One hundred and seventy-seven, the secret road of the cold palace

Holding the explanation of the secret passage, Lan Xi took a closer look. The entrance is in the southeast corner of the gate in the dilapidated and weedy, even the sundries can not be stacked in the abandoned ear room, because of the fear that it will collapse suddenly, the two of them just stood at the door to look at it and never went in, she took the opportunity of Xiao Tao to go to the toilet, and went to check it first.

It shows that the entrance to the secret passage is in the northeast corner of the ear room, Lan Xi walked into the dilapidated house, the northeast corner is full of rotten bricks and soil, and a layer of weeds grows on it, because it is winter, it has withered, it seems that it should be the place where the sundries were put before.

She thought about it, if she really wanted to find a secret way, Xiao Tao couldn't hide it, because even if she fled, she couldn't leave her, otherwise she would be killed, Lan Xi decided to try her tone first.

Because he really escaped from the harem, he will never be able to see his family again in the future, and he will be chased after them, not to mention Xiao Tao. Even she herself has to think about it.

At night, the two of them sat on the quilt, Xiao Tao saw Lan Xi staring at her thoughtfully, and asked puzzledly, "Master, is there something wrong?" ”

Lan Xi thought about it for a while and decided to remain quiet: "Xiao Tao, what if we want to live in the cold palace for the rest of our lives?" There is no penny of monthly silver here, and often have to spend money to do a little, although we have some savings, but the stagnant water is afraid of scooping, can not stand the spend, and every year will be close to the day can no longer see relatives, the time is short and easy to say, if you are like this for a lifetime, can you stand it? ”

Xiao Tao shook her head vigorously, and asked strangely, "Isn't the emperor willing to send us things?" If he hadn't found something sent by Lei Leshi, maybe he would have let the master out a long time ago, and when he slowly lost his anger, maybe he would have let the master go and shut him up for the rest of his life, impossible, right? ”

"I mean, if possible? Whether the emperor lets us go or not depends on what he thinks, and if he sends us something, it doesn't mean that he wants to let us go, if he refuses to forgive me for the rest of his life. Why did you let us go? If you want to be locked up here for the rest of your life, can you stand it? ”

Xiao Tao thought about it with a sad face, and said firmly: "Xiao Tao is the master's minion, I will follow you wherever you go, no matter how hard and tired you are, you are not afraid, the only thing you can't stand is that you can't see your family, can the master wait for the emperor to be angry and beg the emperor, and lock us up in the cold palace for a lifetime, but can you let us meet our father and mother on the annual meeting day?" Otherwise, they'll be worried! ”

Lan Xi nodded, was silent for a while and comforted her, "Don't worry too much, maybe the emperor will let us go when he figures it out, I just said just in case." Rest assured, things are not as serious as they seem. ”

Xiao Tao nodded, Xu was tired from chopping firewood for a day, and she quickly fell asleep, but Lan Xi couldn't fall asleep over and over.

Xiao Tao's words reminded her that even if they could escape, even if they were found out in the harem a month later, they would never forgive them. If she can't find them, maybe she will be angry with her family, this is definitely not what she Lan Xi wants to see, no matter what, she can't let the Lan family suffer on her behalf, of course, Xiao Tao doesn't want her parents to suffer.

In the dark, Lan Xi sighed, escaping didn't seem to be as easy as she imagined, the key was that she had to take into account the safety of others, she couldn't be selfish and only care about herself.

It was dawn, and the two got up early to run as usual, and sat down to rest after running until their bodies were hot, Lan Xi motioned for Xiao Tao to sit closer, and asked in a low voice: "If you can escape, are you willing to escape?" ”

Xiao Tao was first full of surprise, then joy, and then slowly lowered her head, Lan Xi understood what she meant, and asked helplessly: "You really want to escape, but you are reluctant to your parents, for fear of implicating your family, right?" Me too, it looks like we're stuck here. ”

Xiao Tao nodded: "It would be great if you could escape without affecting your parents." ”

Lan Xi thought about it, and felt that it was better to tell Xiao Tao, so he approached her and whispered: "I said don't get excited, there may be a secret way in the cold palace!" After speaking, he covered Xiao Tao's mouth, looked at her solemnly and nodded. Then he took out the thin silk from his bosom and showed her it.

Xiao Tao was shocked and then suspicious, and after looking at the thin silk, she gradually believed her words. The two of them carefully checked the words on the thin silk again, and decided to see if what they said was true, although they might not necessarily escape, but it was not a bad thing to have a way out, and they were more steady. Fortunately, there is a vegetable field to plant here, and the tools are quite complete, so the two of them found shovels and other things, and first carefully removed the bricks in the northeast corner of the ear room, and then removed the soil.

The two looked at each other, Xiao Tao shook her head in frustration, but Lan Xi believed that this thin silk hidden so tightly was definitely not a lie, she used her hands to remove the bricks one by one, but there was no suspense that the bottom was the same as the other places, Lan Xi was a little slack, wondering if they were in the wrong place, and then took a closer look at the thin silk, it was completely according to what was said above, and it was not in the wrong place.

I tried to gouge with a hoe, but it was still dirt. She continued to planing unwillingly, and when she dug to a foot deep, the hoe seemed to touch the hard place, and the two of them were happy, and carefully gouged off this layer of soil, revealing a bluestone slab, which turned out to be really good here.

Carefully cleaning up the fine soil, the two of them worked together to uncover the bluestone slab, revealing a boxy black hole, just enough to allow a person to go down, Lanxi found a bamboo pole to explore. The hole is straight, one and a half meters deep, and the terrain is lower to the south, and it is empty, as if there is a downward slope.

It turns out that there really is a secret way! Lan Xi instructed Xiao Tao to take half of the remaining candle and burn it, insert it into a small bottle, and then put the bottle into the basket and hang it to the bottom, the flame seemed to be shaken by a weak wind, but it was still burning, Lan Xi has firmly believed that this is really a secret passage, and the candle has been closed for so long and does not go out, indicating that there is still a vent inside, and he immediately decided to go down to explore first.

They hurriedly ate breakfast, changed into clothes that were more mobile-friendly, wrapped their heads in towels, brought dry food, water, flashlights, knives and sticks, and decided to explore the secret path first. Lan Xi didn't tell Xiao Tao, she was afraid that if she went out and couldn't come back, she took all the silver tickets and belongings with her very securely.

The height of one meter five is not high, and it is not a big problem to go down, but the exit is small and only one person is allowed to pass, so I am afraid that I will not be able to go down. The two of them lay on the ground, groped and put a sturdy chair down, and then stepped on the chair and went down to the secret passage, shining with a flashlight, the south side is really a slope-like downward extension of the passage, the narrow just allows one to pass, about one person high, neither of them is too high, they can walk upright, walk for about ten minutes, the tunnel gradually flattens.

Xiao Tao's protector was anxious and insisted on walking in front, Lan Xi thought that it was a secret passage and it was sealed to death, so there should be no danger. It was up to her, and she followed carefully behind.

Fortunately, the secret passage was originally designed very well, the air was also circulated, and it was very dry at the beginning, except for a little dampness under the feet after walking for a while, there was no major problem, Lan Xi looked carefully, for fear that there would be some fork in the road, so that they could not find the way when they returned, so they inserted a dead branch every other section to make a mark.

They walked smoothly, about two hours or so, when the two of them were exhausted, the secret passage came to the end, there was obviously an exit on it, and there was a wooden ladder next to it, Lan Xi tried it, and he didn't know what kind of wood it was made of, and it was very sturdy, and it should not be a problem to bear their weight.

She and Xiao Tao didn't feel relaxed, both of them had doubts, what was on it?

Xiao Tao said timidly: "Why don't we go back first, master, what if there is a terrible place or something terrible up there?" ”

Lan Xi thought about it carefully, this secret passage went so smoothly, everywhere was preparing for escape, even the ladder was still strong after many years, how could the exit be a terrible place? It must be safer, and it is not easy to come down once, and you have to worry about being discovered, so you should see it clearly and go back.

She encouraged Xiao Tao and said: "Don't be afraid, it must be fine, only when we see clearly that we can go back to make plans, you stand back and let me come!" ”

Xiao Tao pushed but couldn't, so she was extremely nervous to hold the ladder, staring at her step by step on the ladder, Lan Xi had already touched the slate on the top, she tried it, it was very heavy, it couldn't be lifted at all, there should be a mechanism, with a flashlight, there was a wrench-like thing outside the marble slab, pull it hard, the slate slowly moved to the side, the firewood and grass fell straight down, Lan Xi quickly turned his head to the side in a low voice, or his whole body was dirty, and his eyes couldn't be opened.

After a while, she wiped her hands on the placket of her clothes, rubbed her eyes, and then stretched her hand out of the gap in the stone slab, carefully pushing aside the firewood, grass, and fine soil debris on it and around it, and with some effort, the slate was finally completely moved, Lan Xi had already seen it, and when she came back, she pulled the wrench on the opposite side, and the slate would move back to its original position.

But what is it up there? She patted off the firewood and grass and fine soil on her head, and went up to the top of the ladder with excitement and worry, but saw a dilapidated house, full of dust and cobwebs, and piled up with some firewood that had rotted away, and even grown mushrooms and fungus. The exit is in a remote corner, and the stone slab is covered with a layer of camouflaged firewood, grass, fine soil and light sundries, so it is the end of Lanxi.

The exit of the secret passage is in someone else's firewood room? Lan Xi smiled puzzledly, this firewood house seems to have been abandoned for a long time, it should have been a long time ago, it should have been deliberately done by the person who dug the secret path back then, this idea is really ingenious, and he escaped unconsciously.

It's just that what the hell is outside the firewood room? They have been gone for so long, they should be out of the palace, right? It's just that the outside of the palace is also the capital, is there such a broken temple in the capital?