This article is exclusively published on Jinjiang. Protecting original content and supporting legitimate copyrights starts with me. On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the Dragon Boat Festival, the entire capital was festooned with lights and colors, creating a vibrant atmosphere. Dragon boat races were held on both the Bi Bo Lake within the city and the Jin Shui River outside, attracting countless visitors to enjoy the spectacle.
The next morning, before the festive atmosphere had fully subsided, word spread through the palace that the Purple Star had appeared in Kunhua Palace's dreams the previous night, guiding the Empress Dowager to an audience with the Emperor Taizu. Upon waking, the Empress Dowager held a self-portrait of the Emperor and a scroll of the Heavenly Book.
Now the portrait has been sent to the Tianzhang Pavilion, and the heavenly book has been handed over to the Imperial Astronomical Observatory for divination in order to decipher its contents.
This news circulated wildly throughout the palace for the entire morning, then quickly spread beyond the Forbidden Palace and throughout the capital. The rumors were incredibly detailed, describing the Empress Dowager's dream in detail and even mentioning the heavenly book, sparking widespread discussion among the people.
Nowadays, in the teahouses and taverns of the capital, people with nothing to do gather in groups of three or five to study this so-called heavenly book.
Imperial secrets are always popular, and adding a celestial book whose authenticity is unknown naturally creates a sense of mystery that attracts people to explore. The Imperial Astronomical Observatory hasn't even figured out the contents of this book yet. If I can decipher it first, wouldn't I be famous all over the world?
Even if you don't have the ambition to become famous, it's good to listen to gossip.
After the news had spread among the people, the Imperial Astronomical Observatory announced that the result of the divination was "On May 15th, there will be an earthquake in the capital."
This idea was thought up by He Qing.
Based on the various experiences she had summarized from that memory, using public opinion to build momentum was far more effective than the court directly posting a notice to make the matter public.
This was indeed the case. Because the previous groundwork had been sufficient, the news spread even faster, and people, regardless of whether they believed it or not, gathered together to discuss it. However, in this era, most people would rather believe it than not believe it when it happened.
Afterwards, the court announced that a sacrifice would be held in the suburbs of the city on May 15th, and all civil and military officials, court nobles and their families and children would attend.
With even the imperial court on such a high alert, the possibility of this news being true was naturally greater. Some timid citizens were already considering where to escape the disaster. The more courageous were also considering leaving the city that day to kill time, in case they were actually caught in the earthquake.
With this prophecy, it would be more legitimate to ask all palaces, temples and monasteries outside the capital to cooperate in this matter and to set up religious ceremonies.
When the believers in the city heard the news, most of them were willing to take this opportunity to take shelter outside the city.
Of course, the chaos lasted for a while, and even the price of grain rose slightly. The court took this opportunity to issue a pacification decree, instructing the people on how to pack their belongings and how to escape in the event of an earthquake. They let the people know that this was the emperor's capital, and that the court would take care of any problems. Gradually, the chaos subsided.
It was only a dozen days, which was a bit short, but the court had already made all possible preparations.
On May 14th, the army entered the city and imposed martial law, mobilizing every household. Those who had somewhere to go could leave the next day, and those who had nowhere to go should not stay in the house. The key points of escape were repeatedly explained.
Everything was ready, but at this point, He Qing began to feel uneasy.
She herself didn't know why. Maybe it was because this matter was too big, and it was the first time she was involved in such a big thing. Even though she had a huge secret, she still didn't have the confidence.
Finally, He Qing could not help but go to the Grand Empress Dowager to ask for permission to leave the palace to inspect the preparations outside. The Grand Empress Dowager was obviously a little nervous and easily granted her request.
He Qing was now wearing a Taoist robe and was not afraid of being recognized, so he left the palace directly.
The last time He Qing left the palace was a lifetime ago. It was the day of her wedding, when the bridal sedan chair was carried from the palace to the princess's residence. Because the sedan chair was accompanied by people, the streets along the way were closed, and there were military guards, she didn't see anything. This was her first time truly leaving the palace.
And there was no one around, walking alone on the street, allowing me to get close to everything I had never seen before.
But He Qing had no interest in appreciating the new scenery.
She didn't know what the capital city looked like in the past, but now it seemed a bit deserted, unlike the atmosphere of a national capital. Perhaps it was because so many people had left recently, so the city seemed much emptier. Fortunately, there were soldiers patrolling the streets, so there wasn't much chaos, but everyone passing by kept their heads down and walked hurriedly.
However, He Qing quickly realized that this was because this was the eastern part of the city, where the high-ranking officials and nobles lived. Even under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be very lively, especially now that many families had been sent away. Since the past few days, the court has been gradually arranging for the families of civil and military officials, royal relatives, and nobles to leave first. Otherwise, if everyone stayed on the last day to leave, it would be too crowded to leave.
When she moved to the south of the city, the situation there was much better.
The people living here are all ordinary people. Most of them are not well-off and live a tight life. They don’t have many relatives outside the city and have nowhere to go, so they can only stay here and continue their daily lives, which look no different from usual.
On the way, He Qing overheard some elderly people sitting on the street telling stories about earthquakes they had experienced. Children gathered around them, listening attentively and occasionally asking questions.
She couldn't help but stop and listen to a part of it.
What made He Qing not know whether to be angry or amused was that many people here moved their belongings out of their homes, probably because they did not plan to leave and did not want the earthquake to damage their things. Pots, pans, tables, chairs and benches were placed haphazardly on the street. Some of them blocked the road, and they started arguing with passers-by, which caused another lively scene.
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