Amid the chaos and war, Concubine Wen was quickly asked to leave.
Instead, Ziyuan Zhenren was hurriedly invited from Xuanqiong Palace. He was trusted by Emperor Longfeng and was carried here on a sedan chair. After getting off the sedan chair, he straightened his clothes and swung his wide sleeves, walking into the Qianqing Palace with an immortal demeanor.
When Emperor Longfeng saw him, his cloudy and old eyes suddenly lit up, but he was just thinking about the words of the imperial physician and didn't dare to have too much emotional fluctuation. He just breathed deeply, but his eyes were fixed on Master Ziyuan.
Master Ziyuan paced a few steps in front of the dragon couch, lowered his eyes and counted on his fingers for a long time, then said solemnly: "An evil spirit has appeared in the palace, and your majesty has been possessed by it."
It was indeed Consort Wen! He felt pity for her for a moment, but was instead entangled by the evil spirit. Hatred and regret appeared in Emperor Longfeng's eyes.
It is true that he loved Consort Wen Guifei. This woman had been with him for many years. She was very much to his liking in both appearance and personality, and she was even more charming in bed. Moreover, she did not have a powerful mother's family. Even if she gave birth to a son, he could only rely on him tightly, and he could pamper her without any worries.
Over the years, so many beauties have entered the harem, but none of them is as to his liking as Concubine Wen.
So he was willing to stay with this woman.
But the premise is that this tolerance will not affect him!
Ever since he was bedridden for a long time last time, Emperor Longfeng has paid special attention to his body. He was tired of the feeling of weakness and powerlessness. After he recovered from his illness, he didn't even summon beauties to sleep with him anymore. He just practiced Taoism with Master Ziyuan and took pills every day. He finally recovered a little bit of his spirit, but now it's all ruined!
Thinking of the possibility of a stroke mentioned by the imperial physician, endless panic spread in Emperor Longfeng's heart. He struggled and raised his hand to point to the door, and said in a hoarse voice: "Concubine Wen, Jingren Palace!"
After receiving his instructions, Master Ziyuan was soon led to Jingren Palace to investigate.
Half an hour later, he turned back.
Emperor Longfeng had already taken the medicine, and although he was still weak, he was no longer as frail as before. He leaned on the pillow sickly and asked anxiously, "Master, can you see anything?"
Master Ziyuan nodded, with a look of pity and compassion: "There is an evil spirit hovering above Jingren Palace, and the noble concubine is even more obsessed with blood and energy... I'm afraid she has unresolved karma."
"Is it possible to drive it away?" Emperor Longfeng asked.
"We can just set up a temple and perform a ritual. But it's easy to get rid of evil spirits, but it's hard to get rid of karma." Ziyuan Zhenren hesitated for a moment, but still said bluntly: "Your Majesty's body has not recovered yet and he has suffered a shock. Before the karma of the noble concubine is resolved, it's best not to get too... close."
When Emperor Longfeng heard this, his face turned red and then pale, and he felt very regretful.
"Then there is Lao Zhenren."
After receiving the order from Emperor Longfeng, Master Ziyuan quickly had a Taoist altar set up in front of Jingren Palace.
Because of this incident, the story of the haunting of Jingren Palace could no longer be suppressed and became a hot topic. Many rumors spread in the palace, saying that the eunuch who poisoned the empress was actually sent by Concubine Wen, and that the dead palace maid Feicui was actually silenced.
Otherwise, why did ghosts appear in Jingren Palace just after these two people died?
Concubine Wen stayed in Jingren Palace, and Emperor Longfeng ordered her to stay in the palace, not to leave until the ritual was completed.
The rumors that were spreading in the palace were passed on to her ears by the female officials who served her personally. She was filled with hatred and at the same time, an indescribable panic rose from the bottom of her heart.
She suddenly had an inexplicable feeling, as if she had stepped into a quagmire and was sinking deeper and deeper without knowing it.
The day for the exorcism ritual was set for three days later. It was said that this was a day with strong yang energy carefully selected by Ziyuan Zhenren, and it was the most suitable day for exorcising evil spirits.
It was a rare sunny day on the day of the ritual. The sun, which had not appeared for a long time, broke through the thick clouds. Although it still had a bit of the coldness of the last days of winter, it felt warm when it shone on my body.
In the square in front of Jingren Palace, Emperor Longfeng and the Empress sat on one side of the room, and behind them were the concubines and palace maids who were watching the ceremony.
On the altar in the center of the square, Ziyuan Zhenren, wearing a Four Symbols and Eight Trigrams robe, held a peach wood sword in his hand, stepped on the Tiangang step, and performed a ritual to exorcise evil spirits while chanting something.
As the owner of Jingren Palace, Concubine Wen, who was "entangled in karma", was forced to wear plain clothes and kneel on the altar to recite scriptures to dispel the evil spirits.
She lowered her eyes and scanned the faces below the stage that could not hide their gloating expressions, and she gritted her teeth in humiliation.
However, this is not the most embarrassing situation.
When Master Ziyuan was halfway through his ritual, thick dark clouds suddenly gathered and blocked out the sunny sun. The bright sky darkened in a moment, as if a storm was about to come.
The sound of rumbling thunder could be heard faintly from the dark clouds.
The sudden change in the weather made everyone present feel a little panic. Master Ziyuan, who was performing the ritual, said in a deep voice, "Not good", and immediately bit his finger and smeared the blood on the peach wood sword. His steady steps also became hurried.
Almost at the same time, there was a sudden explosion of thunder in the sky.
Master Ziyuan knelt on one knee as if he couldn't bear the pressure and suddenly spurted out a mouthful of blood!
He looked up at the dark clouds gathering above his head and murmured, "How can there be such strong resentment?"
This sudden scene shocked everyone, and Emperor Longfeng stood up suddenly and asked anxiously, "What happened?"
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. The resentment of this evil spirit is too strong. I am afraid that my Taoist practice is... not enough." Master Ziyuan spoke these short sentences breathlessly.
"What evil spirit is so powerful?" Emperor Longfeng was anxious and afraid.
"A man and a woman become the Yin and Yang twins, each enhancing the other. I'm afraid there is unresolved hatred, so the resentment is shocking."
The emperor looked grim, and was about to ask "what to do?", when he saw one of the palace servants kneeling in front of Jingren Palace suddenly shouting in panic: "It wasn't me who killed you! It wasn't me!"
Judging from her clothes, she was a female official of Jingren Palace. She seemed to have seen something extremely terrifying, and tried to escape by tumbling and crawling: "It wasn't me! It was the Queen's order, it has nothing to do with me!"
In the silence, her voice sounded particularly sharp.
Emperor Longfeng's face darkened, and he gave an unhappily command: "Bring the man here."
Xue Shu, who was serving at the side, gave a look, and two Jinyiwei guards immediately brought the person over. The female official was still struggling, yelling nonsense, and when she was pressed to kneel on the ground, her body was shaking like a sieve: "I don't want to kill you, I don't want to... Don't come to me..."
Emperor Longfeng looked extremely unhappy. Xue Shu saw his expression and stepped forward to ask, "Who did the Queen ask you to kill?"
"Jadeite." The female official's face turned pale.
Feicui was none other than the deceased maiden of Jingren Palace.
"Why did Her Majesty ask you to kill Feicui?" Xue Shu continued to persuade her.
The thunder in the sky had not yet stopped, and the female official seemed to be frightened to death, and she said incoherently: "Because Feicui was Wang Shi's partner, Wang Shi is dead, Feicui must die too. The queen said that they must all die!"
Wang Shi was the eunuch who poisoned the cakes.
At this point, some things are self-evident.
Xue Shu stopped asking questions and looked at the gloomy Emperor Longfeng inquiringly: "Your Majesty?"
Emperor Longfeng didn't look surprised at all. He glanced coldly at Concubine Wen on the altar, and before she could speak, he turned to Master Ziyuan who was meditating and regulating his breathing: "Can this evil spirit be eliminated?"
Master Ziyuan said, "The resentment is too strong, we need to dissolve it first. The corpses of the two also need to be suppressed in a sunny place, otherwise if we allow the resentment to grow, the consequences will be disastrous."
Emperor Longfeng was silent for a moment after hearing this, then looked at Xue Shu and said, "I'll leave this matter to you."
Xue Shu bowed his head in agreement and waved to the Jinyi Guards, and the female official was taken away.
As for Concubine Wen...she is still under house arrest in Jingren Palace until the matter is thoroughly concluded.
The efficiency of the Dongchang was extremely high. The female officials and eunuchs around Concubine Wen had all been to the imperial prison. It was hard to tell what kind of torture they had received, but they all looked as pale as gold paper and their spirits were as weak as a thread.
Concubine Wen Guifei, who was confined to Jingren Palace, lost her eyes, ears, claws and teeth. She was like a beast with its eyes gouged out and its claws cut off. She could only struggle in vain and anxiously wait for her own end.
She tried hard to recall when this trap began.
Did it start from the moment she stepped into the Qianqing Palace?
No! It should be that she stepped into the trap set by the enemy from the moment the ghost appeared in Jingren Palace, and she couldn't get out of it.
She didn't even know when the female official who came out to identify the person during the ritual was bribed.
This can't be the work of that waste Yin Ci Guang, it's the prince!
He is the only one who has this ability.
Concubine Wen was filled with hatred. She tried every means to see the emperor. As long as the emperor was willing to see her and showed a little sympathy, he would not have the heart to blame her too much.
However, the guards guarding Jingren Palace are all Xue Shu's men. No matter how much silver she throws out, it will be like a drop in the ocean, without any response.
In just three days, the whole case was sorted out clearly and compiled into a book and presented to Emperor Longfeng.
The eunuch Wang Shi and the palace maid Feicui were from the same hometown. After entering the palace, they took care of each other and gradually fell in love, so they secretly got married. When the two were having a tryst outside Jingren Palace one day, they were caught by the female official next to Concubine Wen Guifei, and the matter was exposed to Concubine Wen Guifei.
Concubine Wen did not deal with the two immediately, but instead took a fancy to Wang Shi's identity.
She used Feicui's life as a bargaining chip to get Wang Shi to work for her. Although Wang Shi was not in the eyes of Emperor Longfeng, he was still useful in the Qianqing Palace and would occasionally accompany him to serve.
On the day when Concubine Rong was poisoned, Concubine Wen Gui learned that Empress Yu and Concubine Rong had gone to the Banana Garden to enjoy the scenery, so she specially invited Emperor Longfeng to go for a walk near the Banana Garden, and when the Yu Kitchen sent cakes, she deliberately mentioned Empress Yu and Concubine Rong in Jiao Garden. So Emperor Longfeng gave two plates of cakes, and the person who sent the cakes was Wang Shi.
At the request of Concubine Wen, Wang Shi poisoned a dish of sugar-soaked osmanthus cake in an attempt to kill the empress.
Concubine Wen promised Wang Shi that she would spare Feicui if he committed suicide afterwards.
After the incident, Wang Shi committed suicide out of fear of punishment, but Concubine Wen did not keep her promise. Two days later, she ordered her trusted female official to strangle Feicui to death and threw her into a dry well in the cold palace.
Conspiring to murder the empress, spying on the emperor, taking human life... after listing all the crimes, Concubine Wen is unforgivable.
"The suppression tomb has been explored, and the bodies of Wang Shi and Feicui will be moved there soon." Xue Shu stood in front of the couch, speaking in a calm tone without any bias: "What should be done with Concubine Wen?"
According to Master Ziyuan, in order to resolve the resentment of the Yin and Yang evil spirits, the culprit must be punished.
Emperor Longfeng was hesitant, with the word "kill" stuck in his throat and he couldn't utter it out.
When he was possessed by the evil spirit, he hated Concubine Wen, but when he really wanted to kill her, he felt reluctant. Moreover, without Concubine Wen, wouldn't the empress be the only one in charge of the harem?
Just when Emperor Longfeng was having difficulty making a decision, the previous dynasty dug up the past affairs of the Wen family again.
Emperor Longfeng was most afraid of the rise of foreign relatives, so Concubine Wen's mother's family was not prominent, and she only got a glamorous title, but no real power in the court. Over the years, the Wen family relied on Concubine Wen's favor in the palace, and they were not capable of committing major crimes, but they did a lot of small crimes such as robbing women, occupying land, and lending money at high interest.
No one dared to intervene in the past, but now they have been dug up one by one and brought to the attention of the emperor.
However, the more people reported the incident, the more hesitant Emperor Longfeng became, and he was slow to reach a conclusion.
And at this moment, news of death came from Yongxi Palace - Concubine Rong died.
After being kept alive for such a long time by the imperial physician with precious medicines, she finally couldn't hold on.
When Yin Chengyu heard the news and rushed to Yongxi Palace, the palace servants were already collecting the body of Concubine Rong. Yin Ciguang knelt in front of the bed with a blank look on his face.
Yin Chengyu called him, but he seemed not to hear her. There was no emotion in his eyes, and he looked gloomy.
His throat suddenly choked up. After all the twists and turns, Concubine Rong did not survive.
In the previous life, both mother and son died unjustly, and were stigmatized, with even their names becoming taboos in the palace. In this life, they watched their hard times come to an end, but their hopes were shattered before their eyes.
Fate was too cruel, and he didn't know which outcome would be more cruel to Yin Ciguang.
"I will not let Concubine Wen go." Any consolation at this moment was too pale and powerless. Yin Chengyu was silent for a long time and could only give such a promise.
Yin Ciguang's eyes flickered, and he slowly turned around and suddenly asked him, "Did I do something wrong?"
"What?" Yin Chengyu didn't know what he was asking.
Yin Ci Guang didn't seem to need an answer. He stood up and staggered out of the hall.
This year's winter is exceptionally long and cold. It is March without any spring, and the wind is howling.
The wind filled his wide robe. Yin Ciguang looked up at the gloomy sky for a long time, looking emaciated and like a ghost.
His mother taught him to be patient since he was a child.
You have to endure the lack of favor due to your low status; you have to endure the fear of being exposed every day when you are a man dressed as a woman; you have to endure the arrogance and domineering Concubine Wen who targets you everywhere...
The four high walls of the palace were like a bloody mouth. He and his mother lived in fear inside, not daring to fight or compete. They could only swallow their anger and live a difficult life.
It’s not that I haven’t hated and complained about him before, but my mother always said that everything would be fine once he grew up and that I just had to be patient.
He believed it and really thought everything would be fine.
The fact is that fate slapped him hard in the face when he was most proud, letting him know that he would always be an ant in the deep palace and his life, death, honor and disgrace would be controlled by others.
His body trembled slightly, Yin Ci Guang gritted his teeth, his eyes were red, but he didn't shed a single tear.
He lowered his head and looked at his hands. They were pale and powerless and could not protect his mother.
He slowly clenched his fist, his fingertips digging into his palm.
The funeral of Concubine Rong was extremely grand, with all the specifications following those of a noble concubine.
He was not favored during his lifetime, but was mourned and honored after his death.
Probably out of a desire to compensate, after the funeral, Emperor Longfeng issued an order to confer Yin Ciguang the title of Prince of An, and to take turns in the Ministry of Revenue. According to the old practice of the Great Yan royal family, the princes could only be conferred the title of prince after they had reached the age of twenty. Although Yin Ciguang was the oldest among the princes, he had not yet performed the ceremony of coming of age, so this conferment of the title of prince was an exception.
As for Concubine Wen, she was punished for multiple crimes that were unforgivable, but after much consideration, Emperor Longfeng could not bring himself to kill the woman he once loved. He only sentenced the Wen family, stripped her of her title of Concubine, and sent her to the cold palace.
In just half a month, the situation in the court and the harem changed dramatically.
After Yin Ciguang was crowned king, he officially moved into Prince An's Mansion - his mansion had already begun to be renovated years ago and was now ready for occupancy.
On the day of leaving the palace, he went to Ciqing Palace to bid farewell.
When Zheng Duobao led him to the Hongren Hall, he felt that the once taciturn eldest prince now looked even more silent, like a deep well with all his emotions sunk to the bottom and no vitality at all.
He sighed in his heart twice, led the people into the hall before leaving.
Yin Chengyu heard the messenger coming out, looked at his expression, and tried to speak as usual: "I thought there were too many things to do today, so I thought I would go to the palace to ask for tea in a few days, but I didn't expect that my brother would come first."
"In the past, my mother and I have been taken care of by Your Highness. I came here today to tell Your Highness that I don't believe the rumors outside, and Your Highness should not believe them either."
Yin Ci Guang was dressed in plain clothes, his face did not show much sadness, and he spoke calmly and slowly, as if he had already come out of the pain of losing his mother.
Yin Chengyu was slightly stunned, not expecting that he came here just to say such words.
"Once I have calmed down, I will invite Your Highness to have tea." Yin Ciguang said.
Yin Chengyu looked at him, trying to find something in his eyes, but found nothing.
He paused and said "OK" in a gentle voice.
Having said what he wanted to say, Yin Ciguang said goodbye and left. Yin Chengyu walked him to the door, and as he turned to leave, he whispered, "The guards near the cold palace have all been withdrawn."
Yin Ci Guang paused slightly, but continued walking forward without looking back.
After walking a long way, he finally looked back. A scarlet figure came out of the hall and stood side by side with Yin Chengyu. Although their posture was not overly intimate, there was an atmosphere that no one else could interfere. The two of them bowed their heads and said a few words, then turned around and entered the hall together.
Yin Ci Guang stopped and stared for a moment before turning around and leaving.
I envy the green mountains for their thoughts, and the white cranes for their forgetfulness.
God was stingy to him, and he could never be his companion.