Chapter 59: Incident
Since the first audience with the emperor in early April, Prince Yin and the man recommended by Prince Yin, Can Yunzi, have suddenly been greatly favored. They have been summoned five times in three days. Each time, outsiders were dismissed and they had to speak in secret. Even close friends like Li Zaifang and Huang Shanggang were not allowed to be heard. Each private conversation always took more than three or four hours. Even Lan Daoxing and Tao Zhongwen in the past did not have such an unusual situation. As a result, Can Yunzi's reputation became very popular and shook the capital in an instant. Everyone realized the same thing:
Master Fei Xuan is in a state of panic.
The experienced, treacherous and weird Fei Xuan Zhen Jun was already difficult enough to deal with; after he got too excited, Fei Xuan Zhen Jun became even more unreasonable; back then, he was obsessed with mysterious methods and advocated alchemists, and he could unscrupulously give the title of Three Orphans to Tao Zhongwen, who was born as a county official and won favor with his secret medicine, directly breaking all the conventions since the founding of Da'an. And now it is clear that Can Yunzi's favor is higher than Tao Zhongwen's. What incredible actions will Zhenjun take?
Don’t underestimate the powerful alliance between the Prince of Mu and even the Yan Party and the Qingliu. But in front of the emperor who is really in power, they are nothing but a blade of grass. After going crazy, Lao Deng is like an oversized dump truck. Anyone who dares to stand in his way will be hit by a dump truck. Since no one in the court wants to reincarnate into another world and start a new life yet, everyone just keeps quiet.
However, although escaping is shameful, it does not actually solve the problem. On April 11, the emperor issued a special order to the Ministry of Rites to prepare for the Banquet of Grace and Honor that had been postponed for half a month, and to set up a banquet in the Western Garden in advance to entertain the royal family and meritorious officials, under the pretext of welcoming the elders of the royal family and acquainting them with their relatives. However, the officials who were summoned knew very well that this was just a trick by Lao Deng to be both the emperor and the minister, so they were not surprised.
Seeing that the emperor's birthday was just around the corner, all the clan members who had come to the capital should offer gifts; but Lao Deng was, after all, a frugal person who wore only eight sets of clothes throughout the four seasons, loved the people, and was filial to his brothers. It was certainly not easy for him to publicly accept these precious, gorgeous, and expensive gifts, so he simply let the clan members present the gifts at a private banquet, and then reluctantly accepted them on the grounds that it was difficult to return them since they had already come, so that he would appear decent and untainted, and not be subject to any gossip.
It is for this reason that all the ministers are well aware of the situation and after taking their seats, they follow the etiquette honestly and never prevent the royal family from having a chance to shine. Master Feixuan usually believed that "two dragons should not meet each other" and had rarely seen his own children. Today, although all four princes and princesses were present at the banquet, they were all reserved and cautious, and refused to say a word.
Since the death of Crown Prince Zhuangjing, the current emperor has only two sons, Prince Yu and Prince Jing. Although Prince Yu was slightly older, his biological mother was not of high status, and he himself was modest and cautious, so he was not favored by the emperor and had no title of crown prince for a long time. The chaos of no distinction between the elders and the younger ones, the ambiguous mind of the Supreme Being, all these things seemed like a precursor to the struggle for the throne; but so far, the two princes had basically been as quiet as chickens and had not caused any big noise.
...Facts have proved that as long as the emperor's ability to make trouble is strong enough, the frequency of his tricks is frequent enough, and the level of the riddler is high enough, the princes, grandchildren, and even the civil and military officials in the court will be tortured by the emperor to exhaustion and confusion, and they will definitely have no energy to think about trivial matters such as seizing the throne. This experience is profound, subtle and unique, and can be regarded as a unique contribution made by Master Feixuan to history. In this area, even Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang would be superior to him.
Today's banquet was no different. Prince Yu and Prince Jing both presented some talismans, magical instruments, out-of-season peaches and other things that were the same and could not go wrong. As usual, they said a few auspicious words about the soup and then bowed and sat down. The rest of the people, according to their status, praised the emperor's benevolence and the two princes' filial piety. The words they used were old-fashioned and the ideas were the same. The whole process was as boring as ever.
But when the emperor's youngest daughter, Princess Sishan, presented a gift, the whole hall fell silent - what the princess took out from the brocade box was actually a thin blood-written sutra!
"This is the Tao Te Ching that I wrote with my fingertips' and heart's blood mixed with gold powder. I also recited it five thousand times myself to pray for the immortality of my father."
After saying this, Princess Sishan bowed solemnly, a few strands of dazzling white hair showing in her gorgeous bun; writing scriptures with her own blood and reciting them day and night, even if the princess's physical condition was still good, she was now greatly exhausted.
The blood scripture held up by the accompanying palace maid. Seeing the dazzling blood-red characters on the book cover, the civil and military officials looked at each other, speechless for a moment: To be honest, it's not like everyone has never seen the performance art of licking the emperor, but there must be a reason for such licking. If the princes presented the blood sutra, it could be considered that they were planning to appoint a crown prince with great determination. But why would a princess spend so much effort on it?
The emperor was sitting high above. After taking the book, he flipped through it and was slightly stunned. To be honest, if the two princes and officials were keeping the matter under wraps, his only daughter had a very weak presence and had basically become a transparent person in the palace. Even the emperor himself didn't know how his daughter had secretly come up with such a big move.
Judging from the little remaining impression of the emperor, Princess Sishan was basically an honest, cautious, and well-behaved person who was almost boring. She didn't seem like someone who had the courage and scheming to do such a cruel thing, which was puzzling for a while.
This is when the beauty of identity comes into play. If a prince had done something like this, the emperor would probably have immediately become unspeakably wary. But the princess didn't care at all. Master Fei Xuan thought about it for a moment and then stopped thinking about it. He just laughed out loud and enjoyed the vanity of being filial.
"Good, good, good! Good girl!" He praised again and again: "I never thought I had such a sensible daughter!"
Everyone stood up and praised the emperor's blessings and the princess's benevolence and filial piety. This kind of thing involves neither imperial power nor political struggles. In front of a princess with such an innocent identity, everyone is still willing to sincerely flatter her. The emperor looked around with great pride, and specially gave the princess a seat beside him. He took the initiative to hold his daughter's hand:
"Good boy, what do you want?"
Master Feixuan is generally clear about rewards and punishments. His daughter has earned so much face in front of outsiders, so of course he cannot help but reward her. Even if Princess Sishan wants some extravagant and excessive treatment, he can satisfy her.
But Princess Sishan just lowered her head slightly:
"I have no other wishes, I just want to pray beside my father and bless him."
Master Feixuan became even happier. Although he has already hired a professional prayer team in Xiyuan, there is never too much prayer. Besides, his own daughter sincerely prays for him as a father. Such filial piety is beyond words, and maybe it will be effective in other aspects of the magic. So, he agreed to his daughter's small request:
"I haven't seen my daughter for a long time. From now on, please stay by my side, so that when father and daughter want to see each other, they don't have to go all the way to the palace to summon them."
Master Feixuan hadn't seen his relatives for a long time. Could it be because the palace was far away? Everyone bowed their heads in silence, listening to the emperor's orders to prepare rewards, and displaying the rare kindness of father and filial piety of daughter in the royal family; they fulfilled their duties and served as the backdrop of this harmonious and joyful scene. After Princess Sishan thanked the emperor respectfully, she sat quietly by the side and fulfilled her role as a tool.
Princess Sishan's creative effort made the gifts from other royal family members seem too cliché and hard to attract attention. After all the royal family members had presented their gifts one by one, everyone counted them in their minds and turned their eyes to the head of the banquet - each family had finished counting, except for a gift from Prince Yin!
In order to be unique and eye-catching, the princes of the royal family would often bribe the eunuchs to change the order of the gifts, so that they could make a stunning final appearance. But now, Prince Yin had nothing in his hands, but he just stood up leisurely and saluted to the emperor:
"I'll let your majesty know that everything has been arranged and the results will be known this afternoon."
The emperor sitting on the throne was slightly stunned, as if he couldn't believe it: "Has it really been arranged? So quickly?!"
King Yin did not say anything else, but a thin old man with a pale beard and wrinkled face appeared from among his entourage and also bowed deeply.
Master Feixuan slowly stood up and stopped moving.
Prince Yin did not hesitate. He lifted his skirt and knelt down, saying loudly the lines he had thought about thousands of times in his mind:
"The great deed has been accomplished. This is a blessing to our court. God bless our emperor! I congratulate the emperor!"
Prince Yin still had some real kung fu skills. His shout was loud, clear, and full of energy, easily shaking the whole area. Only then did True Lord Fei Xuan come to his senses. His solemn and dignified old face was finally distorted by the intense stimulation, and the laughter seemed to come from the top of his head, making everyone's scalp numb!
"Excellent! Excellent!" Zhenjun's voice trembled uncontrollably, "Heaven has favored me. Heaven has indeed favored me! I will definitely reward the Immortal Master for his great contribution!"
Ever since the present emperor ascended the throne and ruled the world with his unpredictable imperial mind, the ministers have never seen him so excited and out of control, to the point of revealing his true feelings in public. Unprecedented and unimaginable, the excitement at that moment was probably even more intense than when a true master attained the Tao and ascended to heaven in broad daylight; so everyone bowed their heads in confusion, but the same thought echoed in their minds:
[This old Deng has finally gone crazy!] 】
The crazy old Deng didn't care at all, he just showed an extremely bright smile, so bright that it could make officials with a little common sense shudder:
"Now that everything is ready, I wonder when can we start, Master?"
The old man called "Immortal Master" just bowed slightly, without even pulling his hands out of the sleeves of his Taoist robe:
"We can start this afternoon."
"You're not too tired, are you, Immortal Master?"
"To relieve your worries, I dare not say a word of tiredness."
The important officials who were forced to listen were confused and surprised. On the one hand, they were shocked by the rare understanding and reasoning of Zhenjun, and on the other hand, they really couldn't understand where this old man came from. Prince Yin has been making a lot of friends and gaining a good reputation in the capital these days. Even if he was not invited to the meeting, one could guess that this was the "Shan Yunzi" whom he had tried hard to bring to the capital. But compared to the previous few, Tao Zhongwen and Lan Daoxing, who looked like immortals with tall and majestic figures, this Can Yunzi was just an ordinary old man who had been through many hardships. He looked dull and silent, and there was nothing appealing in his words. Instead, it sounded obscure:
"I have already asked my disciples to prepare everything. When the merits are completed today, they will be able to see through all mechanisms and see all kinds of light. This is all due to your majesty's blessings. I would like to congratulate you."
These words were incomprehensible. Even though the Duke of Mu and his son listened attentively, they still could not understand. For the first time in their lives, they felt the pain of being beaten by a madman:
What the hell is this? ! 】
Even though Tianyin let out a cry of surprise, Master Feixuan had been smiling for a long time, with no change in his expression; Canyunzi bowed again and retreated silently, but after standing beside King Yin, he looked around with a pair of gleaming old eyes, his gaze was scorching and it was difficult to discern his emotions.
"Tomorrow is the Banquet of Grace and Honor." True Lord Fei Xuan stood there, as if he was savoring the moment, before he spoke slowly, "At the banquet, I will clearly announce an important event, and you will know the clues then."
What's the big deal? What should you know? All the officials looked at each other, but no one dared to ask.
In the silence, the curse of the Heavenly Book became even more piercing:
[Riddler, get out of Da'an Dynasty!] ! ! 】
·
Although he was extremely dissatisfied with the Riddler, a young character like Mu Qi had no right to get involved in the relationship between the Emperor and the prince; he could only follow the class and pay his respects in order, and barely finish this inexplicable banquet, which could only be considered as filling his stomach.
But the worker's fate is not over yet. After the banquet, he has to rush to the Forbidden Garden to instruct the eunuchs and craftsmen in the palace to place the Feixuan Zhenjun No. 2 machine that he has adjusted. According to the previous process, there would be various acrobatics and magic performances at the end of the Grace and Honor Banquet. The Feixuan Zhenjun rockets placed in appropriate positions would be launched one by one, spelling out the two sentences [Long live the Zhenjun] and [May your benevolence last forever] in the dim night sky near dusk; the fireworks would be dazzling, and most of the people in the capital would be able to witness this great project that was almost a miracle with their own eyes, and the pleasure and satisfaction of Feixuan Zhenjun by then could be imagined.
Unfortunately, Master Feixuan's excitement and impatience have reached its peak, and it seems that he can no longer be pleased with such a small thing. Mu Qi was busy in the Forbidden Garden for most of the hour, and Master Feixuan did not send anyone to inquire about the progress of the Banquet. Instead, the eunuchs and guards in the Forbidden Garden were coming in and out, busy carrying large and small jars and various magical instruments, and leading a group of people in strange costumes to survey the terrain. According to the eunuchs who were familiar with him, this should be the preparation made by Master Feixuan for the "ritual meeting" that night - the Forbidden Garden was originally a private place for the royal family to enjoy and feast, and the security regulations were extremely strict. But now Master Feixuan has issued a special decree that all regulations in the Forbidden Garden must give way to the "big event" prepared by Master Canyun.
"Your Highness, please be patient!" The eunuch who passed the message to him warned carefully: "This Canyunzi is very popular. Even our ancestor, Eunuch Li, has to give way to him. No one dares to offend those 'apprentices' and 'strongmen' he brought in. For example, in today's matter, we don't know the rules. We just followed orders. Your Highness, please don't ask about it casually."
Mu Qi thanked the eunuch for his kindness, but his heart tightened - he had little experience in the court, but he had heard of the past when Master Fei Xuan was arrogant for the sake of Taoism and said that anyone who stood in my way would be killed. Changing security regulations without authorization is a big risk, and a normal old Deng would never make such a mistake. But the old Taoist's brain is inversely proportional to his level of insanity. If he meets an alchemist with superb deception skills who can completely fool him, then Fei Xuan Zhenjun is likely to imitate the widowed Empress Wu Zetian and lose his mind. In this extremely crazy and unreasonable state, he is likely to do anything.
In his normal state, Master Fei Xuan was so weird and evil that it made people sick, while in his mad state, he was so crazy that it made people scared; considering that after his last madness, the emperor and his ministers fought over the issue of the Great Ceremony until the sky was dark and the earth was dark, and even the great principles were wiped out. This time his madness is even worse than before. If it is not controlled well, it will probably involve all the things that Mu Qi has worked hard for for a long time and eventually ruin them.
This is certainly an intolerable risk. But Mu Qi had no choice but to be a social animal in the Forbidden Garden and watch the situation develop helplessly. And judging from the few signs he occasionally caught while making arrangements, the situation was becoming increasingly wrong - most of the preparations for the banquet had been completed, but the emperor had never sent anyone to inquire about or receive rewards. It seemed that even his image of being courteous to the wise and humble and winning people's hearts had been completely lost. More and more strange people came and went in the forbidden garden, and some even openly ordered the guards to carry large jars of strange potions into the garden, trampling on them at will along the way, and even trampled some of Master Feixuan's favorite peonies into mud.
I only see the new people laughing, but never hear the old people crying. If flowers are like this, how can people be any better! The ministers who were preparing for the ceremony looked at the mess in the Forbidden Garden and were speechless.
·
They were so busy until 3:45 in the afternoon, when they finally had a chance to take a break. Mu Qi paid out of his own pocket and asked the guards to ask the waiter to prepare some iced watermelons for everyone to quench their thirst so that they could take a break under the shade of the trees to avoid the heat. But before he could eat the watermelon, a young eunuch in yellow clothes, who was unfamiliar to him, came hurriedly and spoke directly:
"Your Majesty orders the Prince of Mu to come to Wuyi Palace to meet the Emperor immediately!"
While Lao Deng favors his new love, he still remembers him? The prince was slightly surprised, and quickly wiped his hands, bowed and replied:
"Then please wait for a moment, sir. I'll come right after I change my clothes."
It is quite hot now, and the prince has to command a group of people to carry an iron pole and run around to determine the direction. They also have to dig holes and level the ground, and work diligently to mix plaster and mud. Of course the Immortal of Ashes is not clean anymore. He is now covered in sweat and dust. He is not fit to meet the Emperor at all. He has to clean himself up before coming.
But the young eunuch was stunned for a moment, then spoke decisively:
"No, His Majesty's order is to see you immediately, there is no room for delay!"
This is too disrespectful! Given the status and position of the Duke Mu's Mansion and the usual leniency and tolerance of Master Feixuan, how could he have ever run into such a harsh and unreasonable opponent? Besides, it wasn't an impolite request. The people in the inner court were so arrogant and impatient that the prince's expression changed immediately.
But he didn't want to be unhappy with the emperor's order, so after a moment of silence, he clapped his hands, stood up and followed the young eunuch.
·
The forbidden garden is covered with flowers and willows, and there are winding paths everywhere. But after walking for a while behind the young eunuch, the Crown Prince couldn't help but frown slightly: he had been to Wuyi Palace several times and was quite familiar with the road; the path he was walking on now could lead to the back door of Wuyi Palace, but it was winding and remote, and few people had ever walked there; and when he peeked out through the green shades, he could see that the place was empty, with hardly any palace servants coming and going.
Mu Qi slowed down his pace:
"Excuse me, sir, where have all the guards of the Imperial Garden gone?"
The young eunuch neither answered nor turned back, but just walked forward with his head down.
Mu Qi said again:
"Then I would like to ask again, where does your father-in-law usually work?"
Still no reply, not even any special reaction. Mu Qi remained calm, but his hand quietly reached for his waist.
But before he could make any move, he heard the rustling sound of grass and trees being trampled in front of him. Mu Qi turned his head suddenly and saw a thin woman in palace dress struggling out from the bushes beside the path, looking panicked and terrified:
"Don't go any further, don't go any further!" She shouted hastily, her voice slightly hoarse: "They are not people in front of the emperor! These people have ulterior motives, and the emperor has been deceived by them--"
Before he finished speaking, Mu Qi took a closer look and was horrified:
"Princess Sishan!"
Yes, the woman in palace dress who was running towards them in panic was none other than Princess Sishan, who had been in the limelight today and was taken around by the True Lord to show off his filial piety!
The shock at that moment was really hard to describe, but before Mu Qi could react, he saw the grass and trees nearby swaying slightly, and an old man in gray clothes turned out from behind the shade of a tree. He looked calm, and even had a confident smile on his face.
"Princess, you are wrong." Canyunzi said softly, "The emperor has just issued an edict to confer upon us the titles of Xuanqing Zhenren and Danyun Gaoshi, and to allow us to walk around the palace. Since the emperor has granted us special permission, how can we no longer be in the presence of the emperor? As for why we invited the prince here, of course we have other questions to ask."
After saying that, Can Yunzi waved his hand, and a ray of light popped out, transforming into a very familiar booklet:
"Voice of the Heart Diary: Final Review Version"
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