Tang Nian wasn't stupid; she knew what the Empress Dowager meant by those words—she wanted her to stop the Chu Emperor from making further mistakes.
Tang Nian even had a bolder guess, but with so many people and eyes in the palace, she dared not ask it out easily.
Would the Empress Dowager have preferred the Chu Emperor to abdicate in exchange for her grandson?
At night, Tang Nian always noticed people coming and going at the door.
Her room was unlit, but the moonlight shone in, casting a clear shadow of the person at the door onto the window.
It seems that since I came to the Empress Dowager's Cining Palace, the people in the palace have become restless.
Tang Nian thought to herself, and through the crack in the window, she threw out a talisman that would cause someone to faint. The talisman hit the person, but there was no reaction.
The people at the door clearly noticed something was wrong and hurriedly left.
The next morning, there was a change in the people serving Tang Nian.
Throughout the day, she had someone by her side while eating, sleeping, and even using the toilet.
This maid only disappears when the Empress Dowager appears, so she is clearly not a maid from Cining Palace.
The harem was unusually lively today, with the concubines all seemingly conspiring to cause trouble together, frequently coming to Cining Palace to seek justice from the Empress Dowager.
It's obvious that Master Wang was involved in this.
Although Tang Nian didn't intend to do anything, being constantly watched was clearly making her very annoyed.
She was determined to teach those who were spying on her a lesson. She deliberately missed the teacup when the maid handed her tea, and the cup fell to the ground.
The shards of the teacup pierced the man's leg squarely, yet Tang Nian saw no blood flowing out.
The maid looked panicked, and after cleaning up the broken teacup on the ground, she knelt down and begged for forgiveness.
Everything about her resembled that of a normal maid, if not for the fact that she didn't bleed.
Tang Nian stood up again, feigning dizziness, and took the man's pulse while the maid was helping her.
There wasn't a pulse at all!
Tang Nian was startled. The maid in front of her acted like a living person. This was not the black-clad "person" they had encountered before. Could it be that Master Wang had come up with a new trick?
She was not familiar with ghosts, but fortunately, the maid was temporarily separated from Tang Nian because of this accident.
Tang Nian seized the opportunity, picked up the Xuan paper on the table, wrote down her conjecture, folded another paper crane, and sent a message to the underworld.
After doing all that, she sat bored in a chair.
Rather than staying in Cining Palace and being manipulated by others, it would be better to go back to Master Wang's palace and see if there are any clues.
Tang Nian made up a reason to go back, but the Empress Dowager was busy with the turmoil in the harem and did not keep her.
This played right into Wang Tianshi's hands, allowing him to withdraw some of the people monitoring Tang Nian without giving much thought to why Tang Nian wanted to come back.
A light drizzle was falling outside the window, and Tang Nian was idly lying on the windowsill, lost in thought.
She's been back for so long, but apart from the room filled with magic arrays, there's only an abandoned courtyard she can wander around. She really can't find anything useful.
Wang Tianshi's men were watching her constantly. Although they weren't monitoring her as ruthlessly as before, she still couldn't leave the courtyard.
The sound of rain falling continued in the courtyard. Tang Nian looked up at the sky and thought she had discovered a faint blue light emanating from under a large locust tree in the courtyard.
Tang Nian couldn't help but feel curious.
She had already seen the entire courtyard when she was first imprisoned there, and she was quite certain that there was no such power there.
Despite the distance, Tang Nian could still sense the aura emanating from underground, an aura that didn't belong to anyone she knew.
What exactly is buried under this tree?
Tang Nian thought for a moment, then picked up the oil-paper umbrella leaning against the wall and went over to check in the rain.
The eunuchs and guards passing by only glanced at Tang Nian as she walked out of the room, assuming she was just bored and restless. As long as she didn't do anything out of line, they wouldn't bother with her.
She walked to the tree, squatted down, and gently touched the soil that shimmered with a blue light.
"Guards, seize her!"
Hearing a familiar voice behind her, Tang Nian, who had just closed her eyes, sighed.
She stood up and shook off the two maids who were holding her arms: "I can walk by myself."
After speaking, he couldn't help but yawn, clearly not taking them seriously.
Master Wang glared fiercely at Tang Nian, who looked completely indifferent, and gritted his teeth in anger: "You're staying inside these days, don't come out!"
Tang Nian raised an eyebrow slightly: "Are you so sure I can't come out? Believe me or not, you'll ask me to come out tomorrow."
Master Wang stopped talking to the infuriating woman in front of him, slammed the door shut, and waved his large hand in front of the door, causing a thick black aura to adhere firmly to the door.
Tang Nian pursed her lips. This ghost is really easy to tease; it used its ghostly aura for such a small matter.
She lit a candle, and in the dim candlelight and the pitter-patter of rain, Tang Nian felt an unexpected sense of peace.
Fortunately, Master Wang arrived a step too late. She clearly felt that power, a power that she felt somewhat repulsed by.
However, Tang Nian still had no clue about the source of this power.
The current Celestial Master Wang has refused to communicate with her and has been unable to extract any information from her.
Thinking this, Tang Nian let out a big yawn.
The next morning, just as Tang Nian had predicted, her door was kicked open.
Seeing Tang Nian stretching lazily and leisurely rubbing her eyes inside the room, Master Wang was even more furious.
"Hey, good morning, Master Wang. Where are you planning to take me?" Tang Nian asked with a smile as she stared at Master Wang, whose face was dark.
"His Majesty is looking for you."
Master Wang frowned and said irritably, "I really don't know what the Emperor of Chu was thinking, suddenly asking me to bring Tang Nian along to the Imperial Study."
This time, Tang Nian didn't make things difficult for him. After a quick tidying up, she followed Wang Tianshi to the Imperial Study.
The eunuchs outside the door saw Tang Nian respectfully let her in. Wang Tianshi also wanted to go in, but was stopped by the eunuchs.
"Eunuch Li, what does this mean?" Master Wang frowned.
“Lord Wang, His Majesty only requests an audience with Miss Tang. Please rest for a while,” said Eunuch Li, bowing his head.
Master Wang clenched and unclenched his fists, but remained standing motionless in front of the door.
"Master Wang, please."
The eunuch bent down again to remind him, but Master Wang snorted coldly, waved his sleeve, and strode to the side.
"Damn eunuch."
Inside the imperial study, Emperor Chu no longer displayed the wary and disdainful attitude he had shown towards Tang Nian. Upon seeing Tang Nian enter, he surprisingly offered her a seat.
The Chu Emperor didn't mince words: "Miss Tang, I've heard that you know the formula for an elixir of immortality that doesn't require human lives?"
Tang Nian was not surprised at all; the Empress Dowager had indeed informed the Chu Emperor of this news.
"Your Majesty, I do indeed know."
Perhaps the Empress Dowager was genuinely concerned for the innocent people, but Tang Nian could tell from the shining eyes of the Chu Emperor that he simply thought it would be much simpler not to use people as the medicinal ingredients.
What a foolish ruler.
Of course, Tang Nian didn't show it on her face and still maintained a respectful demeanor.
"Then are you aware that I have issued an order forbidding the Celestial Masters from entering the Imperial City?"
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