Chapter 85: Yuntai in Danger 2
The Yuntai mentioned by the Queen was built by the late Emperor for the Empress Dowager who was a devout believer in Buddhism.
Yuntai has a total of 999 steps and is the tallest building in the palace.
In the words of the late emperor, this is called "connecting to the sky", which means that the closer one is to the sky when worshiping Buddha, the more pious one is.
On top of the Yuntai, there is a Ten-Palace Bodhisattva Temple, where incense is offered all year round. It is also a holy place for worship and prayer in the palace.
However, because the platform is too high and there is no shortcut to the top,
Even if the emperor wanted to go up to the Yuntai to worship Buddha, he had to walk up step by step.
As time went by, the masters in the palace became too lazy to come here to pray for blessings.
But only the Queen is different.
On the fifteenth day of every month, she would personally climb to the top of the mountain and place the amulets she had written herself in the Ten Halls of Bodhisattva Temple. After being scented by incense all night, she would personally take them down and hand them over to Xiao Jingheng to protect the emperor's safety and good fortune.
Xiao Jingheng felt that this matter was a lot of trouble and tried to persuade the queen not to waste her time on it.
But the queen still did this every month, saying that this was her love for Xiao Jingheng, but asked Xiao Jingheng to agree.
Therefore, it was common knowledge in the palace that the Queen would ascend the Yuntai Tower on the 15th and 16th of every month.
But now is different from the past,
She was just suffering from a heart attack. It had snowed the entire day yesterday. Even if the palace maids had swept the floor, some snow would still have frozen onto the Yuntai Terrace, making it slippery and difficult to walk on.
A little palace maid jumped out and said, "My lady, how about I go and get it for you?"
But just as she finished speaking, she heard Shuang Ruo scolding her, "The amulet was placed there by the master. How can we, as servants, take it? Don't do this to tarnish the queen's feelings?"
Song Zhao stood there stiffly, listening to Shuang Ruo's words.
The Queen is looking so sick that she definitely cannot go. If she goes today and accidentally falls on the platform, Xiao Jingheng will investigate. If Song Zhao sits back and does nothing about it, he will be guilty.
Shuangruo also said that the palace maids and eunuchs were slaves and could not take it.
So the only person left who is most suitable to retrieve the amulet for the queen is Song Zhao.
She was stuck in the middle of the road, not knowing whether to go or not.
After a long silence, she saw that the queen was still determined to leave, so she stopped in front of the queen and said tentatively:
"Why don't you let me get it for you, Madam?"
Of course the Queen would not agree, so she said, "The steps to the Yuntai are very steep, and even more slippery after the snow. How can I let you go? I'd better go there by myself."
From what she said, Song Zhao can't go, but she, as the mistress of the harem, can take the risk?
After hearing this, even if Song Zhao didn't want to go, he had to go now.
"When your majesty prayed for the emperor, you personally sent the amulet up, which showed your sincerity to all the gods and Buddhas. Now I also want to pray for the emperor, so I hope your majesty can give me a chance and let me take the amulet back."
At this point, the queen reluctantly said, "Well, be careful on your way there."
After walking away from the Queen's Palace, Yunshan whispered to Song Zhao:
"My lady, are you really going? I always feel that this matter is very strange. If the queen wants to take the amulet back, she can go in the early morning when the snow has not frozen yet. Why wait until now?"
Song Zhao said, "The Queen has said so much, I have to go even if I don't want to. I just have to be careful about everything."
When the master and servant arrived at Yuntai, they saw some palace servants sweeping the steps.
The snow on the bottom steps had been swept away and salt sprinkled on them.
Yunshan paced back and forth on the first few steps, making sure he would not slip, and then said to Song Zhao:
"My lord, this staircase is fine."
Song Zhao also tried two steps himself. Even though there were still some water marks on the steps sprinkled with salt, they would not freeze and would not be slippery.
But even so, Song Zhao still became more cautious.
After all, the Yuntai is tall and steep. If something unexpected happens and you fall from it, you may lose your life.
She stood at the bottom of the stage, watching a palace maid offering incense climb up the steps from the lower level to the top of the platform, as if she were walking on flat ground without any mistakes. Then she said to Yunshan:
"Come on, let's slow down."
One side of the platform is against the mountain, and the other side is suspended in the air.
The support is on the right, and the hanging is on the left.
Qi Chao was on the left, so Song Zhao was supposed to walk on the left and Yun Shan on the right.
But Yunshan was afraid that Song Zhao might get into trouble, so he ignored the rules and took the initiative to run to a place on the left side that was not close to the mountain.
"My lord, it's safer to go inside."
The master and servant supported each other, but they had only walked a dozen steps when they suddenly heard an arrogant female voice behind them.
"Stand there."
Song Zhao suddenly turned around and saw the imperial concubine's sedan chair passing by.
The Concubine Chen opened the curtain of the sedan chair and looked at Song Zhao. Her phoenix eyes were slightly narrowed, and her sharp gaze was looking her up and down.
"What are you going to do?"
Song Zhao had already climbed more than ten steps and was standing much higher than the Concubine Chen.
She could not stand higher than the Concubine Chen to pay her respects, so she turned back and stood in front of the Concubine Chen's sedan chair, bowed respectfully, and said:
"Replying to Her Majesty, the Empress has sent this concubine to retrieve the amulet of peace that is on display in the Ten Palaces Bodhisattva Temple."
"Heh~" Concubine Chen sneered and said in a cold tone:
"You rely on me, but you still want to please the queen? You really know how to please both sides!"
Song Zhao hurriedly said: "I didn't mean to please the queen, it's really..."
She told Concubine Chen everything that had just happened in Fengluan Palace.
After that, she sighed helplessly and said, "This happened to me, and I can't do anything about it. The Yuntai is so high, and it snowed yesterday. To be honest, I am also very scared."
The Concubine Chen refused to listen to Song Zhao's explanation.
She stroked her hair gently, rolled her eyes at Song Zhao, and said in a sarcastic tone:
"Watch the road carefully and don't make any mistakes, then you have nothing to be afraid of. I see that you have frostbite on your hands. The iron chains on both sides of the Yuntai are as cold as ice in winter. It's better not to touch them if you can, or your delicate hands will be frozen and it will be difficult for you to serve the queen in the future!"
After saying this, he groaned, threw down the curtain of the sedan chair in anger, and ordered the palace servants to carry the sedan chair away.
Although Chen Fei's temperament has always been like this, Song Zhao always felt that there was something indescribable strange about her today.
Perhaps because of what Concubine Chen mentioned, Song Zhao did not touch the iron chains on both sides of the platform when he climbed the stairs.
Although she didn't touch them, her eyes were fixed on them.
When she reached the middle of the mountain, she gradually slowed down her pace. Yunshan looked back at her.
"What happened to the young master?"
Song Zhao stopped silently, leaned his body towards Yunshan, then casually grabbed the iron chain on one side and pulled it down with a little force.
With just a simple pull, the connection of the chain could not bear the force and instantly fell off the hook.
The clanging sound frightened Yunshan so much that he shivered.
"My lord, be careful!"
She held Song Zhao tightly, looked at the loose iron chain falling to the ground, and said with lingering fear:
"Fortunately, the young lady didn't hold on to the chain, otherwise all the force would be on the chain, and the chain would suddenly break, and the young lady would definitely fall down!"
Being at a high place, the biting cold wind kept blowing into Song Zhao's collar.
But she was so frightened that she broke into a sweat.
"There are lucky cloud patterns on this iron chain. Palace servants are not allowed to touch it. Only the master can support it. The palace maid we were watching just now served in the Bodhisattva Temple. She climbed the cloud platform every day and was trained to not feel tired.
But the masters in the palace are not as physically fit as the palace servants who are used to doing rough work. If anyone gets tired of climbing and lends a hand on the iron chain, I'm afraid that person will be thrown out and smashed into a pulp..."
Yunshan was shocked when he heard this, and said in fear:
"It's the Queen who wants to harm you!"
Song Zhao stared silently at the steep steps behind him, and a burst of warm mist came out of his mouth.
"It was Concubine Chen who wanted to save me."
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