I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 182 Nightmare Suppression, Heavenly Fragrance

In this life, life and death are inevitable; let us not be alarmed by honor or disgrace.

The corpses before Xu Qing were like scrolls of paintings unfolding, depicting high-ranking officials, wandering rogues, peddlers, prisoners, and criminals.

When it comes to him, everyone is the protagonist on the stage. After performing the last act of their lives, they will step off the stage and turn into dust, dissolving into the mundane world.

In the cold room, Xu Qing took out the miniature chamber and was about to clean the corpse in front of him when he suddenly noticed that there was an open coffin in the chamber.

Inside the coffin lay the corpse of a woman dressed in a colorful robe with five bats and dragons.

When did a corpse appear in his little garden?

Xu Qing, a noblewoman, was momentarily stunned before remembering that when she had entered the imperial tomb and was in a hurry to go into seclusion, she had carelessly thrown the tomb owner and coffin into the small garden.

Moreover, that tomb was the tomb of an empress.

Recalling the origin of the corpse, Xu Qing couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.

What is a surprise?

The loose silver coins I'd forgotten in my pocket a few months ago suddenly fell out while I was washing clothes.

When the family was starving and on the verge of starving, they had no choice but to take the only egg-laying hen from the henhouse to the market to exchange for rice and flour. Just then, a man came up to them and told them that a month ago, they had gone to the capital to take the imperial examination and passed, becoming a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examination). Now, everyone was gathered at their doorstep waiting for them to return home and celebrate!

This kind of unexpected good news or wealth is called a surprise!

Xu Qing, who had long forgotten about the corpse in the imperial tomb, was overjoyed to suddenly discover a female corpse in the miniature garden.

Glancing past the jeweled burial objects in the coffin, Xu Qing looked directly at the lifelike female corpse.

This corpse is quite remarkable. Although it has been dead for many years and has no breath left, its appearance is still intact, and there is a lingering fragrance surrounding the body.

Xu Qing was amazed. He reached out and carefully examined the source of the fragrance on the female corpse. Apart from a somewhat gloomy aura, there were no signs of a medicinal corpse or any signs of preservation treatment.

"Strange, the stench of a corpse is common, but how come there's a fragrance from a corpse?"

Even Xu Qing, who had seen countless corpses, couldn't help but feel surprised at this moment.

Xu Qing's intuition told him that there was something about this corpse, and it might be hiding some secret.

Xu Qing placed his hand on the Empress's wrist and couldn't help but squeeze it; it was quite soft.

This corpse is interesting.

The pages of the Sutra of Salvation were flipped through quickly, and the empress before them ascended the stage to begin her final dance.

At this moment, Xu Qing was the only spectator sitting in the stands.

The empress before us was posthumously honored as Duanrong. She was originally a selected young lady to enter the palace. Although she did not come from a wealthy family, she had an ambition to compete for fame and beauty.

What level of fame does a woman need to reach to be considered famous? The young lady pondered this for a long time before turning her attention to the deep palace walls before her.

Imagine a young girl eager to climb the social ladder, sent to the imperial harem for upbringing from a young age—how could that be simple?

Little Concubine, Imperial Lady, Talented Woman, Beauty
Starting as a lowly servant girl, a young woman could gradually rise to the rank of imperial concubine.

Unfortunately, there were more than a dozen ranks of concubines in the harem, and even though she climbed to the top, she still didn't receive the emperor's favor.

One day, the emperor went on a spring hunt, and several concubines accompanied the newly promoted beauties on the trip.

At that time, Xue Meiren, who had not yet received the emperor's favor, already had eight parts beauty. Although she was still green, she was like a flower bud about to bloom on a branch. It would not be an exaggeration to say that she was a beauty of unparalleled grace.

Accompanying the emperor on a spring hunt is an excellent opportunity to get close to the monarch.

Lady Xue originally intended to take the opportunity to display her charm and attract the emperor's attention, but unexpectedly, the concubine who accompanied her was jealous of her beauty. While everyone else was enjoying the scenery with the emperor, she was left alone to guard the wild rabbit that the concubine had just adopted and to take care of feeding it.

That Consort Zhao didn't actually want to raise rabbits; she clearly just wanted to find an excuse to get rid of her and prevent her from meeting the Emperor!
Lady Xue was alone in her tent, lamenting the passing of spring and the coming of autumn. She thought she would never have a chance to rise again, but unexpectedly, at noon, a lame fox with an arrow in its hindquarters suddenly broke into the tent.

After the fox entered the tent, it spoke in human language: "Good sister, you saved my life. I will definitely repay you in the future!"

Lady Xue was terrified, but the next moment she heard shouts from outside the tent: "Quickly find that blue-haired fox! Whoever finds it will be richly rewarded!"

"The fox seemed to have gone towards Consort Yi's tent, so that must be thanks to Consort Yi."

We don't know what happened, but Xue Meiren, who was initially terrified, suddenly stopped feeling scared after hearing these words.

Outside the tent, a soldier asked a question. Lady Xue lifted the tent flap, revealing it to be empty except for a small table and a curtain to conceal her figure.

Lady Xue said, "There's no movement inside the tent; perhaps the wild beast has escaped to the back."

A servant peeked into the tent and, seeing that there was nothing unusual inside, led the soldiers to search behind the tent with great fanfare.

Lady Xue rescued the fox and hid it under the carriage. When the spring hunt ended, the fox followed her all the way into the capital.

For several months afterward, Xue Meiren never saw the fox again, until the sweltering summer when, while she was taking a nap, a fox suddenly darted into the house.

The fox spoke in a high-pitched, womanly voice: "Good sister, there's no need to be afraid. Several months ago, you helped me through a human calamity, and I've come to repay you this time."

Lady Xue was filled with doubt and suspicion, but then she heard the fox continue, "Sister, living in this deep palace, you must feel lonely and restricted. If you are willing, I can help you escape this cage and become a free person."

Leaving the palace? Upon hearing this, Consort Xue immediately jumped like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. All her hard work had been for the sake of rising above others in the palace. If she were to leave, wouldn't all her efforts be in vain, and she might even be reduced to a lowly commoner?
"I don't want your help to leave the palace. If you truly wish to repay a debt of gratitude, you might as well help me win the emperor's favor and become a concubine or empress."

Upon hearing this, Qinghu gave the woman in front of him a strange look, and finally nodded and said, "Very well, but if I help you fulfill your wish, then your debt to me will be settled, and I will not come looking for you again."

Since then, Consort Xue in the palace suddenly had a captivating fragrance. One day, the emperor passed by Yikun Palace and happened to smell a peculiar fragrance, which resembled the scent of flowers, but was even more subtle and profound.

Following the scent, the emperor eventually found Lady Xue surrounded by butterflies in the back garden.

The Emperor asked Consort Xue why she had such a fragrance that it attracted bees and butterflies. She smiled and replied, "I have had a natural fragrance since I was a child. I don't need any perfume to attract butterflies. They must have mistaken me for a flower on this branch."

"Flowers? Then today I shall be the one who picks those delicate flowers."

After that, the emperor would seek out Lady Xue to serve him every few days, and in just one month, Lady Xue was promoted to the rank of Fragrant Concubine.

On this day, the green-haired fox came to the Fragrant Concubine's Palace again.

"Well, now that you have become the emperor's favorite concubine, I have kept my word."

At this moment, Xiangfei, who had received the dew, already possessed nine-tenths of her beauty, and her charming allure was evident in every glance.

"I must thank you again, Young Master Fox." Xiangfei brought a teacup to offer tea to the green fox, who refused, saying, "I am not a male fox, so please do not call me Young Master. Besides, I have already repaid your kindness, and as agreed, I will not come looking for you again."

Upon hearing this, Xiang Fei hurriedly replied, "The kindness I owe the Fox Fairy is a life-saving debt. If the Fox Fairy truly wishes to repay this debt, simply helping me become a Noble Consort would not be enough."

Seeing the green fox staring intently at her, Consort Xiang said matter-of-factly, "If the fox fairy truly wishes to repay your kindness, she must allow me to sit on the throne of the mother of a nation. There is no other way."

The green fox stared wide-eyed at the shameless human, but in the end it relented and said, "People have their destiny. You were destined to become a concubine, and I merely blew a gust of wind to help you achieve that a few years earlier. But you may not be destined to be an empress." With that, the green fox stood up on its hind legs and began to calculate with one paw.

After a short while, the fox spoke up: "You can't hold onto the position of the mother of the nation, so I can't help you with this."

Xiang Fei's expression immediately changed: "I don't believe it. You're a fox spirit with magical powers, how could you not help me? Don't forget, I'm your savior."

Qinghu looked at Xiangfei, pondered for a moment, and said, "I can give you another piece of advice. If you insist on competing, you may be able to become empress, but you will have to bear the corresponding price yourself."

Upon hearing this, Consort Xiang's eyes lit up, but she had already forgotten about the so-called price.

"To become the mother of a nation, one must possess the nation's fortune. If you are the first to become empress and give birth to a son for the emperor, you will naturally have the opportunity to become the mother of a nation in the future."

Before Xiangfei could rejoice, the green-haired fox spoke again: "However, if you give birth to a dragon son first, you will surely face calamity in the future. Let me give you some more advice. If you encounter difficulties in the future, you can burn incense and pray, hang a portrait of Yu Qian, an upright official from the previous dynasty, and recite the Ode to Integrity. At that time, divine power will naturally come to relieve your worries."

Xiangfei was overjoyed, but when she wanted to express her gratitude, Qinghu had already disappeared from her sight.

Only the sound of the blue fox could be heard from outside the window—

"I have repaid your kindness. I will not come again. Take care of yourself."

After Qinghu left, Xiangfei tried every day to win the emperor's favor, and she never repeated the same trick when serving the emperor to bed!
In short, Xu Qing was greatly shocked.

About two months later, just as the Empress's relatives and the court's key ministers were preparing to submit a memorial to the Emperor advising him against indulging in sensual pleasures and neglecting state affairs, good news suddenly came from the palace: Consort Xiang was pregnant.

After ten months of pregnancy, Consort Xiang gave birth to a son, while the Empress still only had one princess and had not yet conceived another son.

Consort Xiang's momentum was even stronger, and among the three palaces and six courtyards, she had already surpassed the Empress and become the most favored concubine.

However, just as Consort Xiang was lost in her own world, an eerie atmosphere suddenly arose in her palace. Many palace maids and eunuchs claimed to have seen ghostly figures flitting about. At midnight, there were often whispers and conversations in the palace, sometimes cursing, sometimes laughing, and sometimes pitiful weeping could be heard coming from Consort Xiang's bedchamber.

Palace servants spread rumors that Consort Xiang was a demon in disguise, and the strange fragrance emanating from her body was proof of this.

As for what kind of monster she is, some say it's a butterfly demon, some say it's a flower demon, and some even say she's the ghost of a concubine from the previous dynasty who drowned herself in a well.

Consequently, the baby born to Xiang Fei was also tainted by an ominous filter.

For two consecutive months, the emperor did not stay overnight at Consort Xiang's residence. The prince who should have been the eldest son was sent to be raised by the Empress Dowager. During this period, the Empress Dowager even invited the Taoist priests from the Celestial Master's Mansion to perform exorcism rituals.

The Celestial Master stated frankly that there were indeed ominous entities causing trouble in the palace, and that they were located in the residence of the Fragrant Concubine.

However, the Celestial Master refused to enter the Fragrant Concubine's Palace to investigate the reason, citing the inconvenience of entering the inner palace.

Consort Xiang was worried day and night. One afternoon, while taking a nap, she suddenly had a nightmare. When she woke up, she was drenched in sweat, and the bed was soaked with sweat.

Consort Xiang wanted to call for a palace maid to come in and clean, but no one responded even after she called three times.

In a fit of anger, Consort Xiang reached out and lifted the bedding, removing the soft mat underneath.

It was at this moment that Consort Xiang saw a white tortoise with a red rope tied to it inside the bed that had been lifted.

The tortoise was shriveled and dead, and the white hairs it emitted looked like the hairs of a moldy corpse.

Consort Xiang looked at this strange thing and originally intended to call the eunuchs and maids to deal with it, but remembering the rumors in the palace about Consort Xiang's palace, she suppressed the idea of ​​spreading the matter.

If others knew that there was a dead white turtle under her bed, who knows what kind of gossip and rumors would spread about her.

What if someone says that the prince was born to her and the turtle demon? How should she defend herself?

That day, Consort Xiang was restless and unable to eat or sleep. As night fell, faint laughter and angry shouts could be heard again from inside the palace. Finally, Consort Xiang remembered the words that the fox fairy had once given her.

At that moment, Consort Xiang took out a portrait of Yu Qian, an upright official from the previous dynasty, which she had treasured earlier, burned incense in the palace and prayed, explaining her situation.

When it was the middle of the night and Xiangfei was feeling sleepy, she suddenly dreamed that a bixi carrying a stone tablet came to her.

The tortoise spoke in human language: "I was an official of the previous dynasty, but I am now a ghost. I cannot interfere in the affairs of the present dynasty. The injustice you have suffered is a matter of the present dynasty, and I cannot interfere. Do not seek my help again in the future!"

Upon hearing this, Consort Xiang hurriedly said, "I have heard that Lord Yu is an upright official who will be remembered for all time. But now that I have met him, I find that he is also a coward who fears the fierce and opportunistic."

"I have been wronged and I beg you, sir, to redress my grievances. I never imagined that you would be so afraid. Could it be that you, in your lifetime, would pass on any difficult or unjust cases to others, which is why you have such a bad reputation today?"

If it were anyone else, no matter how much they pleaded, it would be difficult to sway Yu Qian's resolve, but this Xiang Fei just happened to be someone who wouldn't let her tongue get away with anything.

The green fox saw through this about her back then, otherwise it wouldn't have guided her to ask an upright official from the previous dynasty for help.

Yu Qian called himself a ghost, and ghosts all have their obsessions, and being an honest and upright official was his obsession.

Hearing Xiangfei's words, Yu Qian was stunned and immediately replied, "I, Yu Qian, have never been afraid of evil. I was able to deal with the evil deeds of the royal relatives of Qianxi in the past, and I am also able to deal with injustices today!"

After saying this, Yu Qian directed Xiang Fei to take out the white-haired tortoise he had found during the day, saying, "This tortoise is a talisman that the current Empress used to harm you. If you want to break this spell, you must smash the talisman and throw it into the well. The tortoise is connected to the waterway, and once the talisman is broken, it will follow the old path and turn against the person who performed the spell."

"Once the law is broken, when the emperor returns to this palace, you only need to explain the situation to him, have him burn an incense stick and call my name, and I will appear in his dream to clear your name."

Sure enough, ever since Consort Xiang smashed the white-haired turtle and threw it into the well, the Empress suffered from headaches that did not improve for several days until the talisman water from the Celestial Master's Mansion was brought in, and she was finally relieved.

Less than half a month later, the emperor moved his residence to the Fragrant Concubine Palace. That very night, the Bixi (a mythical tortoise-like creature) arrived as scheduled, carrying a stone tablet on its back.

Only after Yu Qian revealed his identity did the emperor realize that the Bixi was the tomb guardian beast in front of the tomb of Yu Qian, a loyal minister of the previous dynasty.

At this point, Yu Qian was already a ghost!
After learning the truth, the Emperor comforted Consort Xiang and reminded her, "I already know about this matter, but you must know that family scandals should not be made public, and matters of the imperial family should not be spoken of casually. I will explain things to Consort Xiang, so you don't need to worry."

That being said, given Xiangfei's unforgiving nature, how could she possibly listen to her without reassurance?

Within a few days, rumors spread throughout the imperial palace and even among the common people of the capital that the incorruptible official Yu Qian had appeared in spirit to investigate the Empress's plot to murder Consort Xiang and her son.

The emperor was furious upon hearing this, and within two days he sent a white silk ribbon to Xiangfei, intending to execute her.

Consort Xiang was shocked. She was clearly in the right, so why was the emperor treating her this way?

The eunuch said, "It's all your fault for not understanding your own position. Do you think you can just be the empress? In the end, you were just a concubine selected through a talent show. Becoming Consort Xiang was already an act of imperial grace. What kind of background does the empress have? Have you forgotten who the imperial relatives are?"

"Not to mention Your Highness, even Yu Qian, who meddled in other people's business after his death, had his tomb mound smashed. I heard that when the tomb mound cracked open, bright red blood gushed out."

The imperial eunuch chuckled and said, "I have already made my point. Your Majesty would be best not to make things difficult for us servants. After all, we servants are not gentle and might hurt Your Majesty, which would not be good."

Seeing that Consort Xiang was still unwilling, the eunuch spoke again: "Your Majesty, please rest in peace. His Majesty said that Your Majesty suffered from a hidden illness after giving birth to the prince, and died from the illness. After your death, you shall be posthumously honored as Empress."

Consort Xiang's eyes widened, and she choked on her breath, collapsing straight to the ground without making a sound.

It turns out that the empress she was destined to be was the empress of the underworld. There can only be one empress of a country in the world. If there are two, it must be because one of them has already passed away.

The revolving lantern display ended, and the expert gave the following assessment of the corpse: "Medium grade, Earthly quality."

The reward is a Nightmare Suppression Technique and a Heavenly Fragrance Pill.

(End of this chapter)