Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and once again, important court officials gathered at the entrance of the Hall of Mental Cultivation. This time, the Eighth Prince and his wife were also summoned for an audience.
The eighth prince is still unable to walk, so the Ministry of Works provided a small wheelchair that even a woman like Lady Guoluo could push.
The concubines in the harem, led by Yi Hua, were all dressed in full regalia according to their rank, appearing solemn and dignified.
The Ninth Brother walked past the Eighth Brother unhurriedly without stopping, as if the person sitting there was a complete stranger.
The eighth brother sighed: "Ninth brother, are you feeling any better?"
"Thank you for your trouble, Brother Ba. I think I'll die later than you," the Ninth Brother blurted out.
Guo Luoluo glared at him angrily: "How dare you speak to your brother like that?"
"Ninth Brother is a first-rank prince, I wonder what your rank is, Eighth Sister-in-law?" the tenth brother chimed in from behind.
Guo Luoluo was speechless, and the eighth brother took over: "It was your eighth sister-in-law's fault, and as the elder brother, you should apologize to your two younger brothers."
"Forget it, you'd better watch yourselves," the tenth brother muttered, pulling the ninth brother and the thirteenth master to stand together.
Master Mingjue changed into his abbot's robe and slowly entered the main hall. The discussions inside gradually subsided.
Yinzhen began, "The imperial mausoleum caught fire a few days ago, and I deeply felt the warning from our ancestors. Fortunately, Master Mingjue was there and predicted the ominous star in advance. I know you are probably thinking, how can you believe in such celestial phenomena?"
"I am also well-read. Starting with Zhuge Liang, the arts of Qimen Dunjia and astrology have become popular. I believe that we should not believe them completely, but we should not completely disbelieve them either. Therefore, I ask you all to be my witnesses."
"The master has calculated that the evil star is currently in the palace. I do not believe it is some insignificant palace maid or eunuch, so I have invited all the palace masters here. Now, I ask the master to perform a ritual to bring down divine punishment and prevent the evil star from causing disaster."
Upon hearing this, Mingjue clasped his hands together and said, "Amitabha, this humble monk is willing to expend all his life's energy and merit to rid the Emperor of this calamity."
Guo Luoluo's face turned ashen. This was not the script she had expected. The Emperor was making such a big show of eliminating the evil star, so the evil star could not possibly be Ulanara.
Lao Ba felt the pressure on his shoulder and patted Guo Luoluo's hand to comfort her.
The fourth brother didn't want to be remembered for harming his brothers, so he just gave himself a respectable label.
Master Mingjue sat on the futon, chanting incantations. As his chanting grew louder, Yihua felt a breeze and looked up at the sky.
Just a moment ago the sky was clear and sunny, but now the sun is hiding behind the clouds and the sky is overcast.
"Demon! Show yourself!" Master Mingjue suddenly opened his eyes wide and shouted angrily.
A thick bolt of lightning struck down from the sky. Yi Hua instinctively closed her eyes, and suddenly heard a woman's angry shout.
"don't want!"
Suddenly, the aroma of meat wafted into his nose, followed by a burnt smell. He half-opened his eyes and saw that Lao Ba, who was in a wheelchair, had been struck by lightning. He was trembling, and the light in his eyes was slowly fading.
Guo Luoluo rushed forward, and another loud bang echoed in the sky. The two people who were extremely close were not spared and were struck by lightning once again. This time, sparks were on their bodies.
A single spark can start a prairie fire; the sparks spread rapidly along the hem of their clothes, and soon engulfed the two people embracing each other.
Guo Luoluo was still conscious, and she laughed loudly: "I am the Demon Star, hahaha, did you think there was only one Demon Star? Hahaha, Your Majesty the Empress..."
Honghui frowned, about to speak up to stop him.
Yinzhen took out a sharp dagger from his bosom and threw it forcefully, hitting Guoluo Shi in the chest. She immediately spat out a mouthful of blood and could not utter a single word.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the Eighth Elder and his wife stopped breathing.
"Burn them," Yinzhen ordered, looking at the two figures who had already turned to charcoal.
Strangely enough, after the deaths of Lao Ba and his wife, the clouds parted and the moon shone brightly, and the weather gradually cleared up, as if the thunder and lightning just moments before had been an illusion.
"Your Majesty, the ominous star has been destroyed. This humble monk must return to seclusion to atone for the sin of revealing heavenly secrets." Master Mingjue chanted a Buddhist prayer again, then turned and walked out of the palace.
"Ninth Prince, you shall lead the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue to renovate the imperial mausoleum in order to honor the spirits of our ancestors in heaven."
"Your subject obeys the decree."
"Alright, my dear ministers, you've all watched the show for quite a while now, so you may all disperse."
Yi Hua was the last one left behind. She looked at the wheelchair left behind and curiously wanted to touch it.
"Don't move!" Yinzhen said quickly, holding Yihua's hand. "You dare to touch anything. Su Peisheng, send someone to destroy this thing."
"So, Mao Ni is in a wheelchair." Yi Hua suddenly realized.
"You're quick-witted."
"How did the Emperor know that the world would change?"
"If the Imperial Observatory can't even predict the weather accurately, then they should all go home and retire. I don't support people who just want to do nothing."
"What about the 'demon star'? Your Majesty, can you explain it to me now?" Yi Hua was still puzzled. She was concerned about the last sentence that Guo Luoluo Shi hadn't finished saying. Although everything seemed reasonable, it was absurd overall, so absurd that it could be written into a storybook.
"Well, it's probably because the Eighth Prince came up with a plan to frame me... as a jinx, making my throne unstable. I'm just using his influence against him." Yinzhen looked at Yihua, swallowing back the questions he wanted to ask.
"Really?" Yi Hua felt something was off. She didn't ask any more questions, keeping her doubts to herself and planning to go back and ask Hong Hui, since Hong Hui always told her everything.
"The show is over, and I'm a little hungry. Let's go back for lunch." Yinzhen led Yihua back to Yikun Palace for a walk, and they left after taking a nap.
Honghui received Yihua's message and hesitated for a long time before finally finding an opportunity to come.
"Honghui, you and your mother should talk about this demonic star. What's going on? Is it related to me?" Yihua asked bluntly.
Honghui shook his head: "How could Mother think that way? This evil star is just a means for Father to get rid of Eighth Uncle. It's utter nonsense."
“Honghui, you’ve never lied to your mother since you were little, and you’re doing the same this time, right?” Yihua stared intently at Honghui and continued to ask.
“Mother! You’ve misunderstood. If you don’t believe me, just ask Father!” Honghui retorted repeatedly.
“You touched your nose three times just now. You did the same thing when you took the blame for Little Wolf before. Honghui, you really aren’t good at lying.” Yihua looked at her child, whom she had watched grow up. She could tell at a glance whether he was lying or not.
Honghui paused for a moment, then his eyes suddenly reddened: "Mother, you are my mother, you were before, you are now, and you will always be."
After saying that, he walked away quickly.
Yi Hua was stunned for a long time, then suddenly widened her eyes. What was this child saying? Did he know that I was not the original Ulanara Yi Hua?
But how could that be?!
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