The End of The Street

The Emperor shifted his gaze towards the group of kids who were looking somewhat forlorn after they were scolded. He had wanted to admonish the man for cursing in front of children, but could only suppress himself.

He glanced at Yu Feng and suddenly understood where did she pick up this bad habit.

"It's already this late, why are the kids still awake?" the Emperor asked. The frown on his face deepened when he counted that there were six boys in this group. Each of them was dressed in shabby clothes and they were too thin. For some of them, they were too thin that he could see the shape of their ribcage.

As he thought about those boy's thin body, the Emperor then shifted his gaze towards Yu Feng again. It was at this time that he noticed that this runner who was working for his son was too thin. Once they returned to the palace, he should definitely ask the Imperial Kitchen to prepare a nutritious meal for her.

"It was the lantern festival," Deng Xiao Lin spoke. "Earlier, everyone was enjoying the firework show. Then, when we heard that big explosion, everyone was a little too anxious to know what happened and they couldn't sleep."

"You can hear the explosion from here?" Qin Zhi Hao asked.

"Hmm…" Deng Xiao Lin nodded. "It was a very big explosion, wasn't it? Not only we could hear it from here when the explosion happened, we could even feel the ground shake."

Qin Zhi Hao tightened his grip on his sword. He could imagine just how big was the explosion. Whoever their enemy was, that person was really determined to kill them. His expression grew darker at the thought that those people managed to put someone on the watchtower and had sent waves of assassins to them.

However, at this time, Qin Zhi Hao was still unaware of who their enemy might be. Until he regrouped with his men, he won't know what had happened on this night.

"Those kids," the Emperor spoke again. His gaze followed towards the group of kids who had run away to another side to group up with another. From their distance, the Emperor could hear an elder woman instructing those kids to enter and go to bed early. "Where are their parents?"

He had been observing the surrounding for a while and thought that the number of kids was more than adults. The Emperor found it a little too strange and was curious.

Yu Feng exchanged a look with Deng Xiao Lin. For a while, the two of them were quiet.

"Those kids are mostly orphans," Yu Feng said. Her head lowered as she thought of those kids who had the same fate as hers.

The Emperor glanced at Yu Feng. He wanted to ask her something, but then, stopped himself. Looking at Yu Feng at this moment, the Emperor seemed to have the thought that Yu Feng should be an orphan as well.

As the group continued to walk down the street, the Emperor observed everything around them quietly. The frown on his face deepened as he saw their living condition. He could not think that anyone would be able to live in such a condition. The smell was bad and it was a little dirty.

Seeing that people were walking past the street, a few beggars had come out to look at what was going on.

The group of people was dressed nicely than them and the swords in the guards' hands looked a little striking. Habitually, they wanted to get close and asked for a spare change from those men, however, once they saw a warning glance from Deng Xiao Lin, none of them dared to come close.

In the beginning, the street was still brightened up slightly and some voices can still be heard, signaling that someone was living nearby, however, as they got further, the street became darker and quieter. The only voice they can hear was Yu Feng and Deng Xiao Lin's as they were discussing the festival earlier.

Of course, Yu Feng had not mentioned any of her exciting experiences to Deng Xiao Lin.

The guards held their swords tightly, ready for anything that might come their way. After fifteen minutes of walking around, they finally saw that the street ahead was getting brighter, a sign that they have gotten near to the end of the street.

Suddenly, a group of beggars came from the opposite side. In their hands were a few wilted vegetables. From the expression on their face, it could be seen that they were happy with the food that they were carrying.

The Emperor listened to Deng Xiao Lin's conversation with those beggars and suddenly understood where did those people pick up the vegetables. This area was close to the palace's backdoor. It was also an area where the palace would dump their spoiled food and rotten ingredients.

At the thought that these people and the children could only eat something that the palace had thrown away, the Emperor's mood worsened. The lines on his face deepened as various thoughts went into his mind at this time, but no one knew what he was thinking about or dared to guess his thoughts.

"We're here!" Yu Feng announced.

The moment they heard her words, the guards dispersed to check on their surroundings. When they returned, one of the guards went over to Qin Zhi Hao to report something in a low voice.

His jaw tightened. Qin Zhi Hao turned to the Emperor and spoke, "Everything is ready. The other group had managed to contact the palace and brought a team to escort us to the palace."

Yu Feng turned to Deng Xiao Lin and spoke, "Uncle Deng, you go on and return home first. I still have to accompany them."

Deng Xiao Lin gave Yu Feng a look over and his gaze turned suspicious. "Why? Didn't you say they're going to enter the palace? What are you going to do if you follow them?"

Yu Feng suddenly thought that she did not know how to explain and get out of this situation. "Don't worry, I'll just send them over to the corner. Uncle Deng, this is the only thing I can do for my benefactors."

Qin Zhi Hao raised his brow upon hearing Yu Feng's addressing them as her benefactors, but did not make any comment.

"Uncle Deng, don't worry," Yu Feng patted at the man's arms. "I will return shortly. You can go back first."

Deng Xiao Lin watched as Yu Feng led the group of people towards another street. His gaze fell on the group of people who were with Yu Feng and a breath of relief escaped him.

He did not know why, but ever since the group appeared, the air around him became stifling. Now that they were no longer around, Deng Xiao Ling thought that he was able to breathe easily.

Suddenly, he wondered how did Yu Feng get to know those people...