But Edward Clark still didn’t dare to go up; instead, he moved upward out of the water, and only after persisting like this for over ten minutes did he carefully climb out.

It was already two in the morning by now.

The two of them lay on the ground, utterly exhausted...

“Why put yourself through this?”

Edward Clark said.

“If you were locked in one place for over ten years, wouldn’t you want to escape if you had the chance?”

Little Princess said.

“Where’s your mother?”

Edward Clark asked.

“She passed away when I was very young.”

Little Princess said.

Edward Clark nodded sympathetically.

Indeed, a princess who lost her birth mother at a young age, and on top of that, had to deal with Old Zhu as a strict father—he probably believed in corporal punishment when it came to raising children, and was deeply traditional. Though he came from eight generations of poor peasants, his expectations for his children still leaned toward Neo-Confucianism, trying to make sure his descendants could fully integrate into the scholar-official class. You could tell from how much he admired Zhu Xi. Being locked up in such an environment for over a decade, it’s no wonder she’d become rebellious.

“Come on, let’s find some clothes to change into first, otherwise we can’t go out like this.”

He turned over and said.

This was an important issue—if he went out dressed like this, he’d be like a cicada larva among a pile of scarabs.

He looked around. This seemed to be a small garden, surrounded by buildings. To the south was a high wall, just like the one he’d climbed over to get in, and he hadn’t climbed over any other such wall since.

In other words, after coming in, he hadn’t actually escaped this yamen.

This yamen was huge!

“What’s the first yamen to the east outside the Imperial City, counting from the north?”

He asked.

“The Hanlin Academy, I think. I haven’t left the palace many times, and every time it was through the imperial path by the Thousand-Step Gallery out the Hongwu Gate, always escorted by the imperial guards, and I couldn’t just wander around. The palace maids mentioned it before—if I remember right, it’s the Hanlin Academy.”

Little Princess said.

As she spoke, she curiously observed her surroundings.

Chapter 7: The Hanlin Lord Truly Is Elegant and Handsome

The Hanlin Academy...

“This Hanlin lord really is elegant and handsome!”

Wearing night-vision goggles, Edward Clark stood with his back to the faint dawn light outside the window, looking at the Hanlin lord on the bed like a menacing demon.

The latter stared at him in terror.

Lying next to him, Little Page also looked at him in terror.

“Don’t shout, I’m just here to borrow something!”

Edward Clark said sincerely.

Then he pressed down with the sword in his hand, which originally belonged to the Hanlin lord.

The cold blade pressed against the necks of the Hanlin lord and his Little Page. Both of them blinked frantically to show they wouldn’t scream. From their perspective, this really was a demon. At the same time, a little demon with a green face and disheveled hair crawled out from behind the demon, stretched out its dark claws, grabbed their clothes, and curiously looked at them—especially at Little Page...

Little Page was so scared he started crying.

Then they saw the demon take out a demonic device and point it at the Hanlin lord. In an instant, a blinding light shot out, and the Hanlin lord screamed as the light hit his eyes.

Of course, the demon covered his mouth.

The light vanished instantly.

“This is a soul-capturing device. I have already taken one of your souls. If you behave, I’ll return it to you at this time tomorrow. If you dare report this to the authorities, then at this time tomorrow, your soul will be scattered.”

The demon said menacingly.

The Hanlin lord, whose eyes still hadn’t recovered from the flash, nodded frantically.

The demon, satisfied, beckoned to the little demon, and together they quietly left the room—thoughtfully closing the door behind them...

Half an hour later.

Two sneaky figures appeared on the dawn streets.

One was wearing a blue robe, but it was so oversized that he looked like a pregnant woman, with a huge bundle wrapped in something like a curtain on his back. He wore a square hat, but the robe was clearly too short, so the hem was pulled up to his calves, revealing black boots and oddly colored floral pants underneath. His companion, Little Boy, wore a faded black round-collared shirt and a small cap, but the hem was so long it dragged on the ground, and he had to keep lifting it as he walked...

Which revealed the obvious silk underneath.

“Why is everyone staring at us?”

Edward Clark asked in confusion, noticing the passersby stopping to look at them.

Little Princess shook her head. Her skin was too fair and delicate to look like a commoner of this era, so Edward Clark had smeared some random stuff on her face.

Even her hands were smeared.

She was now annoyed, staring at her oddly colored hands.

“We should be fine!”

Edward Clark said confidently, looking at his blue robe.

He continued forward with confidence, but noticed that every passerby gave them strange looks, and some were whispering to each other.

“Please wait, sir!”

Suddenly, a voice called out from behind.

Edward Clark and his companion turned to see a middle-aged man in a blue shirt and a double-winged hat.

The man stepped forward and saluted...

“Junior clerk Li Fu of the East City Constabulary. May I ask your name, sir?”

He said.

“I am...”

Edward Clark was at a loss for words.

“He is Zhang Xianzhong, editor of the Hanlin Academy.”

Little Princess quickly said.