Chapter 171 He has been hiding something
After getting Wu Jue's confirmation, the Holy Ce Emperor asked: "If Chong Yue's soul is really in her body, will this formation hurt her?"
Wu Jue said solemnly: "If you interact with the formation, you will probably feel obvious discomfort, but it won't be life-threatening for a while. When the time comes, you just need to block the induction in time and take the person away from the formation."
The Holy Cemeter Emperor nodded: "Then I am relieved."
"I will immediately send an order to stay in Dayun Temple for three days... General Li Yi and General Chang have led their troops to Huainan Road. I want to fast for three days for my 200,000 soldiers who are fighting against the rebellion, to pray for God's protection."
She said, "In that case, please invite the young man and young lady of the Chang family to come here and pray for General Chang with me."
This statement is reasonable and will not arouse any suspicion.
She first had to make sure that the girl would not be disturbed, follow her arrangements, and arrive at Dayun Temple smoothly.
The intention of the emperor's words was very clear. When Cui Jing and others heard it, they should know what to do and what not to do.
At this time, the Holy Ce Emperor looked at Ming Luo and said, "Gu'an, I will leave this matter to you. Tomorrow morning, you will go back to the city and go to Chang's house. Tell them my order and bring the girl from the Chang family here to pray for blessings."
Ming Luo's mind paused for a moment, he lowered his eyes and replied "yes".
But she could sense that the Holy Cemeter Emperor's gaze had not left her for a moment.
That gaze was calm and silent, but it gave her a strong sense of being scrutinized, as if all her thoughts and ideas were seen through by that gaze.
Ming Luo only felt a chill all over his body, and at this late autumn moment his back was soaked with sweat.
After a moment, the voice sounded again: "Remember, there must be no mistakes in this matter."
"Yes, Your Majesty, rest assured." Ming Luo tried his best to make his voice sound calm and steady: "Luo'er understands."
Her aunt was reminding her that this matter was particularly important to her. The phrase "there must not be any mistakes" was meant to make her be careful and guard against anyone who might hinder this matter, and she... was among them.
It turned out that this was the reason why her aunt still asked her to come here tonight to listen to this matter.
She finally understood now.
Unlike General Cui and Master Wu Jue, her role tonight was to see the situation and her own position in this matter clearly.
The fact that her aunt did not hide anything seemed to be a sign of trust in her, but in fact, it was because her aunt did not want to cause unnecessary trouble because of her. Rather than letting her make unclear guesses in the dark and possibly hinder the matter secretly, her aunt chose to let her know all the plans, put her completely in the open, and even let her be solely responsible for the matter, so as to nip all trouble in the bud.
An emperor should control the world rather than avoid it, and use people rather than avoid them, so the word "control" is particularly important, and her aunt has always been good at controlling others.
At least, she could feel very clearly at this moment that she was under her aunt's control from beginning to end.
She was like a tiny ant in front of the emperor. The emperor had set boundaries for her. No matter how she crawled and explored within these boundaries, the emperor, who was looking down on it all, would not care.
At this moment, the emperor was reminding her not to cross the line.
This reminder is for the present, and even more so for the long term, it is a reminder for her to "behave and keep to herself" for a long time... So, is the aunt really starting to prepare for the return of "Her Royal Highness the Princess"?
But what about her? If that absurd fantasy really came true, if Chang Suining really had traces of Princess Chongyue, even if it was just a little bit... then where would she be? Would her future really be "long-lasting"? "If Chongyue is really back, Master Wu Jue and Cui Qing, including Gu'an who has been running between Dayun Temple and the palace city during these years, are all my heroes."
There was a glimmer of hope in the eyes of the Holy Ce Emperor: "It has been twelve years... Whether the heavens are willing to have mercy on me and Chongyue, we will have the answer tomorrow."
Outside the tower, the sound of rain had stopped at some point.
However, the starless and moonless night was still pitch black.
As the night deepened, most of the lights in the temple had been turned off. The entire majestic and solemn temple was immersed in the damp and cold night, making it impossible to distinguish its original outline.
The lights in Abbot Wu Jue's room had already been turned off.
Although the rain had stopped, the wind had not yet ceased, and the tightly closed window frames made a slight creaking sound from time to time.
When another "creaking" sound that didn't sound much different was heard, cold wind blew in.
Wu Jue sat up from the bed, as if he was going to get up and close the window.
However, before he could reach the window barefoot, someone suddenly grabbed his shoulders and covered his mouth from the side.
There was also a dark shadow that entered the room with Feng just now.
The non-aggressive black shadow lowered his voice and said, "Master, please don't make a sound. It's me."
Wu Jue nodded.
Cui Jing then withdrew his hand, took a step back, and raised his hand to apologize.
Wu Jue didn't say anything, he just closed the window and bolted it from the inside, then grabbed the young man's arm, pulled him to his bedside, and silently made a "follow me" gesture.
Afterwards, Wu Jue knelt down first, and crawled under the bed in the darkness.
Cui Jing: “…”
Is this the enlightened monk in the eyes of the world?
Seeing Wu Jue stretched out a hand from under the bed and waved towards him, Cui Jing crawled in without hesitation.
Fortunately, Wu Jue didn't want to invite him to lie down under the bed to talk, otherwise, with the two of them being too plump and one too tall, the small space under the bed would be really crowded.
There is a secret passage under the bed, which is the kind of mechanism that Wu Jue is best at setting up, and it is very hidden.
After Wu Jue opened the mechanism, he took Cui Jing into the secret passage. After the two of them entered, the mechanism closed behind them.
Cui Jing followed Wu Jue in the dark along the secret passage and walked a short distance. They felt that the surroundings became spacious. Wu Jue skillfully groped to the side and lit an oil lamp. The surroundings were lit up, and it was obvious that it was a secret room.
Cui Jing's gaze first fell on the pile of wine jars that had formed a small mountain.
Wu Jue followed his line of sight and said in a serious tone, "...They are all empty, used to guard against people with ears on the walls! Jars and pots can block and pick up sounds, Grand Commander Cui must know this, right?"
Cui Jing nodded.
But as far as he knew, if jars and pots were to have the effect of collecting sound, they had to be built into the wall. They could not just be placed there to block out the sound.
Besides, the smell of alcohol is so strong that the mice living here will probably be drunk all day long. When he goes out later, he will have to be careful to get rid of the smell left on his body.
Cui Jing had no intention of nagging the abbot about his secret storage of wine. He opened his mouth and stated his purpose: "Cui Jing came here to discuss the matter of the Heavenly Maiden Pagoda."
"I know, that's why I kept the window open waiting for Grand Commander Cui to come." Wu Jue was too lazy to call himself a poor monk. He looked at the young man in front of him and said, "Grand Commander Cui is here as expected."
He sighed deeply, but a smile gradually appeared in his eyes, and his voice was a little hoarse: "Now that General Cui is here, I have the answer in my heart."
Facing those eyes that seemed calm but contained countless emotions and still contained a hint of inquiry, Cui Jing nodded: "Yes."
yes.
These words fell on Wu Jue's heart, and it took him a while to come back to his senses.
He seemed to be unable to stand still, so he stepped back, slowly sat down against the cold stone wall, and wiped his moist eyes with his big fat hand.
Just when Cui Jing was thinking about whether to say something, Wu Jue slapped his thigh, suddenly laughed, and exclaimed happily: "I knew I still have some skills!"
"When I see Her Highness, I will ask her who is more powerful between her and me, the old man Tian Jing!"
Cui Jing: "Master, did you set up this formation in order to prove this to Your Highness?"
Wu Jue: “That’s right!”
This is of course a joke.
Cui Jing also sat cross-legged on the ground.
It was clearly a dark secret room, with dust all over the floor, but when the young man in a black robe sat down like this, Wu Jue inexplicably felt that his secret room was quite luxurious.
Tsk, this kid is expensive wherever he stands.
Wu Jue put away his emotion for a moment, and looked at the young man again, with a thoughtful look in his eyes: "May I ask when did Grand Commander Cui confirm it?"
"It was just a guess before, but the real confirmation is tonight."
"Can I hear how Grand Commander Cui confirmed it?"
Cui Jing nodded and told Wu Jue all his speculations along the way, including what Wu Jue had mentioned to him before, that Chang Suining's facial expression had changed.
"...Yes." Wu Jue said slowly, "After the girl escaped from Hezhou and came to Dayun Temple again, I noticed a slight change in her at first glance."
But at that time he just thought it was a change in the child after the disaster, and did not think too much about it, so he just smiled and said with emotion "Little Suining looks more and more handsome".
"Since Commander Cui has already confirmed it, why did you hide this matter from Your Majesty?" Wu Jue asked tentatively.
The young man did not hesitate: "It is up to her to decide whether to make this clear."
He didn't know what she was thinking or how she viewed the saint, but since she hadn't revealed anything yet, he probably had her own plans or hadn't thought it through yet.
Wu Jue: "What you did is a crime of deceiving the emperor... You still dare to come to me, aren't you afraid that I will turn around and tell the saint?"
"This soul-returning formation is a forbidden technique that has never been passed on. Its method violates the balance of the reincarnation of heaven and earth. The master wanted to set up the formation secretly in the past, but it was discovered by the saint, so he was able to build this Dayun Temple. After the master insisted on setting up the formation, he fell seriously ill for two years and almost lost his life—"
These are what is visible, and the invisible places may require more effort.
Cui Jing looked at Wu Jue with admiration in his eyes: "Master is the one who sacrificed the most for this matter. If Cui Jing doesn't even trust the Master, then no one can be trusted."
Wu Jue heaved a long sigh and smiled: "General Cui really regards the matter of 'that girl' as his own business."
Cui Jing moved the corners of his mouth slightly, but did not deny it in the end.
"You are right. This is something she should decide for herself. This is what I have been planning since I decided to set up this formation..." Wu Jue said in a low voice, "Her Highness is living again this time, not to be someone's subject or child... She just needs to be herself and do what she wants to do."
At this point, Wu Jue looked at Cui Jing and said, "So, I have lied to the Saint about one thing from the very beginning."
Cui Jing waited seriously for him to continue.
"This secret art of returning souls is not without precedent... A hundred years ago, someone in the Western Regions set up this formation, and the dead person was able to return to life decades later, but was burned to death shortly afterwards as a demon."
"Back then, when my good friend found the damaged ancient book in the Western Regions, he also found out about this matter. However, in order to prevent it from being leaked, he erased all traces of the old rumor at that time."
The good friend he was talking about was Meng Lie.
"Back then, I had no intention of telling the Saint that I wanted to set up a formation to summon His Highness's soul, but the Saint accidentally discovered it... This is the only way."
However, he had some reservations and had not told the Saint the truth that this formation was very likely to come true. He did not want the Saint to have too much hope, lest if it did come true one day, he would be in a difficult position to cover up and conceal the truth for the returning prince.
To put it bluntly, he had already prepared to part ways with the saint if His Highness returned.
But he was not sure in what capacity His Highness would return, or how many years it would take for him to return. He originally thought that he might not even be able to wait until he died.
Unexpectedly, God was willing to have mercy on him, a man who was destined to have a bad end.
"...If it weren't for that old man Tianjing's nagging, the Saint wouldn't have noticed it so quickly! He started talking nonsense as soon as he came out of seclusion. He can only read faces!" Wu Jue couldn't help but get angry when he said this: "I've been in seclusion for three years, but why didn't I catch him!"
This statement would damage his moral character, but he had gone against the will of heaven, so naturally he had the qualifications to throw the jar into the ground.
"The saints trust him...the saints believe whatever nonsense he says."
Wu Jue frowned and said, "In fact, it's not just me who is secretly on guard against Your Majesty. Your Majesty also doesn't completely trust me... Because the old book containing this secret technique was slightly missing, the saint took it away for a while under the pretext of secretly sending people to search for the complete book. I suspect that Tian Jing has also seen it."
Cui Jing: "So, Master just told the Saint about the method of entering the formation to test it."
Wu Jue nodded.
This method is indirectly recorded in that ancient book. If he keeps silent and the Heavenly Mirror remembers it, the saint will know that he is deliberately concealing it, which is tantamount to confessing himself.
Seeing the situation in the tower just now, he had tried to dispel the saint's speculation by saying that "the girl of Chang family is not of Ming and Li families' bloodline", but the saint was very determined, and if he insisted on denying it, it would not make sense.
"Master, do you remember the first time 'she' came to Dayun Temple, and what you and I saw when we came out of the Heavenly Maiden Pagoda?" Cui Jing asked.
"I remember... I guess it was because I accidentally interacted with the formation."
Cui Jing said: "She had not yet entered the tower, but she had already felt this way. If she enters the tower tomorrow, there will definitely be something strange."
Wu Jue was worried: "But we have to enter this formation tomorrow... because no matter what method we use to avoid it, it will only confirm the Saint's speculation."
Cui Jing: "Master, do you have any solution?"
"My master knows that I love to stir up trouble, so he left me something that can help me ward off the disasters caused by the formation... But this formation is an evil formation, so I'm afraid that thing won't be of much use..."
While Wu Jue was thinking, he heard the young man in front of him speak: "Since there is no way to deal with it, I have a suggestion. I wonder if it is feasible--"
Wu Jue looked at the young man seriously.
…
Good night everyone.
(End of this chapter)
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