Chapter 10: Entering the Palace for the Second Time [Jinjiang Authentic Edition Exclusive Release: Refining Pills]...
Wang Ling was standing outside the door listening to people in the palace talking when she suddenly heard her son's baby voice inside the room. She hurried into the room with her wet nurse Chun who was standing beside her. She saw at a glance that her son could stand up by holding the railing.
She was delighted and smiled, but when she thought of the uproar over witchcraft in the royal city last night, her smile quickly disappeared.
Qin Ying was very happy to see his mother as soon as he woke up, clinging to the wooden railing. However, he was anxious to deal with the matter of Wu Gu Lun Hui. As soon as the wet nurse Chun walked to the crib, he babbled and grabbed the wet nurse Chun's sleeve, eager to get out of the bed.
Wet nurse Chun also suppressed her worries about the young master and went to the bathroom with the baby in her arms.
About a quarter of an hour later, when Qin Ying was tidied up inside and out in the bathroom and changed into a cool silk dress and was carried out by wet nurse Chun again, he saw a tall man in black armor talking to his mother with his back to him.
He was slightly stunned and had not yet reacted to what the man who suddenly appeared in front of him was doing. The next moment, the man turned around and Qin Ying saw his face. He couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise.
This person turned out to be Meng Yi, whom he had met at the Grandfather Palace yesterday! What surprised him even more was what Meng Yi had been doing last night. The dark circles under his eyes were comparable to Gun Gun's!
Seeing the emperor's eldest grandson coming over, Meng Yi, who hadn't slept all night, did not look down on him because of his young age. He bowed respectfully to the little baby in the nurse's arms, who was looking at him curiously with eyes, and said:
"Meng Yi greets Master Ying. His Majesty urgently summons you to the Zhangtai Palace to appear before him!"
Qin Ying, who only understood her own name and the words "urgent summons" in the sentence, couldn't help but blink. Wang Ling walked over, took her son from Chun's arms, and sighed to Meng Yi:
"Meng Neishi, please wait a moment. After Ying drinks some goat's milk, I will accompany him to see the emperor."
Meng Yi leaned forward and said, "Yes."
Qin Ying was completely bewildered by the scene before him. Hadn't he just been to the palace yesterday? Why was he entering again so early this morning? What on earth had happened? Why did all the adults present look so worried?
Meng Yi stood behind the screen, holding a sword, looking at the half-year-old eldest grandson of the emperor sitting on the soft couch, drinking goat's milk obediently with his head lowered. A solemn look could not be suppressed in the depths of his eyes.
Last night was a rainy night with strong winds and heavy rain, and the palace was in chaos.
Not only were the palace maids in each palace strictly scrutinized, but the rockery in the huge back garden was also searched one by one by the black-clad guards of the Black Ice Terrace. They were just about to dig three feet into the ground to see if there were any daring thieves from the Six Kingdoms who had secretly buried witchcraft items in the soil.
No one knew what His Majesty had dreamed about, but everyone could see that His Majesty the Emperor had an extremely terrible nightmare!
When Meng Yi was frowning and thinking deeply, he suddenly saw a waving little hand in front of him. When he came to his senses, he saw the emperor's eldest grandson in the arms of the eldest lady, grinning at him with bright eyes.
Knowing that the baby had run out of goat's milk, he leaned forward slightly and said:
"Since Master Ying is ready, please come with me and Madam Chang to the palace."
"Monnes, my beloved is now..."
Wang Ling held her naughty son in her arms and looked at Meng Yi with a worried expression.
Meng Yi lowered his eyes and whispered:
"Don't worry, Madam. Young Master is fine. He is also in Zhangtai Palace now. You and Young Master Ying will be able to see him when you go there."
Wang Ling nodded. Only Xuanniao knew that when she heard in the morning that there was suspected witchcraft in the palace last night, and that the emperor had recalled the eldest son from the royal tomb in the middle of the night, she was frightened to the point of dizziness, fearing that her beloved had been framed.
Oh my God! That's witchcraft! If someone gets involved, not only your eldest son, but even your biological mother will be in trouble!
Qin Ying tilted her head back, her face full of questions. What kind of weird riddles were these adults playing? Wasn't his unfortunate father still facing the wall to reflect on his mistakes? How did he end up in the palace?
Qin Ying, who was full of confusion, was held by her wet nurse and got on the palace carriage with her mother. Under the horseback escort of Meng Yi, they quickly headed towards the Qin Palace.
Inside Zhangtai Palace.
Wearing a Tongtian crown and a black robe, the First Emperor was kneeling beside a lacquer table with his eyes closed, emitting an extremely depressed aura.
The eldest prince Fusu and the eighteenth prince Huhai had been kneeling on the floor for half the night.
Fusu was fine, after all, he was an adult. Although his legs were numb from kneeling, he was still able to think clearly about his current situation.
But Hu Hai was in a miserable situation. In the middle of the night, Zhao Gao coaxed him to come to the Zhangtai Palace with sweet words. He thought that his father had dreamed of him and wanted to sleep with him. However, he never expected that as soon as he saw his father, he was asked to kneel on the floor.
Hu Hai, who had never been treated so seriously, immediately burst into tears of grievance, but his father did not even look at him. When his eldest brother hurried to Zhangtai Palace, he was immediately asked to kneel down when he saw his father. The two brothers knelt side by side, with no cushion or even a seat under their knees. Hu Hai stopped crying instantly.
He understood that something big had happened!
Children also have the intuition of little animals. Although Hu Hai understood that his father treated him differently from his other brothers and sisters, he also understood that he could never compare with his adult brother.
Not to mention their background and age, just looking at their names you can see the gap between the eldest brother and their brothers.
The eldest brother's name was chosen by his father from the Book of Songs, which meant that he hoped that he could grow lush and vigorous like the Fusu tree on the mountain, facing the sun. The names of his other brothers did not have any good meanings, and the names of Hu Hai were even more perfunctory. "Hu Ji gave birth to a child at the hour of Hai on a midsummer night", so he was named "Hu Hai".
Although Hu Hai had a quick temper, he was still a child of the palace after all.
After realizing that things were not going well, he began to think carefully about what he had done recently. Apart from being naughty and not listening to the doctor's lectures, playing with cats and chasing dogs in Qingzhu Palace, pulling flowers and weeds, and breaking a few crystal cups, he hadn't caused any trouble!
The more he thought about it, the more wronged he felt. Hu Hai was really tired of kneeling, so he stretched out his two little hands, wiped his eyes with the backs of his hands, and began to sob.
Seeing this, Fusu, who was kneeling beside him, couldn't help but reach out and gently pat his younger brother's back, whispering softly:
"Brother Hai, if you get tired of kneeling, just lean on me. Father won't be angry."
Hu Hai couldn't help but be moved when he heard this. He carefully glanced up the imperial steps and found that his father was closing his eyes. He then moved his little butt to his brother's side, rested his head on his brother's arm, and yawned sleepily.
Ying Zheng, who was sitting at the top, opened his phoenix eyes and caught a glimpse of the small movements of the two brothers below. The emotions deep in his eyes became extremely complicated.
Although Fusu was usually very stubborn and would find ways to make him angry, he was indeed a good brother who was extremely friendly to his younger siblings. His three half-brothers, either wanted to rebel on their own or their father rebelled beyond his capacity or had an ignoble background, so he ordered them all to be killed one by one. He also had a weak relationship with his only sister (Ying Kui), so he really could not understand the eldest son's heartfelt compassion and love for his brothers and sisters.
If what Changsun said in last night's dream was true, wouldn't he be dead in another eleven years? What could have happened in eleven years to drive Fusu to commit suicide? Even if Fusu didn't succeed to the throne, he still had other sons. Gao and Jianglu might not be as talented as Fusu, but they were far superior to the book-averse Hu Hai. No matter what happened, it wouldn't be his youngest son's turn to succeed him!
You have to know that Hu Hai is only four years old this year. In eleven years, he will only be fifteen! It will take him another five years to even reach adulthood! And he has never married or had children! How did Hu Hai "usurp" the throne and finally get it?
Who in the previous dynasty was helping him? !
Who on earth had helped a king destined to be a puppet ascend to the throne?! The Qin Empire, built over hundreds of years, was destroyed in just three years?!
Did the remnants of the six kingdoms, still ambitious, regain power after his death?
Thoughts swirled in Ying Zheng's mind. His reason told him that last night might have been just a nightmare, but his emotions told him that he seemed to really smell the stinky smell of pickled salted fish in his dream.
Hu Hai wanted to move and sleep on his elder brother's thighs for a while, but he looked up again with a guilty conscience, and happened to meet his father's dark and deep eyes. Hu Hai was frightened and immediately stuck his little butt out and lay down on the wooden floor again.
Fusu also noticed his father's terrifying expression. He really couldn't understand what his father was doing that night.
There were hurried footsteps coming from outside the hall.
After a while, a group of metaphysical people covered in water vapor rushed in.
The old historian who was leading the group stood before the two brothers and tremblingly bowed to the leader and said:
"Your Majesty, I have led my men to search all the palace's library, but we have not found a single book called 'Records of the Grand Historian'."
The shaman standing beside the old historian also bowed and said:
"Your Majesty, I have not found any items related to witchcraft in the palace."
Seeing this, Fusu couldn't help but bow and said:
"Father, it seems you just happened to have a nightmare last night. There is no thief in the palace who cursed you."
Ying Zheng looked at his eldest son coldly. His eldest son knew nothing!
He pursed his lips, turned to look at the leading Taoist priest and asked calmly:
"Han Zhong, have you made any progress on the elixir I asked you to refine?"
When the old Taoist priest with gray hair and beard heard the emperor's question, he bowed respectfully and said:
"In reply to your Majesty, please rest assured that the alchemy is going smoothly. So far, all the medicinal materials have been put into the alchemy furnace by this humble minister. I only need to concentrate on refining for another 49 days. Once all the essences of the herbs are fully integrated, I can pray devoutly under the moonlight and the elixir will be formed!"
The turbulent storm in Ying Zheng's eyes suddenly subsided upon hearing this. He firmly believed that as long as the elixir of immortality could be refined, and as long as he was alive, nothing could happen to the Qin Dynasty! No demon or monster could possibly threaten his vast empire!
Hu Hai, lying on the floor, pricked up his ears and listened attentively, with a look of deep envy in his eyes. His father was actually asking an alchemist to refine an elixir for him. He didn't know what the elixir looked like or what kind of wonderful taste it had. He wished he could have a taste of it.
Hu Hai was so greedy that he wanted to drool, but Fusu frowned and bowed to his father in the upper seat with a look of disapproval:
"Father, I do not speak of strange and supernatural things! Life is mortal, how can you just listen to the words of an alchemist and refine some elixir? This is simply absurd!"
Upon hearing this, the old alchemist immediately leaned over to the eldest son, his tone quite indignant:
"Young Master, be careful with your words! You must know that there are gods above your head. Although gods cannot be seen, they really exist. I have twenty years of experience in alchemy. I learned the alchemy method from a legitimate master. I am completely different from those scoundrels who are just filling in the gaps!"
Fusu frowned, and was about to say something to refute, when he saw Meng Yi suddenly rush in from outside, bowing to his father who was sitting above him and saying:
"Your Majesty, the eldest lady has already arrived at the palace with the emperor's eldest grandson. The mother and son are waiting outside the palace."
Upon hearing this, the First Emperor unconsciously raised his hand and rubbed the black jade pendant on his waist, saying expectantly, "Xuan!"
"Yes!" Meng Yi clasped his fists and turned around.
Fusu looked at his father in surprise. Why did his father summon his wife and son to the palace?
Hu Hai also turned his head and looked outside in confusion. Now in the entire royal family, only his eldest brother had a wife and children, and he had not even met his eldest nephew!
When Qin Ying walked in from outside the hall, carried by her mother, she was shocked to see the hall was packed with people. What was going on? Was it a group shaman dance?
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