Chapter Five: Weeping Without Cause

  Hasty footsteps sounded outside the gate of Dingli Temple, and the temporary abbot's eldest disciple, Shi Jie, led a group of monks to welcome them.

  A group of soldiers with sharp knives and blades rushed into the temple, each one a fierce and evil spirit, and the monks were all inexplicably terrified.

  "Gentlemen, what brings you to our temple in the middle of the night?" Zhao Zhuang quickly got into character and stepped forward to block their way.

  "Get out of the way!"

  The soldiers were arrogant and didn't put a young monk in their eyes at all.

  "How dare you! This is the sacred place where Empress Dowager Cixi worships Buddha. You actually broke in!" Zhao Zhuang shouted loudly, throwing down a big hat.

  "The young master is right, we mustn't be rude!" A man came up from behind, not very old in years, but with a face that didn't dare to show respect, with a sly and cunning look. His words seemed very humble, but his cold eyes were particularly piercing.

  Zhao Zhen's heart skipped a beat, and he smiled: "I don't know how to address the general. What brings you to our humble temple in the dead of night?"

  "Come down, Wei Xiao!"

  "It turned out to be Han Nei, I'm so sorry!" Zhao Zhuang guessed that this person should be the son of Han Tong, the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard!

  "Do you know me?" Camel's words were as if acknowledging his identity.

  Zhao Cong smiled and said, "To be honest with you, because Empress Xianyi often came to burn incense here when she was alive, many high-ranking officials and nobles have been in and out of our temple, so there are quite a few familiar faces."

  Han Wei's face smiled but his heart didn't: "Really? Then are there any high-ranking officials coming today?"

  "Ah, yes! Zhao Taiwei's family members have come to offer incense and worship the Buddha!" Zhao Zhuang replied promptly, without any hesitation.

  She shot Zhao Zhuang a sideways glance, her eyes filled with incomprehension and resentment.

  "What about the person?"

  "It's gone!"

  "Where did you go?"

  "I don't know!"

  "Has he really left?" Han Wei's tone suddenly rose a lot, and his voice was also quite severe. His eyes coldly swept over the faces of the monks.

  Including Jie Chen, all the monks looked uneasy and even trembled with both legs, and some couldn't help but look back at the temple. These slight movements naturally didn't escape Han Wei's eyes that observed six paths.

  Zhao Zhen secretly shook his head in his heart. Indeed, he was not enough to succeed but had a surplus of failures. However, he also didn't expect it would be so easy to deceive Han Tuobei.

  Han Wei gave Zhao Zhuang a fierce glance and asked: "Does General want to go in and search around?"

  "May I ask, sir, why are you searching the residence of Zhao Taiwei's family?" Zhao Zhen feigned ignorance, reacting just right.

  Han Wei coldly snorted: "What kind of Taizong, Zhao Kuangyin is just a treacherous and usurping minister!"

  "What?" The monks were all shocked and looked at Zhao Zhen with a mixture of surprise and suspicion.

  "Can we search now?" Han's tone was firm and left no room for doubt.

  "Of course, just ask the general to restrain the soldiers and not disturb the Buddha's peace!" Zhao Zheng's face was calm, but his palms were already sweating.

  The guards entered the temple in a fish-scale formation, and under the accompaniment of the monks, they began to search. Zhao Cong and Jie Chen stood in front of the Heavenly King Hall, accompanying Han Tuizhi's back.

  Two quarters of an hour later, the soldiers returned to report: "General, except for a loft, all other places have been searched and no one is found!"

  Han frowned and said: "Why didn't you search the attic?"

  "This..."

  Zhao Cong took a step forward and said, "It must be the Qingxin Pavilion. That was where Empress Xianyi used to offer sacrifices to Buddha when she was alive. The previous emperor had an edict that it should be sealed in its original state, and no one is allowed to enter. It has been locked for several years."

  "Really? Let's take a look anyway?" Han Wei was clearly skeptical.

  "Of course it can be done, just ask the imperial guards to restrain the soldiers and not violate the will of the previous emperor!"

  Han Wei's proud and arrogant expression was tinged with a few points of anxiety, and he didn't say anything, directly letting the temple monks lead the way to Qingxin Hall.

  On a pitch-black night, under the shelter of tall cypresses, dozens of torches were lit, as if it were daytime. A quaint and secluded pavilion appeared in sight. It was precisely because of its seclusion that Empress Dowager Xuanyi, wife of Emperor Taizu of Song, chose this place to offer sacrifices and pray to Buddha.

  "Is it here?" Han furrowed his brow and was about to move forward.

  Zhao Cong blocked the way: "Be careful inside the government office, the former emperor had an edict, this place is a forbidden area!"

  "Restricted area, I'm going in anyway! Tomorrow, Empress Dowager and the officials will blame me, I'll take responsibility myself, it has nothing to do with you!"

  "Very well, then! Please proceed!" Zhao Zheng didn't dare to stop him again. Under his loose monk's robe, his fists were already clenched tightly.

  As Han Wei was about to take a step, his deputy also advised: "General, look at the dust accumulating on that step, it's clear that no one has set foot here for many days... going against the former emperor's will is not good."

  Han Wei turned his head back and saw Zhao Zhuang with a relaxed face, but it wasn't just him, all the monks in the temple were like that.

  However, several monks occasionally looked in another direction, with a hint of worry between their eyebrows. Along with Zhao Zheng, Yu Guang also seemed to glance over subconsciously.

  "Hmph!" Han Wei sneered and waved his hand, saying: "Go, go over there!"

  His face turned pale with fright, his eyes also somewhat disordered, which further strengthened Han Wei's determination.

  Zhao Zhuang secretly let out a breath of relief, a faint smile floating at the corner of his mouth, but his back had already been drenched with sweat.

  ……

  ……

  Han Wei looked at the ruined base of the tower and grabbed a monk's robe, asking: "What is special about this place?"

  "N-no... nothing!" The monk stuttered in denial, having been startled.

  "Really?"

  When the blade was on his neck, the monk was afraid and hesitated for a moment before finally telling the truth: "There is an underground palace under the tower!"

  "Hmm!" Han smiled slightly, turning his head to gaze at the monks, his eyes cold and menacing. The sharp knife gleamed in front of him, making people shiver even more under the flickering firelight.

  "What happened to that little monk just now?" Han Wei's eyes quickly scanned the crowd, and he was shocked to find that Zhao Zheng was gone!

  Jie Chan was greatly surprised, turned around and looked around in all directions, but there was no sign of Zhao Zheng anywhere.

  "What's going on? Who is that little monk?"

  When the knife tip appeared in front of the gate three inches away, Jie Chen could no longer hold on and suddenly fell to the ground, shouting loudly: "The yamen spare my life, Zhao Taigong... No, it's Zhao Kuangyin's family hiding in the underground palace. They captured my master and coerced us... The Jie Se who just appeared was originally a miscellaneous monk of our temple, but now he has colluded with the Zhao family."

  "Great!"

  Han Wei burst out laughing and turned around, saying: "Open the underground palace!"

  "Yes!" The soldier immediately found the entrance and came back a moment later to report: "General, the stone gate of the underground palace is closed, with heavy objects blocking it from behind."

  "Look, it's a stone slab! They must have dropped down a stone slab to seal off the stone gate!"

  "Go quickly and find a tool to break through the stone gate!" In the distance, the sound of killing had already begun to spread, and Han Wei was getting anxious.

  The stone gate of the underground palace is not too thick, and the weight of the stone slab is limited, but it's not easy to break through in a hurry. First, there are no handy tools, secondly, the space at the entrance of the underground palace is very narrow, only one or two people can stand, and it's hard to exert force.

  A cooked duck is within arm's reach, yet it's blocked by a stone gate. How infuriating! If not for the fact that Zhao Kuangyin's family members are inside, Han Wei would have gone mad already. As for the little monk Zhao Zhen who ran away, he can't even be bothered with now.

  Two quarters of an hour later, the soldiers finally found a few iron hammers. In the narrow space at the entrance to the underground palace, they could not swing them freely and could only exert 50% of their strength, constantly striking the stone gate.

  Half an hour later, the stone gate finally began to move, and the soldiers could clearly feel that someone inside was using force to push against it, further confirming that there was indeed someone hiding inside.

  Han Wei ordered to speed up, anxiously waiting for half a time, the stone gate finally shattered completely.

  The soldiers rushed in at the first time, but the result was astonishing. After searching the underground palace, they only found two Zhao family guards who had already died after a fierce battle.

  Got cheated!

  Han Wei suddenly burst into flames, turned around and grabbed Xie Xin, roaring: "How dare you deceive me? Playing tricks on me?"

  "No, no......" Jie Chen's face was also shocked, stuttering: "It was clearly inside......"

  "Are you looking yourself? Where is the person?"

  Before the sword of Han Wei fell, Jie Chen shouted: "It must be Jie Se, it must be him! At that time, he drove us all away, saying that he would personally send Zhao's family down. Now it seems that he also deceived us, and the person must have run away long ago!"

  Detestable little monk!

  Han was furious, and the usually wise and cunning him had been deceived by a little monk, which was a great shame. What's worse, they had wasted two hours, and the Zhao family had long since disappeared. In the vast city of Bianjing, finding a few people was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

  What should be done now? Is it that Heaven is destroying the great Zhou?

  Just as Han Wei was almost in despair, a faint cry of an infant came from afar. It was just one cry, not loud, extremely short, but exceptionally clear.