Jiapingguan Chronicle

"Is he a person with a disability?"

Shen Cha looked at Shen Jiu, then at Jin Miaomiao, Hong Ye and Ying Er. All of them had confused expressions on their faces. Among the people they knew or those they were familiar with and had investigated, no one walked with a limp. They were all relatively normal.

"To answer the general's question, the eunuchs and the maids said that the man covered himself from head to toe with a black cloak. Basically, no one had ever seen his true face. Even the person who was responsible for bringing him to see the Grand Empress Dowager didn't know who he was, because his face under the cloak was still covered with a mask. It's just..."

"what?"

"The accent doesn't sound like that of a Daxia person, nor does it sound like that of the Liao or Jin people. The two gossiping eunuchs and palace maids guessed that she must be from the Western Regions. They said that the Empress Dowager looked well behaved, but the people she interacted with were not good people. She had many supporters not only in the palace, but also outside the palace. This was not something a concubine would do."

"Anything else?" Shen Cha looked at Mian Bai and raised her eyebrows slightly, "Have you seen this person?"

"No." Mian Bai shook his head gently. "When I was recuperating, I rarely left the courtyard where I was recuperating. Even when I returned to the Imperial Music Garden later, I almost never left the palace. The Empress Dowager went there to worship Buddha, not to enjoy herself. How could she bring musicians with her? Although I was favored by the Empress Dowager and became the head of the Imperial Music Garden, I was actually just a toy that the nobles could summon and dismiss at will."

"You can't say that. The Empress Dowager and Concubine Hui didn't look down on you, did they?" Shen Cha waved her hand. "Although you are a musician, you can't look down on yourself. Besides, your family was forced to become a musician because of the Qinglian Sect. One day..."

"Then I will not renounce my status. Thank you, General, for your kindness." Mian Bai gently waved his hand and said, "I am in my current state. I will neither marry nor have children. I will not cause my descendants to become lowly like me. It is better to stay as I am."

"That's true." Jin Miaomiao touched her chin and looked at Mianbai, "You said that the evidence in your hand was given to you by Concubine Hui?"

"Yes, what's the problem?"

"without me."

Before Jin Miaomiao could say anything, Ying Wu directed several shadows to bring in several rosewood boxes.

"Put it here, put it here." He saw the shadows put away several boxes and asked them to leave before he bowed to Shen Cha, "All the red sandalwood boxes are already here."

"Mianbai boss, which one?"

"This!" Mian Bai pointed to the box closest to him without hesitation, put the others aside, and pushed them in front of Ying Wu.

"Don't give it to me, open it yourself!" Ying Wu took two steps back and looked at Mian Bai with a little caution. "I just tried the padlock on it, but it can't be opened. I think only you can open it."

"Yes!"

Mian Bai sighed softly, moved the box closer to himself, looked at the padlock on it, twisted it carefully twice, and heard a "ding" sound. The padlock opened. He opened the lid and found a thick stack of papers inside.

Ying Wu put on his gloves, took the poison repellent bottle handed over by Jin Miaomiao, pinned it on his collar, and then pulled the box over and turned over every page inside. He felt frightened as he read, and his hands holding the paper were trembling. He couldn't help but sigh. It was really not easy for Concubine Hui to live until the death of the Empress Dowager.

"how?"

"Boss, this contains all the records related to the Grand Empress Dowager recorded by Concubine Hui. It is more complete than the daily records! Moreover, it not only contains the Grand Empress Dowager's every move in public, but also includes who she met in private and who had contact with the Grand Empress Dowager. It is all recorded clearly. I just don't know whether these records are true or not. If they are all true..." Ying Wu paused and looked at Shen Cha, "Concubine Hui is really amazing. Her methods are even stronger than our Shadow!"

"Are they all from the palace?"

"Yes!" Ying Wu nodded, "There are also those from Huangshou Temple, but there are no others."

"Huangshou Temple?" Several people asked in unison, "What is written?"

"You guys." Ying Wu looked at them in confusion, not understanding why they suddenly became so excited after hearing about Huangshou Temple. He blinked and said, "What happened to Huangshou Temple? Is it important?"

"It's very important." Jin Miaomiao raised her chin, "Read from the beginning, don't miss a single word."

"Oh, good!" Ying Wu cleared his throat, lowered his head and looked at the pages of records about Huangshou Temple, and said, "It's the first day of the new year again. Yesterday, the Empress Dowager left the palace and went to Huangshou Temple. She was accompanied by two eunuchs and ten guards. The people I arranged were also among them. Fortunately, fortunately." He paused, and continued to read, "Today is the fourth day of the new year. The Empress Dowager returned to the palace. According to the news from the guards I arranged, she met the masked man again. The masked man's legs and feet seemed to be inconvenient. When he went to Huangshou Temple, he was carried to the door by a sedan chair, and then he limped into the gate of Huangshou Temple on crutches with the introduction of the eunuchs beside the Empress Dowager. It's hard for this masked man. Every meeting is so difficult. Fortunately, each meeting has to be separated by more than half a year, otherwise, it would be too tiring."

"Empress Hui is quite interesting." Jin Miaomiao touched her chin, "Any other descriptions of this masked man?"

"No more," Ying Wu shook his head gently, "I don't know if there is any behind, I haven't seen it yet. So..." He looked at Mian Bai, "Who is this masked man?"

"I don't know!" Mian Bai shook his head gently, "We were just talking about this person, but it seems like we have never seen his true face."

"Really?" Ying Wuyi raised an eyebrow, lowered his head and continued to read, "She was in a bad mood after returning from Huangshou Temple. I heard from the little palace maid that she was heard throwing things around in the small Buddhist temple in the bedroom. Isn't this disrespectful to the Buddha? Even if she went to Huangshou Temple sincerely and wanted to pray for blessings, this time of throwing things around would probably completely offend the Buddha."

"Concubine Hui is really... When others see this, they think she is recording her daily life!" Hongye shook her head helplessly, "What else?"

"These are just tricks. The important thing is below." Ying Wu's expression suddenly became serious. "Empress Hui found out the identity of the masked man."

"Oh? Who is it?"

"The Junior Official of the Honglu Temple, the Tibetan noble Dawa." (End of this chapter)