Published at 23rd of August 2023 9:12 am

Chapter 1306 1306 The Second Buddha Statue in the Buddha Hall

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Chapter 1306 The Second Buddha Statue in the Buddha Hall

“Master, there is something wrong with the sandalwood.” Qi Jue pulled an incense stick out of the incense burner at hand.

Chu Liuchen took it and frowned. “What’s the problem?”

Qi Jue replied with a serious look, “There is something added to it. If it is used for a long term, one will be mentally and physically exhausted, then lack strength, and spit out blood. If putting another ingredient into the medicine at this time, it is very likely to cause sudden death.”

On the bed, the Emperor leaned against Noble Consort Lan with a pale face. Just now, he spat out blood again, and he felt very uncomfortable all over.

Noble Consort Lan stroked the Emperor hard while looking toward Chu Liuchen with her red eyes, but she did not speak.

“What was added?” Chu Liuchen asked sternly. He didn’t trust the imperial physicians in the Palace, so he brought Qi Jue to the Palace. After entering the Palace, Qi Jue did not check the medicine that the Emperor took. Instead, he first checked the sandalwood that sensed a little unusual. As expected, he found something wrong.

Chu Liuchen was not clear about whether the problem was with sandalwood or other incense. Shao Wanru smelled it on Chu Liuchen, so she asked him to bring Qi Jue with him to investigate.

Shao Wanru used to be staying in the Yuhui Nunnery for so many years, so she was very sensitive to the aroma of sandalwood. After staying in the Emperor’s resting palace for a long time, Chu Liuchen had been stained with this aroma.

This aroma was no big deal for others to smell.

The imperial physicians were knowledgeable in pharmacology, but they didn’t know sandalwood very well. So none of them found a problem with the sandalwood. Hence, no one paid special attention to whether the medicinal materials had a problem of inter-generation or inter-restriction.

Like Shao Wanru, Mingqiu Nun also had some research on sandalwood. When she got to know that Qi Jue was going to check it in the Palace, Mingqiu Nun specially called Qi Jue over and explained it to him in detail. That was why Qi Jue found out about the problem once looking into it.

“It’s the Changxing Grass,” Qi Jue said with certainty.

“The Changxing Grass?… The horse smelled it … and go crazy… Didn’t it?” the Emperor asked weakly. It was not the first time that he had asked about the Changxing Grass, so he naturally knew its efficacy.

“Exactly. The envoy from the Xu State said that one of the efficacies of Changxing Grass was to startle horses, but he didn’t mention a more obscure efficacy. That is, if the Changxing Grass is mixed with another medicinal material from the Xu State to use, it can poison people quietly, and if the dosage was large, it can cause sudden death.”

Qi Jue said with certainty and reported it to the Emperor respectfully.

“The Changxing Grass that has appeared several times before must have accidentally come into our sight, and it was partially possible to bury the poisonous root in the body of Uncle the Emperor through the Changxing Grass,” Chu Liuchen said slowly with a trace of gloom across his eyes.

So many things had happened in the past. Everyone was focused on investigating the incident itself, and they sent the found Changxing Grass to the Imperial Study several times. Others might have no reaction, but the Emperor had been poisoned! When putting the Changxing Grass was mixed with sandalwood, the poison was buried in the body of the Emperor.

“Agreed. That’s how it took effect.” Qi Jue nodded and said, “In the beginning, there was a large amount of Changxing Grasses, which were sent here so as to let His Majesty touch and smell them. Now it is no longer necessary, but just add a bit of Changxing Grass’s powders so that no one can find it.

The reason why Qi Jue knew about it so well was that he got help from Princess Yutao. He inquired Princess Yutao about these things through Chu Liuchen’s people, and Princess Yutao told him everything that only the royal family of the Xu State knew.

“Your Majesty…” Noble Consort Lan gritted her teeth and looked at the Emperor.

The Emperor’s gaze fell on Chu Liuchen. He said in a hoarse voice, “I’ll leave it to the crown prince to deal with.”

With that, the Emperor closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he gave a delightful smile. He looked at Noble Consort Lan and said, “It will be his world in the future. If he can’t even handle such a small matter well, how can he rule the country?”

“But…” Noble Consort Lan said worriedly. In her heart, Chu Liuchen had always been that sick and weak child, so she could not be at ease.

The Emperor reached out and patted her hand, indicating that she didn’t have to worry. He looked up and said, “Ask Derong about everything I have used.”

After saying that, the Emperor leaned back and fell on the high soft pillow behind him. Noble Consort Lan hurriedly helped him and carefully covered him with the quilt.

Chu Liuchen looked at the Emperor with deep eyes. Then he turned around and walked out of the Emperor’s resting palace, followed by Qi Jue.

Derong stood at the door of the main hall. When he saw Chu Liuchen coming over, he hurried forward to bow and asked, “Your Highness, how is His Majesty?”

Chu Liuchen looked him up and down and abruptly asked, “You have been following Uncle the Emperor for a long time, haven’t you?”

Derong was stunned for a moment. Then he replied respectfully, “I have been serving His Majesty for decades.”

“Are you loyal to Uncle the Emperor?” Chu Liuchen asked coldly.

Derong couldn’t stand it this time. He knelt down with a thump and said, “Your Royal Highness, I am 100 percent loyal to His Majesty, I swear.”

Chu Liuchen looked at Derong, who was kneeling on the ground, with gloomy eyes. After a long while, he said slowly, “Get up, please.”

Xiao Xuanzi trotted over from behind Chu Liuchen, helped Derong up with a smile, patted off the dust on Derong’s knees by the way, and then stood aside.

Chu Liuchen turned around and walked to the side hall, followed by Qi Jue. Xiao Xuanzi tugged Derong’s sleeve, and they followed Chu Liuchen to the side hall.

“Where did the sandalwood come from?” When they got inside, Chu Liuchen went straight to the point.

“The sandalwood is self-made in the Palace and His Majesty has always used it. Is there anything wrong with it?” Derong said with cold sweat on his forehead and looked at the half-burning sandalwood in front of him in astonishment.

There were craftsmen in the Palace, and they paid special attention to everything that the Emperor used. Derong had always been very careful. The backgrounds of those craftsmen had been investigated very clearly, so nothing could happen.

“There should be some other incense used in the sandalwood, right? Where did it come from?” Chu Liuchen looked at Derong with deep eyes and asked again.

Hearing this, Derong looked a little better. He wiped the cold sweat on his forehead and hurriedly explained, “Your Royal Highness, please rest assured. These Buddhist incense sticks are also safe. They are used in the Buddha hall in the Palace, not purchased outside. These incense sticks always burn in the Buddha hall, and there’s nothing wrong with them.”

“Buddha hall?” Chu Liuchen frowned.

“Yes, it’s the Buddha hall. Since the in-charge nun left, it has been managed by Pushan Nun. Compared with the previous in-charge nun, Pushan Nun manages it better,” Derong said.

Before, the in-charge nun usually did not make the Buddhist incense ready until the eunuch went to ask for it. Buddhist incense was the main material of sandalwood. However, the Buddhist incense here was different from the ordinary one. It was added with many other spices that could purify hearts and minds. It was not very light, but it had distinct effects. Since Pushan Nun entered the Palace, she always made the Buddhist incense ready in advance so that the eunuch could get it immediately every time he went to ask for it.

“Have you inspected it?”

“Yes, I inspect it every time.” Derong nodded.

“Have you investigated Pushan Nun?” Chu Liuchen asked coldly.

“No. Why should we investigate Pushan Nun?” Derong asked in confusion. Pushan Nun had been living in the Yuhui Nunnery for so many years, so there was no need to investigate her.

“Check it out. See where she has been since she entered the Palace, as well as her two disciples,” Chu Liuchen ordered and reached out to take a scroll of painting out of his sleeve. “Have you seen this?”

Derong took two steps forward and took the scroll respectfully. When he took a closer look at the Buddha statue on it, his expression changed greatly. “This… This is…”

“What is this?” Chu Liuchen asked. Shao Wanru gave him this painting before he entered the Palace today. She asked him to find someone to inquire about it. As it was said, this Buddha statue was in Pushan Nun’s place, and even in a remote place in the Yuhui Nunnery, there was such a Buddha statue.

“This… This is from the previous dynasty… It’s…” Derong said in a panic and knelt down. “Your Royal Highness, this is the Buddha statue from the previous dynasty. It’s the second main statue dedicated in the Buddha hall of the imperial harem back then.”

Although that matter had been a long time, Derong still remembered it clearly. Back then, when the capital fell, the Palace of the previous dynasty was in chaos. The imperial concubines fled, and the palace maid and eunuchs were busy snatching things. Derong was just a young eunuch who had just entered the Palace of the deceased emperor, so he just followed the run in a panic.

The Palace was in chaos, along with slaughter. A young eunuch had no place to escape. It happened that he ran to the Buddha hall and sneaked in to hide himself there. Under the hanging gauze curtain, he saw this Buddha statue, which looked ferocious. Derong was very scared, but he did not dare to move. He had to crouch there, motionless.

In the end, Derong survived the palace revolution. Not only that, but he also followed the right master.

But even after so many years, the scene at that time was still vivid in his mind. The Buddha statue was too large for him at that time, and it was put in second place. Later, the soldiers broke in. They smashed the Buddha statue and took Derong away.

When the Emperor ascended the throne, Derong, as a general steward, followed him into the Palace. He once subconsciously inquired about the Buddha statue from some of the elders who had survived back then. Someone told him said that it was the favorite Buddha statue of the Empress of the previous dynasty. There was a story about someone sacrificing himself to eliminate evil, but Derong was not clear about the details.

“Have you seen it before?” Chu Liuchen was very surprised by Derong’s reaction. He had wanted Derong to ask the old people in the Palace about it, but he didn’t expect that Derong was the right person to ask.

“I was hiding in the Buddha hall at that time. I saw this Buddha statue. It was very big and positioned in second place. Afterward, I inquired about it and learned that this Buddha statue was the favorite one that the Empress of the previous dynasty worshiped, and all the imperial concubines and princesses in the Palace followed her to worship this Buddha statue together. They were very respectful of this Buddha statue… They even made many small versions of this Buddha statue and gave them to several favored imperial concubines and princesses.”

Derong calmed down and said. After all, he was no longer the young eunuch from before, so his answer was flawless.

“Assign someone to keep an eye on Pushan Nun,” Chu Liuchen said lazily with a slightly solemn look.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Derong nodded. After pondering for a while, he said, “Does Pushan Nun have any problems? Her Majesty the Empress Dowager always compliments Pushan Nun. What if she disturbs Her Majesty the Empress Dowager?”

“Don’t allow her or her two disciples to go to Imperial Grandmother’s place.” Chu Liuchen thought for a while and said.

“But lately, Her Majesty is very convinced of Pushan Nun, and Pushan Nun visits the Palace of Benevolent Peace every day. If she suddenly doesn’t go there, will Her Majesty…” Derong said hesitantly.

“I will arrange it for Imperial Grandmother’s place. If Imperial Grandmother insists on seeing them, it’s okay to let them go there.” Chu Liuchen fell silent for a while and then said lazily with an extreme coldness in his eyes.

“So, you’re from the previous dynasty. No wonder…”

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