bookrandom Chapter 400: Night of Return
Chapter 400: Night of Return
——Zhu Jiu took advantage of the chaos to sneak into the Imperial Palace last night, disguised as a dancer to seduce and assassinate Emperor Ji Ling. Afterwards, she left behind the six words "Zhu Jiu was here" and left in a leisurely manner.
The rumor spread into the crowd like dandelions into the sky.
Zhu Jiu and Xing Jun followed Gu Yixiao into the palace. The expressions of the three of them when they heard this were: (?◇?)?
Who? How was he killed? What words did he leave?
At this time, there were discussions among the people passing by.
"It is said that the Holy Land of Astrology had predicted that a national disaster would occur in Jiling, and it was related to Zhu Jiu. This is why Chief Jueya and Master Chu came all the way from the Demon King Palace."
"But for some reason he failed to stop it and let Zhu Jiu succeed!"
At this time, the man with a mole curled his lips and looked around.
He lowered his voice and whispered, "Of course it won't work. You know there was a loud noise at the remote cliff last night, creating a pit thousands of meters deep. It's suspected that a rare treasure has appeared, but Jue Ya got there first under the pretext of investigating a case."
"I was at the scene at the time. I saw with my own eyes that a person who tried to stir up trouble was killed by the guardian elder with a flip of his hand. I was so scared that my legs went limp. Who in my family would understand? They are both in the Mahayana stage, but why is there such a big gap between them?"
"But a strange thing happened." The man said sharply, "The guardian elder's face changed drastically and he went deep underground and never came up again. Someone tried to go down and found nothing."
"Not only did the guardian elder disappear, but even the shadow of Mo Huai Zun and the treasure was nowhere to be seen."
"I guess the treasure is escaping underground, and Mo Huaizun and the guardian elder are chasing it."
Someone raised a question: "That's not certain. What if they really made the noise while investigating a case? What if they were chasing Zhu Jiu, or the person who caused a scene at the banquet last night and burned the Seventeenth Prince's hair?"
"They say there is a treasure, but apart from the pit and the fluctuation of spiritual power in the middle, there is no sign of anything."
The mole man immediately glared at her with contempt and said, "Then how do you explain the death of the Emperor? The Emperor was killed by Zhu Jiu, so the person they are chasing cannot be Zhu Jiu!"
"The key is how do you know that the one who killed the Emperor must be Zhu Jiu?" The person who raised the question expressed confusion: "Using speculation as an argument to explain your point, there is no actual basis at all, you are just talking nonsense."
The mole man sneered and raised his chin confidently, "Who said there is no actual basis? Guess who predicted the four words 'extreme national disaster'?"
"Let me tell you, the one who said this is Wenren Sejue, a young astrology genius who never speaks nonsense and has blood-piercing eyes!"
"You know how much weight Wenren Sejue's words carry, don't you? There's nothing much to say to someone like you who doesn't understand the times. Go check his battle record yourself and stop embarrassing yourself."
The critics fell silent.
The mole-faced man turned his face away disdainfully and continued, "Speaking of the ghost that disturbed the banquet last night, if Chief Mo really wanted to do it for her, it should have been Chu Yi who went."
The nitpicker kept finding fault, "Mr. Chu didn't participate because he wanted to take care of his sister who was devastated."
"Well said!" The man with the mole clapped twice.
Then he asked sharply, "Then how do you explain Chu Yi's bringing people to the scene and conducting a massive search? Not only him, but all the Jueya forces, disciples, and elders in the vicinity participated in the search."
"You're not saying that they're all looking for ghosts like Chu Yi? Are they all soul cultivators? Can they all detect ghosts?"
The nitpicker frowned and said nothing.
Everyone else was also successfully persuaded by the mole man.
The latter was like a victorious rooster, very satisfied. He lowered his voice again and returned to the original topic, "Now you know why Zhu Jiu was able to successfully assassinate the Emperor, right?"
"Because at that time, all the high-level monks in Jueya left Huiming Garden and the Imperial Palace for that rare treasure, which gave Zhu Jiu an opportunity to take advantage of it."
The meaning of his words was very clear. It was Mo Huaizun and other people in Jueya who ignored their duties and were blinded by greed, which led to the successful assassination of the old emperor by Zhu Jiu.
As soon as the words came out, everyone stared in shock, their expressions flickering and secretive.
The troublemaker applied to fight again. She scratched her head and said, "Zhu Jiu was only at the Jindan stage when she disappeared last time. How come she is five realms higher than the Mahayana stage?"
The mole man's eyes flickered slightly, and he said, "Humph, the people who died in the Canglan tragedy were not in the Mahayana stage? How did the Demon King and the Three Kings die? She can even mobilize the power of the Canglan realm, so there is no guarantee that there won't be any more trouble."
Even if she was critical of this, she couldn't refute it, so she changed her perspective.
"Jiling is not the territory of Jueya. As one of the eight major forces, it is not a remote area where one cannot do anything. When our emperor was assassinated in his bedroom, isn't the main responsibility due to my poor protection?"
"They only said that Jueya's people were not at the scene. I think the biggest flaw is the defense of the Imperial Palace. Where were the people at the scene at the time? They were not all blinded by greed and ran off to look for treasures, were they?"
It's true. The cultivators' submission to treasures can be said to be absolute. Low-level cultivators can only envy them, but high-level cultivators are all determined to get them. If a good thing falls on their doorstep, it's up to them to decide whether they want to go or not.
In this way, some of the people in the imperial palace last night might have been attracted by the treasures and left their posts, while others were ordered by the old emperor himself to bring back the treasures and also went.
There were not many people left, which led to the fact that after the tragedy, not only was everyone unaware of it, but they didn't even get a single word of news.
Everything is so reasonable!
If Zhu Jiu and Xing Jun had not spent the whole night with their eyes open, they would have almost believed that they had done such a thing while sleepwalking.
Although Gu Yixiao didn't know the whole story, she knew that the ghost at the night banquet was Zhu Jiu, so the person Mo Huaizun was chasing must be Zhu Jiu, and the person who killed people in the Imperial Palace could definitely not be Zhu Jiu.
So, someone used Zhu Jiu's name to direct the death of the old emperor.
Zhu Jiu's expression was slightly cold, and Gu Yixiao's eyes showed deep thought.
Xingjun flipped the table in anger: "Who is this bastard throwing dirty water on you? No, we must catch this guy!"
You can hear these remarks wherever you go on the street, which shows that this argument has now spread throughout the imperial capital.
……
Qiu Sheng, who was leading the way in front, had a solemn and gloomy expression. Not only her, but the entire Princess Mansion was filled with a cloud of sadness when they came out.
Although the old emperor is not a good person, he loves the Princess's Mansion and is really good to her. He rewards her from time to time. Being able to serve in the Princess' Mansion is the dream of many people.
Alas, although it is a happy thing that the princess will soon succeed to the throne as the legitimate heir, it is also a pity to be sad because the emperor just died.
Qiu Sheng looked at Gu Yixiao, seeming to want to say something but stopping herself. The latter was considerate and did not rush her, waiting for her to think it over before speaking.
Qiu Sheng waited for the other party to ask: "..."
She said, "The princess was heartbroken when she heard about this. She went to the palace early in the morning to take charge of the situation and investigate the clues. The reason why she invited Miss Gu to the palace this time is that the emperor's body needs to be collected and sorted."
"The princess is afraid that the crude craftsmanship of others will taint the emperor's holy body. After much thought, she feels that only Miss Gu can make her feel most at ease, so she ordered me to invite you into the palace."
Qiu Sheng spoke sincerely and politely, without any of the arrogance of the princess's personal attendants. He was truly approachable, spoke pleasantly, and was considerate.
It's a confusing story that everyone has to listen to, especially the corpse herders who live at the bottom of the immortal world and are not very popular.
The next person to change was Gu Yixiao, who had already climbed onto the princess' bed.
Gu Yixiao thought that death was a sad thing, and said with great emotional intelligence: "Since it is the invitation of Her Royal Highness, I guess you don't have to worry about the reward."
See, she didn't even ask directly how much it cost.
Zhu Jiu, Xingjun: "Six."
Qiu Sheng laughed awkwardly: "...Haha, that's natural."
Before Gu Yixiao could ask what the "two" were, the corner of her mouth twitched.
Then he transmitted his voice: "Secondly, Miss Gu deals with corpses all day long, so she should be able to notice details that others overlook. This will be very helpful in locating the murderer."
Zhu Jiu overheard this sentence.
Gu Yixiao looked a little surprised, "Madam, you haven't come to a conclusion about the murderer yet?"
She thought that everyone in the palace had concluded that Zhu Jiu was the murderer, after all, there was a prophecy and words.
"Although the suspect is clear, the language of the corpse cannot be ignored." Qiu Sheng said seriously.
Upon hearing this, Gu Yixiao immediately developed a liking for her.
……
The place where the old emperor died was Changle Palace, which was the place where the emperor stayed most often except for Ziji Garden.
The latter is a quiet place for self-cultivation and longevity.
The former is a place of entertainment for eating, drinking, having fun, and living a life of drunkenness and dreams.
The atmosphere in the palace was depressing and heavy. The Changle Palace was strictly guarded by the imperial troops, and not even an ant could crawl in.
When Gu Yixiao and others entered, they saw Ling Yuanhan who was stopped outside. The latter looked at Qiu Sheng with a gloomy expression, with a hint of cruelty in his eyes. To put it another way, he was actually looking at Ling Yuanlong.
He arrived one step later than Ling Yuanlong and lost the initiative. Now the entire imperial palace is controlled by the princess and her royal family. The imperial army is Ling Yuanlong's men and they obey orders to stop him.
Ling Yuanhan sneered in his heart, how long can he be stopped? He is not alone.
……
In the main hall of Changle Palace, people from the Criminal Department dressed in black were inspecting the scene.
All the movements were extremely light, as light as a feather, as if the slightest effort would result in beheading.
Gu Yixiao's arrival did not attract any attention, but Qiu Sheng's figure made them nod and salute.
There is no need to describe the extravagance and luxury of the Changle Palace with its wine pools and meat forests. There are many overturned wine cups and leftovers on the table and the ground.
It can be seen that the old emperor is really enjoying it.
This is not the death scene, the inner room is, but Qiu Sheng did not bring Gu Yixiao in, probably because he has not been summoned by the princess yet.
Zhu Jiu floated in alone to check. At this time, quite a few people had gathered inside, mostly the princess and his trusted ministers.
The first thing Zhu Jiu saw was the big words written in blood on the wall: "Zhu Jiu was here."
She stared at it for a moment, and the more she watched, the more distracted she became.
"You're crazy. There's no need to lower my standards when pretending to be me. Whoever killed someone wrote this."
Can't stand it at all.
……
On the spacious dragon couch lay the dead old emperor.
The remains should have been simply tidied up, with the clothes and face still in order, but the complexion was as pale as a corpse.
If you don’t know, you might think he died of old age, rather than being assassinated during sex.
When other people die, their bodies may be left as they are pending investigation, but for the emperor of one of the eight major forces, the most important thing is his face, and everything else can be fake.
Zhu Jiu's soul consciousness checked and found that the old emperor's body was intact, his posture was relaxed, and there was still a look of joy in his dilated pupils. It seemed that he died while still immersed in lust.
His fatal flaw is obvious at a glance.
His heart was completely covered with twisted black patterns, indicating that he was killed by the famous Yin curse - the Night of the Returning Soul.