Time flied and passed day after day. It was as ordinary as a light wind sliding through your fingertips.

It was now July.

Recently, more than 20 jars of lotus in Miaoyin Hall were in full bloom. While it was not so hot in the morning, Noble Concubine Hui Shi Yuanqing invited concubines to visit lotus in her palace.

Miaoyin Hall had exquisite architectural design and elegant layout. Although it was not as luxurious as Kunning Palace or Jingyang Palace, it was also bright and broad.

The lotus in the yard was not like the flowers in an ordinary lotus pond. The diameter of the lotus was only the diameter of the rice bowl. There was vermilion, light pink, light yellow and white, surrounded by overlapping petals, as light as yarn.

Palm-sized lotus leaves were eye-catching, like a girl's skirt.

Maybe the lotus had a soul. It knew that many people who loved flowers would come to enjoy it. At one time, it bloomed and the fragrance of flowers rippled around.

The makeup of the Imperial Concubine in the courtyard was gorgeous. They gently shook the round fan and talked and laughed among the flowers. Such a scene was not inferior to the beauty of the flowers and plants in the courtyard.

Not long ago, the weather was not beautiful. Dark clouds covered, followed by a drizzle.

The concubines were so excited that they all stood under the cloister and continued to enjoy the rain.

Concubine Liang stood beside Noble Concubine Hui. She looked at the palace wall under the rain, slowly narrowed her gaze, and quietly peeped at the woman dressed up.

Noble Concubine Hui was wearing a rosy peony tulle full-length gown. The lapel, wide sleeves and skirt of the clothes were embroidered with fine gold thread representing wealth and auspiciousness. She walked brightly and brilliantly.

She half covered her red lips on the fan embroidered with two Koi playing. Concubine Liang had bright eyes. She carefully turned her head to Noble Consort and asked in a low voice, "Your Grace, have you heard recently that the one in Jingyang Palace is nearly dying?"

Noble Concubine Hui's beautiful face with a smile slowly turned cold, and her tone was cold, "The grapevine news is not reliable. Isn't it all said that the hot vixen's condition is sometimes good and sometimes bad?"

"It's a sin and a shame. It's said that blisters fester. The condition is repeated, and there have been blisters all the time!"

Concubine Liang looked sideways and carefully looked at Noble Consort's face. At this moment, she suddenly let go of her posture as if gloating at misfortune and raised her voice, "Don't you know that? The story that has been spread all over the palace recently is that the one who lives in the Jingyang Palace must have met an evil, resulting in that she got smallpox in summer!"

After she shouted so loudly, the concubines who liked to watch the excitement immediately gathered around.

Lady Wan answered, "I've also heard that some eunuchs on duty passed the Jingyang Palace some time ago. They were scared to foaming at the mouth by the blue ghost fire floating in the air."

"What's more, there was heavy rain the night before yesterday, and the lightning struck down the eaves beast in the Main Hall of the Jingyang Palace."

"Amitabha, it's said that the eminent monk of Yonglu Temple will soon come to the palace to do an exorcism for her. "

Lady-in-waiting Zhang always respected Gu Yunxi. When she heard that Concubine Liang and others were going to stir up trouble, she was already angry and smiled unhappily, "Sisters, you only have been released for a few days. Did you forget the feeling of being grounded so soon?"

Lady Wan was unsatisfied. She gave Zhang Ying a fierce look and scolded, "You are a low-level concubine. You haven't been favored by His Majesty for a long time. You dare to disrespect the high-level concubines!"

"Well, Sister Yunxi is very poor when she is ill. We can't go to see her, but also speak ill of her in Noble Consort's palace. If His Majesty knows..."

Zhang Ying glanced at Noble Concubine Hui with ulterior motives. Her eyebrows were raised and vortex smiled that the others didn't know whether it was joy or sadness.

That was not unreasonable.

Noble Concubine Hui immediately frowned and silenced the three people who were arguing, "Well, don't say a few words. At present, Jingyang Palace is on the cusp of the storm, and His Majesty is worried about it. We should also know how to speak properly. If you get into trouble because of disorderly words, don't blame me for not protecting you."

...

The night was like a sea, deep and boundless.

In the Jingyang Palace, Gu Yunxi drank a cup of yellow rice wine and talked and smiled with Zhiqi in a low voice, "Master, those who are monitoring us now don't want to step into the Main Hall. Maybe Madam Dong Zhu can't wait to leave the Jingyang Palace to find a new master without us driving her away."

Gu Yunxi played with the warm jade wine cup between her fingers, pointed it at the red candle and saw it emit a hazy warm light in front of the flashing fire, "I want to thank Brother Xian this time. If it weren't for his help, we couldn't deceive Huanan Xin and the Eastern Depot."

There was a shadow of doubt between the eyebrows of Zhiqi, "I still don't understand. Do Your Highness really know magic? Can he attract ghost fire? Is he sure that lightning will strike the Jingyang Palace?"

Gu Yunxi filled the cup with dark liquid and drank it up, "The so-called ghost fire is just to smear phosphorous powder on the firefly. As for the lightning, he placed an iron rod on the ridge of our palace in advance."

Zhiqi smiled in surprise and stirred up her fingers, "I see. Everyone around Master is capable."

After drinking two glasses of rice wine, the stomach became feverish, and suddenly the poison in the body broke out.

Gu Yunxi felt dizzy, her skull was so painful that it cracked, her limbs were weak, and her body was itchy and painful.

Seeing that the blisters on her face and hands were bulging again, Zhiqi bent over and blew frequently to her master's exposed skin. She said, "Master, you must never scratch with your nails, and bear with it. Once the ritual is over, we will have hope. Then you will no longer have to drink yellow wine every day to stimulate the poison in your body."

Gu Yunxi sighed deeply, and retracted into the quilt, "It's starting to have a fever again, please serve me to rest."

—

Two days later, a grand Buddhist ceremony was held in the Jingyang Palace as scheduled.

At noon, outside the towering red wall, it was heavily guarded by the Honour Guards, and it was difficult for a bug to climb in.

Inside the red wall, there was a sandalwood bed in the center of the open garden outside the Jingyang Palace.

The bed curtain was white and thick. It fluttered and rippled with the summer wind. No matter from which point of view, you couldn't see the people clearly in the curtain.

A hundred monks were wearing cassocks obliquely, sitting cross legged 50 steps away from the bed, with their palms folded and chanting words.

The smoke curled up into the sky, and the sound of wooden fish percussion mixed with chanting reached its peak.

Outside the palace wall, Emperor Huanan Xin was depressed and pressed the corners of his mouth. The bright yellow dragon robe wandered around and looked very disturbing.

Two years ago, Huanan Xin successfully eliminated obstacles and climbed onto the dragon chair. Because of the taboo of the evil Taoist priest Yu Xuanji, who had done something bad to the imperial court, he deployed the national Eastern Depot and Imperial Guards to destroy the Dao temple, built monk temples and nunnery, and drove the Taoist priests from all over the country. There had been more than a dozen large-scale assassinations.

The Jingyang Palace finally recovered to the beginning of silence. At the moment when Huanan Xin stood, a bright light lit up in the fundus of his eyes.

When the monk came out in order, Huanan Xin stopped the last man and said cautiously, "Master Huichan, how is my darling?"

The old monk's long white eyebrows waved in the wind, and he narrowed his clear eyes slightly, bowed his hands and said, "Amitabha, I am sorry that Her Grace is meeting Tai Sui, and my disciples and I are using a magic circle to temporarily suppress the evil spirits. If we can't send Tai Sui away in a short time, I am afraid that it will be difficult to make her recover."

Huanan Xin looked at the monk in shock. After a moment, he calmed down and held his hand forward and talked with the monk while walking, "Please make it clear."

The monk talked with a kind smile, "The fate of Her Grace is water in the five elements, and fire is the most taboo. This year is the year of Ding Chou, the year of fire, which is bad for the weak."

Huanan Xin put his hands on his back and pondered, "Is this theory of ghosts and gods really so evil?"

The monk spread his eyes far away and smiled calmly, "Your Majesty, have you ever thought that the ghost fire and lightning strike we talked about just now do not belong to fire?"

"If you want Her Grace's condition to improve, you'd better let the maids whose fates do not belong to the fire in the five elements no serve her and let her get off the palace to prevent from smallpox, and bless her with Mahayana every day, so as to avoid evil and trouble for life."

Huanan Xin suddenly stopped, frowning for a long time, as if he had made a great struggle, "People whose fates do not belong to the fire in the five elements... Well, I'll follow your words."