Chapter 90: The Transformation of Hell
June 6th, Xu time
The palace was in chaos. Bao Zheng looked calm, but he was dark-faced and rarely looked panicked.
Xu Chong stood up and said, "Sir, the sound seems to come from the back garden."
"Go, go and check. If there is no trouble, arrest the one who is making the noise."
"yes."
The people sitting at the end were all those who had participated in the case and had some experience. They were the right people to find. The group went to the back garden together, and Lao Bao followed behind. Although he estimated that if someone wanted to use a guest star to cause trouble, it would not be too fast, at least ten days would be needed, and today was ten days. But he was still a little surprised when something like this happened suddenly. He just calculated that the thief would spend a few days contacting old subordinates, a few days planning on paper, and a few days preparing, but he didn't expect that the efficiency was so high.
Four months ago, on the eighth day of the first lunar month, the hat monster was found in the back garden, and then the skeleton was dug out from the soil. Why didn't they even change the location?
Shen Kuo also had a very bad premonition at this time. Not only did things start again, but he knew that there was a traitor in the palace. Ever since he knew that Xiao Ping was related to the son of Yan Shu, who was also the Prime Minister and served as the Prime Minister, he was in a trance. He had guessed that this case was very complicated, but he still didn't dare to think about it to this extent. He rode back from Songzhou, thinking all the way whether to tell Xu Chong and Bao Zheng about this. When he arrived at the palace gate, he decided not to say anything for the time being. It was just because Yan Shu was the leader of the civil officials, and he naturally had a private relationship with Prime Minister Bao. He didn't dare to think deeply about the various possibilities, and was only worried that if he said it rashly, he didn't know what the result would be.
In fact, a few months ago, when he confessed to Bao Zheng that he had his own reasons for releasing Huai Liang, Bao Zheng did not reprimand him harshly, but instead said something that seemed to have a deep meaning. He still clearly remembered Bao Zheng saying at that time: "... I used to think that the national law is the foundation of the country, and the national foundation is strong if the law is enforced uprightly, but I thought too shallowly. You pardoned Huai Liang privately, and now I can only pretend not to know, leaving some room for the king's law to maneuver. If you are too upright, I am afraid that it will shake the foundation of the country. It's not just Huai Liang, too many people are self-righteous, thinking that they can do whatever they want by upholding the public spirit. It's lamentable and hateful."
Those words sounded particularly strange at the time, as if Lao Bao knew that besides Huailiang, there were also people involved in this case who were smart and thought they could do whatever they wanted because of public trust. He could only show mercy to those people, so he did not investigate Huailiang further.
Now he was like a lone boat in the ocean, unable to control his direction. Since Huailiang and Xiaoping disappeared with their own differences and mysteries, he could no longer find anyone he could trust except Xu Chong and Bao Longtu. However, Bao Longtu seemed to have sensed something. But he deliberately did not speak out. How many people in the court were involved in this case?
When Shen Kuo arrived at the back garden with suspicion, he saw guards and eunuchs waiting there. He looked around but did not dare to go in.
Lao Bao stopped the guards and asked who had shouted just now. A eunuch stood up and said that he was the one who shouted. Just under the tree in front, he saw a cloud of smoke. It turned out to be the place where the hat monster appeared last time, but now there was no shadow.
Lao Bao led the charge into the back garden. He saw no sign of the hat monster, but only a cloud of mist surrounding the rockery made of Taihu stones in front of him. Xu Chong grabbed a torch from someone nearby and rushed over there, with the others following closely behind.
Xu Chong's leg injury was almost healed, and it was almost impossible to tell the length of his legs . Shen Kuo saw how brave he was at this moment, and probably wanted to seize this opportunity to perform well. His painstaking efforts were probably also for Jin'er, whom he had rarely met.
The smoke turned and fled, circling the crowd far to the east. This smoke really didn't look like the hat demon who liked to show off in front of people, but actually avoided far away. Everyone chased back to the front of Gyeongbokgung Palace, and the smoke disappeared. Since the first sighting of the hat demon in the palace, it has been different from the outside, and there has never been a clear sight. It is hard to guess the reason, maybe the intention is different? If it was just to alarm the emperor, announce its reappearance, and ruin the banquet, it did it.
At this time, the outside of Jingfu Palace was already in a mess, with no one around. They had probably all fled. Even the queen's canopy was thrown outside Yingyang Gate, and the rest of the flags and palace lanterns were also thrown everywhere. The palace maids and eunuchs had obviously all fled. It can be seen that the shadow of the word "hat monster" still lingers in people's hearts. Even if you haven't seen it, just hearing about it is enough to make your heart tremble. In the entire palace, only their group of twenty or so people were chasing the hat monster.
"You can all see it clearly, is it a hat monster?" asked Lao Bao.
"It's not very clear. It looks a bit like it, but not that big. I didn't see the green light either, but it did float here and disappeared after turning around the Yingyang Gate." Xu Chong said.
Shen Kuo had poor eyesight and could not see anything clearly in the back garden. He just ran aimlessly with the crowd. He ran back and forth and now returned to Jingfu Palace. He was out of breath and still saw nothing.
"Sir, are you going into the main hall?" Xu Chong reminded. To enter the main hall, of course, Lao Bao's consent was needed.
"It's possible. Come in with me."
Lao Bao led the way inside, and the others followed closely behind him and entered the hall.
The people in the hall had all run away, but the lights were still on. The ground was a mess, and there were a few shoes. I didn't know who had left the shoes and didn't come back to pick them up. Anyway, those who could come in were all above the third rank.
Everyone dispersed and looked around to see if there was anything suspicious on the beams, eaves, and brackets. Only Shen Kuo picked up a palace lantern and walked towards the wall. He was curious about what poem the emperor had mentioned just now that caused the commotion. Anyway, he had seen the hat monster many times, so he took this opportunity to enter the hall and saw the four lines of poetry on the pink wall -
God doesn't care about anything, don't say that there is no fate, what can it do to me?
There is heaven above and hell below. I ask the star god when he will leave?
"Mr. Bao, is this the poem the emperor mentioned just now?" Shen Kuo asked. He finally understood why the crowd was so shocked just now, because there was an unlucky word like hell in it. And the level of this poem was really not very good.
"Yes, just now the emperor was a little tipsy and actually mentioned the poem "Fate" written by Emperor Taizong. It actually describes the desolate things of fate in the world that do not go as one wishes. I don't know why the emperor remembered it and hung it on the wall. He just changed the last sentence: "It is clear that wheat does not grow" to "I ask the star when will it leave?" The emperor is a little haggard today. At twilight hour, he heard the report from the Sitianjian that the guest star is still in the sky, which made him even more irritable. Seeing that he drank a few more cups, he was indeed a little drunk. It is not solemn to mention this poem. Now everyone knows that the emperor hopes that the star will leave soon. The more guilty and afraid of disaster, the more likely it is to cause disaster."
Bao Zheng described the emperor's situation as drunkenness, but this poem is indeed quite appropriate, clearly expressing the emperor's helpless mood about the guest star that just lingered in the sky. As for the fact that the more you fear disaster, the more disaster you will encounter, Shen Kuo could not agree more, this is an obvious thing.
Everyone found nothing in the hall for a while, so they left. Before leaving, Shen Kuo blew out the candles and palace lanterns that were still burning there.
A group of people went to the Yingyang Gate again. A few of the ceremonial items that were scattered everywhere were missing. Maybe someone came to take them away. Since the emperor and the empress had run away, it was not appropriate to leave these things lying around here.
Bao Zheng waited outside Yingyang Gate for a while. Although the emperor said, "The enemy is in the dark, so we must not be in the light," the investigation team that was set up also came to nothing when Yu Jing was burned to death. But at this moment, Bao Zheng naturally took on this position again and did not dare to leave the palace.
Shi Quanbin, the guard, also brought news from all sides of the palace. At this moment, the palace was already relatively stable. The emperor and the empress had already returned to the palace, and they were all under perfect guard. Shi Quanbin stamped his feet and sighed: Why did those unclean things come out again? I don't know if he told Lao Bao about it. If the emperor wants to blame him for this matter, he will definitely not be able to escape. Lao Bao and his subordinates Shen Kuo and Xu Chong all have the responsibility for not investigating the case thoroughly and not eliminating the evil. If the news spreads out of the palace, it will surely cause chaos again.
A group of people were hesitating on the palace road, discussing whether what they saw was a hat monster or a false alarm. Then they heard someone shouting from behind the wall: "There's a fire, there's a fire in Gyeongbokgung Palace."
The group of people quickly bypassed the Yeonheon Hall and headed for the Gyeongbokgung Hall. It had only been a few moments since they left the Gyeongbokgung Hall, and after searching it, they found nothing suspicious, so they left. Then the eunuchs went in to clean up the leftovers and the mess of cups and plates.
"Could it be that the lights in the hall are on fire?"
Shen Kuo thought to himself: I clearly blew out several candles and oil lamps, how could there be a fire? When he rushed to the door of the hall, he saw a red light flickering inside, but the fire was weak, indicating that even if there was a fire, it was not big. A eunuch was running out shouting, probably looking for water to put out the fire.
When everyone rushed in, they saw an extremely bizarre scene. It was not the house, the wooden table, or the dragon wing that was on fire, but the wall where the official wrote the poem. The fire was not big, just a few places on the wall, and the flames looked weak and were about to go out. However, why did the various wooden objects in the hall not catch fire, but this wall was on fire instead?
Shen Kuo took a closer look and saw that the poem mentioned by the emperor was also burning fiercely. The flames on the word "hell" were the strongest, and they were green, making them particularly clear. He was the first to realize that this was not a fire, but a ghost. The hat monster in the imperial garden just now was probably a trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain.
When the eunuch came in with the bucket, the fire on the wall had been basically extinguished, and the smoke was dissipating, leaving only the word "hell" still burning. However, against the backdrop of this small flame, there seemed to be something else on the wall? The mottled scorch marks left by the burning just now seemed to be continuous.
"Someone, come and turn on the lights!" Bao Zheng said.
Someone quickly brought two palace lanterns, lit them, and carried them forward to shine.
On the wall, I saw a giant blue ghost with its bloody mouth opened.
"There's a ghost in the wall!"
The guard holding the lantern shrank back. Lao Bao stood up, snatched the palace lantern from his hand, and held it high to look at it. He saw that in the smoke, there was not only one ghost, but dozens of ghosts of all sizes painted on the wall. They were surrounded by red flames, which was also the place that was burning just now.
Holding the palace lantern, Lao Bao walked from left to right, looking at the wall of Gyeongbokgung Palace. He saw the evil spirits on the wall tearing and splitting weak, pale, naked human bodies, and some lifted naked people high up and threw them into the oil pan. Although there was no sound in this painting, he could clearly hear the shrill screams again.
"Is this Wu Daozi's 'Transformations of Hell'? Yes, it is the Transformations of Hell."
Lao Bao's voice was trembling a little. Even a steady man like him was a little surprised.
