Chapter 224 The little fortune teller starts to fool people!
On the day of the ritual, it was still early, but the palace was already heavily guarded.
The commander of the imperial guards, Li Mang, a burly man who looked like a black iron tower and was also the most loyal dog of Prime Minister Yun, personally led 300 imperial guards to block all the main roads leading to the harem.
His eyes were fixed like an eagle on the slowly approaching carriage from the Imperial Master's Mansion.
The curtain of the carriage was lifted, and the first person to get off was the Imperial Master Chu Xuanyi.
Today, he wore an elaborate, solemn black silk robe, embroidered with gold thread, depicting the sun, moon, stars, and cloud patterns. He held a white jade whisk in his hand, his long hair tied back with a simple wooden hairpin. His face was solemn, his eyes deep, and he truly looked like an immortal, aloof from the mundane world.
Then, a small figure popped out from behind him.
It’s Ajiu.
The little girl was also dressed up in a weird way today.
She wore a snow-white dress, the hem and cuffs embroidered with unknown runes in silver thread. Her hair was tied into two lovely buns, adorned with tiny silver bells that jingled as she walked. The most eye-catching thing was what she was holding in her arms.
It was a huge compass that was bigger than her upper body, made of brass. It was engraved with densely packed Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, the eight trigrams and the directions. The needle was spinning in the center, looking extremely mysterious.
Ajiu held the big compass, his little face tense, trying hard to make an unfathomable and serious expression, and followed Chu Xuanyi.
"Master Imperial Master."
Li Mang strode forward and bowed to Chu Xuanyi, but his eyes were full of scrutiny and disdain.
"I, under the orders of the Emperor, will be your full escort. Oh no, I'm here to monitor the Imperial Master's actions. During this ritual, I ask the Imperial Master and this... little spiritual girl to adhere to the palace rules and refrain from wandering around."
He emphasized the word "supervision" particularly strongly.
"General Li, you are too kind." Chu Xuanyi smiled faintly and flicked his whisk. "I am acting in accordance with the will of heaven and praying for the emperor. Naturally, I will not overstep the line. However, this evil spirit is erratic. The spirit girl and I must follow the flow of the evil spirit. When the time comes, I hope the general will give me some convenience."
"Hmph, as long as it's within the scope permitted by the Emperor, the Imperial Master can go however he wants." Li Mang said with a forced smile.
He had already determined in his heart that this was just a trick played by the Regent and the Imperial Master, and today he wanted to see with his own eyes what tricks they could come up with.
Chu Xuanyi didn't waste any more words with him, but just smiled mysteriously.
"It's almost time, let's start the ceremony!"
At his command, the little Taoist boy he brought immediately set up an incense table and altar in front of the empty Taihe Hall Square.
Chu Xuanyi formed a spell with his hands and began to chant some scriptures that no one could understand. For a moment, sandalwood incense curled up and talisman paper fluttered.
Although Li Mang and his imperial guards were disdainful in their hearts, they did not dare to disturb them. They could only stand around like wooden stakes and watch vigilantly.
After struggling for a stick of incense, Chu Xuanyi suddenly opened his eyes and pointed with his whisk.
"Spirit girl, please!"
Ajiu immediately ran to the center of the square with the big compass in his arms.
She followed Chu Xuanyi's instructions, closing her eyes and muttering softly, "Heaven and earth, please help the bad guys to show themselves quickly..."
Then she suddenly opened her eyes and began to walk around the square with the compass in her arms.
She walked in a disorderly manner, sometimes taking three steps to the east, sometimes five steps to the west, and sometimes turning around twice in circles.
Li Mang frowned, not understanding what this little girl was doing.
Suddenly, Ajiu stopped.
She stretched out her foot and stomped hard on a bluestone tile.
"Sir," she turned around and shouted to Chu Xuanyi with a serious face, "This brick is not happy."
"puff--"
A young imperial guard couldn't help laughing, but was glared at by the person next to him, so he forced himself to hold his laughter back.
Li Mang's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
Unhappy?
Do you think this is playing house in your backyard?
He was about to explode when he saw Chu Xuanyi walking towards him with a serious expression. He squatted down and tapped lightly on the floor tile, then closed his eyes and sensed it for a moment.
Then, he suddenly opened his eyes and said in a deep voice: "What the spirit girl said is absolutely right!"
He stood up and explained to the bewildered Li Mang, "General, you may not know this. This brick is located in the 'Kun' position of the square, which belongs to the earth element. However, it has been constantly impacted by the 'Gan' metal energy from above, and the yin and yang have long been out of balance. Now, it has been invaded by a trace of external evil energy, so the spirit girl can sense its 'unfair energy'. This is a very bad omen!"
He spoke seriously and logically.
Li Mang was stunned after hearing this, "Then...what should we do?" he asked subconsciously.
"It's okay!" Chu Xuanyi flicked his whisk and said, "I'll set up a talisman later, and it will be resolved."
After saying that, he motioned for Jiu to continue.
Encouraged, Jiu became braver.
She ran to the pair of huge stone lions at the edge of the square with the compass in her arms.
She reached out and touched the majestic head of the stone lion, then turned around and shouted:
"Sir, this big cat said it wants to drink water."
The corners of Li Mang's mouth couldn't help but twitch.
What the hell is going on?
"Nonsense," he finally couldn't help but growl, "Master Imperial Master, we are here to find evil spirits, not to listen to the words of stone lions."
"General, you're wrong," Chu Xuanyi said, his face suddenly stern and solemn. "The lion is a divine beast that suppresses evil. It's thirsty right now because it's been battling the invisible evil spirits entrenched in the palace day and night, consuming a large amount of Yang energy. If it's not comforted with clean water in time, once its Yang energy is exhausted, the first line of defense of this imperial city will be breached!"
He looked at Li Mang with extremely serious eyes.
"By then, the evil spirit will penetrate directly, and the consequences... will be unimaginable! General, are you able to shoulder this responsibility?"
"I……"
Li Mang was stunned by his words.
Although he didn't believe it, what if? What if it was really as he said?
He really can't bear this responsibility!
"Come here," he could only wave his hand reluctantly with a dark face, "go... go get a basin of clean water for the stone lion."
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, two tall and mighty imperial guards, looking frustrated, carried a basin of water and carefully poured it on the mouth of the stone lion.
The scene was indescribably weird and funny.
In this way, Ajiu fully utilized her specialty of "playing unconventionally".
Sometimes he said that the willow tree had split hairs because it had too much yin energy.
Then he said that the palace lanterns over there were too bright and hurt "Wind's" eyes.
Chu Xuanyi followed behind her and explained all her wild ideas clearly and reasonably using a set of mysterious "professional terms".
An hour passed.
Li Mang and his men went from being vigilant at the beginning, to being confused in the middle, and finally to being numb. Now they have completely lost their temper.
They looked at the little girl jumping up and down and the imperial teacher talking nonsense in a serious tone, and they felt exhausted both physically and mentally.
Their patience has almost worn out.
“Found it!”
Chu Xuanyi suddenly stopped, looked up into the distance, and there was a hint of excitement in his voice.
"I finally sensed it. The most intense and core evil eye is in that direction."
He extended his whisk and pointed at a distance.
Li Mang looked in the direction he pointed and his heart skipped a beat.
That direction was not towards the Emperor's bedroom, the Hall of Mental Cultivation, but on the contrary, it led to a long-abandoned palace in the north.
It used to be the residence of an abandoned concubine. Later, the abandoned concubine went crazy and hanged herself. The palace was then sealed off and became eerie and scary. People in the palace called it "Ghost-Seeing" and no one dared to approach it!
"Go!" Chu Xuanyi gave the order and strode towards the direction of "Ghost-Seeing Sorrow". "There is no time to lose, we must go and suppress the evil eye immediately!"
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