Chapter 33 third quarter

It seemed that after only one night, the Taiye Pool melted. In fact, after the Shangyuan Festival, the sunlight shining on Taiye Pond became more dazzling day by day.When walking by the pool, you will find that there are thin cracks bursting out on the surface of the crystal plate-like pool, and clusters are like chrysanthemums in full bloom.A few days later, several fine lines became long strips, and the longest one could even run from one side of Taiye Pool to the other side. The wind is getting warmer and warmer, and for several nights in a row, in the Qingsi Hall above the Taiye Pool, in the silence of all sounds, you can always hear the clear and pleasant "rusting" sound coming from the surface of the pool.

The maids who get up early to make up have more expectations than in the past.In the twilight of dawn, they opened the doors and windows, refreshed by the biting morning chill.Looking up, the yellow candlelight lit in the palaces and courtyards, swaying in the morning and dusk, made them feel warm and poetic. Dawn soon came up.When the first group of maids came to the Taiye Pool, they were pleasantly surprised to find that the crystal plate that had been shining all winter was gone.The blue waves on the Taiye Pond are rippling, not to mention ice cubes, there are not even ice chips and ballast.The maids clapped their hands excitedly as if witnessing a miracle: "The ice has melted! The ice has melted! Spring is here!"

Shouting and being happy, someone suddenly saw something floating in the water, which was shining brightly by the new rising sun—could it be the only remaining piece of ice? It drifted slowly towards the edge of the pool.Everyone gathered together curiously, wanting to see what happened to this piece of "ice". Suddenly, someone screamed: "Ah, yes, it is a person... a dead person!" A corpse that was as frozen as an ice sculpture floated up and down in the blue waves of Taiye Pond. After retiring from the court, the emperor summoned several important officials to discuss the final strategy to eliminate Pinglu and Li Shidao in the Yanying Hall.The war to cut down the vassals, which started in the first year of Yuanhe, has lasted for nearly fifteen years.Under the emperor's iron will, the feudal towns all over the world surrendered to the imperial court one by one.Forced by the situation, Pinglu Li Shidao also had to submit a form, expressing his willingness to cede the three states in exchange for the imperial court's withdrawal of troops.The emperor had planned to accept his conditions in an attitude of calming things down, but Li Shidao went back on his word, claiming that his subordinates opposed the cession of the three states and repented.

The emperor was furious, and decided not to tolerate any more, and to take down the last tough bone of Pinglu Fanzhen at all costs.In today's Yanying call, the content of the "complaints" against Li Shidao was finally determined, and the Xuanwu, Weibo, Yicheng, Wuning, and Henghai five armies were ordered to send troops to Pinglu. When returning to Qingsi Hall, the emperor was still immersed in excitement.He knows very well that this will be the last battle to reduce the clan, and he firmly believes that this battle must be won! The spring of the fourteenth year of Yuanhe is coming, and it may not be necessary to wait until the fifteenth year of Yuanhe to fulfill the oath made at the beginning of his ascension to the throne.Thinking of this, the emperor felt a bit of bewilderment and emptiness while being excited, and even an inexplicable fear.

When he saw Song Ruozhao's body in the Qingsi Hall, this fear of unknown origin became particularly specific and distinct. The rapid freezing made the corpse well preserved, and Song Ruozhao's face was lifelike, peaceful as if he was asleep.There was a long sword stuck in her chest, and it was frozen upright, standing upright like a flagpole. The minister of Dali Temple who came here in an emergency stammered his opinion: "Scholar Song and Song's face is serene, and the clothes are neat... It shows that she didn't struggle before she died, so she couldn't have lost her footing and drowned. The mud and sand also ruled out the possibility of committing suicide by throwing himself into the river. Instead, he should have been thrown into the lake after death... Since it was frozen for too long, no blood was found around the wound on the chest, so it was impossible to judge whether the sword was in the lake. Before she died, she was inserted after death..." Dali Temple Qing swallowed, feeling a bit unsustainable, but still had to bite the bullet and continued, "Because the body has been hidden under the ice, it has been thawed until today. The ice just came out of the water..."

The emperor interrupted him impatiently: "Just tell me briefly, how did Song Ruozhao die and when did he die?" "Minister, minister..." Dali Siqing's tongue was clumsy, and his body was trembling unconsciously.Chen Hongzhi, who was standing beside him, cast a look of half contempt and half sympathy at him.Since last year, whenever the courtiers went to the Qingsi Hall to face the saint, they would add an extra cotton robe inside their court clothes to avoid being damaged by the frost.Dali Siqing was summoned temporarily today, and there was no time to prepare, so he only wore ordinary clothes, and after staying in Qingsi Hall for a while, he probably almost froze, not much better than Song Ruozhao who was lying on the ground.

"Say it!" The emperor's patience was about to run out, and the consequences would be disastrous. "Please forgive me, Your Majesty!" Dali Temple Qing bowed his head and bowed. "The death of Song Xueshi is too strange. I can't know the cause of Song Xueshi's death for a while, and... can't determine the time of her death. Your Majesty!" The emperor waved his hands sullenly, and the minister of Dali Temple retreated as if fleeing. Song Ruozhao was analyzing the cause of the vision in Lingyan Pavilion to the emperor, and disappeared after leaving Qingsi Hall.It was Song Ruozhao's disappearance that brought Pei Xuanjing before the emperor again.From the three visions of Lingyan Pavilion to the two red characters in the thirty-third image of "Tui Bei Tu", Pei Xuanjing used a series of dazzling reasoning to finally reveal the emperor's crime of killing his father!

Pei Xuanjing was convicted of speaking and was sentenced to amputation, which led to Li Zhongyan.In the end, the emperor is the real victor.He finally got rid of this confidant, and found out all the mysteries from the acrostic to the present.In fact, the emperor began to suspect very early on that Li Zhongyan was the instigator of a series of mysteries inside and outside the Daming Palace.For the emperor, killing Li Zhongyan was a piece of cake, but as long as he didn't speak, he couldn't get rid of all the hidden dangers. Therefore, the emperor kept holding back Li Zhongyan, just to find a chance to kill him.Unexpectedly, it was Pei Xuanjing who took on the most crucial role.Pei Xuanjing bluntly said that she was guilty, and said what Li Zhongyan wanted to say but could not.He felt that his wish was fulfilled, and he didn't want to implicate any more innocent people, so he decided to surrender to the emperor.

Li Zhongyan and Pei Xuanjing possessed a secret that could destroy the emperor, but now they could no longer speak. As for "Xin Gong Shang Xian", on the surface, after all, it is just a ghost story, more than horror, but the meaning is obscure.Most of the ones that were distributed during the Shangyuan Festival were taken back and destroyed. Even if some were scattered among the people, it would not cause any harm.In dealing with Duan Chengshi, the emperor was quite magnanimous.Not only has his image not been damaged, but it has become even more glorious.All the people involved were convinced, and even Pei Du didn't say a word.

Song Ruozhao has been missing for more than ten months, and the emperor has almost forgotten her.Unexpectedly, just after all the dust settled, her body popped out again. If Song Ruozhao's cause of death is clear, then whether it is suicide or homicide, the emperor will feel completely at ease.However, Song Ruozhao appeared in such a treacherous image, as if it was designed to remind the emperor: the matter is not over yet. Could it be that he has overlooked something? The servant came forward to carry Song Ruozhao's body, but the emperor stopped him suddenly: "Wait a minute, I have to take another look."

He walked slowly to the corpse.Because the temperature in the Hall of Qingsi was lower than that outside, Song Ruozhao's body was placed on the ground for a long time, but it was still fresh and clean, neither water stains nor blood or stains could be seen. The emperor felt in a daze that what was lying in front of him was not a woman's corpse, but a big frozen fish.This association made him feel faintly disgusted, and also had an extremely weird sense of familiarity. Where did he seem to have seen this scene? Suddenly, the emperor shuddered!He quickly walked around to the back of the mica screen, and on the table were placed side by side the model of Lingyan Pavilion and the golden chamber that houses "Tui Bei Tu". "Chen Hongzhi!" he ordered, "Bring the key to the Golden Chamber." "Yes." Chen Hongzhi immediately held up the lacquer plate covered with yellow satin. The emperor lifted the yellow satin, picked up the key, and glanced at Chen Hongzhi.The latter stood with his head bowed, waiting respectfully. "Back off." Chen Hongzhi quickly flashed out of the screen. The emperor took a deep breath, inserted the key, and opened the golden chamber. The one on the top is the thirty-third image of "Tui Bei Tu", and the two red letters caught his attention impressively.Old trees wither and new trees flourish.The emperor looked away in disgust, and took it out of the golden chamber. Next came the ninth elephant and the first elephant, which he also took out and put aside. Then there is the second image of "Tui Bei Tu".The first thing that comes into sight is the fish. The emperor's breathing became heavy.He had seen this picture too many times, so Song Ruozhao's death immediately aroused his association.That's right, just like the picture on the second elephant - a long sword passed through the body of the carp. There was also a sword stuck in Song Ruozhao's frozen body, and she floated from the lake like a dead fish. What does it mean? Song Ruozhao's death was so bizarre, could it be another revelation from the gods after the three visions in Lingyan Pavilion? The emperor could not believe his eyes.Because he clearly saw that there were also red characters on Second Xiang's poem! How is this possible?When he moved the Golden Chamber into the Hall of Qingsi, he read "Tui Bei Tu" several times from beginning to end.Except for the thirty-third image, all the pictures and poems have no problem.Especially this second image that he cares most about! But now the emperor clearly saw that in the seven-character poem of the second image, red characters appeared in the third and fourth sentences. This seven-character poem is the only one in the entire "Tui Bei Tu" that the emperor can recite backwards. "There are three or six sons of carp in the river, and there are many springs and springs. There are two or nine descendants, and one generation is missing in three hundred years." But now, the character "nine" in the third sentence has become the character "five" in red, and the character "three" in the fourth sentence has become the character "two" in red. So this poem becomes: "Three or six sons of carp in the river, from the source of many sources. There are two or five descendants, and there is one less generation in two hundred years." Chen Hongzhi, who was waiting quietly outside the screen, heard a roar, which was very similar to the desperate scream of a beast when it was dying!Chen Hongzhi was so startled that he jumped up on the spot, and instinctively shouted: "Everyone!" He rushed straight into the screen. Chen Hongzhi was petrified by the scene in front of him.