Chapter 22 She is very good
As expected, once they reached the city wall, the palace maids and eunuchs lined up there reacted in unison upon seeing Zhao Xuanxu. They all shuddered and retreated to the sides, leaving him a clear path. Wen Yao wondered what Zhao Xuanxu had done in the past to deserve such fear from these people. Then, she and Gao Shaoshan stood still.
During the royal sacrifice, the emperor led his family and was worshipped by the people. How could the rest of the people be qualified to step forward? Wen Yao saw that the guards and attendants of the other princes and princesses were all waiting on the right side of the inner wall, so he and Gao Shaoshan also stood there.
When she refused to leave, Zhao Xuanxu turned around and approached her. In full view of everyone, he got very close to Wen Yao and handed her a small package from his sleeve. Wen Yao looked down at the paper package that was stuffed into her hand. She couldn't tell what it was, but she could smell the sweet scent of osmanthus.
She was now accustomed to the good things in Bianliang City, and she knew it was the osmanthus candy from the old tree at the east end of the city just by smelling it.
"We've run out of snacks in the car. We still have some time before the dinner starts, so if you're hungry, have some candy." Zhao Xuanxu's voice was quiet, but in the quiet atmosphere, it was still clearly heard by those nearby. Feeling the sudden glances from everyone around him, Wen Yao's mouth twitched. Without replying, he quickly hid the candy in his sleeve, lowered his head, and took two steps back, standing next to Gao Shaoshan.
Gao Shaoshan shuddered suddenly.
The sky was dark. The surrounding palace maids and eunuchs held long poles from which hung strings of ornate octagonal palace lanterns. Wen Yao stood with a group of armored guards and counselors, waving his hand dangling from his side quickly at Zhao Xuanxu.
Walk quickly.
Zhao Xuanxu lowered his eyes, slowly turned around and walked away.
He approached the Prince of Yong, the Prince of Qin, and the others who were already looking their way. Prince Yong and his wife stood at the front, glancing in Wen Yao's direction and speaking first: "Third brother, was that the guard who won consecutive victories over the Liao people a few days ago?" He had only been impressed that day, but now, without the mask, he could hardly recognize the beautiful girl beneath it.
The Princess of Yong, who was standing nearby, had been childhood sweethearts with the Prince of Yong. She was dignified, gentle, and attentive. She had seen everything that happened between Zhao Xuanxu and the woman. The Emperor's third son had been ill since childhood, and as an adult, he suffered from insanity and heart disease. When had he ever been seen in a good mood? But the look on Zhao Xuanxu's face as he handed the item to the girl just now could truly be described as tender and affectionate.
If a man has feelings for a woman, he can't hide it in his eyes.
She pulled Prince Yong and said with a smile, "Is it really that girl? Such great skills, I admired her when I first heard about it. I didn't expect her to be so good-looking when I saw her today. She is truly a rare talent."
"nature."
Sure enough, Zhao Xuanxu, who liked to ignore Wuchen, actually responded to her: "She is very good."
Prince Yong raised an eyebrow, lowered his head and looked at his wife, then cleared his throat and said, "By the way, Third Brother, Linghan was rude and absurd that day. Don't bother with him."
You, the generals from western Sichuan and the generals from the twelve guards who are always finding fault with the general who defends the country, can now restrain yourself.
Zhao Xuanxu looked ahead and said nothing.
The King of Qin stood at a distance, watching his boss pretending to be friendly with that madman Zhao Xuanxu, with a glint of sarcasm in his eyes.
He had been unhappy these past few days. Not only him, but also the imperial concubine who had enjoyed endless favor for many years, as well as Prime Minister Feng and his party in the court, were not happy either.
As of the past two days, the case of illegal salt trafficking in Pingjiang Prefecture had been thoroughly investigated. Those deemed culpable were sentenced, those deemed culpable were executed, and imperial edicts of exile, three thousand miles away, were delivered to Pingjiang Prefecture one after another, galloping from Bianliang City. Pingjiang Prefecture was the center of the world's wealth, so important. No sooner had he lost a man than Zhang Yun, the fox, appeared with his men to take the place, clearly a long-planned operation. And then there was the daughter of the salt inspector, who was actually taken into the harem by his gracious father, the Emperor. This was undoubtedly a slap in the face to his mother.
The King of Qin said nothing, his face was gloomy, and his hand behind his back was turning the jade ring on his thumb in circles.
The bronze bell on the palace wall rang three times, signaling the time had arrived. A eunuch waved his hand, and the ceremonial music began. Court musicians played sacrificial music outside the lantern poles, while civil and military officials, dressed in court robes, approached the city walls respectfully. Wen Yao quietly approached the wall, glanced down, and made a cursory memorization of the leading figures.
Only then did the emperor and his concubines slowly arrive in a sedan chair. The surrounding maids and eunuchs immediately knelt on the ground. Wen Yao sighed, then followed Gao Shaoshan, who was standing beside him, and knelt with the others. With lowered eyelids, he watched the corners of a bright yellow robe and the hem of a dress embroidered with a phoenix pass by, followed by pairs of boots of various shapes and sizes.
Among them, a pair of black brocade boots paused slightly when it walked in front of Wen Yao.
Wen Yao lifted his eyes slightly and saw the red robe, its corners embroidered with python patterns, a hint of wickedness and cunning. Song Mingde fell behind the emperor, his cold gaze fixed on Wen Yao before he looked away and continued to follow the emperor, empress, and imperial concubine without looking away. The hems of the three people in front were extraordinarily luxurious and long. Song Mingde's steps were perfectly timed, staying just a few inches behind the empress's hem.
Wen Yao didn't like the factory supervisor very much; he was too sarcastic. Suddenly, she had some bad intentions and started to pray to the emperor to stop, catching Song Mingde off guard and stepping on his clothes.
Unfortunately, the emperor didn't go far. He walked past the princes and stopped at the high platform in front. Song Mingde didn't even step on the emperor's clothes. His pale face was expressionless, and he stood aside with a few young eunuchs.
The emperor waved his hand, and everyone around him stood up. Wen Yao immediately followed suit. Then, a Taoist priest in special attire came forward and sang the lyrics. After a simple procession, the emperor spoke.
The Tianshui Emperor was nearly sixty, considered old in that era. But his hair remained jet black, with no signs of gray, and his complexion was rosy. Wen Yao couldn't see his face clearly from his position, but he instinctively felt that the redness on his face was a bit unrealistic and false.
She recalled the confidential information she'd heard in Zhao Xuanxu's study the past few days: the emperor had recently begun employing Taoist priests and alchemists to produce elixirs. An emperor's addiction to elixirs often signaled his imminent death. Even if one's health wasn't severely compromised initially, the cinnabar poison in their system after years of elixirs could rapidly deteriorate. Yet, despite this, the emperor refused to appoint a crown prince, clinging firmly to power.
Wen Yao hadn't been in such a serious situation for so long in a long time. As she thought about things, she began to daze. Slowly, her eyes began to wander unconsciously, landing on Zhao Xuanxu in front of her.
He faced Wen Yao sideways, his figure was unusually tall, his face expressionless, his beautiful features shrouded in the dancing light and shadow around him, like a glamorous ghost, very cold and lifeless, out of tune with his brothers and sisters who were either serious, cold or relaxed.
Wen Yao was stunned.
The emperor's words were nothing more than a few words of blessing, expressing his concern and love for the people, and then he grabbed a handful of grain from the golden tray held by the Taoist priest and threw it into the copper furnace.
The ministers below took the lead in kneeling, followed by the common people who were let in from the long street behind them. Layer upon layer of people crawled at the feet of the emperor, like the most humble ants in the world, and continued to spread to the end of the long street.
These people were kneeling before the emperor, facing him. Even from his perch, Wen Yao was fascinated by the spectacle. He was high above them, receiving these people's homage. The throne, the ultimate authority in the world, was no wonder so many were willing to die for it.
Wen Yao's thoughts were suddenly interrupted as he keenly felt a gaze fixed directly upon him. It was unfriendly, the scrutiny and inquiry threatening to overflow, making it difficult to ignore.
Wen Yao looked over and found that behind the queen and the imperial concubine, where the concubines were standing, there was a beautiful woman in beautiful palace clothes looking at him coldly.
She was a very young and beautiful woman. What caught Wen Yao's attention was that her beauty looked very familiar, and the more he looked at her, the more familiar she became. Wen Yao met the beauty's increasingly unfriendly gaze and looked towards Zhao Xuanxu. Suddenly, he realized where this familiar feeling came from.
The woman's features bore a resemblance to Zhao Xuanxu's. Not much, Zhao Xuanxu's features were sharper, while this woman's were more charming and gentle... If she remembered correctly, there seemed to be a concubine in the palace who was the daughter of the current ruler of Dali, and thus Zhao Xuanxu's cousin.
This person should be Concubine Li, a relative of Zhao Xuanxu.
Wen Yao became even more confused.
That wasn't right. She was Zhao Xuanxu's person now. Judging from the care and gifts Li Fei had given her in the past, she must have a good relationship with Zhao Xuanxu, or at least not an enemy. She had never met Li Fei before today, so why was she glaring at her?
Wen Yao's thoughts wandered, and he kept thinking about this question until he saw a bunch of white papers fluttering in the air coming from nowhere.
That's right, paper.
Snowflakes, the size of an adult man's palm, drifted in thickly from nowhere on the autumn night wind, passing through the guards with drawn swords and the palace maids and eunuchs who stared with their mouths opened, and landed beside the nobles and the kneeling common people below.
This kind of scene usually meant someone was causing trouble. Wen Yao, curious, grabbed a picture and held it up to look at it.
Then her expression changed drastically.
Wen Yao immediately looked up and glanced around, but before he could think too much, the next moment twenty or thirty people jumped up from the pile of people kneeling on the ground, and thousands of hidden weapons as thick as cow hair but extremely hard and flashing with poisonous light shot out from their bodies and rushed straight towards the emperor.
Wen Yao flew forward, leaping over the stunned crowd in fear and shock. She quickly took off her outer robe and released her inner strength. With a twirl and a scoop, the robe full of hidden weapons was in her hands, clearing out a large clean and safe space, thus protecting Prince Yong and others.
On the emperor's side, Song Mingde's reaction was also quick. He was naturally skilled in martial arts, and quite skilled at it. He could carry a sword beside the emperor, so Song Mingde drew his sword just in time and, with a few strokes, cleared the poison needles aimed at the emperor, empress, and others.
The others weren't so lucky. No one knew what poison the needles had, but the maids and eunuchs who were struck instantly had black tongues and mouths, their eyes widened, and they fell flat on their backs, dead. Chaos erupted below, and the common people, witnessing this scene, were so frightened that they stood up and ran around.
The assassin took the opportunity to escape in the panicked crowd, and the imperial guards who reacted rushed forward didn't know who to catch.
Wen Yao raised his hand and threw his outer robe aside, and with his other hand he grabbed the paper and confirmed what was written on it again.
Then her heart finally died.
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