Chapter 194 Secret
When the entire tomb appeared before their eyes, Old Man Qin and Murong Di were stunned.
There is no splendor and no mountains of treasures.
In the middle of the tomb was a bronze coffin, covered in dust, and the surroundings were empty.
How does this look like a prince's tomb?
Old man Qin approached the coffin holding a fire starter. It was the first time he saw such a shabby tomb inside.
"Master, did we take the wrong path?" Murong Di looked surprised.
The tomb chamber is very large, with many mechanisms set up outside, but there is not a single treasure inside.
Old Man Qin blew away the dust on the coffin, and in the dim light in the darkness, he saw the words "Prince Minghuai" engraved on it.
"That's it."
Old Man Qin put the tinder on the ground, took out a pair of sheepskin gloves from his bosom, and lifted one end of the coffin lid with both hands:
"Come help, move away."
"What are you looking at inside?" Murong Di asked, but he also took out sheepskin gloves and put them on, cooperating with Old Man Qin to move the coffin lid away.
When the coffin lid was removed, the rotten and dull smell made people want to vomit.
Murong Di silently repeated several times in his heart to this great uncle whom he had never met:
I have no ill intentions, I just want to pay my respects to the remains of my ancestors.
Even though the remains had long since turned into a pile of bones.
There was nothing in the coffin except a body.
Even Murong Di found it strange.
Even if there were no treasures in the treasure mountain, according to the prince's standards, there shouldn't be even a single burial object.
Murong Di guessed: "Master, has someone come here and stolen everything?"
Old Man Qin was lost in thought, holding up a tinderbox and walking around:
"No, look at the thickness of the dust on the ground. It's very even. There's no sign of any heavy objects being stored or moved."
Murong Di frowned: "Does that mean there was nothing from the beginning?"
"Where did all the money go? Let's check later to see if there's a hidden room nearby. Maybe the treasure is hidden somewhere else."
Old Man Qin handed the tinder to Murong Di:
"Since you're here, at least take a closer look at your uncle."
Murong Di took the fire starter and illuminated the bones in the coffin.
The more he looked, the more serious his expression became.
A flickering shadow appeared on Murong Di's face:
"Master, in the tomb we visited before, we saw a lady whose bones were black. You said it was because she was poisoned during her lifetime."
"Yes, if the deceased died of a severe poison, his bones would turn black."
Old Man Qin didn't expect Murong Di to suddenly ask this, and he immediately leaned over to look at the bones at the bottom of the coffin.
Holding a fire starter in his hand, he walked along the skeleton.
Where the firelight illuminated, there was a strange black color, as if ink was seeping out from between the white bones.
"Master."
"this--"
The master and the disciple looked at each other.
It seems like a secret has been discovered.
…
"Master, Master!"
"The donation box is full again today. When we give out porridge in two days, we can cook a lot of rice."
Wuzhen walked quickly into the courtyard.
The summer sun made his bald head look round and shiny, like a clean wooden fish.
Ciguang Temple has been very popular recently.
There is an endless stream of pilgrims coming to pray and burn incense.
"Many of them are here to pray for the safety of the soldiers heading south." Wu Zhen squatted by the sink in the yard and washed his hands.
Whenever there is a war, there are so many people coming to burn incense and pray that the incense burners in front of the halls of Ciguang Temple are almost full.
It seems that the more chaotic it is outside, the more popular the temple is.
Master Mingdeng is busy in the house:
"Come in and have a peach, then come help dry the peach preserves."
As soon as Wuzhen entered the room, he smelled the sweet aroma of peaches. There were many round and pink peaches on the table.
Master Mingdeng was holding a peach and cutting it into slices.
"Master, the peaches this year are so sweet." Wuzhen picked up a big peach with his wet hands and took a bite.
The peach tree in the yard has produced many fruits.
Master Mingdeng picked all the peaches, selected some plump and juicy ones to eat immediately, and sliced the rest and dried them into peach preserves, which could be stored and eaten later.
"The peaches this year are indeed sweeter, and there are more of them. I will pick some to give to other monks and fellow disciples in the temple later." Master Mingdeng cut the peaches slowly.
Each piece of peach flesh is evenly thick and thin.
He looked very serious about the peach and seemed to like it very much.
After Wuzhen finished eating the peaches, he washed his hands again, found a board, placed the sliced peach flesh on the board, and took it to the door to dry.
Then he picked up a basket of peaches and gave them to other monks in the temple.
When Wu Zhen came back, beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
"Master, I just passed by your residence. The gate is heavily guarded today. There are more guards."
Some time ago, for some unknown reason, the Queen suddenly left the palace and came to Ciguang Temple to pray and recuperate.
The queen brought a lot of things this time, and was followed by several palace maids and guards. It seemed that she was going to stay for a long time.
The monks in the temple don’t know how long he will stay there.
All we know is that when the queen arrived, she occupied the largest courtyard behind Ciguang Temple. Normally, the queen would not come out, but would ask people to invite monks from the temple to preach.
There were guards inside and outside the queen's courtyard day and night.
If an outsider asks, the monks in the temple will only answer that a noble person is recuperating in the temple.
Wuzhen had just been carrying a basket and walking around the temple delivering peaches when he noticed that there were twice as many people at the gate of the Queen's courtyard today as usual.
"Because we have another distinguished guest today." Master Mingdeng was still cutting peaches.
The sweet peach juice flowed down the tip of the knife.
When it flowed onto the fingers, the transparent liquid turned red.
Strands of red spread out.
Wuzhen's eyebrows shot up: "Master, Master! You cut your hand!"
"It's okay, it doesn't hurt too much." Master Mingdeng gave Wuzhen a soothing smile.
When he smiled, the flesh on his round face squeezed together, almost squeezing out his eyes.
Wuzhen has already gone to the cabinet to look for the medicine powder.
When Wuzhen took out the medicine bottle and applied the medicine to his master, a palace servant came outside the door and said:
"Master Mingdeng, our queen ordered me to come and get the amulet from you."
…
In the early years, the courtyard behind the temple was used to receive monks from other temples to preach and discuss Buddhism.
But in recent years, few people have lived there.
This courtyard is very large for the monks of Ciguang Temple. It is large enough to accommodate all the monks in the temple to chant together in the courtyard.
But for people coming out of the palace, this yard was really pitifully small.
Small, broken and old.
This was the first impression of the courtyard by the people in Yifeng Palace.
After cleaning the yard and placing the screens, tables, chairs and incense burners brought from the palace, the yard looked presentable enough.
After the queen moved in, she cried every day and couldn't sleep at night because of the headache.
In the past, the queen would ask Nanny Dong to massage her, but Nanny Dong is not here now.
Not anymore.
The queen had a headache so bad that she couldn't concentrate on reading the Buddhist scriptures, so she listened to people reciting the scriptures every day. While listening to the recitation, she would subconsciously press the amulet in her arms.
It seems that I feel better only at this time.
Once, the buckle of the amulet came loose.
The maids serving the queen could see that the beads in the amulet had become very gray.
But in the eyes of the queen, the pearl has always been white and flawless, without a trace of dark color.
The palace maids didn't dare to say anything.
The queen is in a very moody state now, so they dare not speak carelessly.
But today, because the Crown Prince came to Ciguang Mountain with the Queen Mother, the Queen was in a good mood, especially gentle, with a smile in the corner of her eyes.
Crown Prince Murong Zhen followed the Queen Mother to Ciguang Temple, nominally to worship Buddha, but actually to see the Queen.
When the Queen saw Murong Zhen, she couldn't help but go forward to greet him:
"Is Zhen'er doing well in the palace these days? Why do you seem to have lost some weight?"
"Is it because the servants of the Eastern Palace didn't serve me well? Although it's hot in summer, don't try to stay cool..."
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