Chapter 25 Chapter Twenty-Three

Panting, Sophie came to the big wooden door of the National Exhibition Hall—this is where the "Mona Lisa" is kept.She couldn't help but look in the direction of the hall. About twenty yards away, her grandfather's body lay quietly in the spotlight. She suddenly felt deep remorse—a kind of sadness accompanied by guilt.In the past ten years, her grandfather has contacted her countless times, but Sophie has always been indifferent-she put the letters and packages in the bottom drawer of the wardrobe untouched, and refused to meet with her grandfather.He lied to me!He has a dark secret!What does he want me to do?Sophie rejected him thousands of miles away with such thoughts.

Now, the grandfather is dead, and he is still talking to Sophie after his death. "Mona Lisa". Sophie reached out and pushed open the huge wooden door, and the entrance unfolded before her eyes.She stood at the door for a moment, and scanned the rectangular exhibition hall in front of her.The entire exhibition hall is bathed in soft red light.The national exhibition hall has only one entrance and exit. Such a structure is rare in museums, and it is also the only exhibition hall set up separately in a large art gallery.The wooden door is the only entrance to this exhibition hall, and it faces the famous painting of Botticelli, which is fifteen meters high, on the far wall.Below that, on a parquet floor, sits a gigantic octagonal sofa for thousands of visitors to take a nap before admiring the jewels of the Louvre.

Before Sophie entered the exhibition hall, she remembered that she forgot to bring something.black light.She looked towards the distant body of her grandfather, surrounded by electrical devices.If my grandfather wrote anything in the gallery, he must have written it with a pen. Sophie took a deep breath and hurried to the brightly lit murder scene.She couldn't bear to look at her grandfather and forced herself to focus on finding the PTS tool.She found a small UV pen, slipped it into the pocket of her sweater, and hurried down the gallery to the open doors of the State Gallery. As soon as Sophie turned around and stepped over the threshold, she unexpectedly heard low footsteps in the exhibition hall, which were getting closer and closer to her.There are people inside!A ghost suddenly appeared in the misty red light.Sophie took a few steps back in horror.

"You're here!" Langdon's hoarse voice broke the atmosphere of terror, his black figure slid up to Sophie and stopped.Sophie breathed a sigh of relief, but worried again: "Robert, I'm telling you to get out of here! If Fache—" "Where did you go?" "I've got to get a black light," Sophie murmured, pulling out the UV pen. "If my grandfather left me a message—" "Sophie, listen to me." Langdon held his breath, staring at Sophie with blue eyes. "Do you know any other meanings of the letters P.S. . . . ? Can't remember anything?"

Sophie was afraid that their voices would echo in the long corridor, so she pushed Langdon into the exhibition hall, then gently closed the huge wooden door that was open, and bolted the door from the inside. "I told you it's an acronym for Princess Sophie." "I know, but have you seen it elsewhere? Did your grandfather use it in any other way? Like As a monogram written on stationery or personal items?" The question shocked Sophie.How would Langdon know?Sophie had indeed seen the initials P. S．Used as a monogram.It was the day before her ninth birthday, and she was quietly looking around the house for a hidden birthday present.What will my grandfather give me this year?She rummaged through the closets and drawers.Will he give me the doll I want?Where did he hide it?

After rummaging through the house and finding nothing, Sophie musters up the courage to sneak into her grandfather's room.The room was not supposed to be entered, but at the time the grandfather was asleep on the couch downstairs and would not have known what Sophie had been up to.I'll take a quick peek! Sophie tiptoed to the closet, the floorboards creaking under her feet.She looked at the shelves blocked by her grandfather's clothes, but found nothing.Sophie went to grandfather's desk again, opened the drawers one by one, and looked through them carefully.There must be something hidden here just for me!But she never saw the shadow of the doll.Frustrated, she opened the last drawer and rummaged through some black clothes her grandfather had never worn.Just as she was about to close the drawer, she saw something gleaming in the depths of the drawer.It looked like a pocket watch chain, but she knew her grandfather never wore a pocket watch.Her heart beat wildly as she guessed what it was.

A necklace! Sophie carefully took the chain out of the drawer, and was surprised to find that there was still a pendant hanging from the end of the chain. golden key.The golden key is heavy and gleaming.Sophie grasped the distinctive key dazedly.most Most keys are flat with jagged edges, but this one is triangular prism-shaped with small holes all over it.gold The large key handle is cross-shaped, but the two segments that intersect are the same length, like a plus sign.In the center of the cross is inlaid a A peculiar logo - two intertwined letters and a flower pattern. "P.S.," Sophie frowned.

He frowned softly.What the hell is this? "Sophie?" came the grandfather's voice from the door. Sophie was taken aback for a moment, and the key fell to the ground with a "dang".She stared at the keys on the floor, not daring to look up at her grandfather. "I... was looking for my birthday present." Sophie said with her head down, knowing she had betrayed her grandfather's trust.Grandfather stood at the door for a long time without saying a word.Finally, with a sigh of unease, he said, "Sophie, pick up the key." Sophie picked up the key. Grandpa walked in. "Sophie, you should respect other people's privacy." The grandfather knelt down and gently picked up the key. "This key is very special. If you lose it..."

The grandfather's soft voice made Sophie feel even more uncomfortable, "I'm sorry, Grandpa. I really... thought it was a necklace for my birthday." Grandfather stared at Sophie. "I repeat, Sophie. It's very important. You should learn to respect other people's privacy." "Got it, grandfather." "We'll talk about it sometime. Now, go weed the garden." Sophie hurried out to do chores. Sophie didn't get her grandfather's birthday present the next morning.Having done something wrong, Sophie didn't expect to get a birthday gift, but her grandfather didn't wish her a happy birthday all day.In the evening, she went to bed sadly, and as soon as she climbed into bed, she found a card under her pillow with a riddle written on it.Before solving the riddle, she laughed.I know what it is!My grandfather did the same thing last Christmas morning.

Game of finding treasure! Sophie devoured the riddle eagerly, and finally got the answer.The answer to the riddle leads her to a part of the house where she finds another card with the riddle written on it.She solved the riddle and ran to the next card.Sophie ran through the room according to clues, and finally she found a clue that led her back to the bedroom.Sophie rushed upstairs to her room.She stopped suddenly because she saw a brand new red bicycle parked in the middle of the room, with ribbons still tied to the handlebars.Sophie screamed with excitement. "I know you want a doll," said the grandfather, smiling from a corner, "but I think you'd like this better."

The next day, grandfather taught Sophie how to ride a bicycle.Sophie sat in the car while Grandpa ran down the drive.Sophie accidentally tilted the front of the car towards the thick lawn and lost her balance. The grandparent and grandson fell on the lawn together, rolling and laughing. "Grandfather," Sophie said, hugging her grandfather, "I'm sorry, I saw the key." "I know, baby. Forgive you. I can't be mad at you all the time. Grandfather and granddaughter always forgive each other." "What's that for? I've never seen a key like that. It's beautiful." Sophie couldn't help asking. Grandfather was silent for a long time.Sophie knew it must be that he didn't know how to answer.Grandpa never lied.Finally, he said at last, "It is used to open a box in which many of my secrets are hidden." Sophie pouted, "I hate secrets." "I know, but they are very important secrets. One day, you will learn to appreciate them as much as I do." "I saw two letters on the key, and a flower." "That's my favorite flower. It's called the French lily. We have it in our garden, the white kind. It's called 'lily' in English." "I know that flower! That's my favorite too!" "Let's make a deal, then." Grandfather raised his eyebrows—his usual expression when he challenged Sophie. "If you keep this secret and never mention this key to me or anyone again, one day, I will give it to you." Sophie couldn't believe her ears, "Will you give it to me?" "I swear. When the time comes, I'll give you the key. It has your name on it." Sophie frowned: "No, it's not there. It says P.S., not my name." Grandfather looked around, as if to make sure no one was listening to their conversation.He lowered his voice and said, "Okay, Sophie, if you must ask, I'll tell you, PS is a password, which is the abbreviation of your secret address." Sophie's eyes widened. "I have a secret initials?" "Of course. Granddaughters always have secret initials that only the grandfather will know." "PS?" "Princess Sophie." The grandfather tickled Sophie. Sophie giggled: "I'm not a princess!" Grandfather winked, "You are my princess." From that day on, they never mentioned the key again, and Sophie became her grandfather's "Princess Sophie". Sophie stood in the national exhibition hall, silently bearing the pain of losing her grandfather. Langdon looked at her puzzled and said, "Have you ever seen that acronym?" Sophie seemed to feel her grandfather's whispers coming from the corridor of the museum.Never mention this key to me or anyone again.She knew she hadn't forgiven her grandfather, and she wondered if she should betray his trust again. PS: Go find Robert Langdon.Grandfather wanted Langdon to help.Sophie nodded, "I saw it once when I was very young." "Where did you see it?" Sophie hesitated, and replied, "On something very important to grandfather." Langdon stared at Sophie, "Sophie, this is very important. Is there any other sign next to this initial? Is there a French lily?" Sophie took two steps back in surprise, "You... how do you know of?" Langdon exhaled, and said in a low voice, "I'm pretty sure your grandfather was a member of a secret society. An ancient, hidden church." Sophie felt her heart tightening.She can be sure of that too.For ten years she had tried to forget the event that confirmed that fact.She had witnessed something unexpected and unforgivable. Langdon said: "The French lily and P.S. put together are their organizational logo, their badge and icon." "How do you know that?" Sophie really didn't want Langdon to reply that he was one of them himself. "I once wrote a book about this organization." Langdon's voice trembled with excitement. "The symbol of the secret society is one of my research directions. It calls itself 'The Priory of Sion'. It is based in France and has It has powerful members all over Europe. In fact, it's the oldest surviving secret society in the world." Sophie had never heard of any of this. Langdon has sped up his speech: "Many famous figures in history are members of the Priory, such as Botticelli, Newton, Hugo, etc." He paused, "and Leonardo da Finch." His words were full of enthusiasm for academic research. Sophie stared at Langdon. "Da Vinci was also a member of the secret society?" "From 1510 to 1519, Da Vinci was the archbishop and presided over the work of the Priory. This is why your grandfather loved Leonardo's works. Although they are in different historical periods, they are all churches. Brother. They all love goddess iconology, believe in paganism, goddesses, and despise Catholicism. There are detailed historical records for the monastery's belief in holy goddesses." "You mean this group is an organization of fanatical worshipers of pagan goddesses ?” "Much like an organization of fanatical worshipers of a pagan goddess. But more importantly, they are said to keep an ancient secret. This makes them immensely powerful." Although Langdon's eyes were extremely determined, Sophie doubted this statement from the bottom of her heart.A secret organization of pagan fanatics?Headed by Da Vinci?It sounds ridiculous.She couldn't help but recall that night ten years ago—her grandfather was very surprised by her unintentional early return, and she saw the fact that she still cannot accept.Could this be why—"The identities of the members who are still alive are classified," Langdon said, "but the P.S. and the French lilies you saw as a child are a strong proof. It will be related." Sophie realized that Langdon knew more about her grandfather than she had imagined.The American could tell her many things, but this was clearly not the place to talk. "I can't let them take you, Robert. We have a lot to talk about. You have to get out of here!" Sophie's voice became indistinct in Langdon's mind.He doesn't want to go anywhere.He fell into thought again.Ancient secrets appeared before his eyes, and those forgotten histories appeared in his mind again.Langdon turned his head slowly, staring at the Mona Lisa through the red haze. French lily...French lily...the Mona Lisa. It all wove together like a silent symphony, an echo of ancient secrets about the Priory of Sion and Leonardo da Vinci. A few miles away, on the riverside in front of the Les Invalides, the driver of the tractor-trailer stood at the gunpoint of the police in bewilderment, watching the sheriff roar and throw a bar of soap into the high-water Seine.