Chapter 29 She's Coming
After drinking to their heart's content, the singing and dancing began again. Two beautiful concubines also sat beside Yinqi, Qi Lu and Liu Wu respectively to serve them.
Inevitably, I became a little unrestrained and my speech became vague.
Yinqi unbuttoned his coat, revealing his light purple silk undergarment. He crossed his legs, leaned his upper body against Meiji's arms, and talked about all kinds of gossip in and around Haojing City and the Imperial City.
"To be honest, this year has not been peaceful."
"Tsk tsk, it's only because my sister-in-law, the Queen Mother, is so smart that the news in the palace has been strictly sealed. Otherwise, no one would have a peaceful New Year!"
Yinqi raised his wine glass and looked at Qi Lu and then at Liu Wu with a hint of pride.
Qi Lu and Liu Wu both said, "Oh my? Did something big happen? We really didn't hear anything at all."
"Your Majesty, please don't keep me in suspense. In such a big city like Gaojing, everyone knows that you have a wide range of connections and are well-informed."
Yinqi laughed complacently, and lowered his voice mysteriously.
"Shh, it's really shocking, it makes my hair stand on end, it makes me shudder, my legs tremble , I can't help myself!"
Yinqi used a long list of appropriate and inappropriate descriptions, and the expression on his face became more mysterious and sneaky.
Liu Wu shuddered for no apparent reason, his face twisted and revealing a hint of horror and fear.
But he quickly straightened his expression, stretched his neck, stared straight at Yinqi, and acted as if he was listening attentively.
Qi Lu also widened his eyes and looked at Yinqi with great anticipation.
As a hostage left in Haojing by Dongqi Bo, he also had the task of collecting information, especially information from the imperial city.
Although he is not a professional "spy", it would be a waste not to listen to the news that comes to his door!
"Prince, on New Year's Eve, you went to the palace to attend the palace banquet."
Yinqi pointed at Qi Lu.
Qi Lu nodded hurriedly: "Isn't it? Tsk tsk, that scene, that style, is worthy of our Great Yinwu Dynasty. The national strength is booming, it is really a flourishing and prosperous time. If I, a remote and insignificant official, were not..."
Yinqi interrupted Qi Xun impatiently: "The Queen Mother and the Emperor are not here, why are you flattering them?"
"That palace banquet was indeed magnificent, lively and festive."
"You really can't imagine that on the night of New Year's Eve, when we were having a great time, deep in the palace, in the cold palace, tsk tsk ..."
Yinqi's body trembled violently.
He blinked his eyes desperately and tightened his robe tightly.
"What's wrong?" Qi Lu and Liu Wu became nervous at the same time.
"It's also thanks to the Queen Mother and her sister-in-law that the news was blocked, otherwise, it would be so scary."
Yinqi lowered his voice and his expression became a little strange.
"The former emperor, my restless brother, and his imperial concubine, Concubine Qi, hanged themselves ."
Qi Lu and Liu Wu gasped at the same time and then glanced at each other quickly.
Yinqi murmured, "Concubine Qi, oh, I still remember that when she first entered the palace, I accompanied the emperor in the back garden to shoot yellow sparrows with a slingshot, and she went to bring snacks to the emperor. Oh, she was just in her teens at that time, so bright and tender."
"Oh, my heart is tickled. It's so itchy. Oh!"
"What a beautiful lady! No wonder the late emperor dotes on her so much. Concubine Qi has been in the palace for three years and has been promoted several levels to become a royal concubine. Her food and drink expenses are the same as those of the current empress dowager and her sister-in-law."
"Hey, hey, if the emperor is still here, Concubine Qi might just become my legitimate sister-in-law."
"What a pity for the Emperor... Tsk."
"The current Queen Mother's sister-in-law is always jealous. In the absence of the Emperor, her brother took control of the military power. Poor Concubine Qi and other concubines favored by the Emperor were all banished to the cold palace."
"This year is the nineteenth year of Jiayou."
"For nineteen years, she has been in the cold palace without seeing the sun. How could such a beautiful girl endure this?"
Yinqi shook his head vigorously.
"I guess there's no hope for it. On New Year's Eve this year, Concubine Qi and her sixteen personal maids who were banished to the cold palace..."
Yinqi made a gesture of putting a lasso around the neck: "That's it, it's gone."
Liu Wu said cautiously: "Someone died on New Year's Eve. It seems a bit..."
Qi Lu was much braver than Liu Wu. As the son of a prince, he was not afraid of the current queen mother. He said bluntly, "This is unlucky and unlucky, isn't it, Your Majesty?"
Yinqi blinked.
He slapped his thigh vigorously: "Oh, this is more than just bad luck."
"I have some connections in the palace. I heard that Concubine Qi and her sixteen palace maids all wore red headscarves, red wedding dresses, and red embroidered shoes when they were hung from the beams."
"Just tell me, is this scary or not? Is it scary or not?"
"Seventeen women, all covered in red, were hung in a neat row on the beams of the cold palace."
"Oh, poor eunuchs who were delivering food to them on New Year's Eve. When they entered the cold palace hall, they suddenly thought there were more than a dozen red lanterns hanging in the hall."
"After a lot of effort they could see what was hanging from the beams. Some of them fainted and some even went crazy with fright."
Yinqi shuddered, and then shuddered again.
The corners of Qi Lu's mouth twitched and he felt all the hairs on his body stand up.
As for Liu Wu, his entire face turned ashen, beads of cold sweat kept oozing out of his forehead, and his hand holding the chopsticks was shaking violently. He forced himself to remain calm and tried to pick up a piece of fresh fish, but he couldn't pick up the fish meat at all.
Yinqi exhaled lightly. He was already immersed in a strange atmosphere and did not notice Liu Wu's strange expression. He said to himself, "This is weird. According to the rules of the cold palace, there can't be any color at all. Concubine Qi and her friends usually wear white clothes and white shoes. Where did they get this full set of red wedding clothes?"
"I can be considered a person who has read a lot of books. I have studied all the novels about gods, ghosts, and the supernatural since I was a child. I have done research on those monsters, ghosts, and all kinds of weird things."
"This woman died wearing red clothes, which is a great omen."
"After nightfall, he hanged himself, which was extremely cruel."
“Especially if he died on New Year’s Eve, it would be the time when the four seasons rotate, the year changes, and the mysteries of the heavens and the time are at their most obscure. In addition, the stars in the sky return to their original positions after a year of operation, and the righteousness of heaven and earth is ready to be unleashed, but he died at a time when it is not yet unleashed. This is the worst of all evils!”
Yinqi gently stroked the wine glass and said softly, "I think my queen mother and sister-in-law are going to be in bad luck."
"Tsk, Concubine Qi has been suffering in the cold palace for these years. It is said that her food and drink expenses are not even comparable to those of poor girls in the common people. She has to vent her resentment, right?"
"Who is her greatest enemy?"
"Isn't she my sister-in-law, the Queen Mother?"
"Hey, my Lord, and Magistrate Liu, you need to be more careful."
Qi Yu and Liu Wu shuddered at the same time and hurriedly said with a smile: "Your Majesty, please speak?"
Yinqi straightened his chest, unbuttoned his coat, revealing a thumb-sized topaz plate hanging on his chest.
The topaz plate was of fairly good quality and had some cloud and lightning patterns carved into it, with a row of messy red runes in the middle that looked like they were filled with cinnabar.
Yinqi pointed at the jade tablet and said with a smile: "This is the talisman that I specially sent to Wuyou Pavilion outside of Gaojing City to ask Taoist Wuyou to make for me."
He untied his belt again and lifted up his robe, revealing a row of six exquisite peach wood talismans tied close to his waist.
"This is what I sent to the Six Paths Temple in Qingluofang to ask General Liudao to make a fierce general card for me. It is specially designed to slay demons and monsters. All evil spirits cannot get close to me."
After fastening his belt, Yinqi felt in his left sleeve and pulled out a fist-sized white porcelain bottle.
He shook it, and there was a splashing sound of water in the white porcelain bottle.
"This is amazing. I found this in an ancient book. Black dog blood and boy's urine are good at exorcising evil spirits. This is a bottle of black dog blood mixed with boy's urine. In the middle of winter, I keep it close to my body so I won't get cold!"
"Hey, if that evil spirit dares to come to me... I will first try to establish a relationship with her. Every grievance has its perpetrator, and the Queen Mother is inside the palace..."
"If you can't win her over, hey, I'll just throw this black dog blood and boy's urine on her face!"
Qi Lu wiped the cold sweat that unconsciously appeared on his forehead.
"Your Highness, not really, not really. Haha, there are many legends about ghosts in the world, but who has ever seen one? Who has ever seen a ghost with their own eyes?"
Qi Lu picked up the wine glass and took a big gulp.
In the mood of alcohol, he stood up and laughed loudly, "Your Highness, things in the palace may be a little bit weird. But, if you say there are really any ghosts or evil spirits, there is absolutely no such thing."
"Who in this world has ever seen a ghost? Ah? Who has seen one?"
Qi Lu shook his head and smiled: "No, no!"
Liu Wu's face had turned from ashen to pale. He really wanted to raise his hand and tell Yinqi and Qi Lu that he had really seen a ghost.
However, this kind of thing is not easy to tell others.
Then, Liu Wu's face turned from pale to an almost transparent deathly white.
Wisps of mist emerged in the backyard of Qifang Garden, and the hundreds of old plum trees were quickly covered by the white mist.
The fog was like a rising tide, gradually submerging the rocky hill where the flower hall was located.
A faint, sad and cold female voice sounded faintly in the mist: "Husband, shall we play together?"
Yinqi and Qi Lu's bodies suddenly stiffened.
Their teeth were chattering, their faces were distorted and their eyes were bulging as they looked at the mist that suddenly appeared outside the flower hall.
"Young Master, shall we play together?"
A hazy female figure slowly appeared in the mist, three inches off the ground, and slowly, slowly, floated into the flower hall.
The woman is wearing a red dress and red shoes.
She slowly floated towards Liu Wu, who was stiff all over.
Drops of round blood kept sliding down the woman's body, falling onto the ground along her embroidered shoes, making a 'ding ding' sound.
The blood fell to the ground, bounced for a while, and then turned into blood-colored ice flakes, quickly spreading around.
