Ye Lin's words were like a pebble, instantly stirring up a thousand waves in everyone's hearts.
"A giant rock from Immortal Lake has descended to earth?!"
"Xiansheng Lake is the mother lake of our Yu the Great, how could a giant rock suddenly appear in the world?"
"I've only heard my ancestors mention the miracles of Immortal Lake in the past, but I've never seen them with my own eyes in all these years. Could this giant rock falling from the sky be a miracle?"
"Today happens to be His Majesty's birthday. Could this giant rock be a special gift from a celestial being to celebrate His Majesty's birthday...?"
The quiet hall suddenly became noisy, and the emperor's phoenix eyes lit up. He hurriedly summoned Ye Lin into the hall, "Commander Ye, where is the giant rock of Immortal Sacred Lake now?"
Ye Lin cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, when I discovered the boulder, I had my men retrieve it. It is currently located outside the Second Palace Gate."
The emperor raised his sleeve and said, "Quickly! Bring the huge stone here."
"Yes." Ye Lin replied in a deep voice and quickly left the hall.
After another short while, a group of soldiers pushed in a huge cart covered with a bright red silk cloth. With each step forward, the wheels left a trail of sparks on the ground.
This shows how heavy the load on the vehicle was.
As the procession drew closer, everyone's hearts pounded with anxiety.
The emperor, unable to contain himself any longer, stepped down from his throne and walked to the front of the cart. "Why is this covered with a red cloth?"
Ye Lin clasped his hands in a fist and said, “Your Majesty, when we discovered the boulder, we saw words on it. I dared not make any rash moves, so I covered it with a red cloth for the time being.”
"There are words?" The emperor was greatly surprised.
The origin of the character "Yu" in their name, Yu the Great, is related to the miraculous appearance of characters on a stone at Xian Sheng Lake hundreds of years ago. Now, on his birthday, characters have reappeared on a giant stone at Xian Sheng Lake. Could it really be a message from heaven?
Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up with an alarming intensity.
They had no time to eat at the banquet and all got up from their tables to gather around, including the envoys from various countries.
Eunuch De bowed and said, "Your Majesty, shall I unveil this red cloth for you?"
"No, I will come myself!" The emperor raised his hand in refusal, covering a corner of the red silk with his large hand.
Jun Qingcheng stood quietly behind the crowd. Upon seeing this, Bu Yu's little face lit up.
Ha! A mere peasant girl dares to compete with her! Today, on the Emperor's birthday, is the day of your death, Su Hua! No matter how eloquent you are, you'll only be able to tell the King of Hell in the afterlife.
Su Hua caught Jun Qingcheng's gaze and saw the colorful butterfly that had just appeared at the palace gate. Her brows furrowed. If nothing unexpected happened, this boulder should be related to Jun Qingcheng and her servant.
At this moment, hundreds of eyes were fixed on the emperor's every move.
The bright red silk cloth was slowly lifted, revealing a corner of black stone covered in moss. Then, the character "乐" (le, meaning joy/happiness) slowly appeared on the stone's surface.
Everyone present, especially those associated with Yu the Great, couldn't help but smile. The word "joy" is indeed a good word, which shows that the giant stone displaying the character today must have a very auspicious meaning!
However, once the red silk cloth was completely removed, most of the joy in everyone's hearts vanished.
"Le'an... what does this mean?"
"Does this mean that everyone in our Great Yu Dynasty lives in peace and prosperity?"
"Le'an, isn't that the title of the Lady of Le'an County? Does the 'Le'an' in this text refer to the Lady of Le'an County?"
"Regardless of who they're talking about, the pronunciation of 'Le'an... people' sounds strange. Look at the blank space between 'An' and 'ren', isn't there a character missing in the middle...?"
Jun Qingcheng paused in her smile, pushed through the crowd to the front, and stared intently at the boulder on the cart.
No matter how you look at it, there are only three large characters on the boulder: "People of Le'an".
Immediately, he looked sharply at the butterfly.
Cai Die's astonishment was no less than Jun Qingcheng's. She had personally watched over the entire boulder from beginning to end without ever relaxing, and she had checked it repeatedly before finally putting it into the water. But why did the crucial words in the middle disappear after it was retrieved?
The emperor stared at the boulder for a long time, then his phoenix eyes swept over Su Hua.
"In your opinion, what is the meaning behind this boulder?"
Upon hearing this, everyone replied in unison, "Your Majesty, we were unaware."
They initially thought it was good fortune sent by Xiansheng Lake, but now, with these half-revealed words, who would dare to speak carelessly? You must know that Xiansheng Lake is the mother lake of Yu the Great. Every year, royal sacrifices and important days are all held at Xiansheng Lake. If you are not careful, you could lose your head.
"Ha!" The emperor lowered his eyes. "Just now you were all shouting so loudly, but now that I've asked you to speak, you know nothing at all!"
The crowd bowed their heads, saying, "Your Majesty, please forgive us. We dare not."
In an instant, the bustling hall fell completely silent.
Jun Qingcheng stared at the boulder for a long time, then her beautiful eyes suddenly brightened. "Uncle Emperor, look closely at this stone. Between the characters '安' and '人,' there seems to be another character. It looks like there are three horizontal strokes on this side and a vertical stroke on the side..."
The group quietly raised their heads, only to see Jun Qingcheng standing beside the boulder, her fingers tracing the center of the boulder. As she moved, a somewhat blurry character appeared.
After seeing the words clearly, they all turned to the lake-blue figure in the hall.
But no one dared to utter a sound; they even kept their breathing extremely quiet.
Only Wei Hui, who had remained silent until now, had a dark glint in his old eyes. He raised his voice and said, "The character written by Princess Mingzhu is half of the character '非' (fei). Put together, it means 'Le'an Feiren' (乐安非人)..."
However, before he could finish speaking, someone interrupted him, asking, "What can a single 'half' radical possibly explain?"
“There are so many characters that can be formed with these three horizontal strokes and one vertical stroke: 菲菲翡霏奜棐… Which one isn’t a radical with three horizontal strokes and one vertical stroke? Even the leek we eat every day has this radical!”
"The Right Chancellor was a top scholar in the imperial examination; surely he doesn't only know the word 'non'?"
Before Wei Hui could even close his mouth, he was already being scolded so badly that he shrank back, feeling both angry and resentful.
Months ago, Xiao Jinhan and Su Hua caused him to lose one of his daughters and three generals for nothing. He had been waiting to take revenge, but these brats from the Prince Gong's Mansion were simply too much of a bully.
Yu Xiao, standing beneath the throne, was even more eager to seize the opportunity.
The man hesitated for a long time. He could understand why these people were protecting Xiao Jinhan, but they were also protecting Su Hua like her own!
The crowd stared at the young masters of Prince Gong's Mansion who had spoken, their shock no less than when they saw the boulder. Although Prince Gong's Mansion was second only to the emperor, it had always been the most low-key in recent years. Now, however, every word they uttered was in defense of the Princess of Le'an County.
In particular, in the case of the inscription "Le'an is not human" on the megalith.
Jun Qingcheng cursed inwardly for being useless, then looked at the emperor with a worried expression, "Uncle Emperor, as the saying goes, rampant demons are the root of all calamities. Now, Immortal Saint Lake revealed heavenly secrets to you during the Emperor's birthday celebration. If we are not careful, I'm afraid we will repeat the mistakes of the previous dynasty..."
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