Chapter 350

These two doubts asked the hearts of almost everyone present.

Even those two old Pillars of State wanted to know the answer to this question...

Wanted to figure out exactly where they lost!

At this moment, they and the little emperor seemed like clowns being played in the palm of his hand.

"This King did not turn bad luck into good fortune..."

Yuwen Hu shook his head slowly upon hearing this, the sharpness in his voice fading, but adding a touch of depression, like a bronze bell immersed in cold water, knocking people's hearts heavy.

He paused, and his right hand hanging by his side slowly raised, pointing to the ruins at the top of the altar that were still burning. The firelight jumped in his eyes, reflecting a touch of indescribable coldness: "Because the one who ascended the altar to sacrifice and was swallowed by the sea of fire without bones left was not this King!"

Turn bad luck into good fortune?

With that explosion at the top of the altar, with that raging sea of fire, wanting to escape death from it, I'm afraid there really must be gods and Buddhas in the world...

Shang Ting recalled the "Grand Chancellor" who ascended the altar under the gaze of the officials, furrowed his brows, and puzzled: "But that person, whether it was his physique, appearance, or voice and demeanor, was no different from you, Grand Chancellor..."

"Indeed!" Wei Jianshen also stood out and echoed, "This old man would definitely not recognize him wrong!"

Having worked with the Grand Chancellor for so long, how could they misidentify these things?

Upon hearing this, Yuwen Ze bowed to several uncles, arched his hands, and took over the conversation with a smile: "Father felt a chill today, causing physical discomfort, making it difficult to support completing the sacrifice, but he didn't want to fail the good intentions of the officials who recommended him..."

"So he chose to use a double raised in the mansion to replace him!"

As he spoke, his peripheral vision glanced over the two old Pillars of State.

His pupils were full of playfulness.

Yuwen Hu suddenly sighed lightly, and the corners of his mouth even pulled up a faint arc, "Gentlemen, the illness came too suddenly, please forgive me!"

As he spoke, he deliberately raised his hand to cover his chest.

His movements were slow, but he didn't look short of breath at all, and even his breathing was very steady.

"A chill?"

Yuwen Yan recalled Yuwen Hu's steady steps when he appeared, and glanced at his hand covering his chest at this moment.

Those fingers were distinct, and there wasn't even a trace of trembling.

Looking at that face that was becoming more spirited under the sunlight, his eyes were as bright as stars soaked in morning dew.

Where was there half a sign of "feeling a chill"?

The little emperor tried hard to keep the arc of his mouth from collapsing, but he rolled his eyes in his heart.

He secretly curled his lips at Yuwen Hu's back, slandering: "You look so spirited, you don't look like you've caught a cold at all..."

It was all just an excuse for finding a double!

Until this very moment, how could Yuwen Yan not understand that this was all a calculation?

I'm afraid from the very beginning, this Grand Chancellor cousin of his had prepared to do this...

"Our plan was seamless..."

"How did Yuwen Hu see through it?"

Dugu Zhao looked at Yuwen Hu's back, who was talking nonsense, his suspicious pupils narrowed and narrowed again, his brows knitted into a knot, as if a group of tangled hemp was blocking his heart.

He couldn't understand, every link was flawless, where exactly did the problem arise?

It's truly puzzling!

"Chen Yan is already gone, how is Yuwen Hu still so difficult to deal with!"

Zhao Qian clenched his fists behind his back, his knuckles pressing against his spine, pinching wrinkles into the lining of his robe.

Those ruthless eyes were burning with two clusters of ghost fire, the muscles at the corners of his mouth twitching, almost biting his back teeth.

Pei Xun stepped out of the crowd first, bowed deeply toward Yuwen Hu, his voice carrying deliberate, heightened earnestness: "This is no chill!"

"This is Heaven's favor, the Buddha's protection!"

Before his words fell, Zhao Wuji had already echoed, his tone trembling with excitement: "It is that the gods do not want to see the Grand Chancellor suffer the poison of treacherous people!"

"Do not want Great Zhou to lose its backbone, the foundation of the country!"

That pious appearance was like a fanatical believer.

"It's all Heaven's will!" Beside him, a minor official from the Ministry of Winter stepped forward half a pace. He had been shrinking behind the crowd and didn't dare to speak, but now he seemed to have gained confidence, his voice bright and shocking, "Heaven's will is clear!"

Immediately after, the surrounding officials echoed one after another, their words surging toward all sides like a tide.

One word after another, every sentence leaning toward "Heaven's favor and divine protection."

"It is all thanks to the late Emperor and His Majesty..."

Yuwen Hu was unhurried, raised his hand to press lightly downward, just enough to suppress the voices of the crowd, and said in a deep voice: "Perhaps this is the destiny in the dark!"

His words were full of deep meaning.

He lightly attributed everything to Heaven's will, which was also a disguised admission of the officials' rhetoric.

"No wonder Yuwen Hu chose to play along..."

Yuwen Yan witnessed this scene, narrowed his eyes, and sneered in his heart: "Hah! This is one of his goals, right..."

Having reached this point, how could he not understand?

The reason Yuwen Hu didn't defeat the conspiracy in advance, but chose to play along...

Was to use this conspiracy to cover himself with a layer of Heaven's favor!

After today, his prestige will rise to another level!

He will have no more opportunities...

"Yuwen Hu really knows how to play with people's hearts and stick gold on his own face!" Zhao Qian gritted his teeth and cursed in his heart.

"..."

Dugu Zhao's brows knitted into a dead knot, and even his gray-white eyebrows were tangled together, exuding an inseparable heaviness.

Immediately after, he slowly raised his hand, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the long beard under his chin, his knuckles trembling slightly from the force, but he didn't know how many whiskers he had to pluck to clear his thoughts.

He still couldn't understand which step or which link went wrong...

Fortunately, it was done very cleanly, and there was no exposure, so they couldn't be investigated.

If something really went wrong, he would just let Dou Yi take the blame...

A-Hu, this child, really has good methods. The old partner didn't misjudge him... Yu Jie watched Yuwen Hu, who was in control of the overall situation with ease, the corners of his mouth raised slightly, and he laughed lightly in his heart. Then, holding the secret report handed over by You Xian, he stepped forward and said in a deep voice: "Grand Chancellor, the Mingjing Si found that the problem was in the incense burner!"

"It was the ashes inside that caused the change at the top of the altar!"

"Someone tampered with it!"

As he spoke, he handed over the secret report.

After Yuwen Hu took it and glanced at it, his expression was serious, and he scolded sternly: "Investigate!"

"There must be an inside traitor!"

"Investigate it to the bottom, no one is exempt!"

"No tolerance!"

Every word and sentence carried unquestionable power.

"Obey!"

You Xian, Li Tan, and other Mirror Keepers responded in unison.

"Such a mishap occurred during the Winter Sacrifice, will it be unlucky?"

A timid inquiry suddenly sounded from behind the crowd, like a basin of cold water splashed into the atmosphere that had just warmed up.

Everyone followed the sound and saw a minor official from the Ministry of Spring shrinking his shoulders, his face flushed red, obviously having gathered great courage.

He peeked at the extinguished top of the altar, then lowered his head quickly, his voice pressed very low, but carrying irrepressible worry: "The big fire at the top of the altar offended the gods, I'm afraid it won't protect the favorable weather next year..."

As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere that had just eased sank again.

Several old officials couldn't help but furrow their brows, their gazes subconsciously glancing at the ruins at the top of the altar.

The sacrificial ceremony was originally a major event for communicating between Heaven and man. Now that it was in such a mess, it was indeed easy to arouse speculation.

Even the previously excited officials closed their mouths, the joy on their faces fading, obviously also having hidden worries hooked out by these words.

Upon hearing this, Yuwen Hu not only didn't have half a look of worry, but laughed loudly instead. That laughter carried a touch of openness, instantly dispelling the depression around him: "In this King's view, this is not unlucky at all, but a great omen!"

He took half a step forward, his voice suddenly raised, every word landing with a thud: "Gentlemen, please look—the sacrificial offerings on the altar were originally sincerity dedicated to Heaven, and now they are all burned in the flames, and the smoke is rushing straight to the nine heavens. Isn't this the clear proof that Heaven is happily accepting it?"

"In ordinary sacrifices, the curling incense smoke is just a shallow taste. Today's big fire has burned Great Zhou's sincerity thoroughly and openly. How could Heaven not notice such 'great affection'?"

"Furthermore," his gaze swept over those present, his tone adding a touch of passion, "the evil spirits being cleansed by the flames is the sign of 'old filth gone, new fortune arriving'!"

"What the big fire burned away were treacherous people, what remained were loyal subjects; what was burned was the top of the altar, what was tempered was the foundation of the country! To call such a scene of turning misfortune into fortune 'unlucky' is to misinterpret Heaven's deep meaning!"

He paused, raised his hand to stroke his beard, his expression becoming more and more determined: "This old man dares to assert that today's fire is Heaven cleansing the dust for our Great Zhou, predicting that evil spirits will not invade next year, and everything will flourish!"

"Favorable weather, bountiful harvests, all start from this fire—"

"If this isn't an omen, what is an omen?"

A series of words landed with a thud, both interpreting the disaster as Heaven's will and calling the burning sacrifice a grand event, making the officials' hearts tremble.

"The Grand Chancellor's words are extremely correct!"

The officials' previous hidden worries about "offending the gods" were now washed away by this eloquent, prepared rhetorical interpretation.

Dugu Zhao listened to this "turning decay into magic" argument and couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart.

He never expected that Yuwen Hu could be so eloquent, turning black into white.

Truly amazing!

Yuwen Heng stepped forward, pointed at Yang Qin and others, and asked for instructions: "Big Brother, how should these people be handled?"

"The country has its laws!"

The smile on Yuwen Hu's face instantly vanished, leaving only solemnity like a deep pool, slowly spitting out four words.

He paused, then continued: "Although their original intention was good, they disturbed His Majesty..."

"Death penalty can be avoided, but living penalty is hard to escape!"

"Yang Qin, Yan Zhi Tui, considering their past merits, confine them for three months, fine them one year's salary, and cane them sixty times!"

"The rest of the accomplices, all cane them eighty times, and imprison them for half a year!"

Hearing such a disposition, Yuwen Yan's brows knitted into a dead knot, the astonishment in his eyes like spilled ink, dyeing it pitch black, and his heart was full of incredulity: "Yuwen Hu just raised it high and put it down lightly?"

"He didn't take the opportunity to attack these two old scoundrels?!"

The little emperor was dumbfounded, completely unable to understand this Grand Chancellor cousin's operation...