Firecrackers bid farewell to the old year, and incense is burned to send off the departed souls.
Strange things began to happen in the palace at the start of the new year.
On the seventh day after the passing of the Empress Dowager, Xiao Heye returned to Qiushui Residence and was not in the palace.
It was past midnight.
Liu Wan had just finished serving Su Tiyue in preparation for bed when she suddenly heard a series of hurried and chaotic gong sounds outside.
With one incident after another occurring, the entire palace was filled with unease. Su Tiyue's heart tightened, and she vaguely sensed that something terrible had happened.
So he put his clothes back on and hurried downstairs.
Halfway down the stairs, I saw Xiao Anzi running in, covered in sweat.
Su Tiyue frowned and asked nervously, "Xiao Anzi, is something wrong outside? Why is it so noisy?"
Seeing Su Tiyue's anxious expression, Xiao Anzi breathlessly comforted her, "Your Majesty, this servant was afraid that the noise outside would startle you, so I rushed over to report..."
Xiao Anzi took a breath and continued, "Your Majesty, don't worry, nothing serious has happened. It was just that the candlesticks in the Great Buddha Hall were blown over by the wind, and a fire broke out inside. The Imperial Household Department has already sent people over there."
Hearing this, Su Tiyue felt a little relieved. Fortunately, it was just a fire and no one was killed.
"It's good that you're alright..." Su Tiyue had just finished speaking when her expression immediately changed. "Wait... you said the Great Buddha Hall caught fire?!"
Xiao Anzi nodded for no apparent reason.
The fire itself is a minor matter, but the ancestral tablets of the Northern Liang dynasty's ancestors, which were kept inside, are a very serious matter.
besides……
The memorial tablet of the late emperor's crown prince is still inside.
Remembering the Empress Dowager's instructions, Su Tiyue hurriedly went downstairs, then anxiously snapped at Xiao Anzi, "What are you standing there for? Take me to see her..."
Xiao Anzi nodded quickly, then followed Su Tiyue out the door.
Seeing the two leave in a hurry, Liu Wan thought that the Empress was wearing thin clothes and that the wind was strong at night, and she was afraid that she would catch a cold.
So he ran back to his room, grabbed a cloak at random, and then followed them out.
When Su Tiyue and Xiao Anzi arrived at the Great Buddha Hall, the place was in chaos, with thick smoke billowing out.
Some people were busy fetching water to put out the fire, while others were busy moving the ancestral tablets out of the house...
When the last eunuch rushed out of the Buddhist hall carrying four or five memorial tablets, the fire suddenly grew much larger.
Despite the efforts of the Imperial Household Department to extinguish the fire, they were still unable to stop the raging flames.
Su Tiyue grabbed the arm of the young eunuch who had just come out and asked anxiously, "Have all the memorial tablets inside been moved out?"
Upon seeing that the person asking the question was Su Tiyue, the young eunuch quickly nodded respectfully and said, "Your Highness, everything has been brought out. It's all here. You can see for yourself..."
Su Tiyue turned her head to look in the direction he pointed.
The incident happened suddenly, and the eunuchs gathered the rescued memorial tablets in an open space to the side of the Buddhist hall.
Su Tiyue walked over quickly, squatted down, and flipped through the items with her hands, but found nothing...
She searched through the pile of crooked memorial tablets but couldn't find the one she was looking for.
There wasn't a single word on the late Crown Prince's memorial tablet; it was blank on both the front and back. If it were really there, Su Tiyue would definitely have seen it at a glance.
She was stunned for a moment, feeling an indescribable sense of frustration and sadness.
Yes...
How could these eunuchs know whose blank memorial tablet it was? It had probably been abandoned in some forgotten corner long ago.
Su Tiyue stood up, her eyes illuminated by the firelight, as if they were burning with flames.
She lifted the hem of her skirt with both hands and resolutely walked into the Buddhist hall.
People were coming and going at the entrance of the Buddhist hall, and no one noticed that she had barged in alone. By the time Xiao Anzi realized what was happening, Su Tiyue had already disappeared behind that door.
"Your Majesty!" Xiao Anzi cried out in anguish.
His eyes were filled with astonishment, and his eyes were bloodshot. Without thinking, he rushed into the sea of fire.
The eunuchs poured water into the Buddhist hall to extinguish some of the smoke, so apart from the choking smoke and poor visibility, it was relatively safe.
But the fire on the roof beams above their heads was burning even more fiercely...
Su Tiyue bent over, covered her mouth and nose with her sleeve, and searched everywhere along the messy corners of the walls and tables.
Finally, under the collapsed altar in the Buddhist hall, she saw the memorial tablet of the late Crown Prince...
The yellow cloth covering one corner of the memorial tablet on the altar had already caught fire, and the tablet was still pressed under the huge table.
Su Tiyue didn't care about anything else. She squatted down, stretched out her hands, grabbed the bottom of the memorial tablet, and pulled it out from under the table.
The top corner was blackened by the fire, but fortunately, Su Tiyue found it.
Because it had been heated by the fire for a long time, the memorial tablet was extremely hot, and Su Tiyue's fingers and palms were burned and the skin was broken.
She stretched out her sleeves, wrapped the memorial tablet with them, and then held it in her hands, carefully protecting it against her chest.
Just as she was about to get up, she heard Xiao Anzi's voice behind her: "Your Majesty, be careful!"
Su Tiyue turned her head and saw Xiao Anzi running towards her in a panic.
Following Xiao Anzi's gaze, Su Tiyue looked up at the wooden beam above her head, which was burning with flames and teetering on the verge of collapse...
Before Su Tiyue could get up and move away...
"boom--"
A loud bang.
The wooden beam hanging above completely lost control and plummeted at breakneck speed...
At the critical moment, Xiao Anzi leaped forward and tackled Su Tiyue to the ground, shielding her in his arms.
The moment she fell, the huge wooden beam hit the ground with a thud, slamming heavily onto Xiao Anzi's left leg before rolling to a spot not far from the two of them.
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