The Word of Heaven

Chapter 295 The Summer Festival Comes Again

The Shendu in late spring is not like Wangjing. The boundary between it and early summer has always been thin. The climate has long been hot, and even if a few dark clouds and rain occasionally come, it only makes the earth a steamer.

This is especially true this year.

Living in this prematurely humid and hot air, people in the capital generally feel a little more irritable, their tempers have obviously deteriorated, and there are more and more contradictions and conflicts in their daily lives.

The City Gate Office became extremely busy because of this. Officials were under greater pressure than in previous years and had to find places to vent their stress... This formed an internal cycle, making the capital city, which was about to once again welcome the summer festival, no longer as hospitable as in previous years.

Xie Yinglian has his own coolness in this restless world.

Just as she had said to Lin Wanyi that day, the Queen Mother particularly admired her, as if she were her own daughter.

Although this could not change the fact that she was a hostage, it could at least allow her prison cell to be changed from the imperial city to the entire divine capital, giving her the greatest degree of freedom.

After they parted outside Yinping City, she never had any contact with Gu Zhuo again. This was a fact that the Sky Patrol and various relevant departments spent nearly half a year to confirm repeatedly. Because of this fact, some people gradually let her hear certain rumors in recent days.

Those words ultimately boil down to two words - abandoned.

Xie Yinglian was very clear about the hidden intention of rebellion in the words. Instead of feeling anxious about it, he was actually delighted.

She genuinely enjoyed the attention and did certain things without hesitation, such as having a private meeting with summer festival candidates from Wangjing.

……

……

Four years ago, the little girl named Ye Yilan nearly died in a conspiracy involving the Astronomical Survey Office and the Director of the Imperial Observatory in Wangjing the year before last. Afterwards, she matured very quickly, and there was no trace of her past childishness in her eyes and eyebrows.

Sitting opposite Xie Yinglian, she was not inferior in momentum and had her own style.

The meeting place was a restaurant. Looking out the window, you could see the street where the bloody incident that shocked the entire capital took place.

There is no rain today, the sun is shining brightly, and Ye Yilan sits very straight.

"Why do you want to see me?" She said, "If it's because of that person, I can't answer any of your questions."

Xie Yinglian smiled and said, "The whole world is looking for the person you mentioned, but that world does not include me. I just want to tell you that you will soon be treated exactly the same as he was back then."

Ye Yilan frowned, thinking of that year's teacher... and the ups and downs that Gu Zhuo had experienced after entering the Divine Capital, and her mood couldn't help but become heavy.

The next sentence almost made her unable to breathe.

"Today, many people in the court have once again taken Wangjing into their eyes. They think that this former capital is extremely unlucky and that it is necessary to erase all traces of that person left in it."

Xie Yinglian said nonchalantly: "The final result is the four words you are thinking of now, killing them all, starting with you."

Ye Yilan was silent for a while, then asked, "Who instructed you to tell me these words?"

Xie Yinglian smiled slightly and did not answer the question.

Ye Yilan looked at her, and after being sure that she could not get an answer, she picked up the cold tea and took a sip.

The cold tea flows down the throat, bringing a refreshing feeling to the heart.

"Calm down now?"

"Ah."

Xie Yinglian continued with an unchanged smile, "Changzhou Academy will be swept into the garbage dump of history, the noodle shop that person ate at will also close down, and you and your classmates will reasonably suffer on the brink of death, and all this is for the sake of making that person stand up."

Hearing this, Ye Yilan suddenly felt that the world was so absurd.

She is a citizen of Daqin, and so are her familiar classmates. Changzhou Academy is even built in the place where Wangjing City was founded, and all these things belonging to Daqin are used to threaten Daqin's enemies.

She couldn't bear it any longer and started laughing. Her laughter was full of sarcasm and everyone could hear the anger in it.

Xie Yinglian said gently: "Just smile, there is no need to say disrespectful words, that can kill people."

Ye Yilan's laughter stopped abruptly.

The silence near the window made the sounds coming from the street even clearer, and all that fell into my ears was resentment.

Then she turned her head and looked out the window, looking at the Divine Capital which was very different from four years ago, looking at the buildings that were being rebuilt, looking at the ordinary people sweating profusely under the scorching sun... Thinking that all this was closely related to Gu Zhuo, she could no longer laugh.

The unrelieved anger brought a huge feeling of exhaustion. Ye Yilan seemed to be back in Wangjing two years ago. Her whole body was beaten by the cold rain and she was unable to move.

Xie Yinglian looked at her, his eyes becoming brighter and brighter, as if he was drinking fine wine.

"There's only one stupid way to change this."

"……any solution?"

"Win the summer festival, then stand before the Emperor who may appear, and let him tell you in person that the things you are worried about will not happen."

Ye Yilan remained silent.

Xie Yinglian said with pity: "If you can't do this, then just accept your fate."

After saying this, she leisurely drank a cup of tea, then got up and left.

When she was halfway there, Ye Yilan called her.

"what is your purpose?"

"I'm not the one who decides the direction of the world. My thoughts are not important. If you must be curious... my answer is that I think this will make things more interesting."

……

……

After leaving the restaurant, Xie Yinglian got on a carriage and went straight into the imperial city.

Under the cold gaze, she pushed open the door of the imperial study, stood beside the queen, and said, "Everything has been done."

The Queen didn't ask her how she did it, and casually asked, "What do you think the chances are that the Demon Lord will show up?"

Xie Yinglian said honestly: "It's hard to judge, but one thing is certain, as long as he doesn't die, you will definitely die."

There was silence in the imperial study room.

The eunuchs standing outside the door lowered their heads even lower, but judging from the murderous aura emanating from them, they were undoubtedly extremely angry.

The Empress was not angry at all. She leisurely flipped through the memorials and said, "This is why I let Wan Yi leave."

Xie Yinglian understood the meaning of the words, and was deeply moved. He exclaimed: "There are not many people like you who are so cold-blooded and indifferent and take things for granted in this world."

Then she suddenly changed the subject and asked in a natural manner, "Is there anything I can do?"

The Queen put down the memorial, looked up at the smiling girl, and praised her in the same way: "There is a real reason why I like you."

A file was delivered to Xie Yinglian, allowing her to open it and read it.

Those were all the experiences that could be found about the name Gu Zhuo in the world, and in the lower half of the file was a preliminary plan jointly formulated by the prime minister and the queen.

"Whether it's finding gaps or filling them, or something else, you can contribute your wisdom to this plan."

The Queen's tone was very ordinary, as if she was talking about a trivial matter that was not worth mentioning.

…………

The scenery of Xuandu is excellent, and the best part is the distinct four seasons.

The rain in late spring flows in through the window with the wind, like a thread of silk, about to break but never ending, so gentle that one is unaware of it.

Chu Jun stood in front of the window, staring at the sky that seemed to have no end, wondering what he was thinking.

After a long time, she turned around, glanced at Lin Qianshui who was sleeping on the recliner, and left lightly.

After the mountain was closed, the Tiandao Sect became extremely deserted and most of the buildings had been abandoned. Even though the young Taoists diligently swept the floor every day, weeds were still unavoidable.

In the night rain, Chu Jun followed the guidance of the faint light and walked towards the old Taoist temple that could not hide its dilapidated appearance.

Just before she was about to step into the Taoist temple, she stopped almost subconsciously, and then crossed the threshold.

The old Taoist temple was desolate.

Chu Jun stared at it.

This Taoist temple houses portraits of successive ancestors of the Tiandao Sect. Each portrait is so lifelike, as if those ancestors were not dead but merely alive in the paintings.

She looked quietly for a while before her gaze fell on the young Taoist priest sitting on a cushion in the deepest part of the Taoist temple.

Dozens of candles were burning in front of the young Taoist priest. The candles seemed to be standing in the void, at different heights, with no table or table supporting them from underneath.

Even though this was not the first time Chu Jun had seen such a scene, he still felt an uncontrollable chill in his bones.

Especially after she stepped into the Taoist temple, the ancestors hidden on the canvas seemed to be able to see her existence through time and space, looking at her with scrutiny, and finally expressing recognition and appreciation with the imperceptible arc at the corners of their mouths. The chill became more real.

However, the young Taoist priest sitting on the cushion was completely unaware of this.

After hearing Chu Jun's footsteps, he did not turn back in a hurry, but said in a gentle tone: "Please wait for a moment, Junior Sister, while I finish reciting this Taoist Canon for the ancestors in my heart."

Chu Jun said hello.

Half a minute later, the young Taoist priest seemed to have finally finished his work. He turned around enthusiastically and waved his hands vigorously.

"Junior sister, is there anything I can help you with?"

"I am about to leave Xuandu. When I said goodbye to my master, I promised him something. Now it's time to do it."

Chu Jun looked at the young Taoist priest and said, "I'm here to say goodbye to you this time."

The young Taoist was stunned for a moment, scratched his head in some embarrassment, and said: "But the way out is blocked. I really can't beat the general now, so I can't send you out."

Chu Jun said calmly: "I have already thought of a way to leave."

The young Taoist priest was very surprised, and then he quickly gave her a thumbs up and praised her, saying: "You are worthy of being the second disciple of the founder, amazing."

Chu Jun shook his head, not accepting the compliment, and said, "Miss Lin, please take care of her, Senior Brother."

The young Taoist patted his chest and said seriously that there would be no problem with this matter.

Chu Jun thought that he had said everything that needed to be said.

Just as she said goodbye and turned to leave, she suddenly remembered something.

"Senior brother."

"Ok?"

The young Taoist priest was a little puzzled.

Chu Jun turned around and looked at the ordinary-looking fellow disciple. Looking at the old Taoist robe with golden edges outlined by the candlelight, he said seriously: "For some reason, I forgot to ask you what to call me, brother, until now."

The young Taoist blinked and said, "What is my name?"

Chu Jun said: "Daoist name is also OK."

Faced with this question, the young Taoist seemed very embarrassed. His expression became visibly awkward, his lips opened and closed, but he could not utter a word.

"Feel sorry."

Chu Jun did not insist, and bowed to the young Taoist priest, saying apologetically: "I am guilty of the offense."

As soon as she finished speaking, she turned around and left the Taoist temple in order to make the other party feel a little more at ease.

The young Taoist priest watched Chu Jun's figure disappear into the rain, sighed helplessly, and thought to himself, it's really not that I don't want to answer.

Thinking of this, his eyes swept across the portraits of the ancestors, just like Chu Jun when he first entered the Taoist temple.

The portraits no longer come alive on paper and have become lifeless.

He finally looked in the direction where Chu Jun left, spread his hands, and said innocently: "The main thing is that I told you that you might never be able to sleep again. How can I tell you this?"

……

……

On Baidi Mountain.

Under the arrangement of the eunuch leader, the construction of the formation has begun, but the peace has not been completely broken.

Perhaps because of some instructions given by the White Emperor before his departure, related matters were avoided as much as possible in the gravekeepers' residences, giving these people who sacrificed themselves for the Bai family peace.

This made life much easier for Gu Zhuo and Pei Jinge.

In addition to the fact that the meals of the two have been greatly improved in these days, the problems they each face have also made some progress.

——Pei Jinge’s cooking skills are going from bad to average and then to mediocre.

Yes, she has been focusing on this matter in recent days.

She could enter the state of Nirvana at any time. Without breaking through the state, she would never be able to make any real progress on the path of cultivation. As for the Taoist and Buddhist scriptures, although they were interesting, they were just external materials and could not keep her immersed in them for long.

Compared with these, Pei Jinge is more interested in correcting Gu Zhuo's opinion of himself, or in other words, making him eat his words and gain benefits.

——Starting from no longer daring to complain about the food she cooks.

Occasionally, she would calm down and think about why Yu Sheng was missing, why he never appeared in front of him and her, where was he and what was he doing?
Whenever he thought about this question, Pei Jinge would go to the other side of Baidi Mountain to secretly observe the progress of the formation construction and estimate the time.

One day, the eunuch leader will come to the place of retreat, see the stone house, and naturally find traces of the lives of the two people left behind.

Gu Zhuo cared about this, but not much.

Recently, apart from eating and washing, he has spent all his time gazing at Tianqiong Peak, thinking about the intentions of Emperor Bai, what Bai Nanming had said, and what the ancestors of the Bai family had done.

It was not until dusk one day when Pei Jinge came to him and told him that the summer festival was approaching that he came to his senses.

Then Gu Zhuo said something to her.

“The world is like a journey against the tide. Perhaps I thought too much about it before. Heaven’s Questions is actually Heaven’s Question about how I feel about it.”

(End of this chapter)