Chapter 1458: 712 Super Weak!_2

“Coo~”

A large bird flew over and landed on the same branch he was perched on.

Han Ye looked closely.

It was a Hai Dongqing.

What a beautiful Hai Dongqing!

The Hai Dongqing seemed intelligent, strutting over to his feet.

Han Ye: “…”

Why did he suddenly feel like it resembled a chicken?

That chicken… no, the Hai Dongqing stopped at his feet and rubbed its head against his trouser leg.

Han Ye was slightly taken aback.

Was this Hai Dongqing so friendly with people?

In the past, Han Ye had caught several Hai Dongqing, intending to train them as his pets, but their fierce nature made them even harder to train than the Hei Fengqi, and all attempts ended in failure.

But maybe this Hai Dongqing could be different.

Han Ye cautiously extended his hand, but stopped short of touching its head immediately.

The Hai Dongqing tilted its head, looking at him innocently, showing no signs of aggression.

Finally emboldened, Han Ye touched its head.

The Hai Dongqing allowed him to pet it.

He smiled in satisfaction.

It seemed he was destined to have this Hai Dongqing. From now on, you shall be mine.

Han Ye was thoroughly enjoying handling the bird.

But at that moment, an unexpected change occurred, the docile Hai Dongqing suddenly opened its beak and pecked viciously at his wrist!

If Han Ye hadn’t withdrawn his hand quickly enough, it would have severed his tendons!

Nevertheless, the bird succeeded in tearing off a chunk of flesh from his wrist!

Han Ye was dumbfounded!

What was going on? Had birds become cunning now too?

Han Ye never would have imagined that he, the top master of Shengdu’s generation, would one day be injured by a bird’s beak.

Who would believe such a tale?

Han Ye slapped at it.

But it was too late, Xiaojiu had already fluttered away, calling out as it flew: “Cluck-cluck-dah—- Cluck-cluck-dah—-”

Han Ye almost fell out of the tree.

Were you raised by chickens?

“There’s movement over there!”

The guards on patrol nearby heard Xiaojiu’s cries.

Xiaojiu, the eagle, had a bit of renown within the Academy’s patrol team; it had discovered thieves infiltrating the Academy several times before. Whenever it cried out, the guards would guess there might be another thief.

Han Ye was infuriated, having failed to anticipate that his plans would be foiled by an eagle.

He had no choice but to leave temporarily.

However, the night was still long, and he would seize his opportunity eventually.

Waiting, Han Ye saw the time out until the hour of zi.

Elsewhere, the monarch took a carriage out of the palace.

He only brought along a coachman and Zhang Dequan.

The carriage did not go fast, after all, Shangguan Yun had no horse and had to walk, so they followed her at a distance so as not to startle her and give themselves away.

The Imperial Palace had five gates in total, which meant entering through the main gate and leaving through the vicinity of the Cold Palace was just the distance of a palace wall.

The monarch’s face looked very grim.

Zhang Dequan dared not even breathe too loudly. He had originally thought that the Princess was in the Cold Palace to mourn Empress Xuanyuan, but it turned out she was just finding a dog hole to sneak out of the palace.

Shangguan Yun wore civilian clothes brought from the Imperial Mausoleum. She had been imprisoned in the Imperial Mausoleum for years, living no differently from commoners, even more poorly.

From her clothes, she looked like an ordinary civilian woman, without even a decent hairpin on her head.

Even her shoes were worn out; Zhang Dequan could see the hole in the heel of her shoes.

Zhang Dequan felt a pang of sorrow. It’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality. The Princess’s fall from grace entailed suffering and torment unimaginable to ordinary people.

Zhang Dequan stole a glance at the monarch.

They say that the imperial family is heartless, and he wasn’t sure whether the monarch truly harbored any fatherly affection. All he saw was the monarch’s expression growing grimmer and his eyes colder.

The inner city of Shengdu had no curfew, and at night, Shengjing was bustling, with shops open all night on several streets.

Shangguan Yun arrived at a relatively lively street.

“It looks like she’s heading to a carriage shop,” Zhang Dequan remarked.

“Follow her,” the monarch said sternly.

The coachman drove the carriage past and stopped right opposite the carriage shop.

The carriage was unremarkable, and no one could tell that the occupant inside was the ruler of a nation.

Shangguan Yun came out after a while, leading a fine horse by the hand.

The monarch frowned. “She knows how to buy a horse? Where did she get the silver?”

When the Princess was locked up in the Imperial Mausoleum, she wasn’t allowed to bring anything valuable with her–not even the pearls on her shoes were left to her.

Zhang De went to the shop to ask around.

He came back with an indescribable look on his face.