Just as Yin Qingxuan and Ling Xiao entered the forbidden grounds of the Devil Sect and closed the formation door, Ling Yun grabbed Ye Xingchen's hand decisively and flew away, heading straight for the stretch of palaces.
Yin Qingxuan sensed something, but she only smiled at the place where Ling Yun had been hiding, her face full of affection.
It was like a mother who had long seen her child playing hide-and-seek with her, but she let him have his way while pretending to be oblivious.
It was his home, after all, so Ling Yun could do whatever he wanted and let him do as he pleased.
"Whoosh!"
Ling Yun and Ye Xingchen appeared. They had arrived at the very center of the chain of palaces, which was also the tallest roof of the palace.
Ling Yun looked around.
Although this place was called a stretch of palaces, it was actually just a palace-like building made of wood and stone.
The so-called palatial style was actually just some buildings in the main locations. Compared to ordinary buildings, they had more suspended eaves. Therefore, from afar, they looked magnificent and had a little more ancient feeling.
At this moment, Ling Yun's position was the highest, but it was only three stories, less than twenty meters tall, and less than a thousand square meters in area. Speaking of which, it was the size of Mansion Number One.
There were a total of 36 palaces of various sizes in this palace, which coincided with the number of 36 Celestial Stars.
The layout and location of each palace house was extremely particular. It was different from the Forbidden City, which was symmetrical along a central axis. Instead, it was arranged in picturesque disorder. Therefore, there weren't many houses, but it gave off a magnificent feeling of continuity.
Ling Yun's Divine Consciousness enveloped all the palaces and houses. He realized that most of the palaces and houses didn't have any furniture on display. However, there were at least two ancient bronze utensils in each house. Most of them were ancient bronze oil lamps. Almost every palace and house had more than two lamps. There were also bronze tripods, bronze wine holders, bronze musical instruments, and so on.
In addition, some palaces had exquisite bronze beasts, many of them complete with oracle bone inscriptions, and so on …
Of course, the palace with the most bronze utensils was the one under Ling Yun's feet. This was the main hall, and there were all kinds of large bronze utensils and even ancient pottery of different sizes. Without exception, they were all very exquisite. It made one feel as if they had transmigrated back to an ancient dynasty.
"This is …"
Ling Yun was dumbfounded. Looking at this extremely shabby palace, he thought of his mother's real identity, and Yin Xu was right outside the formation of the headquarter of the Devil's Doctrine. He had to have an extremely bold idea.
"What?"
Ye Xingchen, who was standing next to him, knew that Lingyun had guessed something, but he didn't point it out. He only glanced at him with interest.
"If I'm not wrong, this should be the palace of the Shang Dynasty from three thousand years ago, the residence of the Shang King, right?"
There was no need to be polite with Ye Xingchen. Ling Yun would say whatever came to his mind.
Ye Xingchen snickered.
"You really dare to guess!" Ye Xingchen rolled her eyes at Ling Yun, then nodded with a smile. "But I'm not wrong."
She raised her hand and pointed at the palace below. "Apart from these palaces, which were rebuilt by the ancestors of the Holy Sect according to ancient texts a thousand years ago, everything else inside is authentic Shang Dynasty items."
Ling Yun's eyes lit up.
Three-thousand-year-old bronzes, Shang Dynasty items. Any one of them would be national treasures!
And there were so many here. If this palace was directly moved out, it would be the only Shang Dynasty museum in the world!
"Hey, what's with that expression?!"
"I'm thinking how rich my mother must be."
"Are you looking for a beating?"
"Ahem …" Ling Yun laughed and said to Ye Xingchen, "Not to that extent. I'm just thinking about it … but just thinking about it makes me happy!"
The Ling Yun now dared to say that he was the richest in the world. Why would he need to rely on such tricks to earn money?
Ye Xingchen pursed her lips and smiled. She knew his temper and couldn't be bothered to argue with Ling Yun. Suddenly, she took Ling Yun's hand and flew down, straight into the palace below.
"What's this?"
Ling Yun noticed that near the center of the palace, there was a bronze platform that was half the height of a person. It wasn't small, at least two meters square. The inside was hollow, and it was an arm's length deep. It looked like a large bronze bathtub.
"I told you to guess. What's the point of saying it?"
Ye Xingchen tilted her head. Her long hair cascaded down like a waterfall, and her beautiful eyes sparkled. She had the demeanor of a mischievous girl.
Ling Yun had never seen such a Ye Xingchen before. He couldn't help but be stunned. He guessed randomly, "Could this be King Zhou's bathing pool?"
"Ptui, do you know how to bathe in the conference hall?"
Ye Xingchen flew up and gave him a kick.
"Ugh …"
Ling Yun didn't mind at all that he had earned a free kick. His expression turned serious as he said in a low voice, "This can't be the legendary wine pool, right?"
"That's right!"
Ye Xingchen's pretty face instantly turned solemn. She nodded solemnly. "The wine pool is a forest of meat. This is the legendary wine pool. It's only this big."
Ling Yun immediately put away his playful expression. Looking at the legendary wine pool, the corners of his mouth gradually curled into a cold smile.
"Legends can't be trusted!"
Ye Xingchen also laughed coldly. "King Zhou of Shang was the last human emperor of the human realm. He conquered the Dongyi and swept across the land. He fought for many years, and every time he won, he would be rewarded according to his contributions. For the sake of convenience, or perhaps to let the soldiers enjoy themselves to the fullest, he simply built a wine pool like this to collect wine.
"Later generations said that King Zhou of Shang indulged in wine and women, used up all his military power, punished and collected taxes heavily, and refused to listen to advice … These words are simply laughable!"
Ye Xingchen's pretty face was already filled with indignation. "Indulged in wine and women? Any man who knows how to drink can be slapped with such a label. "
"Saying that he used up all his military power is even more nonsense. Since ancient times, which emperor didn't obtain it through war if they wanted to expand their territory? Emperor Qin, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Tang, Emperor Mingzu, which one of them didn't fight their way to the throne through years of war?
"Since we're going to war, without strict military discipline and strict rewards and punishments, who would be willing to die before a war between two armies? If a general died in battle, he naturally had to be given a generous burial. What's wrong with that?
"As for refusing to listen to advice and covering up his mistakes … If an emperor listened to all advice and took responsibility for all mistakes, what great things could he accomplish?
"At that time, the Shang army was expanding their territory and Chaoge was empty. That was why the Western Zhou attacked them. In the Battle of Muye, the Shang King had no choice but to send out his slaves and prisoners to form an army to fight against King Wu's army. How could he not lose?
"The so-called crime of being a tyrant was only because he lost the war and the dynasty was destroyed. It was all fabricated by the Western Zhou Dynasty eight hundred years later!"
Ling Yun was speechless and dumbfounded. It was not because of Ye Xingchen's words, but because he did not expect Ye Xingchen to be filled with righteous indignation and make such an intense evaluation of a small wine pool.
In fact, Ling Yun could tell at a glance that Ye Xingchen had changed greatly during this meeting. Not only had she reached the pinnacle of Qi Cultivation Stage Nine, but Ye Xingchen's overall temperament had also changed!
Especially now, when Ye Xingchen spoke about King Xin of Shang and her understanding of war, the sharpness and vigor in her beautiful eyes made one think that she was a decisive and murderous monarch!
"The winner is king, the loser is a thief!"
Ling Yun naturally understood this principle. History was just a little girl that anyone could dress up. He did not want Ye Xingchen to get too emotional after a long separation. He asked calmly, "If the wine pool is like this, what about the meat forest?"
"The meat forest?"
Ye Xingchen seemed to feel that her emotions were a little too intense. She smiled sweetly and waved her arms. "If the wine pool is here, then the meat forest is naturally in this hall.
"The legendary Meat Forest. It is said that the Shang King ordered people to cut the meat of all kinds of animals into large pieces and hang them in the forest for people to enjoy and eat as they please. It is one thing to hear, but as long as one has a brain, no one will believe it!"
"People three thousand years ago already knew how to wear clothes, use fire, brew wine, and build palaces and houses. With these conditions in place, how big a hole would their brains have to be to hang roasted meat in the forest to eat?"
Ye Xingchen asked with a smile. Only then did he reveal the answer. "In reality, during the banquet, there were too many slaves carrying meat. They carried the meat and stood in rows within this great hall. That was how the saying of the Forest of Meat came about. Who would have thought that as the rumors spread, or perhaps later generations deliberately slandered him, it would become the crime of the Shang King's debauchery and extravagance …"
Ling Yun, "…"
So it was this wine pool and meat forest.
Ye Xingchen suddenly turned around and looked Ling Yun in the eye. She smiled sweetly. "Actually, Master told me to tell you all this. After all, you have the bloodline of the Human Emperor in you. You have to understand the truth of the past and not be deceived by the lies and lies of later generations."
Lingyun smiled brightly and nodded. "I've never believed in the King of Shang's debauchery and debauchery. In my opinion, he was just an emperor who had lost the war. Western Zhou had tried hard to discredit him for 800 years, but all they managed to do was come up with these specious excuses. This has already proved that he was a wise ruler."
"You're smart!"
Ye Xingchen did not hide her praise for Ling Yun. She did not stay any longer and turned to leave.
"However, no matter how much we think about it, these are just the sayings of ordinary people. I have another version here. Do some people want to hear it?"
Ling Yun immediately rolled his eyes and caught up to Ye Xingchen in a flash, his hands reaching for her armpits.
"Since there's another version, you'd better tell me the truth or you'll be punished according to the family rules!"
Ye Xingchen giggled and flew out of the hall, evading Ling Yun's sneak attack.
Ling Yun naturally chased after her.
The two of them, one chasing and the other fleeing, flashed through the thirty-six palaces and houses like butterflies. Finally, they came to a stop in the air and stood side by side.
"The Investiture of the Gods."
Ye Xingchen turned her head casually. Her long hair fluttered in the wind and her beautiful eyes were deep as she looked at the starry night sky.
"The Shang King Xin became the most famous emperor of the Shang Dynasty because of the Investiture of the Gods.
"After the Investiture of the Gods, there were no more Human Emperors in the world. There was only the Son of Heaven."
Ling Yun was shocked!
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