On the second day of the second month in the thirteenth year of Tiancheng Lingwei, the daughter of the Bai family assassinated the king on the banks of the Yue River.
That night, the emperor's palace was brightly lit until dawn, and the stars and the moon were obscured.
At that time, Xiao Nanhui was staring at the pitch-black night sky in a daze.
Unlike the night of the New Year's Eve Festival when there were no candles, the emperor's palace tonight was brightly lit but the atmosphere was solemn.
The bonfire with sparks flying everywhere illuminated the entire inner courtyard. The dazzling red light blocked out the stars in the sky, making the night seem even darker.
Xiao Nanhui knelt on the cold, hard ground, not even noticing that his hands had become numb and stiff from being tied behind his back for so long.
Xiao Nanhui's thoughts were still stuck on an hour ago. She climbed up from Bai Yun's body and looked outside Tingfeng Tower. The platform was in chaos, with rivers and seas turning upside down and the sun and moon upside down.
The running crowd overturned the wooden fence surrounding the river bank. Some people fell into the water, some were trampled underfoot, and cries and screams were heard everywhere.
The voice still lingers in her ears and cannot be driven away.
Someone was walking around, bumping into her body. Xiao Nanhui blinked, and her sight focused on what was in front of her.
The panicked actors were huddled together, their tears washing away the makeup and paint on their faces, just like the chaotic situation tonight.
Men from the Inquisition and the Imperial Court kept arriving, taking one or two of them away for questioning to rule out the possibility of collusion between the inside and outside. The actors being taken away cried out, their nails scratching the ground, leaving traces of blood.
Not far away, the altar and sacrificial utensils used in the performance on the high platform were broken open and smashed for inspection one by one. The pure white blue sheep that was sacrificed on the high platform was lying on the ground, its limbs were cold and stiff, and there was still blood on its head that was chopped off by a knife. Its horizontal pupils were like two doors that were about to open, facing Xiao Nanhui directly.
Since ancient times, pure-colored livestock have been chosen for sacrifice. Among these sacrifices, pure white calves and lambs are particularly prized. White symbolizes purity, and smallness symbolizes vitality, making them the gods' most beloved gifts. Legend has it that the eyes of the mountain goat can connect heaven and earth, while others say they are actually the gateway to hell.
She reached out her hand and tried to close those eyes.
The next second, the door of the hall, which had been tightly closed, suddenly opened with a bang, and the anxious atmosphere in the inner court poured out with the cold wind.
The ministers who had been waiting for a long time lowered their heads in silence, no one daring to whisper. The footsteps of palace servants, eunuchs, and doctors mingled, punctuated by the scolding of General Shan Fei, each voice tinged with tension.
She could clearly hear every word and sentence that came from the inner court, but her mind was in a mess and she was completely unable to distinguish their meaning. She only felt that the voices gradually turned into a noisy roar, circling in her head.
A familiar figure emerged from the inner courtyard corridor. It was none other than the sullen-looking Ding Weixiang. He seemed to glance in her direction, his gaze tinged with anger, but he ultimately turned away and walked toward the wing room.
Ding Weixiang didn't rush over and kill her with a knife. Does it mean that the emperor is still alive?
She saw Ding Weixiang holding half a black feather arrow in his hand, the arrow's shaft had been cut off by a sharp knife, which was obviously Ding Weixiang's work.
Xiao Nanhui breathed a sigh of relief, but then felt something was wrong.
The arrow body is there, but where is the arrowhead?
Her heart began to sway again, and uneasiness and anxiety crawled all over her body like insects and ants, biting every inch of her skin and trying to drill deeper.
Another team of medical officers hurried in from the side door. They looked older than the previous teams. However, none of the white-bearded old men dared to slack off. They moved their legs and feet so fast that their medical boxes were about to fall out of their hands.
Xiao Nanhui's heart was like those shaky boxes. He had no idea what was inside, but he knew that everything was upside down and swaying from side to side.
She was sitting there, but she felt as if the whole world was shaking. It took her a while to realize that it wasn't the world that was shaking, but she herself.
In this torture where every minute and every second was like being tortured to death, the waning moon was already setting in the west.
The cold wind blew across the golden toad on the eaves of the temple, blowing the copper beads in the toad's mouth. The whimpering sound echoed throughout the palace, as if crying at a funeral.
With a creak, the main door of the hall finally opened slowly, and the palace maids on both sides stood still, making way for the corridor in the middle.
Shan Jiangfei walked out slowly, with his eyes half closed, not looking at the faces with various expressions in the courtyard.
"Everyone, His Majesty invites you."
With just one word, a series of sighs of relief could be heard in the inner court.
The emperor is not dead.
As long as the emperor is not dead, everything will be fine.
Xiao Nanhui also breathed a sigh of relief, but suddenly someone grabbed her collar and dragged her forward. Then she saw Bai Yun being escorted in from the side door with iron shackles on his hands and feet.
She suddenly realized something: she really didn't have the right to worry about others. If she couldn't prove her innocence, she and Bai Yun would be labeled as traitors, and the entire Xiao family would be implicated.
The temperature in the hall was very low, and the huge copper furnace was not heated. Instead, there was a familiar lotus-carved clepsydra.
The ministers had long been accustomed to this kind of atmosphere. It seemed that as soon as the ticking sound was heard, everyone was instantly returned to the long and dark Yuanming Palace in the imperial city.
I don't know who started it, but the ministers in the palace began to show keen concern for the emperor's physical and mental health.
After a round of clamoring and greetings, the scene became quiet again.
The emperor sat upright under the statue, and the incense burning on the table behind him raised a cloud of green smoke, shrouding his face in darkness.
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