Chapter 207 "Special Products" of Cining Palace
Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the horses were still running wild, but it was just disorder, not "dirty" enough.
On the high platform, the Empress Dowager was so angry that she vomited blood and was scared half to death, but she still clung tightly to the armrests of the phoenix throne and refused to move an inch.
That was a symbol of her power, her last vestige of dignity.
Even if things below are in complete chaos, she will sit at the highest point and look down on these treacherous officials.
"snort."
Tang Li leaned against Pei Yunjing's chest, looking at the old woman who stubbornly refused to get down, a cold sneer flashing in her eyes.
"She's sitting quite steadily."
She toyed with the round fan in her hand, her voice light and airy:
"Since the Empress Dowager likes the 'blessings' in the palace so much, then I will have all the 'specialties' that have been accumulated in the palace for hundreds of years brought out to pay their respects to her."
Pei Yunjing raised an eyebrow: "Specialty products?"
"yes."
Tang Li blinked, a strange light flickering in her eyes:
"This palace is all show and no substance, but inside it's rotten. Some things have been hiding in the gutter or in the cold palace for hundreds of years without seeing the light of day. With all this commotion today, it's time to let them out for some fresh air."
After speaking, she lowered her eyes and sent a cold, obscure, and alluring spiritual wave along the floor tiles of the main hall, spreading to the deepest and darkest corner of the palace.
Come out.
Come out, everyone.
Go and see your master.
...
At first, there was a chilling rustling sound.
It's like countless withered leaves rubbing against the ground, or like millions of silkworms munching on mulberry leaves.
The sound wasn't loud, but it was extremely dense, converging from all directions, drowning out the sound of horses' hooves and the cries.
What was that sound?
"It seems...it seems to be coming from the corner of the wall?"
"And on the pillars!"
A minister pointed in alarm at the massive golden nanmu pillars of the main hall.
On the originally vermilion pillars, a layer of dark, rapidly moving "skin" had appeared at some point.
That's... a cockroach.
Thousands upon thousands of glossy cockroaches, each the size of a thumb, were waving their antennae and frantically climbing up the pillar.
On the ground.
Countless mice scurried out from the crevices of the carvings and from under the edges of the carpet.
They are not as cute and white as the snow mice of the past.
These are house rats that live in the sewers of the imperial kitchen, growing up eating rotten food. Their fur is filthy, their eyes are fierce, and they reek of a nauseating stench.
But that's not the scariest part.
"Hiss—hiss—"
At the entrance of the main hall, amidst the pile of shattered wood chips, long, brightly colored snakes slithered in.
They came from the dry well in the cold palace, and from the depths of the artificial hill in the imperial garden.
It is a poison nurtured by the land where countless wronged souls are buried.
Swarms of rats, swarms of insects, swarms of snakes.
The three black torrents converged but did not attack the others in the hall.
They have only one goal.
All the heads of the shadowy creatures were pointed directly at the glittering golden throne atop the high platform.
"Aaaaaah! What is this?!"
"Insects! So many insects!"
The officials were terrified, and some even vomited on the spot.
These densely packed, writhing creatures are more visceral and more terrifying than swords and knives.
Pei Yunjing frowned as he looked at the overwhelming influx of "local specialties," instinctively hugging Tangli tighter and pulling his feet back.
"...My beloved concubine."
His voice was somewhat tense:
"Your friends... have rather unique looks."
"Don't be afraid."
Tangli smiled and comforted him:
"They don't bite, they just...miss their mother."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the black torrent surged up the Imperial Staircase.
Cockroaches crawled all over the white marble steps, turning the white into black.
The rats climbed up the base of the phoenix throne, scratching at the gold paint with their fingernails, making a teeth-grinding "squeak" sound.
The venomous snake flicked its tongue and snaked its way up the handrail.
The Empress Dowager sat on her phoenix throne, watching the nightmare surge in like a tidal wave, her entire body completely frozen.
She wanted to run, but her legs were too weak to stand up.
She tried to scream, but it felt like her throat was being choked.
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