his men into the courtyard one after another. These Brother Tumu craftsmen were indeed professionals; they entered without making a sound, not disturbing anyone in the process.

Chen Jie watched with tense focus the entire time. If anything about this leaked, they would all be in grave danger.

Once those Brother Tumu arrived, they picked and chose, finally settling on a room where they intended to start digging.

As for the soil, they would pile it all up in the room. When the pile grew large enough, they would wait until night to move it all out. That way, during the day, no one would be able to tell anything had been disturbed.

So the group immediately began digging. Chen Jie had little interest in the process itself; he had handed everything over to Yan Heng. As long as Yan Heng finished on schedule, that was enough. If he failed, Liu Futong would deal with him at leisure.

Watching Yan Heng work overtime, Chen Jie and Zhao Ya left.

Next, Yan Heng would begin digging from here, then tunnel under a moat. That section was actually the largest part of the project—they had to dig very deep to ensure the works wouldn’t leak water. Only then could they complete the job on time.

Yan Heng and his men had to dig forward bit by bit from here, then make a large U-shaped bend to get past the moat before they could continue the long excavation.

So the workload was considerable, but Yan Heng still guaranteed he could finish on schedule.

Chen Jie and Zhao Ya left, then returned to the inn and ordered some food. As they ate, Chen Jie said, "Tomorrow, you’ll go with the Zoroastrian Sect people to the Great Buddha Temple. I think the Prince should be there. Then you’ll escort the Prince away."

"Got it?"

Chen Jie looked at Zhao Ya and asked. Zhao Ya lightly nodded. "Mm, I understand."

Chen Jie then said to her, "Right, Yaya, after tomorrow’s business, we’ll regroup outside the city. We won’t be able to stay in any inns inside the city."

Hearing this, Zhao Ya said, "Mm, understood."

After confirming the next step of their plan, they continued eating. Just then, Chen Jie glanced downstairs and froze, because he saw a familiar figure.

Chen Jie said, "Yaya, is that your third brother?"

Hearing this, Zhao Ya turned to look and saw Wang Baobao and Du Xiong walking along the street, both with furrowed brows.

Chen Jie frowned slightly, then rose with Zhao Ya and left the inn. After checking around to make sure no one was tailing them, they went after the pair.

Chen Jie sped up, walked forward, and suddenly bumped his shoulder hard against Wang Baobao. Wang Baobao frowned at the impact and was about to speak when he caught sight of Chen Jie’s back. He froze, then, without a word, followed.

Du Xiong also reacted and followed at once. The group headed straight for a secluded corner.

Zhao Ya was already waiting there. She looked at Wang Baobao and said, "Third Brother, why are you here? Weren’t you going to look for the Old Chancellor Hama?"

Wang Baobao sighed. "Yeah, we went to look for Hama, but the Old Chancellor wasn’t home."

"Ah, not home?"

Hearing this, Zhao Ya looked at Wang Baobao. "Then where did the Old Chancellor go?"

Wang Baobao said, "Seems he went to Dongling to offer sacrifices. They said he’d been gone five or six days and should return on the day after tomorrow, on Your Majesty’s birthday. Du Xiong and I figured we’d just find a place to wait."

Chen Jie paused at that, then muttered, "Strange. Sweeping the tombs before the Emperor’s birthday... looks like this is a move by Tuotuo, afraid the Old Chancellor might cause trouble for him these two days."

Wang Baobao said, "Then what do we do? Should I go to Dongling to find the Old Chancellor?"

Chen Jie said, "There’s no rush for that. I’ve come up with another plan. Tomorrow, the Young Prince can accompany Yaya to the Great Buddha Temple to rescue the Prince."

Wang Baobao was stunned. "Great Buddha Temple? My father is at the Great Buddha Temple?"

He looked at Chen Jie in surprise. Chen Jie nodded slightly. "That’s right, the Prince is at the Great Buddha Temple, and we’ve already found a way to rescue him."

As he spoke, Chen Jie went over the plan. After listening, Wang Baobao said, "All right, then tomorrow I’ll go with Yaya to the Great Buddha Temple and get Father out. Never thought it’d be a Living Buddha who detained my father."

"Father fought all his life, rendering countless merits for the country, and in the end the one who wounded him the deepest turned out to be this court. This court truly breaks one’s heart."

Wang Baobao said. Chen Jie replied, "Young Prince, don’t be too disheartened. Whatever the case, let’s talk about it after we rescue the Prince."

When he finished, Wang Baobao said, "That’s all we can do."

Chen Jie said, "Today you should rest at the inn. Tomorrow you and Yaya will go to the Great Buddha Temple to rescue him."

After saying this, Chen Jie looked over at Du Xiong. Du Xiong, carefree as ever, was busy looking around. The scenery of the Great Capital was indeed different from Huangzhou Prefecture and also different from their Bright Peak; looking around like this was a way to broaden his horizons.

He was still looking when he suddenly noticed Chen Jie’s gaze on him. Du Xiong looked at him, puzzled. "Lord, why are you looking at me like that? Do I have some dirt on my face or something?"

Chen Jie said, "No, I wanted to tell you something."

Du Xiong said, "What is it? Just say it straight, Lord. Why be so fussy?"

Chen Jie looked at him and said, "It’s like this: I saw Du Zundao at Tuotuo’s Prime Minister’s Mansion."

Hm?

Du Xiong froze, a complicated emotion flashing through his eyes. He looked at Chen Jie and said, "Lord, why bring him up now?"

Seeing him like this, Chen Jie said, "I mean, if you want to find him, then after we rescue the Prince, you can go. I won’t stop you!"