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墨書 Inktalez
Mei Shuang shivered for no reason.
The concubines followed Xiao Luo in a line. Although many gazes had lingered on Mei Shuang, they merely passed over her indifferently. To be honest, few could understand the fear of a mysterious woman openly throwing herself at the Emperor.
It was common for concubines to compete for favor and feel jealous. The Emperor treated each concubine equally, but now, suddenly, a bold woman was openly courting him right under the noses of all the other concubines, which was truly audacious.
What was even more ridiculous was that not only did she openly court him, but now she was putting on such a show, kneeling as if her legs would break after just a short while. Wasn't she just trying to attract the Emperor's attention?
The expressions of the departing concubines varied, their mocking and disdainful glances piercing like swords. Before leaving, they all shot their disdainful looks at Mei Shuang, inwardly fuming about where this so-called fox spirit named Lin or Enchantress had come from!
Even though Mei Shuang had only turned slightly, she could already feel the weight of those powerful gazes, pricking at her like thorns and making her heart tighten involuntarily.
In a short time, she had become the public enemy of the concubines.
But who could it be?
Xiao Luo and the concubines quickly exited the main hall under the guidance of the host, leaving only Mei Shuang and Yun Kong behind her.
Mei Shuang felt a wave of darkness before her eyes and swayed slightly.
Suddenly, a pair of strong arms supported her. Coming to her senses, she realized it was Yun Kong, whose bright eyes were filled with warmth.
Such a gaze made Mei Shuang feel an unexpected surge of emotion.
Once she steadied herself, she forced a smile and said, "Thank you, I'm fine."
Yun Kong stepped back a few paces, pressed his palms together, murmured "Amitabha," and then spoke softly in a voice only two people could hear, "Be careful."
Before Mei Shuang could respond, Yun Kong's figure had already disappeared at the entrance of the hall.
She stood there in a daze for a while before realizing that she was the only one left in the grand hall.
Taking a deep breath, she looked around. The towering and magnificent hall was filled with silence, except for the wisps of smoke rising from the incense burner, permeating the air with the scent of incense.
She looked up at the Majestic Buddha, whose image was lifelike, gazing down upon all beings. Those compassionate eyes seemed to see through everything in the world.
Mei Shuang carefully examined the Buddhas beside the large statue, her gaze landing on the Bodhisattva whose eyes had just moved and were now fixed intently on her.
Feeling nervous, her palms began to sweat, but after a while, the Bodhisattva showed no signs of abnormality.
Mei Shuang suddenly relaxed; it must be that today was not a good day for her to go out, which was why she encountered something strange.
As she turned to leave the grand hall, she seemed to catch a glimpse of something moving in her peripheral vision.
Her heart raced as she slowly turned her gaze toward the source of movement.
Upon seeing it, she was immediately terrified; the lips of that Bodhisattva were slowly curling upward, clearly smiling at Mei Shuang.
When Mei Shuang screamed and ran out of the eerie grand hall, she truly startled several monks outside.
Outside, the Blessing Ceremony had already concluded. The monks who had been chanting had dispersed, leaving only a few monks waiting outside the hall.
Mei Shuang stumbled out of the hall in a panic, and several monks rushed forward to ask what had happened.
"It moved! No, no, it smiled..." Mei Shuang spoke incoherently.
The monks exchanged confused glances, puzzled. They peered into the hall but saw nothing unusual. However, the terror evident in this masked woman's eyes did not seem fake. One monk asked, "Please do not panic, take your time and tell us—what smiled?"
Standing in the sunlight, Mei Shuang was drenched in sweat as if she had just been pulled out of water. It took her a while to catch her breath, but her eyes still held fear. Seeing several unfamiliar monks in front of her, she shook her head, "It's nothing, nothing at all. Perhaps I just imagined it..."
---
Dazhao Temple is the royal temple of the Great Qin Empire, built against the mountains and covering a total area of a thousand acres. In late spring and early summer, everything is lush and green.
Following the winding bluestone path leads to the back mountain of the temple, where the Emperor's Palace is located. After worshipping at the temple, the Emperor usually rests in the Palace for a while, either having a meal or discussing Buddhist teachings with the temple's abbot.
Mei Shuang followed the monks up the steps. Hidden among the dense forest, the Palace featured winding corridors and intricately carved beams. The flowers and grass of late spring covered the Palace grounds, making it look like a tapestry laid out on the ground, quite pleasing to the eye.
The fright she had just experienced was somewhat alleviated by the beautiful scenery before her. Mei Shuang walked slowly through this picturesque setting, but her mind was filled with thoughts of the strange occurrences she had just witnessed.
First, she stumbled into the Emperor's arms; then there was an unusual phenomenon with the Bodhisattva in the main hall; and afterward, Yun Kong reminded her to be cautious... What was going on? Was she the only one who noticed the Bodhisattva's anomaly?
Her mind was a jumble until a monk reminded her that they had arrived at the dining area, snapping her back to reality.
Lunch had already been prepared in the Palace. Since the Emperor had brought many consorts with him this time, lunch was set in the spacious West Fourth Palace. By the time Mei Shuang arrived, all the consorts were already seated.
In the center sat Xiao Luo, with Queen Meiru and Consort Chen on either side, while other consorts were seated in order.
Each person had a similar light vegetarian meal in front of them.
Mei Shuang stood at the door and looked inside, realizing that there seemed to be no place for her to sit. The consorts looked at her as if she were an alien. The one in the middle sat upright and seemed not to indicate where she should sit for dinner. Thus, she awkwardly stood at the entrance, unable to enter or exit.
Clearly, her presence interrupted everyone’s meal, Mei Shuang thought self-deprecatingly. The gloating gazes from those consorts would have hurt her pride on any other day; however, even now, in such an embarrassing situation, she felt no resentment. Even if they invited her to sit down, affected by her earlier fright, she had no appetite for food.
Well then, what does it matter if I don't eat?
She was about to turn around when she suddenly heard Queen Meiru's gentle voice, "Your Majesty, should we let Miss Lin in?"
"Mm," Xiao Luo nodded as if he had just noticed Mei Shuang's presence, granting permission.
"Then let's add another table and invite Miss Lin to take a seat," Queen Meiru instructed.
Before long, the monk set up the table and chairs and brought in a serving of vegetarian food.
Mei Shuang did not hold back, sitting at the lowest position among all the concubines. After Xiao Luo began to eat, she also started to feast heartily.
The angrier one felt, the more one's endurance was tested; having a good appetite was proof of resilience.
As the concubines had their lunch, silver chopsticks and soup spoons were all present. They chewed slowly and elegantly, and the entire West Fourth Palace was silent, except for Mei Shuang, who directly grabbed a bun with her hands, shocking several concubines who exchanged disdainful glances.
When Mei Shuang finished her bowl of vegetarian food, the other concubines were still struggling with their buns. Only a bowl of soup remained in front of her. She picked up the bowl and suddenly noticed that the color of her soup seemed slightly darker than that of the other concubines' bowls.
Suddenly recalling Yun Kong's warning, she put the bowl down again and casually glanced at the soup in front of the other concubines. Indeed, none of their soups were as dark as hers.
Mei Shuang became more cautious, looking around. Everyone was quietly having their lunch, which meant that the people here were unlikely to be tampering with anything; perhaps the soup had some issues from outside.
She picked up the bowl again, bringing it close to her lips, pretending that the soup was hot as she lightly blew on it while keeping a vigilant eye on her surroundings.
Since someone had served her a special bowl of soup, they must be concerned about whether she drank it.
After observing for a while without noticing anything suspicious, when Mei Shuang turned her gaze to the corner of the wall, she suddenly screamed, "Ah! There's a rat!"
With a slip of her hand, the bowl she was holding fell to the ground.
The sudden scream, accompanied by the sound of shattered porcelain, was particularly chilling in the quiet West Fourth Palace. Some timid concubines dropped their chopsticks in shock, especially the one next to Mei Shuang, who was splashed by the soup on the floor, leaving a conspicuous stain on her pink gown.
That concubine, furious and embarrassed, was about to scold the clumsy Mei Shuang when she looked down in astonishment at the floor.
The soup on the ground bubbled as if boiling and emitted a hissing sound.
"Ah—it's poisonous!" The concubine's face turned pale with fear as she covered her nose with a handkerchief and retreated repeatedly. Suddenly remembering the soup that had splashed onto her dress, she hurriedly looked down to inspect it. The area stained by the soup clearly showed signs of burning.
In a frenzy, she rushed to kneel before Xiao Luo, pointing at Mei Shuang and accusing her of trying to kill her.
With such an uproar, the meal was clearly ruined.
Every concubine's eyes were fixed on the soup on the floor; from its appearance, its toxicity was evident.
They all turned their gazes toward Mei Shuang in unison.
Mei Shuang stood there in a daze. Although she had sensed something was wrong with the soup, she never imagined it contained such deadly poison that could cause severe harm.
If she hadn't been cautious earlier, her life would likely be in jeopardy.
Xiao Luo set down his chopsticks and first approached the weeping concubine who was begging for the emperor's intervention, his expression cold as he said, "Send her back to her palace."
Then he walked over to Mei Shuang, gazing at her for a moment. In front of all the uncertain eyes of the concubines, he spoke lightly, "Today is for praying for the Empress Dowager's well-being, yet you have shown repeated disrespect. Guards, take her away and await punishment."
---
Mei Shuang sat in a small room, staring blankly out of the window as the sun descended from directly above and sank into the west, gradually darkening the sky.
For Xiao Luo to arrange for herself to pray for the Empress Dowager and to appear publicly was indeed a ridiculous act. Now, from the moment she entered, things have been far from peaceful, with one shocking incident after another, and even someone attempting to poison themselves.
If Xiao Luo's arrangement to pray for the Empress Dowager ultimately led to her own poisoning, then it would have been much simpler to do so with just a cup of poison in the palace. Why go through the trouble of coming all this way?
But if it wasn't Xiao Luo, then who could it be? The attacks began almost immediately, and the timing was remarkably precise.
Even a fool like Xiao Luo should have noticed something amiss; how could she have imprisoned herself?
The more she thought about it, the more she felt that there were many strange things happening here. Not to mention others, even Nangong Nuo seemed to have no objection to her praying for the Empress Dowager. Moreover, she was using the name Lin Yuxiang; what did that really mean?
Unknowingly, the sky had darkened to an inky black.
At night, the wind in the mountains was strong, and during this chilly spring season, Mei Shuang couldn't help but feel underdressed.
She stood up from her chair and looked out at the dense forest beyond the window, which swayed eerily in the wind, making unsettling sounds in the quiet night.
Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed outside the window.
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