Cao Xiwan had returned to the Marquis Mansion at this time. She was not in a hurry to find Luo's mother. She sneaked into the outer study and lay on the roof. She opened a tile and peered down at Marquis Nankang.
In the study room, he reviewed official documents under the lamp.
The frosty plum blossoms outside the house are like drops of dew at night. There is a charcoal fire in the room, and the lights on the table are mottled. Song Chengming is as steady as the abyss, sitting in a high chair with a straight body and a good look on his face.
She lay on the roof and kept looking at him.
Logically speaking, these past few days are not the time for Mr. Hou to ask for Ping'an's pulse. Is he sick if he suddenly asks the imperial doctor to check his pulse?
Or, is he really Song Chengming?
Not a stand-in?
If he was a spy, she could rush down and stab him to death with a sword.
Her belly was wrapped thickly, and as a strong pregnant woman, it was not cold to lie on the roof. She looked at the moon quietly, and she had already told the Marquis to be careful of people in the northwest area.
Not to mention that Duke Liang’s home base is the northwest frontier fortress. General Lou is an old friend of Duke Liang. Let’s talk about the Prince of Qin’s Mansion. He has already turned against you. How did your Majesty’s father, the late prince, suddenly pass away in the first place? He was traveling for Taizu.
During an inspection in Xi'an, he discovered that the King of Qin had rebelled against him. After he was escorted back, he died of illness within a year.
At that time, Taizu Xingwu was still in the throne, and the first-born prince died in such an unclear manner. Wasn't the Marquis afraid that something would happen?
Or does he have some evil plan to wipe out his family and confiscate his family?
Song Chengming was reading an official document and making comments with a pen in his hand. Suddenly, he heard a rhythmic tapping sound on the roof, which was a secret signal.
"Xiao Wan?" He raised his head.
"It's me, Lord Marquis." She fell down.
Under the lamp, Song Chengming was stunned by her ugly appearance, and then understood: "Are you asking for information? Did you find a spy?"
Cao Xiwan looked at Song Chengming five steps away.
She asked: "How old am I?"
Song Chengming was slightly startled, put down his pen, and replied: "Six years, three months and ten days."
"Purple Bamboo Forest."
"Lou Shuluan."
She looked at Nankang Hou for a long time: "There are several layers to the Ninth Transformation of the Netherworld. The name of the last layer."
"...In the Ninth Transformation, there are ten more levels. The first level is the Book of Life and Death, and the last level is the Great Wheel of Hell."
She was relieved, this was a new identification code. Since Feng Junqing entered the house last time, she and Song Chengming had secretly added another one.
The ninth transformation of the underworld, the deep spring.
Deep in the underworld, at the end of Naihe Bridge, after crossing the bridge, there are ten levels of living hell in the underworld.
The first level holds the book of life and death. If you judge life, you will live, if you judge death, you will live.
Only she has practiced this.
I only told Song Chengming.
"I'm in the house, so nothing can happen easily." Song Chengming didn't ask much about why she suspected it. He knew it in his heart and said with a smile, "Where is the secret treasure of the previous dynasty that you and Shi Mingniang bet on?"
"...Is there a secret?" She was shocked, "She didn't give it to me! This person is a scoundrel! I misjudged her!"
Song Chengming immediately understood that the rumors outside that the two women were competing to bet on the secrets of the former dynasty were all for the sake of a gambling gimmick.
"Rumors you spread?"
"It's not me!" She denied decisively and mused, "It must be Shi Mingniang. The devil is just so unreliable. She is too evil. She is not as loyal, brave and upright as the people in the yamen."
Song Chengming decided to give up and asked: "How is the empress in the palace?"
In Prince Qin's residence, Feng Junqing returned to the Taoist temple in the residence tonight.
He opened his right hand, revealing a bottle of crystal blood and jade fat, which contained a secret medicine. It was one of the secret medicines in Shi Mingniang's hand. You can try this secret medicine on the map of the imperial mausoleum. The map is made from the skins of rare animals beyond the Great Wall.
I haven't found out whether there are still mechanisms in the painting.
In the secret room, he smeared the entire map of the imperial mausoleum with secret medicine, and then baked it with a lamp.
After passing a stick of incense, he saw dense words on the back of the map. He guessed it was written by Eunuch Dong, but the content surprised him:
[Nine Transformations of the Netherworld, the ninth level is divided into ten levels. I used to know this secret when I was in the Yuan Palace and listened to the words of the former imperial master Pasiba accidentally. I built the imperial mausoleum for Taizu, and inadvertently
Thinking of this, I guessed it must be God's will. So I named the imperial mausoleum formation mechanism after these ten floors. No one other than the Lord of the Netherworld can open the mechanism. The first floor of the mechanism is the book of life and death. The second floor...]
He frowned, Lord of the Netherworld? Does it mean that only those who have completed the Nine Transformations of the Netherworld can unlock the many traps and penetrate directly into the core of the Emperor's Edge?
Nankang Hou Mansion.
In the study room outside, Cao Xiwan felt that she needed to talk to Shi Mingniang about the secrets of the previous dynasty. Song Chengming could ask about this, which meant that Lord Feng Dao still had some of the secrets in his hands, and was being watched by the Marquis. Of course she had to discuss it.
Discuss. She obviously won, how could she not have any luck?
When she heard that the Marquis asked about Song Liangdi in the palace, she responded smoothly: "I didn't pay much attention to the empress--" She suddenly thought, "Something is wrong. I didn't pay attention to the empress after entering the palace." After thinking about it, "The empress used to be so quiet.
Sometimes something happens."
Song Chengming was slightly shocked, he knew what she was talking about.
Song Jiahui, the niece of the eldest son, is dignified and kind, so she is extraordinary.
Suddenly one year, Xiao Wan felt that the eldest lady was too quiet and not lively and cute at all. Within two days, she discovered that Lu Xiuyun had also suddenly become quiet.
She was so familiar with Xiuyun that she felt suspicious at first glance, and immediately thought that Lu Xiuyun was being bullied by the eldest lady.
She quickly followed and spied on the eldest lady. As a result, she found that Song Jiahui and Prince Zhao had occasionally met each other when they were offering incense.
When this dynasty was first established, all the officials in the houses were just common people. Once they became rich and famous, the rules in the house were not strict.
During the outing to enjoy the autumn, all the royal relatives, nobles, and royal family members would go out together, drive incense carts, paint boats, and take their families to the banks of Qingliang Mountain and Mochou Lake. When the spring is bright and the lake is green and pink, the weather is beautiful.
The young lady and the prince secretly exchanged letters.
Lu Xiuyun is an insider. Although she doesn't understand many rules, she also knows that she will be scolded if she finds out. She feels uneasy every day.
At that time, Cao Xiwan felt that according to the old lady's wishes, the eldest lady should marry a well-matched nobleman. It would be best to marry someone from the Duke's palace.
When she thought about it, it was quite suitable for Prince Zhao's family to be stronger than the Duke's. She didn't take it seriously and forgot about it. Occasionally she murmured a few words to Song Chengming.
When Nankang Hou recalled this incident, he also frowned: "In a few days, let the old lady enter the palace to see the empress."
"Oh. That's fine." She thought, at most, Prince Zhao wanted to use his wife to get information and write a disgusting and deceptive love letter. It's not a big deal. "Don't worry, Lord Marquis, she won't be fooled anyway."
"
What she was actually wondering was, what was Song Chengming's plan? When he was in trouble and crisis, he was famous for his evil tricks.
Moreover, she carefully looked at Marquis Nankang, listened carefully to his voice, and carefully observed his expression, but she could not see any physical discomfort in Song Chengming.
Only then did she briefly talk about things in Shangyuan County and Jiangning County.
"I will report it to the Marquis after I find out everything."
She and Song Chengming are not far apart now.
But she speculated about Song Chengming's thoughts. He knew that Nanzhi was in the house, right? Why did he pretend to be unknown? She even thought that maybe the real danger was not the Marquis but his wife.
She had just slipped into Yanzhi's room, and the girl had just fallen asleep. Yanzhi said that Mother Chen didn't look for her.
When Cao Xiwan heard this, he knew that his wife was unprepared.
Once the Marquis had a legitimate son, he planted enough hidden stakes in the Qin Prince's Mansion in the northwest. She even heard from Xiao Qiao that the Lou family's business inn and residence in Jinling City had the Marquis' involvement. She thought, Hou
Madam has just now encountered real danger.
In order to get the antidote, Wu Laodang secretly told her a palace secret. When His Majesty was initially furious and sent the Marquis of Nankang to prison, he first asked several old gangs to check whether Jinyi Yamen was treasonous. At that time, His Majesty
I once got angry in front of several old associates and scolded: "First marry the daughter of Zhenxi, and then marry the son of Qin. The eldest son of the Song family is loyal to his late father and the prince. Does this bastard want to help King Qin ascend the throne? He has failed me.
see--!"
Cao Xiwan thought, she knew this would happen.
Once the Marquis encounters a situation where the Emperor is suspicious and angry, and a major event affects his future, the person will be unpredictable.
How many people died when Song Chengming was able to climb from a small household to the position of deputy governor of Jinyiwei.
As a bastard, the Marquis was able to obtain the title of nobility without losing any blood, and the master was still alive so that the family could prosper. It was entirely because the old lady and the old aunt made the right choice.
It's not that the Marquis dared not kill his relatives.