After Emperor Mingzheng ascended the throne, the Imperial Observatory became a mere formality. Li Si's divination at that time had left Emperor Mingzheng with a grudge, and he disliked the Imperial Observatory very much. At that time, Emperor Mingzheng was not close to sorcerers. On the contrary, he hated them deeply.
After several years of diligent work and stable government, Emperor Mingzheng became greedy for pleasure and began to rely on Cheng Ying, who was increasingly in charge of the East Factory. From then on, things got out of control and all the documents were approved by Cheng Ying.
Yu Qizhe found out that Cheng Ying brought a Taoist priest to the capital in the third year of Mingzheng. Since then, Emperor Mingzheng became obsessed with Taoist rituals and the art of longevity. The old Taoist priest stayed in the palace for three years, and only some old people in the palace knew about it.
An old palace maid who was sweeping Fengtianzhai still had an impression of this incident. Yu Qizhe learned from him that Fengtianzhai was originally built by Emperor Mingzheng because of the old Taoist priest. The old Taoist priest had a close relationship with Li Si and seemed to be the one who adopted Li Si. The old Taoist priest stayed in the palace for two years and then disappeared as if he had evaporated from the face of the earth.
Emperor Mingzheng was rarely angry with Cheng Ying several times because of this incident, but Cheng Ying calmed him down by some unknown means and did not send anyone to track down the old Taoist priest.
After that, Cheng Ying left the capital several times to recruit strange people and sorcerers from all over the country for Emperor Mingzheng. However, most of those folk Taoist priests knew some bluffing tricks. Those tricks were enough to fool the ignorant people in the countryside, but they were not enough to accompany the emperor into the palace.
According to the old palace maid who swept the floor, the floor of Fengtianzhai had to be mopped frequently during those years, and blood splattered in the Xiangdian from time to time. Later, only Taixu, who was famous for his ability to make elixirs through spirit writing, was allowed to stay. Because he made a miraculous health-preserving elixir for Emperor Mingzheng, he was gradually valued by Emperor Mingzheng and treated as a guest of honor.
There are countless strange stories about Cheng Ying in the market, all of which say that Cheng Ying acts arbitrarily, moody, and without reason. Yu Qizhe also agrees with this point. Looking at what Cheng Ying has done, it is really like a tangled mess, making it impossible to sort out the clues. However, if you count the things that happened in Beijing, it seems that he was responsible for everything, and you don't even dare to think too much about it.
In Fengtianzhai, green smoke was curling.
Emperor Mingzheng brought Yu Qizhe into the hall and saw that Taixu had his eyes closed and was muttering something. Emperor Mingzheng quickly gave Yu Qizhe a look, signaling him to be quiet. Emperor Mingzheng also lowered his footsteps, as if afraid of disturbing Taixu. He walked to the cushion and sat down to meditate.
Yu Qizhe also sat on the cushion and looked up at Taixu.
This Taoist priest, who was appreciated by Emperor Mingzheng, was not old, but only middle-aged. He just had a beard, had a mature face, and was dressed in Taoist robes. He really had the aura of an extraordinary master.
On the ground in front of him was a low table with a puzzle plate covered with fine sand. About half a quarter of an hour later, Taixu, who had been closing his eyes, suddenly opened them. He held a writing brush and kept writing on the sand table, saying in a profound voice, "Recite the subtle words of Huang Lao, worship the benevolent temple of Buddha, fast for three months, swear to the gods, be pure and virtuous, and invite the ancestor of all saints, the true god, the Heavenly Lord of Dao and Morality to be my teacher and educate the world."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Mingzheng immediately sat up straight, his face serious, his eyes becoming pious and reverent, and he clasped his hands together, continuously bowing in the direction of Taixu.
Taixu recited the words in the spirit writing system countless times, and his aura suddenly changed. He was still the same as before, but the tightly closed hall was suddenly filled with wind, and his wide Taoist robe fluttered in the wind, and he seemed to be floating away in the wind.
Upon seeing this, Emperor Mingzheng hurriedly lowered his hands and kowtowed, and did not forget to signal Yu Qizhe to do the same.
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