Aoyama

Haishi.

A hundred paces away from Dongjiang Rice Lane, Jinzhu sat in a noodle shop, slowly peeling garlic, complaining: "When I was still a pigeon, I was assigned to spy on the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. When I was a gyrfalcon, I was assigned to spy on Grand Secretary Hu. I finally made it into the zodiac, why am I still being assigned to spy on people?"

Pegasus, sitting across the table, was also slowly peeling garlic, ignoring Jinzhu's complaints.

Jin Zhu tossed the peeled garlic onto the table, glanced at Dongjiang Rice Lane, and saw Xuan She standing under the eaves of the Huitong Hall, resting with her eyes closed. He felt a little better.

But he continued to complain: "With the country in mourning, what noodle shop is still open at 9 PM? If someone really tried to assassinate the Annamese envoy, the assassin isn't stupid... As the three of you, you must know how the Empress passed away. Tell me."

Pegasus still ignored him.

Undeterred, Jin Zhu leaned forward and lowered his voice: "Has the commander of the Jiefan Guard been chosen yet? With Lin Chaoqing, a spy, under Wu Xiu's command, His Majesty may not allow him to continue in charge of the Jiefan Guard. If the Jiefan Guard returns to the hands of the Grand Chancellor, the choice of commander will be crucial. You should talk to the Grand Chancellor; that lad Xifeng is quite good. He'll definitely be obedient after becoming the commander of the Jiefan Guard."

Pegasus still ignored him.

At this moment, the waiter in the noodle shop brought two steaming bowls of stir-fried noodles to the table.

Jin Zhu picked up a piece with his chopsticks, but as soon as he took a bite, he called over the waiter: "Come here, come here, come here!"

The waiter approached with a puzzled look: "What's wrong, sir?"

Jin Zhu slapped him on the back of the head: "What kind of customer is this? This is your stir-fried noodles? It smells like rust and fish, the oil wasn't hot enough, it's all raw oil. The ginger and scallions were added too early and they're all burnt. The minced meat is chopped like dumpling filling, it all sticks together when it hits the pot, and it has no chewiness at all."

The spy, disguised as a noodle shop waiter, whispered, "My lord, we've never cooked before... This subordinate sees Lord Pegasus enjoying his meal quite a bit."

The golden pig turned its head and was surprised to see that the celestial horse had already finished a bowl.

He pushed his stir-fried noodles in front of Tianma, then slammed his chopsticks on the table: "Go and redo it. If you can't make a single edible bowl tonight, none of you will get any sleep."

However, at that moment, the golden pig slammed its hand on the table, causing the table to shatter under the weight, and the entire table collapsed, scattering bowls and chopsticks all over the floor.

He suddenly looked up and saw Pegasus across from him, holding chopsticks and staring at him expressionlessly.

The spy fell silent, trembling with fear: "My lord, I will make you another bowl right away."

After the spy carefully left, the golden pig was still filled with doubt and unease.

Tianma glanced at him, threw his chopsticks on the ground, and asked in sign language, "Ascend to the highest heavens?"

After hesitating for a long time, the golden pig used sign language to ask the heavenly horse, "Have you ever seen any official who could ascend two floors in an instant?"

Tianma didn't care and replied in sign language, "Like a swarm of carp crossing a river."

The golden pig's expression was complicated: "What about the Triple Tower?"

Tianma pondered for a moment: "I'll count as one, the astrologer from Huangshan will count as one, Xu Shu, the deputy director of the Imperial Observatory, will count as one, Chan Zhao from Kujue Temple will count as one, and Hu Junxian, the general of Guyuan, will count as one..."

Before he could finish gesturing, Jin Zhu's expression changed again: "Where's the Four-Story Tower?"

Tianma pondered for a moment: "Lu Yang, the headmaster of the Martial Temple, is one, and Hu Junyan, the young supervisor of the Imperial Observatory, is another."

The next moment, the golden pig asked bitterly, "Where is the Five-Story Tower?"

This time, even Tianma was stunned, and asked in sign language, "The Seeking Dao Realm?"

The golden pig shook its head: "No, it's still one half-step away."

Tianma seemed to be deep in thought.

"Oh no, that kid's up to no good," Jin Zhu suddenly stood up and walked out. He strode around the meeting hall, both wanting to find Chen Ji and afraid of finding him.

Back in front of the noodle shop, Tenma gestured through the window, "What happened?"

Jin Zhu anxiously responded using sign language: "The first time this kid climbed the tower, he climbed three levels in one go, and then killed more than a hundred Tian Ce soldiers at the Dragon Gate Inn; the second time this kid climbed the tower, he climbed four levels in one go, and then chased Liao Zhong all the way, killing Liao Zhong in Changping; today is the third time, and he climbed five levels in one go. Who knows what kind of trouble he'll cause? Now that the court is arranging for Princess Bai Li to marry the Prince of Annam, I'm afraid he'll have to burn his bridges..."

Tianma raised an eyebrow and asked in sign language, "The Innate Realm is only at the eighth level, how could he have reached the twelfth level?"

Jin Zhu stood there stunned, muttering, "Damn, it really is... How could he climb the twelve-story tower? Never mind, I'll go take another stroll, just in case he really comes to kill the Prince of Annam."

When he returned after circling around again, he saw Chen Ji sitting in the noodle shop, eating the stir-fried noodles that the waiter had made again.

The golden pig walked into the noodle shop hesitantly: "What are you doing here?"

He sat down opposite Chen Ji and said in a low voice, "Kid, there are at least fifty or sixty spies outside the Huitongguan. If you go to assassinate the Prince of Annam now, you're just asking for death. Take my advice and go back."

Chen Ji finished his stir-fried noodles in a few bites, put down his chopsticks, and said, "Who said I came here to kill the Prince of Annam?"

Jin Zhu was stunned: "Then what are you doing here..." Before he could finish speaking, the sound of drums and bells came from afar in the Forbidden City. Tianma looked at Jin Zhu, who exclaimed in astonishment: "The bells in the Wuying Hall and the drums in the Five Phoenix Swallow Wing Tower, there's a fire in the palace!"

Chen Ji ignored all of this and took out a folded piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Jin Zhu: "Do me a favor and do what is written on the paper."

Having said that, before Jin Zhu could refuse, he had already gotten up and walked into the night.

……

……

At that very moment, on the palace road outside the Cining Palace, maids ran about shouting, "Fire! Quickly summon the eunuchs from the fire-fighting station!"

As someone helped the Empress Dowager walk out, a group of young eunuchs rushed towards them. Some of them carried buckets and drew water from two enormous bronze "peace water vats" placed in front of the palace gate, then carried them into the Cining Palace.

Another group of people arrived carrying six cannon-like pumps, which used pistons to draw water from the Taiping water tank and then used pistons to spray the water into the fire.

As the Empress Dowager passed by the eunuch, she said urgently, "Quickly remove the Buddha statues, relics, and teeth from inside. These must not be burned. If they are burned, you will all be buried with them."

Upon hearing this, the young eunuchs gritted their teeth, poured some water on themselves with wooden buckets, and rushed into the main hall to rescue the Buddhist treasures.

This wasn't the first time the Forbidden City had caught fire. The Cining Palace alone had burned down twice, and even the Huangji Hall had been burned down. The palace officials would practice firefighting on the first and fifteenth of each month, so they weren't in a complete panic.

Several guards approached the Empress Dowager, respectfully kowtowed, and then rose to ask the maid, "Your Majesty, may you be well... Where did the fire start?"

The maid hurriedly replied, "It started burning from the platform. It's strange, there are several bronze incense burners there, and no one touched them at night. I don't know how the fire started."

Jie Fanwei and his companion exchanged a glance and remained silent.

Footsteps echoed down the palace road. The guards turned around and saw Wu Xiu leading two guards towards them.

The Empress Dowager asked in a deep voice, "Hu Junyi is already dead. Does he also want to get rid of me? Has he forgotten what was engraved on the Filial Piety and Brotherly Love Stele in front of Renshou Palace? Has he forgotten the ancestral rites and laws of the Zhu family!"

Wu Xiu, calm and composed, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please be patient. A few days ago, the Imperial Observatory submitted a memorial stating that Mars has recently encroached on the western direction of Ziwei Star, indicating a risk of fire in the palace. This is the will of Heaven. Your Majesty, I will immediately dispatch the Jiefan Guard to guard Cining Palace. Once this matter is resolved, I will certainly investigate the cause."

……

……

Inside Yikun Palace, Consort Xue sat alone on the dimly lit floor of the main hall. Moonlight streamed in through the window, reflecting off the gleaming Suzhou imperial kiln lapis lazuli bricks and the tall, colorful brackets.

A single lapis lazuli brick was transported from the imperial kiln in Suzhou; a two-foot-long brick could be exchanged for four hundred catties of grain, and it provided warmth in winter and coolness in summer. The entire Yikun Palace was paved with lapis lazuli bricks, adorned with pearl curtains, and decorated with glass goblets.

Consort Xue looked down at herself on the blue-gold brick, her hair disheveled and her clothes in disarray, no longer the aggressive and radiant woman she had been a few days ago.

She gazed at the blurry shadow on the brick surface, humming intermittently a line from the Southern opera "The Story of the Lute": "What talk of lasting kindness and righteousness, in the end, blood becomes rouge to adorn the curtains, the actors on stage finish their foolish and angry performance and leave, the audience wipes their faces and begins to sing again..."

As he was humming, a commotion faintly came from afar. At first, it was a vague disturbance, then the sound of running footsteps, followed by a dull and rapid thud that penetrated the heavy palace walls and faintly reached in.

It was the sound of drums from the Five Phoenix Terrace and the sound of bells from the Wuying Hall.

Consort Xue suddenly raised her head, her unfocused eyes regaining their expression. She listened intently, and the sound grew clearer and more urgent.

A maidservant cried out, "Fire!"

Consort Xue's chapped lips moved slightly. At first, she was bewildered, but then she leaned on the cold bricks, staggered to her feet, and rushed to the window to look out. The night sky over the Forbidden City was already tinged with a vibrant orange-red.

The Cining Palace and the Yikun Palace are only a dozen or so feet apart.

"Fire! Hahaha, Cining Palace is on fire!" Her laughter echoed in the empty Yikun Palace, and reverberated against the painted beams and pillars.

Suddenly, Consort Xue mustered all her strength and pounded on the heavy window frames with both hands, shouting towards the flames, "Burn! Burn down Renshou Palace and Fengxian Hall! Even Heaven can't stand it anymore and is coming to collect the debts of this deep palace!"

She turned and walked into the dimly lit Yikun Palace, spreading her arms wide: "Burn it all over here, burn it all over Yikun Palace, burn all these gilded cages, glass cups, pearl curtains, everything you gave me and everything you deceived me about!"

However, at that moment, the main hall darkened for a moment, as if something had blocked the moonlight from the window.

Consort Xue turned around alertly and saw a black cat crouching on the window frame, calmly watching her.

She exclaimed in alarm, "The Empress's cat? You've come to avenge her!"

The next moment, the dark cloud raised its claws and slashed through the air, a beam of moonlight-like blade energy splashing across the distance, cutting across Consort Xue's neck, leaving a trail of blood on the lapis lazuli bricks.

Consort Xue fell heavily to the ground. She barely managed to lift her eyes to look at the window lattice, but the black cat that had been perched there was nowhere to be seen. (End of Chapter)