Neverland

Xu Muzhou originally thought that this place should be a mourning hall for Song Xueyao, or a part of court etiquette, but when he walked in, he realized that the layout here seemed too crude.

It is inconvenient for outside men to enter the back palace. Xu Muzhou was worried about bumping into some court ladies and concubines, so he dragged Yan Cen through the side door, but only after he came in did he realize that the voice he heard just now was not from the main hall .

The main hall was empty, and only two statues were enshrined. Apart from the fact that the incense on the altar had just been put on, there was no sign of anyone else here.

An engineering student like Xu Muzhou doesn't know much about the stories of ghosts and ghosts. They didn't write a sign, so he couldn't tell which fairy was being told.So he had no choice but to stand at the door and bow politely, and then walked a few steps, following Yan Cen's footsteps.

Yan Cen didn't seem to believe in these ghosts, he didn't even look at the altar in front of him, and went directly to the back hall following the source of the sound.

Xu Muzhou followed behind him, looking at the palace while walking.When he was still in college, he went to the Forbidden City twice with the discount of his student ID card. Although most of the collections in it were just a quick glance at the flowers, he had a good understanding of the layout and road conditions of the Forbidden City due to his architectural sensitivity. familiar.

According to his impression, this palace city is not like the Forbidden City.

The teacher of their architectural design back then was a typical ancient architecture lover in private, and there were two classes specially transferred to talk about the architectural types and characteristics of each palace city.Xu Muzhou made the calculations in his mind, and drew a small plan road map in his mind based on the scene of walking all the way just now, and felt that the architectural style of this building was closer to Daming Palace.

Xu Muzhou drew a check mark in his heart, enclosing the dynasties in a certain time frame.

According to Yan Cen's previous statement, although Neverland has jumped repeatedly in different eras, there is only one timeline in the world.It's like the ancient times can only go to the modern times, and the modern times where Xu Muzhou lives can reach Qin Wei's world in about six hundred years.

Then the current dynasty should also be on this timeline, but it has not been recorded in the history books.

——That's why Xu Muzhou couldn't figure out why it wasn't included in the history books.

Xu Muzhou has learned history by rote for more than ten years, and when he encounters a knowledge blind spot, he immediately feels very upset.

As he thought about it, Yan Cen had already stepped out of the main hall through the back door, and went straight to the side hall.

The farther you go to the side hall, the heavier the sacrificial smell is. The inferior candle wax oil is mixed with the smell of burning yellow paper. The choking black smoke radiates from the copper basin at the door of the side hall. The girl was kneeling by the basin, crying and filling the basin with yellow paper.

Yan Cen's eyes fell on one of the little girls, and he paused for a moment—the other girl was wearing a special-shaped robe, with a pair of short boots made of animal skin on her feet, and a small silver jug ​​hanging on her waist. It doesn't look like a native of this dynasty.

The little girl looked young and thin, and she didn't raise her head when she heard footsteps, she was only busy with her own affairs, and occasionally uttered some difficult non-official words in her mouth.After listening to a few words, Yan Cen felt like the words spoken on the northern grasslands.

*** was originally difficult to understand, and the little girl was crying out of breath and sobbing, Yan Cen listened to a few words, but only understood one sentence "Saqier".

There is a coffin parked in the side hall, the lid of which is about to close.

There is a long table in the room, on which are tribute joss sticks, and people in plain clothes lined up on both sides, singing incomprehensible scriptures.

Just looking at the style, it also looks like a mourning hall.

The side hall was narrow, and it was even more cramped after the coffin was placed. Xu Muzhou saw that Yan Cen had already stepped into the room to check, so he stopped following in and squeezed. Instead, he turned around and rushed to the two people who were burning yellow paper The girl went.

The soldiers of the Pingjian Camp can bring swords into the palace, and they are much more heroic than the guards guarding the palace.The two girls were still young, and they had probably never seen any outsider. When they saw Xu Muzhou approaching, they shrank back in fright.

"Pingjianying to investigate the case." Xu Muzhou half-kneeled in front of them, took off the badge on his waist and held it up in front of the two girls, asking, "Who is this parked in the room?"

The girl in foreign costume looked at him timidly, not understanding what he was saying.

But another girl added a piece of yellow paper to the basin and said in a low voice, "It's our Concubine Shu."

Xu Muzhou was taken aback for a moment, then turned his head to look at the scene in the room.

——I don't read much about Zhen Huan's biography, you don't want to be an ass, Xu Muzhou thought.

Even if he couldn't figure out those weird title levels, he knew that a title like Concubine Shu was not a small fish or shrimp.The specifications of the mourning hall in the side hall, not to mention the row of noodles, is not an exaggeration to say that it is shabby, how could it belong to the concubine.

Xu Muzhou glanced at the silent foreign girl again, and asked, "Ms. Concubine Shu?"

Xu Muzhou knew too little about the affairs of the palace. In order to avoid omissions, he didn't dare to ask directly. He could only use this method to guide the other party to see if he could get more information.

"Yes... yes." The girl in palace costume said reassuringly.

The servants in the palace are different from other ordinary people. They are used to obeying orders. In this environment where life and death are controlled by others, they probably can say as little as possible, and it is difficult to come up with something.

Xu Muzhou thought about this, and felt a little regretful.

When he asked the question, Yan Cen had already stepped out of the side hall.He glanced at the girls and the two girls, winked at Xu Muzhou indiscriminately, and walked out first.

Xu Muzhou followed his footsteps knowingly and walked out, Yan Cen didn't speak until he was out of the main hall gate.

"It's a woman from a foreign race. Judging by her clothes and accent, she looks like someone from the northern grassland." Yan Cen paused, and then said, "It seems that the two countries came here for peace."

"Come here with your relatives?" Xu Muzhou was startled: "If you don't send her to be buried, it would be shabby to put it in such a side hall."

"One is that the temperature is still low now, and the other is that for a woman like her who came here for marriage, her mother's family has an awkward relationship with the royal family, and no one cares about her dignity after death, so she will stop like this and wait until it is convenient for her to be buried." Yan Cen said: "Besides, according to the specifications, Wei Wenxuan doesn't seem to plan to give her a big deal..."

"You seem to be too conservative." Xu Muzhou said sincerely.

Yan Cen: "..."

"I was wondering if Song Xueyao's death was strange, and there was an unpopular Concubine Shu popping up out of nowhere, would it be related." Xu Muzhou said, "But it doesn't look like it now."

Yan Cen looked at him sideways: "Huh?"

"No matter how far this world is not within the scope of my knowledge, it is also on the timeline, and it is not far behind." Xu Muzhou said: "For 5000 years in our country, except for some mistakes in modern times, there has been It is a huge country, and most of the surrounding small countries are subordinate countries. If it was really this "Concubine Shu" from the grassland who killed Song Xueyao, then Wei Wenxuan would not have swallowed his anger so much that he would only do it at the funeral Detain the murderer."

"Hmm." Xu Muzhou pondered for a moment, thought for a while, and then continued: "You said earlier that the relationship between Wei Wenxuan and Song Xueyao is not as good as imagined. That is to say, at least half of his infatuation is pretending It came out... you said, just half of this is enough for him to make the sacrifice of 'never be a successor', does it mean that Song Xueyao's natal family is more important than the support of the new mother's family that may appear later."

Yan Cen has always liked Xu Muzhou's rational and calm appearance when he was doing serious tasks. Seeing no one around, he no longer guarded the boundaries of rank, and slowed down slightly, walking side by side with Xu Muzhou, with soft eyes looking at him.

"So if Song Xueyao's death is related to this unfavored Concubine Shu, even if Wei Wenxuan doesn't make a big show of it, he will deal with her secretly, and then turn around and sell it to Song Xueyao's natal family. Not only does it reflect his infatuation It can also show his attitude and win people's hearts. Such a good opportunity, Wei Wenxuan should not miss it." Xu Muzhou sighed, and concluded: "So it can be seen that there will be no clues in the sky. .”

"There are too many women who died in vain in the palace, not to mention foreign women who have nothing to rely on." Yan Cen said: "You can take this as a suspicious clue for the time being, but if there are no more in-depth auxiliary clues to prove that Song Xueyao and Concubine Shu If there is a relationship, then there is no need to care about this matter.”

Xu Muzhou bit his lip, thought about the matter in his heart, and couldn't help admitting with regret that Yan Cen was right.

There is no evidence of isolation, Xu Muzhou thought, although the death of the front and rear feet seems to be a bit of a coincidence, it does not prove that there is a connection.

This matter soon became an episode, Xu Muzhou was not obsessed with it.

The Changqiu Palace where Song Xueyao lives is in the center of the harem, and it is in a straight line with the main hall. Xu Muzhou and Yan Cen walked for more than 40 minutes before arriving at this palace.

The inside and outside of Changqiu Palace are covered with white banners and white cloths, and the ever-burning lanterns are lit all the way from the gate of the palace to the gate of the main hall. Every ten steps, a little maid dressed in filial piety kneels to watch over the candles.

It was the first time for Xu Muzhou to experience the extravagance of the royal family, and he couldn't help but click his tongue secretly.

He and Yan Cen could hear the cries in the main hall from a long distance away, this scene was much better than the small side hall that we saw just now.

Xu Muzhou was still thinking, this is the harem after all, he and Yan Cen came here rashly, bumping into a group of women who are the leader of Song Xueyao is always bad, but who knows that this cheap emperor is quite thoughtful , has sent a close eunuch to wait for them in advance.

"Master Yan." The young eunuch smiled and walked beside Yan Cen, without looking at Xu Muzhou who was behind Yan Cen, and said softly: "The main hall has ladies and princes and princesses guarding the spirit. It is inconvenient to go there for the time being, so we must take our time."

Yan Cen's pace slowed down.

"Recently there have been rumors that the theory of ghosts and gods in the palace is prevalent, and that there are always changes in front of the empress's spirit every two o'clock in the Haizi." The little eunuch smiled politely: "Of course there is His Majesty's dragon spirit sitting in the palace, naturally A hundred poisons do not invade. But people's words are terrible, and your majesty does not want thieves to make trouble in front of your mother's soul, so I have to trouble Lord Yan to worry a lot."

Xu Muzhou: "..."

He understood, Xu Muzhou thought.The co-author was that the cheap emperor heard that there were ghosts in the palace, and was afraid that Song Xueyao's death would be taboo, but he was embarrassed and couldn't say that he was afraid of ghosts, so he arrested Yan Cen, an "emperor's confidant", to help him solve his problems.

——I knew it, Xu Muzhou gritted his teeth.