Ning’er and Shou’er hadn’t even made a move when they saw that the two were unarmed palace maids. The two of them immediately stopped.
Because Ning’er recognized these two palace maids, they were the two she had seen before at Lady Liu’s side.
An Xuetang had also seen these two maidservants, and now she just felt that they were very familiar.
“Slave… slave has seen the North… Northern Border Princess.”
“……”
An Xuetang looked at the two maidservants, who were timid and submissive. Her brows furrowed as she noticed faint injuries on both of them. At a glance, it was clear they had been beaten more than once.
“Do you have something?”
As soon as An Xuetang uttered those words, the two maids were instantly petrified by her icy tone and fell to their knees with a thump.
This subconscious reaction only tightened An Xuetang’s brow. What kind of abuse could make someone subconsciously act this way?
Were they beaten by the Liu family… or someone else from the palace?!
If it was Liu who did it, then this Liu would have completely overturned An Xue Tang’s impression of her.
“To inform the Princess of Beijang, Consort Liu wishes…wishes to see you.”
Liu Gui Fei… Indeed, the newly appointed Liu Gui Fei is the Liu shi that An Xue Tang knows.
But she had already made an agreement with Liu that they would be strangers after this meeting. What was she doing finding her now?
An Xuetang had nothing to help Liu, but she was thinking that maybe she would have some news to tell her. Thinking this way, An Xuetang still followed the two palace maids.
Several people were on their way to Liu Gui’s palace. An Xue Tang, using her “skills,” had been listening to the surroundings. She didn’t feel any sound, but her sixth sense told her that a pair of eyes were watching her from the dark.
This kind of look wasn’t the gaze of Ajing’s group of dark guards. The feeling she was getting now was like being stared at with the intention of tearing her apart limb by limb.
As they were walking, An Xue Tang suddenly stopped. Ning’er and Shou’er also came to a halt. The two of them hadn’t noticed anything unusual at all, so An Xue Tang’s sudden stop startled them both.
Shour looked around, feeling puzzled. She didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, but after these days by An Xuetang’s side, they knew that if their princess sensed something was wrong, then there definitely was a problem.
So right now both she and Ning’er have become very vigilant.
The palace maid leading the way also stopped, turned around and said to An Xue Tang, “Princess Consort of Bei Jiang, the Empress’s palace is still ahead. Please follow me.”
An Xuetang did not continue walking. She pointed to the tightly closed door on her right, “What is this place?”
Seeing where An Xue Tang pointed, both maids trembled with fright. They looked at each other, not knowing how to answer.
An Xuetang looked at their careful manner, as if they were about to faint from fright, and felt a pang of sympathy. She then frowned:
“This concubine asks what you answer, there is nothing to hesitate about. This concubine asks again, this place…what is it?”
One of the maids hesitated for a moment before taking two steps towards An Xuetang. She lowered her voice and said, “Your Highness, this… is the Cold Palace. It was once where the former Empress was imprisoned.”
It turned out to be the Cold Palace!
An Xuetang narrowed her eyes, she walked toward the door with interest. Seeing this, the two palace maids were startled and quickly said:
“Your Highness, please don’t go in. This…this is forbidden ground. No one can enter without the Emperor’s command.”
“After the first maid spoke, another one added, “Your Highness, please wait. Aside from the Emperor forbidding entry, there are…there are…stories of ghosts haunting this place. It’s not safe to enter casually, Your Highness.”