She fell out after crying at the wrong grave

After the ice and snow melted, the dead leaves were blown away by a gust of east wind overnight.

New leaves and branches need to grow in the new year. In a capital city that is neither south nor north, it is inevitable that all the dead leaves will fall.

Taking advantage of the improved weather, Shen Zhuo was afraid that he had been tricked by A'ao, so he returned to the palace in a grand manner and asked the Ministry of Rites to hold a grand sacrificial ceremony.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of offering sacrifices, he returned to the palace and gave A'ao a beating.

Originally, he did not quite believe what was written in Xiao Jin's letter, but he also heard A'ao complaining to the Buddha statue in the temple, saying how she had to endure all the humiliation in the palace and how she almost cried to death, so he could be labeled a tyrant.

Shen Zhuo was furious, kicked Ah-yi down, and scolded and humiliated her for a full hour. His words were full of sarcasm, and I'm afraid that except for Emperor Wu'an, he would not dare to provoke her. He cursed all of Ah-yi's ancestors.

He completely forgot that he and she were from the same clan, and were blood-related uncle and niece.

A'an didn't care at all.

If I had known that Shen Zhuo had little knowledge and knew nothing about worshiping Buddha, I would not have known that the Buddha in front of her was not the one worshipped in ordinary temples, but only concerned with making money.

Therefore, this complaint was just a ploy to let him verify Xiao Jin's letter himself.

Fortunately, Shen Zhuo was really stupid enough and took the bait right away.

The task of renovating the Chong'an Hall and painting gold, with the blessing of the so-called "Emperor's Qi" in Feng Shui, finally fell safely on Ah's head. Shen Zhuo asked her to take it as a meritorious service, and said that it involved his country and people, and no one else was allowed to help, and Ah's hand had to paint it.

The marriage with You Bei was also scheduled for May, which was a perfect fit, leaving her no time at all.

A'ao entered Chong'an Palace openly under the pretext of following the imperial order.

The Chong'an Hall has a high and wide roof. When the sun rises in the east, the bright light will shine into the hall, making the layout of the carved beams and painted buildings dazzling and showing the royal majesty.

Even though it has been burned black by fire, you can still vaguely see its brilliance.

Ah'ao walked in the hall, looking up at the gorgeous dragon and pearl pattern on the ceiling. She never realized that she was so close to the truth.

The vast and empty Chong'an Palace was burned down, leaving her alone, which made her feel even smaller, like a drop in the ocean. The palace was a cold prison, there were always people who risked their lives to get in, and there were always people who could not escape in their entire lives.

Even when you are inside it, you feel constantly repelled by these towering palace walls.

Just like A'ao had never been accepted by anyone in the palace since she could remember.

Her father, the emperor, her mother, the queen.

It seemed as if he suddenly remembered the reason why he left the palace.

Ah-yi thought that she was destined to enter the world and explore the vastness of the world. No matter what situation she was in, it would not be able to trap her.

In the past, she had regarded her identity as a princess as a shackle, which trapped her like a huge rock. But now, this identity had become a cocoon that she was about to break out of.

A'ao took a deep breath, put all her thoughts back in her mind, and quickly walked into the bedroom.

The furnishings here were different from those she had seen during the two visits she had made to Shen Cong when she was young. There were more gold and jade ornaments, and it looked much more dazzling.

The layout of the bed has also been changed. I think it was rearranged according to Shen Zhuo's preferences.

The threshold when entering should be the one where Shen Cong was hanged. There are obvious signs of the beam being cut off on the top. Shen Zhuo must have felt uneasy looking at it every day, so he simply knocked down the wall and made it into a partition window.

The edges of the wooden window were smooth, and you could faintly smell the fragrance of wood. Fortunately, the window was not damaged much, otherwise all the money would have flowed away like water.

Without wasting any time on other things, Ah'an walked straight to the brown-red back wall to take a closer look.

Judging from the various information we have received so far, the problem lies with these walls.

Ah'ao touched the wall and found that the paint was rough and uneven, visibly visible to the naked eye.

In fact, this is not the standard of renovation that the imperial palace should have. The so-called pepper room was mostly used as the palace for favored concubines, and it was unheard of to paint the emperor's bedroom this brown-red.

Ying'en put a dagger in his arms and walked quickly to A'an.

Hengzhi had spent many days polishing the sword, but was about to go to war, so he had no time to give it to Ah'an, who had just stuffed it under her pillow.

The advantage is that it is small and sharp.

When I was learning some basic martial arts with Qin Xi, I also discussed what weapon would be most suitable for Ah'ao. After studying for a long time, I still couldn't find a weapon that was suitable to carry with me.

A big part of the reason for this was that Qin Xi felt that Ah'an would not put herself in a situation where she had to resort to violence to escape unless it was absolutely necessary, so there was no need for that.

In the palace, the biggest enemy has disappeared, and now she is the princess who will be married in May, so she naturally does not have to worry about her life.

I brought this knife here today just to see what the wall looks like.

Ah'an took the dagger, unsheathed it and put it into her clothes, intending to slowly use the knife to scrape off a few pieces of paint on the wall.

When you smell it up close, you can smell a strong aroma mixed with the fishy and bitter smell of some plant, which is very strange.

Three years ago, when Shen Zhuo first ascended the throne, this place was renovated and should have been repainted. It was very solid and difficult to scrape off.

Seeing how hard she was struggling, Ying'en said with concern, "Your Highness, you really need such a precious dagger to scrape the wall. It was given to you by the young marquis." After guessing the relationship between the two, Ying'en openly changed the title and naturally mentioned Hengzhi in front of A'an.

You wouldn't know if you didn't ask, and once you asked, you were really shocked. Her prince and Marquis Zhao were actually husband and wife who had worshipped heaven and earth in Kezhou.

So, it can’t be considered as having an affair in Changsheng Palace.

All the debris fell on the wooden cabinet in front. Ah-yi cut off a piece of her middle garment neatly, put the things on the cloth and wrapped them up. "The supervisor will be here soon, and I will be watched all day. You take the things and wait for Li Shanggong to pass by at noon, and then secretly give them to her."

Ying'en nodded quickly and stuffed the things into her arms. "Does Your Highness trust Li Shanggong so much?"

A'ao sighed, hid the dagger in her sleeve, and walked out as if nothing had happened. "I don't believe in Li Shanggong, I believe in Hengzhi." She said in a low voice.

That day I received a letter from Hengzhi in Pingzhou. After I unfolded it, I saw only two words written on the huge piece of paper - "Greetings".

Since he had let Li Shanggong's people pass the message with confidence, Ah'ao didn't need to worry too much and just replied with a "safe and sound".

He didn't even change the paper, but simply wrote something on the bottom and resealed it, then handed it back to Li Shuyuan's people intact.

Not a single piece of paper could be left behind; even if there were only two words on it, it would become evidence to nail them both down in the future.

There was only March left, and Ah'an was walking on the iron chain on the cliff, being extremely cautious and not giving any chance for any unexpected problems to arise.

The supervisors of the works were always working on time, and now that the emperor was not supervising them personally, they were even more tired.

The master carpenter, along with five or six craftsmen, came out from the Imperial Food Bureau after having breakfast. He held a blueprint in one hand and a pancake in the other, looking leisurely and not looking like he was working in the palace at all.

A few days ago, the Ministry of Works and the Chief Engineer inspected the damage to the Chong'an Hall. Seeing that there was no major damage to the beam structure, they decided that the Ministry of Works would first reinforce the beams and columns in the hall, and then the Chief Engineer would make detailed repairs.

So now that the pillars have been repaired, A'ao can come and paint.

The master carpenter's surname was Zhao. Xiao Jin also talked to A'ao about it. He was a distant cousin from her mother's side and he would not make things difficult for her.

Master Zhao saw Ah-yi from afar and bowed, "Greetings, Princess. It is my honor to work with you!"

Ah'ao narrowed her eyes, feeling more and more uncomfortable after hearing these words. Seeing that Master Zhao's eyes were smiling so brightly, he didn't look like a person with good intentions.

"You are too polite, Master Craftsman. I am also working for His Majesty. We just need to do our duty." Ah-yi had already put on an apron and rolled up her sleeves. She looked like she was about to start working. She didn't want to say much. "The master from the Ministry of Works said yesterday that the master craftsman would bring the blueprints for the beams and columns today. Thank you for your help."

"Yes, yes, yes." Master Craftsman Zhao responded a few times and nudged a craftsman beside him. The man immediately took out a scroll of one and a half feet in length from his arms.

Master Zhao took it and continued with a smile, "Here is the blueprint. It was drawn by Mr. Huai himself some time ago. As for the materials, except for a color extracted from ore, it was transported from Yuanzhou at full speed and will be delivered this afternoon. The rest are already placed in front of the hall."

Ah-yi unfolded it and took a closer look. It was indeed Huai Chengbai's handwriting. She stood on the stone steps, looking down at Master Zhao rubbing his hands, as if he was about to say something. She said coldly, "Master, if you don't start working, what are you waiting for? The food bureau to send lunch?"

Master Zhao was stunned and didn't come to the stage for a long time.

Knowing Xiao Jin's personality, he also knew that her mother's family was not very tactful. She was not just painting pillars in Chong'an Hall. If she was discovered by these people, it would really cause trouble.

"Yes, that's right." Master Zhao hesitated for a while and replied, "I have never seen such high-end painting skills. Since Your Highness is Mr. Huai's last disciple, I would like to observe a little to help Your Highness relieve his worries."

Oh, I'm here to learn from you.

Ah'ao sneered in her heart. His thoughts were already revealed when she entered the palace gate.

On the floor at the entrance were the painting materials that Shen Zhuo had specially approved for Ah'an to use. Not to mention the pigments, just the brushes of various sizes and the brush washers arranged in a row, all of them were fine products fired in the official kiln, judging by their colors.

Master Craftsman Zhao was envious, thinking that His Majesty was so generous to the princess that even if he finished painting these patterns, he would be rewarded handsomely.

The princess is going to marry far away in Youbei soon, and there may be repair and renovation work in the future. If I can learn her skills, then it will be easy to gain the emperor's favor, right?
But he miscalculated that Shen Zhuo gave the good things not to favor A'an, but just to keep his aura of an emperor from being worn away.

What could Shen Zhuo love more than his privilege of being in a high position?

He is just a man who wants to stay in a high place and freeze into an ice sculpture.

"No need." Ah'ao picked up a brush washer and scooped a bucket of water from the water tank behind her. She then placed it on the ground as if it were a broken bowl, as if she was seeing someone off. "Master Craftsman, you should take care of your own business. Not long ago, more than 30 people died in front of this palace. They were all executed for disobeying the order of His Majesty."

A's words were like solid, cold ice, waking up Master Zhao.

Yes, their Majesty is a tyrant.

It was not just the thirty or so people who died first. During the days when the Ministry of Justice began to investigate the cause of the fire, all the palace maids and female officials involved in the case were summoned to the Ministry of Justice for questioning and none of them came back alive.

Master Zhao trembled with fear and was unable to speak. He never mentioned the matter of stealing knowledge again.

But it just so happened that after Ah-yi had sent everyone away and was about to start working on the draft with peace of mind, the person delivering paint came in a hurry.

"I am a special envoy from Yuanzhou, escorting Lapis Lazuli, and requesting to see Her Royal Highness the Princess."

Ah'ao was startled and looked towards the palace gate.

This voice sounded very familiar.

(End of this chapter)