After staying in the Lingjue Temple for two days, the army rested and prepared for the upcoming festival of worshipping the heavens.

I once asked the guards who followed Yan Ke all the way, and there were more than 300 of them when they set off, and there were constant casualties on the way, and after taking stock in Xining, in addition to the accompanying guards, even the ordinary attendants and miscellaneous servants had been damaged by different Cheng dù, and the two unfortunate chosen servants had already died on the way.

-- In a sense, I killed them.

If I hadn't acquiesced to Yan Ke's suggestion and took them to join the Xining convoy to worship the heavens, maybe they would have stayed in the backyard of the palace for the rest of their lives and lived a quiet life.

With the addition of that stand-in woman, I have indirectly killed three lives...... And that's just what I know, and maybe there are a lot of blood debts that I don't even know about.

One stroke after another, I don't know if I can pay it off in my lifetime?

No matter how sad and self-remorseful I feel in my heart, it will not affect the task that I must accomplish this time when I come to Xining.

On the third day, half a quarter before noon, I was served by the cicada and put on the brocade dress representing the identity of the prince, and under everyone's attention, I held the prince's shelf and slowly walked up to the jade platform to worship the sky step by step.

The place closest to the altar was surrounded by the guards on three inner and outer three floors, so that not even a fly could fly in; Standing behind the guards was a group of nuns dressed in robes led by the Zen Master Konghui, each holding a rosary and standing silent, their eyebrows full of solemnity.

This altar is three zhang high, more than ten zhang long and wide, with incense and fruit on it, but in the center lies a palm-sized white jade wine bottle - I feel a sigh in my heart: Should this ritual of sacrificing heaven be a bar?

I don't know how much Kuang Xihan drinks, anyway, I'm a casual drink, and it would be bad if I got drunk for a while.

While I was whimsical and worried, the squires at the outskirts of the crowd struck the gong behind me with all their might, and with a loud and deafening sound, the group of nuns began to read the scriptures I did not understand.

The murmuring accompanied by the fragrance that filled the air was supposed to be a calming scene, but I felt my eyelids jump, as if something was going to happen, and my heart was very impatient—probably because of the scorching midday sun.

Patiently pretending to be a sculpture on the altar and not daring to move, he finally waited for the end of the scriptures, and then heard the Buddha chant from the Zen master Konghui, and then announced: "Noon has arrived, and the ceremony has begun." ”

The nun beside her nodded, and walked past the surrounding guards and hurried towards me—I noticed that there seemed to be something hidden in her sleeve, shining in the sunlight and emitting a little metallic light.

When she came up to me, bowed deeply, and suddenly raised her hands, and the wide sleeves of her robe slipped down, I saw that what she had captured was a dagger studded with colorful gems.

- There are assassins!

I was so startled that I almost screamed and took a step back, subconsciously reaching out to push her away.

But she was even more frightened than I was, and with all my might in my panic, she took a few great steps back, and almost fell from the altar.

With a "clang", the dagger fell on the altar, and the blade slipped out of the sheath for a small part, and the cold light pierced my eyes and my heart trembled.

- This assassin is so bold that he dares to commit murder in broad daylight!

Those guards are really good, why didn't they check it well and let them go?

If I hadn't reacted in time, I'm afraid I would have become a ghost under the knife......

When I was in shock, a pair of hands firmly supported my shoulders and back, supported my somewhat shaky body, and the cold voice sounded faintly in my ears, teaching me to find the backbone of the heart at once: "Your Highness, don't panic." ”

Looking sideways, Jiang Zhuo's face did not change and broke away from the arm that was holding her arm tightly in a hurry, and said in a low voice: "Blood sacrifice is the core of the ceremony, and I ask Your Highness to cooperate." ”

――What? Blood sacrifice?

Could it be that the nun was not an assassin, and was only holding the dagger to get some of my blood?

But I misunderstood.

My face flushed involuntarily, I took a deep breath, stood up straight from her, and said with a serious face: "It's this king who is too worried...... You go ahead. ”

Realizing that I had made a big joke, I didn't care about blushing, and I just wanted to end the ritual of this raushzi as much as possible, so as to avoid the hot sun, and go back to the house to drink a bowl of herbal tea.

Jiang Zhuo took a step back, but did not end, but waited not far away, probably worried that something would happen to me again; Knowing that she was nearby, I also became a lot more relieved, as if my impatient feelings suddenly became steady.

Yan Ke, who was standing in the group of guards and had been paying attention to the movement here, seemed to want to say something, but in the end she chose to let it go, and I couldn't help but give her a smile back.

The little nun got up tremblingly, picked up the dagger on the ground, and looked at me worriedly—I gritted my teeth and stretched out my left hand to her, and comforted her against my will: "It's all right, you just have to do it...... This time, this king will never push you away. ”

She was even more nervous than I was, and it wasn't until I couldn't help but urge her to do so that she relented, holding the dagger in her backhand and slashing it between my wrists.

"Shhhh......h In a short time, the little wine bottle was full, and my eyes were black.

- I thought she would choose to scratch the palm or the back of her hand, but I didn't expect her to stab the vein in her wrist directly, if it weren't for the little nun's expression that didn't seem to be fake, I really suspected that she had some kind of vendetta against me and took the opportunity to take revenge.

There are many dangers in this wrist vein, and the cut is deep, not to mention the worry of breaking the palm, and even more so it will endanger her life, and I don't know if she was told in advance to designate that she should be drawn here, or if she started temporarily, she didn't do it lightly or seriously...... Anyway, it really hurts.

There was a wetness in my eyes, and it wasn't entirely a reflex.

When I was grinning in pain, Jiang Zhuo immediately came over and tied a clean white silk handkerchief tightly around my wrist, barely stopping the bleeding; As for the specific bandage, I will have to wait until I am able to complete the final part of the ceremony.

- Alas, this prince is not so easy to be!

Wailing and shaking my dizzy head, I tried to ignore the pain in my wrist and picked up the white jade wine bottle—strangely, after being stained with my blood donation, the wine bottle turned completely a deep blood red, as if the blood inside had been smeared through the jade cup—and bowed due north.

After kneeling three times and knocking nine times, sprinkle the blood from the white jade wine bottle in the incense burner, which is considered a ceremony.

It took a lot of effort to complete this set of rituals, and I felt sweat dripping down my sideburns, and the back of my close-fitting clothes was already soaked.

Fortunately, the life-threatening ritual was finally over, and the big stone in my heart fell, and I was finally able to go back and rest.

Seeing that I was crumbling, Jiang Zhuo approached me in three or two steps, as if he was ready to help me before I fell; I was very grateful for her kindness, and smiled at her.

When I turned around and was about to step down from the altar, I saw her indifferent face suddenly change, and before I could ask, she had already taken my hand, dragged me to her side, and raised her hand to block at the same time—I watched as her arm was cut by a sharp sword, and the sound of the blade cutting through the cloth and even piercing the flesh made people's hairs stand on end, and the roots of her teeth were sore.

"Ahh I screamed in fright, but this time it was far less loud than when I had been frightened by the little nun, as if it was due to the weakness caused by anemia, and I had much less strength to scream.

"There are assassins! Protect Your Highness! It was Jiang Zhuo who calmly blocked the guard who suddenly drew his sword and stabbed him, and at the same time said the words that were stuck in his throat for me.

- Unexpectedly, this assassin was so cunning that he blended into the ranks of the guards, and the timing was very good, just as the lengthy ritual of worshipping the heavens was about to end, and everyone was slackening, the chance of success of a sudden attack was much greater than that of a sneak attack at other times.

The only accident may be that my misunderstanding made Jiang Zhuo climb the altar to guard me, and it happened to block the assassin's attack, I have to say that it is a great luck in misfortune.

I was secretly rejoicing when I saw that the assassin was stopped and stabbed angrily at Jiang Zhuo, who had no weapon in his hand, and he did not dodge to prevent her from breaking through, but was stabbed in the chest by the sharp long sword!

I stared blankly at this qiē, only to feel as if the long sword had stabbed me in the heart at the same time, teaching me to almost faint in pain.

"Jiang Zhuo—"