Chapter 633: The Secret Room Under the Imperial Temple
Chapter 633: The Secret Room Under the Imperial Temple
In the Jinluan Palace.
The empress issued decrees one after another, and the ministers woke up from their state of shock and excitement.
Yuan Li and Dong Xuan looked at each other and bowed at the same time: "We obey your order!"
Today's court meeting ended quickly, and all the ministers were eager to pass on the good news.
It is conceivable how huge the boost to morale would be when this news was sent to various places, especially the Xiping Road front.
In the blink of an eye, the ministers dispersed.
The empress walked down from the dragon throne with a smile on her face, and ordered people to take away Prince Jing's head and hang it at Caishikou for public display, obviously wanting to squeeze out the last bit of value from Xuwen.
"Come for a walk with me."
After the empress finished announcing these, she seemed a little emotional and said to Zhao Duan.
Zhao Duan nodded immediately and followed the empress.
Soon, the king and his minister began walking along the spacious square.
The sun was shining brightly at this moment, and the entire palace was bright. As it was spring, the wind in the palace was also warm.
The other female officials and eunuchs followed behind sensibly. Zhao Duan walked in silence and said with a smile:
"Your Majesty is happy?"
Xu Zhenguan dragged his dragon robe and smiled: "Is it obvious?"
It's not obvious, the corners of your mouth are stretched... Zhao Duan was silent for a moment, then said:
"I was originally worried that Your Majesty would miss his family and see Xu Wen die..."
Xu Zhenguan shook his head: "Since Xu Wen decided to assassinate you and me, I no longer have those fantasies."
Zhao Duan was silent.
Therefore, in the past two years, the empress has also grown a lot, from a new monarch who was somewhat soft-hearted at the beginning to one who has gradually become more powerful.
"However," Xu Zhenguan restrained his smile, exhaled lightly, and said:
"Happiness is short-lived. After defeating this great enemy, there are still external enemies. This world will not allow me to catch my breath."
Zhao Duan's heart moved:
"Your Majesty, are you still worried about Xuanyin? Now we just have to wait for all the forces of the court to gather in Xipingdao. After all, there are not many people in the Western Regions. It is only a matter of time to defeat them."
After all, the countries in the Western Regions are small countries, and they have little advantage against the Yu army that has recovered.
As for high-end combat power, even if Xuan Yin joins forces with the King of Dharma in the Western Regions, he will definitely not be afraid of the Empress joining forces with Zhang Yanyi.
The best "time window" for Buddhism was also missed due to the death of Prince Jing.
This was also the biggest reason why the court officials were so excited just now.
Xu Zhenguan's handsome face showed worry:
"Do you remember the 'disaster star' that passed through the Imperial Capital last year? I have always felt that Xuan Yin's plan is not just this. Moreover, it is not only the Western Regions that we should be vigilant about."
Zhao Duan was surprised and asked, "Your Majesty, are you worried that the Southwestern Liao people will take advantage of the situation and invade?"
These were the only two foreign enemies of the State of Yu.
As for the north... the Mubei Forest has always been stable, so King Yanshan is nothing to worry about.
Xu Zhenguan said: "I can't explain it clearly, but I have a feeling of uneasiness."
After a pause, she smiled and said:
"But let's not talk about that today. I asked you to come here because of another important matter."
"What's the matter?" Zhao Duan was suspicious, his eyes wandering dishonestly over the empress's body.
But he is not a celestial being yet, and the two of them cannot restart the dual cultivation... Do they have to use their mouths?
Or use your legs...
Xu Zhenguan glared at him in mock anger and said unhappily:
"That's not the case."
Zhao Duan was extremely disappointed and felt bored:
"What else matters..."
"..." Xu Zhenguan sighed softly and said calmly:
"Do you remember that in the house left by Taizu in 'The World', there was a map of the entire imperial palace?"
After a pause, she said:
"I have also visited several times in the past few days. By comparing the topographical map of the palace, I have discovered a secret room. Yes, it is similar to the secret room under the Yuanzu Temple."
Zhao Duan looked at her in surprise: "Where is it?"
"Taimiao." The empress gave a surprising answer.
The Imperial Ancestral Temple... that was the place where the emperors of all dynasties were ranked and worshipped. In other words... Old Xu dug a secret room under his own mourning hall...
"Your Majesty, have you ever explored it?" Zhao Duan asked tentatively.
The empress shook her head and said, "When I found out, the person had already left the capital. It was inconvenient to act with a puppet body, so I waited until now to tell you."
At this time, Zhao Duan was surprised to find that the two were not walking towards the Yangxin Palace. He was slightly surprised:
"Your Majesty wants to..."
Xu Zhenguan said "yes" and said with a mysterious look in his eyes:
"Let's go and take a look. Maybe Taizu left some clues."
Regarding the clues about why he came here and the many mysteries about himself... Zhao Duan's heart began to pound.
……
……
Just as the emperor and his ministers went to the Taimiao to explore the secret room, the news of Prince Jing's death also spread rapidly in the capital along with the court officials.
Zhao Mansion.
"What? You said that Dalang and His Majesty killed that Prince Jing in Binhai yesterday?!"
When Eugene Hua heard her daughter's hurried "report", she stood up suddenly in surprise, and the heavy weight on her plump body swayed.
Zhao Pan'er was wearing a bright dress, with a Pekingese dog wagging its tail at her feet. She said proudly:
"It was a servant who said that he ran into Ma Dugong and his party on his way out to buy things, and Ma Dugong called him over to bring a message to our family."
"Is Dalang injured?" Eugene Hua's focus was rather strange.
Zhao Pan complained:
"Mom, you didn't listen to me seriously. My elder brother came back with His Majesty. What could have happened? If there was something wrong, would he have been able to attend the court in the Golden Palace?"
Yes, His Majesty is a celestial monk, with her protection, he will not be hurt... Eugene Hua was relieved, and then she was overjoyed, her eyes lively:
"Doesn't that mean that the rebels in the south have also been suppressed? And Dalang's military order is also invalid?"
She suddenly became happy, and immediately dragged her daughter out to order people to prepare a car, so that she could show off the good news to the circle of noble ladies in Beijing.
The Zhao family was naturally overjoyed. As the carriage drove through the streets and alleys, when it passed near Caishikou, it saw a group of eunuchs from the palace playing music and parading through the streets.
"What happened?" Eugene Huaming ordered his men to stop the carriage and lifted the curtain to ask curiously.
A servant went to ask quickly and returned soon, reporting:
"Madam, it was the palace's celestial official who brought the head of the traitor Prince Jing and paraded him through the streets for public display."
At this time, more and more people gathered around, and from time to time people exclaimed in surprise, and some palace servants even spoke loudly.
Soon, more and more people around learned the news that Zhao Duan had killed Prince Jing, and they were shocked and amazed.
"Didn't Governor Zhao issue a military order for the first three months of spring? How come everyone has been killed in the first three months of spring?"
"I'm afraid this damn Prince Jing is too weak."
"No, if he was weak, why couldn't he even take down the 'God of War'? In my opinion, this man should never, ever have provoked Zhao Yan... Commander Zhao, haha, Lord Zhao wants him dead at three o'clock in the morning, who dares to keep him alive until five o'clock?"
For a time, there was a lot of discussion, and Zhao Duan's reputation as the "King of Hell" became more and more established.
…………
Yunfu.
On the edge of a vast mountain forest thousands of miles away from the capital.
The mountain breeze blows, and the endless forest rolls green "waves".
Xu Jianwen was standing on a mound. He was dressed like a nobleman, but his face was extremely pale and he looked weak.
Behind him, Qi Yuchun, carrying a rifle on his back, followed silently.
After the battle at Huting that day, Qi Yuchun abandoned Ren Kun and fled, and then searched the nearby area for three days, and finally found Xu Jianwen, who was seriously injured and almost starved to death, in a cave.
Afterwards, the master and servant quickly left Huting and headed south to Jiancheng Road. However, they did not go to find Xu Jinglong, but turned southwest and finally arrived at the "Southwest Xinjiang", which is also the living area of the Liao people.
"See? Once you cross this line, you're outside the State of Yu."
Xu Jianwen pointed to a boundary marker covered by plants below.
Qi Yuchun asked, "Your Highness, why are you here? Why don't you go and meet up with Xu Jinglong and wait for Xu Wen to return?"
Xu Jianwen said calmly:
"How could I really want to conquer the world for Xu Wen? The reason I brought you there before was just to deal with Zhao Duan. Unfortunately, I made a mistake and failed to kill him. Instead, I had to flee in panic...
But, haha, he just temporarily took a piece of the chess piece from me. The whole game is still big. As long as I still have a breath left, there is hope for a comeback."
Qi Yuchun was puzzled. Could the hope of a comeback lie with the Liao people? But how could the alien race be a help?
Xu Jianwen did not explain, but took out a purple flute and blew it gently.
The flute sounds melodious.
It took a while.
Qi Yuchun's pupils shrank as he saw several huge strange birds flapping their wings and flying towards him in the forest.
On the bird's back were several Liao people sentinels.
"Wow!"
The strange bird flew closer, and the flowers and plants on the ground were swaying in the wind caused by its flapping wings.
A female sentry jumped from the back of a strange bird and landed.
She had a slender figure and wore a dress made of animal skin, revealing her dark and shiny skin. She was about twenty years old, with an exotic face and green eyes filled with curiosity and awe.
There was a string of bone decorations hanging on the leather skirt around the waist of the female sentry, including a white flute.
"Jiligulu..." As soon as the white flute fell, it first looked at Qi Yuchun with extreme vigilance, and then looked at Xu Jianwen, and said something in the language of the Liao people.
Afterwards, Xu Jianwen actually used the same language to communicate with the other party.
Qi Yuchun was shocked. This scene was beyond his expectations.
Xu Jianwen suddenly turned his head, looked at him and smiled:
"Why do you think my wife and daughter were sent to Yunfu? Why do you think I still organized the Kuangfu Society to fight against the imperial court after the coup failed? Where did I get the confidence from?"
A flash of inspiration suddenly flashed through Qi Yuchun's mind, and he blurted out:
"Your Highness, you have long been with the Liao people..."
The word "collusion" was stuck in my throat and I couldn't say it no matter what.
As the former commander-in-chief of the imperial guards, Qi Yuchun found it hard to accept that a member of the royal family was colluding with foreign races.
Xu Jianwen did not explain anything, but said: "You will understand later."
At this time, the female sentry had already commanded two of her fellow tribesmen behind her to control the strange bird and squat down, inviting the two to go up.
Xu Jianwen climbed onto a strange bird with a smile. Qi Yuchun hesitated for a moment but had no choice but to follow him.
Soon, the group flew up and broke through the wind into the "border" of the Liao people, and the Yu State behind them quickly disappeared.
The female sentry Bai Di took the lead and passed through one line of defense after another. Finally, the group arrived at a huge "village"-like building in the forest.
And stopped outside the "temple" in the center of the village.
When Xu Jianwen and Qi Yuchun got off the bird's back, many people in the village stopped what they were doing and looked over with curiosity and vigilance.
But... there wasn't much hostility.
This greatly surprised Qi Yuchun. You know, in history, there were constant frictions between the Liao people and the Yu State.
Soon, he followed Xu Jianwen and, under the guidance of Bai Di, pried open the door of the "temple". He saw the strong Yu State style of the house, bookshelves, rocking chairs, pens, ink, paper and inkstones, potted flowers and plants, calligraphy and paintings on the walls... and the middle-aged man with disheveled hair, wearing a loose purple gown and barefoot who came out to greet him.
Qi Yuchun's brain buzzed as if it had been hit hard by a hammer. For a brief moment, he stared at the middle-aged man who had walked out and said in a lost voice:
"Song Shik?! Is that you? Why are you here?!"
Song Shik!
He used to be the prince's groom, but later he became close friends with the second prince Jianwen due to their growing personal relationship.
In order to avoid danger, Song Zhi resigned from his post as the Prince's Groom, left the capital, traveled around the world, and disappeared!
The famous scholar Song Zhi, who was once very talented and was considered to have the potential to become a great scholar ten years ago and had interactions with Zhang Tianshi!
"Song Zhi pays respect to His Highness."
Song Zhi first bowed respectfully to Xu Jianwen, then looked at Qi Yuchun with a smile and said:
"Commander Qi, please come in and talk first."
Qi Yuchun walked into the room in a daze, and when the door closed, there were only three people left in the room.
Song Zhi took the lead and said to Xu Jianwen:
"Your Highness has come just in time. I have something important to tell Your Highness."
Xu Jianwen sat down naturally and asked curiously, "What happened?"
Song Zhi said solemnly:
"Just earlier, the clan's priests used the altar to learn from the gods that a battle of heavenly and human-level fighting had occurred on Binhai Road. The results showed that Qingshan Wuxiankui was suspected to be seriously injured and had gone into seclusion. As for Jing Wang Xu Wen... I'm afraid he's already... dead."
Xu Wen is dead!
At this moment, even though Xu Jianwen was usually calm and composed, he was stunned. He stared at Song Zhi, breathing slightly tight:
"Is this true?"
Song Zhi said seriously: "God's revelation cannot be false."
Xu Jianwen's face was as gloomy as water, and he suddenly cursed angrily: "Waste!"
The term "waste" naturally refers to Prince Jing.
As for the details of the battle on Binhai Road, although he didn't know, he could vaguely guess that the Empress and Wu Xiankui had both died. Combined with what he learned before he left, Zhao Duan led his troops into Binhai...
I'm afraid that Prince Jing's death is also related to that guy Zhao Duan.
Xu Jianwen's face looked extremely ugly. Prince Jing died so soon. This was undoubtedly bad news for him.
"Mr. Song." After a long time, Xu Jianwen suddenly spoke.
Song Zhi looked at the second prince, as if he had guessed something:
"Your Highness?"
Xu Jianwen looked at him expressionlessly and said:
"Now only Buddhism is left in the northwest. If we wait until the court stabilizes Xiping, I will have no chance."
"so……"
"Get ready, it's time for the Liao people to send out their troops."
(End of this chapter)