When the King of Jin heard the news, he took Xuan Yeping into the inner hall. He lifted the hem of his robe, knelt on the soft floral carpet, bowed his head, and did not dare to look at the Emperor of Yan who seemed to have aged dozens of years overnight: "Your son greets you, father."
Xuan Yeping followed suit and kowtowed: "I am Xuan Yeping, I greet your majesty."
Emperor Yan reluctantly raised his hand, signaling them to stand up. His eyes fell on Xuan Yeping and he frowned: "Prince Jin, is this the talented person you brought with you?"
Prince Jin nodded and said, "Father, I heard that there was an evil spirit invading the palace and I was worried. Taoist Xuan happened to be an expert in this field, so I brought him into the palace to help you solve your problem."
Emperor Yan sat up on the bed with the help of the old eunuch. He stared at Xuan Yeping with his cloudy and old eyes, with the cruel and cold look that only an emperor could have: "Can you really help me get rid of the evil spirits?"
Xuan Yeping felt a chill down his spine from being stared at by Emperor Yan. He could not help but lower his head, looking at his nose and his heart, not daring to reveal the tension in his eyes: "I have been observing the sky recently and night, and I see that the Ziwei star is weak, the dragon energy is weakening, and there is an evil spirit rising from the direction of the palace, and the source is exactly your majesty's bedroom..."
After he finished speaking, he raised the whisk in his hand, pointed to the corners of the hall and said, "The evil spirits are hiding here."
Xuan Yeping's words startled the palace maids and eunuchs in the hall. A chill spread from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads. They looked around nervously, as if there was something unclean staring at them in the dark.
Emperor Yan was not sure if he was also frightened. He suddenly coughed violently. It took him a long time to catch his breath. He said breathlessly, "Why don't you cast a spell to exorcise the evil spirit for me? If you succeed, I will reward you handsomely with gold and silver titles!"
Xuan Yeping touched the pile of yellow paper hidden in his arms, and felt more at ease. He bowed his head and said to Emperor Yan: "Your Majesty, please dismiss the Buddhist monks chanting around. I will cast a spell to exorcise the evil spirits."
The Emperor of Yan waved his hand, and the old eunuch immediately understood and drove all the Buddhist monks out. For a moment, only a few servants and the King of Jin were left in the palace.
Zhou Wenchen led his troops to guard outside the palace to prevent any accidents.
Xuanye had been in the martial arts world for many years, so he knew some tricks like casting spells and chanting scriptures. He raised his whisk, stepped on the eight trigrams in the middle of the hall and began to perform magic, closing his eyes and walking quickly, muttering something, but no one knew what he was saying.
Every time he walked past a place, he waved his sleeves and a yellow talisman paper appeared on the door and window. When he finished walking 20 rounds of the Bagua Steps, the hall was already filled with talismans.
Xuan Yeping chanted a Taoist name loudly, and then sat cross-legged in the center of the hall. Because of the intense movement just now, the back of his clothes was soaked with sweat. He closed his eyes and said to Emperor Yan: "There are too many evil spirits in this hall, and they can't hide. I will suppress them here. When night falls, the yin energy will be the strongest, and I will make them show their true colors."
This was what Chu Xinian told him before he left. The spell would only be effective at night.
It was obvious that Emperor Yan was not very satisfied. His face was gloomy, and he might have suspected Xuan Yeping was a charlatan. Seeing this, Prince Jin knew something was wrong, and quickly spoke up to smooth things over: "Father, I have read in ancient books that those demons prefer darkness and avoid the sun, and only come out to wander at night. Taoist Xuan is a man with great supernatural powers, please believe him once."
The Emperor of Yan finally gave the Prince of Jin some face: "Well, I will wait until nightfall. If there is still no movement, I will drag this quack down and chop him up."
The King of Jin did not dare to refute and nodded repeatedly.
Xuan Yeping was secretly worried for himself, but he remained expressionless and continued to sit cross-legged in meditation.
Time passed by bit by bit, and soon it was night. Emperor Yan saw the sky getting dark, and the shadows of the trees outside were reflected on the windows, like twisted ghosts, and cold sweat dripped down his forehead.
If you don't do anything wrong in your life, you won't be afraid of ghosts knocking on your door at night.
Emperor Yan had done too many bad things, and he was more afraid of the coming of night than the demons. Even if the palace maids lit the lamps and illuminated the palace, it was still difficult to hide the gloom.
King Jin was getting a little anxious waiting, so he lowered his voice and urged Xuan Yeping secretly: "Master, it's already night, can we start catching ghosts and exorcising evil spirits?"
Hearing this, Xuan Yeping slowly opened his eyes and stood up from the ground. He took off the gourd from his waist, with an unfathomable look on his face, and said to Emperor Yan and King Jin: "I will cast a spell to make those demons show their true form."
After he finished speaking, he opened the gourd and began to practice the Bagua steps as he had done during the day.
Xuan Yeping stopped in front of the first piece of yellow paper, poured the liquid in the gourd into his palm, and then sprinkled it all on it. In the bright and eerie candlelight, the silhouette of a man gradually took shape on the yellow paper.
He wore a long-winged hat and official robes. The only difference was that the man had a white spot on his right eye, like a one-eyed dragon.
It inevitably reminds people of Qin Daoyan who died tragically some time ago.
Upon seeing this, Emperor Yan's pupils suddenly contracted, his breathing stopped, his breath was stuck in his chest, and his face turned ashen.
However, all this was not over yet. Xuan Yeping turned around, his sleeves fluttering, and stopped in front of the second piece of yellow paper, sprinkling water and chanting incantations, all in one go. On the paper, a silhouette of a man in official uniform who had lost both arms gradually emerged.
The Emperor of Yan staggered, as if he remembered something, and his whole body trembled like a sieve.
Feng Qiuping...
That was the prime minister he relied on the most. Later, in order to protect his daughter-in-law from entering the harem as a concubine, he repeatedly made rebellious remarks and knelt down to beg for mercy. The Emperor of Yan ordered his men to chop off his arms and threw him back to the palace half-dead.
Unconsciously, Xuan Yeping walked to the third piece of yellow paper again. He pretended to cast a spell and sprinkled water as usual. This time, the image of a woman in palace dress gradually emerged on the paper. She wore a peacock hairpin with a pearl in her mouth, but there was a rope hanging around her neck, which looked weird no matter how you looked at it.
The Emperor of Yan's breathing became rapid upon seeing this, and his hands clenched and trembled uncontrollably. He clutched his heart tightly, his face as pale as paper.
Queen... Queen...
That was his first wife. They had known each other since they were young, and she had been with him in the harem. She was a virtuous woman and a model for the whole country. Later, she was strangled to death with a white silk by the Emperor of Yan himself, and died of suffocation.
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew outside the hall, making the yellow paper flutter. The candles swayed twice and dimmed a little in an instant. However, everyone in the hall was stunned by the scene on the yellow paper, and no one dared to light the lamp again.
Xuan Yeping didn't notice the Emperor Yan's shaky figure at all. He poured the "immortal water" in the gourd into his hands and continued to sprinkle it on the fourth piece of yellow paper. This time, a man holding a silver spear and looking like a general appeared on it. However, there were several long arrows stuck in his chest, which inevitably looked weird.
Thanks Bi!
It’s Xie Bi!
Emperor Yan recognized who was on the yellow paper at a glance. His eyes were bloodshot, veins popped on his forehead, and he seemed to want to say something, but he couldn't utter a word. He felt as if an invisible hand was tightly grasping his throat, with a suffocating despair.
That was the famous god of war of Dayan.
The magic needle that stabilizes the sea and protects the cornerstone of the country.
After Xie Bi's death, except Xie Jingyuan, there was no one in the army who could match him, and no one could match his glory.
He is the most trusted minister of Emperor Yan, he is the most loyal minister of Emperor Yan, he is the minister that Emperor Yan fears the most, and he is also the minister that Emperor Yan wants to kill the most!
The Emperor of Yan sent a secret letter, which tricked Xie Bi into leading his troops straight in from outside Tai'an Gate, but he was shot to death by soldiers who had been lying in ambush.
He was wearing silver armor, riding on a horse, staring at the Yan Emperor standing on the palace wall in astonishment and disbelief. Then several feather arrows pierced his chest, blood mist spurted out, and the silver spear in his hand fell to the ground. The god of war who had protected Great Yan for several years also fell.
Xie Bi did not die on the battlefield, nor did he die in the northwest where he had guarded for several years, but he died in the king's suspicion and frame-up.
Emperor Yan remembered that scene all his life. When he woke up in the middle of the night, all he could think of was Xie Bi's blood-stained eyes.
A new emperor appoints new ministers, and a new dream brings a shock to one's soul.
The cold wind flowed through his sleeves and into his limbs. Emperor Yan felt his whole body was cold and stiff, as if he was a dead person and couldn't move. He saw silhouettes of different shapes appearing on the yellow paper in the hall, and couldn't help but think of the tragic scenes of those people before they died. His eyes went dark, and he seemed to see countless ghosts coming to take his life.
"No… "
His Adam's apple rolled and he uttered a word with difficulty.
"No… "
Another gust of howling night wind blew into the hall, blowing out most of the candles.
"No… "
Emperor Yan covered his chest tightly and slowly bent down. After a while, he suddenly spat out a large mouthful of black blood, which splattered all over the ground. His face was as pale as gold paper, his body swayed twice, and then he fell to the ground with a plop.
The palace maids and eunuchs were so frightened upon seeing this that they immediately rushed forward.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
"Your Majesty has fainted, call the imperial physician!"
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Lift His Majesty to the bed!"
The King of Jin was stunned when he saw this. He immediately pushed through the crowd and squeezed to the bedside. He grabbed the Emperor of Yan's hand and shouted urgently: "Father! Father! Wake up, Father! Father!"
Zhou Wenchen was guarding outside the palace. When he heard the noise, his face suddenly changed. He immediately led his troops to rush in, only to see that the Emperor of Yan had already fallen on the bed unconscious. Only the Prince of Jin was crying beside the bed, while Xuan Yeping seemed to have lost all his strength and sat on the ground, completely frightened.
Zhou Wenchen drew his sword angrily and pointed it at Xuan Yeping: "How dare you murder His Majesty!"
Xuan Yeping kept waving his hands and backing away, sweating profusely: "No, no, no! No, no, no! I didn't plot to murder Your Majesty! I didn't do anything!"
Zhou Wenchen was a retainer who had followed Emperor Yan for many years. When he saw the human figure pattern on the yellow paper in the hall, he understood everything. His face turned pale and blue for a moment and he was secretly frightened.
"Come here, take this evil Taoist away and keep him under strict guard! Make sure you pry his mouth open to find out who ordered him to murder Your Majesty!"
Upon hearing this, the King of Jin's expression suddenly changed. He no longer cared about his usual gentle and polite image, and stepped forward to question, "General Zhou, what do you mean by this?!"
Zhou Wenchen was a retainer of the Emperor of Yan, and he only obeyed his orders in his life. He naturally did not take the King of Jin seriously. Zhou Wenchen slowly sheathed his sword and said word by word: "Your Highness will understand what I mean. If there is any problem with Your Majesty, anyone who is involved today will be killed, regardless of their status!"
After he finished speaking, he ignored the King of Jin's staggering body and ordered his men to drag Xuan Yeping away like a dead dog. All the outsiders were also driven out of the hall, including the King of Jin.
Soon, the news that Prince Jin brought the sorcerer into the palace to cast a spell to murder Emperor Yan spread throughout Kyoto like wildfire. Everyone, from princes and nobles to ordinary people, heard about it.
When Concubine Mei heard the news and rushed to attend to the sick, she saw Prince Jin kneeling outside the palace gate and kowtowed to apologize. The imperial physician was giving Emperor Yan acupuncture inside, and the situation did not look optimistic.
Imperial Concubine Mei came in such a hurry that even her hairpins and rings were messed up. She pointed at Prince Jin in shock and anger: "Asshole! What on earth did you do?!"
Her fingertips were shaking violently, and they were cold. After this incident, would it be possible for the King of Jin to succeed to the throne? When the Emperor of Yan woke up, I'm afraid he might not even be able to save his life.
After decades of sleeping in the same bed, Concubine Mei knew Emperor Yan too well. If anyone threatened his imperial power and his life, there would be no way for him to survive.
When Prince Jin saw Imperial Concubine Mei, he felt like he had found his backbone. He ran over and hugged her legs, "Mother! Mother! I really didn't cast a spell to murder my father! I really didn't! Please plead for me!"
Concubine Mei grabbed his shoulders tightly and scolded him in a low voice: "Be quiet, why are you making so much noise!"
She was always gentle and beautiful, but her expression suddenly became ferocious, which frightened the King of Jin. He swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth. His voice was hoarse: "Mother..."
"Kneel down outside and apologize. You are not allowed to get up until your father wakes up!"
Imperial Concubine Mei gritted her teeth and said these words, then turned away and walked into the inner hall.
The Emperor of Yan was already unconscious at that time. With the help of acupuncture by the imperial doctors, he barely regained some consciousness. He stared blankly at the bright yellow curtain above his head. In a trance, he saw the faces of old friends appearing on it. His expression suddenly became panicked: "Come here—"
"Someone..."
He was so sick that he was barely breathing and couldn't even make a sound. One hand was tightly grasping the edge of the bed, and his throat was wheezing.
Concubine Mei was eager to step forward, but was pushed away by the Emperor. Zhou Wenchen seemed to know what the Emperor was thinking, and immediately knelt on one knee and reported: "I have already taken the evil Taoist to the prison and ordered people to torture him severely. The Prince of Jin is kneeling outside the palace to plead guilty, Your Majesty, don't worry."
Emperor Yan moved his lips silently, and after a long while he managed to utter two words from his heart: "Ni, Zi!"
Imperial Concubine Mei burst into tears: "Your Majesty, Chengze has always been filial, this matter has nothing to do with him, it must be that evil Taoist who was instructed by someone to frame him, please investigate!"
The Emperor of Yan ignored him and motioned Zhou Wenchen to come forward. He whispered in his ear, "Pass on my order... The King of Jin committed treason... He plotted to murder the emperor and his father... He is imprisoned in the palace... He is not allowed to... He is not allowed to come out..."
"The Minister of War Dong Su... Assistant Minister Luo Yuanqing... and the Crown Prince Chenghao... and the General of the Army Xie Jingyuan entered the palace..."
"Guard the palace gates well... Don't let... Don't let those with ulterior motives... take advantage of the situation..."
Zhou Wenchen took a deep look at Emperor Yan's terminally ill appearance with a complicated expression, then took the order and left.
Imperial Concubine Mei wanted to say something but stopped herself. However, the old eunuch had received the Emperor Yan's signal and walked up to Imperial Concubine Mei and politely declined, "Your Majesty, please return to the palace. I have an old servant to take care of you here. You don't need to worry."
Upon hearing this, Concubine Mei's face was uncertain. She could only force a smile, said "trouble you, eunuch", and then turned and left. When passing by Prince Jin, she whispered, "Don't act rashly, wait for news from me outside the palace!"
One wrong move, and the whole game is lost. With the intervention of Chu Xinian, the advantage that the King of Jin had in the original novel seemed to disappear in an instant.
When Xie Jingyuan received the imperial edict to enter the palace tomorrow, he knew that Emperor Yan might not make it. He just didn't know whether entering the palace this time would be a blessing or a curse. If the incident at Tai'an Gate happened again, he would surely end up in a life-or-death situation.
Chu Xinian had expected that the Emperor of Yan would summon them to the palace, firstly for the Crown Prince to supervise the country, and secondly for the military power in Xie Jingyuan's hands. Seeing Xie Jingyuan frowning and lost in thought, he said, "I will go to the palace with the general."
Xie Jingyuan looked at him subconsciously: "How can you enter the palace without an official position?"
Chu Xinian smiled and shook the wax box in his hand, which he used for disguise: "I will disguise myself as an attendant and enter the palace with the general."
Xie Jingyuan did not answer immediately. He lowered his head and wiped the Luoyuan Sword that had not been unsheathed for a long time. He said in a low voice: "Do you know that if the Emperor Yan sets an ambush when I enter the palace this time, I will definitely die. If you follow me, you will definitely be implicated."
Chu Xinian didn't care much: "I have read your fortune before, and everything you want will come true. This hexagram still counts."
He wrote Xie Jingyuan's ending himself, and now he will rewrite it himself.
Outside, the night was surging, and there was a sign of impending storm, but Chu Xinian had a premonition that all this trouble would be over soon.
The next morning, Xie Jingyuan brought Chu Xinian, who had changed his appearance, into the palace. When they reached the gate of Taiji Hall, they learned that Emperor Yan had summoned several civil and military officials, who were now kneeling outside the hall, waiting to be summoned.
Xie Jingyuan found a place to kneel down, knowing that the person in the hall was already terminally ill and would not have much time left. A hint of sarcasm flashed in his eyes, but it was visible under the scorching sun.
Chu Xinian, wearing a black attendant robe, knelt down beside him, pressed Xie Jingyuan's hand without leaving a trace, and reminded him in a low voice: "There are many eyes and ears in the palace, don't let those with ulterior motives catch you."
Xie Jingyuan grabbed his hand and snorted, "Does this count as leverage?"
The prince arrived late. He was the crown prince and should have knelt in front, but when he turned around, he saw Xie Jingyuan and the others were there too. He walked over and kicked one of the officials in the buttocks, signaling him to move aside, and then shamelessly knelt together with Xie Jingyuan.
The prince was about to say something, but when he got closer, he suddenly realized that Xie Jingyuan was holding hands with an unfamiliar pretty boy attendant. His eyes suddenly widened, and he looked strange and indescribable. He pointed at him and stammered, "You..."