I become a god in another world

Chapter 570 It’s almost dawn
Chapter
With this reward from the emperor, the Du family’s predicament was solved.

Du Shengming paid off his debts and even had a slight surplus.

Concubine Du's belly was gradually showing, and she had a very close relationship with the emperor. When everything was going in the right direction, something strange happened.

Not long after, Yin Jiang, a descendant of the Guo family, sued Du Shengming for stealing the master's property. During the lawsuit, Du Shengming's health condition deteriorated rapidly, and eventually he lost his life after losing the lawsuit.

"After the Du family got into trouble, Lady Du cried often. She was already more than seven months pregnant at that time." Chen Nuling said timidly, "The emperor wanted to protect her, but the Demon Suppression Division did not allow it."

She remembered something and a look of fear appeared on her face:
"It was Changchuan who took over my shift that day. After I left my post, I was supposed to leave Yong'an Palace, but the emperor was in a bad mood that day. The kitchen sent a stack of cakes, but he couldn't finish them and threw them on the small table in the green gauze cabinet on the left side of Yong'an Palace."

When Chen Nuling talked about this cake, she felt greedy and regretful, tears streaming down her face:

"The stack of cakes may be seven or eight. If the emperor doesn't eat them, they will be shared out by others when they are sent back to the kitchen. It's no big deal if I want to take one."

Therefore, after she finished her work, she did not leave, but found a way to hide in the corner of the green gauze cabinet, intending to put one in her arms when no one was paying attention.

This time she hid inside and heard some things.

"It happened that Lord Zhang came into the palace that day and asked the emperor to execute Lady Du."

She said.

Xie Jingsheng was puzzled when he heard this:
"The Demon Suppression Department has nothing to do with the imperial court. They each have their own duties—"

In the later period, the authority of the ghost riders surpassed that of the monarch, and the power of the emperor was greatly reduced. To the Demon Suppression Bureau, he was just like a mascot.

"He is a general of the Demon Suppression Division and the one who actually holds power. Why would he care about the affairs of the emperor's harem?"

After saying this, Xie Jingsheng suddenly remembered the evil spirit ability that Zhang Yunzhong had controlled that Chen Nuling mentioned:
"Could it be that he has glimpsed a bad future?"

Chen Nuling said in fear:

"I don't know. When I heard that, I was so scared that I almost lost my mind."

Zhang Yunzhong asked the emperor to execute Concubine Du at that time. The emperor cried and wailed, and begged Zhang Yunzhong to show mercy and spare Concubine Du's life.

"The Emperor said that Lady Du is already seven months pregnant—"

She recalled the scene at that time and said tremblingly:

"And the imperial physician said that Lady Du's belly is as big as a basket, and she might be pregnant with twins."

The emperor disregarded his dignity as an emperor and knelt down to beg Zhang Yunzhong to spare Concubine Du for the sake of God's mercy.

But Zhang Yunzhong rejected him.

"Master Zhang said, 'He predicted what would happen next. Lady Du will be the one to destroy the country.'..."

After saying this, Chen Nuling stopped talking in panic.

Zhao Fusheng couldn't help but sneer.

"What kind of state destruction?"

Chen Nuling shrank her shoulders in fear, lowered her chin, and her eyes flickered:
"me--"

"Just repeat what Zhang Yunzhong said." Zhao Fusheng sighed:

"Miss Du is already dead, and she won't punish you anymore."

Chen Nuling said meekly:

"Yes."

After answering, she continued:
"Zhang Da said——"

Chen Nuling cleared her throat:

"'The Han Dynasty is about to end, and the Du family will become the source of the disaster that ends the Han Dynasty.'"

The ghosts he controlled could predict the future and saw the harm that would befall the Du family if they turned into ghosts.

"He said that Concubine Du is pregnant with a ghost fetus, and that Concubine Du herself will become a disaster that will harm the Han Dynasty. Concubine Du needs to be executed as soon as possible to nip the ghost disaster in the bud."

"..."

Zhao Fusheng hesitated to speak.

She and Xie Jingsheng looked at each other, and both could see the helplessness in each other's eyes.

Zhao Fusheng suddenly felt tired.

If Zhang Yunzhong could control the Qiankun Pen and know what happened before and after, perhaps he did foresee that once Lady Du died and the evil ghost revived, it would be a disaster for the troubled times. From the perspective of a ghost controller, it is natural for him to want to nip the danger in the bud.

But if Concubine Du's ghost would be revived after her death, then execution is also death, and her ghost would be revived eventually. Isn't it artificially creating a ghost when Zhang Yunzhong forced the emperor to kill people?

Could it be that he was confident that he could suppress the evil spirit the moment it revived after Lady Du's death?
"Was Concubine Du executed afterwards?" When Zhao Fusheng asked this question, he had actually guessed the ending.

At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the royal family declined and the Demon Suppression Division became powerful.

In such a situation, the emperor can hardly protect himself, so how can he protect a beauty in the harem?
As soon as she finished asking, Chen Nuling's eyes flickered and she whispered:
"…In the evening, I heard that Lady Du had died suddenly."

"Ugh."

Meng Po sighed.

"The emperor has been depressed since then." Chen Nuling finished speaking, and Shanhong also said:

"After Lady Du died, Granny Xu also stayed in the palace and rarely went out."

As soon as she finished speaking, the palace servant on the lower bunk said:
"I was sued once."

"What did you file the complaint for?" Zhao Fusheng asked.

The palace servant said:
"It seems that she was in the palace mourning for Lady Du, burning paper money and incense for her, and someone reported her, and the emperor was furious."

"It happened half a month ago." Shanhong said.

"Mrs. Xu didn't get along with others in Yongxiang earlier. She must be a person with a weird temper, right?"

Zhao Fusheng suddenly turned the topic to Grandma Xu.

Chen Nuling was stunned when she heard this.

But she was terrified when she mentioned Lady Du's case. Seeing Zhao Fusheng change the subject, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Her expression became much more relaxed, and she replied:
"Yes, Granny Xu is not very sociable. After Lady Du died, she almost never left the palace."

Shanhong Road:
"Not only does he seldom go out, but the palace gates are often closed as well."

Zhao Fusheng asked calmly:

"Have you been there?"

Her question made the three palace maids shake their heads:

"Who dares to go then?"

Chen Nuling said:

"Mr. Zhang said that Lady Du will turn into a ghost after she dies. We are all afraid of this and we all think it is unlucky. We usually don't dare to go there."

When Concubine Du was alive, the palace where she lived was the most lively place in Zhongdu City.

She was kind and treated others well, so many palace maids and eunuchs were happy to visit her to seek good luck - if they met Concubine Du when she was in a good mood, they would definitely give her some rewards.

But after her death, everyone thought she was unlucky, and the palace where she once lived gradually became deserted.

"If that's the case, Granny Xu has a strange temper and doesn't interact with people, and the palace is closed, how did others know that she was offering sacrifices to Lady Du?" Zhao Fusheng asked:

"Did she ask someone to buy incense, candles, and paper money for her?"

"No, no." Shanhong denied repeatedly:
"The reason why Granny Xu's memorial service for Lady Du became known to everyone was because a fire broke out in the Changqiu Palace where she was that night!"

When he heard the word "fire", Zhao Fusheng's expression brightened.

The Western Han Dynasty ended with "fire".

Those who were talking to the crowd at this time had long been annihilated in the torrent of time and were trapped in the tenth level of hell. They did not know that they would die in the fire catastrophe and were still trapped in the fragments of their memories before their death.

"There's a fire in Changqiu Palace?" Zhao Fusheng pretended not to know:

"I have never heard of this."

Chen Nuling turned her head and looked at Shanhong and the other two, hesitating and saying nothing.

"What's going on?" Zhao Fusheng asked, pretending not to notice the exchange of glances between the palace servants.

Chen Nuling said:
"Actually, this matter is hard to say—"

"Why is it difficult to say?" Chen Duozi asked curiously.

Shanhong had a quick temper and was quick-witted. She had been scolded by Chen Miaolian several times but still did not learn her lesson. She hurriedly said:

"Because some people say that the fire was actually set by the emperor."

As soon as she finished speaking, she realized that she had said too much, and immediately bit her lower lip, her face full of regret:

"Look at my mouth, I can never control it." After saying that, he couldn't help but slap himself twice.

"Why would the emperor set fire to the palace?" Zhao Fusheng's eyelids jumped. "Could something have happened that day?"

Up to now, the three of them have said most of what should and should not be said.

Chen Nuling simply stopped hiding her teasing:

"A few days ago, Lord Zhang came to the palace. It seems that there is a problem with Lord Du's case."

She said:
"Yuxiang was in office that day, and she was also there when Lord Zhang met the emperor. She heard Lord Zhang say that Lord Du seemed to have died with his eyes open and turned into a ghost—"

Yuxiang is timid.

She knew that the emperor had been depressed for a long time because of Concubine Du's matter, and although the emperor was restricted in every way by the Demon Suppression Bureau, he could still easily decide the life and death of the palace maids and eunuchs.

The emperor was furious over the death of Concubine Du. If the palace maids or eunuchs accidentally bumped into the blade, they might lose their lives.

When Yuxiang heard that Lord Zhang had come for the Du family's case, she was so frightened that she was scared to death. She was afraid just by hearing the name "Du Shengming", so she bravely retreated away from the inner room.

"That night, a fire broke out in Changqiu Palace. Some people said that the emperor was angry and saddened by what happened to Lady Du, so he went to Changqiu Palace to pay tribute to Lady Du."

All in all, no one knows the truth of the matter.

"Then strange things started happening." Chen Nuling said.

After talking for a long time, we finally got to the point.

Zhao Fusheng asked:
"What's weird?"

"After the fire in Changqiu Palace, we didn't dare go out at dawn." said the palace servant who was sleeping in the lower bunk of Shanhong.

Liu Yizhen was surprised:
"Why?"

Shanhong lowered her voice:
"The palace is haunted!"

"Haunted?" Liu Yizhen's eyes met Zhao Fusheng's, and he deliberately asked:
"Where is the ghost?"

"Didn't you hear any knocking sounds after you entered the palace?" Shanhong asked.

"I heard it." Zhao Fusheng said:
"The sound lasted for quite a while, and soon after we heard someone screaming, as if there was a fire somewhere, but we didn't see any ghosts along the way."

Chen Nuling shuddered:

"That's it!" She clenched one hand into a fist, opened the other, and pounded her palm heavily with her fist:
"Since the fire in Changqiu Palace, strange things like this have happened in the palace. First, there is a strange knocking sound, and after the sound, the ghost will be released to kill people. After killing six people in a row, the ghost will go back."

The three women were very scared when they talked about the ghost disaster in the palace:
"Ghosts kill people during the day, and only calm down at night."

"In other words, you don't dare to go out during the day and can only go out at night?"

Zhao Fusheng's words made Chen Nuling nod:

"After tonight, perhaps it is because of the blessing of the Han Dynasty that nothing strange will happen when we go out to serve the emperor."

Shanhong disagrees:
"I feel like the ghost might be following the emperor—"

Meng Po asked curiously:

"What did you say?"

Shanhong speaks quickly:

"Because those who died before were all close friends who had served on duty at Yong'an Palace."

When she finished speaking, fear flashed in her eyes:
"Some people say that Lady Du died unjustly, and her evil spirit has revived and is coming to seek revenge on the people in the palace."

Chen Nuling was both afraid and helpless, so she called out to her:
"Don't talk nonsense. You can't control your mouth. Sooner or later, you will get into trouble."

Zhao Fusheng glanced at her.

Chen Nuling said with a guilty conscience:
"Sir, I don't mean to go against your wishes, but the rumors in this palace are so real and so fake, who can tell?"

Zhao Fusheng said:

"There is no smoke without fire. Since the rumor is that Lady Du's evil spirit has revived, then everyone can't just say this without any evidence. There must be a reason, right?"

Chen Nuling hesitated for a moment before saying:

"I think the reason why people in the palace have such rumors is probably related to Changqiu Palace—"

"Eternal Autumn Palace? Is it the palace where Du Meiren lived before his death?"

After Zhao Fusheng asked, Chen Nuling nodded:
"I actually think that it's not that Miss Du turned into a ghost—" Her face showed a bit of pity:

"Du Meiren was such a good person when she was alive, how could she become a ghost? It's just that someone spread rumors, but it was Granny Xu who was beside her--"

She frowned, with doubt and fear in her eyes:

"I don't think Granny Xu looks like a living person."

Zhao Fusheng was moved when he heard this:
"Have you ever dealt with her?"

Chen Nuling hurriedly shook her head:

"How dare I."

After she finished speaking, she calmed down:
"Your Excellency, you may not know that I am not talking nonsense when I say this."

Chen Nuling was the oldest among the palace maids, and her speech and behavior were the most steady, making her seem like the leader of the room.

"That knocking sound came from Granny Xu!" She said this, as if she had made a great decision:
"This palace has been haunted for a long time, causing panic among the people. It would be a good thing if it could be resolved sooner rather than later."

She looked at Zhao Fusheng:

"Sir, before Lord Du died, the Du family actually sent a pair of octagonal bells to the palace." She said in a trembling voice:
"According to the rules, everything that enters the palace must be registered, but this item has not been recorded by the palace. Someone brought it into the palace privately and delivered it to Changqiu Palace."

Chen Nuling had tears in her eyes:
"The octagonal bell is made of wood with a straw rope tied in the middle. When you pull it, the wood will make a sound. Lady Du liked it very much and hung it in her house herself."

She did not mention who brought the item into the palace privately, but from her conversation, it was not difficult for Zhao Fusheng to guess that the person who brought the item was Chen Nuling.

"After Lady Du died, this sound had not appeared for a long time until it was heard again a few days ago."

This thing is in the Changqiu Palace. After Concubine Du died, everyone thought the Changqiu Palace was unlucky, and people in the palace left one after another. They were afraid of attracting the attention of the Demon Suppression Division, and they were also afraid that the Demon Suppression Division's words would come true - if Concubine Du turned into a fierce ghost and returned, everyone would encounter ghosts.

"Only Granny Xu is in Changqiu Palace now. The sound is from the octagonal bell. I can't be mistaken." Chen Nuling said:
"It is said that the Du family made that thing for Lady Du personally after they heard that she was pregnant. There is absolutely no similar one."

The old woman in the lonely palace and the unique octagonal bell - it is natural for Chen Nuling to have such speculation.

"After Lady Du got into trouble, Granny Xu always felt sorry for her and said that those who hurt her would be punished," Chen Nuling said fearfully.

"How dare you say such a thing? Granny Xu may have long been determined to die for her master. If she died in Changqiu Palace, it is very likely that her evil spirit would revive and then use the octagonal bell to harm people."

After she said this, she suddenly looked towards the door, her face becoming a little horrified:

"It seems that daybreak is coming soon——"