But after all, Grandma Du was at an age where half of her body had been buried in the loess, and she had rich life experience. She forced herself to calm down, reached out and patted the back of Xiao Niu Hulu's hand to comfort her:

"My Lady, please don't worry. It's obvious that someone must have had a hand in it. Now that the matter has become so big, the Emperor will definitely order someone to investigate it, and even find us out by then.

Yes, but what we are spreading outside the palace are auspicious words. Even if the emperor is unhappy in his heart, for the sake of the Niu Hulu family and our tenth elder brother, he does not dare to do anything to you."

"Yes, yes, mama, you are right, those rumors that can kill people are not spread by me, not me!"

Xiao Niu Hulu has been in the palace for more than four years, and this is the first time that she has truly felt at a loss. There is a feeling that things are derailed and out of control, and she doesn't know what to do to get rid of the current anxious situation.

Because of the excessive panic in her heart, her usually sober mind was also confused and turned into a mess. At the moment, she couldn't think of any good way to excuse herself. She could only sit and listen to her wet nurse's comfort.

He held the wooden armrest tightly on the chair, bit his lower lip and waited silently.

Wei Zhu led a large number of secret guards as soon as he left the palace, searching for carpets, meticulously investigating and compiling rumors about the imperial concubine in the inner city, outer city, and suburbs.

At the end of July, the afternoon sun was still very strong, and the dark robes they wore were soaked layer by layer with sweat. It didn’t take long for them to be dried by the bright sun above their heads, and the sweat on their backs evaporated.

Finally, layers of mottled white clouds remained.

A large group of people worked hard in the heat for more than an hour. After roughly figuring out the ins and outs of the rumors, they hurried to the Forbidden City.

The afternoon passed in the blink of an eye. Kangxi, who was upset by this unexpected news, was so full that he couldn't even drink a sip of water, let alone dining in Chuxiu Palace.

Sitting on the carved armchair, he turned the jade ring on his hand and frowned, thinking.

Liang Jiugong, who was standing diagonally behind the imperial case, also frowned, looking very worried. He was thinking about rumors like this that would affect the fate of the Qing Dynasty. It didn't look like the work of the concubines in the palace, but it looked like it.

It was done by a rebel organization that had a grudge against the imperial court.

The master and servant each thought about their own things, and the silence in the imperial study room could be heard.

At four o'clock in the morning, the sun outside the window gradually began to set below the horizon. Wei Zhu's face was sunburned, red and black, and dry skin appeared on his mouth. He hurriedly returned to Qianqing Palace.

"This servant has met the emperor."

"How's the situation?"

When Kangxi saw Wei Zhu's figure, he leaned forward and asked.

Wei Zhu swallowed a sip of saliva to moisten his throat which was dry due to excessive lack of water. He leaned over and cupped his hands and replied dumbly:

"Your Majesty, folk rumors can be said to be spreading everywhere in the inner city, outer city, and suburbs. If they spread to a large extent, they can no longer be contained, and there is obviously an organization behind it."

When Kangxi heard this, he clenched his right hand into a fist and slammed it on the imperial desk in front of him, and roared with all his strength:

"I know this is the case, but now that the vassal has been destroyed by me, the remnants of the Heaven and Earth Society and the White Lotus Sect who fought against the Qing Dynasty and restored the Ming Dynasty feel that the fall of the Ming Dynasty is even more tragic, and they are even more angry with me and the Qing Dynasty. They wish they could kill them

I, my wife, concubines, and children will all be burned alive on the fire as a sacrifice!"

The more Kangxi talked, the angrier he became. The veins on his neck bulged. He stood up from the armchair and cursed angrily while walking on the imperial steps:

"There are also those descendants of the Zheng family who are huddled on the treasure island and have been making noises and refusing to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. They want to become a vassal state of the Qing Dynasty like Korea, and are secretly colluding with the vassal and the ambitious Zhungeer! Just wait and see.

Sooner or later, I will crush these annoying bugs to death one by one!"

Liang Jiugong leaned against the big bookshelf behind him without leaving a trace, so as not to block the emperor's progress.

Wei Zhu also raised his head and glanced at the angry emperor standing above him. When Kangxi stopped cursing, he continued:

"What the emperor said is absolutely true. I also feel that the people behind the rumors will not be able to escape from these rebels."

"However, during the slave investigation, it was found that these rebels were probably added later to fish in troubled waters. At first, the rumors were auspicious words that only spread within a small area in the inner city."

"What do you mean? Please be more specific."

When Kangxi heard this reversal, his steps stopped and he immediately turned his attention to Wei Zhu again, his brows furrowed even more.

After Wei Zhu smoothed his thoughts, he cupped his hands again and said:

"Your Majesty, when the folk rumors first arose, the content was that the imperial concubine was pregnant with two lucky stars. The two lucky stars were born with good luck, and they were born with great fortune."

"But before this rumor spread, the content suddenly turned into a polar opposite. It was obvious that some rebels saw this opportunity and hurriedly got a foot in it, and they also said a lot of things that were true and false.

It is said that floods occurred in the Sichuan and Chongqing areas in the south this summer, and all the grain and fruit trees were washed away by the floods; in Shengjing in the east, there was a severe drought this summer and the grain harvest was lost; in the prairie in the west, earth dragons turned over and houses collapsed

, smashed countless livestock to death, these disasters are all caused by the two little disaster stars in the belly of the imperial concubine. The weather in the capital is so hot now, it is very likely that a major drought will occur.

Yes, this is also the fault of the little disaster stars. Only when they are born, put them on the fire and worship them devoutly, can you ensure that the coming year will be clear and the weather will be smooth."

"Haha! What you say doesn't make sense, but they also made it up to have noses and eyes. Are they the emperor or am I the emperor? Disasters are common in so many places this summer? Am I blind and deaf? Why don't I feel anything at all?

have no idea?"

Kangxi was so angry that he laughed in anger.

Even Liang Jiugong didn't know what to say. The Sichuan-Chongqing region is a hotspot area, and the summer is extremely hot. Half a month ago, the officials there wrote a special note to the emperor, saying that it was too hot this summer and they were worried about a drought. Good guy.

According to the rebels, a major flood has already occurred. Even in the scorching summer of Shengjing Longxing, the temperature is not as high as the capital city. The capital city is not yet in drought. But Shengjing has lost all its harvests due to a severe drought? In the end,

What I am talking about is the prairie, which is vast and sparsely populated, and most of them are yurts that are easy to move. Even if the earth dragon turns over, there are not so many houses that can be used to collapse! This is really misleading.

!

Wei Zhu also knew that this rumor was false, but he couldn't resist the fact that there were many illiterates among the people and the spread of news in other areas was slow nowadays! It is human nature to like to hear secrets and anecdotes, not to mention that this is a big secret related to the royal family.

Most people just listen to the wind and rain, and don't bother to use their brains to think about whether the disasters that happened in other places are real.

But even though they had only heard the rumors in passing, they had already formed a deep impression in their minds. In the splendid palace, there was a queen named Huang Guifei, and she was pregnant with two disaster stars that were harmful to the country and the country.

The two disaster stars are still in the belly of the imperial concubine, and they are already powerful enough to cause disasters in many places. They are really little disaster stars, how terrible!

This kind of result is what the rebels who are manipulating the situation behind the scenes want to see. For them, if they can't destroy the imperial court, they should try their best to ruin the reputation of the royal family!

Kangxi calmed down his emotions, tapped the imperial case with his fingertips, and asked in a low voice: "Can the source of those first auspicious words be found?"

"The Emperor can't find out. The people behind it are very covert, and the initial rumors only existed for a short period of time. There are basically no clues left outside the palace."

Wei Zhu lowered his head in shame and said.

Kangxi could also understand. After all, there were too many common people, and trying to find the source of a rumor was no less than finding a needle in a haystack. He was silent for a long time before speaking again:

"The clues outside are broken, then you try to search from inside the palace. Focus, focus on checking the Yongshou Palace."

When Wei Zhu heard the emperor suddenly mention the Yongshou Palace, he was stunned for a moment and then quickly realized that if the imperial concubine really fell, the biggest beneficiary in the palace would be the concubine Niu Hulu. Logically, it made sense. He nodded in response.

He bowed respectfully and quickly exited the imperial study room.

After Wei Zhu left, Kangxi turned to Liang Jiugong and said:

"Liang Jiugong, go and get ready. I plan to leave the palace and go to Longquan Temple later."

Liang Jiugong nodded quickly and hurriedly left the imperial study room.

At the end of the Youshi period, the heat of the day subsided and the sky gradually became dark.

Kangxi took off his bright yellow dragon robe and put on a navy blue round-neck robe. He led the imperial guards and secret guards out of the palace from Xihua Gate in a low-key manner, riding a horse in the cool breeze.

Hurry to Longquan Temple, located at the foot of Fenghuangling in Xishan Mountain.

The horse galloped for more than an hour, until the bright moon hung high in the night sky. At the beginning of the year, Kangxi and his party arrived at Longquan Temple after a long journey.

After the abbot of Longquan Temple, who was wearing a bright red cassock, received the news that the emperor was coming to Longquan Temple tonight, he hurriedly led his disciples to the front of the temple. He happened to see Kangxi getting off his horse and walking down the steps.

, put his hands together on his chest, leaned over slightly and said:

"I have met the emperor."

"Master, please wake up quickly."

Kangxi walked up to the host with long strides, stretched out his hand to help him, and quickly opened his mouth and said:

"Master, Master Linghui is in the temple now. I have something important to ask him."

"Returning to the emperor, Master Linghui has already gone to various places to exchange Buddhist teachings with other masters in early May, and I don't know where he is now."

"What?"

When Kangxi heard this, he became anxious instantly.

Faced with the current rumors that there are rebels manipulating the disaster star behind the scenes, he can only think of asking this Buddhist master known as the "Living Buddha" to stand up and refute the rumors for the royal family, expand the popularity of the original version of the rumors, and first remove the current bad rumors.

After being washed away, I thought about the methods I had figured out along the way, but I never expected that this "living Buddha" was not in Longquan Temple!

Seeing the anxious expression on Kang Xi's face, the host hurriedly reached out and took out a slender wooden box from his arms, handed it to Kang Xi respectfully with both hands, and explained:

"Your Majesty, this is what Master Linghui wrote down while observing the stars at night before he left the temple. He said that if you come looking for him, he will ask me to give this to you."

Kangxi couldn't wait to reach out and take the small wooden box handed over by the host. He opened the lid and saw only a peach wood stick about the width of two fingers placed inside.

He doubtfully took the wooden stick out of the box, lowered his head and looked at it carefully under the bright moonlight for a long time, and then reluctantly recognized sixteen words written symmetrically on it:

[The past and present life are all determined; when the twin stars fall, there will be good fortune.]

He thought about the signature for a while, and although he couldn't understand it all, the last two words "Zhenxiang" were a very good sign. He couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, put the wooden signature into his arms, and clasped his hands towards it.

The host chanted the Buddha's name, then put his saddle on the horse again, and led a large group of people behind him to run towards the imperial city under the moonlight.

The next day, storytellers in major restaurants in the capital began to tell that Master Linghui went to the Forbidden City and accidentally discovered that the imperial concubine was pregnant with two lucky stars who protected the Qing Dynasty.

The ordinary people who were happily eating the royal "big melon" suddenly heard that this statement was completely different from the widely circulated disaster star statement, and they couldn't help but be confused. However, Master Linghui's persuasiveness was too strong.

Some people began to believe the lucky star's words again.

A few days later, as August just entered, the pattering autumn rains came one after another, and the temperature in the capital suddenly dropped. The previous rumors that there would be a drought in the capital were self-defeating, and the people
To be continued...