The ground beneath us was not only hard but also full of potholes, making it painful to lie on and causing pain all over our bodies, let alone crawl.
Considering my health condition, Jiang Man took the initiative to be in first place, I was in second place, and Manjing followed behind me to protect me in case of emergencies.
As the procession began to move, we crawled along the ground toward the direction of the firelight.
To prevent people in the distance from seeing the light source, Jiang Man's flashlight was wrapped in layers of packaging, so it could only emit an extremely dim light. Even Jiang Man had difficulty seeing the surrounding terrain clearly, and I, who was behind her, could not see anything at all. I could only grope around to guess the surrounding terrain.
Our space is shaped like a hole because we are always climbing down at an angle, and the further down we climb, the clearer the distant firelight becomes.
To avoid any traps or obstacles along the way, and also because of the complex terrain, it took us about half an hour to finally reach the bottom of the valley. At this point, we were in a low-lying area and could no longer see the campfire in the distance, but we could still see the light and shadow cast by the campfire on the cave wall.
This means we are already very close to each other.
After climbing forward for a while, Jiang Man, who was ahead of them, suddenly stopped.
Seeing that Jiang Man had stopped moving, I gently pinched her ankle without saying a word.
A few seconds later, the sound of a zipper being opened came from ahead. Jiang Man immediately said, "The ground here is damp. I think there must be an underground lake ahead!"
After saying this, Jiang Man groped around and picked up a small stone, then threw it over.
"Gulp!"
Soon, the sound of stones falling into the water could be heard from ahead. Jiang Man continued, "They're very close now, about five or six meters away."
"Shaped like a hanging needle, pinning down a stagnant pool of water, how could anyone arrange such feng shui in a tomb?"
When I heard Jiang Man's answer, I felt like I was filled with question marks.
This funnel-shaped terrain is prone to accumulating negative energy. Therefore, whenever feng shui masters throughout history saw this terrain in a dragon's lair, their first step was to break the negative energy and destroy the terrain.
If such terrain cannot be destroyed and there is flowing water at the bottom, even if it is the number one dragon's lair in the world, it cannot be used for burial, because such a burial method is quite unfavorable for both the living and the deceased.
According to the records of judges, among the high-ranking officials and nobles in history, only one person adopted this burial method, and that was Lady Qi, the favorite concubine of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang.
When Liu Bang was King of Han, he married Lady Qi of Dingtao and doted on her. Lady Qi was also quite capable and gave birth to a son, Liu Ruyi. This child was intelligent and clever from a young age, and his appearance and personality were similar to Liu Bang's. However, Liu Bang did not like Liu Ying, the son of Empress Lü Zhi, because he thought he was weak and timid.
Consort Qi often accompanied Liu Bang on his campaigns in Guandong, and she would whisper in his ear every day, hoping that Liu Bang would depose Liu Ying and make Liu Ruyi the crown prince.
Thanks to Lady Qi's tireless efforts, Liu Bang enfeoffed Liu Ruyi as the King of Zhao and kept him in Chang'an, while Lü Zhi was left to guard Guanzhong and rarely even saw Liu Bang.
Without Empress Lü's protection, Liu Ying was constantly constrained in Chang'an. Liu Ruyi was almost made crown prince several times, but the ministers and officials strongly opposed it. When Shusun Tong remonstrated, Empress Lü adopted the strategy of Marquis Liu Zhang Liang, which saved Liu Ying's position as crown prince.
After Liu Bang's death, his son Liu Ying ascended the throne, and Lü Zhi became Empress Dowager.
At this moment, recalling the hatred she felt for Lady Qi's usurpation of the throne years ago, she began to retaliate against Lady Qi. She ordered Lady Qi to be imprisoned, her head shaved, an iron collar tied around her neck, and dressed in a prisoner's red robe, forcing her to pound rice and do hard labor.
At this moment, Lady Qi still couldn't see the situation clearly. She recklessly courted death, singing the "Pounding Song" while pounding rice:
The son became king, the mother became a captive.
He toiled all day until dusk, constantly keeping company with death.
We are separated by three thousand miles, who can I send to tell my daughter?
The song, translated into vernacular Chinese, roughly means that Liu Ruyi is the Prince of Zhao, while his mother is a slave who works day and night, struggling between life and death. At this time, the two are separated by three thousand miles, and she does not know who to send a message to ask the Prince of Zhao to come and save her from danger.
Lady Qi's pounding song can be summed up in two words: defiance!
At this time, his son, the Prince of Zhao, was only 12 years old. If he had been patient and waited until Emperor Hui of Han died, he might have had a real chance.
However, Lady Qi's poem completely enraged Empress Lü, making her want to kill her.
As the first empress and empress dowager in the official history of ancient China, Lü Zhi, who was known by later generations as the "poisonous empress of all time," was certainly no ordinary woman.
Next, Empress Lü not only poisoned Prince Liu Ruyi of Zhao, but also cut off Consort Qi's hands and feet, gouged out her eyes, deafened her, made her mute by giving her a potion, threw her into the latrine, and then allowed many people to come and see her. She was given a name: "Human Pig".
It is said that after Consort Qi died, Empress Lü did not allow her to be buried as a member of the royal family. It was only because of Zhou Chang's repeated insistence that Empress Lü compromised.
Zhou Chang was an upright man who strongly opposed Liu Bang's plan to depose Crown Prince Liu Ying and was highly respected by Empress Lü. Before his death, Liu Bang arranged for Zhou Chang to serve as the Chancellor of Zhao for Liu Ruyi, the King of Zhao. Although Zhou Chang was conscientious and responsible, Empress Lü dismissed him from his post with a decree.
After Liu Ruyi's death, Zhou Chang felt he had let Liu Bang down and was depressed. When he heard that Empress Lü Zhi refused to allow Consort Qi to be buried, he argued his case. Empress Lü Zhi was unwilling to offend Zhou Chang for the sake of a dead person, so she reluctantly agreed to the condition.
According to the records of the judges, after Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, died, he was buried with Empress Lü in Xianyang, Shaanxi, and their tomb was called Changling.
About 600 zhang southwest of Changling, there is an earthen mound, which is the tomb of Lady Qi.
The records also state that although Empress Lü agreed to bury Consort Qi near Changling, she found a sorcerer to set up a "hanging water nail" feng shui arrangement in Consort Qi's tomb, which would suppress her and prevent her from ever rising again.
The water-hanging nails in Lady Qi's tomb were man-made, while the water-hanging nails here are naturally formed.
Whenever a tomb is built, a survey must be conducted in advance. Qu Ruilin said that the construction of this tomb used the technique of reversing yin and yang, which can only be performed by a master. Therefore, the person who built the tomb should have been very clear about the feng shui of this place.
Throughout our journey, even encountering the water monkeys and that haunted cave never left me as shocked as I am now.
Everything we encountered in the tomb before was a way for the designer to protect the tomb from damage. But this feng shui is like a nail driven into the dragon vein, turning the entire feng shui of the tomb upside down.
At that moment, I suddenly remembered the name that Miao Xiaoxian had mentioned.
Who exactly is buried in this Temple of the Wrathful God?
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