Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 586: Mingyue Old Story
"Two Haojing?"

"Yes." Li Xizhou put his hand on the pavilion railing. "Xu Chuo said that he asked you to learn some poetry and books in the past few months. Have you ever been taught to read the Book of Songs?"

"…Never."

Li Xizhou said in a gentle voice: "Haojing and Haojing overlap, fish and birds accompany each other; if you encounter the beautiful girl in the sky, the longing for each other will never end."

"Please forgive my ignorance, but the connection between what Your Highness said and the present situation is..."

"Two thousand years later, dynasties changed, Haojing sank, and this place was renamed Chang'an." Li Xizhou said, "In the 33rd year of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, a man named Jiang Yan was on a boat and docked at the Chang'an ferry. Because he was poor, he did not go ashore to rest, and slept in the boat for a night. That night, there was a big storm, and the Wei River was turbulent. The next day, the river was covered with yellow leaves. The boatman called him for a long time before waking him up, and they went south."

"Jiang Yan used to be unknown and his career was in tatters, but after returning to the south, he was inspired to write many poems and essays, which were handed down from generation to generation, and his career was smooth." Li Xizhou still looked at the ice pool of Taiye Lake. "More than 30 years later, in his later years, Jiang Yan told others that he entered the spirit world in his dream that night, and the spirit gave him a five-color pen. When his life was about to end, he took a boat back to the bank of the Wei River, and slept alone in the boat all night. After waking up, he told his children and grandchildren: 'I have returned the pen that I borrowed in my dream. I only regret that I could not stay in the wonderland and finally returned to the mortal world.'"

"He inserted what he saw in his dream that night into many of his poems - 'The spiritual realm is lingering, and the beauty is not in vain.' 'The green barrier flows around, and the golden pond is always clear.'" Li Xizhou lowered his head and gently lifted his sleeves. "Another thousand years passed, and it was the Tang Dynasty."

Pei Ye listened quietly.

"In the 27th year of the Imperial Phoenix, Lord Liu received an imperial edict from the sage in Chang'an and went to the capital from Yongzhou. This restoration was very important to him, just like resurrecting a feather from the abyss. However, on the eve of his arrival in Chang'an, he disappeared for two whole nights."

"No one could find him, and no one knew where he went. But two days later, he inexplicably appeared in the post station again."

"He didn't tell anyone where he had been for the past two days, not even his wife and children. He was still not valued when he returned to Beijing this time, and was demoted to Liuzhou instead. After leaving Beijing this time, he frequently set foot in the deep mountains and ancient pools, leaning on a cane to search for secluded and quiet places where few people have been. The places are remote and desolate, and there is no record in historical books and anecdotes about what he was looking for. It was just a way for a frustrated person to relieve his stress." Li Xizhou said in a calm voice, "He only wrote in a poem to himself, 'The spiritual realm is indescribable, and the work of ghosts is hard to find.'"

In this narration, Pei Ye once again felt the coolness of that rainy night when he visited Zihuang, a kind of loneliness that was mysterious and magnificent, and not like that of the human world.

Li Xizhou put his hands in his sleeves and said, "Over the years, Xianrentai has traveled far and wide, studied ancient books, and all he has figured out is this intermittent thread. You can call it a clue or a far-fetched conclusion, but now it has come to us."

Pei Ye raised his head.

"Look," the woman raised her hand and pointed to the other side of Taiye Lake. Although her face was covered by metal, her indifferent voice still seemed to outline her expression. "Do you see that palace?"

Pei Ye looked over and saw that the mist had dissipated. On the other side of the river, a lonely palace stood there, hidden in the shade of trees. Thick snow could be seen from afar. The trees there were taller and crooked than those elsewhere, and their bare branches were messy, as if no one had trimmed them.

It is hard to imagine that there would be such a remote place in the palace.

"The late Queen Wei Qingju was my mother. That was the palace where she lived during her lifetime, called Mingyue Palace."

"..."

"Have you heard anyone else talk about her?" Li Xizhou's voice was a little lighter.

"…Only, I've heard very little about it."

"Then I'll tell you."

Li Xizhou said calmly, tilting his head slightly back: "Come up closer."

Pei Ye was startled for a moment, bowed, went up two steps, and stood behind the prince, with soft red gauze ribbons flying in front of him.

"In fact, I have never really seen her. I have only heard about her from some old friends. Xu Ji said that she was extremely beautiful and gentle, with eyes looking beyond the clouds, and a heart full of secrets that no one could explain. Li Jian said that she was insightful and decisive, quirky, and when she smiled, others would worry whether they had been fooled by her again... More than 20 years ago, when she was the empress, there were no rotten roots or termites in the court, and all the five surnames of the aristocratic families were gnashing their teeth in the dark."

"At that time, she lived in Mingyue Palace, the only palace in the palace with an imperial pond. The emperor dug the 'Jingchi' behind this palace. On every moonlit night, the surface of the pond was like a mirror, with waves and jade flowing, a scene that the empress could enjoy alone."

Yes, this queen ascended the throne together with the current saint. She has real power along the way and should have her own control over the court... Pei Ye suddenly remembered his feelings when he first entered Prime Minister Xu's office. At that time, Xu Chuo told him that Yuan Zhao was promoted by Xu Ji, and he couldn't help but wonder how Xu Ji became the prime minister.

Now it seems that there is an answer. But how could such a queen suddenly die so quickly, leaving behind no trace at all?

"But she only stayed in this position for four years," said Li Xizhou.

"On a spring night in the fourth year of Suolin, Wei Qingju, who had just given birth, encountered an unexpected assassination in the bedroom of Mingyue Palace. The assassin, who came from nowhere, cut her heart with a sword. Afterwards, the assassin fled, which attracted the two yamen guards. In the rainy night in full view of everyone... the blood on the murder weapon ignited into a blazing golden fire." Li Xizhou said, "This was the outbreak of the 'Queen of Kirin Blood' disaster that shook the entire Shenjing and even the Tang Dynasty 23 years ago."

The pavilion was quiet for a moment, with only the morning breeze blowing past.

"That kind of fire is called 'Qilin Fire'. Only the emperor of the Tang Dynasty can inherit this bloodline."

"..."

"The Great Tang has a 600-year history." Li Xizhou looked into the distance, "It is in the true blood of the Qilin. The Qilin blood of the five surnames is not passed down with the bloodline, and it does not increase or decrease. Only the Qilin blood of Emperor Li is integrated with the bloodline, and all his children are Qilin sons. When he ascends the throne, he will be the legitimate heir. In this way, there is only one main Qilin blood in the world, and five auxiliary Qilin bloods, a total of six bloodlines. This is the unshakable cornerstone of the Great Tang, and it is also its hardest bone."

"You say, can it change?"

Of course not.

Pei Ye stood behind this prince. Even though he had only been in Shenjing for three months, he knew that this must be the deepest and most untouchable weak spot in the Tang Dynasty.

You can reform the imperial examination system, revive the old army, recruit the underworld, engage in political struggles, seize power, and you can even really re-evaluate the laws of nature.

But you absolutely cannot... touch my blood.

The change of Tianlun only affects the direction of the Tang Dynasty; the loosening of Linxue changes the person at the helm.

If everyone can have the blood of a unicorn, then what is the uniqueness of the five surnames, and what is the legitimacy of the Li family's throne?
"Yes, so once this great disaster was exposed, it could not be extinguished. The capital was in turmoil, and the Five Clans became extreme in panic. They all rode their sedan chairs to the capital, and the court officials and generals who were close to the Wei clan were brutally purged overnight. Wei Qingju stole the unicorn blood, was treated as the demon queen, and was deposed from the position of queen. One month later, she died in her own Mingyue Palace."

It turns out that the queen did not die in the assassination, Pei Ye thought.

"This is why the case remains unsolved until now," Li Xizhou said. "During the real turmoil of that year, it was too difficult to trace how the assassination was launched that spring night. Or rather, after that, the truth itself has no meaning. It has become an old disaster that no one wants to mention."

Pei Ye remained silent.

"Except for me." Li Xizhou turned his head.

She stood on the two steps, looking down at the young man below the stage: "Even though twenty-three years have passed, I still want to know everything about that spring night. This time I transferred you to the palace for this wish."

She looked at the boy seriously, and Pei Ye indeed understood from her eyes a kind of cold majesty that he had never seen in Xu Chuo. He remembered the etiquette he had learned, bowed his head and clasped his fists:
"I will do whatever it takes."

Li Xizhou raised his hand and handed an old case file in front of him. On the seal was still the old seal of the Immortal Terrace.

"Then I'll leave this to you, Inspector Pei Yan." The woman looked at him, "I think it's just right."

Pei Ye took it and found it was thinner than he had imagined. It was indeed a file from more than 20 years ago. The format was quite different from the current Xianrentai case files. Pei Ye stroked it gently... There was a black mark on the edge of the page, which was blood that had been deposited long ago.

"This is the last case file Yue Muzhou wrote for the Immortal Terrace. After this, he resigned from the position of Hejian and left."

Pei Ye raised his head suddenly.

"The queen was weak at that time, but she never neglected to guard the palace even in the inner city." Li Xizhou said, "On that rainy spring night, the one who sat in front of the steps of Mingyue Palace with a sword in hand was Yue Muzhou."

(End of this chapter)