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

  There are three thousand beauties in the harem, and if you count the newly selected showgirls, there are about five or six thousand people. Each one is young and beautiful, with many looking almost identical to the point of being mistaken for each other. Liu Ziqiu had never seen Hou Susu before, nor did he have any photos to compare with, so it was almost impossible to find her without startling others. This time, Liu Ziqiu's goal was still to familiarize himself with the environment and plan his next move.

  Young women in the depths of the palace, the long and tedious nights were the most difficult to endure. Taking advantage of the days when Yang Guang and Xiao Huanghou were not in Luoyang, they also released themselves, often making a ruckus until the second half of the night before calming down. Although there were no patrolling guards in the depths of the palace, the bright lights in the halls greatly restricted Liu Ziqiu's movements.

  Liu Ziqiu stuck close to the rooftop, listening to the sounds of women's laughter and playful shouts coming from inside the house, not daring to make a move. Suddenly, he discovered that in the northwest corner there was a tall building with dim lighting. It was called a high-rise, but it only had three floors, about ten meters high, which was nothing compared to the skyscrapers of later generations, but in this imperial palace, it was already a very good vantage point.

  With the help of his sleeve arrow, Liu Ziqiu flew quickly across the rooftops of the halls and pavilions, heading towards that tall building. A few palace maids vaguely saw a black shadow outside the window, either thinking it was a night bird or assuming they were seeing things, none of them suspected anything. Liu Ziqiu quietly leaned down from the rooftop, barely making out the two characters "Lan Yue" written on the signboard.

  Liu Ziqiu retreated back to the rooftop and looked towards the palace. Many places in the palace were lit up, although he couldn't see the names of those halls clearly, the general layout, paths, even the surrounding gardens and ponds were all visible at a glance.

  The biggest advantage here is that there are no guards, and those weak palace maids can be ignored, but it's unknown whether there are any masters among the eunuchs. What he needs to observe now is how long these women will make a fuss. To rescue Hou SuSu, it's best to take action in the dark.

  Just as he was hesitating, a soft shout came from inside the building: "Get out of here!"

  Liu Ziqiu was startled, had he been discovered by someone?

  But then a hurried footsteps came from inside the building, gradually fading away, and soon returned to silence. Then, there was a "crash" sound, as if something had been smashed to the ground.

  Liu Ziqiu's curiosity arose, his feet hooked onto the flying eaves, and he hung upside down like a golden bell. His body was already suspended outside the window. Gently poking through the layer of paper on the window, all that could be seen inside the house was a table with two armchairs, and on the table, a red candle burned with a crackling sound. Under the dim candlelight, it was possible to see that on the other side of the room, there was a large bed surrounded by embroidered curtains, but not a single person could be seen.

  With a "bang", the window suddenly flipped up, if Liu Ziqiu hadn't reacted quickly, he would have been hit right on.

  There was a clear noise in the room just now, but I didn't see anyone. Now the window is suddenly open, and it goes without saying that my trail has been discovered! Liu Ziqiu decided to take a risk and slipped into the house through the window, and indeed saw a black shadow hiding under the window.

  Liu Ziqiu didn't have time to think carefully, and with a long arm, he reached out and grabbed it, but it was just a small doll.

  The doll, however, let out a sudden cry, and was immediately covered by Liu Ziqiu's hand over her mouth. Only then did she see clearly that it was actually a little girl. The girl was about the same age as Guanyin, wearing a light-colored skirt around her lower body, with only a large red bellyband tied around her upper body, and two tender little arms exposed outside like lotus roots. Although Yang Guang was lustful, he wouldn't go so far as to bring a six or seven year old doll into the palace; she must be Yang Guang's daughter without a doubt, which means she was the little princess.

  Liu Ziqiu was not a kind-hearted person. Just now, he had already made up his mind that no matter who lived in this room, whether it was a concubine or a palace maid, he would only take drastic measures to create the illusion of an accidental fall from the building or a suicidal hanging, in order to conceal his own tracks and avoid startling the snake in the grass, thus ruining the big plan.

  Even if she was the daughter of Yang Guang, this foolish ruler, Liu Ziqiu couldn't bring himself to harm such a young child, and could only softly coax: "You promise not to shout, I'll let you go."

  The little princess suddenly flashed a pair of big eyes, nodded in horror. Liu Ziqiu had just loosened his hand, but she opened her mouth wide. Fortunately, Liu Ziqiu was prepared early, and before she could shout "ah", she was pressed back again.

  Liu Ziqiu's eyes widened in a fierce stare, his menacing appearance fully revealed, as he intimidated: "If you dare to call out again, I'll severely spank your butt!"

  Who would have thought that the little princess nodded quickly, and as soon as Liu Ziqiu loosened his hand, she opened her mouth to shout. Liu Ziqiu didn't hesitate either, removing the black cloth covering his face and stuffing it into her mouth, pinning her hands behind her back and pressing her onto a wooden stool before lifting up her skirt. Underneath the skirt, she wasn't wearing any underwear, revealing two small white buttocks.

  "Slap slap slap", Liu Ziqiu swung his palm and started hitting. The little princess initially gritted her teeth to endure, but soon she "waa waa waa", tears streaming down her face.

  Liu Ziqiu stopped and asked: "Are you still calling?"

  The little princess shook her head desperately.

  Liu Ziqiu then tore off the black cloth stuffed into her mouth.

  The little princess didn't dare to shout loudly again, but glared fiercely at Liu Ziqiu and gritted her teeth: "You dare to hit me! I'll get Father Emperor to chop you into pieces!"

  Liu Ziqiu snapped the stool leg off with a "crack", waved it in front of her, and sneered: "Your father emperor didn't tear me to pieces, I'll rip you in half first."

  The little princess was really scared and sobbed: "Don't kill me, I'll give you money, a lot of money."

  "I don't want money!"

  "So you want a woman?" The little princess's eyes lit up and said, "Father has many beautiful women, I'll take you to choose!"

  "You little girl, you're not very old, what kind of nonsense is in your head!" Liu Ziqiu shook his head helplessly and said, "I don't want money or women. People say the imperial palace is a paradise on earth, I'm just curious to take a look and leave immediately. You mustn't tell anyone that I came here."

  "Hmph, what kind of paradise is this, there's not even anyone to play with me!" The little princess suddenly stared at Liu Ziqiu and said, "Or else, you can keep me company."

  Liu Ziqiu waved his palm: "I can only fight, I don't know how to play!"

  The little princess rubbed her still sore butt and raised her neck saying: "Well, go ahead and hit me then!"

  Yang Guang had four sons and two daughters. His eldest daughter, Princess Nanyang, was already married. His eldest son, Yang Zhao, was the crown prince, his second son, Yang Ye, was the King of Qi, his third son, Yang Ming, died young, and his fourth son, Yang Ao, was not born to Empress Xiao and was still in swaddling clothes. This little princess was six years old this year. Although she wore silk and ate jade, there were no children of similar age to play with her in the deep palace. Yang Guang also liked to go out for excursions. Every time he went out, Empress Xiao would accompany him, and each trip lasted more than half a year.

  For a long time, the little princess had no playmates and lacked both fatherly and motherly love, so she developed this eccentric personality. Just now, she was in a rage inside the house, chasing all her serving maids and eunuchs downstairs, smashing several things, still not satisfied, and just planning to climb out the window and escape, but unexpectedly Liu Ziqiu was hiding outside the window "snooping".

  Facing such a little guy, Liu Ziqiu really had no way to deal with him. He raised his head and saw that in the corner of the wall was placed a red and green leather ball. Liu Ziqiu now knew that it wasn't a modern child's ball, but called "Jū", which is an ancient football made by sewing two pieces of leather together and filling them with feathers. Such a ball is tiring to kick and can't be kicked high.

  Seeing the leather ball, Liu Ziqiu suddenly remembered what he had promised Guanyin, and he had an idea. He said, "If you can help me with something, next time I'll bring a beautiful leather ball that can be kicked high and far to play with you."

  The little princess said with her head tilted: "You can't cheat people!"

  Liu Ziqiu nodded and said: "In the past few days, many beautiful sisters have entered the imperial palace. Can you tell me where they live?"

  "Hum! You just said you didn't want a woman, but you're clearly a cheat!"

  Liu Ziqiu hastily said: "My sister is also inside, I just want to see her for a moment."

  "Alright, I'll tell you." The little kid was easily fooled and immediately believed Liu Ziqiu's words. He pointed west with his hand and said, "They've all gone to Shanglin Garden!"

  More than three thousand palace maids passed by, and the lively little princess would not have let go of such an occasion. She naturally knew where they were going. As for Liu Ziqiu, it was truly a case of wearing out iron shoes without finding a place, and getting nothing after all the effort.

  Liu Ziqiu had to use a lot of effort to coax the little princess, and finally managed to persuade her to let him leave. Before he left, he repeatedly reminded her not to climb out of the window again. Many children who were alone at home in later generations still remembered the tragic accidents of falling from high buildings after climbing over the railing. In fact, Liu Ziqiu had no idea that the mischievous little princess had already climbed out of the window many times before, and the eunuchs and palace maids had long since set up a large net with thick quilts underneath to catch her at any time. The little princess also took this as a kind of exciting and thrilling game.

  Watching Liu Ziqiu come and go through the window, Xiaogongzhu stomped her foot and said fiercely: "Big liar! You didn't even exchange names before leaving, who would believe you'll come back? Next time when Father Emperor catches you, he will definitely tear you into pieces!"

  Yang Guang built the West Garden of Shanglin, and both Li Jing and Han Shiyue knew about it. Li Jing even participated in it. Because many strange stones and giant trees in the Shanglin Garden need to be transported from the south, a batch of vehicles were called up from the military, and some vehicles needed to be slightly modified. As the Lang of the Driving Department, Li Jing was also involved. However, Li Jing and others thought that Yang Guang built the West Garden of Shanglin just to have another place for recreation, but they did not expect him to select several thousand beautiful women to fill it.

  When Liu Ziqiu wanted to go and explore the Shanglin Western Garden again, Li Jing hurriedly said: "Younger brother, when the Shanglin Garden was built, I went there several times. The layout of that place is still vaguely remembered by me. Tomorrow, I will draw a map for you. However, the area of that place is four or five times larger than the palace city. If we want to find out where Hou Niang is, it's even more difficult."

  Hong Fu Nü said beside him, "I have a plan, but brother must follow me in one thing."

  Liu Ziqiu bowed his hands and said: "Sister-in-law, please speak!"

  "In ten days, you can't storm the palace again!" Seeing Liu Ziqiu and Li Jing both had some doubts, Hong Dangnu smiled and said, "Brother met the little princess at night, his actions have been exposed, who dares to guarantee that a child can keep a secret? So, brother still has to endure for a few more days, first listen to the wind."

  Liu Ziqiu deeply admired Hong Duan's careful consideration and nodded: "Younger brother will follow, please instruct me, elder sister!"