Three days after the witchcraft case occurred, the emperor made a decision and ordered all the concubines in the palace to go to the Royal Ancestral Temple for a month of meditation.
Firstly, it was for the sake of maintaining a healthy atmosphere in the palace and curbing evil trends; secondly, he wanted to thoroughly investigate the affairs in the palace and invited experts from all walks of life to participate in the investigation.
In addition to Zong Yingkong participating in the investigation team, there were other monks, Taoist priests, sorcerers and alchemists, as well as smart officials who had been investigating the case for many years. The emperor had already doubted Zong Yingkong and would not let him be responsible for the matter alone.
Looking back on what Zong Yingkong did, it was he who first suggested that there was something strange in the palace, and then, as if to confirm what he said, something unusual happened.
The emperor was still very wise and immediately saw the key to the problem. Zong Yingkong also felt the emperor's distrust of him, but he no longer cared about it.
The most important thing now is to kill the foreign monks, capture Hong Yu, and then find a way to get the Hongmeng Pearl and turn the power of the secret realm into his own.
Zong Yingkong invented the method of preserving the power of the secret realm before his eighth reincarnation. In the past, what he saved were the souls of grievances, demon power and dragon vein energy. Now these things combined are not as good as the Hongmeng Pearl generated in the secret realm. He must
To get this thing.
Tang Yue had no objections to going to the temple, but Hong Yu felt bored. "The temple is a place of pure cultivation, which is more difficult than my cultivation in the mountains. I came to the world to enjoy the leisure and entertainment, and I don't want to practice hard anymore.",
It seems that Hong Yu is becoming more and more familiar with the pleasures of the world, and that is why he sneaked out of the palace with her when nothing happened.
"Jiang Town next to the Imperial Ancestral Temple is very prosperous. We can secretly go there to play."
"I don't like Jiang Zhen." Hong Yu thought of the unpleasant memories in Jiang Zhen, which were her tragic emotional injuries.
"Then we won't go to the town. The manors and villas in the suburbs are also very fun."
"Okay, maybe I won't feel sad when I get there and can take a good look at Jiangshui Town."
In order to avoid further accidents on the road, the emperor this time transferred many close guards, imperial guards, and Jinwu guards to follow. Bai Musi was ordered to lead the Jinwu guards to follow the concubines to the Taimiao.
Although due to the relationship between Zong Ying and Confucius, Taoism prospered and Buddhism declined in the Shang Dynasty, the Ancestral Temple, as the place where the royal family practiced Buddhism, still had a very high status.
It is not only a place where the royal family worships Buddha, but also a place where people of the royal family are dealt with. It is safer to place guilty concubines and concubines of the former emperor here, and nothing will happen that will bring shame to the royal family.
Queens, concubines, concubines and concubines all have separate carriages, and women below them all have one carriage for two.
It's not that the royal family doesn't have so many carriages, it's for security reasons: there are fewer carriages and they are easier to guard.
Hong Yu felt bored in the car alone, so she summoned Gu Guibi to accompany her.
The Queen believed that Gu Gui's concubine would still be useful in the future, so after the witchcraft incident, she still sent Nanny Liu to follow Tang Yue.
When Grandma Liu saw that Concubine Gu Gu had been promoted to a higher position and gained favor, she still obeyed Concubine Hong in everything and swallowed her anger. She couldn't help but taunted: "You are too timid and cowardly. The Emperor has promoted you to a higher position.
Why are you more obedient to Concubine Hong than before?"
She sincerely hoped that Concubine Gu Gu could come to terms with Concubine Hong, so that the Empress would have a better chance.
After hearing this, Tang Yue paused after getting off the carriage, turned around and said with tears in his eyes: "Aunt Liu, what can I do? She is the head of the first palace, and I am just a noble concubine. Since I was a child,
Since childhood, my grandfather has taught me the order of respect and inferiority, and etiquette must not be violated. How can I disobey someone with a higher status than me? Such a thing not only goes against the teachings I have received since childhood, but also hurts the harmonious relationship in the harem.
The emperor has added troubles, which is really unacceptable."
Aunt Liu sneered, "What do you mean by being humble and not daring to disobey? Have you forgotten what you have done before?"
Gu Guiren seemed even more sad, with a miserable look on his face, "The Queen is the mother of all people, so her orders are naturally more important."
Aunt Liu asked her, "So you feel that the Queen has made you do something embarrassing and you have been wronged?"
There was moisture in the corners of Tang Yue's eyes, "It is an honor for me to receive the Queen's orders."
King Rui, who was watching the movement on their side, couldn't stand it anymore and stepped forward and said: "If you want to change cars, go as soon as possible so as not to delay the team's schedule."
This woman wouldn't blink even when he beat him violently. She was just pretending to be weak here, she just wanted to act.
Tang Yue replied in a panic, "His Royal Highness Prince Rui said, I will go to the car of the Red Concubine."
When Grandma Liu saw Prince Rui coming, she didn't dare to say anything. After sending Tang Yue to the red concubine's car, she took a break and went to find the empress.
King Rui was ordered to escort the imperial concubines to the Imperial Ancestral Temple this time. This was the first time he had received such an imperial order. In the past, it had been done by King Duan.
Probably the emperor was feeling guilty for not being able to find out the murderer who hurt him in time, so he used this as compensation.
After Concubine Hong waited for her to get in the car, she said with a gossipy face: "This time King Rui is sending us to the Ancestral Temple, and he will also be responsible for the safety of the concubines in the future. This is a good opportunity for you."
Tang Yue raised his eyebrows, "What good opportunity?"
"Of course it's a good opportunity to have an affair, he will definitely come to you." Hong Yu's eyes were burning with the fire of gossip.
"It's probably not a good opportunity for an affair, but a good opportunity for me to beat him up. He was beaten very badly by me last time."
Tang Yue couldn't help but think of King Rui's tragic appearance last time. He had been a bit harsh. It seemed that his arms were still red and swollen today.
At that time, she was concerned about King Rui's face and did not do anything harsh on his face. Today, his face has recovered and he has not made a fool of himself in front of everyone.
There was a sudden commotion in the convoy. The two of them were surprised. Anyone dared to rush into the royal team?
Hong Yu stuck her head out and looked in front of the motorcade. She was the only one among the palace concubines to do so. Bai Musi came to her and explained: "There is something wrong at home of a woman. Please ask someone to help."
Hong Yu asked him, "Why would any woman dare to ask the royal team for help, without fear of being punished for offense?"
Bai Musi chuckled lightly, "Yes, how dare she openly rush to the royal team, and go directly to King Rui."
In other words, they are preparing to stage a drama in which the savior pledges himself to him.
After a short time, the person who disrupted the team was captured, and King Rui sent an order to continue on their way.
"It seems that King Rui is not a lecherous person. If it were King Duan, he would have taken that woman with him. He is the most compassionate person."
Hong Yu's words revealed a sense of having experienced too many vicissitudes of life, as if she had encountered such a thing before.
However, the team did not move forward normally. Someone rushed towards their carriage, shouting as he ran: "Please save me, noble lady in the palace. The little girl did not mean to collide."
Behind her was a group of chasing soldiers, and the concubine's carriage on the road hurriedly avoided her.
When she rushed to the carriage of the two of them, the woman's aura suddenly changed, and a soft sword came out from her sleeve, heading straight towards the carriage, "Witch, I will kill you on behalf of Da Shang today."
As soon as the tip of the sword touched the curtain of the carriage door, the person stopped still, and the tip of the sword was exposed from her chest.
It was Bai Musi who penetrated the woman with his sword and killed her on the spot.
"It's disrespectful to hit the princess's carriage."
Hong Yu and Tang Yue opened the carriage door curtain, and they looked at the body of the woman on the ground wearing coarse linen clothes. It was not difficult to see that her skin was fair and her figure was graceful.
King Rui arrived from the front of the team, glanced at the woman lying on the ground, frowned and ordered, "Put away this woman's body and see what evidence is on her body."
Bai Musi apologized to King Rui, "I was in a hurry and killed this woman. I didn't have the chance to torture the person behind the scenes."
King Rui shook his head and turned the woman's body over, "This woman is so agile that even the soldiers are not as good as her. She should be a dead soldier who can be trained. She will have highly poisonous things in her mouth. Once she finds that something is wrong, she will commit suicide by taking the poison and not give it to us."
Opportunity for torture.”
The accompanying officials checked and found that, as King Rui said, there was something highly poisonous in her mouth.
In the evening, Tang Yue noticed that the palace people in the motorcade were whispering, and they were all saying that Hong Yu was a fox demon.
Tang Yue realized that this was the role of the assassin.