Finding Secrets

The room prepared by the Zhou family was excellent. Although it is not comparable to a room in the Xianqi royal palace, it is much better than Ye Ningjie's room in Duan Feng's residence.

This room is behind the lotus pond. If Ye Ningjie stood by the window, the sight of the lotus pond immediately greeted her. It's a beautiful place; feels fresh and natural.

"Miss, if there is anything you need, just call the maid in this residence," said the young maid who had escorted her.

"Well. Please convey my thanks to Grandpa Zhou. I like this room," Ye Ningjie said earnestly.

"All right, Miss." The maid backed away and stepped out of the room.

Now there was only Ye Ningjie left alone. She stepped onto the bed and then turned back to the map. Since receiving the map, she hasn't let go of her hands.

There was something that made her curious. So she scanned a few locations on the map that looked interesting.

The imperial palace seemed to be surrounded by eight high-ranking officials' residences which looked more considerable than the residences of other officials.

If observed and connected to each other, the position of each residence looks like a picture of eight trigrams. Could it be a form of imperial palace defense?

Each of the eight residences was the residence of Official Su, Li, Tang, Bai, Lu, Yang, Mu, and Zhou. So, this Zhou family seemed to be part of a high-ranking official. Right, that shouldn't be wrong.

Previously when she chatted with Zhou Wanwu in the pavilion near the lotus pond, the older man told a little about his family. The Zhou family had a significant and influential position in the past.

Unfortunately, from generation to generation, this family has been in decline. Even so, the Zhou family is still part of the eight high-ranking officials who cannot be underestimated.

Ye Ningjie had heard of the Eight Pillars of the Empire. Could it be that the eight pillar in question was these eight official families? If one of the pillars were torn down, it probably wouldn't have much effect on the defense since there were still seven others.

What a fantastic thing, Ye Ningjie thought. No wonder Baixi was able to conquer five kingdoms to become an empire. Indeed the people standing behind them weren't random people.

To be honest, Ye Ningjie's goal was not to destroy the empire. She didn't have that much courage. After all, if her father were still alive and knew she would rebel, her father would have killed her first.

Ye Tian is a loyal person. Even if he had to choose between the empire or his daughter, Ye Tian would choose the empire without hesitation. Ye Ningjie didn't know whether to feel sad or proud to have such a father.

And that made her even more clueless. With such loyalty, how could her father be mistaken for a rebel? Or could it be that she didn't know her father well enough?

Too bad Ye Tian was gone. But, most importantly, she had to think of a way to free her two sisters from captivity.

Ye Ningjie looked at the map again, then felt that there should be an opening to enter the palace without going through the gates and fortresses. Maybe there should be a secret route or something like that.

Her brow furrowed. It felt like something was off. The map didn't look complicated, but why did it feel like something was complicated? Could there be something the map painter is hiding?

Ye Ningjie lay on the bed, then tried to look at the map. Still the same image she could see.

Suddenly an idea popped into her head. She immediately got up and tried to light a candle that was stored not far from the bed.

Carefully she brought the map to the top of the candle. She kept the distance not too close so the map paper wouldn't burn. This is a secret method for reading secret ink strokes. Perhaps there would be something she could find.

She held that position for a long time until suddenly a knock on her bedroom door. Ye Ningjie frowned. She immediately rolled up the map and extinguished the candle. After that, she walked out and opened the door.

A middle-aged woman who still looked beautiful was standing outside the room. Her face looks calm and graceful. A soft smile appeared on her lips.

"I heard this residence just received guests from afar," said the woman. Her voice was warm. "Miss Ning, would you mind if we held a dinner to welcome you?"

Ye Ningjie felt a little confused by the sudden invitation. Who this woman is, she doesn't even know her.

"Sorry, Miss, Madam is Young Master Zhou Yan's mother," said the maid standing behind the middle-aged woman.

"Ah, pardon my rudeness."

Ye Ningjie immediately lowered her body to give a respectful greeting. But, somehow see, that woman bore no resemblance to Zhou Yan. And she never expected the mistress of the Zhou family to meet her first.

The middle-aged woman smiled happily, satisfied with Ye Ningjie's attitude of immediately apologizing to her. She smiled warmly.

"Do not hesitate. You just came from far away; you maybe don't know who I am," said Madam Zhou amiably.

"Madam, please come in." Ye Ningjie opened the door wide, then ushered Zhou Yan's mother into the room. However, the woman shook her head slowly, refusing her offer.

"That's not necessary. I won't linger so as not to disturb your rest time. I am just wondering who the beautiful girl Yan'er has secretly picked up."

For some reason, her tone sounded seductive to Ye Ningjie. She smiled awkwardly. Has this Zhou Yan's mother already overthought? That woman didn't misinterpret her relationship with Zhou Yan, right?

"Madam Zhou, this family is indeed very kind. I heard Miss Zhou Lin ask Young Master Zhou to wait for me outside the gate," Ye Ningjie replied to avoid misunderstandings. She was worried that the woman would think Zhou Yan had come of her own accord.

"Ah, I see. Sister Lin will be back in a few days. So, you two know each other? Or maybe you came because you wanted to meet her?" asked Madam Zhou.

"We know each other," Ye Ningjie replied without going into more detail. She smiled. "Madam Zhou, if the Zhou family wants to make a dinner party, as a guest, I can only follow."

"Good. Then come over tonight at the park. Later Yan'er will call you," the woman said with a smile.

Ye Ningjie couldn't help but nod with a smile until the middle-aged woman finally decided to leave. Afterward, she went back into the room to continue her previous activities.

She took out the map scroll again, then slowly opened it. At first, she didn't pay much attention, but her eyes widened when she saw something different on her map.

The map that had previously only been drawn in black ink suddenly had red lines and some scribbles that were also red. What's that?

Ye Ningjie was speechless. Upon closer inspection, her mouth immediately opened. Her eyes sparkled with surprise and joy.

"So, this is the secret!"