Zhao Tong stepped forward, looked at the iron chain and cover on the vermilion door, and said, "Can you open it?"
Zhang Miaojie said: "There are only decorations left on the left and right, so that's fine."
Zhao Tong looked at Hong Qi after hearing this. Hong Qi was nervous. He was only thirteen or fourteen years old. That day, the old lieutenant in Prince Qi's palace said that the demon had escaped by mistake, which left a deep impression on him. At this moment, even if he had fists and feet, he could not help but Sweating slightly.
Hong Qi stepped forward and carefully tore open the iron chain. The iron chain might have been rusty because it had not moved for a long time. Then he opened the cover again, put these things aside, and then reached out to push the door open.
When the palace door opened, there was no imaginary sight of gusty winds and billowing black smoke. Instead, there was just a smell of moldiness and decay, similar to the smell of neglected palaces in the imperial city or the warehouses of ordinary people living in poverty for a long time.
Zhao Tong let go of this breath and looked inside carefully, only to see that the palace was not completely dark, because there was a palace door, so he could see things.
Just from the outside, you can see that the inside is a tattered mess. It has not been cleaned for an unknown number of years. The floor is piled with unknown items, and there are even broken picks and spades.
Zhao Tong looked at Hong Qi with a strange look and said, "The old lieutenant has done a good thing."
Hong Qi stretched out his hand and scratched his head and said: "After leaving the house that day, my great-grandfather told his subordinates again that he must have been thinking too much because the Taoists back then were not used to him and got together to tease him, but when he met Hong The details of the opened stone tablet are still unclear."
Zhao Tong remained silent and walked into the hall with his hands behind his hands. Sure enough, he saw a tilted turtle base and a stone stele lying on the side. On the stele, there were faintly visible the words "Open in case of flood".
Going further, there were broken slates. In the middle of the slates was a large dark cellar. Zhao Tong wanted to get closer and take a closer look. The little girl behind called out: "Zhao Tong, don't look at it. Be careful of falling. I heard." The cellar is very deep, if you fall down, you may die."
Zhao Tong didn't have the intention to explore what the cellar had to say. He just verified the existence of this matter and his heart suddenly became enlightened. He took a look down there and saw that the darkness was indeed bottomless, so he used his foot to pick up a broken piece. The stone slab was kicked down, and the sound of the stone slab hitting the cellar wall was heard continuously, and the sound of ups and downs continued, and finally there was the echo of the bottom.
He thought for a moment, turned around and walked out, asking as he walked: "Taoist Master Miaojie, have you heard about what happened in this hall?"
Zhang Miaojie said: "Of course I have heard of it. My father-in-law asked me to take care of this palace. How could I not know about the past decades ago?"
Zhao Tong walked out of the Demon Subduing Hall and asked Hong Qi to seal the iron chain as it was before he said: "Taoist Master Miaojie, you are the direct descendant of the Heavenly Master. Since you know this old thing, the little king will take the liberty to ask, Was there really a demon released that day?"
Zhang Miaojie blinked her eyes when she heard this, and said quietly: "How do I know this? I don't know, I really don't know."
"Are there really demons in the world?" Zhao Tong asked in a different way. This was something he urgently wanted to know. It was about what kind of world this was and his plans for the future.
"I don't know. I don't know about this either. I've never seen it before." The little girl asked and didn't know.
Zhao Tong thought for a while and already had half of the answer in his mind. Then he said, "Taoist Master Miaojie, is there really magic in the world?"
Zhang Miaojie was stunned when she heard this, and then smiled playfully: "Zhao Tong, you are such an interesting person."
Zhao Tong was puzzled: "What's so interesting about it?"
Zhang Miaojie said: "Didn't you say you came to Longhu Mountain to pray for blessings? I saw that you never went to the Tianzun Hall after burning the incense sticks. Instead, you were a demon king and a magician."
Zhao Tong was speechless, and after a while he said: "Is it there or not?"
Zhang Miaojie said: "My father-in-law once told me the answer to this question, so I can answer this for you."
Zhao Tong was shocked: "Zhang Tianshi has no predictions?"
Zhang Miaojie said: "That's not true. You are not the first to ask this kind of question. There are always curious people who want to know the truth. The older the official, the more curious they are. Why do you think this is?"
Zhao Tong thought for a moment: "I can only reply that I don't know, but what did the Heavenly Master say? Is there any magic?"
The little girl said: "My father-in-law said, there was it before, maybe it is now, but it won't be in the future."
There was before, there may be now, but there won't be in the future.
Zhao Tong closed his eyes slightly after hearing this, thought for a moment, took a deep breath and said, "I understand."
"Do you understand?" Zhang Miaojie asked curiously: "I have been thinking about it for several years and I still haven't figured it out. How did you understand it, Zhao Tong? Let me tell you."
Hong Qi next to him was also confused: "Your Majesty, was my great-grandfather tricked by those Taoist priests back then? I always feel that the words on the stone tablet can be chiseled out in advance, and it is not difficult."
Zhao Tong said: "Actually, you only need to listen to the last four words of what the Heavenly Master said."
"The last four words?" Zhang Miaojie said: "Isn't that... no future?"
"There just won't be one in the future!" Zhao Tong smiled and felt as if a big stone fell to the ground. Since there is no future, then there is no one. He doesn't have to worry about these things anymore.
After returning to the Taoist room, I had a fast meal in the evening, went to the Sanqing Hall to offer incense, and spent the whole night speechless.
The next day was a day of sightseeing. After seeing many sights in the palace, we went to the mountains and saw this huge mountain:
The root is wrapped around the corner of the earth, and the top is connected to the heart of heaven. From a distance, the traces of chaotic clouds are worn away, and from a close distance, the bright moon swallows its soul. What comes out are clouds and what comes out is fog. It's as steep as a cliff, and it's as dangerous as hanging in the air. Thousands of peaks compete for beauty, thousands of valleys contend for streams, waterfalls fly sideways, and vines hang upside down. When the tiger roars, the wind rises at the mouth of the valley; when the ape cries, the moon falls on the mountainside. Just like indigo dyed into thousands of pieces of jade, and green gauze covering thousands of piles of smoke.
Another day passed in this way. On the third day, Zhao Tao said goodbye. The presiding master led all the Taoist priests to send him out of the palace gate, and only the little girl's crown was sent to the foot of the mountain.
Zhao Tong said: "Thank you, Master Miaojie, for seeing me off. Please stay."
The little girl asked: "Zhao Zhen, will you come to Longhu Mountain again in the future?"
Zhao Tong smiled and said: "I am busy with official duties. It is not easy this time. It is hard to say what the future will be like. However, if Master Miaojie wants to meet you, you can come to Prince Qi's Mansion in Tokyo. The Prince's Mansion will be in full bloom at that time."
The little girl smiled, narrowed her eyes like crescents, and said, "Zhao Tong, let's go." After saying that, she turned around and went back to the mountain.
Zhao Tong also turned around. The troops and horses were all ready. The commander of the Dragon Guard asked for instructions: "My dear husband, do you want to return to Beijing the same way?"
Zhao Tong shook his head and lazed on his horse.
The military commander was puzzled and said: "My dear husband, why don't we go to Hongzhou to have a look?"
Zhao Tong said: "If you don't go to Hongzhou, go to Jiangzhou!"
The military commander was stunned: "My dear husband, when we passed by Hongzhou..."
Zhao Tong said: "Go around far away. It's rare to come out once, and there's nothing much to do. Why don't you walk around more?"
The military commander hurriedly lowered his head and said yes, and Zhao Yu said again: "That day when I was walking to Xinzhou, Yang Shicheng led Hongzhou officials to come. They merged with Xinzhou officials and went out of the city to greet them, but no other subordinate officials were seen. Do you know who the governor of Jiangzhou is now? Are people doing it?”
The military commander thought for a while and said: "If my young husband asked me elsewhere, how would he know? But how could Jiangzhou not know that he is the ninth son of my husband at that time, Cai Dezhang, the ninth son of Cai Jiu?"
