Shi'a pressed his back against the palace wall, silently counting the time in his heart:
"one two three......"
"..."
"Eighteen, nineteen, twenty!"
Then, a burst of rhythmic footsteps sounded.
Ta! Ta! Ta!
A group of soldiers responsible for night patrol slowly walked past Shi A's eyes.
When the footsteps disappeared, Shi A stuck his head out and looked around to make sure there was no danger, then he sprang out like a civet cat and quickly ducked into the next dark corner.
Zhu Tong was the official of Su Wei Palace, and no one knew the patrol situation of the palace at night better than him.
It is precisely because of Zhu Tong's help that Shi A can silently shuttle through the night like a ghost.
Lantai has transformed from the office of the censor Zhongcheng in the Western Han Dynasty to a pure collection of books.
Therefore, the defense here is relatively weak after nightfall.
This also provided a certain possibility for Shi'a to steal the imperial city plan.
Avoiding the nearby guards, Shi A walked toward Lantai as quickly as possible.
There were four people at the entrance of the palace.
It's not much, but it's not much either.
Once the whereabouts are exposed, the consequences will be disastrous.
but......
Fortunately Zhu Tong is also there.
Shi A secretly breathed a sigh of relief and called like a partridge.
Gugu~~~
"Who?"
A voice sounded from Lantai.
The smart Zhu Tong immediately realized that this was a signal for action.
He hurriedly protected Shi A: "Brother, are you crazy? This is the sound of a bird."
The guard beside him was stunned: "Where are the birds here in Lantai?"
Zhu Tong smiled lightly: "There are indeed no birds here, but there are in Zhuolong Garden. Maybe they flew here from there. Don't be suspicious. There aren't even any ghosts in Polantai, so how could anyone come?"
"this......"
The guard exhaled a breath: "That's true."
Zhu Tong came forward and said, "Brothers, how about we play two games? The winner will treat everyone to yokan early tomorrow morning."
"ah?"
Some people were stunned: "Brother Zhu, are you crazy? If the superiors find out, we will have to be punished."
Zhu Tong didn't take it seriously: "Hey, if you don't tell me and I don't tell you, will anyone else know? It's a long night, do you really want to stand like this? You'll be trapped to death."
"But......"
The guard beside him frowned: "If we are discovered by someone passing by on patrol, we will be doomed."
Zhu Tong naturally knew this. He pretended to think and after a moment said: "What's so difficult about this? Let's take turns to watch. Once someone comes here to monitor, let's put away the dice immediately. How about that?"
"Huh?"
One of the guards raised his lips slightly: "That's a good note."
Zhu Tong smiled lightly: "In that case, you guys play first, and I'll let you know. Remember to keep your voice down, so as not to cause trouble. Let's try not to cause trouble and have a good night."
"Can."
All the guards nodded.
It's a long night, and we really need some activities to pass the time.
This kind of thing often happens when staying overnight in the palace.
No one was worried about the palace being attacked. After all, it was the safest place in Luoyang.
Even if there was a night attack, it would have started at the palace gate and spread to them, so the palace would have been in chaos.
Therefore, the guards never thought that Zhu Tong would use this as a cover, let alone that his real purpose was to steal the imperial city plan.
"good."
Zhu Tong suppressed his excitement and waved his hand: "Then you go there and play, I will help you have fun."
All the guards were delighted: "Thank you for your hard work, Brother Zhu."
Seeing the guards move to the secret place, Zhu Tong felt relieved.
He hurried to the steps, looked around, and whispered:
"Brother Shi~~~"
"Brother Shi~~~"
"Here."
Shi A took the opportunity to run up the steps and lowered his voice: "They left?"
Zhu Tong nodded: "Don't worry, he's gone. Hurry and sneak into Lantai and steal the imperial city plan."
Shi Ah said yes and immediately went straight to the palace gate.
Click~~
A soft sound.
The lock of the palace door is opened.
Shi A slowly pushed open a gap and hid sideways in it.
Zhu Tong was waiting at the door with a knife in his hand, pretending to be on the lookout, but also wary of the sudden return of the guards.
Time is tight and tasks are heavy.
Fortunately, Shi A already knew the internal floor plan of Lantai by heart.
When he entered the interior of Lantai, he quickly followed the instructions on the floor plan, groped forward, and went straight to the branch pavilion.
(PS: Regarding the night blindness of the ancients, it was due to insufficient meat intake, which led to a lack of vitamin A in the body. In ancient times, people generally ate vegetables and had insufficient meat intake, so most people had night blindness.
But Shi A, a ranger elite who has been practicing martial arts since childhood, must not be short of meat, so he has a certain night vision ability in the dark night, and can barely move forward.)
It didn't take long.
Shi A came to the branch pavilion.
He immediately held the bookshelf and counted them in detail:
"Jiazi."
"Yichou."
"..."
"Yimao."
"This is it."
After confirming the orientation.
Shi A entered the bookshelf sideways, fell down, and quickly found the corresponding position.
He picked up a scroll of silk painting and tried to read it. Under the dark night, although the traces on the silk painting could not be seen clearly, the outline of the map could be vaguely seen.
That's right.
It must be it.
Shi Ah was delighted and immediately picked up another scroll of silk paintings.
This silk painting also has a map.
But because it was too dark, Shi A couldn't tell clearly which map was drawn on this silk painting.
Simply, he stuffed it into his arms again, and then picked up another scroll of silk paintings.
What the hell...
It's actually a map.
Shi A is going to be driven crazy.
"Damn it!"
He frowned and cursed secretly: "There are so many silk paintings, which volume should I take? If I take the wrong one, my trip will be in vain. Sneaking into Lantai is not easy. I would rather take more than miss it."
Make up your mind.
Shi A did not dare to hesitate at all and immediately stuffed the silk painting into his arms.
One roll!
Two volumes!
Three volumes!
...
Chest!
Back!
sleeve!
...
Try to stuff as much as you can.
Wherever you can put it, put it there.
When Shi'a's body became "bloated", he had no choice but to stop, turn around and touch outside.
Through the light under the corridor, Zhu Tong was still on duty outside.
Shi A felt relieved and hurriedly walked out of the palace door.
Zhu Tong was stunned by that bloated body. His eyes were as wide as bells and he was startled: "Brother Shi, what are you..."
Shi A was so anxious that he had no time to explain, so he lowered his voice and said, "I'll explain to Brother Zhu tomorrow. I'll leave first."
Zhu Tong nodded: "That's fine."
Shi A: "Farewell."
After watching Shi A leave.
Only then did Zhu Tong feel at ease, turned around and went straight to the corner, with a greedy look on his face: "Brothers, is it time to change?"
A person stood next to him with a worried expression: "Just in time, come on, I've lost six times in a row."
Zhu Tong chuckled and said, "Then you go and show off, and I'll win it back for you."