Xue Rui didn't let Yu Shu send him too far away. They walked out of the side courtyard and walked on a small path, talking about the farce just now.
"Those two female students were targeting you. One of them deliberately set a trap for you to jump into. What's going on?" Xue Rui asked curiously. He saw through tonight's incident clearly. The one surnamed Zhan was just a fool, and the one surnamed Cui was the instigator. He just didn't know why she took so much effort to smear Yu Shu's name. It was a little strange.
Yu Shu understood Xue Rui's meaning. She frowned and said, "I'm also puzzled. Logically speaking, I've only known them for a few days. If there's any conflict before, it's when you went to the observatory to investigate the case. But Cui Yun wasn't there at that time, and I don't remember when I had a conflict with her. If it's because Lord Wang asked me to hold the Eight Trigrams artifact, and they were unwilling, then they shouldn't have chosen this critical moment to commit a crime. Before the ancestral worshipping ceremony, the six of us will suffer together. No matter how I look at it, Cui Yun doesn't seem like a brainless person."
From the day she moved into Huazhen Garden, Zhan Xueyuan and Cui Yun had been making things difficult for her. Yu Shu took care of the situation and endured for a while. She didn't have a direct confrontation with them. They wanted to change rooms, so she changed rooms. At the beginning, she also let them choose the artifact first.
If it wasn't for the fact that they were going to make a big deal out of this matter tonight, she wouldn't have turned hostile at all.
Xue Rui said, "Fortunately, you came to find me in time. Otherwise, things wouldn't get out of hand. No matter what, you have to be careful. Don't make any mistakes during tomorrow's ceremony. "
Yu Shu smiled bitterly. "Before I came, I knew that I would be attacked by villains. But this kind of thing is hard to guard against. Look at me, I was lying in my room and sleeping, but I was still framed. Fortunately, you came. Otherwise, it wouldn't be easy to clean up."
Being a master of disguise has its own depression. You only know one thing but don't know the other, so it's hard to be comprehensive.
Xue Rui turned his head. Under the moonlight, a pair of bright peach blossom eyes looked at her with a smile: "You did well tonight."
Yu Shu's heart skipped a beat at his smile. She asked in confusion, "Really? What's so good about it?"
Xue Rui raised his arm, ignoring the fact that there was a little spy following behind him. He wrapped his arm around Yu Shu's bony shoulder and gently pulled her into his arms. He lowered his head and said gently, "It's okay. Lean on me more."
Yu Shu couldn't resist his blatant intimacy and her face heated up. She lightly coughed and put her hand on his chest, but she couldn't bear to push him away.
Amidst the chirping of cicadas and the cool summer night, the two of them quietly stayed like this for a while before Xue Rui regretfully let go of her and said, "Go back and rest early. Tomorrow won't be easy."
"En, you should sleep early too." As soon as Yu Shu left his embrace, she had a tiny bit of reluctance. She turned her head to look at the young eunuch who was looking around nearby. When she saw that he wasn't staring at her, she stood on her tiptoes and swiftly kissed Xue Rui's cheek. Without waiting for him to react, she retreated, turned around, and swaggered off.
Xue Rui was stunned. He touched his face and looked at her leaving figure. His lips gradually curled up.
The ninth day of the fifth month was the death anniversary of the Da An dynasty's founding ruler, Emperor Anwu. It was the Saint Ancestor Worship Day. The Imperial Tomb Raising Ceremony was held to worship the ancestors and heaven to pray for the prosperity of the future.
Before dawn, Hua Zhen Garden became busy inside and outside. In a corner of the West Garden, the six people from Taishi Library had finished bathing early and changed into ceremonial robes. Under the guidance of Wang Daren of the Ministry of Rites, they went to the Imperial Tomb.
Along the way, the atmosphere in the carriage was very heavy. Due to the effects of last night's incident, Zhan Xueyuan and Cui Yun did not sleep well. Their faces were painted and barely covered the bruises under their eyes, but they couldn't hide their listlessness. The two still sat next to each other, but they weren't as close as when they came.
Yu Shu, on the other hand, had a good sleep because of Xue Rui. She crossed her arms and leaned against the carriage with her eyes closed, enjoying the peace and quiet.
After about three to five miles, the carriage stopped. Hearing Wang Daren's voice, Yu Shu, who was sitting by the door, was the first to jump off the carriage.
The Imperial Tomb was built at the foot of Qi Mountain. The east and west were connected by the sun, the north by the dense forest, and the south by the flowing river. The carriage stopped at the edge of the greyish-blue city wall. Looking up, there were eighty-one steps of jade platform. It was grand and magnificent. The scarlet carpet stretched all the way to the north.
The mountain breeze blew, and the east was green and white. Yu Shu squinted her eyes to feel the Fengshui of the Land of Crouching Dragon. It was very amazing.
"Wait here for a moment, I'll go get the weapons." Wang Daren reminded them, then he greeted the Mausoleum Guards in front of him and walked away.
After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Wang Daren returned. He was accompanied by another ceremonial officer and a small group of Mausoleum Guards. Each of them was holding a small wooden box.
Yu Shu knew that the boxes contained Martial Emperor True Weapons, so she focused her attention on the boxes. She saw the other ceremonial officer open the box and take out the weapons one by one. He handed them to Wang Daren, then passed them to the six of them.
Yu Shu's eyes lit up when she saw these heavy bronze artifacts that glowed with a faint red light. Even though she didn't have any spiritual roots or spiritual energy, she could feel that they were extraordinary. Apart from the shape, they were similar to the fake artifacts that Lord Wang had given them before. Only their weight was comparable.
She felt an indescribable heaviness as soon as she held the Bagua Plate in her hand. When the cold bronze object came into contact with her palm, she couldn't help but shiver. A faint trace of fear rose in her heart. She turned around to look at the other five people. They all had strange expressions on their faces. It seemed that she wasn't the only one who was affected.
Lord Daren was not surprised at all. He led the six of them to the ceremonial officer who had come with him and warned them sternly, "Follow Lord Ning into the mausoleum for now. Hold the weapons in your hands well. Don't drop them."
After that, he glared at Cui Yun and Zhan Xueyuan with a hint of warning, then hurried to the east with the Mausoleum Guards.
Lord Ning was two or three years older than Lord Wang. He looked rigid. After examining the people in front of him, he meticulously led them to the high platform. While giving instructions, he kept a close eye on their steps, as if he was afraid that they would drop the weapons in their hands.
To be honest, the 81 steps were not difficult, but it was different when they were holding the bronze pieces that weighed seven or eight kilograms. Even Yu Shu was slightly out of breath after climbing to the top of the platform without stopping, let alone the weak Zhan Xueyuan and Cui Yun. The two of them were at the back. Under Lord Ning's dissatisfied gaze, they gritted their teeth and climbed up.
"When the ceremony begins, you will wait here until His Majesty ascends the platform. You will do this …"
Lord Ning carefully explained the process of following the emperor. He told them that there would be a ceremonial boy leading the way, and they only needed to remember to follow the ceremonial boy closely.
The six of them formed two columns. Yu Shu and Wen Shao 'an were arranged to walk on the east and west sides of the imperial carriage. They held the Eight Trigrams treasured sword in front. As long as the two of them did not make any mistakes, the four people behind them would be able to keep their eyes open.
In the blink of an eye, the sun rose. Yu Shu and the others were led by Lord Ning to walk a few times on the mausoleum avenue. They were familiar with the route, but they were also very tired.
There was a large underground palace under the imperial mausoleum, but the top was like an ordinary garden. The scenery was pleasant, and every entrance was guarded by light armoured Mausoleum Guards with long spears in their hands. The security was tight.
The altar was placed on top of the Heavenly Altar, and white banners were fluttering around it. More than ten Daoists in blue robes wandered around the Heavenly Altar, waving their banners. Their expressions were solemn, and no one knew what they were doing.
Yu Shu looked at them curiously, but when she heard Lord Ning cough, she hurriedly lowered her head to look at the road.
When it was almost time, Lord Ning led them back to the starting point of the high platform. He asked them to temporarily put the objects in their hands on a piece of white cloth and rest for a while.
Yu Shu rubbed her arms and looked down from the steps. She saw that outside the imperial mausoleum, which was deserted in the morning, there were now carriages and horses parked outside. There were shadows of people, and the sound of horns came intermittently from the distance.
.....
At the bottom of the Heavenly Altar, there was another world.
There was a secret room thirty feet above their heads, and there were thousands of holes in the air. Beams of sunlight shone down, and the zigzagging walls were faintly discernible, flashing and disappearing, bursting with colorful splendor. Unexpectedly, there were countless jade stones inlaid on the walls.
At the end of a moss-mottled stone tablet, there was a deep and bottomless pool of water. Two figures were sitting beside the pool.
The faint sound of a horn came from above. Jing Chen was sitting cross-legged, dressed in a long white Daoist robe. His black hair, like dark clouds, draped over his shoulders, reaching the ground. His elegant face was illuminated by the pond water, flickering between bright and dark.
Zhu Muzhao was standing beside him. When he heard the sound of the horn, he said, "In another hour, the emperor will open the altar, and with the help of the Upstanding Qi of the imperial mausoleum, he will execute the Seven Killers. Once the water of the underworld moves, you will see the people who have killed their lives."
Hearing this, Jing Chen's face did not change at all. He had been meditating for days, and his mind was clear. At this moment, there was no distracting thought in his mind, and all his emotions were in the void.
At a quarter past noon, five hundred imperial guards lined the road and personally arrived outside the imperial mausoleum. The current emperor, his concubines, children, grandchildren, relatives, and important ministers of the imperial court, a group of dozens of people climbed the high platform in a burst of music and the ceremonial officer sang.
Yu Shu saw the approaching crowd from a distance. A touch of bright yellow entered her eyes. She swallowed nervously and held the bronze vessel in her hand firmly. She was not as calm as she was an hour ago, and her heart was crazy with excitement —
In the past more than 20 years, she never thought that one day she could see the ancient emperor with her own eyes. He was not an actor, but a real emperor!
It was a hot summer day, so it didn't take long for Yu Shu, who was wearing a heavy dress, to have a layer of sweat on her forehead. However, she didn't dare to raise her hand to wipe it off. When the imperial carriage passed in front of her, she lowered her head and followed behind it.
After walking a dozen or so steps, Yu Shu felt eyes sweeping over her body one after another. She knew that it was a noble looking at her, so her gait became even more steady. Carrying an artifact was tiring work, but it was indeed a good job. To be able to become familiar with the eyes of a large number of nobles and accompany the monarch, this was an opportunity that some people couldn't ask for in their entire lives.
Along the way, people burned incense and worshipped in silence. When they walked to the bottom of the altar, Yu Shu felt that her whole back was wet with sweat. Thanks to the three layers of unlined clothes inside, she did not lose her manners.
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