Chapter 217 There is a ghost in the palace

Not long after, an old eunuch with a scar on his face was brought in.

This man was called Xiyi. He used to serve in the palace of the previous emperor. Later, because of a crime, he was demoted to the Ruyi Room to wash toilets, and he washed there for nearly ten years.

After Feng Ruobao finished introducing the old eunuch's situation, he said, "Your Majesty, Xiyi said that he was rewarded with fish-fragrant eggplant flowers several times by the late emperor."

It was actually given as a reward to the palace servants?

Then why cover it up like that?

The emperor frowned, "Do you remember why the late emperor rewarded you?"

The old eunuch trembled and said, "I was in charge of mopping the inner hall floor at that time. The chief steward said that I mopped the floor very well, so the late emperor rewarded me."

"It's always eggplant? Have you ever given it to anyone else?"

"Yes, I always get eggplants." The old eunuch replied, "I didn't stay in Mingyi Palace for long, so I don't know if the late emperor gave any rewards to others.

However, after I received several rewards in a row, my roommate Xide once murmured that the late emperor was kind and often gave everyone the leftover food.

The emperor went to great lengths to prepare the eggplant dish, of course, not just to reward the palace ladies; he was not that free.

The emperor had come to a conclusion and asked, "If you are rewarded for good work, then why were you punished and sent to the Ruyi Room?"

"Because of those rewards, my roommate Xide became jealous. He smeared yellow mud on the chair that the servants had cleaned, thus soiling the late emperor's robe.

The late emperor was wise and saw that it was Xide who framed me, so he had Xide beaten to death. However, I was also responsible for my negligence, so I was punished and sent to the Ruyi Room.

In this palace, there is no shortage of rewards and punishments, and even more so, there is no shortage of intrigues. The emperor could not find anything strange about what Xiyi said, so he had to continue asking Xiyi questions.

There weren't many questions Xiyi could answer, and even if she did, there weren't any useful clues.

Perhaps this was the reason, or perhaps it was because he had been forgotten by the late emperor in Ruyi Room for too long that he was able to survive, while the rest of the palace maids died one after another over the years.

Now all the emperor knew was that the eggplants he ate ended up in the stomachs of the palace ladies. He couldn't understand the late emperor's intention for doing this, so he looked at Wei Qingyan.

Wanting to see if she had any other ideas, Wei Qingyan did have a question, "How do you think the food the late emperor gave you tastes?"

Everyone in the hall was a little surprised, because the food from the imperial kitchen was definitely delicious.

Especially a low-ranking palace maid, who usually eats from a big pot.

For him, the imperial meal is simply a delicacy, is there any need to ask?

Only Shi Yu's eyes lit up when he heard this.

The old eunuch hesitated, "The reward from the late emperor is certainly good."

"Is it really good or just a lie?" Wei Qingyan's voice was cold. "Not telling the truth in front of His Majesty is a crime of deceiving the emperor."

The emperor also noticed that the old eunuch was afraid to speak, so he said in a deep voice, "Tell the truth, and I will forgive you."

The old eunuch bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I feel that the food... the food tastes worse than what I usually eat."

"It has no taste, right?" Wei Qingyan asked again.

"Yes, it looked beautiful, but the aroma and taste were gone, like... like..."

He couldn't find the right words to describe it.

Wei Qingyan said, "It tastes like chewing wax."

The old eunuch nodded tremblingly. He had never eaten candles, but thinking about the few dishes of rewards he had eaten, he felt that this description was very appropriate.

The emperor finally understood why Wei Qingyan asked this and was horrified.

During the years Lan Shu was in the Eastern Palace, she liked to read storybooks to pass the time. He was curious about what she was reading with such relish, so he secretly read her storybooks several times.

There is a book about ghost stories, which says that food eaten by ghosts has no taste at all and tastes like chewing wax.

The food made from eggplants was not made for humans by the late emperor, but for ghosts?

In order to conceal the truth, the food was eaten by the ghosts before being given to the palace servants.

It is an honor to receive rewards from the king. Even if the food is not tasty, the palace servants dare not say anything.

In this way, it will not be easy to be noticed.

But why is there a ghost in the Mingyi Hall of the late emperor? And a ghost that likes to eat eggplant?

The emperor shuddered inexplicably and felt that he would never eat eggplant again.

Feng Ruobao also thought of this, his eyes filled with horror.

No wonder they didn’t notice that there were other people in the late emperor’s palace, because they were not humans, but ghosts.

How could mortals like them see ghosts?

But where has the ghost gone now? Is it... still in this temple?

Feng Ruobao's fat body was trembling slightly.

After Wei Qingyan could no longer get anything out of Xiyi, he asked them to leave.

"Girl, is it...is it a ghost?"

For the first time, Feng Ruobao lost his composure in front of the emperor and spoke before the emperor.

"We can't be sure based on just this." Wei Qingyan looked at the emperor, "We haven't finished looking through the relics yet, let's look for more clues."

She clearly saw the emperor's shiver and thought for a moment, "Could you please bring that sword to my inner room?"

People are always afraid of unknown things, even the emperor is the same. The emperor has probably never dealt with ghosts or monsters in his life, so it is normal to be afraid.

He is still injured now, and it is not easy for him to recover from his injury if he keeps thinking about it.

Thinking of this, without waiting for the emperor to react, Wei Qingyan had already taken the jade sword that he had placed beside the bed.

The emperor understood Wei Qingyan's good intentions.

But thinking about the jade sword, it was very likely to be a ghostly thing, and Wei Qingyan was a girl. Not to mention whether she would be afraid, what if it was harmful to her health...

He was about to ask for the jade sword to be left behind when he heard Lan Shu say, "People who have fought on the battlefield have a lot of evil spirits on them. Evil spirits can't hurt them."

My daughter has been following the fat monk for many years. She has seen many strange and weird things but she remains calm. Why should she be afraid of ghosts? It's more likely that ghosts are afraid of her.

It was the emperor who once secretly read her ghost story book and was so scared that he had a nightmare in the middle of the night and even had to have her accompany him when he took a bath.

Who would have thought that the emperor was most afraid of ghosts.

The emperor's hand trembled slightly under his sleeve. After hearing this, he stopped pretending and allowed Wei Qingyan to take the jade sword away.

Just as his daughter turned to leave, he instructed Shi Yu again, "Finding clues is important, but her health is also important. Help her a little, don't leave her alone."

Shi Yuyang is full of energy, so it’s always better for him to be with his daughter.

"Is he afraid of this?" After leaving the house, Wei Qingyan asked Shi Yu in a low voice.

Shi Yu pursed his lips and nodded, "When I was a child, I heard the Queen Mother mention that there was a war one year and the late emperor was defeated.

The Queen Mother took him to avoid pursuers. In the chaos, the servants were careless and left him alone in a deserted temple. He was not found until the next morning.

I guess I got scared that night and developed a fear of ghosts."

"He was very young that year, wasn't he?"

"Five years old." Shi Yu said, "Now that I think about it, he actually suffered the most among the many children of the late emperor."

The two of them were searching as they talked.

Another day passed, and this time no clues were found.

Wei Qingyan decided to go to the tomb.

The emperor found an excuse for them to go to the imperial mausoleum, saying that he had dreamed of the late emperor, and then asked Prince Rong to go to the imperial mausoleum on his behalf to show filial piety for seven days.

Wei Qingyan and Lan Shu dressed up as guards and followed him into the imperial mausoleum.

After receiving the news, King Jing sneered, "It seems that our emperor really dislikes Prince Rong. Seeing that Prince Rong's wedding is approaching, he even sent people to guard the tomb."

It's not unlucky.

"This is a good thing for His Majesty." Mingyue smiled, "Their incompatibility will allow His Majesty to make better use of them."

"I didn't expect that our Mingyue knew all this." King Jing pinched Mingyue's chin, "I thought you only knew how to serve others."

Mingyue let Prince Jing pinch her, and looked at him lovingly with her phoenix eyes. "It is Mingyue's duty to serve His Majesty well. If I can share His Majesty's worries and save him from so much trouble, Mingyue will be happier."

King Jing's heart was moved by those eyes. He increased the strength of his hands and said viciously, "Tell me, have you cast a spell on me?"

Otherwise, how could he be obsessed with a man and unable to control himself.

"How dare I? The prince has wronged me."

Tears hung on her eyelashes, refusing to fall. Her thin lips were slightly pursed, looking very aggrieved. "If the prince doubts me, then I will leave."

"How dare you threaten me?" King Jing suddenly turned hostile and slammed Mingyue's head against the carriage.

"I hate being blackmailed, and I hate it even more when my things are no longer under my control. The day Su Mao sent you to me, you became my thing. You have no say in whether I stay or go."