Chapter 150
The cold moon is in the sky, and the long steps are leaking jade.
Tiny snowflakes slowly fell under the dim palace lights, covering the black satin boots, leaving a barely noticeable wet mark in an instant.
The young eunuch led Xie Zheng to the side hall, with a flattering smile on his face: "My Lord, please worry about your feet."
Xie Zheng wore a fox-fur cloak on his shoulders, his figure was as straight as a pine tree, his profile was coated with a layer of moonlight, making him look even more indifferent and handsome, and he uttered a faint "hmm" from the tip of his nose.
The fingertips hidden under the wide sleeves with hot gold embroidery flicked out a stone, which hit the snow-covered branches not far away. The branches trembled, and the snow fell to the ground in an instant. The eunuch was startled and looked over, shouting: "Who is here?"
The next moment, the young eunuch felt a pain at the back of his neck and then lost consciousness.
Xie Zheng picked up the lantern that the young eunuch had dropped on the ground, opened the cover and blew out the candle inside, then picked up the young eunuch with one hand and laid him down against a pillar outside the palace.
After doing all this, Xie Zheng raised his eyes and looked around coldly, then tore off his cloak and court robes.
Under the court dress, there was a nightgown.
He took out a disguise mask from his pocket and put it on, then hid his court dress in a cave in a rockery in the Yu Garden. According to the map of the imperial palace he had seen early in the morning, he avoided the patrolling guards, climbed up the high wall a few times and reached the cold palace.
Compared to other palaces that were decorated with lights and colorful lanterns, the Cold Palace was terribly deserted. Even the palm-sized yellow lanterns at the gate were covered with dust and cobwebs.
Those who live in this cold palace are all concubines who have committed serious offenses. Some are crazy, some are dead, and some are rumored to be haunted. Apart from the palace maids on duty who come here to feed the dogs and throw some food there, even the lowest-ranking eunuchs and palace maids are unwilling to come here to take a second look.
Following the information given by the eldest princess, Xie Zheng climbed over the high wall of the cold palace and easily found the residence of the crazy palace maid in the outer quarters.
The small room was also covered with dust and cobwebs. The only furniture seemed to be the bed by the window. In the moonlight, one could clearly see the dry grass exposed where the thin mattress was not completely covered. The palace maid was curled up sleeping on it, covered only with a tattered, moldy quilt.
There was a faint smell of smoke from burning candles in the room. Worship was not allowed in the palace, so I guess this palace maid had secretly burned paper money for someone in her own room.
Xie Zheng shook off the soft sword wrapped around his arm and pointed it directly at the back of the palace maid's neck: "I know you are awake. If you want to live, don't look back. I only ask one question."
"Who was the concubine who had an affair with Wei Yan?"
The maid seemed to be too scared, her body trembling like a sieve: "Yes... yes..."
The accident happened at that moment. The palace maid turned around suddenly, raised her hand and sprinkled a handful of powder on Xie Zheng.
Xie Zheng quickly turned his head away and closed his eyes and held his breath in time to avoid inhaling the powder of unknown origin or burning his eyes. However, the palace maid took the opportunity to pull out a dagger from under the pillow and stabbed Xie Zheng. Xie Zheng instinctively raised his arm to block it and threw the person several meters away.
The maid's back hit the wall, and when she fell to the ground, a trace of blood flowed from the corner of her mouth. However, there was no cruelty in her eyes, but rather endless charm. She wiped the trace of blood from the corner of her lips with her fingers, put it in her mouth and sucked it, her eyes hooked at Xie Zheng like a hook, and she said coquettishly: "You are so strong, it hurts me."
The sound was sickeningly sweet, like boiling a pot of sugar into a thick paste and then pouring it down the throat in one gulp.
When the maid took out the two fingers, they were already covered with saliva. She pulled her clothes down little by little and said with a coquettish smile: "Do you want to see where you hurt me?"
Xie Zheng's eyes were filled with disgust as he watched the maggots wriggling in the gutter. He put away his sword and was about to walk out of the house, but he heard the sound of a chain at the door.
Xie Zheng's eyes suddenly turned cold, and he raised his sword to chop down the door, but at that moment he found that his hands and feet were weak and he could hardly stand. He held onto the wall with one hand, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
There was also the sound of iron chains ringing at the window, and then a thin bamboo tube stretched out from the tiny gap, and a faint white smoke floated into the room.
The woman behind him asked in a languid voice, "Are you feeling weak in your arms and legs?"
"You have smelled this cartilage powder since you entered the room. The fight with me just now accelerated the effect of the medicine. It took until now for it to take effect. Your body is so strong... I am really greedy..."
The woman simply half-prostrated herself on the ground, her long black hair disheveled and her plain white nightgown open, revealing her rosy belly and one side of her fragrant shoulder. She stared at Xie Zheng with an impatient and seductive look.
When Xie Zheng heard her say that he smelled it as soon as he entered the house, he immediately looked at the brazier in the house where money paper had been burned. It turned out that burning paper money and lighting incense candles was to cover up other smells.
The effect of the drug was as violent as a flood, and all the strength in his body seemed to be drained away. Xie Zheng could no longer stand even by holding on to the wall. He slid down and sat down against the wall. There was another reaction in his body, as if there was a fire burning in his blood, and his limbs were itchy as if bugs were crawling on them.
It is self-evident what the sound blowing in from the bamboo tube in the window is.
The woman seemed to be affected by the drug mist blown in from the bamboo tube. Compared with the seductive look she had pretended before, her expression showed a more instinctive reaction. She slowly crawled towards Xie Zheng with seductive eyes: "I feel so uncomfortable, please help me..."
The effect of the drug made Xie Zheng's face look red even through the mask. His eyes were strangely cold: "You want to die?"
His voice was very light, but it was like the eerie ghostly aura that drifted in from the Wangchuan River when the gates of hell opened during the Ghost Festival, sending a chill down one's spine.
The woman's eyes were already dazed, but she regained some of her senses because of these words.
She looked at the handsome man who was sitting at the wall and couldn't even stand up because of the cartilage powder. Her rationality was gone due to the aphrodisiac. She smiled coquettishly and said, "You will also want to go to this world of bliss with me."
She finally crawled to Xie Zheng, panting, and raised her charming eyes. Before she could utter a word of anger, her neck was tightly grasped by a large hand like an iron clamp.
The smell of blood and the feeling of suffocation that hit her face finally made the woman sober up a little. The man actually cut his own palm to stay awake!
The woman was not poisoned by the cartilage powder and she was also a martial artist. She tried to pry Xie Zheng's hand open, but found that it was all in vain.
Xie Zheng's teeth tasted rusty as he stared coldly at the woman struggling in his hands: "Qi Sheng found something like you because he wanted you to pretend to be a concubine in the cold palace and repeat Wei Yan's crime on me?"
The woman wanted to speak, but only a faint "gurgling" sound came out of her throat. Her eyes changed from fear to despair. When the bones in her throat broke, Xie Zheng's five fingers dug several bloody holes on her neck.
The woman fell to the ground with her eyes wide open, and the blood from her neck quickly gathered into a small pool on the ground.
Xie Zheng sat against the wall, panting like a wild beast. His hands were covered in blood, and he could no longer tell whether it was the blood from his palms or from the woman's neck.
He locked the doors and windows and fired the gun into the house. The smoker outside didn't hear anything happening inside. After hesitating for a moment, he unlocked the door and wanted to go in to see what was going on.
However, when he pushed the door open with the lantern in his hand, what he saw was the woman's face staring out of the door with her eyes wide open. The eunuch was so frightened that his pupils shrank and he quickly raised the lantern to look for the other person in the room.
The dagger splattered blood as it slashed the throat. The lantern that fell to the ground was ignited at once, and the fire illuminated the blood-stained dagger. A pair of cold eyes were reflected on the dagger's blade.
Xie Zheng walked out of the room, stepping on a bloody floor, with blood dripping from the back of his left hand.
The guards standing outside the room saw the miserable plight of the palace maids and eunuchs inside through the wide-open door, and they couldn't help but feel horrified.
The amount of cartilage powder burned in the house was enough to knock down a cow, so how could he still walk out? Did he take the antidote in advance?
However, the blood on Xie Zheng's hands and the slight stagger in his steps made them notice that he was indeed poisoned, but he was still holding on.
The gate of the cold palace had already been locked. One of the guards immediately shouted to a companion behind him: "Set fire, and lure everyone over here!"
-
The eldest princess Qi Shu has been under house arrest by Concubine An for many days.
On New Year's Eve tonight, the mother and daughter simply had a simple New Year's Eve dinner, and Concubine An returned to the small Buddhist temple to continue chanting.
Qi Shu was upset and walked out of the warm pavilion. The old nanny beside Concubine An followed her closely and asked, "Where are you going, Princess?"
Qi Shu had been arrogant for more than ten years and was not a good-tempered person. She immediately retorted, "This princess is exhausted and wants to go out for a walk. My mother has locked the palace gates. Are you still worried about where this princess is going?"
The old maid was scolded by Qi Shu, but she didn't show any anger. She just bowed and said, "Princess, please wear a cloak. It's snowing hard outside. Be careful not to catch a cold."
Qi Shu was too lazy to pay attention to the people around her mother. They had been following Concubine Dowager An for a long time, and each of them seemed to have become a bodhisattva. They all spoke with the same expression and tone, which made Qi Shu very annoyed.
She only brought a few of her personal maids with her, and walked past the nanny with her head held high.
The old nanny knelt down behind him and said, "Farewell, Princess."
When she got outside, Qi Shu really felt a little cold. She looked at the cold moon hanging high in the sky from the corridor bridge, holding a copper carved hollow hand warmer and muttering: "I wonder what that piece of Gongsun wood is doing now..."
Her voice was too soft, and the maid standing beside her didn't hear it clearly, so she asked softly, "What did the princess say?"
Qi Shu pursed her lips and said, "Nothing, let's go for a walk in the Plum Garden."
Concubine An was also favored when she was young. The late emperor specially ordered people to plant a whole plum forest in her palace. When the severe winter came, the plum blossoms in the whole garden bloomed, which was a beautiful sight.
It snowed lightly tonight, and the bluestone path in Meilin should have been covered with a thin layer of snow. However, the eunuch who was in charge of sweeping the ground was afraid that his masters would be in the mood to appreciate the plum blossoms on New Year's Eve, so he swept the snow off the road early in the morning.
Qi Shu walked for a while with a group of palace maids, and suddenly said, "You stay here, and no one is allowed to follow me. I'm going to hang a sachet for blessing."
The maids murmured "yes".
Qi Shu walked a short distance into the depths of the plum forest alone, found a beautiful plum branch, took out the sachet filled with her girlish thoughts from her bosom, gently stroked the embroidery on it with her fingertips, and was about to put the foot on it and hang it up, but she heard a few faint laughters of women coming from behind the rockery in front of her that was blocked by the plum branches.
Could someone be having an affair here?
Qi Shu's face immediately changed, and she wanted to explode, but she squeezed the sachet in her hand and her expression softened. She wanted to pretend she heard nothing and leave, but she heard another sentence, "Why would I lie to you? The princess has been under strict surveillance by the Concubine Dowager recently, and she hasn't been anywhere..."
A somewhat feminine voice sounded: "Then the people around the eldest princess didn't go to the cold palace again?"
The woman panted slightly and replied, "We, the servants, cannot leave Shouyang Palace without the concubine's badge..."
Shouyanghua is another name for plum blossom, and Concubine An’s palace was named after this plum forest.
Qi Shu shouted: "Whoever is here, get out!"
This sound startled not only the man and woman behind the rockery, but also the palace servants waiting outside, and they hurried over.
A pair of ragged palace maids and eunuchs came out from behind the rockery. They were so frightened that their faces turned pale. They kowtowed to Qi Shu and said, "Princess, please spare my life! Princess, please spare my life!"
Qi Shu had long known that the palace maids and eunuchs in the palace could also form couples, but at this moment she only felt disgusted. She recognized that the maid was from her own palace, but the eunuch looked unfamiliar to her.
She stared at the maid coldly: "Are you spying on me?"
The maid was shaking like a sieve, her face was red from crying: "I dare not...I dare not..."
Qi Shu turned to look at the eunuch: "Which palace are you from?"
The eunuch raised his eyes and glanced at Qi Shu, then quickly lowered his head. Although he was also afraid, he seemed to have more confidence than the palace maid: "I...I am the eunuch of the Imperial Household, and the eunuch Gao beside Your Majesty is my godfather.
Qi Shu sneered, it turned out that the chief eunuch beside Qi Sheng was the source of his confidence.
But since he could ask the palace maid those questions, it was obvious that Qi Sheng had heard about his helping Xie Zheng investigate the crazy palace maid in the cold palace.
A chill ran down her spine, and Qi Shu felt her knees go weak. She looked at the eunuch, who looked like he wanted to eat her, and said in a stern voice, "First tie up this filthy eunuch and lock him up!"
Then he turned around and walked quickly out of the Merlin, grabbed the hand of one of his trusted palace maids, and said, "Quick, take my badge and go to Taiji Palace immediately to find General Yunhui and tell him that something has happened in the Leng Palace!"
The palace maid ran all the way, but before she could get out of Merlin, she was stopped by Concubine An and her men.
Concubine An looked at her daughter, her face, which was covered with traces of time but still elegant, was obviously angry: "Shu'er, what are you going to do?"
Qi Shu said anxiously, "Mother! This is not nonsense! I have already been involved in the affairs of the cold palace. It is not like you did back then. You can just close the palace door and be safe! If Wu'an Hou is plotted against by Qi Sheng, he will blame us in the future! Even if Qi Sheng wins, will he continue to let us mother and daughter have an easy life with his crazy temper?"
Just then, the palace maids behind them came out of the plum forest, holding down the eunuch who was having an affair. Qi Shu pointed at the two of them and questioned Concubine An: "Qi Sheng has already extended his hand into our palace, do you still want to stay out of it, mother?"
Concubine An looked at the two people who were tied up, weighed the pros and cons, and finally said, "Open the palace gate."
-
Tai Chi Palace.
Three rounds of drinks had already been served at the banquet. Fan Changyu raised her eyes and looked towards Xie Zheng's empty seat. The worry between her brows became heavier and heavier. When she was about to find an excuse to go out and take a look, a palace maid who came to add wine bumped her elbow without saying a word.
Covered by her wide sleeves, Fan Changyu felt something being passed into her palm, and she immediately clenched it.
After the palace maid left, Fan Changyu pretended to stagger to her feet. A palace maid who was waiting behind her seat came forward to support her and asked her where she was going. Fan Changyu made an excuse that she was going to the clean room, and the palace maid respectfully led Fan Changyu to the clean room.
After Fan Changyu left the seat, Li Taifu, who was sitting at the head of the civil officials' seat, glanced at Fan Changyu's departing back, then looked at the empty seat of the head of the military officials opposite him, with an unfathomable emotion hidden in his old eyes.
After a while, a waiter came forward and whispered something to Master Li.
The usually calm Li Taifu changed his expression rarely. After dismissing the waiter, he stood up and bowed to the emperor who was obviously very happy, saying: "I am ashamed. Tonight, the emperor and his ministers are having a great time. I should have enjoyed the feast with your majesty and my colleagues until the end of the year. Unfortunately, I am old and useless. I am very tired. I have to ask your majesty to allow me to return home first."
The fun hasn't started yet, Qi Sheng is obviously very unhappy, and said: "Master, you are tired, let's go to the side hall to rest for a while."
Li Taifu said "terrified" repeatedly, and said in a stern voice: "Your Majesty, you are embarrassing this old minister!"
Qi Sheng was in a good mood today and was afraid that his intention to keep him would be too obvious, so he said, "In that case, Master, please leave first."
After Li Taifu led his son out of the hall, he shook his wine glass and said meaningfully, "Why did Marquis Wu'an take so long to change his clothes? Could it be that he was tired and took a rest somewhere?"
None of the officials dared to respond. Qi Sheng just laughed to himself, "My dear ministers, please continue to drink. We cannot let the atmosphere become cold just because the Grand Tutor and Marquis Wu'an are not here."
At this moment, a young eunuch came running in, "Your Majesty, something bad has happened! There's a fire in the cold palace!"
Qi Sheng couldn't suppress his excitement, but he still put on an angry look and scolded: "How could the fire happen?"
The eunuch was at a loss and said, "This... I don't know either."
Qi Sheng cursed "waste" and stood up from the dragon chair: "There are still many old concubines living in the cold palace. Don't let anyone get killed during the transition to the new year. Come with me to take a look!"
The emperor had to go to the cold palace, and the ministers who attended the palace banquet had to go with him.
-
The snow was falling harder and the wind was blowing. Fan Changyu was running in the passage leading to the cold palace in eunuch's uniform and felt as if his cheek was cut by an ice knife.
The cold palace in the distance was already ablaze with flames, and the wind blowing towards us carried a burning smell.
Fan Changyu gritted his teeth, wishing it couldn't be faster, faster.
The note that the palace maid handed her read, "Something has happened in the cold palace, and Marquis Wu'an is in trouble." After she went out, she ordered the palace maid who was sending her to the clean room to leave, and soon she found the palace maid who handed her the note.
The palace maid claimed to be someone close to the eldest princess and showed her the eldest princess's badge. After confirming her identity, Fan Changyu did not dare to delay for a moment.
Her official robe was too conspicuous, so she knocked out a eunuch on the way, stripped him of his clothes and put them on herself before rushing straight to the cold palace.
The cold palace is located in a remote area, and tonight is New Year's Eve. The palace maids and eunuchs were also lazy. When the fire started, only a few eunuchs came with buckets to fetch water to put out the fire.
Fan Changyu ran so fast that others thought she was going to put out a fire and did not suspect anything.
She walked quickly and in just a few breaths she had left the eunuchs who had come to put out the fire far behind. When she arrived at the cold palace, she found some dilapidated empty palaces with miscellaneous items piled up near the fire, and the living side had not been burned yet.
Fan Changyu ran forward a few steps and immediately saw the door of the cold palace with a big hole in it that had been hit by someone, and there was a huge padlock hanging on the door ring.
The broken wooden boards in the doorway were stained with blood.
There was also a trail of blood on the ground extending into the distance, but this time the blood was so heavy and it was night, so it was vaguely covered.
Fan Changyu's heart suddenly began beating rapidly. She bent down and entered the cold palace through the doorway. With the light of the fire burning in the palace in the distance, she saw the dead bodies all over the courtyard at a glance.
Some were eunuchs, and some were Jinwu guards.
Fan Changyu's heart tightened. She didn't dare to call out Xie Zheng's name, so she just shouted, "Yan Zheng? Are you here?"
Seeing signs of a fight in one of the rooms, she rushed over and saw an eunuch with his throat cut at the door. In the middle of the room, there was a dishevelled woman with her neck broken.
But in an instant, she figured out the emperor's plan. A chill rose from the soles of her feet, and extreme anger made the veins on Fan Changyu's clenched fists bulge.
“Murder… murder!”
"Quick! Go call for help! Someone's dead in the cold palace!"
There were ghostly howlings outside; the eunuchs who were there to put out the fire had come rushing over.
Fan Changyu didn't dare to stay any longer. She guessed that Xie Zheng must have broken through the palace gate and escaped, but he must have been injured and might not have gone far.
She climbed up the wall on one side of the cold palace and jumped out.
The cold palace was different from other places. The places where the firelight could not reach were pitch black, and even the bloodstains on the ground could not be distinguished. However, Fan Changyu smelled a bloody smell on the palace wall. Upon closer inspection, he found bloody handprints on the palace wall as well.
She stretched out her hand and compared it. After confirming that it was Xie Zheng's handprint, she could smell a faint fishy smell between her teeth.
How badly was he injured that he could only walk by holding on to the wall?
Fan Changyu walked quickly forward following the smell of blood.
We must take him away before the Jinwu Guards come here!
After walking a long way, when they finally saw a person half-submerged in water by the rockery of Taiye Lake, Fan Changyu almost cried with joy. She quickly stepped forward and called out in a low voice, "Xie Zheng!"
Xie Zheng closed his eyes tightly and did not respond. The mask on his face had fallen somewhere. Under the moonlight, his lips were almost the same color as his face.
Fan Changyu was startled and reached out to touch his face: "What are you..."
Before she could finish her words, she was dragged into the water by the bent arm and her throat was locked.
The suffocating feeling at that moment made Fan Changyu certain that he was trying his best to kill her. She pulled Xie Zheng's hand that was strangling her throat and said with difficulty, "It's... me."
All she could see out of the corner of her eye was Xie Zheng's pair of eyes, which were so red that it seemed as if the blood vessels in his eyes had burst, and they were cold and fierce.
He no longer recognizes people.
The strong feeling of suffocation weakened Fan Changyu's struggle, but perhaps because the throat-locking action was too close, he smelled her scent, and Xie Zheng's hand that was holding her throat suddenly loosened.
"Ayu?" His face was unusually pale, his wet hair was scattered behind him, his wet clothes were slightly open, revealing his delicate collarbone, and his blood-red eyes, his whole body exuded an indescribable weirdness.
With his hands that had been soaked and turned white, he gently stroked Fan Changyu's neck, which had been pinched red by him. Although his body had been soaked like a piece of ice by the water of Taiye Lake, the temperature of his breath was still scorching.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you..."
His voice was unusually hoarse, as if he was trying hard to hold back something, but the fingertips that were caressing the delicate skin on Fan Changyu's neck had become hot in an instant, causing him to lower his head uncontrollably to kiss Fan Changyu's cheek.
His thin lips were as cold as ice and his breath was as hot as fire, just like his appearance at the moment, weird and beautiful.
Fan Changyu had recovered from her stupor by now, and of course she knew that he was suffering from the drug. She leaned back to avoid his lips, held up one of his arms and said, "The cold palace is on fire. It's not safe here. I'll take you out of the palace first."
The warm feeling under his palm was not from his arm, but from blood.
After realizing that he also had injuries on his arm, Fan Changyu lifted up his sleeve and saw that his left arm was covered with whitened knife marks.
It was obvious that he had drawn it to keep himself awake.
She was so angry that her eyes turned red. She gritted her teeth and asked, "Are you injured anywhere else?"
After Xie Zheng relaxed, he had no strength to resist the effects of the drug. He relied on Fan Changyu's support to stand steadily. The fire in his body almost burned all the blood in his body. He looked at the person who was so close to him, his Adam's apple rolling, and drops of water dripping from his wet hair ran across his eyelids and fell into the lake. He looked so alluring, like the legendary monster that feeds on human essence.
He could no longer hear what she was asking. All he could see was those red lips opening and closing, catching his attention. He simply held her face and kissed her hard.
The author has something to say:
My dears, Madam Hou and the Pig-Knife has participated in the Lantern Festival Poetry Contest. Please leave a comment on any chapter in the comment area. Write "Lantern Festival Poetry Contest" on the first line and write your poem below. Then you can participate (it needs to be related to the content of the book)~
Prizes and Awards:
Author Award:
First Prize (1 person) Prize: 5,000 JJD
Second Prize (2 winners) Prize: 3,000 JJD
Third Prize (3 winners) Prize: 1,000 JJD
Website Awards:
First Prize (1 person) Prize: 10,000 JJD
Second Prize (3 winners) Prize: 5,000 JJD
Third Prize (5 winners) Prize: 2,000 JJD
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