My enemies became my companions

Chapter 489: The Holy Maiden in the Cauldron (Two in One)

"Where, where did the appointment come from?!"

"The Shangshu has approved it. This time I informed Doctor Cui in advance so that you can prepare well."

"In the palace... after the Shangshu's introspection... has Her Majesty the Queen Mother approved it?"

Before Cui Bu could get to the bottom of the matter, the eunuch who came to inform him had already turned around and left.

Cui Bu stood outside the door for a while.

Since it was decided by the Empress Dowager, then unless it was a great achievement, it was a foregone conclusion. And because he had decided to draw a clear line with the Ding'an Party, no one would petition for him.

The Ministry of Personnel is in charge of personnel appointments and dismissals, as well as performance appraisals. All officials in the court rely on the documents of the Ministry of Personnel, so officials of the Ministry of Personnel are often called "celestial officials." As for the Ministry of Rites, it is in charge of the rituals and ceremonies of worshiping heaven and earth, ancestors, and the court, and most of its officials come from the Hanlin Academy.

This time, Cui Bu was truly demoted.

He returned to the garden in a daze, unable to believe this fact.

Why is that?
Cui Bu was puzzled. Although he had not made any great achievements recently, he had not made any mistakes either. He should not have been transferred to the Ministry of Rites in this way.

When he walked in, his wife Luo came forward to ask him questions, but he ignored her.

As if by magic, Cui Bu went deep into the yard. When he looked up, he saw a slightly dilapidated courtyard and a little girl sitting in the sun doing needlework.

Xiuhe was helping to thread the needle, while Lin Wanheng was wearing plain white mourning clothes and a white hat.

Cui Bu suddenly understood something. Since last year, the Empress Dowager has not summoned Lin Wanhang into the palace for almost a year!
He took a few steps forward.

Lin Wanheng looked up and saw his elder brother coming. Just as he was about to speak, he saw his elder brother with a gloomy face and asked calmly:

"Are you still in mourning now?"

Lin Wanheng was puzzled for a moment and said, "My husband is dead, so I have to wear mourning clothes."

"Pedantic!" Cui Bu was furious: "Why are you so pedantic?"

"This is the place of propriety and righteousness."

"Etiquette? What etiquette? All my family members have changed their surnames, but you haven't. Lin Wanheng, you insist on being a lady, right? I'm telling you, if you continue to wear mourning, my Cui family will be in great trouble. The Lin family is extinct, the Lin Party has collapsed, and you're still summoning their spirits? You're inviting those evil spirits and ghosts into my house and dragging us to hell! We've finally cleared our relationship, and you think it's okay to keep mourning, right? Building a memorial arch for chastity can help you improve your reputation, but why don't you think about how long it's been since the Queen Mother summoned you?"

Cui Bu's tone became increasingly harsh, and by the end his words were cold.

Luo Shi hurried over, and seeing Cui Bu scolding her, she also said, "Little sister, it's really not auspicious for you to be like this."

Lin Wanhang was silent for a moment.

The Queen Mother summoned her to the palace for a reason. Didn't she know it? Didn't her family members know it too? Everyone knew it was all for that person.

Her face was gloomy and she didn't say a word.

After Cui Bu and Luo left, Xiuhe came up nervously and was about to comfort them.

I heard a sentence beside my ear,
"If they don't want me to wear it, then I won't wear it anymore."

………………

At five o'clock in the morning, Chen Yi opened his eyes.

Yin Tingxue was lying next to her, her lips slightly open as she breathed. Just looking at her was pleasing to the eye and brought a deep sleep. Sometimes Chen Yi would fall asleep while looking at her.

But this time when I woke up, I tossed and turned, but I didn't feel sleepy at all.

It's not that I can't fall asleep because of insomnia. In addition to cultivating my body and beating my meridians, martial artists also benefit my soul and spirit. It can be said that as long as I want to sleep, I can sleep without touching the pillow. If I don't want to sleep, I can't sleep even with a brocade quilt.

I have already mastered the choice of sleeping or not sleeping.

He just wanted to force himself to fall asleep so as to kill some boring time.

The night is dark, the moonlight and water blend into one, the rippling waves flicker, there is nothing unusual around, only the faint sound of flowing water by the ears. It is the best environment to fall asleep, and waking up and going back to sleep is easier than starting over.

But why...

"Om..."

Chen Yi opened his eyes again, and felt a slight tingling pain crawling up his waist.

He narrowed his eyes, his hair stood on end, and he felt an intense fear that his life was in danger!

afraid!
He touched his waist and found that his waist bones were tight and strong. He was no longer afraid now that he was no longer in trouble.

I almost thought that I was no longer as brave as I used to be because I had neglected women in recent days. My back and waist ached after dealing with Concubine Dong and the little fox. If this was the case, how could I live in the future?
How can you bully the little fox?
Not to mention Yin Weiying.

Chen Yi exhaled and became confused.
So...what's the problem?
He thought about it for a long time, but when he couldn't come up with any result, his waist started to hurt again. Chen Yi followed the pain and touched the round and smooth area like jade.

The answer is here?
Chen Yi explored it with his spiritual sense, and rubbed it along the feeling. Then, when he touched the slightly unfamiliar lines, he took it out from the ground.

With a little light, the Wusheng Ding fell into his hand. It suddenly felt hot, and a faint numbing pain spread up along his tendons.

Chen Yi looked at the small tripod with great interest. After hearing what the Guhuo Bird had told him, he had been curious about this White Lotus holy artifact of unknown origin and wanted to take a closer look with his divine eyes. However, he was busy on his way and because the little fox was bringing disaster to the country and the people, he had not taken it out for a long time to take a closer look.

The patterns on the tripod were ancient and complicated, with a thin layer of dust between the gaps. Upon careful inspection, there were no Taoist cloud patterns on it, nor were there any Sanskrit, Buddha statues, or lotus flowers engraved on it. It came from neither Taoism nor Buddhism, which was rather strange. Chen Yi was very clear that the White Lotus Sect was an extremely complicated sect, with both immortals and Buddhas.

Chen Yi pondered for a moment, and after pasting the talisman, he decided to use the eye-opening spell to find out the truth.

"God has commanded me to communicate with spirits, to open the gates of heaven, and to illuminate my nine orifices..."

The Heavenly Eye immediately opened up in the lake of his heart, and the bright vision instantly engulfed the Cauldron of No Life.

Everything was instantly dimmed by the light.

Chen Yi stared at the Wusheng Ding.

However, what was surprising was that as Chen Yi's gaze fell, the Wusheng Ding did not move at all, as if there was a blank space between heaven and earth, with only a tiny and weak mustard seed left.

Not only that, the mustard seed appeared even darker than ink, as if it was swallowing up the light around it.

Interesting... Chen Yi narrowed his eyes, thought for a while, then slowly narrowed his vision and moved towards the Wusheng Cauldron.

He lowered his head, and the darkness in the cauldron suddenly magnified!

The darkness instantly covered the sky and the earth, almost swallowing up all vision, and when Chen Yi turned his head suddenly, he could no longer see the darkness in the cauldron.

After trying it several times, he confirmed that the darkness was not aggressive. After pondering for a moment, he let his consciousness go deeper into the darkness.

I don’t know how long I went deep inside, but a slight sound fell into my ears.

Is there the sound of water here?

Then Chen Yi discovered that the deeper he went, the more he felt the darkness flowing like water.

When he reached a certain place, Chen Yi stopped. The darkness in front of him seemed to solidify and extend upwards to a great extent, blocking out the sun. Then he suddenly had a premonition that someone was calling him from behind.

"You're too close to the tree."

It was a slightly old female voice.

He turned around suddenly and saw an old woman with a haggard face appearing behind him like a ghost.

Chen Yi frowned, pinching his fingers unconsciously, and asked calmly: "Tree? What tree?"

"You don't understand even if you tell me..."

Although the old woman was as thin as a dead tree, she closed the distance between them in just a few steps. She stared behind Chen Yi for a while.

Chen Yi then realized that the tree she was referring to was the dark piece: "Is this a tree?"

The old woman turned around, as if she suddenly realized something, and asked in surprise: "You are not a spirit?"

"What do you mean?"

"Those who come here are all souls, either wandering ghosts or the three corpses and nine insects. They nourish me and also nourish this dead tree of the five poisons." The old woman said leisurely.

When Chen Yi heard the words "Five Poisonous Dead Trees", his face changed slightly: "...The Great Ming Buddha is born and will surely restore the world of ignorance." The familiar yet unfamiliar voice fell into her ears. The old woman stopped in surprise and said in disbelief: "I am a disciple of the Holy Religion?"

“…My last name is Chen Yi, who are you?”

Chen Yi has always known about the Light and Dark Sect, he knew about it in his previous life, otherwise he would not have been able to intercept Yin Tingxue in this life. The so-called "Five Poisonous Dead Tree" is the tree created by the Demon Lord in the Light and Dark Sect to compete with the Bright Lord, supporting the Demon Lord's dark world.

The old woman searched for it but could not recall any memory.

But Chen Yi continued, "Are you... a saint who lives in seclusion?"

He still remembered that Zhu E had told him that, apart from her and Yin Tingxue, there were two other saint ladies in the Divine Religion, one in charge of the religion and the other living in seclusion from the world. More importantly, both were old women in their sixties or seventies.

"You even know this..." The old woman looked at Chen Yi in surprise, "Is there an elder as young as you in my Holy Church?"

The more you talk, the more mistakes you make. Chen Yi did not answer directly, nor did he lie. Instead, he said, "I have an old relationship with Princess Annan."

"Zhu E?... Interesting, interesting..." The old woman muttered and repeated it several times.

Chen Yi looked around, took another look at the environment inside the cauldron, and put down his hands that were making hand gestures.

If she pretended to be a cult member or elder during the conversation, not only would it be easy to be exposed, but her rank would also be lower than hers. It would be better to blur her own identity.

"Why are you here?" he asked in a calm tone, looking straight at me.

The old woman turned her head and looked over, and replied: "In ancient times, immortals hid in wine pots to avoid the world. Can't I hide in the tripod?"

"Don't say meaningless things."

"Why should I answer you?"

"I have an old relationship with the King of Annan."

"Don't mention it."

"I am having an affair with Princess Annan."

"I've heard that before. So what if they're old friends... They're involved?!"

The old woman was stunned for a moment, and murmured in disbelief:

"You are... King Annan? No... that's a woman."

Chen Yi remained where he was, without saying a word, leaving it to the old woman to guess. Sometimes, guesses are often more convincing than facts, especially one's own guesses.

The old woman's face was full of confusion, as if she was racking her brains. She stared at Chen Yi in surprise from time to time, but she still couldn't figure out the reason.

"Hey you……"

Before the old woman could ask further questions, Chen Yi's consciousness suddenly flashed and disappeared into the endless darkness.

The cauldron fell completely silent. The old woman asked several times but could not find any trace of him.

.........

Chen Yi closed his third eye.

Instead of making more mistakes, it would be better to withdraw in time, keep things mysterious, and leave room for the reclusive saint to imagine. Anyway, the Wusheng Ding is in hand, so there is no need to rush this matter.

"In fact, I should have thought of it earlier. It can extract people's souls, and it's not a sacred weapon of the White Lotus Sect... It can only be a demon sect."

Chen Yi still remembered that the Demon Cult preached that the dirty body was nothing but a cage, while the soul was pure, and that only by liberating the body could one escape from the world of ignorance.

He closed his eyes and sorted out his thoughts.

Zhu E said that the one who is in charge of our sect is the Saint of Wisdom, so the one who is accompanied by the five poisonous dead trees should be the Saint of Strength.

The Cauldron of Immortality was obtained by the White Lotus Sect from the secret realm, which means... what the White Lotus Sect opened... is the secret realm of the Light and Dark Sect?
"Is it just an accident, or...something behind this?" The truth is hard to tell.

Now he couldn't figure out the reason, so Chen Yi gave up temporarily.

The most urgent task was to go south and deliver the sword box to Longhu Mountain, and then meet up with Zhou Yitong. Thinking of this, he leaned against Yin Tingxue and fell asleep.

After a while.

Yin Tingxue groaned, wrinkled her eyelids, and woke up. When she opened her eyes, she saw Chen Yi hugging her.

He liked to hug her very much. Even if they did nothing when they slept together, Chen Yi would half hug her in his arms. The girl was not used to it at first. Later, when she was alone in Yinjian Mountain, she was not used to it without him hugging her.

"Awake?" Chen Yi asked.

"Hmm..." Yin Tingxue responded, stretched her arms and legs, climbed up, and looked outside the cabin.

The boat drifted down the river. The sky was just getting light and the furry grey sky had not yet lifted. Looking out from the boat, the peaks on both sides rose high into the sky. The mountains and the sky seemed to be one. The steep cliffs were like swords, majestic and imposing.

We have arrived at the Qinling Mountains, and here is the Guanshan Mountain, which is known as the most difficult mountain to pass.

"Last year on this day, I was on the mountain road, the drizzle and plum blossoms were heartbreaking..." Yin Tingxue murmured along with the sound of rushing water.

"Whose poem?"

"Mr. Meishan's."

"Who is that?"

Yin Tingxue turned her head and rolled her eyes at him, "Su Shi."

Chen Yi raised her eyebrows slightly. This little fox actually dared to roll his eyes at her.

Yin Tingxue made amends by saying, "It was not intentional..."

"what is that?"

“…You are uneducated.”

After hearing this, Chen Yi got angry, and stood up and grabbed her in his arms, "You are so bold." Then he put his hands around her elbows and poked and tickled her slender waist.

"Ah, ah... ah... okay! I'm wrong! I shouldn't have said that... I just woke up... okay? I'm stupid..."

As soon as he started bullying her, Yin Tingxue couldn't resist and her body trembled several times. After Chen Yi stopped, she lay softly in his arms, gasping for breath.

After suppressing the increasingly daring little fox, Chen Yi stopped and said in a harsh voice: "I can't write poetry, and I don't know the nicknames of literati, but I have read no less poetry than you."

"Yeah... I know, I know. My husband is the best." Yin Tingxue responded obediently.

Chen Yi embraced her happily, looked up at the scenery, and said softly: "The Lantern Festival is coming."

It's another Lantern Festival. Last year's Lantern Festival was hastily spent in the palace, and this year's Lantern Festival was also spent on the road.

Sometimes Chen Yi couldn't help but think, if he went back to the time when Tang and Song Dynasty poetry and music were in their infancy, and waited until the Lantern Festival to slowly recite a poem "Yuan Xi Qing Yu An", how impressive it would be. It would be best if there were some talented people questioning it, and some big names in the poetry world secretly affirming it, and finally he would amaze the whole audience and win the first prize in one fell swoop.

Yin Tingxue's ears moved and she said, "Impossible."

"Hmm?" Chen Yi knew that she heard his inner voice, so he followed up with the question, "Why is it impossible?"

"Do you know the origin of the Qingyu Case?" Seeing Chen Yi shaking his head, Yin Tingxue said in a clear voice, "It comes from 'The beauty gave me a piece of brocade, how can I repay her with the Qingyu Case?' You don't even know where the Qingyu Case came from, you will definitely be exposed."

There was a sly look in her eyes.

"Do you want to laugh at me?" Chen Yi said dissatisfiedly.

"No, no," Yin Tingxue quickly defended herself.

Seeing that Chen Yi was still dissatisfied and looked at her suspiciously, Yin Tingxue couldn't help but feel worried, fearing that she would be bullied for no reason early in the morning.

Then, she softened her voice and said:
"How can I laugh? I love my husband the most."

The water was rushing. As she spoke, she leaned her face against Chen Yi's chest, as if she was listening to his thoughts...

The boat had unknowingly passed the mountain pass.

(End of this chapter)