Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 20 Looking for the Cat
Su Ze had just received the reward from the princess. Seeing the commotion, he hurried out of the monastery and met the maid Lu Zhu, who was sweating profusely.

"Mrs. Green Pearl."

Luzhu looked at Su Ze and immediately said, "Captain Su, the princess's raccoon slave is missing!"

Su Ze knew that the trend of keeping cats was popular in Luoyang City. Rich families were even willing to spend a fortune to buy a good-looking cat. There was even a special pet market in Luoyang City.

When her younger sister Su Yuyao was a child, she always clamored to have a cat. It was not surprising that Princess Chenliu had a cat, but why did the cat get lost at this time?
Lu Zhu said, "This cat is the princess's favorite. I just fed it this morning. It must not have run far. Captain Su, please ask everyone to help find it."

As expected, they were merciful. They had just taken two pieces of silk from the princess, and when they heard that the princess' cat was lost, they all showed expressions that showed their desire to help.

Su Ze had no choice but to ask, "May I ask Madam Luzhu, what does the princess's raccoon slave look like?"

"The princess's raccoon servant is called Taxue. It is snow-white, round-bodied but agile. Captain Su, the princess has asked the maids in the courtyard to search for it with everyone else. It would be terrible if this raccoon servant escapes outside the temple."

Lu Zhu then said to the imperial guards, "The princess has issued an order that whoever finds the raccoon slave Taxue will be rewarded with five pieces of silk!"

Seeing the eager expressions of the soldiers around him, Su Ze had no choice but to agree.

Princess Chenliu's maids came out of the courtyard and divided into several groups with the Yulin soldiers under Su Ze. Su Ze and his two young soldiers, together with Lu Zhu and another maid in black and masked, formed a group and began to look for the cat deep in Yongning Temple.

These two men were comrades in the same team as Su Ze, and were also low-level Han soldiers. One was named Yang Zongjia and the other was named Fan Dalang. Su Ze took good care of them in the army, and the two men followed Su Ze's lead.

Su Ze glanced back at the small courtyard and asked, "Madam Luzhu, is it okay for the princess to stay in the courtyard?"

Luzhu rolled her eyes and said, "Of course there are personal maids left to serve Her Royal Highness the Princess. Captain Su also left soldiers to guard the courtyard. There are soldiers inside and outside the Yongning Temple. The courtyard is very safe. Let's go look for that cunning raccoon slave."

At this time, the masked maid who followed Luzhu out suddenly pointed to the distance and said, "Over there! There is a white shadow on that tree!"

Su Ze looked in the direction the maid pointed, but didn't see any movement. However, Luzhu had already rushed towards the tree.

Su Ze had no choice but to follow with his men.

Along the way, Su Ze didn't even see a white shadow, but Lu Zhu and the masked maid could always find the trace of the missing raccoon slave and guide Su Ze to keep moving forward.

Yongning Temple is a royal temple built for the Empress Dowager Hu, who was in power at the time. It covers a very large area. In addition to the treasure hall and monks' quarters, there are many elegant landscapes. The temple also has winding paths and pavilions everywhere.

When Su Ze looked up and saw the wooden pagoda of Yongning Temple, he realized that he had unknowingly come from the monks' quarters to the vicinity of the Yongning Temple pagoda.

Su Ze suddenly stopped, stopped Lu Zhu and another maid, and whispered, "The Yongning Temple Pagoda is ahead, we can't go any further."

Su Ze hid his body in the bushes. He was behind the rockery behind the wooden tower. Because he was at the back of the tower, there were no soldiers patrolling.

But that was all. The wooden pagoda of Yongning Temple ahead was surrounded by soldiers from the Supreme Court, messengers from the Egret Cao, and craftsmen in charge of the works. If they went any further they would be discovered.

Luzhu looked at the Yongning Temple wooden pagoda not far away and said unwillingly, "What if that raccoon gets on the wooden pagoda?"

Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang beside Su Ze also showed regretful expressions. Their regret was that they had followed Lu Zhu all the way in pursuit of the five pieces of silk promised by Princess Chenliu, and thought they could get the five pieces of silk, but they accidentally came to the forbidden area.

Su Ze shook his head firmly and said, "The wooden tower is the key to the assassination of the Queen Mother. We will definitely be treated as suspects if we break in without a warrant, and we might even implicate Her Royal Highness the Princess. Let's go back immediately before we are discovered." Lu Zhu was about to continue arguing, but the maid in black took her hand and said to Su Ze, "Captain Su is right. Let's go back and report to Her Royal Highness the Princess."

After hearing what the maid in black said, Luzhu immediately changed her attitude and nodded in agreement.

Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang were both somewhat unwilling, but since Su Ze and Lu Zhu had already agreed, they could only reluctantly return to the monastery along the same route.

Despite such a big commotion, Princess Chenliu's cat was still not found. The Yulin soldiers who were protecting the princess were somewhat unwilling to give up. Su Ze waved his hand and asked them to continue on duty according to the schedule, while he returned to the monks' quarters.

After a busy day, Yang Zongjia and Fan Dalang followed Su Ze to the Yongning Temple wooden pagoda with depressed faces. At this time, the maid Lu Zhu suddenly found them, pulled them to a secluded place and said:

"I saw a white shadow on the wooden pagoda of Yongning Temple. It is very likely that the raccoon has climbed up the wooden pagoda."

The two soldiers looked at each other and were tempted by the reward of five pieces of silk.

Lu Zhu continued, "No one will enter or leave the wooden tower at night. If the two warriors can climb the tower at night and help the princess find the raccoon slave, the princess will certainly reward you generously."

Thinking of the reward the princess promised, the two hesitated again. The older Yang Zongjia said:

"But Captain Su is not letting us get close to that tower."

Luzhu continued to seduce:
"Princess, you are just eager to find the cat. If you cannot find the raccoon slave after climbing the tower, I am willing to offer you two pieces of silk as a reward. All you need to do is climb to the top of the tower and take a careful look."

Lu Zhu added, "The princess's raccoon is only close to us maids. I want to go with you."

The two men were completely determined now. Yang Zongjia immediately said, "Then we'll go in the second half of the night when we're on duty!"

Su Ze was unaware of their conspiracy. After returning to the monastery, Su Ze started thinking while opening the system.

When Su Ze was looking for Princess Chenliu's raccoon slave, he discovered that the golden question mark on the map overlapped with his own mark and moved together in Yongning Temple.

Could it be that helping Princess Chenliu find the lost cat is the mission of this Yongning Temple map?

No, it's impossible.

If what Lu Zhu said was true, the princess's raccoon was lost today, but when Su Ze entered Yongning Temple, a golden question mark appeared on the map.

When they were in Sitong City, the golden question mark also moved with Gao Huan. Thinking of the figure of Princess Chenliu that Su Ze had seen that day, he couldn't help but make a guess -

The masked maid in black is Princess Chenliu! And the mission of Yongning Temple is related to Princess Chenliu.

Princess Qiao Zhuang of Chenliu disguised herself as a maid and deliberately approached the wooden pagoda of Yongning Temple. It was impossible that she did it just to look for a cat.

Su Ze smelled trouble again. He opened the system again and found that he had accumulated several unread system messages.

(End of this chapter)