Chapter 228

Yuan Zai was disheartened, kneeling on the jade bricks paved in the Chenxiang Pavilion, his expression muddled as if half-drunk and half-awake, and he opened his mouth hesitantly, "It is, it is... the internal attendant official Yu Chaoen!"

Seeing Yan Shu heard this name and couldn't help but press his hand on the sword box behind him.

Ning Qingchen came to his side, pressed his hand, and shook her head slightly...

At this time, the Profound Emperor at the head of the Chenxiang Pavilion had an extremely ugly face. He stared at Yuan Zai, and the power of his rage made everyone around him dare not speak. Even Imperial Consort Yang sensibly didn't say much more, just looking at Qian Chen with interest.

The Profound Emperor turned to look at Gao Lishi and asked, "Have you heard of this person?"

Gao Lishi bowed, "Just a yellow-gate eunuch in the internal attendant province!"

The name Yu Chaoen was strange to Gao Lishi and the Profound Emperor, and even more so to Seeing Yan Shu and Ning Qingchen, but Qian Chen was somewhat familiar with it. This person was one of the first eunuchs in the mid-Tang Dynasty to cause the evil of eunuchs interfering in politics. Only after him did the precedent of eunuchs commanding the Shence Army appear, directly leading to the rampant and dark situation where eunuchs in the late Tang Dynasty slaughtered prime ministers and officials at will.

The rampant nature of eunuchs knowing government affairs and using the Shence Imperial Army as their claws and teeth truly dominated the political situation of the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty.

And what they relied on was the Shence Army, the imperial army guarding Chang'an. During the Sweet Dew Incident, the Tang Wenzong and the prime minister conspired to kill the eunuchs, which was detected by the eunuch Qiu Shiliang. The eunuchs in the palace ordered the left and right Shence Armies to wash the government affairs hall in blood, slaughtering more than a thousand officials including the Zhongshu Menxia.

Eunuchs knowing government affairs as the brain, and using the Shence Imperial Army as claws and teeth, truly dominated the political situation of the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty.

Qian Chen lowered his eyes and asked in a low voice, "Those poems, were they also given to you by him?"

"Yes, he found me yesterday and asked if I wanted a great wealth! Then he copied these poems for me and told me that there would be a scholar named Li Bai at the Li Qianqiu Banquet today who would write the three Qingping Tunes in the Chenxiang Pavilion. And I only need to stand up and point out that he plagiarized, and I can win great fame. He said this matter was foolproof, with this letter in front, and so many poems. I would definitely be famous in one fell swoop... At that time, he would arrange for me to approach Wang Yunxiu, the daughter of the Hexi Military Governor Wang Zhongsi."

Yuan Zai answered everything he was asked. The Profound Emperor thought he was just having a mental breakdown, but Gao Lishi saw that the cup of wine had a problem. He secretly swapped the golden goblet Qian Chen had just held, tasted the wine inside, and felt that there was no hallucinogenic medicine in it, so he couldn't help but frown.

"So it was a plot by a eunuch, no wonder this plan... was so rough!" Qian Chen sighed slightly.

"What about those poems copied for you?" Qian Chen prepared to check the handwriting with the eunuchs in the palace.

Yuan Zai's face was struggling, and he said painfully, "I was afraid of long nights and many dreams, so those poems were burned by me! But I still recognize the handwriting on them, as long as..."

Qian Chen shook his head slightly: "Not Yu Chaoen's handwriting?"

"He is illiterate!"

"Haha..." Qian Chen laughed dumbly. It turns out that those who were illiterate might not be illiterate now... The original Princess Yuzhen's cultivation was only Foundation Establishment, and although she was not lacking in expenses, she was not particularly wealthy. And now Princess Yuzhen, even without counting that wealthy family background, just by her cultivation, estimated she could beat the original one hundred.

"Alright!" The Profound Emperor scolded, "Li Bai, I invited you here to write poems, not to investigate cases..."

"But I am actually here to investigate cases, kill people, and stage a coup... Writing poems is just my disguise!" Qian Chen thought silently.

The Profound Emperor knocked on the table and said, "This person stole people's literary thoughts with evil methods and deceived the emperor to his face, it is truly unforgivable... Gao Lishi!" The Profound Emperor called Gao Lishi behind him. Yuan Zai was terrified and began to struggle desperately, shouting, "Your Majesty... Your Majesty, spare my life!"

"Your Majesty, I have something to say!"

The Profound Emperor waved his sleeves impatiently and went straight to the Hua'e Xianghui Building with the princes and Imperial Consort!

Gao Lishi took off the whisk from his sleeve, pressed Yuan Zai's head to the ground, and asked Qian Chen, "Taibai, do you want to do it yourself?"

Qian Chen shook his head and said, "This dirty work, let the General bother with it! I am a refined person and can't stand such scenes." He stood up and turned to leave.

Gao Lishi looked at his back and shook his head, "You kid killed more people in one night than I have in my whole life, what are you pretending to be here? Clearly ruthless, what are you pretending to be a refined person for? I am a compassionate person..."

Gao Lishi sighed while shaking his head, rolled Yuan Zai's neck with the whisk, and slowly tightened it. Yuan Zai grabbed the tough silver threads of the whisk with both hands, his legs kicking constantly. He made a hissing sound, his face flushed with blood, but Gao Lishi had no pity. As the whisk tightened, he strangled Yuan Zai in the pavilion. After a long time, he released the whisk, let Yuan Zai's body fall to the ground, and summoned two small yellow gates, "Send it to be buried! Bury it deeper, this resentment... is also a delusional person!"

Qian Chen, who turned to leave the Chenxiang Pavilion, beckoned, and a wisp of soul appeared in the dark red lotus flower in his palm.

Seeing Yan Shu whispered beside him, "Do you want me to find that Yu Chaoen..."

"Now dealing with An Lushan is the priority, no need to mess up our own formation."

Qian Chen shook his head and whispered.

"And Yu Chaoen shouldn't be Master Miaokong either. This is just another layer of his cover. Yu Chaoen's rise is too late, and his current status is low. Even if Master Miaokong wants to lie dormant, he won't choose Yu Chaoen, who has no influence on the situation at this time."

He raised his head slightly, his eyes carrying a hint of sharpness, "But I also have some guesses about Master Miaokong's identity..."

Seeing Yan Shu said, "Who do you think he is? Have we ever met?"

"It's a eunuch..." Qian Chen said lightly:

"Now we have no time to deal with Master Miaokong, so precaution is the priority. Having this layer of precaution is enough. What's important is to destroy An Lushan's plot. As long as the Great Tang is not in chaos, Master Miaokong will have no chance. His plot needs to wait for the situation to become chaotic, and we can never compare our patience with him."

In front of the Hua'e Xianghui Building, the Emperor had already been welcomed into the building.

Officials, scholars, monks, and dancers from all over the Xingqing Palace gathered, bustling into the Hua'e Xianghui Building.

Inside the building, it was an incomparably vast space. Qian Chen saw He Zhizhang, Cui Zongzhi, Su Jin, Jiao Sui, and Zhang Xu who was no longer pretending to be drunk. He also saw Wu Daozi, who had just finished the mural and still had ink stains on his sleeves.

Li Guinian stood behind the Profound Emperor and nodded slightly to Qian Chen,

The Pear Garden disciples seemed not to recognize Qian Chen, crowding on the building, dressing up each other. Musicians and music workers were already listed behind the screens.

In the dissolute music of wealth and entanglement, faces full of excitement in the building reflected each other. Everyone took their seats, and the building could actually accommodate tens of thousands of people. Because of Si Qingguo's status as a princess, Qian Chen and the others were able to sit slightly in front, while on both sides of the Profound Emperor's seat at the very front were close ministers like the Crown Prince, Yang Guozhong, and An Lushan.

Hundreds of Pear Garden disciples danced, magicians from the Western Regions performed mysterious magic, Daoists from the Central Plains summoned stars to line the roof of the building, invited the bright moon, and reflected the light.

There were also the Lion King and Dragon King who had just been decided, dragon and lion dances, and even four-tusked divine elephants, white deer, pixiu, suanni brought from the Beast Garden, and hundreds of divine horses with towering horns and extraordinary bones performing beast plays and horse dances in the building.

The banquet entered its peak...

But Qian Chen only occasionally tasted a few cups of wine to avoid breaking his persona of someone who loves wine, but his true qi and internal scene true thunder pill qi were all nourishing the affectionate sword in the scabbard. In that scabbard, the true essence was like water, tempering the sword light over and over again.

Li Guinian held the pipa, which was a powerful magic treasure, and sat beside the Profound Emperor, closing his eyes to rest.

Those tens of thousands of Pear Garden disciples, except for those performing on the field, were coming and going, some preparing musical instruments, starting the final tuning, some stretching their muscles and legs, starting the warm-up preparation for the dance.

It was about to reach the fixed dharma song for every ceremony and grand banquet—the Rainbow Feather Garment Dance!

Therefore, their preparation did not attract anyone's attention at all, only thinking that the Profound Emperor attached great importance to this Li Qianqiu Banquet, and they were all a bit nervous.

He Zhizhang was no longer drinking wine...

Wu Daoxuan drank cup after cup.

Wang Wei stared at Qian Chen and the others, his brows tightly locked, with a very deep doubt in his eyes.

Cen Can was mixed in the crowd, looking around, looking at Qian Chen and the others with hesitation, tension, and desperate resolve in his eyes.

Li Mi beside the Crown Prince lowered his eyes, and even when the Crown Prince spoke to him several times, his reaction was slow. Li Heng asked with concern, "Li Mi, do you have something on your mind?"

Li Mi bowed, "I dare not trouble the Crown Prince!"

Yang Guozhong was talking to the Profound Emperor, and An Lushan was twisting his fat body, his expression honest and obedient.

Monks from the Qinglong Temple and Xingshan Temple were surprised to see their competitors, Daoist priests from the Xuanyuan Emperor Temple and other palace temples, sitting upright, not looking sideways, with their magic power and spirit raised to the highest level.