escape
In mid-September, autumn was deep in the air and the shaman's hall was deserted, with only a few servants busy doing odd jobs. Wild geese flew by in the sky, but their whereabouts were hard to find, leaving only a few cries echoing in the air.
The woman had a beautiful face, bright eyes and white teeth, and a dignified and graceful posture. She came back to her senses with a few pages of documents in her hands. Her eyes were no longer attracted by the birds in the sky, but returned to the palace maid in front of her who was already beginning to feel a little overwhelmed.
"Sorry." His absent-mindedness must have made the palace maids in the Witch Hall very embarrassed.
Mingyu lowered her head to confirm whether the items on the list were complete, and after confirmation, she handed it to the palace maid.
"I've confirmed it. Please go to the Ministry of Rites and prepare it."
The other party took the list, bowed respectfully and turned to leave.
Mingyu calculated that all the items needed for the Moon Worship Festival were almost ready, so he turned around and left.
After leaving the Wuzhu Hall, Mingyu breathed a sigh of relief. As the head of the Wuzhu Hall, she did not like it.
The atmosphere in the Wuzhu Hall was so quiet that it was oppressive. None of the palace people in the hall were allowed to speak. Thinking of this, Mingyu's expression became a little gloomy. After all these years, he still couldn't get used to it.
With a slight sigh, Mingyu composed herself and prepared to leave the palace and return home to rest. Before Mingyu could take two steps, someone behind her hurriedly called her.
"Censor Ming, Censor Ming."
Mingyu turned around and was surprised to find that it was Xiaochunzi.
The identity of the witch was kept secret from the outside world. The position of historian was assigned to her by the emperor so that she could enter and leave the palace more easily. And this little Chunzi was helping the historian run errands and pass on messages.
In order to prepare for the moon worship, she had already asked for leave from the History Museum in advance. Xie Yushi, who was in charge of the History Museum and was mainly responsible for recording the emperor's records, had also agreed. In addition, the History Museum did not have many things to do normally, so it was not reasonable for them to suddenly look for her at this time.
"I'm glad you're still here, Censor Ming. Censor Xie wants you to go to the Emperor's chambers."
"Call me? At this time?"
She was mainly responsible for compiling and organizing the records recorded by Censor Xie, and she was not usually with the emperor. Why was she suddenly called there?
"Censor Xie has a sudden onset of diarrhea. I need you to take his place and stay by the emperor's side."
Mingyu frowned, and as he was already heading towards the Emperor's chambers, he asked Xiao Chunzi, who was following him, "Where is the historian on duty? If Censor Xie is unwell, the historian on duty should be taking his place."
"The on-duty Censors Jiang and Sun are both away from the Historian's Office. Censor Xie couldn't help himself, so he asked me to come and see you."
"How can there be no one guarding the History Museum?"
Xiao Chunzi followed with her head down, not daring to answer.
Mingyu didn't even think of responding. He just grumbled to himself and turned to tell Xiao Chunzi, "Go find Censor Jiang and Censor Sun and tell them to come back as soon as possible. I'm not wearing my official historian uniform. If the emperor wakes up and sees me, he'll probably blame me."
She was also not very willing to see the emperor except to report the divination results.
Xiao Chunzi hurriedly replied "yes" and turned away.
Mingyu came to the outside of the bedroom, sighed, straightened her clothes, and walked into the emperor's bedroom through the side door.
A month ago, news came that the third prince had passed away, which made the emperor sad. There was no need to listen to the rumors in the palace. From the recent records, it can be seen that the emperor's spirit has not been very good recently.
There was only a booklet left on the table behind the screen, which recorded the emperor's recent actions.
Censor Xie was no longer there; he had probably gone to the toilet after giving Xiao Chunzi his instructions. Beyond the screen, through the curtains, one could vaguely see the Emperor still asleep.
Yeah, we can’t just poop here, right?
Mingyu didn't dare to make any noise, for fear of disturbing the emperor, and carefully looked through the records of Censor Xie.
The pen, ink and paper used in the record were specially made by the Wuzhu Hall. Mingyu was very familiar with them, as the same paper was used in the Wuzhu Hall.
The end of the record says that the emperor fell asleep at noon.
After confirming that there was no missing information, Mingyu sat down, upright behind the screen, holding a pen and waiting for the emperor to get up.
Nearly half an hour later, the emperor still hadn't gotten up, and the person who replaced Mingyu hadn't arrived either.
Is the Emperor taking a long nap lately?
Thinking of this, Mingyu, who had nothing to do, began to look through the previous records.
Outside the bedroom, there was a sudden noise, and the sound penetrated through the door and became even louder.
Mingyu frowned again, paused flipping through the records, and looked outside the door.
What happened today? It's fine if there's a glitch in the History Bureau, but why are the people around the emperor so incompetent? The emperor is asleep, and he's in a bad mood. If he wakes up, he'll be furious.
Put down the pen and paper and prepare to write. As a historian, if the emperor is woken up, record it in the official record immediately.
The noise did not stop, but instead gradually spread to the front of the temple.
Mingyu listened attentively and felt that there was something wrong with the noise. Why did she hear screams?
"Emperor——"
The sound of a sword piercing flesh cut short the shouting.
Mingyu stood up behind the screen, feeling uneasy all over his body.
Suddenly I realized that such a noisy noise did not even wake up the emperor.
The main door opened with a creaky sound, and a man with blood-stained luxurious clothes was forcibly pushed in. He staggered a few steps and finally fell to the ground in pain.
Wearing armor, his usually gentle face looked brutal under the sword dripping with blood. Prince An, who should have been far away in his fiefdom, slowly stepped over the threshold and followed in.
The person who fell to the ground raised his head, and Mingyu finally saw his face clearly. His handsome face was covered with blood. It was actually the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace.
Mingyu's mind went blank for a moment, but his hands habitually wrote down what he saw and heard.
Pointing his sword directly at the Crown Prince, Prince An declared his "crime" in a condescending manner: "The Crown Prince plotted treason and poisoned the Emperor. I was unable to rescue him, and the Emperor passed away. I was ordered to capture the Crown Prince, but he resisted to the death and was accidentally beheaded."
The prince was stunned for a moment, then looked at the emperor on the bed and understood.
"How dare you poison my father!"
The Crown Prince stood up trembling slightly, glaring and pointing his finger at Prince An's nose as he cursed, "It's a pity that the Emperor trusted you so much. You are the Emperor's half-brother, and you plotted to murder your brother. Aren't you afraid of retribution? The Empress Dowager's spirit will never rest in peace!"
Prince An scoffed and mocked, "You say this before you die? We are compatriots, so why can he be emperor and I can't? If he is the emperor, I have to work hard and travel a lot?"
By the end of his speech, Prince An was already a little excited.
"you……"
Without waiting for the prince to finish speaking, Prince An lost his patience and stabbed the prince in the abdomen with a sword. He then pulled the sword out and blood spurted out.
Mingyu behind the screen looked at the spurting blood and could even feel the warmth of the blood.
The prince, who was already at the end of his strength, finally fell to the ground and died.
"It's so noisy." Prince An stepped over the Crown Prince's body and slowly approached the dragon bed. His voice was gentle, completely different from the ecstasy on his face. It was unclear whether he was answering the Crown Prince or comforting himself. "Since the Queen Mother is happy for my brother, she will certainly be happy for me to become the Emperor."
Mingyu squatted down with his mouth and nose covered, watching Prince An lift the curtain to confirm that the emperor was no longer making any sound, then turned and left the bedroom.
The record in his hand was already wrinkled. Mingyu looked down at it. He still held the pen tightly in his hand and recorded everything he had just seen and heard. His heart skipped a beat.
Oh no.
Mingyu suddenly realized what he had done. The dereliction of duty of the History Bureau was probably arranged by King An to conceal the truth and prevent the historians from recording it all.
But I have already written it down in the record.
If Prince An successfully becomes emperor, I will be the first to die as I wrote down the process of him killing the prince and the emperor and usurping the throne.
The paper, writing brush, and ink used in the records were specially made by the Wuzhu Hall, which was supposed to prevent forgery, but now it has cut off Mingyu's possibility of forging to save his life.
No, even if I could find paper to rewrite it, it would be too late.
And even if Mingyu's arrival was not planned by Prince An, there were many people who saw him enter the bedroom, and Xiao Chunzi was one of them. With just a little investigation, they would know that he had entered the bedroom.
Escape, leave the bedroom first.
Mingyu, who had finally figured out the current situation, forced himself to calm down and looked around. How should he leave the bedroom?
They must be surrounded by King An outside. I only know a little martial arts and have no weapons. If I go out head-on, I will only die.
Mingyu suddenly remembered that there was a secret passage from the bedroom leading to the Witch Hall, and it could only be opened from the bedroom. This was a secret passage known only to the emperor and the head of the Witch Hall. He could walk out of the bedroom through the secret passage.
It was quiet outside, and through the paper windows I could see guards standing guard outside.
Prince An should have left. Mingyu bent over with the records in his hand and tiptoed out, confirming that the Crown Prince and the Emperor were completely dead.
The emperor's lips are purple, I'm afraid he's been poisoned.
It was also an attempt to kill the emperor. Besides forcing him to abdicate, he also poisoned him. But how did Prince An manage to poison him without the palace people testing the poison?
Mingyu shook his head and said, it doesn’t matter, the person is already dead.
"The Supreme Lord has commanded that your lonely soul be liberated. It will escape from the sea of suffering and be reincarnated as a human being." (See note).
After Mingyu finished reciting silently, he squatted quietly in front of the prince, and stopped when he was about to recite it to the prince.
The prince's blood gushed out of his body and formed a small pool on the ground, coagulating into small pieces with abnormal viscosity.
It's voodoo.
Mingyu's hands were shaking, perhaps out of fear or confusion.
There is a witch in King An's team.
Mingyu took a deep breath and clenched his fists. There was no time. If he lingered any longer and waited for Prince An to return, he might be among those sent away. Mingyu turned and walked towards the desk, groping for the switch to the secret passage.
“Pah.”
The secret passage opened, and a staircase appeared under the ground behind the chair, leading to the witch doctor's hall.
Mingyu looked back outside to make sure the guard didn't hear it.
The Wuzhu Hall might not be safe, but she had no other choice but to walk into the secret passage.
As darkness engulfed the Ming Fish, the secret passage also quietly closed.
The situation inside the Wuzhu Hall was no different from when Mingyu left.
The emperor was quite wary of witches and priests and never gave them any power. The position of historian, used to conceal people's intentions, was also useless; the palace maids in the palace were also not allowed to speak out.
Even the divination results were ignored. No wonder King An did not take the Wuzhu Hall seriously.
Mingyu took the sword given to him by his master, and took advantage of the fact that Prince An had not yet fully taken control of the palace, and escaped from the capital by relying on his familiarity with the palace and his connections in the capital.
When he first came out, Mingyu still held out some hope that Prince An might not have succeeded in sitting on the throne or becoming the emperor, and Prince An would not care about the loss of the last record of the late emperor's life. However, the officers and soldiers who came to hunt him down shattered Mingyu's last fantasy.
Note: Quoting the Taoist mantra for rebirth.
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