Fantasy: Empress Wife, Cute Kids Cause Havoc in Jiuzhou-Chapter 173 - 171: Digging the Array Base before Splitting the Imperial City

"Big brother, so this is the Imperial City, huh? It looks about as big as the State Mansion in our province,"

Chu Xin sat atop the head of the Two-headed Fire Dragon, looking down at the grand mansion below with a hint of confusion shimmering in her large, round eyes.

Wasn’t the Imperial City supposed to be huge? This seemed a bit different from the legendary Imperial City.

Long Shaoyu’s heart tightened—could this child have spotted something amiss?

To avoid being exposed, he had ordered people to replace all signs of the Cangzhou Prefecture with those of the Imperial City.

"However, it does look much more imposing than the State Mansion in our province," Chu Chen added to the conversation.

Long Shaoyu quickly said, "Of course, this is the Imperial City, definitely grander than any State Mansion. Come on, I’ll arrange a place for you to stay."

"Alright, thank you, big brother."

Chu Xin and Chu Chen nodded in agreement, expressing their gratitude in unison.

Since they had never been to the Imperial City before and didn’t know what it looked like, they didn’t have too many doubts.

Plus, Chu Xin had secretly attached an Oath Talisman on Long Shaoyu—if he lied, the talisman would surely act up. Seeing no reaction from the talisman now, the siblings naturally didn’t suspect Long Shaoyu of lying.

The group landed in the mansion, and Long Shaoyu sent the young men with square faces and the ones with bows to take Chu Xin and Chu Chen to rest in the best courtyard, while he went to the State Mansion’s main hall to meet with his mother and discuss their grand scheme for deceiving the two gullible children.

"You two young guests should settle here for now, and if there’s anything you need, just send someone for us. Moreover, since you’re not familiar with the Imperial City, there’s no rush to go sightseeing. Once our young master is done with his current affairs, he’ll personally take you around the Imperial City," the young man with a bow instructed.

The staff at the State Mansion might obey Long Shaoyu’s commands unconditionally, but outside, a single inquiry by a stranger could blow their cover.

It would have been best to activate the protective array to restrict entry and exit, but that would surely arouse the suspicions of the two naive children. Therefore, Long Shaoyu simply arranged for people to monitor the surroundings of the courtyard; they would report back to him the moment there was any sign of activity.

"Don’t worry, we won’t run off from the Imperial City," Chu Xin and Chu Chen pledged, patting their little chests with earnest assurance.

They were here for the Imperial City, after all, and wouldn’t leave before they managed to break into the Imperial City and rescue their mother.

"Good!"

The young man with a bow nodded, and, along with the youth with the square face, they turned and left, leaving behind two servants to wait outside the courtyard.

Chu Xin closed the room’s door, tossed out several Array Stones, and set up an Array inside the room to prevent eavesdropping.

"Sis, let’s hurry and break open the Imperial City to rescue mom," Chu Chen urged, hardly able to wait as soon as the Array was in place. Stay connected with novelbuddy

The thought of seeing their mother soon had him so excited that he was barely able to sit still.

"Don’t rush!"

Chu Xin jumped onto a high stool at the table, swinging her little legs, sipping Beast Milk, and said unhurriedly, "In our village, Auntie Dragon’s State Mansion is protected by an Array, so surely the Imperial City must be too. Moreover, it might even be stronger than the Arrays in our village and Auntie Dragon’s State Mansion. We might not necessarily be able to break through it, so we need to plan carefully about rescuing mom."

"I see."

Chu Chen sat on the opposite side, took a sip of Beast Milk, then suddenly asked, "Right, isn’t dad here in the Imperial City to rescue mom? Is he here?"

Chu Xin wiped the milk from the corner of her mouth and said, "Dad’s so fast, he must have arrived long ago."

"Then should we wait for dad to make a move?" Chu Chen suggested.

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Chu Xin extended her small, fair hand and lightly tapped Chu Chen’s head, huffing in annoyance, "Little brother, are you being silly? We snuck out here. If dad finds out, he’ll definitely tan our hides. But if we can rescue mom, and she’s there to protect us, then dad surely wouldn’t dare to hit us."

"That makes sense."

Chu Chen rubbed his little head and asked, "Sister, do you have a plan to rescue Mother?"

Chu Xin, with a pacifier in her mouth, fell into silence upon hearing this.

Chu Chen stared with his round, wide eyes at his sister, who was lost in thought, waiting for her perfect plan.

A moment later, Chu Xin suddenly clapped her small hands, startling the unprepared Chu Chen.

"Sister, why did you startle me like that? You scared me," Chu Chen said, patting his chest with reproachful puppy eyes.

Chu Xin giggled and said, "I’ve thought of a plan."

"What plan?" Chu Chen quickly pressed.

"First, we need to dig out the magic treasures from the Array, so they can’t activate it. That way, we can go and split open the Imperial City without worries," Chu Xin said earnestly.

"Alright, let’s do that."

Chu Chen nodded his little head decisively and took out a Treasure Digging Shovel from the Sumeru Ring, ready to set out.

"Silly little brother, where are you going?"

Chu Xin stopped him.

"To treasure digging," Chu Chen turned back, puzzled, and said, "Didn’t Sister say we need to dig out the Array treasures first, so they can’t activate the Array?"

Chu Xin extended her snow-white hand to her forehead, looking exasperated, and explained earnestly, "I’ve already sensed a lot of people outside. If you go out with a Treasure Digging Shovel, they’ll discover you immediately. Do you really think they’re as easy to deceive as two-year-olds?"

"Oh, right."

Chu Chen scratched his bun head and chuckled awkwardly before asking, "So, what do we do?"

Chu Xin took a Puppet rat out of the Sumeru Ring, affixed a Concealing Charm to it, and said, "She’ll scout for treasures, mark all the Array Stone positions, and then we’ll dig a tunnel directly from here. We’ll use Simulating Breath Talisman to imitate the aura of those Array Stones, so we can dig them out without being discovered."

"Sister is the clever one."

Realizing the plan, Chu Chen also took out a bunch of Puppet rats from the Sumeru Ring and, imitating his sister, stuck Concealing Charms on them to prevent detection.

The swarm of Puppet rats burrowed underground from the room, spreading out beneath the entire "Imperial City," in search of the treasures hidden below meant for setting up the Array.

Chu Xin and Chu Chen sat on stools, eyes closed, sensing the information being sent back by the Puppet rats.

"Found it, let’s start digging!"

A short while later, Chu Chen opened his eyes, took out a Treasure Digging Shovel from the Sumeru Ring, and, with his little bottom poking out, started digging right there in the room.

Chu Xin, after some thought, took out two Puppets from the Sumeru Ring and placed them in the room. She attached Simulating Breath Talismans to them, mimicking the breath of both her and her brother, Chu Chen. Then, she tossed out a Talisman and attached it to the room door. If anyone came knocking, she would be alerted and could return to the room in time.

After completing all of this, she then swung her Treasure Digging Shovel and began to dig the tunnel.

The siblings dug swiftly, and with a protective array muffling sound, the outside world could hear nothing from within.

The brother and sister divided the work, each responsible for a different area.

All the excavated dirt and rocks were collected by both siblings into the Sumeru Ring, to avoid arousing suspicion.

"We’re here!"

After some time, Chu Xin stopped and lay down in the tunnel, looking at the Array Stone ahead glowing faintly. She then took out a stone from the Sumeru Ring, affixed a Simulating Breath Talisman to it to imitate the Array Stone’s breath, and swapped out the Array Stone. This way, as long as no one tried to activate the Array, no one would notice anything amiss.