Chapter 7 Golden Cage
As soon as these words were spoken, the Second Princess's eyes, which had been filled with anger and questioning, suddenly seemed to become clear. She stared at Qian Deng, her eyes filled with extreme shock and suspicion.
Qiandeng naturally knew what she was thinking at that moment. She turned her head and glanced at the others. There were countless suspicious eyes on her from the unfamiliar people in this strange country. Obviously, many people thought of that terrible possibility.
Seeing her county lady's expression change slightly, Daimao knew that she must have been questioned. She opened her mouth anxiously to defend her county lady, but unfortunately she didn't understand Kucha language, so she could only stare blankly and ask anxiously, "County lady, what do they mean?"
Qiandeng raised his hand to signal her to calm down, then turned to the solemn King of Kucha and saluted, saying, "I hope your Majesty will understand. I am unfamiliar with this place, and the pavilion was chosen by Second Prince. How could I suddenly harbor evil thoughts and attack Second Prince?"
"Furthermore, I prayed all night in the spirit hall, and was not taken back to my residence until the morning of April 1st today by a palace maid. After I cleaned up, I found out about the pavilion that Second Prince Uncle was referring to. The palace maids can attest to this. I had absolutely no time to act!"
Although everyone was unfamiliar with this newly arrived Princess of the Tang Dynasty, they all felt her analysis was clear and logical.
The King of Kucha stroked his chest and sighed, saying, "Don't worry, County Lady. You are a descendant of the uncle of the King of Changhua, and you carry the blood of the Kucha royal family. No one would, nor would anyone, dare to doubt you. For now, let's first thoroughly search the scene and the murder weapon. Finding the real culprit for the King of the North is the most important thing."
Everyone responded in agreement. The captain of the guards walked to the water's edge, picked up several larger pieces of glass fragments, wiped off the blood stains, and presented them to the King of Kucha.
"Lord, when we came here, we saw this lotus. At that time, it... it was fully blossomed on the chest of the Northern King. But because the body fell when it was moved, the lotus broke..."
In fact, he didn't need to say it. The people of Kucha knew what it was at a glance because the fragments formed a green glass calyx when they were pieced together.
The Second Princess sobbed, "This... is the sacred artifact that protects the country, the Glazed Blue Lotus!"
The King of Kucha's face was solemn as he looked at the corpse of the King of the North. He paused for a moment on the glass lotus stem still inserted in his chest and said in a deep voice, "Go and call the Imperial Master. Then send someone to the shrine to check the three sacred artifacts enshrined there."
Qiandeng was obviously now under deep suspicion and could not take any action, so she just winked at Daimao and mouthed "Cui Shaoqing".
Daimao understood and immediately stepped back quietly, mixed in with the busy crowd, quickly left the palace, and ran towards the Protectorate Office where the Tang Dynasty inspectors were staying.
After running a few steps, she suddenly remembered that this morning, it was Cui Shaoqing who went to the mourning hall behind the palace to welcome her county lady to finish praying. It wasn't long now, and she had moved a lot of volumes out of the mourning hall last night. It was possible that he had just packed up and was still near the mourning hall.
So she turned around and quickly ran towards the spirit hall again.
Even if Cui Shaoqing was not there, at least she was now wearing the costume of a Kucha palace maid, hoping to blend in with the people who were searching and see if they would do anything.
When she ran to the front of the mausoleum with all her might, as if it were God's will, she saw Cui Fufeng who had just come down the steps of the mausoleum.
At the street corner not far from the shrine, the monks who came to search for the three holy relics had already appeared.
Daimao was almost in tears, and rushed forward, saying urgently, "Shaoqing Cui, this is bad!"
When Cui Fufeng saw her anxious look, he immediately asked, "Where is the county lady?"
"The Northern King died at the place where he had agreed to meet the County Lady. The murder weapon was the glazed lotus. Now the people of Kucha seem to be suspecting the County Lady!" Daimao pointed at the monks who were approaching, "They're here to investigate the murder weapon!"
After just a few words, Cui Fufeng immediately understood the whole story. He turned around and returned to the shrine, waiting for the monks in front of the steps.
When he was in the Ministry of Rites, he was fluent in various languages, so the Honglu Temple often asked him to help. Kucha was no problem for him. The guards guarding the shrine saw him come out and wanted to go in with the monks to investigate the situation. So they let him in without stopping him.
The shrine was tall and shady, and the light was dim after the lights were turned off.
Everyone walked in quickly, walked up the high stairs, and looked at the incense table in front of the spirit tablets of the great rulers of past dynasties.
The ever-burning sea-jar lamp illuminated the incense table. The three sacred vessels that were originally displayed on the incense table had all disappeared. Only the golden cage that originally held the glazed blue lotus was still there, but it was empty.
The three sacred treasures that protected the country disappeared, and the murder weapon that killed the Northern King seemed to be one of them.
When the King, the State Master, Qian Deng and the others hurried over, the monks and the guards had already searched the temple thoroughly.
The hall was spacious and empty. Apart from the memorial tablet and the niches containing Buddhist scriptures, there was no place to hide anything. The three rare sacred glass objects seemed to have disappeared out of thin air, without any trace.
The Imperial Master inspected the incense table, his expression grim. "After offering the three sacred vessels last night, who entered and left the shrine?"
The guards all testified that after the ceremony ended and everyone left, only Princess Lingling and her maid were in the hall praying and chanting scriptures, and no one else had entered or left.
"Until daybreak, this guy..." They pointed at Cui Fufeng, but because they were unfamiliar with Tang Dynasty official positions, they didn't know his specific identity. "We learned last night that he was an official of the Tang Dynasty, and I heard he was the fiancé of the Tang Dynasty County Princess. So when he came with the palace maids to pick up the County Princess after she finished praying, we let him in. Soon the County Princess and the palace maids returned to the palace, and he stayed inside for a long time."
Cui Fufeng said calmly, "It's obvious that neither the county lady nor I could have been the one to steal the sacred artifact. Last night, the county lady prayed for blessings, and she was wearing a Kucha summer dress, light gauze with narrow sleeves and plain colors. There's no way she could have hidden the sacred artifact on her body and taken it out."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone nodded silently, especially the guards and female officials who testified that they had seen Qiandeng coming out of the hall with their own eyes. She had a slender figure, and the Kucha summer clothes were thin and fitted, so it was impossible to hide large instruments like the lotus and the Dharma wheel, not even the smallest vajra.
What's more, the two female officials accompanied Qiandeng all the way back to the palace. If there was anything unusual about her, they would have seen it at a glance. Why would they need to wait until now to recall?
"As for me, I certainly shouldn't have stayed in the shrine," Cui Fufeng said, pointing to the niches on the walls. "It's just that I've always admired Master Kumarajiva. So, while helping the county lady sort out the scriptures she left behind, I discovered a manuscript by the master that had never been seen in the Tang Dynasty. I copied it in the shrine, intending to bring it back and donate it to a famous temple in Chang'an to spread Buddhism."
As he spoke, he took out a scroll of scriptures from his sleeve and unfolded it for everyone to see.
The ink on the scroll was still dripping, and the paper scrolls and other things were all newly delivered last night for the Thousand Lights Prayer and Sutra copying. It turned out that they had just been copied here.
"After I finished copying and was about to leave the palace, I met Daimao who came looking for me. That's when I realized something big had happened in the palace." Cui Fufeng turned to the guards and asked, "I remember that I had just left the spirit hall and was still visible to the guards, right?"
The guards all nodded in affirmation: "Yes, before it was out of our sight, it came back again."
"The shrine is tall and vast, with windows at the top, a full ten feet above the ground. Portraits hang on the walls, making it impossible to climb in or out. The only way in and out is through the door, but the guards are always loyally guarding it. Therefore, it's impossible for the county lady and I to take anything away midway."
Naturally, everyone was convinced by this conclusion.
Qian Deng added, "So, my clothes were tight fitting, so I couldn't take anything with me. Cui Shaoqing's clothes were a bit loose, but he returned without leaving, so it was impossible for him to take the national treasure with him in plain sight. Moreover, when Cui Shaoqing left, Second Prince had already been stabbed in the heart by the Green Lotus and died. He definitely didn't have time to carry the Green Lotus to kill someone and then return here to continue copying scriptures."
Qiandeng and Cui Fufeng's inferences were reasonable, and everyone nodded secretly.
The King of Kucha murmured, "If that's the case, then how did the three sacred vessels disappear, and how was the King of the North killed by the sacred vessels?"
The Imperial Master pondered for a moment, then signaled the monks to bring a ladder and climb up to the high ventilation window to check.
After checking all the windows, the dust on them was intact and there was no sign of anyone climbing in or out.
The disappearance of the sacred national treasure is not only confusing, but also becoming more and more confusing.
In the silence, the Imperial Master slowly spoke, "After the ceremony ended last night, the three sacred vessels were indeed placed on the incense table. After we all left, did the county lady continue to pray for the ancestors?"
Qian Deng affirmed, "Yes, I have been chanting scriptures in the hall and have not fallen asleep."
"So, there's no possibility of someone sneaking in and taking the holy artifact away?"
"Impossible. The hall is empty and quiet, with only me silently reciting the scriptures. Furthermore, the incense table is flanked by sea-jar lamps, illuminating the area where the three sacred vessels are enshrined. Let alone someone approaching, even if a mouse or a cat sneaked in, I would definitely detect it."
The guard also swore: "What's more, we have been guarding the door the whole time. With four of us watching together, it's impossible for anyone to sneak in!"
"In that case, I have a big question that I can't figure out. Please enlighten me, Princess." The Imperial Master said, raising his hand and pointing up the steps, leading everyone to the incense table.
On the incense table illuminated by the lights, there is now only an empty golden cage, with finely woven cloud strands clearly visible and not a single thread out of place.
"Please look, Lady of the Tang Dynasty. This is a golden cage specially woven to hold the glazed blue lotus. Each auspicious cloud hollowed out holds a petal, so the blue lotus remains secure within. However, precisely because of this, the cage's design is intricate and complex. To open it and remove the lotus, we need to untangle the many tangled gold threads and then restore them. How long do you think this will take?"
Qian Deng immediately understood what he meant, but since he had already asked, she replied, "Judging from the size, at least half of the auspicious cloud decoration on the golden cage must be removed before the Azure Lotus can be tilted and taken out intact."
"Tearing down the golden cage, extracting the Azure Lotus, and then restoring it would take even a skilled craftsman at least half an hour to restore it to its pristine condition. And who else but the County Master could afford to spend more than half an hour meticulously working on it in the hall since the ceremony ended last night?"
Everyone's eyes focused on the golden cage that showed no signs of damage, and then subconsciously turned to Qiandeng.
After all, what the national teacher said is irrefutable.
After everyone left, the only one who remained in the spirit hall and had access to the three sacred artifacts for such a long time was Qiandeng, who prayed there until dawn.
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