At night, another heavy snow fell, until dawn, it was still floating like goose feathers, the whole yard was covered with snow, and icicles hung down one by one from the eaves, like ice swords, crystal clear.
Today, the three children lifted the quilt early in the morning and jumped up and down on the bed in a thin pajamas.
Carefree age, really good.
Qiao Wei came over wearing a coat: "Why is it so early today?"
Jing Yun always gets up early, so there is nothing strange about it, Brother Liu and Wang Shu are two big slobs who refuse to get up, but it seems that they woke up first today
"It's Chinese New Year today!" Wang Shu said bouncingly.
If she didn't mention it, Qiao Wei almost forgot about it. Counting the days carefully, today seems to be... really New Year's Eve.
This is her... the third New Year's Eve since she came here.
The first New Year's Eve was also here. Jing Yun and Wang Shu were seriously ill and had nowhere to seek medical treatment. Fortunately, they were taken in by Mingxiu, who had not yet met each other. They lived a peaceful and peaceful year in the courtyard. Clan, did not expect so soon, ushered in the third.
Recalling those things, it was almost as if it happened yesterday, as if she was still walking on the street with two high-fever children, or as if she was still on the island of the Tana tribe yesterday, in the blink of an eye, it has been two years.
Those two little glutinous rice balls, who could only hug her thighs at first, both grew into—
"Mother!" Wang Shu threw himself into Qiao Wei's arms sweating profusely.
Qiao Wei was hit all over her arms, a bunch of her hair spit out from her mouth, and she twitched the corners of her mouth silently, she has grown so fat...
Wang Shu hugged Qiao Wei's neck, opened her small red mouth, and said crisply: "Mother, shall we go home today?"
"Go... home?" Qiao Wei was taken aback.
Wang Shu blinked his eyes and said: "Brother Liu said that today is the Chinese New Year, and we are all going home!"
Brother Liu looked over eagerly, exchanged a glance with Qiao Wei, lowered his head, and pinched the corner of his clothes with his small hands.
To be honest, with such a big incident, her mother and the ghost king are still alive and dead, Yunzhu's life is hanging by a thread, and the ghost emperor is nowhere to be found. She never thought that today is New Year's Eve and she has to go back to Ji's house.
Jingyun and Wangshu followed her and Mingxiu to travel here and there. Home is where there are parents, but brother Liu is different. He grew up in Ji's family, and he has never left there. It's time, of course, to go home.
After being out for such a long time, the child also feels homesick.
But she was so dazed just now that the child was keenly aware that she had no such plan, so he thought he had said something wrong.
Qiao Wei pinched Brother Liu's small face and smiled slightly: "I'll go talk to your elder brother and see how your elder brother arranges it."
…
Ji Mingxiu didn't rest in the courtyard last night. Qiao Wei didn't know what he was busy with. He didn't come back until dawn. When he came back, he sat in the study and read the materials.
Qiao Wei entered the room and told him about going back to Ji's house: "... at least send a few children back and let the old lady see them. If you can't go, I will take them. You meet."
Right now, every second counts against time, and every second spent outside makes Yunzhu, He Lanqing, and Ghost King more dangerous, so Qiao Wei doesn't ask Ji Mingxiu to go with her.
Unexpectedly, after hearing her words, Ji Mingxiu paused for a while, and then said, "It happens that I have something to do when I go back to Ji's house, let's go together."
Qiao Wei called Fu Xueyan and the leader, took the three children and the newborn little Muyan, and went back to Ji's house together.
Mrs. Ji and Ji Shangqing were overjoyed. When Jing Yun and Wang Shu were taken away, after hearing the news, Mrs. Ji fainted on the spot. Although she woke up afterwards, she was always depressed and didn't think about food and drink until she died. People from the Blood Alliance came to pick up Brother Liu, and the Ji family knew that both children had been found, but Brother Liu was going to be taken out, which made Mrs. Ji and Ji Shangqing very worried.
Fortunately, all came back safe and sound!
Not only that, but also brought another little guy.
Little Muyan is already full moon, much bigger than when she was born, but still thinner than her peers, lying in swaddling clothes, neither crying nor fussing, her innocent eyes wide open, big black grape-like eyeballs turning around Go, as if looking at something curiously.
Mrs. Ji hugged her, seeing her soft and cute appearance, she was so excited that she wiped away tears.
Ji Shangqing called the leader to the study, and gave him a severe reprimand, about "If you really like someone, you should come to propose marriage first. Our Ji family is not the kind who cares about family status. Even if her family is ruined, as long as you like me Can I not promise you, how can you ruin the innocence of the girl's family" Yunyun.
The leader looked at the sky: "Isn't Ji Mingxiu like this? You can teach him if you have the ability."
Ji Shangqing choked on the spot.
After Mrs. Ji finished hugging little Muyan, she went to hug the other three little great-grandsons. She was most worried about Brother Liu who was weak and sick. She hugged him and said with a smile: "My hands hurt, and I've grown flesh!"
Afterwards, she hugged Jing Yun again, and she was heavier than before. She smiled and said, "Jing Yun has grown too!"
Wang Shu jumped over and said with a smile: "Great-grandmother!"
Mrs. Ji hugged her, hugged her twice without moving her, and muttered indistinctly: "You...why don't you grow old?"
Xiao Wangshu, who had grown two catties sideways: "..."
Ji Wan also got the news and came over with Lin Shuyan.
The eldest sister is like a mother, and Princess Zhaoming is gone. Doesn't the marriage of the two younger brothers have to be done by her as an older sister
Ji Wan fell in love with Fu Xueyan as soon as she saw her, and she liked it very much.
In such a situation as Fu Xueyan's, she would be a concubine if she was left in another big family, but Ji Wan understood that it was a piece of shit luck for her idiot brother to sleep with such a beautiful and smart wife, okay
What's more, the girl hasn't said whether to marry or not!
There was warm laughter in Luomeiyuan, and snow was falling outside.
Ji Mingxiu and Qiao Wei went to the forbidden area of Ji's house together. This time, the two came to the door openly. Qiao Wei showed the token Ji Shangqing gave her, and the guards guarding the forbidden area let them go.
The two entered the stone room, bypassed the armory, and came to the "Cangshu Pavilion" where various classics were stored.
Qiao Wei picked up a booklet casually: "Why did you think of coming here?"
Ji Mingxiu said: "I'm thinking, how did my mother discover the underground palace in the first place, did she discover it herself, or did her predecessors already discover it, and left some clues for my mother to come across."
Qiao Wei seemed to have an epiphany: "Yes, the underground palace has been buried for so many years, it doesn't mean that you can find it if you find it... Do you suspect that the clue is in Ji's forbidden area?"
The ancestor of the Ji family was the last priest thousands of years ago. He was the one who predicted the demise of the Apocalypse Dynasty. It was also after his prediction that the Yeluo royal family started to build the underground palace. Built an underground palace
In fact, there is no need to divination, based on his understanding of the Yeluo royal family, he can guess it.
He may have found the location of the underground palace long ago, so he built the Ji family near the underground palace.
Ji Mingxiu looked at the brochures in the room, and said with emotion: "The dragon spirit of the underground palace nourishes this city, making it the capital of Daliang. It not only protects the city, but also protects the entire Daliang."
Qiao Wei didn't believe in Feng Shui, she curled her lips: "Superstitious."
Ji Mingxiu nodded her forehead, stopped playing tricks with her, turned around and searched carefully among a pile of books.
Qiao Wei can barely understand Ye Luo's words now, but it is still not enough to recognize Ye Luo's words, so she can only help him.
After the two browsed for a while in the library, Ji Mingxiu found a bamboo slip in an inconspicuous small box.
The bamboo slips have been rotted, and some of the handwriting can still be read.
Ji Mingxiu carefully spread the bamboo slips on the desk that had been wiped clean by Qiao Wei. Looking at the spotless desk, he was stunned for a moment, then he turned his head and glanced at the desk that had been tidied up like a new room. In the secret room, he couldn't help being slightly stunned.
Qiao Wei smiled embarrassingly: "I... have nothing to do, so I just clean up."
Ji Mingxiu said, "Thank you for your hard work."
Qiao Wei smiled, looked at the bamboo slips and said, "What's written on it? Are there any clues about the underground palace?"
"Yes." Ji Mingxiu nodded, "It is recorded that the previous priest surveyed the underground palace. He really found the underground palace. Not only that, but he also went in."
Qiao Wei was surprised and said: "There is really a clue? Then the princess found the underground palace after seeing this clue? Speaking of which, how did the previous priest get in? Did he collect all four keys?"
Ji Mingxiu shook his head: "No, he entered by the small path."
Qiao Wei was startled again: "Is there a path in the underground palace?"
Ji Mingxiu hummed: "The underground palace was secretly built by the royal family of Yeluo, in order to leave a hope for the descendants to restore the country. This matter must not be known to the world anyway, so those who built the underground palace , will eventually be buried with this underground palace.”
Qiao Wei said coldly: "It's so cruel."
Ji Mingxiu said: "Not everyone is willing to go to death. Some craftsmen who don't want to die quietly built an escape passage for themselves while building the underground palace. It is the priest who found this passage. into the underground palace."
Qiao Wei thought for a while: "Then... what's in the underground palace?"
Ji Mingxiu looked at the second half of the dilapidated bamboo slips and said regretfully, "I don't know, it's broken and I can't read it clearly."
Qiao Wei rubbed her chin: "Did you tell me how to get to the passage?"
Ji Mingxiu paused.
Qiao Wei looked at him bluntly: "Didn't you say that?"
Ji Mingxiu paused, then said calmly, "I said it."
"How to get there?" Qiao Wei opened her eyes wide, looking around on the broken bamboo slips, "There is no map."
Ji Mingxiu took off the water bag, found a brush, dipped it in water, and drew on the floor: "It's written on it, I'll show you."
Qiao Wei stared at the floor for a moment, but after a while, a map written by the Prime Minister appeared vividly on the cold floor.
Ji Mingxiu pointed to the map and said, "This is the underground palace, this is the Princess Mausoleum, this is the Ji family, and this is the imperial palace."
"From the map, Ji's house is not far from the underground palace."
The straight-line distance is not far, but the city is built, there are streets and houses, and the distance to the Princess Mausoleum is not too close.
But the Princess Mausoleum was only built at the entrance of the underground palace, and the underground palace was "vast" and almost extended to the princess mansion of the Ji family.
Qiao Wei stared: "Princess Mansion? Is the Princess Mansion the entrance to that passage?"
Ji Mingxiu shook his head: "No, the entrance is inside and outside the east gate of the imperial palace. It is precisely because there is a passage here that the dragon aura of the underground palace leaks out. The place where the dragon aura is most dense becomes the location of the imperial palace."
Qiao Wei curled her mouth, "Here again."
Ji Mingxiu smiled slightly: "Do you still remember the topography of Cloud City?"
Qiao Wei rolled her eyes: "Remember."
It's strange to remember.
Ji Mingxiu saw through it, and said to her patiently: "The Manghuang mountain range is like a wandering dragon, and Yeliang City is above the dragon's head. The barren mountains form a situation where dragons play with pearls, and the pearls are on the dragon's head, severely suppressing the luck of Yeliang City, so the luck of the Holy Church is stronger than that of Yeluo."
Qiao Wei muttered: "Isn't it because Shengjiao is too cunning?"
Ji Mingxiu nodded and said, "The cunning is true. I chose to build Yunzhong City there because I wanted to suppress Ye Luo's luck."
This stalk is impossible to pass, Qiao Wei looked at the sky with both eyes, and said seriously: "I only believe that man can conquer the sky."
Ji Mingxiu murmured thoughtfully: "Man will conquer heaven..."
…
In the afternoon, Qiao Wei went to the Princess Mausoleum, while Ji Mingxiu entered the palace.
The attack on the Princess Mausoleum made Emperor Longyan furious. The Emperor had already ordered the entire capital to be sealed off, not to mention Yun Su, not even a fly was allowed to be released.
The assassin should not have escaped from the capital yet.
It's just that the capital is so big and the assassin is cunning, it's not easy to find him.
When the emperor was in a state of desperation, the eunuch sent a message, and Ji Mingxiu asked to see him.
The emperor said anxiously: "It's just in time, hurry up and announce!"
Ji Mingxiu met the emperor in the imperial study room, and confessed everything about Ye Luo and Yun Zhongcheng to the emperor.
After the emperor heard it, his eyelids began to twitch: "...you mean... King Yeluo was also used by others, and everything was done by that surname Yun?"
Ji Mingxiu said, "You can say that."
Thinking of something, the emperor asked in a deep voice, "Concubine Rong is also a member of the Holy Cult?"
Ji Mingxiu said: "Concubine Rong is Yao Jun's confidant, and Yun Su is Yao Jun's leader. Everything they do is inseparable from Yun Su."
The emperor touched the green cloud that seemed to be still remaining on the top of his head, and the corner of his mouth twitched fiercely: "You bastard, don't let me catch him! I must skin him alive! Where's Zhaoming's body?"
Ji Mingxiu said truthfully: "The body is still in Yun Su's hands. The most urgent thing is to get into the underground palace as soon as possible. Zhuoma and the ghost king won't last long, and neither can grandma."
The emperor closed his eyes and took a deep breath: "Got it."
…
In the afternoon of that day, Ji Mingxiu and the emperor went to the east gate of the palace.
"Is this here?" the emperor asked while standing inside the east gate.
Ji Mingxiu visually measured the distance between the inside and outside of the door, and said uncertainly, "Let's dig on both sides."
After a pause, he said again: "It's better not to let the news out about this matter. If Yun Su knows that we have found and entered the underground palace, he will definitely try to destroy it. Grandma's injury cannot withstand delay."
"I understand." The emperor called a group of Imperial Forest Army, and issued a gag order to everyone, those who dare to spread today's events to outsiders, will be killed without mercy.
In addition, the emperor's order declared that the east gate needed to be repaired, and asked everyone to bypass the east gate and go to the other three gates.
As for the east gate, heavy guards were sent to prevent anyone from getting any closer.
The guarding Imperial Forest Army didn't know what happened. Only the 20 people who stayed here to dig a hole knew that the emperor had listened to the prime minister's words and was looking for a so-called dragon's vein in the ground.
Four people per pit, two outside the east gate and three inside the east gate. The Imperial Forest Army dug in full swing, but they dug eight or nine deep pits until night, but they still didn't find anything that the prime minister was satisfied with.
Standing at the bottom of a three-meter-deep pit, a member of the Imperial Forest Army asked disheveledly, "My lord, do you still want to dig?"
Ji Mingxiu knelt down, squeezed the dirt on the ground and said, "You guys have a meal first, after you're done eating, change to another place and continue digging!"
The Imperial Dining Room prepared meals early and delivered them to everyone with food boxes.
"I'm going to the latrine!" The imperial forest soldier who dug the pit just now put down his bowl and chopsticks, and hurriedly went to the latrine on the back mountain.
A eunuch delivering food flashed his eyes and followed him quietly.
Half a quarter of an hour later, a Royal Forest Army came out from the back of the mountain. He curled the corners of his lips coldly, squatted down, grabbed a handful of mud, and wiped it on his handsome face. Wipe off the blood and put it on his head.