Youzhu Garden—

After practicing and learning for one day, Madam Du sent someone to call Gu Yunxi to the purlin.

Sitting on the rose chair, Madam Du was satisfied and smiled when she saw Gu Yunxi's natural and graceful salute.

When Gu Yunxi got up, she said to her.

"Yesterday it emerged that Chuxiu Palace was in urgent need of more hands. I want to send you there as a servant. Your Grace with the surname of Xu is famous for being cold, but it would be easy to serve her because she does not have many requirements. A year ago, she gave birth to a prince and her position was strengthened."

"I'm considering for you. If you miss this chance, it will be difficult for you to find it again because you are not very beautiful and do not have an eminent family background. Some time ago you offended the Master Ming. If you are sent to the Palace in the future, it is hard to predict whether the inside officer in the Palace will give you a dirty and hard job."

"I am just analyzing the situation for you. You need to decide for yourself."

Gu Yunxi was appreciated. Looking at the amiable woman, Gu Yunxi receded for several steps and kneeled again. She made a bow with hands folded in front with respect and worshiped her.

"I have been relying on you ever since I came to the Garden. I will follow your advice. If I get on in the world, I will never forget your appreciation and promotion."

"Get up quickly..."

Madam Du held her hands, pulled her up, and got hold of her hands again. There was a hint of melancholy in her smile.

"Many people said that you were not good at talking very much but I do not think so. You are a smart person judging by your standard figure when you were standing there. You just know how to protect yourself. You always follow your own heart. It is good if you can pretend to be confused. But when you cannot follow your heart, you are passing a hard time."

The dialogue without many tones touched the softest part of Gu Yunxi's heart. She was deeply affected but was as vigilant as before.

She had to admit that Madam Du's insight was very good though she did not speak a lot at ordinary times. After just a few days of contact, she had got a complete understanding of her.

Was she expressing sigh with emotion due to impulse without any intention of knowing something more?

Anyway, she should be vigilant before entering the Palace.

After seeing that Gu Yunxi was speechless for a long time only with a smile, Madam Du did not say anymore and smiled too. She said in a gentle tone.

"OK, I will ask someone to send you to the Palace on the 1st day of the next lunar month. In the following days, you do not need to learn and practice with other girls. Have a good rest. Tomorrow, the dressmaker will come and make a new garment for you."

After hearing this, Gu Yunxi showed a silly and sweet smile.

"Thank you."

She did not expect that everything could be so smooth.

Gu Yunxi hoped that she could enter the Palace as soon as possible so that she could find the map wanted by the strange masked man. Then, she could be free and find the person she loved...

Since she could not choose her fortune, she had to be determined to take action boldly.

Late night in the Palace—

Under the stars, Lu Qiange was sitting on a phoenix tree outside the desolate Cold Palace wall and waiting for someone to come silently.

His face was especially white in the night which seemed to be the intersection between day and night. The lines of his five sense organs were clear, handsome, and smooth.

He was wearing a black garment. His black hair was bound up high in the back of his head, flowing with the wind and emitting the gloss as bright as the star.

About the period of the day from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m., Lu Qiange finally saw a black figure in a corner of the wall who was moving slowly.

"Well, I've been waiting for you for one year. Fortunately, I was patient enough and knew that you would show up sooner or later."

The laughter of the black figure was low with oppressiveness. It spread in the garden outside the palace wall that was spacious and silent. Accompanied by the night hooting of several owls, the sound was scaring and abrupt.

Lu Qiange was wilting, dropped his eyes, and frowned.

They had made an appointment since they knew each other. Lu Qiange with good levitation would come to the Palace and meet him here on the 15th day of each lunar month.

One year ago, Lu Qiange committed a crime in the Western Depot. He was arrested according to the picture drawn by Ming Lan while he had already gone back to the western tribes.

He stayed there for one year.

The black figure looked at the top of the tree and exclaimed.

"You have changed. You did not wear nocturnal clothing when you were in the Palace."

Lu Qiange compressed his lips. His good-looking face showed a hint of distress and became dark immediately. He saw further immediately with a profound gaze.

"I am waiting for a person. Before she comes back, I will be careful and comprehensive in everything to survive."

"What is love in the world? Hehe, the famous playboy, the third prince of Udan should throw himself at the feet of the woman of Country of Dayi."

The black figure ridiculed and made fun of the blind passion of Lu Qiange. As expected, Lu Qiange glared at the black figure.

"It seems that you are having a leisurely time these days! There was a major case in the Palace a few days ago, which made your emperor ill due to fear. Are not you affected?"

"You are so well informed...I was just missing you and had no time to care about others."

The black figure said with an easy tone and teased him again.

"Do not speak like this!"

Lu Qiange disdained the black figure and stood straight at the treetop.

"After seeing that everything about you is ok, I am relieved. I will remain in Dayi and come to visit you regularly in the future."

"Walk carefully! Your order for arrest has not been canceled. Now there are still Western Depot guards in the capital."

"Got it."

With no further stay, Lu Qiange flew over the red wall of the Palace after a leap.

Behind the broken wall, a woman said.

"A man trapped in love cannot be used. In my view, the third prince cannot help you. What should we do now?"

Staring at the glazed tile where Lu Qiange stayed, the black figure straightened up and signed.

"Wait...We have waited for many years and do not care about so less time. The Eastern Depot is also doing what we want to do."

—

At the midnight, Gu Yunxi was awakened by the low and slow fluting.

She got out of bed, dressed quickly and neatly, opened the door, slipped into the courtyard, and flew to the roof.

Under the high, broad, and dark sky, a red lotus kite was flying with the sound of waves, which was showy.

Gu Yunxi smiled. She knew that it was a special signal for the masked man to contact her. She could find him if she found the kite.

Gu Yunxi leaped onto roofs and vaulted over walls. Her flexible body seemed to be dancing between eaves and roofs, forming a graceful curve.

When she was practicing the Kungfu in the stone house, whenever she was exercising the levitation, her body would become bruised and her head would be swollen after hitting the hard stone wall or stone beams, which was laughed at by the masked man.

Now she could exercise her Kungfu as she liked. She felt very good.

On the hill behind the Beilu Temple, Gu Yunxi saw the back of a person in a garment made of birds’ feathers.

She immediately walked forward. When she was less than ten steps away from him, she dropped his eyes and nodded.

"Your Highness."

He nodded but did not turn around. He said in a cold voice in the boundless night while drawing in the kite.

"We had gotten along for one year. I have taught you a lot and transmitted thirty percent of my internal strength to you. Now you still won't call me 'Master'?"

Her face became grave. She did not answer.

Teaching?

Gu Yunxi complained secretly. That was only his desire! If she could choose, she would rather be a carefree girl like before and stay with the man she liked...

The masked man was still sneering. Even if Gu Yunxi did not speak, he could know what she was thinking.

She could not tell good from bad and only loved one person from beginning to end. She did not repent after being hurt again and again.

The kite was beside his feet. After some time of silence, he asked again.

"The Garden is different now. Are you used to staying here?"

"Well enough. They will send me to work in the Chuxiu Palace on the 1st day of the next lunar month."

She answered without obvious changes in facial expression. He nodded immediately and said with a hint of delight.

"OK, good job. You grew up in the Garden. After hearing and seeing everything here, you are different from other girls. I have chosen the right person."

Gu Yunxi bent her ten fingers and clenched her fists slightly. She suddenly asked with a low voice.

"What is your intention by putting a hidden weapon into my bundle secretly? I was almost misunderstood."

The masked man laughed. He did not agree with her.

"You have found the secret in the flute. It is a gift for finishing your apprenticeship from your master. Keep it properly. They will be of great help to you in the future. There are eighty-one poisoned needles in the flute in total. There will not be more after they are used up. Use them carefully."

Master?

Gu Yunxi was speechless. He was such a shameless man! He did not care whether she would like to be his apprentice.

"If it was a gift, why did not you give it to me aboveboard?"

She frowned and felt impatient.

The masked man was as stable as a mountain and answered loudly.

"You want me to give aboveboard? If so, are you admitting that I am your master?"

"..."

Gu Yunxi immediately became dumb.

Had she fallen into his trap?

"You are a demon!"

When she was angry, she clenched her fists and said.

"We have a prior appointment. After I find the map of Kunhuang Island, you will return my freedom. Do not forget it!"

"Will you have the chance to propose conditions when you are bargaining with a demon?"

As soon as he stopped speaking, the man suddenly turned around. His cold mask was in front of Gu Yunxi's eyes immediately. Her heart was shrinking and she did not dare to breathe all of a sudden.

The masked man was good at levitation. People could hardly hear him walking.

In the blink of an eye, he could appear in front of Gu Yunxi by flying. He seemed to be a floating monster.

Behind the mask, two dark, cold, and black eyes seemed to have fused with the color of night. At this moment, her scared and twinkling eyes were attracted by him deeply.

His cold eyes became deep and distant immediately as if some kind of emotion had been expressed which melted the iceberg at the bottom of his eyes that was congealed thousands of years ago and became a pool of clear water. Gu Yunxi was surprised a little after seeing his eyes.

Many times, he gave her an irrepressible delusion that he was the Master Leng when she saw his deep and mysterious eyes...

What did he look like after removing his mask?

"You...are so eager to be together with him?"

His five pale fingers stretched out in the night. His phalanxes were thin and long. The shape of his hands looked very good. But the color did not look very good due to lack of blood.

Gu Yunxi was scared all of a sudden. She lifted her feet and wanted to elude when she was anxious. But the man ordered with a stern voice.

"Do not move!"

When the wind was blowing, her hair danced in alarm in the night.

The garment made of birds’ feathers was moving with the wind.

His harsh and white palms touched her face carefully with a wisp of coldness. The hands seemed to be the cold and clean air in the morning of winter.

Suddenly, his eyes became stern and he looked far away.

"Someone is coming. You go first. I will draw away them!"

"Your Highness?"

Gu Yunxi was surprised. She did not know who these people were he was referring to.

Her hearing was not bad after the progress in Kungfu. But now she did not hear anything a few miles around.

If someone was coming, that was to say, their levitation was not bad.

"So, are you reluctant to let me go?"

The masked man looked at her and laughed suddenly.

Gu Yunxi's face became red and she screamed.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Rest assured. We will have many chances to be together in the future. Go quickly. Many things are waiting for you!"

The masked man lifted his cloak and a three-foot flute was pulled from his waist.

Made of tungsten gold, the flute was very hard with colorful dazzling light everywhere. It was like a black mandala flower from the dark world, enchanting and strange.

Gu Yunxi saw the twelve-hole flute made of metal for the first time. It was more like a weapon than an instrument.

"Take care of yourself."

After saying these words, the masked man left and moved westward with levitation by treading the green, frondent bushes and the stems or leaves of cattails. His fluting was implicit and dimly discernible all the way.

After taking a deep breath, Gu Yunxi also left the Beilu Temple.

The masked man exercised the levitation, flew above the grass and stopped in the forest after flying for 1000 meters westward.

He sat cross-legged, continued to play the flute, and looked leisurely.

Soon, the rustling sound was becoming closer and closer.

The figures were chaotic. Zhao Wuji led a team of secret guards who lean out from the forest. This team had many people. They slowly encircled the masked man with half arc formation.

After the fluting ceased, Leng Qingtang walked into the ring of encirclement with nocturnal clothing, a bold and unconstrained figure.

His light red thin lips made a delicate curve. His smile was easy and he looked at the masked man with two animated eyes. He was vigilant about every action of the masked man.

"It is fortunate for me to hear this music like sounds of nature in such a wonderful night. The fluting was intriguing."