Star Trace Gate

"Such a major event will surely shock the whole country...!"

Lord Rat's face turned pale, and he looked like a madman: "No, I will report this to the emperor immediately."

After he muttered a few words in a mysterious manner, he instantly turned into a shadow and disappeared on the spot.

Xu Bangzi looked bewildered: "What is the sealing stone slab? Can it be exchanged for three kilograms of rice?"

"Hearing this name, it does sound like an extraordinary thing." The concubine thought for a moment and said, "However, I have never heard of this thing when I was in Daqian."

"I don't have it either." Li Yan shook his head: "But this item involves the secrets of the Southern Xinjiang royal family, so it's normal for us not to know about it."

Fenglin smiled slightly and remained silent.

"Master Rat has left, let's leave too." Ren Ye greeted softly.

After the voice fell, the group quickly left the place.

……

After returning to Wangbeibi, Lord Rat had already finished writing the memorial in the carriage and sent it to Kyoto using the blood pigeon unique to southern Xinjiang.

After a few brief greetings, the convoy set off again with no intention of stopping along the way, heading south.

In the evening, it is past half past the hour of Xu.

After Ren Ye had dinner, he saw that Lord Rat still looked worried.

The journey was long, and this fellow rider was slouching all the time, which really affected his beautiful mood. So Ren took the initiative to chat: "Sir, I have something to say, but I don't know if I should say it or not."

Lord Rat came back to his senses and touched his hairless, thin cheek: "Your Highness, please feel free to talk."

"What on earth is this sealed stone tablet that can make you so angry and shocked?"

"......!" Lord Rat hesitated for a moment and said softly, "Since the emperor can let you come to this Immortal Mountain to check it out, it's okay to tell you about this. There are rumors in the royal family that this Immortal Peak is the place where the witch god comprehended the great way and won the godhood. After he attained the Tao, the terrain here suddenly changed and turned into a dragon vein, winding from south to north. This dragon vein can slowly nourish and condense the luck of our southern border country and protect all the people in the world. According to rumors, whenever the national strength declines and the sky is ominous, the current ruler can come here to worship the witch god altar, so that luck will be added to him, reversing the national destiny in the next ten years and bringing good luck. And the fortune-sealing stone slab is this treasure that suppresses luck."

"This treasure is lost, and the dragon vein is open, which means that the luck of our southern border has leaked. If it is hidden but not condensed, it may bring bad luck! Look at the black gas rising to the sky, it is not a good sign." Lord Shu's "loyal minister" has a strong sense of substitution, and said almost sadly: "Although luck is extremely mysterious and unpredictable, it is the foundation of the country. And those who disturb the foundation of our country will not stop until they die. No matter who did this, it will definitely make the court furious and the officials indignant."

What the hell is luck? Do you understand, brother?

The "frozen" things under the Eternal Peak are all strange stone fetuses, which are obviously unknown and scary dirty things, more like a forbidden place of gods... But you tell me this is a dragon vein?

So are the dragon veins in your southern Xinjiang filled with unborn "spiritual stone monkeys"?

Or, the "ominous stone fetus" and luck under the Bu Lao Peak coexist, and the witch god used the power of luck to seal it, and the stone slab is the treasure that suppresses luck.

Therefore, after it was stolen, the scene of black air rising into the sky appeared.

Well, this explanation seems more reliable. Although Lord Rat has great power and is a favorite, it is normal for the royal family's secrets to be hidden from him.

Luck, luck again.

This thing is extremely mysterious, and can even be compared to the way of heaven, but Ren Ye's current understanding of it is still too superficial and shallow. He really wants to ask Lord Rat about it, but then he thinks that this man is just a eunuch, and he himself has no luck, so how can he give himself an answer?

Forget it, take some time to go back to Suzaku City and talk to the two teachers, or find a chance to ask Fenglin. This old guy is unfathomable, he must know a lot about luck.

Ren Ye sat in the swaying carriage, his eyes dull and his chin in deep thought.

The further south he went, the more mysteries he had in mind. However, based on his many years of experience as a fraudster, when something becomes confusing, it means that he has been exposed to a lot of information and is getting closer to the truth.

The carriage headed south, under the stars and moon.

……

Late at night, at the end of the hour of midnight, in the Lich City in southern Xinjiang.

Inside the imperial city, in the Taiji Hall of the Wushen Palace, a skinny old man in a dragon robe slowly put down his porcelain bowl of light rice porridge and continued to review memorials.

On both sides, there were imperial curtains blocking the view and gauze blocking mosquitoes. The eunuchs and maids could not see the old man's face clearly and could only vaguely see his body.

this,

He is the leader of Southern Xinjiang and the founding emperor of the Lich Kingdom.

He was born during the most chaotic period in southern Xinjiang, when the people were hungry and poorly clothed, and the world was in constant strife.

In those days, the twenty-four heavenly kings each had their own banner, each divided the land and crowned themselves king, and they also attacked each other.

It was this skinny old man who suddenly appeared in the world and, after long years of planning, led the twenty-four heavenly kings to an alliance and repelled the invading Daqian. He then established the country in the southern border and was honored with the title - Emperor Wanwu.

In the imperial tent, the skinny Emperor Wanwu rubbed his sore eyes and unconsciously wanted to lift his left leg, sit cross-legged on the stool, and read the memorials in a lazy and accustomed posture.

But as soon as he raised his foot, he put it down helplessly.

There was no way around it. Many of his habits were indecent, and those officials from the Ministry of Rites often submitted memorials to advise him and tried to make their presence felt, which made him very uncomfortable for a while.

"Tap!"

The sound of footsteps echoed through the palace, and a personal eunuch rushed in, knelt down and shouted, "Your Majesty, Lord Wei sent an urgent secret letter."

The skinny old man bent over his desk and replied, "Present it."

"Yes!"

The eunuch hurried into the emperor's tent, lowered his head, and placed the secret letter on the table.

The old man took it casually, opened it, and asked, "Where did the stinky rat go?"

"We have just passed Loushan Pass and entered the Bulao Peak." The eunuch replied.

"The hair has been shaved clean by the old man, and his temper has become like a woman, so slow and useless." The old man's voice was a little loud and his words were a little vulgar.

Under the bright lamplight, he spread out the secret letter and glanced at it roughly.

After a while, the old man slowly put down the letter and glanced at the eunuch's body with his eyes.

The eunuch didn't dare to face the emperor directly and kept his head down. But when the old man glanced at him, he felt cold from his scalp to the soles of his feet.

He clearly didn't see the old man's eyes, but for some reason, he felt that sharp gaze was staring at him.

For a moment, the eunuch seemed to have forgotten to breathe, his face turned purple and his body was shaking slightly.

"Tell the Imperial Supervisor, the Envoy of the Underworld, to bring his group of good-for-nothings to the palace immediately." The old man spoke in a steady voice, "And tell the eldest prince to come to the palace to see the emperor. Go quickly."

"As you command, I will go now..."

The eunuch seemed to have been pardoned and disappeared into the emperor's tent in a trot.

……

Half an hour later.

The third-rank Imperial Supervisor, Tongyou Envoy, came to the outside of Taiji Hall with seven officials under his command, knelt down and shouted, "Long live the emperor. I, Xu Liang, have been ordered to see the emperor."

Inside the palace.

The old man was still sitting in the imperial tent, his figure looming as he asked, "Can you find out the whereabouts of Master Guanfeng?"

The Imperial Supervision Department is a secret service agency, and its functions are the same as those of the Heavenly Supervision Department in Daqian. However, compared with the status of the Heavenly Supervision Department in Daqian, the Imperial Supervision Department in Southern Xinjiang, although also used, does not have such great power.

The leaders of southern Xinjiang are annoyed by these Eagle Claw spies, but they have to use such departments, so they impose many restrictions on them both overtly and covertly.

The head of the Imperial Supervisory Office is a second-rank official, and the Tongyou Envoy is the chief official of the Tongyou Office under his command. His duties are to be responsible for the military intelligence of the entire southern border and the country, and he also has the responsibility to monitor abnormal events.

"Since the end of the secret realm of Mount Bulao, Guanfeng has disappeared. I sent out nearly a thousand minor officials who were familiar with the secret places to investigate, and found six or seven of his previous hiding places, but we still can't find any trace of him." Xu Liang lay on the ground and replied in a trembling voice.

"Where is Han Chan? Where in southern Xinjiang did she come from? Is she still there? Has she returned to Daqian, or does she have other plans?" the old man asked again.

"Han Chan should have entered Daqian from Minghe County, and his whereabouts were more secretive. I infer that after the incident at Bulao Mountain, he must have run back to Daqian." Xu Liang replied after careful consideration.

After these words were spoken, the entire Tai Chi Hall became silent.

"Since the second son returned to Beijing, you have investigated this case for several days, but all you replied to me were ambiguous words like 'should be' and 'inference'." The old man said indifferently: "A country's envoy to the underworld, deaf and blind, what use do I have for you?"

His words were as calm as water, and his emotions were uneventful, but in the entire Tai Chi Hall, there was not even a sound of breathing.

The maids and eunuchs who were familiar with Emperor Wanwu knew that if the emperor beat you, scolded you, or spoke foul language, then everything would be in vain.

But if he is extremely emotionally stable and talks to you as if he were just chatting about daily life, then your head... will most likely be gone.

"People without ability and talent are more hateful than corrupt officials." The old man said quietly, "Drag them out and chop them off."

As soon as he finished speaking, the guards on both sides of the hall stepped forward immediately.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. Please give me another chance to redeem myself..." Xu Liang shouted loudly.

"Tap!"

At this moment, a tall and strong man with a heroic look walked to the front of the hall from outside.

He is the eldest prince of Southern Xinjiang and a new generation of pillar general.

……

in the palace.

The Third Prince sat on the couch and asked softly, "How many people died in front of Taiji Palace?"

"So far, no one has died."

"Who has seen the Holy Spirit?"

"Your Highness, I heard that there is the eldest prince, as well as the envoy Xu Liang and other officials." The eunuch next to him replied.

The Third Prince blinked his eyes and sighed, "Alas, then Xu Liang must be gone... Hehe, the boss got a bargain for nothing."

He paused and asked again: "Let's make a bet, how many can Father kill?"

The eunuch thought to himself, "Are you crazy? How can I bet on this?"