Quick Wear: The host is really just a substitute!

Chapter 786: Extra? No Haruhi

Inside the Taihe Hall, ambergris burned quietly in a gilded furnace, but it could not dispel the desolate atmosphere in the room.

The chief eunuch Pingxi bowed and walked in, holding a plain white memorial in his hand, and stopped in front of the imperial desk.

He raised his eyes cautiously, only to see the young emperor leaning against the window, his frosty white hair particularly glaring in the twilight.

"Your Majesty, these are the arrangements for Empress Duan Ning's funeral. The Ministry of Rites sent them here. I hope Your Majesty will review them."

Pingxi gently placed the memorial on the table. He caught a glimpse of His Majesty's thin profile from the corner of his eye and his heart trembled.

Thinking back on what happened in the past three days, it still feels like a dream.

The blood moon on Lantern Festival is still hanging in my memory, and what followed was the tragedy on the observatory - the bowl-sized blood hole on Concubine Heng's chest dyed the entire bluestone platform red, and although Concubine Xuan had no external injuries and no signs of poisoning, she also died of suffocation.

It's really weird.

The two imperial guards who arrived first were so frightened that they are still recuperating in the Imperial Medical Bureau.

And your majesty...

Pingxi felt a lump in his throat and quickly lowered his head.

After that night, His Majesty seemed like a different person.

The once majestic and sharp eyebrows and eyes are now dead silent. What's even more horrifying is that overnight, all the black hair turned white.

"let it go."

Wen Yu's voice was extremely hoarse, as if he had not spoken for a long time.

Pingxi was about to leave when he suddenly heard him ask, "Have all the palace maids in Qiwu Palace been dismissed? What happened to those two palace maids?"

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has reorganized the palace staff of Qiwu Palace. The two girls, Zhiqi and Zhenshu, said that they will guard the mausoleum after the queen is buried in the imperial tomb."

Wen Yu looked at the setting sun outside the window, his eyes reflecting the bloody afterglow: "Ah Heng...wouldn't want them to guard the mausoleum."

He stroked the jade paperweight on the table with his fingertips, "Give them some silver and send them out of the palace to settle down in the next two days."

"The slave obeys the order."

Breaking with the past, the mourning hall was set up inside the Qiwu Palace, which was rare.

When Pingxi came in, he saw two palace maids kneeling in front of the coffin, their eyes swollen as big as walnuts.

Zhenshu had cried until his voice was hoarse, but Zhiqi was trying to stay awake and pack the empress's clothes for her final journey.

"My two girls, the day after tomorrow is an auspicious time. Please... accept my condolences." Pingxi said softly.

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..."

Zhenshu sobbed, and broken syllables mixed with tears rolled down.

Zhiqi's eyes were red as he asked the question that was stuck in her throat: "Zhenshu wants to ask... Your Majesty, have you found out... who did such a cruel thing to the queen?"

Pingxi sighed, his eyes falling on the luxurious coffin: "My two ladies, His Majesty's pain...is no less than yours."

His voice became deeper and deeper. "He hasn't attended court for three days... You must have heard that His Majesty..."

At this point, the old eunuch choked up and pointed to his gray temples.

"We still have to go to the Ministry of Rites to convey His Majesty's order. My two girls... accept my condolences."

As dusk deepened, the eternal lamp in the mourning hall swayed gently, casting a flickering shadow on the plain white curtains.

Qiwu Palace was as silent as death.

In the huge palace, only Zhiqi and Zhenshu were left guarding the coffin with gold-painted phoenix pattern.

The eternal lamp flickered faintly in front of the coffin, stretching the shadows of the two people very long.

"You said..." Zhenshu's voice was heavily nasal, and his fingers unconsciously stroked the delicate patterns on the coffin. "If the queen knew that your majesty was deeply in love with her, would she be happy?"

Zhiqi looked at the smoke rising from the coffin and shook his head: "I don't know."

Just like she didn't know why it was clearly agreed that she would only take Concubine Xuan to the Imperial Observatory to get the banned book as a threat, but less than half an hour after taking the pillow book back, the news of the two concubines' deaths spread throughout the entire palace like wildfire.

——I don’t even know why the queen died so tragically.

She still remembers the scene: the horrible hole in the Empress's heart, blood soaking the entire collar of her clothes, and even the cracks in the bluestone floor were seeping dark red.

In the palace...who hates the Queen so much?

The fingernails of the chess player dug deeply into the palm.

Is it Su Zhangyin who owes one thousand taels of silver?

But last night when he broke in drunk, although he broke a pot of the best pear blossom white tea, he just stood quietly in front of the coffin for a long time.

She and Zhenshu were standing guard outside the palace, and vaguely heard him say in a hoarse voice: "The way you don't pay back the money... is really... unique..."

Before he could finish his words, the man stumbled away, nearly tripping over the threshold.

The night wind blew through the hall, causing the white candles in front of the coffin to sway.

Zhenshu suddenly shuddered and leaned closer to Zhiqi: "I'm scared..."

Zhiqi stretched out his hand to embrace her, his eyes fixed on the eternal lamp in front of the coffin.

Not like Doctor Shen either.

This thought suddenly popped into my mind.

Zhiqi thought of the man covered in blood on Lantern Festival night, who broke into Qiwu Palace despite the obstruction of the imperial guards.

When he knelt in front of the Empress' bed, his usually steady hands were shaking so much that he couldn't even hold a needle. In that situation, anyone could see that he was...

suddenly.

The beaded curtain at the palace door swayed gently, and the night wind, carrying the scent of paper ashes, blew in his face, interrupting Zhiqi's thoughts.

She saw the director of the Imperial Observatory walking up to the coffin. He was burning paper money in silence. The dancing flames reflected on his well-defined profile, flickering.

He doesn't need to take action now, Wen Yu's ignorance of government affairs will also make the Queen Mother force him to abdicate.

By then, it would be unclear who was holding the young emperor hostage.

Whatever he wants to do will come true.

but……

Thinking of the inexplicable kiss that night, Lin Wuxia suddenly turned his head, his sharp eyes piercing straight at him: "Why did Song Yuesheng have to take Concubine Xuan to the Imperial Observatory on Lantern Festival night?" His voice was as low as thunder in the dark clouds, "What is the broken jade on the star disk?"

Zhiqi subconsciously protected the pillow book behind him and met that gaze: "We have already reported everything that should be said to His Majesty."

She said calmly, "The Queen never explains things clearly to us servants."

The last stack of paper money fell into the brazier, and a few sparks burst out.

"Whatever she wants to do, the result she wants must not be like this."

Lin Wuxia looked at them steadily.

After a long time, he turned away.

The night was deeper.

The eternal lamp finally used up its last bit of oil and suddenly went out.

In the darkness, Zhenshu held onto the hand holding the chess sleeve and did not let go for a long time.

**

January 22nd.

It was three quarters past three in the morning and it was still dark.

The gate of Qiwu Palace slowly opened, and sixteen strong men carrying the coffin marched in neat steps, carrying out the coffin of Queen Duanning steadily.

Holding the chess piece and the book as pillow, they knelt on the bluestone slab outside the palace gate and banged their foreheads against the ground. The muffled sound was particularly clear in the silence before dawn.

They had no imperial edict accompanying them and could only watch the white team go farther and farther away, finally disappearing at the end of the palace road shrouded in morning mist.

Although he only served the queen for a few months, he received great favor from her.

Now they have been granted the grace to leave the palace safely, which is something many palace maids would not even dare to dream of.

In the morning mist, the two of them supported each other and got up.

They have no family, but have long regarded each other as their closest relatives.

Two months later, in a village near the imperial tomb.

The spring snow begins to melt, and water drips from the thatched eaves.

Zhiqi was hanging his bedding in the yard to dry when he heard Zhenshu running back from the market in a hurry: "Sister! There's news from the capital--"

The Empress Dowager died suddenly, and His Majesty chose a member of the royal family to succeed him, and the Director of the Imperial Observatory, Lin Wuxia, was appointed to assist in the administration.

After the abdication, the new emperor disappeared the next day.

The two looked at each other and remained silent.

On the same day, the Imperial Mausoleum.

The setting sun stretched the shadow of the stone tablet very long.

Wen Yu sneaked in from the side door which had not yet been sealed, and blocked the entrance with blue bricks.

The underground palace was cold and his white hair glowed faintly in the darkness.

In front of the gilded phoenix coffin, Wen Yu gently stroked the delicate patterns on the coffin, then took out a scarlet pill and swallowed it.

When the coffin lid was opened, the sleeping woman had a peaceful look on her face, as if she was just taking a nap.

"Shengsheng." He lay down, clasping her cold hands with his ten fingers, his voice unspeakably gentle, "Forgive me for coming so late."

The eternal lamp in the underground palace flickered, making his eyes and brows look particularly deep.

"I heard from your maid that you want me to be a wise ruler..." Wen Yu's Adam's apple rolled, "But without you, I can't do it."

"And... Prince Yi and I seem to be able to control ourselves and appear at will..."

"Do you know? Shen Qihe actually wants to take you away..."

He suddenly laughed softly, with a hint of cruelty in his voice, "But I asked Jackdaw to send him to the Western Regions, and sent someone to watch him to make sure he didn't die—"

Blood suddenly overflowed from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto the two people's clasped hands.

"...How could I let him see you before me?"

Wen Yu's voice gradually became weaker and finally fell into silence.

"Zhao Yu History Volume 2" records:

"On the night of the fifteenth day of the first month of the second year of Mingzhao, a blood moon appeared in the sky and strange phenomena suddenly occurred.

That night, Concubine Heng and Concubine Xuan died suddenly at the Imperial Astronomical Observatory.

Concubine Heng, Song Yuesheng, was the first wife of Emperor Ming Zhao. Her heart was pierced and she died in a very tragic way.

The emperor was so grief-stricken that his hair turned white overnight. He made an exception and buried the body with proper ceremony.

In March, the emperor abdicated the throne to a member of the royal family, and Lin Wuxia, the director of the Imperial Observatory, was ordered to assist in the administration.

However, the day after his abdication, the emperor disappeared, and this has become an eternal mystery. "