The ace special forces who dominated the Sui dynasty's late period

  Years of training had brought Liu Ziqiu's instincts to the fore, and he almost slapped him with one palm, his hand already raised halfway into the air, before stopping himself. He pushed up the bamboo hat on his head and said in a low voice, "It's me! If you shout again, Uncle will hit you..."

  "I know, spanking." The little princess turned over and lay on the wooden bench very consciously, but then turned her head back and asked in a milky voice, "Do you call uncle?"

  No one had ever dared to call themselves "uncle" in front of her, so she didn't know what "uncle" was and actually thought it was Liu Ziqiu's name.

  "Alright, I won't hit you." Liu Ziqiu shook his head helplessly, took a cloth package from his waist and said, "The new leather ball is here, Uncle sent it to you."

  The little princess kicked her foot and the ball bounced twice on the ground, hitting the wall with a "bang" and bouncing back. She was so happy that she clapped her hands wildly and exclaimed: "This is fun! This is fun!" On the other side, Nangnang couldn't kick it.

  Liu Ziqiu walked quickly to the window and said, "Uncle has left."

  "Don't go!" The little princess suddenly ran over and grabbed his hem.

  The little princess lived in a magnificent palace, seemingly getting whatever she wanted, but was actually unhappy. Everyone in front of her was servile and trembling with fear, even the wet nurse who had raised her since childhood. The only one who maintained an equal attitude towards her, and even dared to hit her, was Liu Ziqiu alone, which made her instead have a thread of dependence on Liu Ziqiu.

  Suddenly, footsteps echoed on the stairs, and a eunuch asked in a shrill voice: "Your Highness, what's going on..."

  The little princess disliked these eunuchs and palace maids, and after dark she would not allow them to enter her room. When she heard the eunuch's question, she shouted loudly: "Get out!"

  "Knock knock", "ouch"…

  A series of sounds came from outside, and the eunuch actually rolled down the stairs. Probably hitting the wall at last, this fall was not light.

  Liu Ziqiu didn't have time to play with the little girl. He had just looked at the map and remembered that from this Moon Embracing Pavilion, two hundred steps west was the western city wall of the palace, and beyond the city wall was the Upper Forest West Garden. The window was only pushed open halfway, and Liu Ziqiu was stunned. The city wall, which was previously pitch black, now shone as brightly as daylight.

  The little princess often made a scene, but her cries tonight were too mournful and exaggerated, not only startling the palace maids and eunuchs in the building, but also startling the guards at the west gate of the palace.

  The city wall is now crowded with soldiers, many lanterns and torches are lit, and they are all staring at the Embracing Moon Building.

  Looking down again, there were also many palace maids and eunuchs holding lanterns, surrounding the small building on all sides, looking up at the upper floor. If something happened to the little princess, even if they had ten heads, it wouldn't be enough to chop off, who dared to be careless?

  Shanglin Xi Yuan is definitely out of the question now, and I still have to think of a way to escape. The palace is full of masters, and if I force my way in, Liu Ziqiu won't be able to leave unscathed.

  "Uncle, where are you going?"

  This little girl still remembers the lie Liu Ziqiu told last time.

  "Do you have a way?" Liu Ziqiu asked casually.

  He didn't actually have much hope.

  As expected, the little princess shook her head and said: "Father Emperor won't let me go, but you can, you can fly!"

  Liu Ziqiu was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly had an idea and said: "Uncle's ability to fly is only known by you, can you keep it a secret?"

  "Got it!"

  "Do you want Uncle to teach you?"

  "I want!"

  "But if your father knew I came in, he would definitely kill me. So, I can only sneak in and sneak out."

  "Oh, I see! You're a bandit!"

  Liu Ziqiu couldn't help but secretly smile wryly, but in order to extricate himself, he could only continue saying: "Uncle is a good person, not a bandit. If Uncle wants to teach you how to fly, you must help Uncle with something."

  The little princess nodded very seriously.

  Liu Ziqiu said: "You call all these people downstairs up here, and then Uncle can take the opportunity to fly away, and only then can he come back to teach you."

  The little princess clapped her hands and laughed: "This is easy, I'll go call them."

  "Wait!" Liu Ziqiu, seeing how easy it was to deceive her, had another idea. He pointed in the direction of Shanglin Western Garden and said, "In a few days, Uncle will go there again. If someone finds out, he won't be able to teach you how to fly anymore."

  The little princess became anxious and said: "Don't go, uncle."

  "It's nothing really, if someone finds out, you can just distract them and Uncle can fly away."

  The little princess scratched her head: "Should I call them all over?"

  "That's not necessary, you can make a big fuss here, pretend to be ill, pretend to have stomach pain, fight and set fires, anything goes."

  "Ah!"

  "Alright then, you call them up, I'll fly over."

  Whether or not to take advantage of this naive little girl, Liu Ziqiu's heart was also entangled for a while, but in an emergency, he could only find another opportunity to make it up to her later.

  The next day at noon, Li Jing hastily returned home with news that surprised everyone: the garrison outside Youlin Garden had suddenly doubled.

  Liu Ziqiu was shocked, had the little princess betrayed him?

  Li Jing comforted him, saying: "Worthy younger brother, don't be anxious, wait for me to go and investigate again."

  It turned out that Empress Xiao was going to visit the Western Garden tomorrow. Yang Guang, upon learning of the completion of the Western Garden in Shanglin, couldn't wait to return to the capital immediately. In order to confirm the mistress of the 16th courtyard before Yang Guang's return, Empress Xiao, who had accompanied Yang Guang on his northern tour, returned to Luoyang ahead of schedule. The newly added soldiers were protecting Empress Xiao, but they disrupted Liu Ziqiu's plan.

  Liu Ziqiu stared at the newly drawn map of Xiyuan, unable to think of a plan for the time being.

  Li Jing did not expect Liu Ziqiu to be so meticulous about the matter of Hou SuSu, and was deeply moved. He hastily comforted him, saying: "Younger brother, you have done your best. Even if things can't succeed, Shi Yan won't blame you. Besides, Miss Hou is just a miscellaneous servant, and it shouldn't be easy for her to receive Yang Guang's favor. Keeping her chastity should not be a problem."

  How difficult this matter was, Li Jing was very clear in his heart. From the beginning, he had never held too much hope.

  Liu Ziqiu had an even bolder idea - assassinate Yang Guang!

  His purpose in entering the capital was to dissuade Gao Xiuer from taking revenge, but in the vast sea of people, he couldn't find where Gao Xiuer was. If he could kill Yang Guang before Gao Xiuer did, then Gao Xiuer would lose her target and naturally be safe.

  According to the course of history, Yang Guang should still have ten years of life left, and assassination is likely to be very difficult. Since Liu Ziqiu can come here, it means that history has already changed, what else can't happen? Assassinating Yang Guang is fraught with danger, but having him do it is still more likely to succeed than a weak woman like Gao Xiu'er.

  Taking action is not a simple matter, it requires careful planning.

  But the next morning, Empress Xiao came to Xiyuan with two consorts Chen, and went straight to Lingyun Tower on Penglai Island in the middle of the lake. The beauties from various courts had received the news the night before, got up early to bathe and dress up, dressed up like flowers and brocade, all came to wait for Empress Xiao's evaluation in front of the tower.

  The twenty-one beauties of the First Palace came forward, and Empress Xiao's nose twitched as she suddenly asked: "It is already September now, how can there still be osmanthus fragrance on this island?"

  Wang Guizhi bowed and smiled, saying: "I report to the Empress Dowager, this fragrance is something that I brought with me from my mother's womb."

  At the time of Zui Lai, Wang Guizhi had been putting on a straight face all day, just because she was afraid that those idle rascals would entangle her endlessly. Now that she has entered the palace, she must think about her own future and is no longer as cold as ice as she used to be.

  Xiao Huang Hou herself did not believe it, beckoned her to come closer, took a sniff and smiled: "Indeed wonderful, the Emperor will surely be delighted when he sees you. I'll appoint you as the head lady of the first courtyard."

  Among the other twenty beauties, there were several who excelled in their talents, but they had no opportunity to show them off and could only be inferior to Wang Guizhi.

  When it was the turn of the second courtyard, all the women either sang or danced, doing their best to show off in front of Empress Xiao. However, there was one woman who didn't make any move, and she stood out awkwardly among the crowd.

  Xiao Huanghou couldn't help but feel curious and asked: "What's your name?"

  The woman curtsied and said: "I am a servant named Fan Shi, nicknamed Yuer."

  "Fang Yu'er?" Empress Xiao frowned and suddenly asked, "Is it the famous Fang Yu'er in Dongdu, also known as the Rouge Tiger?"

  The woman blushed and turned bright red, lowering her head and saying: "It is indeed this servant."

  She was the daughter of a military family, looking slender and weak, but her strength in both arms surpassed that of men. She had been fond of practicing martial arts since childhood, and was also skilled with a sword. Because she was born beautiful, some young masters often tried to take advantage of her, but they were all defeated by her fists and feet. As time went on, no one dared to provoke her again, and thus earned her the nickname "Rouge Tiger". Unexpectedly, even Empress Xiao had heard of it.

  Xiao Huanghou immediately agreed and appointed her as the head of the second courtyard.

  Before she knew it, they had already arrived at the sixth courtyard. Xue Ye'er gathered her spirits and was about to dance with her pair of swords when another beauty stole the show. The woman's surname was Qin and her name was Fengqin; she was skilled in needlework and even more adept at wielding a dancing pole.

  Qin Fengqin held a stick in each hand, slowly dancing and twirling, the colored ribbons advancing and retreating in circles, the bell sounds clear and pleasant. Slowly, that beautiful Qin woman danced more and more urgently, only hearing the sound of bells in her ears, seeing five-colored lights shining before her eyes, making everyone's eyes dizzy and confused.

  Xiao Huanghou shouted "good" three times, and then appointed Qin Fengqin as the head of the sixth courtyard. Xue Ye'er was disappointed, but there was nothing she could do about it.

  The evaluation of the eight consorts was completed in the morning, but Empress Xiao wanted to take a short rest. The other beauties did not dare leave and had to wait in front of the tower.

  Yuan Ziyanyan whispered to Gao Xiuer: "Hui Niang sister, the mistress of this courtyard is none other than you."

  Gao Xiuer didn't want to be the hostess, and she had come today without even putting on makeup. But she was born with a beautiful face, and standing in the crowd made her stand out even more. After hearing Yuan Ziyun's words, Gao Xiuer couldn't help but feel flustered.

  In the afternoon, the assessment continued. A group of beautiful women showed off their talents one after another for Empress Xiao to evaluate.

  Finally arrived at the fifteenth courtyard, Empress Xiao was somewhat tired. Seeing that Gao Xiuer, Xie Xiangwen and Yuan Ziyun were slightly more outstanding than the others, she pointed to them and said: "You three each show off your talents, the rest of you withdraw."

  Chen Duo and Chen Hua, sisters, intended to promote Gao Xiu'er as the main mistress, stood up together pointing at Gao Xiu'er saying: "Your Majesty, we think she is quite suitable."