"It was all because of Luo'er's carelessness that the fire broke out in the tower. Please punish me, aunt." Ming Luo spoke, asking for forgiveness.
The Holy Ceremonial Emperor's eyes moved slightly: "Careless?"
Ming Luo lowered his head and said, "Afterwards, Luo'er carefully investigated the cause of the fire. It was because the eternal lamp accidentally tilted and fell to the ground, igniting the sutra cloth used for sacrifice. The monk who came forward to add lamp oil was frightened and accidentally knocked over the oil can in his hand, which caused the fire to suddenly spread..."
"It was because Luo'er failed to carefully check whether the eternal lamp stand was stable in advance and did not adjust the place where the sutra cloth was hung that the lamp stand fell to the ground and hit the sutra cloth, catching fire."
This is what she meant by "carelessness".
The Holy Ce Emperor did not comment, looked at her for a moment, and asked, "What was the Chang family's wife doing before and during the fire?"
There was a hint of surprise in Ming Luo's lowered eyes.
As expected, my aunt suspected that the fire was related to Chang Suining.
"Before the fire, Madam Chang had been sitting behind the scripture desk, waiting to copy the scriptures." Ming Luo replied: "As for when the fire started, Madam Chang was talking to Luo'er... Before and after, she never left Luo'er's sight for a moment."
At that time, there was more than one aunt's spies in the tower, so she must not lie when she should tell the truth.
"Speak..." The Holy Ceremonial Emperor looked at Ming Luo: "What did she say to you?"
Ming Luo raised his head slightly, with a look of disapproval: "…At that time, Madam Chang said she was hungry and asked me if I could let her copy the sutras after she had her vegetarian meal."
“Is that all?” asked the Holy Cemetery Emperor.
Ming Luo seemed to hesitate for a moment before he said in a slightly complicated tone, "Madam Chang looked at the Buddhist scriptures I copied and asked me if I was also imitating the handwriting of Her Royal Highness the Princess."
When she relayed this sentence in this way, it seemed as if Chang Suining was competing with her for this - this girl from the Chang family was undoubtedly a deliberate imitator.
At that time, those spies could only see Chang Suining talking to her, but it was impossible for them to hear what the two of them said at that time... Now she had a choice of how to answer.
The Holy Book Emperor looked at her: "Is that all?"
There was a silent sense of pressure from the temptation, but Ming Luo forced himself to remain calm and said, "Luo'er dare not and has no reason to deceive aunt in the slightest."
The Holy Book Emperor didn't know whether he believed it or not, so he asked again: "Besides the fire, was there anything else unusual happening in the tower today?"
"Aunt, apart from this incident, everything in the pagoda is normal." Ming Luo raised his hand and handed over the box in his hand. "In Luo'er's opinion, there is nothing unusual about Madam Chang. This is the Buddhist scripture that Madam Chang copied. Please take a look, aunt."
The only eunuch guarding the Emperor of the Holy Ce stepped forward, took it, and presented it to the imperial desk.
The Emperor of the Holy Book flipped through the pages with an uncertain look on his face. Just as the rumors said, the Chang family lady was very good at copying Chongyue's handwriting, and her handwriting was indeed in the style of Chongyue...
But the handwriting before my eyes was steady and powerful, and it was definitely not something that could be written by someone with a physical illness.
After a moment of silence, a barely perceptible hint of disappointment and loneliness appeared in the eyes of the Holy Cemeter Emperor.
She closed the box containing the scriptures, and as she placed her palm on the box, a hoarse cough came from her throat.
Ming Luo raised his head and asked the eunuch who was passing water to the Holy Ce Emperor: "Auntie, can you take the medicine tonight?"
"Madam, I haven't..."
Ming Luo frowned: "How can you be so careless?"
The eunuch sighed softly. Ever since the Saint came back from the Heavenly Maiden Tower, he had been discussing matters with the ministers. During this time, two secret letters had arrived, and the Saint was extremely busy. The palace maid who came to deliver medicine could not enter the study at all. He mentioned something at the side, but before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by the Saint with a frown.
Ming Luo stood up and urged the palace maids waiting outside to boil the medicine. After urging her, he was still worried and went to the kitchen himself.
Not long after, Ming Luo returned, brought the medicine over, and served the Holy Cemeter Emperor to drink it.
Emperors are only mortals, and the Holy Ce Emperor has always been diligent since he came to power. He never dared to relax for a moment. Also, because he was too worried, he developed many illnesses as he grew older.
In addition, there have been frequent emergencies in various places recently, and the dragon body caught a cold during the Double Ninth Festival to worship ancestors. In the past two days, he had been struggling to handle government affairs and deal with officials with various thoughts.
Ming Luo thought of the girl in the Heavenly Maiden Tower, and looked at the mountain of memorials beside him. He realized that there were too many things that worried the Emperor of the Holy Ceremonial Ceremonial lately.
At the same time, she clearly felt for the first time that her aunt, who was high above everyone else, in control of everything and taking everyone into consideration, who seemed to have no weaknesses, and who had been an emperor for more than ten years as a woman of a different surname, might now be unable to cope with the situation.
People will age and their limited energy will be dispersed.
Not to mention my aunt, there are many examples throughout history of emperors who were heroic, wise, sober and enlightened when they were young, but became foolish and confused when they grew old, and even destroyed their own achievements with their own hands.
Perhaps, her aunt was no longer as unshakable as she had imagined... Was that so? This new realization made Ming Luo feel a little dazed for a moment.
After that brief moment of indescribable trance, Ming Luo handed the empty medicine bowl to the eunuch and said with a guilty tone: "It's my fault that Luo'er couldn't share my aunt's worries..."
"You just need to do what you are supposed to do, and that will help me share my worries." After drinking the medicine, the Holy Ce Emperor closed his eyes to rest, and said slowly: "In the next two days, if I don't summon you, you will stay in the Heavenly Maiden Tower with me. If there is anything suspicious, you must pay close attention..."
Ming Luo's half-lowered eyes fell on the box used to hold the Buddhist scriptures copied by Chang Suining. While feeling irony, he also felt that it was expected.
Sure enough, my aunt would not give up so easily.
She agreed and said in a sincere tone, "Yes, please rest assured, aunt."
Ming Luo left only after serving the Holy Emperor to a rest.
She walked down the stone steps. There was no moon or light in the gray night sky above her head. Only a few very faint stars were faintly visible behind the dark clouds.
Inside the Tiannu Tower, Chang Suining, who was resting in the quiet room on the second floor of the tower, had been unable to close his eyes.
After waiting for a while, she stood up in the dim light, put on her shoes, grabbed the coat hanging on the screen and put it on, walked to the window, pushed it open, and looked outside the tower.
There is a lamp in the Tiannu Tower that is always on all year round. So even though most lights are turned off everywhere, there is still a faint light in the tower, so you can barely see things.
Chang Suining was wondering whether he should go to the secret passage with mechanisms at night to explore and see if he could find some clues from it, but after thinking for a while, he gave up.
Although the eye of the array had been destroyed, the people who stayed behind might still be watching her. It was risky to secretly set the fire today, but she had to take the risk to save herself.
At least she is relatively safe now. In order to avoid any further trouble, she should just stay calm for the time being.
If you want to live long, you must be bold when it is time to act, and be humble when it is time to hide your tail.
His hands and feet had decided to stay still for the time being, but his mind was still not at peace for a moment. Chang Suining leaned against the window frame, looked up at the night sky, and had many mixed thoughts.
When she looked away, she caught a glimpse of a dark shadow in her peripheral vision.
Chang Suining turned her head and looked, and saw that there seemed to be someone sitting at the stone table in the tower courtyard where she had had her vegetarian meal today.
The man sat quietly in the night with his back to her, without making any movement from beginning to end, but she just noticed him.
Was he also left behind by the Queen to monitor her?
But the other party just sat there, exuding a sense of uprightness.
Chang Suining poked his head out of the window again and looked for a moment. No, that person seemed to be...
The young man who had been sitting here quietly for a long time suddenly felt something attacking him from behind.
He instinctively turned to the side to avoid the object.
With a slight sound, the thing fell on the stone table and rolled a few times.
The young man picked up the thing and took a look at it in the dim light of the lantern hanging on the eaves of the tower. He saw that it was actually a chestnut.
He was startled for a moment, then stood up with the chestnut in his hand and looked back in the direction where the chestnut came from.
In the dim light, he raised his eyes and saw behind a window on the second floor of the tower, a girl in light clothes was clinging to the window frame with her upper body sticking out, looking towards him.
Cui Jing's brows, which had been tinged with the coolness of the autumn night, suddenly relaxed and he walked over subconsciously.
Seeing him coming, the girl in the window simply bent down and climbed out of the window, stepped on the eaves of the tower, and was about to jump down.
Seeing this, Cui Jing took a few quick steps and quickly extended a hand.
However, the nimble girl quickly landed safely on the ground, without the need for him to help her up.
Cui Jing breathed a sigh of relief and quickly withdrew his hand and put it behind his back.
Chang Suining took two steps to him, looked behind him where no one was, and asked in a low voice, "Why is Commander Cui here so late at night?"
"I... come over and sit for a while." Cui Jing seemed to be unsure of how to answer.
He really just wanted to come and sit down.
After hearing this not-so-detailed answer, Chang Suining did not ask any further questions.
At this moment, she only saw the pair of eyes that seemed cold but seemed to contain endless words looking at her. After a moment, the owner of those eyes asked, "Today...are you okay?"
He usually spoke very clearly and crisply, but tonight he paused at many points in these two sentences.
His eyes and some silent body language were also different from usual.
The Cui Jing she had first met was aloof and unkind.
Cui Jing, who became her friend later, was still a man of few words but always sincere.
Cui Jing, who stood in front of her tonight, seemed... a little at a loss.
This was Cui Jing whom she had never seen before.
Chang Suining looked at him quietly for a while before nodding: "Don't worry, I'm fine."
Cui Jing smiled slightly, which was rare for him. That's good.
After a moment, he said, "Actually, I came to see you."
Chang Suining also smiled: "I know."
Otherwise she wouldn't have jumped down so self-indulgently.
"Then why don't you throw a stone to call me down." She said, "You can try throwing a stone next time."
Cui Jing nodded seriously: "Okay, I'll remember it."
In fact, it was not that he was so stupid that he didn't know how to call her down. He just didn't want to disturb her rest. She had suffered such torture today and should have had a good rest.
He had intended to sit there until dawn, waiting for her to get up.
He just sat there, feeling much more at ease thinking that she could sleep peacefully in the tower.
"Why do you come to see me now?" Chang Suining asked tentatively.
Just to ask her "How are you today?"
Cui Jing did have one more thing.
"I will leave Dayun Temple tomorrow and return to Xuan Ce Mansion to arrange all matters. I will leave Beijing early the day after tomorrow."
Chang Suining was a little surprised: "Are you going to the northern border to prepare for building border defenses?"
Under Cui Jing's urging, half of the money allocated by the Ministry of Revenue finally came. He said that he would leave after the Double Ninth Festival to worship his ancestors, but she still felt that it was a bit hasty.
Cui Jing said: "We need to go to Bingzhou first."
"Bingzhou?" Chang Suining had a bad feeling: "Something happened?"
Cui Jing lowered his voice even more: "The Saint received a secret report that the Chief Secretary of the Bingzhou Grand Commandery had been secretly exchanging letters with Xu Zhengye, and I'm afraid he might be leaning towards Xu Zhengye."
Chang Suining's face turned serious.
"So I need to secretly take people there as soon as possible to control the situation in Bingzhou before they make any moves." Cui Jing said, "In order to avoid alerting the enemy, this trip must be kept secret. When we leave the day after tomorrow, we can only tell others that we are going to the northern border to build border defenses."
Chang Suining understood that this was a secret order.
She looked around cautiously and said subconsciously: "Since it is a secret trip that cannot be told, you don't have to tell me."
There might be someone close to the queen eavesdropping on this, and he just leaked the secret to her...
Cui Jing: "You asked me, and I answered."
Chang Suining was slightly startled when he heard that. He looked into those eyes that were still honest and sincere, and asked, "Whatever I ask, will you answer truthfully?"
In the darkness of the night, the young man nodded to her: "Yes, I will."
Chang Suining looked at him and smiled.
She did have many questions she wanted to ask him, but unfortunately, this was not a good place or time to talk.
There was nothing wrong with her chatting with him about some unimportant things. Even if it got to the Queen, he would at most get the impression that she was "blinded by love".
Since he has decided to marry her, it makes sense for him to come and see her before leaving. On the contrary, if he avoids coming to see her, it may be inconsistent with his previous behavior. His coming can actually dispel some of the queen's suspicions.
This was probably why he dared to sit here and wait for her openly.
But deeper words are destined to not be asked or spoken at this time.
Chang Suining felt a little regretful. He couldn't ask today, and he didn't know when they would meet again.
She asked: "If the situation in Bingzhou is settled, should we head directly to the northern border?"
Cui Jing nodded: "Yes."
Chang Suining: "After this separation, it may take several years before we meet again."
Cui Jing was silent for a while. To him, leading troops to war was a common thing, but he had never been in such a state of mind before leaving Beijing.
At this moment, the girl in front of him suddenly took two steps towards him and leaned closer to him.
Cui Jing's breathing and mind both stagnated.
Due to his years of marching and fighting, when someone suddenly approached him like this, he should have stepped back instinctively, but at this moment he froze in place, motionless, and just silently clenched the chestnut in his hand.
At such a close distance, he could even smell the faint scent of incense on the girl. This scent used to worship the gods was noble and sacred, and very suitable for her.
And she just said that we can only meet again after several years, so, could it be...
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