The rooms in Yuxiu Palace are arranged according to the identities of the nobles.

Mu Xue'e, the county lord of Bingqing, lives in the main hall.

Shen Lingxi is the concubine of the Xuanping Marquis Mansion and the celebrity in front of the Queen Mother, and was arranged by Aunt Liu in the first wing room in the east.

Opposite her lives Xu Ziyao.

Shen Lingxi was alone in the carriage during the day, and slept long enough in his spare time, but he couldn't sleep at night.

When the time first came, the autumn wind suddenly began outside.

Thunder was wrapped in lightning, rumbling, and there was a tendency for wind and rain to come.

This kind of weather, in the eyes of others, may not be good. But for the female ghosts, it was a good weather.

"The guards are all lazy, let's go."

"Grandmothers and sisters" all laughed and laughed, and pushed Shen Lingxi out of the house.

Shen Lingxi learned the reason why they were trapped here during the day, and was about to go out to find out, so he simply opened the door quietly, followed their guidance, and walked out of Yuxiu Palace.

Yuxiu Palace is located on the west side of the palace, and the emperor, queen and queen mother live in the dormitory, across an artificial lake, the environment is very quiet.

Shen Lingxi came out of Yuxiu Palace, and before he had walked a few steps, he saw a tall and straight figure, standing under a tree not far away.

It's Chu Yan.

Not long after Xu Shi bathed, his originally high bun was draped down, fixed with a white hosta, and he wore a snow-colored large-sleeved brocade robe, covered with a dark crane.

He carried a wind lantern in his hand, and in the crook of his strong arm, he also wore a dark cloak.

The night breeze was thick with moisture, and it was extremely cold.

But for some reason, when Shen Lingxi saw the person in front of him, he only felt that all the wind and rain were isolated behind him.

The female ghosts chuckled out one after another, "If we hadn't dragged you out, Xiao Langjun would have to wait here for the night." ”

"Let's go, the night is dark and the wind is high, and there is lightning and thunder, which is the most suitable time to meet your lover!"

Shen Lingxi: ......

She walked quickly towards Chu Yan and saluted him, with curiosity in her bright apricot eyes: "How could His Highness appear here?" ”

"Today you said you were going to help those female ghosts." Chu Yan pretended to be an understatement and said, "The imperial driver only stayed in this palace for one night, I thought you might make a move tonight...... I couldn't sleep left and right, so I just came over and walked around, but I didn't expect to really bump into you. ”

The female ghosts won't give him face: "He was there half an hour ago, and in order not to be seen, he also dodged several waves of internal guards!" ”

"Xiao Langjun is interested in you."

Shen Lingxi listened to these words, only to feel that his cheeks were burning hot again.

I was secretly glad that it was night, otherwise he would have to find out the clues.

She hurriedly turned around and left, "Since Your Highness is here...... Then go with us. ”

Shen Lingxi deliberately bit the word "we", trying to hint at Chu Yan that in addition to them, there were many ghosts here.

But Chu Yan didn't have this kind of consciousness at all.

"Wait."

He stretched his long legs and strode up to her, shaking off the cloak in the crook of his arm and wrapping her whole body.

A mixture of clear herbs and saponaria, with a warm body temperature, surrounded Shen Lingxi.

Shen Lingxi raised his face, looked at his face, and said seriously: "Thank you." ”

"You're welcome." Chu Yan lowered his eyes and pretended to explain indifferently: "When I went out, I brought an extra one, just for you to use." ”

As soon as these words came out, the female ghosts around them burst into laughter in an instant.

"How did we see that he walked to the door and folded back to get this cloak!"

"What a coincidence! It's just right! ”

"Xiao Langjun looks very smart, why is his mouth so stupid."

When Shen Lingxi heard these words, he only felt that not only his cheeks, but also his ears were burning as if they were on fire.

It was obviously extremely bad and cold weather, and the corners of her hot forehead were dripping with sweat.

"It's not early, let's go." She urged in a low voice, and before she knew it, her voice was a lot quieter.

Under the leadership of the female ghosts, Shen Lingxi and Chu Yan walked side by side along the lakeside to the south, avoiding the internal guards who occasionally came over at night, and walked towards the southwest corner of the entire palace, the most remote corner.

Along the way, the thunder "rumbled", getting louder and louder, and the lightning became more and more dense.

But the rain never fell.

They walked for about half an hour and stopped in front of an unmanned palace.

Different from the vermilion gate of ordinary palaces, the gate of this palace is painted black, and the three characters "Jizo Palace" are written on the plaque.

There were more than a dozen rows of silver nails wedged on the door, glowing coldly under the lightning.

Chu Yan had obviously been here, and asked puzzledly, "Why did you come here?" ”

"They said that if they wanted to get them out, they had to destroy this place." Shen Lingxi's words were concise and to the point.

Chu Yanjian's eyebrows frowned slightly, and the doubts in his eyes deepened.

The gate was locked.

Shen Lingxi was about to use a hairpin to unlock the door as usual.

But was stopped by Liu Meiren: "In case the internal guards patrol here, it will not be good if they find out, follow me." ”

As she spoke, she beckoned to Shen Lingxi and motioned for her to follow.

Shen Lingxi followed behind Liu Meiren, walked north and then west along the outer wall of the palace, and reached the corner of the outer wall on the north side of the Jizo Palace.

The white palace wall is densely covered with vines, and the skin of the wall is barely visible.

Liu Meiren stretched out her finger painted with Kodan and pointed to a place on the wall, "There is a door here, which was used to transport corpses. ”

Shen Lingxi fumbled on the door for a long time, and finally found a rusty copper lock.

The brass lock had been so badly eroded by the wind that she tore it off the door with little effort.

With a "squeak", the secret door opened.

What catches your eye is a wide palace courtyard that is empty and uninhabited.

It should be because people often sprinkle and sweep, and the bluestone floor tiles in the yard are not clean.

Shen Lingxi followed Liu Meiren and walked to the front of the main hall.

The main hall has no doors and windows, and two rows of dark mountain pillars support the whole hall, compared with the height and width of the main hall, the beams above appear to be a little low.

A bolt of lightning streaked across the night sky, illuminating the golden body of King Jizo in the middle of the main hall, giving it a solemn and solemn feeling.

"This is where we executed the Heavenly Girl back then." Liu Meiren pointed to the beams above her head, "Bai Aya hung on it, and the people stood on the stool, and when the hour came, the eunuchs removed the stool under their feet, and they died." ”

I could hear that she was trying to describe the situation in a calm tone.

But the souls who were originally laughing and laughing are still rarely silent.

Shen Lingxi's eyes were slightly wet, and he relayed Liu Meiren's words softly to Chu Yan.

At the end, she said: "They were sent into the deep palace by their relatives before their deaths, and they were cautious in the harem of deceit, camping, and surviving, but in the end, they still became the emperor's funeral companions...... After death, they bring glory to their relatives, but they themselves are not allowed to be reborn......"

Her voice was light and compassionate, making her petite figure seem to be shrouded in heavy sadness.

Chu Yan looked at her with low eyebrows, and reached out to caress her back, "At least you can help them, for them, it can be regarded as bittersweet." ”

"What Xiao Langjun said is very true, the girl doesn't have to feel sorry for us."

"Yes, yes, fortunately, Xiao Langjun's ancestors are still good, and they did not continue such a funeral."

"Look at this Jizo King Bodhisattva, it was built by the ancestors of Xiao Langjun, if it weren't for this Bodhisattva, we would still be trapped in that well!"

"Although there has been no reincarnation over the years, at least there is some freedom in this palace, and we sisters can get by by having some fun together."

Hearing them say this, Shen Lingxi was relieved.

She relayed the words of the dead souls and told Chu Yan.

Chu Yan was puzzled, and asked: "This is the Jizo Bodhisattva, the king of Jizo can purify all sentient beings, why are they still trapped here?" ”

Shen Lingxi also had this question, and looked at Liu Meiren inquiringly.

Liu Meiren said gloomily: "The emperor of the previous dynasty believed in the words of the warlock, and when this hall was built, many charms were buried in the hall. Therefore, if you want to help us get out of our trouble, we must destroy this great hall. ”

She paused, and then said: "The queen who ordered us to be buried back then had a vicious mind, and was afraid that we would ask her for our lives after we died, so she ordered someone to dig a well in this courtyard and build a dungeon that locked the soul. ”

As she spoke, she beckoned to Shen Lingxi and walked towards the depths of the main hall.

Shen Lingxi motioned for Chu Yan to follow behind Liu Meiren.

The rear of the main hall is the same as the front, with no doors or windows.

Walking down the stairs, I saw a narrow backyard, with a stone-built octagonal well, standing in the middle of the backyard.

The well is covered with a manhole cover, and when lightning crosses the sky, you can see the manhole cover, carved with yin and yang gossip diagrams.

Shen Lingxi recognized at a glance that this was a soul-calming well.

Liu Meiren walked to the southeast corner of the courtyard and pointed to the floor tiles under her feet.

"This is the entrance to the underground palace, and few people in this dynasty know about it. I saw someone here just ten years ago. ”

Shen Lingxi took the wind lamp from Chu Yan's hand and shone it on the floor tiles.

It was a floor tile carved with "Fang Xiang's".

Fang Xiang's body is beastly footed, like a bear but not a bear, with his eyes open, naked, squatting, running and catching.

Shen Lingxi remembered that "Fang Xiangshi" was a statue of a god in some tombs to drive away ghosts and avoid epidemics, which was often used in tombs and was a symbol of the leader of the ghost in the tomb.

"The shield of the idol is a trap." Liu Meiren said.

Shen Lingxi tapped the shield in the idol's hand with his toes, only to hear a "click", and the floor tiles slowly moved to the side in response, revealing a tunnel entrance that could be passed through by one person.

Liu Meiren walked in first, and Shen Lingxi followed.

Seeing this, Chu Yan also followed behind her.

The entrance to the floor tiles has a rotating stone staircase that winds downward.

Liu Meiren led the way in front and said: "This underground palace was ordered to be excavated by the last emperor and queen of the previous dynasty. It is one hundred and eighty-one feet deep, which corresponds to the eighteen layers of hell, and has the meaning of 'long-lasting seclusion'. ”

"The underground palace is connected to the soul well above, and the monk who dug this well for the emperor and queen once said that we only need to bury the things we used in our lifetime in the underground palace, and then carve our birth date on the wall of the underground palace, and our souls can be contained in this well."

Shen Lingxi frowned.

This is a kind of feng shui tomb technique of the previous dynasty, and since the fall of the previous dynasty, this technique has been extinct in the world.

I didn't expect it to be used as such a place.

No one had been to the dungeon for a long time, and the air was filled with a rotten musty smell.

Liu Meiren pointed out the wall lamps in the dungeon to Shen Lingxi one by one, and when Shen Lingxi lit the lamps and candles, the female ghosts who followed them all the way were already waiting for them in the dungeon.

The underground palace is not too big, there is a dry pool in the middle, and there is a small octagonal hole on the top of the head, which is the mouth of the well seen in the courtyard.

Liu Meiren pointed to the stone wall on one side, "You see, what is engraved on it is our birth date and name, and under this dry pool, there are relics buried in our lifetime." ”

Shen Lingxi picked up the wind lantern and looked at the stone walls one by one.

It may be a long time, and the names engraved on the stone walls have been mottled and corroded, and some of them are no longer very real.

"Fortunately, the vicious emperor and queen didn't live for many years before they were wiped out by Great Chu, otherwise I don't know how many people's names would be written on this stone wall."

When Liu Meiren said this, she paused, as if she thought of something, floated to the end of those names, pointed to the wall and said: "However, ten years ago, there was a person who came here and carved a person's name on it, and buried something in the pool. I didn't see any new souls locked into the well, and I didn't know who the unfortunate dead man was. ”

Hearing this, Shen Lingxi walked over to her finger and looked at the name on the wall.

When she saw the name, she was shocked.

Not only her, but even Chu Yan beside her immediately sank his face......