novel-bin Chapter 133: Moving Mountains and Building a Palace
Chapter 133: Moving Mountains and Building a Palace
As the sun gradually sets, even the best-lit room becomes dim. Ji Anni had already eaten the food that Lai De brought her, and now she is full and speaks with full energy. She only hears "Yun Zhen, what do you want?" It is just a normal voice, but in this quiet dungeon, the echo is amplified several times.
Yun Zhen gestured to her to speak more quietly, saying, "My lady, please don't disturb others."
Ji Anni quickly covered her mouth and said embarrassedly: "Yun Zhen, I was too excited to see you."
"Seeing that the queen is so energetic, Yun Zhen feels relieved." Yun Zhen breathed a sigh of relief. He originally thought that a little girl like Ji Annie would cry in the dungeon, but he didn't expect that she not only had good tea and food to serve her, but also had a young guard to chat with her. Her life was really good.
"No, no, we're all taken care of by the guards." Ji Annie laughed.
"Your Majesty, you've only been the imperial concubine for three days and you've already been thrown into the dungeon. If you don't restrain yourself, who knows what kind of trouble you'll get into in the future." As Yun Zhen spoke, his eyebrows knitted together, and he looked extremely worried.
Ji Anni had experienced many ups and downs since entering the palace, but fortunately, she had gotten through each one safely. Ji Anni herself didn't seem to feel anything, but the people watching around her were already terrified. Hua Rong and Lai De, as well as Bao Gui Fei and Yun Zhen, had reminded her many times, but she always forgot the pain after the wound healed. She didn't believe that a tiger would bite a person unless it had bitten her head off.
"By the way, Yunzhen, how is Concubine Baogui?" Ji Anni was not worried about herself, but was worried about Concubine Baogui.
"Princess Baogui is fine, Your Majesty, there is no need to worry." Yun Zhen said calmly.
"Yes. That's good." Ji Anni nodded with a smile. In fact, she had long guessed that Concubine Baogui must be safe, otherwise how could Yun Zhen have the leisure to visit her? In Yun Zhen's heart, Concubine Bao was always the first.
"Your Majesty, Concubine Baogui is also worried about you. If Princess Tianning hadn't come forward first, she would have gone to plead with the Queen Mother long ago."
"I'm sorry for making you worry again." Ji Anni lowered her head, finally feeling guilty. It turned out that her every move was watched by many people, and she couldn't handle it alone if something happened. Even though she saved the maid in the right courtyard this time, Tian Ning and Baogui Concubine were worried about her.
"But, Yun Zhen...I really didn't mean it."
If the previous disturbance at the Empress Dowager's dinner and the kneeling punishment in the Renhe Hall were mistakes made by Ji Anni in the heat of the moment, then the burning of the three treasures and the playing cards this time was really unfair.
"My lady, that's why you should be more careful next time."
"Since the Queen Mother dislikes me so much, why did she let me come back?"
"If you don't come back, it's no use for the Emperor to keep delaying the appointment of the Queen. The Queen Mother wants you to come back so that everyone in the palace knows that you are not fit to be the Queen. If you continue to act like this, wouldn't that be exactly what she wants?"
"Yun Zhen, do I have to be the queen? They all think I am the enemy because I want to be the queen. You are the only one who knows that I don't care about being the queen or not. I just want to go home... When can I go back?" Ji Anni's nose felt sour again as she spoke. She always felt that the word "home" was far away from her. Recently, when I was in a daze, I always thought that maybe I could never go back... Maybe I was destined to be imprisoned in the palace of the Tianyou Dynasty for the rest of my life.
"Your Majesty." Yun Zhen called out softly. Whenever the topic of going home was brought up, the atmosphere suddenly became heavy. "Your Majesty, don't worry. We should soon find a way to go back. After recuperating for a while, my magic power is gradually recovering. I believe that the monster hiding in the palace is also ready to make a move. As long as it dares to take any action, Yun Zhen promises that it will be captured in one fell swoop. Then, Your Majesty will be able to... go home."
"Really?" Ji Anni was looking forward to going home, but she also seemed to sense the danger approaching. In the darkness, it seemed as if a pair of bloodshot eyes were staring at her, making her suddenly feel a chill.
"Empress, do you know why this dungeon is slanted?" Yun Zhen seemed to ask an irrelevant question.
Ji Anni's thoughts obviously couldn't keep up with Yun Zhen's pace. She was stunned for a moment and asked, "What's wrong?"
Yun Zhen said, "Legend has it that before the founding of the Tianyou Dynasty, this place was originally a barren mountain. Later, in order to establish the king and build the imperial palace, the barren mountain was razed to the ground and the palace was built. It is said that there was a thousand-year-old tree where this dungeon was located. Not long after the palace was built, one night, thunder suddenly sounded in the sky, and a lightning bolt struck down, knocking down the thousand-year-old tree, and the entire trunk was burned to charcoal by the sky fire. At that time, rumors of a great sin from heaven and disobeying the will of heaven were rife in the palace, causing panic among the people. Later, Emperor Taizu ordered the charred wood to be uprooted, but a 20-zhang large pit was left on the ground. To fill this large pit, soil had to be transported from somewhere else, and the soil and rocks that could be collected at that time were all used up when the palace was built. So Emperor Taizu ordered the pit to be turned into a dungeon, and this relatively convenient way to fill the pit. Therefore, this dungeon is slanted."
"What's wrong with this?" Ji Anni listened for a long time but couldn't understand anything.
"My Lady, do you know why Emperor Taizu built a palace on the mountain and dug a pit as a prison?"
"How should I know?" Ji Anni thought that it was useless for Yun Zhen to ask this question. She was not from this world. She didn't even know how many emperors there were before Long Mohan, so how could she know about Emperor Taizu?
Yun Zhen continued, "My Lady, there is another legend about Emperor Taizu. It is said that he fell in love with a fox demon, and the fox demon said that if he could level a mountain, she would marry him. Later, Emperor Taizu really leveled a mountain, but the fox demon did not show up. Moreover, lightning struck down an ancient tree from the sky, leaving a large pit on the ground. Some people say that Emperor Taizu angered the fox demon, and the fox demon was about to take revenge, so Emperor Taizu built a dungeon and filled the pit to appease the people."
"Did the fox demon show up later?"
"No, there never was. But then a concubine became pregnant and gave birth to a fox."
Ji Anni suddenly remembered: "I seem to have heard of this story. Is it the story of the 'Demon Suppression Temple' that Tian Ning just told me yesterday?"
Yun Zhen nodded and said, "My queen, the imperial concubine who gave birth to the fox was burned to death, but she left behind a black fox bead. It is said that this bead will make a crying sound at night, as if a woman is constantly whispering "baby, baby". My queen, some people say that the bead will keep calling her child until her child returns to her side."