Chapter 10 Chapter 10 The red-clothed ghost is holding his head.
By the time Xie Tingyu arrived outside Penglai Palace, a huge crowd of people were already kneeling there. The palace maids were trembling with fear, their heads bowed low.
Several lay sprawled on the ground, their hair disheveled and their clothes stained with blood, while nearby stood several Jinwu Guards armed with clubs.
Although she couldn't see their faces clearly, Xie Tingyu still recognized them by the embroidery on the corners of their clothes. These were the people who were specially sent to work with her.
Xie Tingyu walked into the hall with an unchanged expression.
Ji Zhao sat cross-legged on a couch in the main hall, his hand rubbing against his forehead, his whole body radiating a hidden anger. Xie Helan sat beside him, his expression unreadable. Also seated were the other attendants of the harem, all with a look of trepidation.
Xie Tingyu took a quick look and found Ji Lian was also there.
Before coming, the officer in charge had already explained what had happened in the past few nights.
"It all started five days ago. Several Jinwu Guards on night patrol, as well as some palace servants, reported that while carrying lanterns through the corridors, they saw a figure in the distance, dressed in red, with loose hair and bare feet. The figure swayed and eventually disappeared around a corner."
"Another day passed, and at night, Chunhe Hall and the adjacent palaces were illuminated by a cold, blue-green light that lingered for a long time."
"A laundryman was passing by Chunhe Hall. The door to the hall was not closed, and a piece of paper floated out from inside and landed right in the wooden basin filled with dirty clothes. On the wet paper, the four bloody words 'Die with Eyes Unclosed' appeared.
And tonight..."
At this point, the official swallowed hard, "Someone saw the red-robed ghost again. They say it was holding a human head, with blood dripping onto the bricks, and staggering back to Chunhe Hall. The palace servants, upon seeing the headless corpse, went crazy, shouting and raving throughout the palace, saying that the beloved was angry about the late emperor's killing and was venting his anger. They even stumbled into Penglai Palace, causing a disturbance and disturbing the emperor."
Upon hearing this, Xie Tingyu's expression suddenly turned cold and solemn. "I didn't tell you when I was on duty in the palace, but you insisted on waiting until the incident came before the Emperor before coming to find me. Did you think you couldn't summon me without disturbing His Majesty?"
The officer in charge was startled. "Your Excellency is wise. At first, the palace servants and guards thought it was just night vision..."
Xie Tingyu didn't want to hear this and raised his hand to interrupt, "Where's the headless corpse? Where's the palace maid who saw the headless corpse? What did the ghost look like? Did you see it clearly?"
The official in charge simply said, "Now that the emperor is angry, please suppress the evil spirits and quell the palace rumors."
Xie Tingyu glanced at her sideways and said nothing.
It has always been a taboo in the palace to stir up trouble with the theories of witchcraft and ghosts and gods. Xie Tingyu knows very well that unless she can catch the culprit, Ji Zhao will never forgive her.
"I failed to detect the unusual movement in the palace in time. I beg Your Majesty to punish me."
As soon as Xie Tingyu finished speaking, Ji Zhao raised his hand and threw the teacup on the small table to the ground.
With a bang.
The teacup shattered into pieces, tea splashed everywhere, and left dark yellow water marks on the floor tiles in the hall.
Seeing this, everyone knelt down.
Ji Zhao swept a sinister look over the crowd below.
This is clearly my palace, my world, and yet these ant-like people are eating my salary, yet they dare to act like gods and stir up trouble right under my nose! Do they think that there is no one left in her Ji royal family?
Will the Xie family be among them?
Her eyes first swept over Xie Tingyu. Could it be her?
Xie Tingyu's calm expression made Ji Zhao unable to tell anything.
She glanced at Xie Helan again. This noble man, who had shared her bed for many years, lowered his head, and remained calm from beginning to end.
Or the Yuan family? The Wang family?
Ji Zhao asked, "What do you think of what happened tonight? What do you think of the evil spirit in Chunhe Hall?"
When the emperor mentioned the word "evil ghost", an obscure gaze drifted towards Xie Tingyu.
Xie Tingyu raised his eyes, and the moment his gaze met Ji Lian's, they both looked away tacitly.
"Your Majesty, I believe this matter is extremely strange. I will definitely find the clues after I investigate."
Ji Zhao slammed the table and stood up. "Three days, I only allow you three days. No matter whether it is a real ghost or a fake ghost, I will crush it all into powder." After saying that, the emperor flicked his sleeves and strode away.
As soon as the emperor left, the people below also dispersed one after another in fear.
Xie Tingyu did not stop, and told Xie Helan that he would go to Chunhe Hall to check it out. At the moment, the palace was haunted and the people were in panic. Xie Helan was naturally worried about Xie Tingyu going alone, so he assigned several Jinwu Guards to accompany him.
The palace maids who were originally lying outside the hall were now helping each other to get up. One of them had his eyes closed, his face was pale, blood was oozing from the corner of his mouth, and a large piece of cloth was stuffed in his mouth.
Xie Tingyu folded his arms and saluted, "I was careless in my actions and have caused you all to suffer this undeserved disaster."
The palace maid knelt down again with trembling knees, "Your Excellency, there is no need to blame yourself. I dare not do that."
Xie Tingyu looked at the man who was still unconscious: "Did he pass out from the beating? How about I ask..."
The palace maid stopped him and hesitated for a long time before saying, "Your Excellency, you don't know. She fainted from fright."
Several of them immediately confessed everything. It turned out that the cause of tonight's incident was that this person had personally seen a red-clothed ghost holding a head in its hand. He immediately screamed in fear and became dazed, but he still ignored others' attempts to stop him and ran all the way into Penglai Palace, waking up the sleeping emperor and noble lord, and then fainted.
The man was unconscious, but he was still beaten.
Xie Tingyu asked, "Where is the headless corpse?"
The palace servants looked at each other, shaking their heads. "Your Majesty has just ordered a search of the entire palace, so we won't know until dawn. Rumors have been spreading these past nights, and we wanted to inform Your Majesty. However, we didn't witness the incident with our own eyes, and only heard about it from others, so we had to give up."
Xie Tingyu nodded and walked out of the hall.
A tall, graceful figure was waiting in the corridor. The moonlight was like water, casting a layer of clear light on the corners of the person's green robe.
"It's late at night, Your Highness, why don't you go back to the Posuo Pavilion to rest?" Xie Tingyu stepped forward, "Or are you waiting for me?"
Ji Lian looked at Xie Tingyu with eyes as calm as water, "I am indeed waiting for you. I want to go to Chunhe Hall with you."
Jiangzhu led the way holding a palace lantern, and two overlapping figures were reflected on the vermilion palace wall.
The two of them walked in silence all the way to the gate of Chunhe Hall.
If too many people entered, it might destroy the traces. Xie Tingyu simply asked the Jinwu Guard to wait at the palace gate.
Xie Tingyu took the palace lantern and stepped over the threshold first, followed closely by Ji Lian.
There are two connected, long dark red marks extending from the entrance of the temple to the inner room.
It was extremely dark inside. The talismans that were originally pasted on the window frames and vermilion lacquered pillars had long since fallen off, and yellow paper was scattered all over the floor, along with scattered bright red dots, here and there.
Even with the illumination of palace lanterns, it still looks eerie at first glance.
"Is it blood?"
A gentle breath touched Xie Tingyu's ear. She looked closely for a moment in the light from the forward-leaning palace lantern. "Maybe."
Xie Tingyu carefully inspected the area, and Ji Lian followed her closely, not wanting to miss any details. She even whispered to her from time to time, "Look, there are some scattered white spots on the ground."
Xie Tingyu found this level of meticulousness incredible.
Xie Tingyu suddenly brought the palace lantern to Ji Lian, the warm light illuminating his jade-white face. "Your Highness is even more attentive than I am. Are you unwilling to see me reprimanded by His Majesty in three days for my poor ghost hunting?"
Ji Lian pushed the palace lantern half an inch away and said in a cold tone, "What does your scolding have to do with me? If I really want to say it, I'd like to see you get 30 strokes of the cane in the court to cure your rotten mouth."
Before he could finish his words, there was a sudden crisp "pop" sound above his head.
Ji Lian felt something hard brushing against her shoulder, her face suddenly turned pale, and she subconsciously took a half step back, her hand already reaching for Xie Tingyu's sleeve.
Xie Tingyu reacted very quickly, grabbed Ji Lian's fingers and pulled her to his side.
Gurgle.
A section of bamboo tube rolled on the ground several times and finally stopped against the corner of the wall.
When Ji Lian saw this thing, he felt relieved, and then he felt a slight coolness coming from his palm.
He suddenly remembered the dream he had a few days ago in the afternoon. He had held a piece of cool jade in his hand. The feeling was strangely similar to the feeling of touching it now. When he realized that he was holding hands with Xie Tingyu, he suddenly shook his hand away as if he had been burned.
Xie Tingyu's attention was all on the bamboo tube.
She opened the bamboo tube and sniffed it; it had a faint, foul odor. She handed the palace lantern to Ji Lian, then poured a little white powder from the tube onto her fingertips. As she rubbed them gently, a burning sensation suddenly came over her.
Xie Tingyu took out a handkerchief and wiped his fingers clean.
This matched what Ji Lian had mentioned before, the small white dot on the ground and the faint blue light coming out of the officer's mouth.
Seeing this, Ji Lian was puzzled and curious. Without saying anything, he took the bamboo tube from Xie Tingyu's hand. Just as he was about to open the lid of the tube, Xie Tingyu reached out and pressed his wrist: "Your Highness, it is better not to touch these."
"What is this white powder?"
"Uh... I guess it might be made from burning human bones."
Ji Lian's face changed drastically, and she almost popped the bamboo tube back into Xie Tingyu's arms.
"It could also be pig bones, or the bones of some other animal." Xie Tingyu added the second half of the sentence slowly.
Xie Tingyu took back the palace lantern and walked with Ji Lian over the floor tiles with small white spots. Most of these tiny white spots were concentrated at the junction of the window frames and the pillars.
Xie Tingyu walked to the window side of the coffin.
Because this palace hadn't been repaired for a long time, the windows were already riddled with tiny holes eaten by insects, but one hole had an unusually smooth edge. She placed the bamboo tube at an angle against that hole—the tube's mouth fit perfectly with the hole's edge.
I see.
Xie Tingyu understood and put the bamboo tube in his arms.
"how?"
"As Your Highness thought, it was indeed not a ghost, but man-made."
The fingers hidden in her sleeves subconsciously curled up. Ji Lian, whose heart was touched, lowered her eyes to avoid her gaze. "How can you conclude that I think someone is secretly playing tricks on me?"
"It's not possible that Your Highness and I have developed a bond over playing chess, so this is why..."
Ji Lian couldn't stand it any longer and interrupted her, "Don't be so self-indulgent."
He took a deep breath and spoke slowly, "This Chunhe Hall was previously occupied by my father." His Adam's apple moved slightly, and his voice suddenly dropped. "Since he... passed away, this palace has been uninhabited and gradually became deserted."
...The beloved who died with his heart torn out was actually...
"I cannot allow someone to throw unwarranted mud at him by using the name of a ghost after he's passed away."
There was a moment of silence in the room.
Ji Lian lowered her eyelids, her face filled with an indescribable sadness and grief. After a while, crystal clear tears flowed from the corners of her eyes.
Seeing this, Xie Tingyu handed over the handkerchief and said gently, "That person is quite hateful. Not only does he want to drag me down, but he also wants to ruin my reputation. It's really despicable."
Ji Lian took the handkerchief, and her hand paused as she was about to wipe it. Her eyes suddenly fixed on the corner of the handkerchief: "Did you just use this handkerchief to wipe the white powder off your fingertips?"
“Ah… this…”
When Ji Lian thought of Xie Tingyu saying that the powder might be ash from burnt human bones, her scalp suddenly tingled. She retracted her fingertips abruptly and threw the handkerchief back into her arms in disgust. The tips of her ears flushed slightly with embarrassment. "You are also very hateful. You still tease me at this time."
"Ah... I'm innocent. This time it's really not the case. I'm such a good person. Your Highness, please walk slower..."
The author has something to say:
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Updated. This isn't a ghost story, it's just a small plot.
I don’t know if I’ve made progress, but I always feel that when I wrote the second book, it didn’t have the obscure feeling that I had when I wrote the first one.
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Lianlian now: I hate your bad mouth the most TT
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