Chapter 2637 - 2570: Stealing

The two of them shared half a bowl of sura, watching stars emerge one by one in the dark sky. They leaned against each other, head resting on head, gazing upwards, "It’s really beautiful..."

As more stars appeared in the sky one by one, Manbao couldn’t help but exclaim, pointing up, "Is that the Milky Way?"

Bai Shan was also mesmerized. Although they weren’t seeing stars for the first time, it was indeed the first time they had seen such a beautiful Milky Way. The sky was dotted with stars, and among them, a silver ribbon of light shone most brightly, seemingly pouring down from the heavens.

He muttered, "It really is the Milky Way."

The emperor, who was standing impatiently behind a rock, also looked up at the sky and was captivated for a moment.

Bai Shan and Manbao were silent for a while, just quietly gazing upwards. Bai Shan was mostly appreciating the beauty, while Manbao was filled with awe and curiosity, "Keke, is your world somewhere in the Milky Way?"

Keke: "No."

It paused before continuing, "It’s in a much farther place."

Manbao didn’t press further. Even if she asked, Keke wouldn’t say, and if it did, she still wouldn’t be able to reach it.

After a brief silence, Keke spoke again, "Host, there’s someone standing behind you."

Manbao’s hair stood on end, and she stiffly turned her head to look behind her. There was a cold spring with its gentle flow behind them, star reflections shimmering on the surface.

She swallowed hard, trembling, "You... don’t scare me~"

Bai Shan, leaning against her, was the first to notice something was wrong. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and asked, seeing her body stiffen, "What’s the matter?"

Manbao grabbed Bai Shan’s hand, courage returning to her, and her eyes sparkled as she scanned the cold spring behind them inch by inch, "Where is it, is it a real person, or a fake?"

Bai Shan couldn’t hear her inner thoughts, but he could see her expression, so he too curiously stared at the spring.

Keke: "...It’s not in the spring, it’s behind the rocky hill."

It added bluntly, "It’s your emperor, along with the attendant and two guards accompanying him."

Seeing as the main system hadn’t been overseeing it much lately, it didn’t mind doing the host a favor by providing this information.

When Manbao heard it was the emperor, she immediately pulled Bai Shan to his feet, dusting off her robe, "Let’s head back; I’m hungry."

Bai Shan was momentarily stunned, then nodded, "Alright."

He casually washed the bowl and spoon in the flowing cold spring, placed them into the basket, covered it, and hung it on a tree before taking Manbao’s hand to head down.

Under the starlight, the path descended in steps, making it easy to walk. In no time, the two rounded a large rock and turned down.

Bai Shan couldn’t resist stopping and looking back, wondering what on earth had scared Manbao so much up there.

Noticing his pause, Manbao quickly tugged on him.

The two continued downward, and after walking quite a distance, Manbao felt assured that no one could overhear them and exhaled, "It’s His Majesty."

Bai Shan: "...Then why are we sneaking away?"

Manbao: "I don’t want to work overtime tonight."

Bai Shan thought about it and found it reasonable, so he led Manbao down the mountain.

The two cautiously descended, just in time to come across Yin Li leading the imperial guards on patrol.

Why would the commander of the imperial guards need to patrol personally?

And why patrol all the way here?

Bai Shan couldn’t help but stop, saluting Yin Li.

Yin Li halted, squinting at them, "Where are you coming from?"

Bai Shan pointed to the small path behind him with a smile, "There’s a small path leading up the mountain from here, with a beautiful cold spring at the top. We just came down from there."

Yin Li followed his gaze up, searching his mind for the path. Soon he recalled it; this path could detour to the Longevity Palace, so he had stationed guards at the entrance near there.

The emperor...

Recalling the emperor’s temperament, Yin Li turned and instructed the guards, "Go fetch a lantern."

Bai Shan and Manbao saluted and took their leave.

Watching them depart, Yin Li frowned. These two were always intelligent and probably weren’t trying to deceive him, so why would they sneak away if the emperor is up there?

The guards quickly retrieved the lanterns, and by this time, the emperor was directing two guards to retrieve a wooden bucket, taking out the sealed bamboo tubes inside.

He took down the basket from the tree with a smile, "It’s too hot, it’ll spoil by tomorrow. Sura is best enjoyed fresh. Come on, let’s go find the empress."

Gu Zhong sighed in relief and supported the emperor to turn around.

But the emperor pointed in the direction Bai Shan and Manbao had gone, "We’ll go down from here. I was planning to see my ministers anyway."

Gu Zhong: ... If only you weren’t hiding behind a rock to watch the young couple show their affection, we would have been down by now.

Anyway, it didn’t matter which way he wanted to go, as long as he was willing to move.

Gu Zhong supported the emperor down the mountain.

They had left while it was still light, so they hadn’t brought lanterns. Unlike Bai Shan and Zhou Man, whom had walked this path and had good vision, they proceeded cautiously downward.

Fortunately, after descending a short way, they saw lights.

The emperor paused, squinting slightly.

Yin Li, holding the lantern, led his people around, only to run into the emperor, sighing in relief. He immediately saluted, "Your Majesty..."

"Ah, it’s Courtier Yin," the emperor said with a smile, beckoning, "You come at the perfect time; I’m inviting you to have some sura."

Yin Li: ...

He stepped forward, standing to the emperor’s side, with Gu Zhong on the other, safeguarding him as they escorted him down the mountain.

The guards below stepped to the side, raising the lanterns to illuminate the path for the emperor.

The emperor was guided down, glancing around before bursting into laughter, "Didn’t realize this path led here. Which courtyard are Bai Shan and the others staying in?"

Yin Li extended his hand, pointing to a courtyard not far away.

The emperor quieted down, even shushing once, "Let’s go to your courtyard. Invite Courtier Wei and Courtier Han; I’m treating you all to sura."

The bamboo tube was large, and Bai Shan had only scooped half a bowl today. There was at least two more bowls left. The emperor instructed Gu Zhong to divide them, and soon the four men were sitting in the courtyard each holding half a bowl of sura.

Minister Han took a bite first, exclaiming with delight, "Not bad! Fresh and delicious, surpassing even the finest snow. Congratulations on acquiring such a skilled chef, Your Majesty."

The emperor laughed, "This wasn’t made by a chef. But this sura, not only does it relieve one’s worries and quench thirst, it even moisturizes the mouth better than sura, truly top quality, hahahaha..."

The emperor laughed heartily, "Especially when there’s sentiment involved, it’s even more exquisite."

Yin Li had his suspicions, but Wei Zhi and Minister Han were clueless.

The emperor lamented a bit, regretting that State Duke Zhao wasn’t there, as he most certainly would understand his sentiment.

Yin Huo sat cross-legged on the divan; given the small courtyard, he could hear what was being said. He furrowed his brows, finding the emperor’s words strange, and glanced at Longevity.

Longevity waved his hand repeatedly, certainly not daring to venture out at this moment.