At those words, the finely dressed young man's face fell immediately, and he slumped with dejection.
At that moment the entire hall went completely silent, and everyone present looked at the departing woman's figure with expressions of considerable wariness.
These people, none of them lacking in wealth or standing in the capital, all clearly knew exactly who she was.
The young man let out a sigh, set down his wine cup, and without even glancing at anyone else in the hall, obediently hurried toward the entrance.
It was plain he was very much afraid of his elder sister.
But before the young man had made it out of the hall, at that very moment Li Musheng's figure drifted down and landed at the entrance.
"Does anyone here know where the Great Xuan imperial palace is?"
Li Musheng blocked the young man's path and looked out at the assembled group with a calm expression.
In an instant, everyone in the hall, including the stopped young man, looked toward Li Musheng.
At those words, the young man whose path had been suddenly blocked furrowed his brow, looked Li Musheng over, and said, "Who are you?"
As he said this, irritation gradually spread across the young man's face. He had been having a perfectly good time and been dragged back home, and now he was facing a hundred strokes of the rod to boot. His mood had already reached rock bottom.
And then this completely oblivious person had come along and blocked his path, giving him someone to vent at just when he needed it most. Li Musheng had walked straight into it.
"Who I am does not matter. What matters is that you probably know where the Great Xuan imperial palace is?"
Li Musheng finally deigned to look at the young man properly.
The person before him clearly had some standing, and by rights should have no trouble knowing the location of the Great Xuan imperial palace.
At those words, the young man nearly choked with outrage, "What kind of ridiculous question is that? In the entire capital, who does not know where the imperial palace is..."
But before the words were even out of his mouth, Li Musheng simply raised a hand and reached through the air, snatching the young man up, and said, "Perfect, then you will do. Come with me to the Great Xuan imperial palace."
At the same time, the young man's eyes went wide, and he found he could not move a single muscle, could not even speak.
"Since you are not saying anything, I will take that as agreement."
Li Musheng nodded to himself, then with everyone watching, prepared to simply carry the young man off.
"Let him go."
At that very moment, the plainly dressed young woman flashed back to Li Musheng's side in an instant.
She reached out to grab the young man back from Li Musheng's grip, but Li Musheng waved a hand casually and sent her stumbling backward.
Li Musheng could tell that this young woman clearly cared very much about the young man, and he shook his head, "Do not worry. I only want him to show me the way. I have no intention of taking his life."
At those words, the woman who had been knocked back several zhang looked at Li Musheng, her expression caught somewhere between suspicion and disbelief.
She kept her gaze on him, and inwardly she was startled by the sheer power of his martial cultivation.
As the Great Xuan Seventh Princess, her martial talent was the highest among all the imperial princes and princesses, and from a young age she had never lost to a peer of any kind.
This was the first time she had ever been bested by someone who looked about as old as her younger brother.
And at that point, Li Musheng said nothing further and continued preparing to take the young man away.
At the sight, the young man looked at his elder sister with terrified, helpless eyes.
"Wait. Let him go. I have been to the imperial palace."
At those words, the Great Xuan Seventh Princess suddenly spoke, and the words made Li Musheng, who had been about to leave, pause.
He turned and looked the young woman over, then rubbed his chin and said, "Someone who has been to the Great Xuan imperial palace is naturally the ideal choice. Since you have volunteered, I certainly will not refuse."
With that, Li Musheng casually tossed the young man aside.
He then reached out toward the Great Xuan Seventh Princess, Zhao Muning, and she was drawn into his grip in an instant.
In that moment, Zhao Muning experienced exactly what her brother had: complete inability to resist, her acupoints sealed in an instant.
The one difference was that Zhao Muning could still speak.
"Who exactly are you? Why do you want to go to the Great Xuan imperial palace?"
At this point, Zhao Muning had already realized that Li Musheng's martial cultivation far exceeded her own and she was no match for him.
But for her brother's sake she had no choice but to play along for the time being, trading herself for him as a hostage.
In secret, she sent a covert voice transmission to her two martial aunts asking for help, and the only thing she needed to do now was wait for them to arrive.
"There is no need for such strong curiosity, Miss. You only need to guide me properly, and I will guarantee your safety."
Li Musheng held Zhao Muning by the collar of her plain robe, then cast a glance into the darkness not far away, "It seems you have called for assistance, though it will not do much good."
At those words, Zhao Muning's expression changed sharply, and in the next instant Li Musheng grabbed hold of her, leapt to the palace roof, and disappeared in a single flicker.
Before long, the two elderly women who had been at Zhao Muning's side arrived from the darkness in an instant.
They swept their gazes around and found no trace of Zhao Muning anywhere. In the end they could only look down at the young man sitting slumped on the ground below them.
"Someone... grabbed Elder Sister and went toward the imperial palace... go after them, quickly!"
The young man finally came back to himself and shouted urgently at the two elderly women.
At those words, both elderly women furrowed their brows, exchanged a glance, and without another moment's hesitation became blurs as they shot off in the direction of the Great Xuan imperial palace.
At the same time, Zhao Muning, held in Li Musheng's grip, felt the scenery around her blur and flash past.
Experiencing Li Musheng's speed firsthand, just as the big black cat and Bai Xiaotang had before her, she was completely stunned.
"What kind of movement technique and martial art is this?"
"This speed truly is... far too fast."
Zhao Muning's eyes shifted through a rapid series of expressions. She had no idea what Li Musheng intended to do at the Great Xuan imperial palace.
But with this extraordinary movement art and martial cultivation alone, she honestly was not sure the Great Xuan imperial palace could prevent him from coming and going as he pleased.
"Which way from here?"
Li Musheng stopped on the roof of a pavilion and turned to look at Zhao Muning in his hand.
Hearing this, thoughts flickered through Zhao Muning’s mind. A moment later, her gaze turned toward a direction in the night.
The direction she pointed to was precisely that of the Great Xuan imperial palace. She did not deliberately point the wrong way to mislead Li Musheng.
Zhao Muning understood clearly that within the Great Xuan imperial capital, the other party could basically stop anyone at random and still find the Great Xuan imperial palace.
Trying to deceive him would not be wise, and would very likely anger him instead.
Moreover, Li Musheng himself, whether it was his astonishing martial cultivation that surpassed her own, or his rare and extraordinary movement technique speed was someone she could not afford to underestimate.
Rather than letting Li Musheng force his way into the Great Xuan imperial palace alone, it would be better for her to remain by his side for the time being, figure out his true objective, and then consider how to deal with him afterward.
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