Chapter 7: Spreading Knockout Drops, Preparing to Raid a Household

Chapter 7: Slipping the Drug, Preparing to Raid the House

Consort Yu and Consort Qin, also among the four consorts, along with Noble Lady Yi, rushed over upon hearing the news, but unfortunately they had already missed Yun Ran.

Having been in the harem for a long time, they had only seen the Emperor once or twice. His elegant and handsome appearance lingered in their minds, yet they had never been graced by his presence again.

Yu Guiwan held the highest rank among them, being the Chief of the Four Consorts. Even she couldn't help but speak with a hint of jealousy,

"Sister Ning, the Emperor even gifted you a chicken? We're all sisters here—shouldn't we share a bit?"

In your dreams!

Shen Shining stuffed all the cut-up chicken into her mouth in one go and swallowed it down in a few bites.

Xiao Lan, waiting nearby, quickly picked up a handkerchief and wiped her mistress's mouth clean. The mistress and servant worked together in perfect sync.

"You came too late. It's all gone."

"Shen Shining, you're despicable!"

Consort Qin was so angry she nearly lost her composure as a consort.

The lingering aroma of the chicken still filled the hall,

and everyone who had come was stirred by cravings, their stomachs growling with hunger.

They all looked at each other, none willing to leave.

In the end, the three sisters managed to mooch a breakfast off Shen Shining before finally taking their leave.

"Hmph, what's there to be proud of! Next time, the Emperor will definitely come to my place!"

"Exactly, I have money. What pearl chicken can't I buy?"

The speaker was Huang Shuyi, whose father was a wealthy merchant in Chang'an City. If there was one thing she had plenty of, it was silver.

After eating and drinking their fill, the group of beauties went back to find ways to dress themselves up, hoping to run into the Emperor.

Yun Ran sprinted all the way back. When she returned to the inner hall, Chang Yuan had already arranged for the people to come in.

"Master, where did you go? This old servant thought you had disappeared again! You had me worried to death!"

"Oh, I got a bit hungry and grabbed a chicken to eat. Do you want some?"

With that, she handed over the half chicken with the missing leg.

Chang Yuan was a foodie, but he wouldn't dare snatch food from the Emperor's mouth.

"This servant doesn't eat. Master, please enjoy."

"Hey, if I say eat, you eat!"

Yun Ran shoved it into his hands and finished the rest of the chicken herself in a couple of bites.

Seeing this, Chang Yuan quickly turned around and wolfed it down in a few mouthfuls.

"Master, how is this so fragrant! This is truly a delicacy of the world!"

The hundred elite soldiers standing in the courtyard also caught the wonderful aroma, their mouths watering as they swallowed hard.

"That's because it's chicken roasted by the Emperor!"

...

Everyone froze.

Suddenly, it felt very cold.

"Alright, start counting off!"

Yun Ran clasped her hands behind her back, instantly turning serious.

The men below looked bewildered, secretly signaling to Chang Yuan.

What is the Emperor saying? We can't understand a word.

Yun Ran suddenly realized—I'm in ancient times!

She then explained in detail the military commands of counting off, standing at attention, and so on.

"Attention! Count off!"

The elite soldiers below immediately stood up straight and began executing the orders seriously.

Chang Yuan nodded repeatedly from the side. This is the kind of soldiers our Great Yan should have.

"Among you, pick the strongest one to spar with me. If you win, I promise to reward you with three thousand taels of silver on the spot."

At these words, everyone erupted with excitement.

Three thousand taels! That could achieve class mobility!

Once everyone was pumped up, Yun Ran scanned the eager raised hands and picked three people

to fight her all at once.

At first, everyone was afraid of accidentally injuring the Emperor, so they held back and dodged everywhere.

Yun Ran raised an eyebrow.

"If you can't do it, step down. This is gleaming silver—plenty of people are lining up for a chance to spar."

At that, the men were provoked—nothing offended them more than being told they couldn't do it!

Everyone suddenly went all out.

Fighting three at once, Yun Ran seemed to be struggling a bit.

Chang Yuan clenched his fists in worry from the side, not daring to speak up to stop it, only muttering quietly,

"If anyone dares to harm the Emperor, I'll deal with you!"

These ancients all had martial arts skills,

with inner strength—something Yun Ran didn't have.

But in her 28th-century agent training, Yun Ran had developed methods to activate the deepest potential of the human body.

Basically, every agent there was forged with iron bones and immense stamina.

Besides, Yun Ran was in a man's body,

So in terms of raw strength, she had almost no weaknesses. Her only shortcoming was not knowing Lightness Skill.

Everyone seemed to catch on and used Lightness Skill to launch sneak attacks.

"Ha!"

Two of them seized the moment Yun Ran turned her head, leaped up, and pressed their hands on both her shoulders.

They thought they had him,

But Yun Ran wasn't just anyone.

In her line of work, with heavy tasks, she always had people attacking from unexpected places,

So she was already on guard.

Yun Ran calmly spun around, grabbed both their shoulders, and flung them back, slamming them hard into the ground.

In an instant, they went flying.

Once the dust settled,

All three were down.

These were the three strongest guys in the Dragon Scale Guard!

Everyone was stunned by the emperor's martial skill and took a step back in unison, bowing with clasped hands.

"We yield!"

Yun Ran was blown away by these ancient Lightness Skills,

And she was determined to learn them!

Then, as if it were nothing, she said,

"My hundred Dragon Scale guards aren't strong enough yet. Starting today, I'll personally train you for a month. After that, anyone who fails the assessment can pack up and leave!"

What's the emperor up to?

Everyone nervously lowered their heads.

Seeing Yun Ran had nothing more to say, Chang Yuan sidled up, cupped his hands, and whispered in her ear,

"Your Majesty, when do we start that thing?"

He mimed slitting his throat.

"Right now! Open the armory! Grab the sharpest blades, round up the Dragon Scale Guard, and we ride out in half an hour!"

Chang Yuan headed off to the armory, bringing Commander Wu of the Dragon Scale Guard along.

Yun Ran, meanwhile, headed to the imperial pharmacy.

From her past life, she remembered plenty of formulas—sleeping powders were just the tip of the iceberg.

Yun Ran whipped up several packets of potent sleeping powder. One tiny packet could knock out ten oxen.

On humans, though...

The sky was barely light,

The head steward of the Prince Regent's mansion was pacing at the entrance.

The prince had gone into the palace yesterday and not a word since. Could he have actually killed the emperor?

"Gasp!"

At that thought, the fat steward clapped a hand over his mouth, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"Forget it, I'll pack up some valuables and skip town for now. If the prince comes back, I'll say I went home to visit family and left him a message. Yeah!"

The fat steward wiggled his bulky frame and huffed into his main room.

He was frantically stuffing gold bricks and silver ingots hidden in every corner. A young maid who tried to get near got kicked aside.

"The master's busy! Scram!"

After much effort, he finally packed a big bundle and slung it over his back,

A colorless, odorless sleeping powder drifted into the sprawling mansion on the breeze...

"Why... why am I so dizzy? Ow..."

Thud!

The steward's bulky body hit the ground, the bundle in his hand bursting open and spilling gold and silver everywhere.

The well-trained Dragon Scale guards, covering their mouths and noses, emerged from every corner, marching in lockstep to surround the Prince Regent's mansion.

Yun Ran had already opened the sleeping powder and had Chang Yuan fly up to the eaves to scatter it with the east wind.

Two minutes later,

Yun Ran, hands behind her back, kicked the main gate open.

"Kill every last one of them on the spot!"

She knew the principle of uprooting the weeds all too well,

Even a lowly maid in the mansion could become an unknown threat to her life down the road.

Living in ancient times, with no real laws, life was cheap everywhere.

And as the Monarch, how many people would covet this seat?

The gatekeepers of the neighboring mansions heard the ruckus and came out to check.

The moment they spotted Chang Yuan and recognized him as a palace eunuch, their legs went weak with fear, and they scurried back to report to their masters.

"What? The palace sent people? And they've surrounded the Prince Regent's mansion?"