Under the cover of night, the palace gates opened slightly. Little Lezi led Erniu quietly inside, leaving behind a dazed guard.
As the man and dog disappeared into the darkness, one guard asked his companion, “What’s happening in the palace? Why bring a dog in at this hour?”
“Don’t speak carelessly. That’s General Xiaotian. His rank is much higher than ours.”
“Uh, then why summon General Xiaotian to the palace at this time?”
“Who knows? I just feel tonight won’t be peaceful. Enough, these aren’t matters for us to worry about. Let’s just guard the gate properly.”
While silence returned here, the Eastern Palace grew increasingly lively.
Pan Hai stood in the courtyard, frequently glancing at the entrance.
The Crown Prince sneered, “What, does Eunuch Pan want to add more manpower?”
Seeing the Eastern Palace turned upside down, he had become calm.
If they hadn’t found it after searching so thoroughly, it seemed they wouldn’t find it at all.
After all, the figurine was buried in a very special place, not easily discoverable.
The Crown Prince’s lips curved upward, his heart gradually relaxing.
Just a little more patience. At daybreak, he would go cry to his father and make sure that dog slave Pan Hai paid for this!
Pan Hai wiped his forehead with his sleeve, his mood heavy.
“Master, he’s here!” Little Lezi stepped aside, revealing a robust large dog.
The Crown Prince’s eyes narrowed, blurting out, “Why is Erniu here?”
Erniu looked at the Crown Prince upon hearing his voice, then turned to Pan Hai.
Pan Hai bowed slightly to Erniu, “General Xiaotian, we’re counting on you.”
Erniu wagged his tail but showed no other reaction.
Pan Hai was momentarily stunned.
The Crown Prince suddenly laughed, “Pan Hai, do you think Erniu has supernatural powers? No matter how capable, it’s still just a dog. It can’t understand human speech.”
Erniu glanced at the Crown Prince askance.
He couldn’t understand? What a fool!
Pan Hai’s face turned ashen under the Crown Prince’s mockery.
Little Lezi whispered, “Master, Prince Yan said that for General Xiaotian to find something, it’s best to let him smell the person who touched the object. If the object retains that person’s scent, it’ll be easier for General Xiaotian to find it.”
Upon hearing this, Pan Hai immediately pointed at the Crown Prince and made a gesture mimicking a bone.
Using a figurine to curse the Emperor was such a treasonous act that even if the Crown Prince was stupid, he wouldn’t have entrusted it to others. He must have buried the figurine himself. However, it was unclear whether the figurine retained the Crown Prince’s scent, or if Erniu could understand his meaning.
Erniu gave Pan Hai a contemptuous look before turning and pouncing towards the Crown Prince.
If he wanted to find something, just find it. Why make a gesture of a meat bone? If it were another stupid dog, wouldn’t it be misled and bring back a bone? What then?
Indeed, this one was also a fool.
Seeing Erniu pounce, the Crown Prince reflexively cried out, “Stay away!”
The lightning-fast dog had already grabbed the Crown Prince’s trouser leg, sniffing it forcefully before running off like the wind.
The Crown Prince still hadn’t recovered his senses.
Pan Hai was equally stunned.
Had he just seen a look of contempt on a dog’s face?
He must be seeing things.
“Are you all dead? Help me up!” The frightened Crown Prince, his legs weak, shouted angrily.
Pan Hai immediately called out, “What are you all standing around for? Continue searching!”
Inviting General Xiaotian into the palace to help was just a desperate measure. They couldn’t pin all their hopes on a dog.
Erniu moved nimbly, darting back and forth, quickly returning to Pan Hai and placing the items he had retrieved one by one in front of him.
An ivory comb, a hemp-faced shoe, a white silk handkerchief… Various personal items.
The Crown Prince laughed loudly, “Pan Hai, is this the helper you invited? I told you, a beast is just a beast. Even if it has some human traits, it can’t be superior to humans. Are you at your wit’s end, like a cornered dog?”
He had once coveted Erniu, but after being frightened by this beast repeatedly, that fascination was long gone.
What use was a dog that couldn’t predict earthquakes? Once he ascended the throne, he wouldn’t go anywhere. No emperor in history had ever died from an earthquake.
Having come to this realization, the Crown Prince stared at the large dog going back and forth carrying objects, wishing he could kill it immediately and cook its meat.
Pan Hai’s expression grew increasingly grim as the pile of objects in front of him continued to grow.
At this moment, Pan Hai also felt he had been foolish.
How did he think of calling Erniu to help? This didn’t help, it was causing trouble and making him lose face even more.
Erniu put down an old purse and grunted dissatisfiedly twice.
What was this person’s expression? Did he think Erniu wasn’t doing a good job?
He was also struggling. That person’s scent was everywhere here. These were the ones he had carefully selected!
Little Lezi had a sudden inspiration and coughed lightly, “Master, shouldn’t we let General Xiaotian smell the scent of paulownia wood—”
Pan Hai’s eyes lit up.
That’s right, this was the Crown Prince’s chambers. The Crown Prince’s scent was everywhere. It would be strange if Erniu could find anything just by smelling the Crown Prince’s scent. Smelling the paulownia wood was the right approach.
Pan Hai felt like slapping his forehead.
He had been stuck on the wrong track and wasn’t as quick as Little Lezi.
Fortunately, paulownia wood wasn’t hard to find. There were some planted in the garden, and soon an attendant brought back a paulownia branch.
Pan Hai handed it to Erniu to smell, then pointed at the Crown Prince and made a gesture mimicking a meat bone.
Erniu glanced sideways at the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince exploded in anger, “Pan Hai, don’t be too insolent!”
“This slave wouldn’t dare.”
Erniu ignored the verbal sparring between the two and turned to run off.
The sounds of searching gradually stopped. They had searched all around the chambers and still found nothing, forcing them to pause.
Erniu sniffed here and there, seemingly having found a target, and headed straight for the inner chamber of the Crown Prince’s quarters.
Two attendants followed him.
Erniu entered the inner room, sniffed around, and ran to the window, placing his front paws on the windowsill.
The two attendants looked at each other, one muttering quietly, “Has General Xiaotian discovered something?”
“What could be here? Surely not the Crown Prince’s smelly socks…”
“Don’t talk nonsense. That’s still the Crown Prince. If we can’t find anything today, all of us, including the Superintendent, will be in big trouble.”
“Woof! Woof!” Erniu started barking.
Hearing the commotion, Pan Hai hurriedly walked in, followed by the Crown Prince, whose face had turned pale.
Seeing Pan Hai enter, Erniu barked even more intensely at the windowsill.
Pan Hai walked over, staring at the windowsill and frowning in thought.
Erniu, unable to bear it any longer, extended his paw and pushed, knocking a potted plant off the windowsill onto the floor.
The flower pot was porcelain and shattered with a loud crash, scattering flower stems and soil.
“Stop!” The Crown Prince cried out in anguish.
Pan Hai’s eyes narrowed. He bent down and picked up something half-exposed in the soil.
It was a figurine made of paulownia wood, with a needle stuck right in the center of its chest. On the back were written eight characters representing a birth date and time.
Pan Hai gripped the figurine tightly and suddenly looked at the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince had already collapsed on the ground.
“Take the Crown Prince to the Qianqing Palace!” Pan Hai suppressed his inner excitement and anger, shouting.