Chapter 55: One of the Three Souls is Missing
The prince was extremely filial. Even when he was away from home, he would send letters back to the capital every now and then, delivered by a special person.
Emperor Zhao of Qi was most delighted when he received a letter from his son. He would usually send all the attendants away and read the letter by himself with great joy. After reading it several times, he would hide it in a secret compartment in his bedroom and treasure it like a treasure.
Therefore, even his closest eunuch did not know the content of the prince's letter.
This letter was especially important, as it was the last one sent by the Crown Prince before his accident. Just yesterday, when Emperor Zhao of Qi couldn't sleep in the middle of the night, he took out the letter and read it again. When he read the emotional part, the old emperor burst into tears.
"How did you know that?" His eyes were full of vigilance and his body subconsciously moved back.
Lin Qingyue, however, looked relaxed and natural, as if she was the monarch who controlled the world and no one else was worth mentioning in front of her.
"If I say that it was the prince's own words, would Your Majesty believe me?"
"What did you say?" Emperor Zhao of Qi was a little surprised. "The prince told you personally? When?"
So, Lin Qingyue simply told Emperor Qi Zhao how she met Xiaohua and why Xiaohua became her cat.
Emperor Zhao of Qi was surprised at first, then delighted, and finally moved to tears:
"My son is truly blessed. How fortunate! How fortunate!" He stood up excitedly. "Take the Crown Prince back to the palace! I will personally take the Crown Prince back to the palace!"
He suddenly stopped and asked suspiciously, "Since the Crown Prince's spirit has returned, why didn't he come back with you to the palace to see me?"
Lin Qingyue said, "Because he only has one soul and one spirit back. If he wants to recover as before, he needs all three souls and his body to be intact."
"Only one soul?"
At this point, Emperor Qi Zhao naturally had nothing to hide anymore, so he told Lin Qingyue truthfully:
"That day, when the Crown Prince met with an accident, I fortunately sent secret guards to follow him. They rescued him and sent him back to the capital, but they discovered that only one soul remained in his body."
"Thus, although his body remains intact, he sleeps all day long, like a living dead. Fearing being plotted against by those with ulterior motives, I have never disclosed the Crown Prince's true condition to the public."
"In order to retrieve the Crown Prince's lost soul, I have sent several groups of people to search for him, but unfortunately, they have found nothing..."
People have three souls: heavenly soul, earthly soul, and human soul.
What returned with the physical body was the human soul, and what was in Xiaohua's body was the earth soul. The only thing missing was the heavenly soul.
The Celestial Soul is the most important of the three souls, representing the innate primordial soul and determining the length of life. If the Celestial Soul is lost, even if the other souls return, life will not be long.
Lin Qingyue asked, "Your Majesty, the people you sent out to search for you didn't find anything?"
Emperor Zhao of Qi said, "It's not completely impossible. The prince was last seen in Chixia County, which is located on the border of Qi State. Across the border is the Red Shadow Land. It's very likely that the prince's soul has gone there, otherwise it would be impossible to find him without a trace throughout the entire country."
"Of course, I have sent people to infiltrate the Red Shadow Land. But none of those who were sent have ever returned."
He looked at Lin Qingyue, his eyes filled with hope. "Princess Jin, do you have a solution? If you can help me gather the three souls of the Crown Prince and revive him, I can agree to anything you ask. Even if you want to support the King of Jin as emperor, I can immediately issue an edict to appoint Dongfang Yan as Crown Prince. When you rescue the Crown Prince and return, I will abdicate the throne to him."
"I am already old, and I don't want to be the one to send off the young!"
The almighty emperor's eyes were red at this moment. He looked like an ordinary old father, worried about his son's life or death. He was even willing to exchange the throne for his son's life or death!
At this moment, the emperor's feelings were sincere. But if Lin Qingyue took it seriously, she would be stupid!
Lin Qingyue smiled faintly: "Whether Dongfang Yan becomes the emperor or not is none of my business. But after the matter is accomplished, I hope that His Majesty can agree to one thing for me."
…
After coming out from Emperor Zhao of Qi, Lin Qingyue ran into Dongfang Yan who had just finished the six ministries' political meeting.
Dongfang Yan looked at Lin Qingyue, walked over quickly, and asked, "Your Majesty sent me away and left you alone. What did he say?"
Lin Qingyue smiled and said, "Your uncle asked me who would be suitable to be the crown prince. He also said that if I took a fancy to someone, he would make that person the crown prince."
Dongfang Yan's face darkened, and he lowered his voice and said, "This is the Imperial Palace, don't talk nonsense! If the censors hear it, they'll report you, and I won't protect you!"
Lin Qingyue shrugged and said helplessly, "Look, you insist on asking, and you don't believe me when I tell you."
Dongfang Yan saw her cynical look and guessed that the emperor would not tell her anything important.
So he warned, "I still have to report to His Majesty on the affairs of the six ministries. You go back first, and don't say those crazy things just now!"
Lin Qingyue smiled and replied, "Okay."
She was suddenly so docile that Dongfang Yan couldn't help but frown: Is she planning something again?
Lin Qingyue did not go back to the palace directly, but went to the Xuanjing Division again.
In the Xuanjing Division, Xie Shouzheng was assigning tasks to his subordinates:
"Da Mi, please compile the intelligence you've gathered recently into a report. I need to review it one by one."
"Xiao Qi, the owner of Qibaozhai is possessed by a ghost. Why haven't you dealt with the obsession yet? If you keep making trouble, it will be unreasonable! Just beat him with a willow branch first!"
"Xiao Liu, didn't you take people to pray for Miss Gu's soul this morning? How come you're back so soon? Hey, Deputy Envoy Lin, you're here? I heard you went to the palace to meet the emperor. I thought you wouldn't come to the Xuanjing Division today."
Lin Qingyue said, "Your Majesty is busy with government affairs. He played a few games of chess with me and then went back to work. Thank you, sir. I came here to talk to you about something."
Xie Shouzheng said, "Wait a minute. I'll get my men's affairs in order and then I'll tell you. Xiaoliu, what's going on with the Gu family? You look so anxious and sweaty."
Xiaoliu was a slightly plump man in his twenties. He had grown up with his grandmother, a Taoist nun, and had learned some skills. Later, he was recruited by Xie Shouzheng into the Xuanjing Division, where he performed rituals such as salvation and exorcism.
The eldest daughter of the Gu family hanged herself at home, and they feared it was unlucky, so they invited people from the Xuanjingsi to help perform rituals during the funeral today to let Miss Gu rest in peace.
Xiaoliu took a few people to the Gu family early in the morning. After the funeral, the Gu family wanted to hold the funeral, but they couldn't lift the coffin.
Xiaoliu went to ask about the spirit, but heard faint cries coming from the coffin. When he opened the coffin, he saw bloody scratches all over the coffin, which scared everyone.
Xie Shouzheng was also shocked after hearing this: "Could it be that the person is not dead but sealed in the coffin?"
Xiao Liu said, "Before the burial, the person was already dead. The Gu family said that Miss Gu hanged herself from the beam of the house seven days ago. They put her in the coffin only after they were sure she was dead. The coffin was kept in the mourning hall for another seven days, and only today, after the period of rest expired, was it prepared for burial. Besides, there are usually people keeping watch at night, so if she was really sealed in the coffin, it is impossible that no one would have discovered it."
Xie Shouzheng nodded: "Then there is only one possibility, he is causing trouble after his death."
Xiao Liu said, "I think so too, so I came back to report immediately. Sir, what should we do about this?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com