Dazai-sama Zhuo Xuan, who was over fifty years old but half white, stood on the edge of the mahogany bench covered with mink upholstery with a sad face, the kingdom's new ordeal reflected in the wrinkles on his forehead and the short gray mustache.

Long Dailan understood how much pressure Zhuo Xuan had been under these days as a member of the cabinet. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had an accident on the observation deck on the top of the sacred mountain, and as the host of the dragon worship ceremony and the general person in charge of the day's activities, he could not escape the blame. Although the Prime Minister, who is the head of the cabinet, did not reproach him, and Long Jun fell asleep again, when she returned, rumors about him would soon begin to spread in the palace.

As the future heir of the Dragon Monarch, although she still lacks experience in governing the country, she does not lack determination. She personally drove to the hall of the Great Hall located in the outer palace, instead of recruiting Zhuo Xuan into the inner palace, which obviously surprised Zhuo Xuan.

So his grief became even deeper.

"This is all the sins of his subordinates, his subordinates did not take care of the safety of His Royal Highness the Prince, and the crime deserves death!" Zhuo Xuan bent his knees, sincerely frightened, and regretted it.

Long Dailan was dressed in a plain skirt, and her hair was tied up in a high bun with a dyed platinum needle that symbolized the death of her family, and she didn't need to express it more, this outfit was enough to make Zhuo Xuan feel a thorn in his back.

"Dazai-sama, get up first, sit down, and tell me in detail about the situation. She tried to keep her voice as calm as possible, and there was no need to be sad or angry.

Zhuo Xuan sat on the mahogany bench and said slowly: "Your Royal Highness the eldest princess, what happened that day was like this, after the ministers finished reading the sacrificial words, they all withdrew, closed the door of the palace, and the prince was alone on the viewing platform. It's all according to the rules. His Majesty and the ancestors of the throne usually worship at the Guantiantai for half an hour to an hour, and the ministers waited for more than an hour, and before His Royal Highness the Crown Prince came out, Lord Yu called His Highness, but did not hear a response. So the ministers and others agreed to open the door to have a look, but when they opened the door of the temple, they only saw that the offerings on the altar were still there, but His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was nowhere to be seen...... The ministers were frightened, and Lord Yu immediately sent people to search the mountain, and it took four hours for the guards and military guards to find a large rock on the halfway of the holy mountain...... His Royal Highness the Crown Prince...... His Highness fell from the top of the mountain and landed on a boulder...... Unfortunately ......" Speaking of this, Zhuo Xuan's voice choked up, and he wanted to cry.

The holy mountain is as high as three arrows, from the top of the mountain to the halfway up the mountain, there is more than one arrow, such a distance, the purple star falls, it must be broken to pieces, the flesh and blood are blurred, and he is killed on the spot, the tragic situation at that time, it is not difficult for anyone to imagine.

Thinking of this, Long Dailan couldn't help but hide her face with her hands, tears slipping down from the cracks of her slender fingers, wetting the back of her hands. "Purple Star is just completing the worship ceremony...... Why did he go to the edge of the cliff?"

Looking down from the observation deck, you can see the Floating Cloud Forest surrounding the southwest side of the sacred mountain. The sprawling forest of tall trees is truly spectacular, but you don't have to walk to the edge of a cliff to see it.

Tears also dripped from the corners of Zhuo Xuan's eyes: "The minister thought that after the ceremony was completed, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was mostly worried about His Majesty's illness and was unresolvable, so he wanted to relax on the viewing platform...... His Majesty was not as asleep as he is now, and when he heard the bad news, he fell into a coma. In the past few days, His Majesty woke up once, shouted the name of His Royal Highness the Prince, and fainted again. There is nothing the Imperial Infirmary can do, and this matter is really too big a blow to His Majesty. ”

The first thing Long Dailan did after returning to the palace was to visit his father, the situation was not worse, but it was not better, his father lay quietly on the dragon bed, unconscious. The cheeks are deep-set and the shape is erect. The royal physician said that he had shown signs of improvement, but the sudden bad news extinguished the fire of recovery.

Yingshu, who had been standing behind her, handed over a handkerchief, she took it and wiped away her tears, looking at the ground paved with Tenglong nine-grid bricks in distraction. The air seemed to freeze, and Zhuo Xuan didn't dare to continue speaking, for fear of breaking the sudden silence. Everyone in the royal court knew what His Royal Highness the Crown Prince meant to His Majesty the Dragon Monarch, which he regarded as the most precious gift from the Dragon God, and the hope for the future of the kingdom. After this hope was ruthlessly shattered, whether the weakened father could survive was only a big question mark.

"Didn't you find anything else suspicious?"

"Before the day's gift, the escort team had carefully searched the mountain. At the time of the salute, the top and bottom of the holy mountain were under the supervision of the Wangdu Military Guard Regiment. Lord Kou Hai and his subordinates of the Armed Guard Regiment vouched that the Xianglong Hall would not be able to fly even a fly, and if there were unscrupulous people trying to infiltrate, unless he would be invisible. Speaking of which, I want to blame His Majesty for being negligent and not taking care of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince at all times, and asking Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess to punish him!"

She sighed: "Dazai-sama, the responsibility of taking care of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince should not be borne by you, as long as you make arrangements, you will fulfill your duties." Purple Star may have such a calamity, maybe it was purely an accident, and the blame for his poor life cannot be blamed on your head. ”

"Her Royal Highness the eldest princess, the guilty minister is grateful!" Zhuo Xuan hurriedly fell down from the chair when he heard this, and knelt on the ground again.

Long Dailan held his hand, helped him up, and said, "Your Excellency is very polite." I understand this in general, so don't worry too much. The royal family appreciates your loyalty. Purple Star ...... Has he entered the Hall of Dragons?"

Zhuo Xuan trembled like an old man, "Your Highness has entered the bone tower. Originally, I wanted this matter to be relieved, after all, Your Majesty did not wake up, and you did not come back at that time. But after all, it is close to the day of Longyan, and there are still many things to prepare, if we delay the funeral of the crown prince until then...... I'm just afraid ......"

She nodded, this is reasonable, the day of the dragon face is a centennial festival, is the biggest festival celebrated by the whole country, according to the tradition of the boxers, the family must kneel for the deceased for five days, the more it is delayed, the more this burial day will conflict with the joy of the kingdom. "Yingshu, let's go back to the palace. Adults don't have to send each other, business matters. ”

After that, she nodded to Zhuo Xuan, and turned around with Yingshu to leave. Behind him, Dazai-sama's humble words of "Congratulations to Her Royal Highness the Eldest Princess" sounded.

Out of the Dazai Palace, Long Dailan got into a sedan chair, and the four eunuchs left the administrative area with a quick walk. This area of the outer palace is the office of the cabinet, and since His Majesty Long Jun was bedridden, the cabinet ministers have stayed here longer.

Thirteen months ago, Long Dailan had returned to the palace to visit the patient, knowing that her father had planned to adjust the cabinet personnel, but now the cabinet list is the same as the last time she returned. During Long Jun's serious illness, that plan was also put on hold. There are a total of six ministers in the cabinet, Xia Yang, the minister of state in the cabinet, is in charge of various important affairs of the interior, Long Chengtian, the general of the military cabinet, is in charge of military conquests, Dazai Zhuoxuan of the Cabinet is in charge of education and etiquette, Sihu Weisi of the Cabinet is in charge of population finance and taxation, Zheng Kuan of the Criminal Cabinet is in charge of legal punishment, and Qiu De, the national craftsman of the Craftsman Pavilion, is in charge of civil engineering. She didn't know exactly who her father wanted to replace, but even in the Golden Castle, there were cases of corruption among the top members of the Cabinet, especially after his father was bedridden.

Some of the brachial ministers of these countries were not as reliable as she once thought. The famous words of the Holy King Yugu, which is also her family motto, sounded in her heart: "My generation has a heavy responsibility on his shoulders." Indeed, now that she is no longer a princess under the protection of her father, she is about to take on even greater responsibilities.

The eunuch's footsteps were swift, and according to her orders, they arrived at the guard house before the tree time was over, and the loyal guards of the Dragon Monarch lived there.

The arrival of the eldest princess made the guards very excited, and during the long illness of Long Jun, these men probably felt that they had not fulfilled their responsibilities and were depressed. On this day, Yu Jian could not come back until after dusk, and it was Yan Ji, the second guard, who led the crowd to greet the eldest princess.

She didn't stay long, only said a few words, and then enlisted Yan Ji to accompany her out of the palace. Her intentions were obvious, and the guards could guess it. Soon after, she changed to the royal court's carriage, a yellow carriage with a cyan dragon head erected on the top of the carriage, and the carriage carried her, Yingshu and Yan Ji, out of the palace and headed for the west of the city.

They galloped through the Dragon Avenue and soon arrived at the temple area of the royal capital, crossed the perimeter of the Dragon Garden, and went straight to the Floating Cloud Forest.

Long Dailan hadn't climbed the holy mountain for three years, and she and her younger siblings had followed her father step by step through the stone steps, and the memory of stepping to the top of the mountain was still vivid, but at this moment, it was impossible for her to have her brother by her side.

Thinking of this, she came to her sorrow and wept again on the way to the mountain.

Although Yan Ji did not smile, Long Dailan knew that he was not a stupid person, he was by the side of the king all the year round, and he was very able to figure out what he wanted, although she just gossiped with him along the way, but he would not know what she was trying to do on this trip. On the day His Royal Highness the Crown Prince fell off the cliff, the eight guards with swords were guarding the palace. She had some doubts about the cabinet's conclusion that she had died in an accident, and she had to come and see it for herself to be at ease.

From the northwest corner of the tall and majestic Xianglong Palace, it is the viewing platform. Successive generations of dragon kings have personally knelt down here to offer gifts to the god of the earth, the dragon, and pray for the peace of the kingdom and the health of the boxers.

After the three of them went up to the rooftop, Yan Ji immediately hurried to the edge of the southwest side, and after saluting Long Dailan, he said, "Your Royal Highness, the eldest princess, the crown prince fell from here that day. ”

Hearing this, Long Dailan walked over quickly, and Yingshu held her elbow tightly, for fear that she would accidentally fall. At the edge of the cliff, as far as the eye could see, there were tall trees in the Floating Cloud Forest, their green branches intertwined with each other, like the tangled hair of a dying old woman, and they grew and spread unrestrainedly in the hidden forest, and did not know how much unknown decay and decay were concealed. The canopy of the trees is quite spectacular, and occasionally a few black birds croaked in the middle of it, and I wonder if it was a crow looking for carrion.

She looked down at the bottom of the cliff, Yan Ji hurriedly stepped forward and held her arm and said, "Your Highness, be careful!"

I saw that the cliff was overgrown with grass, and the mountain fog below was filled, and the vision was blocked, and I couldn't see any protruding boulders. She sighed faintly: "Dear Zixing fell from here and fell off the cliff, I really can't believe it. ”

When she stood firm, Yan Ji hurriedly withdrew his hand, just now he reached out to help, although it was out of kindness, but she suddenly thought that if she wanted to make things difficult, she could also convict him of trespassing, from the legal code, she was about to become the most powerful person in the kingdom. The thought sent tremors through her.

"The prince was found on a large rock halfway down the mountain, and there should be no doubt that he fell from here. Yan Ji's arms hung down at his side, and his eyes were also down, not daring to look at her more.

"I don't understand why Purple Star came to this place. Long Dailan glanced at the rooftop, her brows furrowed. "There are only those big trees to see here, and there is nothing special about it, even if he is in a bad mood and wants to see the scenery and relax, he doesn't need to come here. She walked to the west side, and as she went, she asked, "What was the weather like on the day of the dragon?"

Yan Ji replied: "The weather was sunny and cloudless that day, and it was a good day for sacrifice. ”

"That's it. The weather wasn't good today. When the weather is clear, you can see the scenery outside the city, the fields and farmlands in the distance, the mills and horses, all in sight. To the south, you can see the Dragon Garden and the Lance River. Anyway, the place where the cliff fell was nothing to see. ”

Yan Ji was silent, as if he was thinking carefully about her words.

"Who found His Highness the Crown Prince on that boulder halfway up the mountain?" she asked.

"It's Your Majesty. His Majesty couldn't find it, and he panicked in his heart, but he was afraid that something would happen to His Royal Highness the Prince, so he went halfway up the mountain to search, because there were several big rocks sticking out of the cliff, and he didn't want to, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince really had an accident. ”

"You're doing a great job. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is not here, so he can only fall, what is the possibility?" she suddenly remembered a question and let out a long sigh, "If you hadn't found Zixing so quickly, I'm afraid everyone would have thought that he had fallen into the forest." ”

If you go to the forest to search, you don't know how much time it will take. And it is also inconclusive whether Purple Star is alive or dead.

"Your Highness, we have also inspected this altar and found no secret passages or anything like that. Yu Jian wanted to dig it up, but the cabinet was against it, Xia Lao said that this was made by the Holy King's personal order, and it has always been regarded as his relic, and the day of the dragon face is coming, and digging up the altar at this time may anger the dragon god. She nodded. There is only half a month left before the day of Longyan, and this practice is indeed out of place.