After picking up the White Cut Black Prince

In Chengxiang Building, diners were sitting at the tables in the hall, drinking and chatting happily. There was a high platform in the hall, and on the platform a storyteller was telling a story with great effort, and many of the diners were listening attentively.

"Speaking of which, our emperor ascended the throne at the age of nine. Since he was young, he was personally taught by the Prime Minister in Wenhua Hall. The other Grand Tutors and Grand Preceptors were even more so. Even the Empress Dowager Cisheng strictly supervised him. If the emperor made a mistake, the Prime Minister and the Empress Dowager would immediately ask the emperor to stop the loss in time and always be on the side. Logically speaking, with the supervision of all the civil and military officials and the Empress Dowager, our young emperor would always grow up to be a good seedling, right? Before the age of twenty, the little emperor did live up to expectations, respected the heavens and ancestors, and respected teachers. But who would have thought that the Prime Minister and the Empress Dowager had been watching him for a full eleven years since the emperor ascended the throne, and he still made a mistake when he was twenty years old."

Emperor Linghui's reputation was so bad that even if a storyteller made up stories about the emperor in a restaurant, no one would care. Because the people were already cursing him, it was not difficult to catch a storyteller, but it was difficult to catch everyone in the world.

In fact, everyone knew all these things, but the storyteller was so good that everyone was still interested even after listening to him again. Everyone gave him face and asked, "What happened next? What happened next?"

The storyteller took a sip of coarse tea, clapped his head, and continued, "Okay, everyone, please listen to me."

"The turning point came in the eleventh year of Linghui. The emperor met a maid by chance in the palace. After just one meeting, the emperor fell in love with this woman at first sight. As everyone knows, there are tens of thousands of maids in the Forbidden City. If the emperor could take a fancy to her, it would be her honor. But it would be easy to say that she was just attracted by her beauty, but no one knows what kind of magic potion this maid gave the emperor, which made the emperor fall deeply in love with her and stay with her until his death. Later, this little maid even ascended to the position of concubine. From then on, our emperor began to go astray. At first, it was okay, but who knew that he became more and more outrageous, indulging in pleasure and beauty. After a few years, he was bewitched by the enchanting concubine and refused to even attend the morning court. What do you think, spectators? How many emperors have shirked their duties by skipping the morning court to avoid being lazy? Look through the history books. There are indeed some."

It really looks like a country that is about to perish.

The storyteller made up stories about Emperor Linghui, but he didn't dare to say such life-threatening words.

In the corner, Wen Chu listened expressionlessly to people talking about Emperor Linghui's romantic affairs. She had even guessed what would be said next.

The storyteller continued, "This evil concubine and our emperor gave birth to a princess named Huaihe. Perhaps because of the evil concubine, the emperor loved Huaihe more than all the other princes and princesses. Doesn't the emperor like to practice Taoism now? There is a saying in Taoism, which goes, 'Good and bad fortune have no doors, but are brought upon by people. The retribution for good and evil follows like a shadow.' The retribution came in the 25th year of Linghui, during the New Year's Day, when Prince Li, who came to Beijing from his fiefdom in Jiangxi, launched a rebellion."

This Prince Li was the younger brother of the late Emperor and the uncle of Emperor Linghui. Prince Li claimed that Emperor Linghui had been bewitched by a witch and that the Kingdom of Dazhao was in danger. In the 26th year of Linghui, when he went to Beijing for a festival, he launched a mutiny and marched straight to the Forbidden City. The history books recorded the "Prince Li's Rebellion".

That year, Wen Chu was ten years old.

"This rebellion lasted for more than three months, and in the end, it even broke through the gate of the Forbidden City. No one in the court could stop Prince Li's premeditated rebellion. In the end, if it weren't for the Duke's Mansion, there is no telling how long this disaster would have lasted. In the end, our emperor was lucky and had a good life, so nothing happened. But during this rebellion, the evil concubine accidentally fell into trouble and was stabbed to death by Prince Li. After her death, her heart and lungs were dug out. There must be something hateful about a pitiful person. Do you think she deserved this fate?"

The masses echoed.

"That's right! She deserved to die. If she hadn't bewitched the emperor's mind, how could the emperor have become like that? It's really a relief for her to die like this."

"Yes, if it weren't for this beautiful and evil concubine, the fate of our Great Zhao would have been even better!"

The storyteller said, "Huai He's whereabouts are unknown, and her body has not been found. The emperor cannot find his beloved princess. Nowadays, most people say that she was cooked and eaten by Prince Li. According to rumors, Prince Li is the most bloodthirsty and has eaten raw meat. Even if no one knows the truth, Prince Li said before his death that Huai He was cooked and eaten. In addition, Huai He's body could not be found anywhere, so it seems that it is most likely true. This evil concubine has bewitched the emperor to such an extent. Heaven is clear, it's not that there is no retribution, but the time has not come yet! And Huai He, even though she is still young, is the daughter of the evil concubine, how can she be good? Such an end can be regarded as a tit for tat."

Wen Chu, who had been expressionless, couldn't help laughing out loud after hearing this. She seemed to have heard a huge joke and laughed so hard that she didn't even notice a tear leaking from the corner of her eye.

A tick for a tick.

What had she done wrong to deserve such retribution?
Her unusual behavior caused many people around her to look at her.

"Hey, you little Taoist priest, what are you laughing at? Do you think what I said is wrong?"

Seeing that everyone was looking at the corner where she was, Wen Chu waved her hands and said, "No, I just thought what the old gentleman said was very good and I was happy to hear it. I lost my temper for a moment. Please don't blame me, dear readers!" They didn't know what was so funny that made her laugh so hard that tears came out. But seeing that Wen Chu said so, they would not hold her back anymore and ignored her.

Wen Chu wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. At this moment, the waiter put the takeaway food into the food box she brought and handed it to her.

After giving the silver, Wen Chu took the food box and didn't stay here any longer. He turned around and walked out.

Fang walked to the door and met two young men, about 20 years old. Wen Chu saw one of them was a little excited when he saw her.

She had no impression of this person, and seeing that the two of them were dressed quite luxuriously, she had no idea when she would have any interactions with them.

Now she didn't want to get entangled with anyone anymore and just wanted to leave this place first.

She ignored the man's burning gaze and walked quickly past the two of them. However, when she passed by them, she was still stopped.

"Young Taoist priest, please stay!"

The man who asked him to stay was named Zhang Chenghu, the eldest son of the prefect of Taiyuan Prefecture above Baishan Town.
He was wearing a deep blue robe, and his appearance was decent. However, compared with the man beside him, he was slightly inferior.

The man next to him was called Lin Sujian, the son of the Shanxi Provincial Administration Commissioner. The Commissioner was in charge of justice, a third-rank official, and in a small town like this, he was considered a high-ranking official. Lin Sujian was very handsome, with a pair of phoenix eyes that made his face look even more romantic. He was dressed in a crimson brocade suit and had a jade pendant hanging around his waist.

Wen Chu saw that she couldn't escape, so she could only turn around. She bowed and asked, "Excuse me, sir, what can I do for you?"

She didn't know what the two were trying to do, but she had always believed in the principle of harmony being the most valuable thing in the world. Even though she was in a bad mood, she still had a friendly look on her face.

Wen Chu had a clear voice, a beautiful appearance, and a faint smile on her face, which made her even more dazzling.

There was a flash of surprise in Zhang Chenghu's eyes, but more of it was a bit of disbelief. How could such a person tell fortunes?

Lin Sujian, who was standing next to him, was a close friend of Zhang Chenghu. Today, he happened to go to Zhang's residence to look for Zhang Chenghu, but was dragged by him to Baishan Town to find a young Taoist priest to tell his fortune.

Lin Sujian guessed that the person in front of him with simple clothes and a very unusual appearance might be the person Zhang Chenghu was looking for.

Seeing Zhang Chenghu in a daze, Lin Sujian coughed lightly.

Zhang Chenghu was reminded by Lin Sujian. After coming back to his senses, he realized that he had lost his composure and said hurriedly, "I've heard of the Taoist priest's reputation and his accurate fortune-telling skills, so I rushed here from somewhere else. But I didn't see him on the street. I thought I had missed him, but I didn't expect that he would come to have dinner with me."

(End of this chapter)