The Lantern Unveiled

Yu Feng stared at the elder guard with her eyes wide. The man had an old, wrinkly face, probably because he has been sitting under the sun for a long time. His white beard reached to his chest.

Despite his age, his body under that armor was still very sturdy and strong. It could be seen at a glance that he has been in the army for years and had experienced many wars.

"General Li Mu!" The guard who had recognized Yu Feng approached the elderly guard. He went forward and whispered a few words.

"I know what that is."

He was Prince Yi's maternal uncle. It was impossible for him not to recognized the token in Yu Feng's hand.

The guard had wanted to tell the general about Yu Feng's matter, but the general had raised his hand, signaling him to shut up and he had no other choice but to step back.

The most important thing in the army is discipline. If he ignored the general's words in front of others, it will not go well for him. The guard has no other choice but to back down. However, the expression on his face could not hide his dissatisfaction.

Yu Feng glanced at the watchtower entrance and made her calculation if she could enter the watchtower safely if she slid through the guards.

Walking forward, the general stared at the token in Yu Feng's hand for a long time. Then, he shifted his gaze to Yu Feng. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he tried to intimidate her and Yu Feng gradually stepped back until she hit another guard who stood behind her.

It was at this time that Yu Feng noticed that she was surrounded by the guards. One wrong move and she would die. Running away was not an option.

"Little boy," the general stepped forward to get closer.

"Yes?" Yu Feng swallowed when she heard her staggering voice.

"What are you doing here?" The general asked. He shifted his gaze back to the token. "Where did you get the token? Did someone gave them to you?" He caressed his long, white beard. "Or did you steal it from someone?"

"Someone gave it to me," Yu Feng answered quickly.

"Really? Who is it? This token does not look like something that a person would give out to someone like you," General Li Mu said. "You should know how valuable that token is."

Yu Feng clenched her hand on the token tighter. She had a feeling that if she held on to the token, her life will be saved.

"I don't know who that person is," Yu Feng answered quickly. "But I can tell you what he looked like." Under the general's gaze, Yu Feng began rambling about the bad man's appearance in panic.

At this time, the crowd began to cheer loudly.

Hearing the noise, the guards looked away from Yu Feng to check at what was going on.

"Look over there." Someone among the guards pointed to the left side and the others followed to look in the direction.

The cheering of the people was louder as the cloth was slowly pulled down. The big lantern under that cloth was unveiled.

The lantern was big and colorful.

It has eight sides and each side was painted with a different picture or had different wordings and it was very exquisite.

The audience who came over to look at this big lantern could not stop but marveled as they continued to watch the lantern's revelation.

As the clothing on the lantern was pulled down lower, and lower, the cheering of the audience only grew louder. It was as if everyone's eyes were glued at the lantern and they could not look away.

The process for the lantern to be revealed only took a couple of minutes.

As soon as the clothing was completely removed, the audience clapped loudly and continued to cheer. Some of the academicians stared at the poems on the lantern and praised the beautiful words. The surrounding looked as if there was a big celebration going on.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the cheering could be heard from far away. Those who decided not to join in the festivity and went to bed early had suddenly awakened because of the noise.

"The Emperor is going to lit up the lantern soon." One of the guards announced.

The voice seemed to snap Yu Feng out of her trance. She muttered a string of cursing words. Recalling what was going to happen later, Yu Feng began to panic. As the guards' attention was no longer on her, Yu Feng took this opportunity to slipped through the general and a few other guards and entered the watchtower.

"General!" One of the guards shouted. "The boy passed through and entered the tower."

"I know. Do you think I'm blind?" General Li Mu clicked his tongue at the soldier. But as soon as he looked away, there was a hint of amusement in his expression.

In fact, it wasn't as if the general was unaware of Yu Feng's intention to enter the watchtower. The general had long noticed the way Yu Feng would glance at the entrance when she thought that nobody would look.

The only reason the general had lowered his guard was that he was curious to see what Yu Feng was going to do. He did not expect to see that the small, frail boy would be brave enough to push him and slid through the guards.

"Shouldn't we go and bring her back?" the guard asked, hesitantly.

Currently, the imperial family members, as well as the ministers, were inside the building. There were no guards inside as the Emperor had forbidden them from entering. Although the guard could not understand the Emperor's decision, there was nothing he could do about it.

"Let the boy go," General Li Mu said. He watched the guard's perplexed gaze and continued, "It's not easy for anyone with ill intention to enter this watchtower."

Because of his position and the relationship with the imperial family, General Li Mu naturally was aware of the array placed inside the tower.

"If the little boy is lucky, he might come out alive," General Li Mu continued. He looked at the entrance and wondered what was going to happen.

His nephew had given out an important token to a small boy. General Li Mu knew Qin Zhi Hao well. That boy would not accidentally lose such an important token or gave away his token just to anyone. Seeing the token in Yu Feng's hand, the general was very curious about what was Qin Zhi Hao trying to do.