The Eight Winds of Rebirth

The next day, Gu Xiangtan entered Beijing.

Afraid of accidents, the group of people on the road kept a low profile, did not attract much attention, and not many people knew their identities, and did not set up a battle until they entered the city, and the people in the city had already heard that the spirit Buddha was coming, and they waited along the street early .After the sedan chair arrived, everyone passed by all the way, and everyone kowtowed and worshiped. The devotion was even higher than that of the emperor when he went out. Zhao Mian, who was riding on the horse, was surprised and uncomfortable.

And Su Xi and An Yin were also a little frightened by this battle, they only knew that their young master had a noble background, but they didn't know that he could be worshiped so much by thousands of people.

Looking at Gu Xiangtan again, he was sitting in the sedan chair as motionless as a mountain while letting the mountains and tsunami outside him walk on his elbows and knees.

But in fact, Gu Xiangtan is naturally not as calm as he appears on the surface. He lived a life of self-respect for more than a month, and returned to this sad place after going around. Nothing has happened yet, and everything can be redeemed. His heart is full of sighs It is difficult for outsiders to describe the turbulence and turmoil. Just hold the Buddha string in your sleeve tightly and recite the Heart Sutra silently over and over again, so as not to lose your composure.

After walking for another half an hour, I gradually left the restless voice of the crowd behind and entered the imperial city.Gu Xiangtan heard the shrill voice of the little eunuch singing "Nah" at every palace gate along the way, and the Buddhist beads in his hand turned faster and faster, until he reached the outside of the Qiankun Palace, and the sedan chair finally stopped.

An old and rough voice sounded.

"—Please get off the palanquin!"

Gu Xiangtan opened his half-closed eyes, and a strange light flashed under his eyelashes. He felt the warm temperature of the purple jade Buddha string, and slowly put it back on his wrist.

The car curtain was lifted, Gu Xiangtan suppressed his expression, and stepped out in one step.

Outside the sedan chair, the autumn wind was hunting, and the green birds and skins were flying. Not far away, in front of the magnificent palace, Emperor Zongzheng and his courtiers and royal family were waiting with their hands behind their backs.

Gu Xiangtan paused, and slowly walked towards him.

He was dressed in plain clothes, his figure was slim and thin, and the hem of his clothes swayed slightly in the wind. At first glance, he already had a demeanor of Chu Chu Su su.

Gu Xiangtan didn't need to bow down, so he just made a long bow to Emperor Zongzheng with palms together, and said softly, "Gu Xiangtan has seen the emperor."

Zhao You looked at Gu Xiangtan carefully, nodded and smiled, "I haven't seen you in a few years, the young man is very reserved now, and Fu Xiang is really good at teaching."

What he said was actually a bit wrong. Although Gu Xiangtan did not become a monk, his status has long since changed, but Zhao You still treated him like an old acquaintance, and even praised him as a junior, pretending to be close to him The intention is to overwhelm him, but it's just to bully him when he is young.

Guan Zheng frowned slightly, but he was not good at talking, but Gu Xiangtan didn't mind, he still said indifferently, "The emperor's absurd praise, the master is now wholeheartedly seeking Buddha, and has long since abandoned the name of the world, Xiangtan will also fulfill his wish , live up to the trust."

In one sentence, I called back the emperor's "Fu Xiang" just now, and told him that Fu Yalian had resigned from office and was no longer your subject. Yes, I am of one mind with him, I will be what he wants me to be.

Emperor Zongzheng was stunned, and then smiled, "Okay, Lingfo must be tired due to the bumpy journey, so let's rest for a while, and prepare a vegetarian meal at Ziwei Palace to cleanse the dust for Lingfo."

Gu Xiangtan came to attend the funeral, not to be a guest in Beijing, but the emperor invited him, so he had no choice but to agree, and Zen Master Guanzheng was right, the best policy is to go smoothly for now.

Gu Xiangtan exchanged a few more words with the emperor, and heard that he praised the crown prince Zhao Mian in front of the officials, saying that it was not easy for him to live up to the entrustment this time, and to keep the Buddha in good health through the trek all the way. Able to take on the important role, and listened to the echoes of the officials, after Zhao You finished the play, Gu Xiangtan was taken to the residence by the eunuch.

Before leaving, he glanced at the crowd on both sides, his eyes passed over a pair of father and son on the right side of Emperor Zongzheng, who kept their brows in peace, and calmly took them back...

……

Gu Xiangtan was placed in the Sumeru Hall not far from Ziwei Palace. It was the permanent residence of the spiritual Buddhas of the past dynasties when they entered the palace. He also lived here temporarily in the previous life, while Guanzheng lived in the side courtyard.

After taking a bath and changing clothes, Gu Xiangtan listened to the little eunuch talking to Su Xi and An Yin courteously about who the empress personally picked and sent to serve the Lingfo. Let's deal with it.

After the eunuch finally finished talking, Gu Xiangtan walked out of the courtyard with his long hair loose.

Seeing this, Su Xi hurriedly yelled for fear that he would catch a cold, but Gu Xiangtan shook his head and ignored him, he just looked carefully at the new servants in the courtyard, scrutinizing them all the way, until he reached the gate of the courtyard, he saw one of them. Familiar figure.

Gu Xiangtan paused, turned around and asked the attendant who had been following him all the time, "What's your name?"

The little eunuch hurriedly said, "This servant is called Xiaoluzi."

Gu Xiangtan nodded, and asked one by one, six or seven people in a row, and finally reached the door.

The two guards guarding the door said one by one, "I belong to Lianfeng."

"What about you?" Gu Xiangtan asked the last one.

That man was only fifteen or six years old, and he was already tall and slender. He paused and said, "I'm subordinate Yanfang."

Gu Xiangtan looked at Yanfang and asked, "Where did you work before?"

Yan Fang said, "Chengfeng Palace."

Chengfeng Palace is the East Palace, where Prince Zhao Mian lives.

Emperor Zongzheng transferred the prince's people to him, and his intentions are quite clear.

It's just that Gu Xiangtan didn't expect that Yuan Qing had sent people to the East Palace so early, and Yan Fang had been sent to his side by that person since the first day he entered Beijing. However, in the last life, It took Gu Xiangtan a long time to find out.

After asking, Gu Xiangtan went back to his room as if nothing had happened, and let Su Xi brush his hair. Not long after, someone came to invite him to a banquet at Ziwei Palace.

Gu Xiangtan still changed into a set of plain white clothes, the clothes were rather pale and monotonous than simple and elegant, especially when he appeared among a group of palace people in splendid attire, they looked extremely abrupt and strange, out of place.

When Emperor Zongzheng saw him coming in, the smile on his face also paused for a while, but fortunately, he recovered soon, and let the little eunuch lead Gu Xiangtan to sit on his right side, while his left side sat down one by one. Sitting there are several princes, dukes and generals.

The cleansing banquet was quite grand, and because of Gu Xiangtan's special status, the female relatives did not attend, and although the banquet was vegetarian, the water and land were beautifully presented, but it took a lot of thought, and Zhao You thought it made sense , Gu Xiangtan left home since he was a child. Although he was sheltered by Xiangguo Temple, the life of a monk is inevitably bitter and cold. He is also a child who has lived a good life. Woke up.

However, such delicious food was placed in front of Gu Xiangtan, and the emperor held up his chopsticks to invite him, but Gu Xiangtan only touched his lips slightly, and then put it down again.

Qu Guang, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, hurriedly asked carefully, "Is the dish not to Lingfo's liking?"

Gu Xiangtan shook his head, with a sad face, and he was dressed in plain clothes, looking extremely sad.

Seeing this, Emperor Zongzheng naturally put down his chopsticks, and accompanied Gu Xiangtan with a sigh as if he knew what he was thinking.

"Duke Yu has served the country for many years, but now he is at the hands of villains. It is really heartbreaking."

The surrounding ministers all echoed,

Gu Xiangtan said, "Dad taught me to be respectful, obedient, modest and prudent since I was a child, and he himself is usually respectful and humble, and he doesn't know who he offended to end up in such a tragic end!"

Gu Xiangtan said these words with sincerity and tears filled his eyelashes, he just looked at Emperor Zongzheng in front of him without blinking, his voice was choked up like crying blood.

But Emperor Zongzheng slightly turned his eyes away under his gaze, but he still sighed regretfully, with an expression of unspeakable pain.

Not far away, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishments immediately led a group of subordinates to kneel down in the middle, kowtowing and saying, "This subordinate has neglected his duty. This subordinate will arrest the real culprit and bring him to justice as soon as possible, so as to return justice to the Lord."

Emperor Zongzheng asked, "What is the clue to this case now?"

Shang Shu said, "The gang of thieves sneaked into the Duke's mansion in the middle of the night, with vicious and brutal methods, leaving no one behind, the old, the weak, women and children, and no murder weapon or victim was found at the scene, but the subordinates have found someone who witnessed the thieves fleeing that day. We are stepping up cross-examination, and I believe there will be some clues in the near future."

Emperor Zongzheng hurriedly nodded when he heard this, but at this time a young man sitting under his right hand asked, "There is neither a murder weapon nor a living victim, just a few casual words can be used as evidence of a crime, will it be possible?" Would it be too hasty?"

The young man's eyes were bright and his face was like a crown of jade, and when he spoke, he had a taste of wanton flying, and he was stunned by the Minister of the Ministry of punishment, and said after a while, "What the seventh son said is true, so I want him to show it Only the criminal evidence will believe their words."

The young man known as the Seventh Prince frowned, "That's what I said, but your speed of doing things is too slow, it's been a month, and these witnesses haven't figured out a ugly Yinmao yet, How long do you expect them to remember? It’s more hopeful to find another way.”

"Zhao Ze, don't talk nonsense." Emperor Zongzheng interrupted him with some displeasure.

Zhao Ze pursed his lips, seemingly unconvinced, and couldn't help but look at Gu Xiangtan, "What does Lingfo think?"

Gu Xiangtan also happened to look at him, and when he looked at Zhao Ze, a lot of coldness and loneliness faded from his eyes, showing a bit of warmth and joy.

A few years later, Zhao Zeqi's grandeur would stand on the jade tree facing the wind, but now, in Gu Xiangtan's eyes, the beautiful features are most like Zhao Yuan.