Because this journey is quite far and cannot be stopped at any time, it is naturally inconvenient to go out.
After getting in the car, Qiao Lan didn't even dare to drink hot tea. She only ate half a bowl of shredded chicken porridge heated by the small stove in the car, and arrived at the Ancestral Temple hungry.
Fortunately, the prayers will only start tomorrow, and there is still time to rest. Even so, after waiting for the emperor to go in first, and after struggling for a while, Qiao Lan could enter the Ancestral Temple.
When he walked to the gate of the Ancestral Temple, Qiao Lan opened the map again and observed the terrain of the Ancestral Temple and the people around it. In addition to some adults that Qiao Lan knew, Qiao Lan also discovered Sang Weixiang's name.
Only Sang Weixiang, no queen?
Qiao Lan was surprised, but didn't take it seriously. The harem had nothing to do with her.
Qiao Lan and others were led by the servants in the Ancestral Temple and walked back.
Thanks to the small map that Qiao Lan had just seen, she found that the location where the servant took them was already very far away. It was almost half an hour away from the main palace. How could it be so far?
There are also servants leading other ministers around, but they are not special.
Qiao Lan thought for a while, maybe her rank was a bit low, and she was a female queen, so the place she was assigned was not good.
Fortunately, we reached our destination after another ten minutes of walking.
Standing in front of the empty hall, a heavy sense of time hits my face.
To put it simply, it is very old and looks very worn.
"Here we are, female gentleman, please come in..." The little eunuch continued to lower his head and said.
Duan Mingqing looked at the empty hall. Looking left and right, he could see the corrosion marks on the copper lampposts on both sides, as well as the decaying smell of the old wood.
Duan Mingqing frowned unconsciously, "My father-in-law, this room looks a bit cold. Can you move to another room? My mother is old and not in good health, so she can't stay cold."
The young eunuch smiled apologetically and said, "My lord, there are too many nobles who come to the Ancestral Temple to pray. This room is very busy, so there really aren't many. If the nobles are afraid of the cold, please ask them to send more charcoal fire."
This time I was traveling with the emperor, and the ministers who came were either rich or noble, so it was impossible for them to change rooms.
As a minister, it seems unreasonable to go to the emperor for such a trivial matter. No matter how dilapidated the house is, Qiao Lan and others can only grit their teeth and admit it.
Duan Mingqing: "Then please trouble my father-in-law to prepare more charcoal fires and send some more lamps."
Duan Mingqing raised his eyes and looked at the empty hall. Perhaps because the doors and windows were closed, there were only five or six candles lit in the hall. It was gloomy and cold, so it would be better to light more lights.
"It's no trouble. Your Majesty's words are serious." The young eunuch responded neatly and slowly withdrew.
On the other side, the side hall near the center of the Imperial Ancestral Temple is brightly lit.
Sang Weixiang sat on the couch, letting the maid next to her squeeze her shoulders and beat her back, and then listened to the eunuch kneeling in front of her reporting the situation.
"...Your Majesty, all the ministers and their families are well settled." The old eunuch said with a flattering smile on his face.
The old eunuch has been in the palace for many years. He was one of the few eunuchs who was lucky enough to survive the previous palace disaster, and he even made considerable contributions.
The main reason he survived was because he could read faces and talk.
The woman in front of him has only been in the palace for a year, but she has already won the favor of His Majesty. She has been promoted to noble concubine all the way, and even shows signs of overpowering the queen. She is naturally the one he wants to please.
Sangwei Xiangzhou was tired from traveling. He smelled the warm fragrance in the palace and half-closed his eyes. He wanted to dismiss the old eunuch in front of him casually, but suddenly he remembered something.
"What about the innermost hall in the west?" Sang Weixiang asked.
"Back to the imperial concubine, everything is ready and people have moved in."
Sang Weixiang: "Send two more people to keep an eye on it."
"Yes, your concubine."
The Imperial Ancestral Temple was built during the founding period of Beijing. After hundreds of years of wind, frost, rain and snow, it gradually fell into disrepair and also hid many secrets.
According to legend, many people died in the westernmost hall of the Ancestral Temple, so at night, the ghosts of the dead can often be seen wandering in the hall.
Over time, the hall was sealed and no one could live in it.
Regarding the fact that a certain hall in the Imperial Ancestral Temple is haunted, the old eunuch from the palace who came to surrender told Sang Weixiang when she took over the trip.
Then he wrote it down, unlocked the main hall, and distributed it to the Duan family.
Sang Weixiang was worried about Duan Mingchen's affairs, so he gave the haunted hall to the Duan family.
Even if there are no ghosts in that house, the main hall has not been repaired for many years, and it is common for air leaks and rain to leak. It will definitely be uncomfortable to live there in such a cold weather.
But if there is a ghost, then there will be a good show. The Imperial Ancestral Temple is an important place for worship, and the worshipers are all the nobles of the Beijing emperor. If you say something wrong in a few nonsense words, it will be a big sin.
Thinking about the chores of the past few days, Sang Weixiang felt unhappy, so she dismissed the eunuchs and maids in the palace and planned to take a nap.
-
Qiao Lan, wearing a heavy cloak, stood in a sheltered position on the side of the entrance to the hall, looking at the palace servants who brought charcoal fire and candles one by one.
If you just look at the few lights at the entrance of the temple, they cannot illuminate all the places, so it will be very dark.
But since there were enough lamps and charcoal fires in the Ancestral Temple, and they were only delivered now, Qiao Lan had reason to think that this was intentional.
There is no need for the master to clean the house. He just needs to tell the people below to do it in advance. Besides, this is the most noble family in the world.
Thinking about Sang Weixiang who was also in the Ancestral Temple, Qiao Lan couldn't help but think more.
I have no grievances or enmities with this Miss Sang, and there is even some kindness. Why do I need to specially arrange this hall?
Could it be that because he helped her before, he ended up having a grudge?
Qiao Lan was sitting on the stool at the door, thinking about it, when she heard Duan Mingqing's tone change.
"What's on this pillar?" Duan Mingqing asked, his voice a little harsh.
The servant took a look at the candle and couldn't make up his mind. He could only kneel down and admit his mistake and said: "Noble sir, I don't know a few words, so I don't recognize the things on this."
Duan Mingqing glanced at the winding things on the pillar and frowned.
As soon as he came to this hall, he felt something was wrong, and he didn't know who was deliberately targeting their family.
If it were just a little bit broken in the main hall, it would be fine, but this pillar had something like this carved on it.
Although Duan Mingqing couldn't quite understand it, he instinctively felt that the things on the pillars were not patterns, but some kind of special symbols, similar to Taoist talismans.
Since such things are carved on the pillars, it is not only beautiful! Considering the dilapidated hall, Duan Mingqing immediately guessed it.
"Qing'er, what's wrong?" Qiao Lan asked.
When Duan Mingqing heard Qiao Lan's voice, her anger subsided a little, "Mom, there are strange patterns carved on this pillar."
What pattern sounds so angry?
After Qiao Lan heard this, he went up to take a look.
These pillars were erected on both sides of the main hall. Because there was not enough light and it was very dark, Qiao Lan did not go there.
Until she walked to the pillar and looked at the standard carvings on the pillar, her eyes widened a bit.
this……
This looks like English!
What's going on?
Even though she hasn't touched English for more than ten years, Qiao Lan still recognizes most of the words above.