Chapter 277 Adding fuel to the flames
On this side, Lin Wan'er accompanied the Queen Mother in appreciating the flowers in the Imperial Garden with laughter and joy. On the other side, Fan Xian waited until the palace maids had finished fumigating the Queen Mother's bedroom with medicine to eliminate insects and left, then he sneaked in.
He was very familiar with the procedure and lifted the blankets on the empress dowager's bed. Just as he pried open the secret compartment with a dagger, Fan Xian heard the voices of the female officials talking to someone outside the hall and was startled.
With lightning speed, he put the fake key into the secret compartment and gently put it back into place to avoid making any noise. After restoring the bedding to its original state, Fan Xian hurriedly hid in the dark and listened carefully.
outside the temple.
When the female official learned of Yan Xiaoyi's purpose, she nodded in response.
"The Queen Mother is relaxing in the garden. Commander Yan can go find her on your own."
Upon hearing this, Yan Xiaoyi glanced at the bedroom calmly and spoke.
"Is there anyone inside?"
The female officer explained.
“We are fumigating the insects.”
Yan Xiaoyi asked in more detail.
"I mean the innermost part, is there anyone there?"
The female official said without hesitation.
"No."
Yan Xiaoyi stretched out his hand to signal the female official to keep quiet, tilted his head, moved his ears, and listened carefully to the movements in the hall through the wall.
Fan Xian in the hall was so nervous that he didn't dare to breathe. He thought to himself, "Oh no!" With Yan Xiaoyi's hearing ability, his existence would most likely not escape his ears.
Thinking of this, he clenched the dagger in his hand, ready to deal with the conflict that might break out at any time.
Yan Xiaoyi, who was outside the hall, had naturally heard everything that was happening inside the hall clearly, so he raised his foot and wanted to enter the hall.
However, the female official stopped him and stood in front of him.
"Commander Yan, the Queen Mother's bedroom must follow the rules!"
Yan Xiaoyi's eyes flickered as he thought for a while, and he gave up the idea of forcing his way into the hall. If it was the assassin, it would be fine, but if not, then it would be difficult to explain. After weighing the pros and cons, he decisively turned around and left.
Fan Xian in the hall heard the noise, breathed a long sigh of relief, and thanked the rules.
……
back yard.
The Queen Mother held a freshly picked white flower in her hand, leaned forward to smell it, and asked casually without turning her head.
"What is Li Yunrui investigating?"
Yan Xiaoyi, who was kneeling behind the Queen Mother, bowed and replied.
"I was just worried that the assassin might have done something bad last night, so I specially ordered me to ask for the Queen Mother's order."
The Queen Mother thought about it after hearing this and felt that it would be a good idea to investigate. Although the thief was found at the eldest princess's place, he might not have only been to her place. It is better to be cautious, the Queen Mother said after thinking about it.
"Then, tell all the palaces to investigate this thoroughly!"
"Yes!"
After Yan Xiaoyi received the imperial decree and left, the Queen Mother was about to continue to enjoy the flowers with Lin Wan'er, but just as she was talking, she suddenly remembered that she also had important private things hidden in her palace. What if...hiss~
Thinking of this, the Queen Mother suddenly lost interest in appreciating the flowers and decided to hurry back to make sure her treasures were safe.
"Wan'er, let's go back. I have to take a look too."
After saying this, without waiting for Lin Wan'er's reply, he immediately set off and hurriedly headed back towards his bedroom along the same path he came.
Lin Wan'er didn't know whether Fan Xian had put it back or not, but she couldn't stop the Queen Mother, so she could only respond helplessly and quickly follow.
Although the Queen Mother was old, her legs moved very fast and she was almost running. Lin Wan'er could hardly keep up with her even with her support, so she could only repeatedly urge the Queen Mother to slow down.
She rushed back to the bedroom in a flash, and ordered everyone including Lin Wan'er to wait outside the palace. The empress dowager entered alone.
She walked quickly to her bed, lifted the mattress, pulled out a hairpin from her head, and used it to pry open the secret compartment.
Seeing that everything was lying in the secret compartment intact, the Queen Mother patted her chest and breathed a sigh of relief.
Outside the palace, Lin Wan'er, who was concerned about Fan Xian, could only stand at the door of the palace and look around anxiously. Only after she saw Fan Xian, dressed in eunuch's clothes, return to his seat quietly did she feel relieved.
……
"Is there someone hiding in the Queen Mother's palace?"
The eldest princess looked up at Yan Xiaoyi and asked in surprise.
Yan Xiaoyi nodded.
"I heard breathing, but the maid said there was no one."
Lanxiang who was standing by asked.
"Male or female?"
Yan Xiaoyi said.
"I can't tell, but the man's breathing is long and thin, so he must be skilled."
The princess seemed to be thinking deeply after hearing this.
Lanxiang thought for a moment and asked again.
"Could it be Eunuch Hong?"
Yan Xiaoyi said frankly.
"If it's Eunuch Hong, then I can't hear it."
The eldest princess chuckled softly, her eyes flickering.
"There was an assassination last night, and today there are people hiding in the Queen Mother's bedroom. This is too much of a coincidence."
Lanxiang said after hearing this.
"Could there be a connection?"
The princess hummed and said.
"If that's the case, it makes me think of the weirdness of this matter!"
Yan Xiaoyi nodded in agreement.
“It’s really a bit weird!”
The eldest princess looked at him and suddenly asked.
"Xiao Yi, is Hong Sixiang a Grandmaster?"
Yan Xiaoyi thought for a while and said.
"I haven't seen him take action, but he's definitely stronger than me!"
"You are already above the ninth rank. Hong Sixiang should be the most mysterious grandmaster in the palace."
"should be."
The eldest princess smiled and said with her red lips.
"A grandmaster chased an assassin, but he let the man escape. What kind of assassin has such great ability?"
There was a pause.
"Could it be that Si Gu Jian came in person?"
Yan Xiaoyi was stunned for a moment.
"Now that you mention it, it's really not normal!"
The eldest princess smiled.
"What if he was deliberately deceived?"
"Intentionally?" The more the princess spoke, the more it made sense.
"Why could this assassin come and go freely in the harem? Why did he disappear without a trace afterwards? Why did Grandmaster Hong Sixiang fail? There is only one answer that makes sense."
Looking up at Yan Xiaoyi, the princess stated her speculation.
"These two assassins are the Queen Mother's men!"
Yan Xiaoyi's pupils instantly dilated when he heard that, and so did Lan Xiang. They looked at each other and fell silent.
……
The Eighth Department of the Supervisory Commission was extremely busy at this time. Everyone in the department was busy with one thing, which was to review last night's poems.
Xuan Jiu, the director of the Eighth Department, looked through various books and found nothing, but he leaned back in his chair in exhaustion.
Glancing at his busy subordinates, Xuan Jiu sighed, picked up some of the copied poems from the table, took a look at them, and said with emotion.
"Oh, these poems are all good, but I can't find the source of these sentences. What should I do?
For example, the Yellow River comes from the sky. What kind of river is this Yellow River? A yellow river?
The men nearby looked at each other, and no one could answer.
Xuan Jiu shook his head and looked at the poem again.
"Hey, there is also this sentence. Except for Wushan, there are no clouds. There are countless mountains and ridges in the world. Is Wushan the name of a mountain?"
One of the men nearby spoke up.
"Sir, this is not difficult to understand."
Xuan Jiu put down the Chinese paper in his hand and looked at him.
"how to say?"
Several people around also looked at that person.
"Tell me about it, tell me about it."
The man shook his head.
"This Master Fan is the god of poetry from the divine world. The names of people, places, and allusions that do not appear in this poem are all from the immortal world!
The Yellow River must be the river of the fairyland, and Wushan must be the mountain of the fairyland! There is no doubt about it! "
Xuan Jiu rolled his eyes when he heard that. He thought he could come up with some original insights, but it turned out he was just following the crowd like outsiders.
Someone in the audience couldn't help it.
"Can you explain it this way?"
The man who spoke earlier showed a smug look.
"Of course. Otherwise, do you think ordinary people can write so many masterpieces overnight?"
"That makes sense!"
"That is!"
Xuan Jiu couldn't listen any longer, glanced at the man and knocked on the table.
"Then explain to me why Mei Cheng'an was able to continue with the poems of the Immortal Realm, and why he was able to continue with so many of them, huh?"
"Ah this..."
The man was unable to answer for a moment and his face turned red, causing a burst of laughter from those around him.
The man's face turned even redder and he forced an explanation.
"How can it be the same for Xiao Meitis? He is originally a Wenquxing from heaven, so he is naturally familiar with the fairy world.
What's so strange about being able to connect? And who knows, they may have known each other in heaven and are already good friends."
"..."
"..."
"Hiss~ It seems... that makes sense."
The man clapped his hands.
"Look, that makes sense!"
Even Xuan Jiu's thoughts were almost led astray. When he came to his senses, he quickly slammed the table.
"What the hell! And you guys, stop spreading and believing this nonsense. Have you forgotten what you are doing?
Have you finished reading all the books? Huh? You still have time to chat and talk nonsense! Just stop reading!"
"Yes!"
Everyone shrank their necks in unison and responded, then lowered their heads and continued to work.
Giving them a cold look, Xuan Jiu was about to raise the paper in his hand to continue reading the poem, but after thinking about it, he put it down again, stood up from his seat and walked out.
.......
Chen Pingping's office.
Xuan Jiu was massaging Chen Pingping's back as she lay on the couch.
Chen Pingping held the pillow and rested his chin on it.
"Have these poems never been recorded in the past?"
Upon hearing this, Xuan Jiu kept moving his hands and replied.
"I have checked all eight places and there is no duplication. Please give me some more time. I will find some ancient books to verify it."
Chen Pingping directly denied it.
"No need, you eight departments can just let it go and print the poem as soon as possible."
Xuan Jiu smiled as he expected, but quickly put it away, stood up and bowed.
"Yes!"
After saying this, he turned around and was about to leave, but Chen Pingping stopped him.
"return!"
Chen Pingping lay down and waved at him.
"Help me."
Xuan Jiu suddenly realized and hurriedly helped Chen Pingping turn over and helped him sit up.
Chen Pingping untied the long black cloth strip that was wrapped around the top of the fence column on the right side and wrapped it around his right hand.
Seeing that he was going to exercise, Xuan Jiu tactfully untied the other black strip wrapped around the head of the pillar near his feet and handed it to him.
Chen Pingping did sit-ups while pulling two cloth ropes.
Xuan Jiu was not in a hurry to leave at this moment, so he thought for a while and asked.
"Dean, now the world is saying that Fan Xian is the god of poetry who has descended to the mortal world, and Mei Cheng'an is the god of literature who has descended to the mortal world. Should we be wary of these rumors?"
Chen Pingping smiled when he heard this, and stopped after standing up.
"The literary world of Qing has been weak for a long time. It is far from enough to have only one Mei Cheng'an. We should have another poet god."
Xuan Jiu nodded.
"I understand! The Eighth Office is secretly fanning the flames to make these two people's names real!"
Chen Pingping changed the column head on his right hand, put more volume, and started practicing again.
"Go."
……
(End of this chapter)
