The next day, in the early morning, Ying Lili and Sheng Li got ready in the attire of the cleaners. Their makeup was done perfectly, hiding their true faces. Wang Hao handed the wooden identification sticks to both of them.
General Wang looked at the Crown Princess. "I have told the Crown Prince that you will bring Hu Jingguo to the Capital," Ying Lili told General Wang who nodded and shifted his gaze towards the Crown Prince.
"Try reaching here in one and a half days. Rest you know," Sheng Li proclaimed as he patted on Wang Hao's shoulder and then pulled his hand back.
"Yes, your highness."
Ying Lili took out a letter from the pocket and forwarded that to Wang Hao. "Give this to Hu Jingguo," Ying Lili stated. Wang Hao took the letter and put it inside his pocket. "You shall leave now. We two will go to the Palace," Sheng Li stated. Wang Hao bowed and walked out of the house.
Sheng Li looked at Ying Lili and said, "Let's go then. I have never done a cleaning job. I do not know how I am going to do this today," asserted Sheng Li.
"We will not clean the temple for real. We need to check what is there in that temple," Ying Lili proclaimed. Sheng Li agreed with her. The two left the residence where they had stayed for a night.
Soon they reached the Palace where they took the second route, which was used specifically by the workers in the Palace. Their identifications were checked by the soldiers there first before letting them enter the Palace.
"Who are you?" The Northern Palace Head, Shu Luoji asked. "Why did you two not come yesterday? The Empress could not do the prayers as the temple was not cleaned," Shu Luoji asked the two. He was a little angry at them, but since it was morning, he did not want to ruin his mood.
"We are the temple cleaners here, Master. My elder brother and his wife are sick, so we come here on their behalf. Forgive us for not coming yesterday," Sheng Li answered." Sheng Li replied in a changed voice.
"Tell them not to ever come here. They are fired from this job. Take their payment later from me," Shu Luoji stated. "I will keep a check on you two today. The Empress scolded me a lot yesterday," he added.
Sheng Li and Ying Lili looked at each other. "Master, you do not need to trouble yourself," Sheng Li politely said. It would be a problem if Shu Luoji followed them and kept his eyes on them.
"Just shut up!" Shu Luoji raised his voice. Sheng Li clenched his fist. "Why are you glaring at me? Just lower your eyes!" Shi Luoji further shouted at him.
Sheng Li wanted to punish him for raising his voice on him, but he could not. "Head Luoji, I was looking for you," Lei Wanxi appeared there which relieved Sheng Li and Ying Lili. Shu Luoji turned and greeted the Sixth Prince.
"Your highness, you were searching for me?" Shu Luoji politely asked, lowering his eyes.
"Yes. Today, the final selection of the Princesses will be done for the Second and Third Brother. The arrangements in the hall are not done nicely. I am afraid, but the Empress might get angry at you for not looking at the arrangements in the main selection hall," Lei Wanxi pronounced.
Shu Luoji got scared upon hearing that. "I am going there," Shu Luoji stated and then looked at Sheng Li. "Don't run away from work today if you two don't want to get punished," he threatened them before leaving. Lei Wanxi passed a smile to the Crown Prince.
Ying Lili and Sheng Li quickly went to the Northern Palace. As per Lei Wanxi, the region of the Buddhist temple remained quiet and peaceful all the time. No servants could be seen there and the place strictly restricted the entrance of Regal family members except the Empress and Lei Wanxi.
"Lili, let's not go directly to the main temple. There might be some spies around and they will get suspicious if we go there directly without cleaning the surroundings," Sheng Li whispered.
Ying Lili agreed with him. The two, after taking the brooms, stepped inside the huge entrance of the temple. They started mopping the central pavement first and soon reached near the temple.
Both ascended the stairs quickly and reached the top. Cleaning the outside area of the main sanctum, Sheng Li's gaze fell on Lei Wanxi, who was coming to the temple. He knew that now was the time when Ying Lili and he needed to go in.
Sheng Li was going to enter when the Chief Priest of the temple came outside, which shocked both Ying Lili and Sheng Li.
According to Lei Wanxi, Weng Wei had sent away the priests the day he asked permission to enter the temple. Ying Lili lightly hit on Sheng Li's shoulder, gesturing him to lower his eyes, which he did.
The Chief Priest furiously said, "Don't you know that no one can enter the main sanctum except me and the Empress?"
Ying Lili quickly apologized. "We are new here, Master. Forgive us for not knowing it," Ying Lili softly said as she lowered her head. Sheng Li did the same.
"Leave. The Empress is going to come," the Chief Priest ordered them. Ying Lili and Sheng Li walked away from there. As they reached near the second entrance, which had a garden surrounding it, the two went to the backyard.
Sheng Li had not expected this. "Who was that person? How does he know that the Empress is coming here?" Ying Lili whispered. Luckily, he knew one more way in which was constructed from the backyard to the main sanctum.
"Come with me," Sheng Li told Ying Lili.
"Where?" She asked.
"Something is hidden in the sanctum. We need to see what she does there," Sheng Li in a low voice said and grasped her hand. The two were on that path which Sheng Li had seen in the map.
Yes, this was a secret hidden route which he found out later in the evening when he met Zhang Yong after leaving the Palace with Ying Lili. Zhang Yong had provided him with the true map of the temple which Weng Wei hid from everyone. But the route was not used for many years because of which the door was jammed. After a few attempts, Sheng Li succeeded in opening the door.
It was confusing for Sheng Li why Weng Wei had told the architect to hide this route in the false map. 'Could it be for an emergency exit?' Sheng Li wondered.
The two kept walking until they found the door to the main sanctum. Sheng Li quietly opened the door a little so that he could peek inside.
He could not see the Chief Priest there; instead, he saw a person in white robes, standing in front of the idol with incense sticks in his hands. Ying Lili lowered herself and looked through the tiny space. Her eyes widened seeing a person who was not looking like a Priest. She stood straight and looked at Sheng Li. "Are you able to see his face?" She whispered near Sheng Li's ear, who refused, shaking his head.
Ying Lili again lowered a bit and peeked through the gap when she saw the Empress entering the temple.