Chapter 442: Finally Found

After passing through the defense network, things became much easier. Various palaces could be seen everywhere, along with numerous rockeries and gardens. With Lin Dong’s abilities, as long as he avoided the palaces with strong defenses and the patrols, he could even spare some time to admire the scenery of the palace.

Compared to the silence outside the palace, the palace under the night sky was lit up everywhere. Occasionally, maids and eunuchs carrying lanterns could be seen walking around. It wasn’t until the first light of dawn appeared on the horizon that Lin Dong fully acknowledged the scale of the palace.

It took him over two hours of thorough searching, using his mental powers extensively and consuming three bottles of spirit-restoring pills, to cover half of the palace. This was still a targeted search; if it were random, he would have had to explore even more of it.

Lin Dong’s purpose in coming to the palace was certainly not for sightseeing. Just like his visit to the Ten Thousand Immortals Tower, he was here to find someone—Yang Shun.

Yang Shun was the most favored eunuch among Emperor Qianwei’s entourage. According to Lin Dong’s investigations, he was now the deputy head of the eunuchs. If not for his relatively young age, he would have been the head himself. Such a person’s primary task, undoubtedly, was to serve Emperor Qianwei day and night, ensuring his position remained secure from other eunuchs.

Therefore, Lin Dong focused his search on the most heavily guarded areas. Although Emperor Qianwei might have people around him with strong abilities who could sense his thoughts, by being careful and starting from the periphery, his search speed would be dozens of times faster than searching for Yang Shun alone.

Yet even so, after over two hours, Lin Dong still found nothing.

As the day grew brighter and more eunuchs and maids passed by, Lin Dong stopped outside a palace and slipped in by bypassing the outer guards. When he came out, he had changed his attire, shaving off any stubble on his chin with a knife.

“Brother, do you know where Head Eunuch Yang is?” Lin Dong asked a lone eunuch.

The eunuch, in his early twenties, glanced at Lin Dong strangely. In the palace, when encountering an unfamiliar eunuch dressed similarly and seeking advice, one should always address them as “brother,” regardless of rank.

Fortunately, the eunuch didn’t mind too much, assuming Lin Dong was a new arrival not yet familiar with the unwritten rules of the palace. After thinking for a moment, he replied, “At this time, Eunuch Yang should be in the Cloud Summit Palace, waiting to assist the emperor in changing clothes.”

“Thanks!” Lin Dong didn’t want to arouse suspicion, so he didn’t ask further and decided to find another eunuch to ask about the location of the Cloud Summit Palace. He bowed and turned to leave, leaving the eunuch he had questioned utterly confused. In the palace, eunuchs formed factions even more intensely than in the imperial court. Most eunuchs had restricted areas to move around, and whenever they encountered a stranger, they would try to find out who that person served. If the leader of their faction didn’t have an irreconcilable feud with the leader of the other faction, they would secretly arrange to get to know each other—who knew, there might come a day when they could use each other or benefit from their connections.

After all, eunuchs were a special group, and the palace was their world. To rise to prominence, one relied on ability and luck; everyone started on the same footing, and who knew who might become successful in the future? Just like the currently most favored Eunuch Yang—over a decade ago, he too had to flatter older eunuchs like grandchildren before gradually rising through ability and luck, such as his eidetic memory, and eventually catching the attention of Emperor Qianwei. Those eunuchs who had been friends with him back then, gambling and sticking together, were now all living in luxury, with large groups of loyal eunuchs under their command.

Of course, even if Lin Dong knew these things, he wouldn’t care. He had no intention of staying in the palace and didn’t need to build connections everywhere. He found another lone eunuch and, after getting detailed directions to the Cloud Summit Palace, sped off.

Soon, he stopped outside a huge palace. Calming his mind, he scanned the area. As expected, ordinary palaces had the densest defenses on the outside, but the Cloud Summit Palace had equally strong defenses on the outside, with even stronger ones inside. Not daring to probe too deeply, Lin Dong avoided the defenses from a corner and entered the palace.

The interior was magnificent, and Lin Dong strode out from an unoccupied area. Under the pretense of having matters to report, he asked an eunuch for Yang Shun’s exact location and then delved deeper into the palace. When he reached a large corridor at the back, his pace slowed, and his heart tightened slightly. He could sense that someone was watching him in the empty corridor, though he wasn’t sure if that person was using mental powers. Probably not, otherwise they would have intervened immediately to stop him. Someone who could hide their presence from Lin Dong was undoubtedly stronger than him. This place was undoubtedly Emperor Qianwei’s sleeping quarters.

Outside a large door, Lin Dong stopped. Though he didn’t use any spiritual power, his sharp hearing allowed him to hear Yang Shun’s voice inside, scolding someone.
“Eunuch Yang, I have something to report,” Lin Dong called out from outside, forcing his voice to sound different.
“Come in!” Yang Shun’s voice, tinged with anger, came from inside, followed by more scolding.
Lin Dong pushed the door open. The room inside was quite large, over a hundred square meters, but the furnishings were simple—aside from two large bookshelves filled with books, there was only a hardwood bed and a set of table and chairs.
At that moment, Yang Shun was sitting in a chair, with two eunuchs trembling in front of him, clearly terrified.
“Remember, if anyone dares to speak while the emperor is sleeping, I’ll take their life. After serving the emperor, both of you will go to Ninghua Hall to receive a hundred lashes. Also, tell Eunuch Liang that since he failed to discipline them properly, he too will receive fifty lashes,” Yang Shun ordered before assigning punishments to the two men. Only then did he look up at Lin Dong, who had just entered.
A hundred lashes—even if one had some connection to the executioner eunuchs, it would still be fatal. Though terrified, the two eunuchs didn’t dare beg for mercy and only nodded frantically. No one noticed that Yang Shun had already stood up from his chair, his mouth stretched wide in a way that certainly didn’t resemble that of a deputy supervisor.
“Get out! Come inform me when the emperor wakes up.” Finally, Yang Shun closed his mouth, his astonished expression returning to normal.
The two eunuchs quickly turned and left in quick steps, not even glancing at Lin Dong once.
Seeing that Lin Dong didn’t show the same submissive attitude as the other eunuchs, Yang Shun asked hesitantly, “Lin, Manager Lin?”
Lin Dong nodded with a smile.
Yang Shun’s face lit up immediately.
“Manager Lin, how did you end up as an eunuch in the palace?”
Lin Dong couldn’t help but laugh and sigh. He made a gesture to silence him, then pointed upward.
Yang Shun shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. As long as Brother Lin isn’t here to assassinate the emperor, no one will care about such trivial matters.”
Relieved, Lin Dong stepped forward. “I’ve sneaked in to ask for your help.”
“Please sit down, Manager Lin. Tell me what you need, and I’ll do anything to help,” Yang Shun said quickly, pulling out a chair for Lin Dong. Ever since hearing Lin Dong’s analysis at Lin Ji Inn in Qiufeng City, he had regarded Lin Dong as his greatest benefactor in life.
“It’s not that serious. I just want you to help design some decoration plans,” Lin Dong said with a smile. “I’ve bought a piece of land in the north of the city and plan to open a branch there.”

“Congratulations, Manager Lin! Happy news for you!” Yang Shun hurriedly offered his congratulations. After thinking for a moment, he quickly went to the bed and lifted the covers. Under the bed frame was a hidden compartment. When Yang Shun opened it, he found a stack of brand-new silver bills. Next to the bills was a brocade box about ten centimeters long and twenty to thirty centimeters deep. After taking out the brocade box and closing the hidden compartment, Yang Shun brought it to Lin Dong and handed it to him, saying, “As for the blueprints, I’ve already drawn them for Manager Lin in my free time. There are six styles in total, each with ten subcategories based on size and cost. As long as the dimensions of the room or hall aren’t too different from those of ordinary inns, they can be applied.” Lin Dong was overjoyed—this was excellent news. He had originally thought he would need to spend time and go to the palace carefully to see Yang Shun again, but now it seemed unnecessary. Opening the brocade box, he found a thick stack of neatly cut small blueprints. On top of them was a paper tube that resembled silver bill paper. Lin Dong picked up the tube, untied the string, and unfolded it—it was indeed silver bills, each worth 100,000 taels. The tube contained at least twenty bills. “This is…” Lin Dong looked at Yang Shun with the bills in hand. Yang Shun smiled and said, “Just a small gift. Please don’t think it’s too little, Manager Lin.” Lin Dong smiled back, didn’t refuse, nodded, and put the bills back into the brocade box before storing it in the mobile counter. “Manager Lin, this isn’t a place to stay long. The emperor will wake up soon. Shall I arrange for someone to take you out of the palace now?” Yang Shun asked. “No need. I can leave on my own,” Lin Dong replied. Instead of rushing to leave, he asked, “You’re outside the palace, but don’t have any way to stay in touch?” Yang Shun, having reached his current position through intelligence, quickly understood that Lin Dong wanted to stay informed about the palace’s affairs. After thinking for a moment, he said, “I have several loyal eunuchs under me. Within ten days, I should be able to arrange one of them to keep in touch with you.” “How high is the risk of being discovered?” Lin Dong pressed. “It won’t be a problem in the short term. But as time goes by, given the emperor’s health, my time is also running out. Eventually, they will surely send someone to investigate which prince I’m close to, and it will be easy to find out,” Yang Shun explained. Lin Dong nodded, changed the subject, and vaguely introduced half of his current strength. As Yang Shun was surprised and puzzled, he asked, “Where are your family members outside?”

Yang Shun was stunned by this sudden question, and soon his body began to tremble with excitement.