At noon, Chang'an Imperial Tomb.
Yan Mo led the Yan Guards to kneel on the ground. On the stage were kneeling members of the royal family and court ministers. There is also a round table on the stage. There is a huge incense burner on the table with three sticks of incense inserted in it. Kneeling in front of the table is Sima Bei, the chief of Qin Tian Jian. He is dressed in black and white Taoist robes and has a long pure white beard that shows his immortal demeanor.
The ice coffin has already entered the imperial mausoleum, and the door of the tomb has been sealed tightly. Except for the occasional chirping of birds, the entire imperial mausoleum was silent, and everyone present was kneeling with their heads bowed.
Soon, Sima Bei, the chief of Qin Tian Jian, shouted loudly, "Get up!" Everyone stood up immediately.
"kneel!"
Everyone knelt down again.
"knock!"
Everyone kowtowed together.
Then it was repeated eight times. Finally, Sima Bei shouted, "The ceremony is over! The officials retreat, and the royal family keeps vigil."
The officials stood up and left slowly and respectfully. Yan Mo also led the Yan Guards back to the foot of the mountain to garrison.
When all the officials came down the mountain, only the royal family was left in front of the stage. The ones kneeling at the front were Empress Li and Concubine Liu, the second row were the three princes and the third princess, and the last row were a few less favored concubines.
Sima Bei stood up slowly and took out a roll of bamboo slips from his sleeve. He neatly inserted the bamboo slip into the incense ashes in the incense burner. Half of the bamboo slip was stained with incense ashes, and then he immediately pulled it out.
The bamboo slips covered with incense ash actually left a long red glow in the air. Sima Bei was seen dancing with mysterious steps, dancing the bamboo slips like a tiger. Lines of red light appeared in the air, slowly floating directly above the incense burner, overlapping and intersecting to form a complex symbol.
Finally, Sima Bei stopped and sat down cross-legged facing the royal family in the audience. He looked straight at the Fourth Prince Jiang Xianfeng, because while everyone else was kneeling and bowing their heads, he was the only one who still raised his head and considered his actions.
Jiang Xianfeng quickly lowered his head, "It's over. This old man saw it. This old man looked very fierce. I'll probably get slapped again when I go back."
"boom"
There was a thunder in the sky. At noon, which was originally cloudless, large dark clouds suddenly appeared above Chang'an.
Dark clouds kept rolling in, and thunder roared from time to time. When the people on the streets of Chang'an saw this, they hid in their homes and did not dare to stay outside.
"I'm afraid this old guy's Taoist skills have reached the ninth level." Wang Daofan at the foot of the mountain looked up at the dark clouds in the sky and murmured.
"Yes, the Ninth Grade can turn its hands into clouds and turn its hands into rain." Zhou Ruoxiao followed him and said calmly, "But there is no Ninth Grade in the world now..."
Wang Daofan turned around and looked at him meaningfully, then smiled slowly and said, "Yes, but it should be there now. There should be a ninth-grade person in this world."
"The first rafter always dies first." Zhou Ruoxiao said with a chuckle.
"Because of this, the world needs a ninth-grade person even more."
Then the two of them looked at each other and smiled, and then left chatting and laughing with several ministers on the side.
On stage. Sima Bei stood up slowly and opened the bamboo slip in his hand. The bamboo slips floated up on their own and quickly dissipated, and the three incense sticks in the incense burner began to burn rapidly. When the bamboo slips completely dissipated, the incense burned out completely.
At this time, the complex symbol on the incense burner rose into the sky. Shooting directly into the rolling dark clouds in the sky. The dark clouds gradually dissipated, but a golden light pillar fell from the sky and landed on the imperial mausoleum. The two tablets were looming in the light pillar.
"See the tablet!" Sima Bei shouted loudly.
Everyone in the audience looked up at the looming tablet in the sky.
Jiang Xianfeng stared at the two tablets one above the other with wide eyes. The lower one can barely make out the word "ginger", but the upper one is blurry.
After raising her head for a long time, Jiang Xianfeng moved her neck and glanced at her sister in front of her, only to see her looking sideways at a man on her left.
Jiang Xianfeng looked curiously at the bleak and thin figure. That was the eldest prince, his eldest brother, or to be precise, his former one.
Jiang Xianfeng had heard from her sister before that this eldest emperor brother was talented and talented in both civil and military affairs. He was given the Red Dragon Guard by his father at a young age. It's a pity that he was involved in a major case some time ago, and he will be sent to Yumen in a while.
The beam of light gradually dimmed and finally disappeared. This also means that the funeral is over.
Sima Bei greeted Queen Li and left quickly.
"Ting'er."
Li Qinxi called out to Jiang Ruoting who was about to leave.
Jiang Ruoting was stunned for a moment, then turned around and put on a smile and said, "What's wrong, Queen Mother?"
Li Qinxi's eyes were slightly red, and she looked at Jiang Fengqing, who was expressionless beside her, and said, "Your imperial brother will leave tomorrow. Let's see him off tomorrow morning."
"In half a month, I will go to Tianzi Mountain to enshrine Zen. I have already made an appointment with Prime Minister Wang and the Minister of Rites to discuss many details of leaving the city tomorrow. I'm afraid I won't be able to see the emperor brother off." Jiang Ruoting said with a sincere attitude, "Emperor Brother, we have a journey with high mountains and long rivers, so take care of yourself along the way."
Jiang Fengqing remained expressionless and said, "Thank you, Emperor Brother, for your concern. I'm afraid the ups and downs along the way are due to the efforts of thoughtful people."
"All the mechanisms are exhausted?" Jiang Ruoting chuckled, "This is just the general trend, God's will. My royal brother!"
"I never believe in God's will. You'd better make this mountain higher and the water longer. Otherwise, I'm worried that you won't be able to sit on the throne for a few days." Jiang Fengqing stared at Jiang Ruoting with fierce eyes.
"Oh? Really? The scenery along the way will not disappoint the emperor." Jiang Ruoting smiled and stepped forward, patted his shoulder, and said softly, "Choose a better cemetery along the way!"
"I'll pick out a cemetery. But it's for you."
Jiang Fengqing turned around and supported Li Qinxi, "Mother, let's go."
Li Qinxi looked at Jiang Fengqing helplessly, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end it turned into a sigh.
Jiang Ruoting looked at their departing figures with a smile on his lips. He turned back to look at the gorgeous and precious incense burner on the stage, with a hint of greed in his eyes.
"We are leaving tomorrow, but we have to be careful along the way." Li Qinxi looked at Jiang Fengqing beside him reluctantly and said, "When we get there, I will send a message to my mother so that she can feel at ease."
"Don't worry, Queen Mother. Nothing will happen to me." Jiang Fengqing showed a relaxed smile and said, "I am still protected by the Red Guards."
"I am your mother, so I can't understand you. You just know how to talk nice things to me, and your mother is not a fool. Now that you have lost your status as the eldest prince, the Red Guards are no longer under your control. Where are they? I can follow you all the way." Li Qinxi sighed, "But my mother can't help you either."
The two slowly went down the mountain.
He Shengbai, who had been waiting for a long time at the foot of the mountain, bowed and said, "The Queen Mother."
Li Qinxi glanced at him lightly and said, "Master He has been waiting for a long time. I wonder if I still have time for this dinner?"
"Queen, I'm afraid this is inappropriate." He Shengbai raised his head and looked directly at Li Qinxi, "According to the law, once the funeral is over, Jiang Fengqing should be under the custody of Dali Temple."
Li Qinxi frowned and said, "He Shengbai, don't make a mistake."
"The Queen Mother seems to have no right to interfere in foreign affairs. Please don't embarrass me." He Shengbai said word by word.
"Mother, forget it." Jiang Fengqing looked at Li Qinxi's dim and weak eyes, and felt distressed in her heart.
He walked straight to He Shengbai, who looked at him in surprise. Seeing that Li Qinxi was just watching silently, he immediately led Jiang Fengqing away.
Li Qinxi stood there for a long time, and the maids and eunuchs behind him did not dare to say anything more.
Late at night, Qinxin Palace.
Li Qinxi was staring at the clay pot on the stove, her forehead was covered with sweat, and her eyes were full of exhaustion. The clay pot was simmering something. As the stove slowly swayed over a small fire, a scent of fragrance overflowed from the lid of the clay pot.
Li Qinxi rolled up her sleeves, picked up the rag on the side, and carefully brought the pot to the ground.
He gently opened the lid, picked up the jade bottle with honey on the side, and poured a little honey into it. Stirring it with a spoon, the steam made her face turn red.
She squatted on the ground, picked up a spoon, and scooped out the magnolia flowers from the clay pot one by one.
Because she knew that her eldest son never liked eating magnolia flowers in magnolia soup, nor did he like drinking tea leaves in tea.
She took the trouble to scoop it out one spoon at a time. After there were some petals left that couldn't be picked up, she took out her chopsticks and started to pick them up slowly under a dim light.
It didn't take long for her eyelids to start fighting, and she felt that her eyes were starting to get dark, and she was about to fall towards the clay pot. The next moment she realized, she was afraid she was going to faint. She hurriedly tried to control her body not to fall towards the clay pot, which was for her eldest son to drink from. But his body was completely out of control, and he couldn't use any strength at all. He could only watch himself getting closer to the jar of magnolia soup.
When she woke up again, she was already lying on the bed in Qinxin Palace. There was a figure lying quietly on the edge of her bed. Not far away, two palace maids were already lying on the table and falling asleep.
Just as she was curiously reaching out to push the figure awake, the "figure" suddenly spoke softly, "The Queen Mother is awake, then I can rest assured."
"Zhang Wenling! It was you who sent the Ai family back? Where's the jar of magnolia soup?" Li Qinxi asked.
"I was very worried when I saw the Queen Mother fainted in the kitchen, so I carried the Queen Mother back to Qinxin Palace." Zhang Wenling knelt down, "As for the jar of magnolia soup, I saw that the Queen Mother seemed to want to drain all the magnolia petals inside. I had to pick them out, so I spent some time picking out the magnolia petals inside, and the clay pot is now placed on the table outside."
"Just fine Magnolia Geng, go to the warehouse tomorrow to get ten taels of gold." Li Qinxi rubbed his forehead and said, "You should go back and rest, and don't run to me during this time. Although I don't care about others. Just gossip, but it will inevitably ruin your reputation, which is always bad."
"As you command, Queen Mother." Zhang Wenling said respectfully.
After a while, a somewhat lonely black shadow left Qinxin Palace.
The deserted Qinxin Palace. Li Qinxi was lying on the bed, and her jade hand seemed to accidentally touch the edge of the bed where Zhang Wenling was lying before, and there seemed to be some residual warmth.
Dali Temple Prison.
The dark and damp prison contains high-ranking officials, repeat offenders from Chang'an or prisoners involved in major cases. The cell door is made of fine iron, and the walls are made of two layers of blue bricks and quicksand. Each prisoner has shackles made of basalt iron on his feet. No prisoner who comes here can escape. .
The flame of the oil lamp was swaying, just like Jiang Fengqing huddled in the corner in prison.
The old and thin straw mats could not isolate the cold air from the ground at all, even those with a fourth-level cultivation could not withstand such continuous consumption.
He tightened his green robe tightly and continued to look at the flickering flames.
There are oil lamps every ten steps here. He can't see clearly what the cell opposite looks like. He doesn't know if the prisoners opposite are looking at the oil lamp like him, thinking about what will happen tomorrow. ?
There was a sound of footsteps coming from far and near in the silent prison, causing countless pairs of eyes to peek in the darkness.
The visitors were a little girl holding a thick quilt and a jailer who looked drunk.
Jiang Fengqing watched them stop at the door of her cell with some surprise.
The jailer, drunkenly and dazedly, picked from a large number of keys in his hand for a long time, and finally opened the cell door.
"Hurry in. I have to go back and drink again after I finish my work." The warder urged the little girl impatiently.
The little girl quickly entered the door and handed the quilt to Jiang Fengqing in the corner.
"This is what my adoptive father He Shengbai asked me to bring to you. He said he was afraid that you would be cold tonight and wouldn't be able to get up tomorrow morning."
Jiang Fengqing took the quilt and put it under her body, and most of the cold air dissipated instantly.
"You are Yin Xiaolian, right? How have you been these days?" Jiang Fengqing said while adjusting the quilt.
"Thanks to the care of the eldest prince, my adoptive father took great care of me. He connected me to Dali Temple and helped him every day. Although I am not as leisurely as the eldest prince, I am very satisfied." Yin Xiaolian said with a chuckle, "Big Prince If the prince has nothing else to do, I will leave first."
Without waiting for Jiang Fengqing to reply, Yin Xiaolian bowed, turned and left.
The warder slammed the cell door, and the footsteps gradually faded away.
I don’t know who’s sighing in the darkness.
