Qin Mubai and Li Ke searched the "palace" carefully for a long time and found no other suspicious signs. Apart from the stone idols, there are only some ordinary buildings and decorations left in the entire hall.
Li Ke took the jade seal and looked at it carefully, shaking his head: "There is nothing to prove the authenticity of this jade seal."
Qin Mubai didn't speak, but he heard some implication in Li Ke's words: He wanted to keep this jade seal privately!
"Why don't you speak?" Li Ke looked at Qin Mubai, his eyes became a little strange.
It was indeed weird, as if he was a little wary and a little guilty. He seemed to be worried that Qin Mubai had glimpsed his thoughts, and wanted to try his best to hide it, but he was worried that he could not hide it. He seemed hesitant, hesitant, and slightly helpless.
Qin Mubai pouted at the door of the palace: "Let them go away."
Li Ke understood, and stepped forward in person to drink away the people accompanying him, then came back and said, "This matter is important, and I want to hear your opinion. There is no need to beat around the bush, what I want to hear is the truest idea."
"My idea is, no matter whether this jade seal is real or fake, you must give it to His Majesty the Emperor." Qin Mubai said firmly.
Li Ke's brows raised slightly inadvertently, and he said calmly: "Why?"
"Every man is not guilty, but he is guilty of having a jade." Qin Mubai only said these eight words.
Li Ke was silent for a long time after listening, and nodded reluctantly: "I understand. But if this is a fake jade seal and my father is teased by me, will he blame me in turn? Or, When the Tang Dynasty settled in the Turks, they welcomed back Empress Xiao and also took back the jade seal. Emperor Longyan was very happy because of this... If this piece of jade seal was genuine... then what explanation would she have for bringing it back from Mobei? If I'm not cheating on you, wouldn't I hurt her again? You know, she is my grandmother."
Qin Mubai nodded and said: "You are right to worry, but these are not big problems. If we can figure out the origin of this place, we can figure out the twists and turns about this jade seal. When the time comes, we will If there is a way to explain it to His Majesty, Empress Xiao will not be implicated. Your Highness, no matter what, this jade seal does not belong to you, so you must not act rashly."
Li Ke pursed his lips, gritted his teeth, frowned, and nodded.
"I'll listen to you."
Qin Mubai breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at Li Ke's expression, it would be an absolute lie to say that he didn't want to keep it as his own privately. Moreover, from the moment he stepped into the hall, Li Ke seemed to have forgotten that he was the prince of the Tang Dynasty and the son of Li Shimin; he probably smelled the aura of Yang Guang, the former Sui emperor, who once ruled the world. It seemed that there was still a trace of soul lingering on Li Ke's body, making him a little dazed and forgetful.
It is also possible that he is even imagining that if this jade seal is real...does it mean that he, Li Ke, is the destined emperor "ordained by heaven"? Moreover, this place was so much like Yang Guang's mausoleum that he could easily have an illusion - this jade seal was deliberately left for him by Yang Guang!
This is undoubtedly a very dangerous signal!
From the beginning, Qin Mubai knew that Li Ke was definitely not a creature of the pool. To say that he had no ambition and no regrets would be to deceive himself and others. But this ambition and retribution must not come from the Yufeng of the former Sui Dynasty, nor from the temptation of Yuxi!
There is no airtight wall in the world. If Li Ke steals this jade seal - regardless of whether it is true or false, he will definitely die without any suspense!
Originally, because Li Ke was born to a former Sui princess, he was criticized by a group of veterans headed by Changsun Wuji. They said that he bore the "blood of the former Sui Dynasty", which was a great misfortune and disadvantage. In fact, Changsun Wuji's argument seems a bit ridiculous, and few people will really believe it. Because, blood comes from the father, this is a custom made throughout the ages. Changsun Wuji's argument clearly shows that he is using force to argue that a deer is a horse. His purpose was nothing more than to artificially put a "fake label" on Li Ke and fundamentally deprive him of the capital to seize the throne, thereby reducing the pressure on his close nephew and reducing his enemies.
However, if Li Ke obtained a "suspected jade seal" in a "suspected former Sui palace" and still concealed it, he would really be digging his own grave, and it would be difficult to survive. Changsun Wuji's remarks will be supported by facts - although the former Sui Dynasty was dead, the remnants of the remnants have not yet been cleared up, no, Li Ke has different ambitions, holding the jade seal left by his grandfather, with evil intentions!
By then, no one can really save him. Even if Li Shimin had always valued and liked this son who was "like me", he would kill him as soon as the time came!
…
Li Ke held the jade seal, looking at it and thinking deeply. Suddenly he couldn't help but shuddered, and said with a trace of panic in his eyes: "Mu Bai, maybe we shouldn't blow up this place!"
"Are you afraid?" Qin Mubai said lightly.
Li Ke nodded reluctantly and said: "It doesn't matter whether I offer this jade seal or not. It won't do any good. If I offer it, if the jade seal is true, my grandmother will be guilty of deceiving the emperor; if the jade seal is fake, , then I will be guilty of deceiving the emperor; if I don’t offer it... then I will definitely die.”
"Comparing the two, let's offer it!" Qin Mubai said, "If you offer it more skillfully, you should be fine."
"How to present it?" Li Ke asked hurriedly.
"First of all, we must find out whether this jade seal is authentic or not." Qin Mubai said, "There is only one way to clarify this matter."
Li Ke frowned and said, "You want me to go find Empress Xiao?"
"Yes." Qin Mubai nodded, "She must be shocked when a secret that has been hidden for decades is suddenly discovered. But I estimate that she is probably an insider. It may not be a serious crime to reveal the truth to history. . Perhaps she was also deceived back then?”
"It makes sense." Li Ke obviously heard the "important hint" from Qin Mubai's words. His eyes lit up and he nodded: "As the saying goes, those who don't know are not guilty. Maybe Empress Xiao has been deceived for many years. I wonder if the jade seal is fake? It would be better to say that in the late Sui Dynasty, anyone could forge the jade seal secretly, and this could be justified. "
"It's just that... this palace is really difficult to explain." Qin Mubai looked around and murmured, "How can ordinary bandits who rebel against the king have the strength to build such a huge underground palace? Moreover, this is not an ordinary one. The mausoleum is an underground palace that is modeled after the real Jinluan Palace. If you ask me, this is not a mausoleum at all, but an underground palace."
"Yes, if it is a mausoleum, there should be a jade coffin, but there is no jade coffin here. There are only these many civil and military officials made by local puppets and Yin people." Li Ke said while walking around.
Qin Mubai reached out and touched the puppet's body. He couldn't help but be a little surprised and said, "How strange, they are actually wearing real armor and official robes!"
"What?" Li Ke was also surprised. He came up to take a closer look and said in surprise, "Sure enough! When I first came in, I felt that these dolls were so lifelike. It turned out that they were wearing real armor and robes. Originally I thought they were just plated with gold, so realistic!”
While turning his head to speak, his hands lost some weight. Li Kexin pushed his hand, and a doll fell to the ground.
With a "bang", the doll hit the ground with a loud bang, and the mud tire under the armor actually shattered, revealing the dense bones inside!
"Ah!" The two of them exclaimed at the same time - "How could this happen!"
"Could it be that these dolls were cast from the corpses of real people, then covered with armor or official robes, and stood here as ghost figures to guard the treasure hall? Just like after the death of an eminent monk, his body was cast in clay to preserve the immortality of his relics? "Li Ke said in surprise.
"It's possible!" Qin Mubai took a deep breath. The scene in front of him was really beyond his surprise. He bent down, peeled off the broken mud tires, and found a silver fish talisman among the white bones. He picked it up and saw that there were words on it - "From the territory of the fifth-rank Fengche Captain, Cao Huan." !
"It's really like this!" The two of them exclaimed in unison!
The fish talisman was equivalent to an official's "identity card" in the Sui Dynasty. From this fish talisman, it is shown that the person on the earthen puppet is obviously Yang Guang's confidant, the captain of the chariot, that is, Yang Guang is riding in the chariot. When traveling, the military attache accompanying you in the royal chariot!
"Then these people... are they real?" Li Ke asked in surprise, and wanted to reach out and push down another clay doll.
"Forget it, Your Highness." Qin Mubai stopped him and said, "Even if they are people from the former Sui Dynasty, it is rare for them to be loyal to protect their lord until death. Let's give their undead a little respect!"
"Hmm..." Li Ke gritted his teeth and nodded, "So, Zhao Chong's grandfather is very likely to be one of them. These people may have come here with Zhao Chong's grandfather during his lifetime. , and became water bandits in the Jianghu area of Xiangzhou. Later, these people died one after another, and then according to their own agreement, their remains were cast in clay bodies, then put on their official robes and armors, and turned into clay dolls to continue to protect them. This palace. It is possible that Zhao Chong's grandfather did not tell these secrets to his descendants, but before he died, he left the secrets about this palace and hoped that his descendants would also erect his remains. Here. It’s a pity that the old man passed away before he could finish the explanation, so he left behind those treasure maps and poems, which became a secret that has troubled Zhao Chong and his son for more than 20 years!”
"That should be it." Qin Mubai nodded and sighed, "They should be die-hard loyalists of the former Sui Dynasty. To be more specific, they are die-hard loyalists of Yang Guang, the last emperor of the former Sui Dynasty."
"Mubai, tell me, is it possible that after Emperor Yang was buried in Jiangdu, they secretly took his body and transported the real body here for reburial? Since they know this secret palace, It's very possible to do this!" Li Ke said, "Looking at them standing here to guard him loyally after death, I suspect that there may be the true remains of Emperor Yang here!"
Qin Mubai's eyes lit up: "That makes sense, Your Highness is so wise!"
"Then let's look for it again? If we really find the real corpse of Emperor Yang, then we may be able to tell whether the jade seal is authentic or fake!"
"good!"
The two searched the palace for a long time again, not even missing the darkest and most inconspicuous corners. Unfortunately, they did not find any secret passages.
They looked at each other and shook their heads in disappointment. They both wanted to give up.
"Maybe we guessed wrong..."
Li Ke was a little tired, so he rested against a large jade pillar nearby and said, "There is something I can't figure out. After the Jiangdu war, Empress Xiao was taken prisoner by Yu Wenhuaji, and later returned to Dou Jiande, and later, by Yang The emperor's sister received the Yazhang who lived in Jinshan, Yudu, and had been wandering around for decades. It is said that she took the jade seal with her when she went to Mobei. From this, I wonder how she hid the jade seal without it. Falling into the hands of ambitious people like Dou Jiande, Yu Wenhuaji, and keeping the Turks until they are conquered by the Tang Dynasty, they can be brought back to the Central Plains to be presented to my father?"
"Yes!" Qin Mubai was also surprised, "Could it be that... Dou Jiande, Yu Wenji, and the Turkic Khan and others knew that the jade seal in her hand was fake, so they had no interest in taking it for themselves?"
"So!..." Li Ke's eyes widened, "Is what I have in my hand... real?"
"Wait, there is another possibility." Qin Mubai said, "That is, at first, there was no so-called jade seal in Empress Xiao's hand. It was only a few years ago that a jade seal appeared out of thin air in her hand. Of course, That's fake! Otherwise, how could she, a weak woman who has experienced many different men and traveled thousands of miles around the world, keep a piece of jade seal intact? I guess the fake jade seal in Empress Xiao's hands may be now. Someone in this palace gave it to her during her lifetime, or it was Zhao Chong's grandfather who gave it to her. The reason was because Empress Xiao knew the secret of Yu Xi's whereabouts in order to silence her. In order to protect this underground palace, these people present did this, and the real jade seal has been placed in this underground palace to enshrine the former Sui Yang Emperor!"
"It's a perfect reasoning, it must be like this!" Li Ke gritted his teeth, "So, there is no doubt that Yang Guang's real remains are definitely in this underground palace!"
"Wait a minute!" Qin Mubai's heart suddenly brightened and he said, "Your Highness, you just said that Empress Xiao went to the Turks, where did she live?"
"The place where the Turkic tooth tent is located is Yudu Jinshan. What's wrong?" Li Ke said in confusion.
"That's not right!" Qin Mubai suddenly said in shock, "Li Jing once led the Northern Expedition to destroy the Turks, but in his military book, he called the Yazhang Mountain - Xishan!"
"Xishan phoenix! - Xishan phoenix, Yujing dragon, looking at each other day and night, tears streaming down my face!" Li Ke also said in surprise, "Does Xishan phoenix refer to Empress Xiao? And Yujing dragon... doesn't it mean Yang Guang?"
"That means... Yang Guang's remains are in the jade well?" Qin Mubai frowned and walked towards the dragon chair.
"Yujing, does it mean this underground palace? What does it have to do with the dragon chair?" Li Ke followed quickly and asked.
"Yujing, Yujing... Isn't Yujing the place where the dragon's chair is located above the imperial majesty of the Jinluan Palace?!" Qin Mubai frowned heavily, moved his hands to the dragon's chair, and said in a deep voice: "I'm offended!"
With some hidden force, the pure gold dragon chair, which weighed more than several hundred kilograms, actually made a squeaking sound and was indeed rotated.
"Ah! -" Li Ke screamed!
Because at this moment, the picture of sea dragons playing on the jade wall behind the dragon chair split from the middle to both sides, revealing a dark passage!
"It's really here!" Qin Mubai also said in surprise.
"Go in and take a look!"
The two of them lit the torch and walked two steps when they were startled. Not far from the entrance of the passage, there were four standing skeletons staring at them. The skeletons were covered with armor and held in their "hands" Long knife. These skeletons were kept from falling to the ground by being supported by their full armor.
"These are probably the four dead soldiers who escorted the remains in. They have been standing here alive without falling down." Qin Mubai said.
Li Ke just nodded, walked around the four skeletons and walked inside. Qin Mubai quickly followed.
There was light ahead, and after turning a corner, a gorgeous "bedroom" was revealed. The brocade carpets and walls were extremely luxurious, but it was chilly inside.
Seeing this scene in front of them, the two of them were stunned!
A huge piece of green jade is covered with a gold bed cover, studded with countless gorgeous and dazzling night pearls, and the light comes from there. Through the bed cover, you can vaguely see a "person" wearing a yellow dragon robe lying on the jade bed. The jade bed was filled with cold air, and even though they were several feet apart, they both felt the cold air and couldn't help but shiver.
"Mu Bai, tell me..." Li Ke took a deep breath and said in a trembling voice, "Is that person the one who is my grandfather, Yang Guang?"
Qin Mubai frowned slightly and shook his head slowly, saying calmly: "Even if it is, you don't know him."
"But I had to take a look!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Ke rushed to the jade bed, swallowed hard, stretched out a hand, and slowly lifted the bed cover...