Chapter Thirty Made Up A Story

  Huang Jingchen entered the palace in the late years of Emperor Zhezong, rising from a humble yellow gate sweeper to become the second-in-command of the Imperial Secretariat. However, he fell out with Yang Zaixing and Cai Jing due to his involvement in the demotion of the Empress, and was eventually ousted under pressure from both within and outside the palace, allowing Yang Zaixing to gain power.

  He had served three emperors, experienced the bloody and stormy changes of dynasty in the palace, seen all kinds of conspiracies, and naturally was not bad at identifying people. After leaving the palace, he served the two princes, thinking that he could avoid those messy things in the palace, but unexpectedly, one after another, the two princes "miraculously" escaped, once might be accidental, twice, thrice, it's not a simple matter anymore. Today, the king asked him to dinner and said these words, he suddenly realized that if he connected these events together, the result shocked him.

  The king unknowingly used these things to purge the people in the mansion, subduing those around him. The closest were the small yellow gates led by Jian Xi, and more than a dozen attendants who followed him devotedly. Even the maidservants and concubines were loyal to him. The stewards and guards in the outer courtyard were all sent by his uncle, absolutely looking up to him. Even the four wrestlers sent by Yang Jia were won over by the king with more than ten kilograms of meat every day. His own steward was left isolated and alone.

  Huang Jingchen's heart was racing with every thought, the wine he had just drunk turned into cold sweat. A 7 or 8 year old child could quietly do such things under his own nose, until today when Shunzi pointed it out, he still couldn't quite believe it. The prince's cunning and cleverness were too deep, this meal today was probably not as simple as it seemed.

  Zhao Zhan held a half-section of cucumber in his hand, dipped it into the sauce bowl, and put it into his mouth 'crunching' away. He glanced at Huang Jingchen beside him. His face seemed calm, but sweat had wetted his temples without him realizing it, his palm was half-clenched, and his fingers were lightly rubbing against his palm, while his feet were gently tapping the ground. He chuckled to himself as he continued to chew on the cucumber, not disturbing Huang Jingchen. He knew that at this moment, Huang Jingchen had suddenly realized something, felt uneasy in his heart, and was momentarily indecisive. However, he believed that Huang Jingchen would soon make a decision.

  "Your Highness, I have something to ask you and please tell me the truth!" Huang Jingchen seemed to have thought it through and stood up with his hands clasped together, saying this. At this time, he was calm and composed, and had returned to his usual self.

  "Huang Bo, go ahead and ask your questions, I'm here to enlighten you!" Zhao Ye smiled and personally poured wine into his cup.

  "That's it, I'll be bold!" Huang Jingchen said after downing the wine in his cup. "Your Highness, wasn't the assassin in the garden killed by Xianji? It should be someone else. Please, Your Highness, dispel the doubts that have been plaguing me for many days."

  "Hehe, it's just this matter, the assassin is not someone who kills for pleasure!" Zhao Chu finished eating his last piece of cucumber and threw away the skin, lightly laughing as he said. This question was really tricky, Huang Jingchen suspected that there was someone else behind him making decisions, but didn't explain clearly. The 'old fox' wouldn't let his guard down.

  "As expected, there is another person. I said that the timid Xie has changed so much, and he can actually kill the assassin of Ye Tang. Who is this master? Can Your Highness tell me?" Huang Jingchen asked eagerly.

  "The one who killed the assassin wasn't some kind of hero, that assassin was taken down by me, but Jian Xi isn't a coward, he was shaking with fear, yet he stood in front of me and protected me!"

  "Haha, Your Highness, don't try to deceive me. I've had the assassin's body examined, and he was stabbed multiple times. The fatal wound was on his chest, although the wound was tampered with, it can be seen that it was caused by a hidden weapon. Your Highness probably doesn't have such great strength." Huang Jingchen said with a smile, shaking his head.

  "Huang Bo, is this okay?" Zhao suddenly said, Huang Jingchen's eyes flashed before him, he felt that the king's movements were very fast, the king's hand suddenly had an object in it, and then a flash of fire, 'bang' sound, a vase on the table in the corner of the room was shattered.

  "Ah?!" Huang Jingchen exclaimed in surprise, the king's body didn't move, but a two-meter-away vase turned into a pile of ceramic pieces. "King, what kind of hidden weapon did you use, its power is so great!"

  "It's just a small trick, don't even mention if it's a person, even if it's a tiger, it would be killed on the spot!" Zhao Ke said mysteriously and hid the gun in his waist.

  At this time, two little yellow gates in the courtyard heard the movement and rushed in to ask: "What happened to King Wang?" They said with their eyes glancing at Huang Jingchen.

  "It's okay, I accidentally broke the vase just now, you guys clean it up!" Zhao Yan pointed to the corner of the house and said. The two little yellow gates let out a sigh of relief, quickly cleaned up and retreated, but this time they didn't go far, guarding at the door.

  "The prince has been hiding it very tightly, even I have been kept in the dark all along!" Huang Jingchen sighed and said, earlier Zhao's shot had dispelled his last bit of doubt, the prince indeed used the assassination attempt to purge the entire palace, and he himself had unknowingly become a pawn in the prince's hands.

  "Don't blame me for being cautious, in the palace if I hadn't been lucky enough to meet a fairy who saved me, I'm afraid I would have lost my life long ago. Here, those people still won't let me go, so I must be careful. I misunderstood you, Huang Bo, please forgive me!" Zhao Che said with a bow.

  "Oh, Prince Wang had met an immortal before, no wonder." Huang Jingchen's attention was immediately drawn to Zhao Che's words.

  "Shh!" Zhao Zhen raised his index finger to signal Huang Jingchen to be quiet, pointing at the door and whispering tensely: "Huang Bo, I've never mentioned this matter to a second person before, not even to Her Majesty. Be careful, walls have ears!"

  "The prince is right, I was too hasty and careless for a moment!" Huang Jingchen nodded and said, his expression not angry, but rather as if it should be so.

  "You two stand further away! No one is allowed to come in without my order!" Zhao Che shouted at the door, and the two little yellow gates responded with a sound and stood more than ten steps away.

  "Huang Bo, this matter, I always feel like it's in a dream, seeming real and fake at the same time. But those things are like I saw them with my own eyes, scene after scene, always appearing in my mind!" Zhao Che said, taking a sip of tea. Now that Huang Jingchen had come to him, he was convinced that he didn't have any malicious intentions. However, he couldn't possibly tell him "I'm from 1,000 years later, just here on vacation." He thought for a long time and decided it would be better to make up a story about encountering immortals, since his ancestors had a tradition of doing so. During the Zhenzong era, heavenly books were often bestowed upon them, and even the current emperor's father would frequently dream of the Three Pure Ones. He even claimed that when he was still the Duke of Jing, he dreamed of Taishang Laojun sitting in the Taiqing Hall, telling him: "Heaven's will is for you to revive Daoism."

  "Your Highness, please speak, I'm all ears!" A lie told a hundred times becomes the truth. Hitler was truly a genius, and this saying still applies today. Having witnessed it with my own eyes and ears in the palace, Huang Jingchen has long been a super fan of all the gods. Now, there's someone right in front of me who has seen a god, how can I let this opportunity pass?

  "Huang Bo, on that day two years ago when I fell into the water, I was originally doomed to die. However, suddenly a golden light flashed, and a lame old beggar wearing a hemp robe and shoes, leaning on a crutch, snatched me back from the hands of Hei Bai Wu Chang. He took me with him as he rode the clouds and fog, saying that we had a predestined relationship, and brought me to travel through the ages, roaming freely for thousands of years, playing games among mortals!"

  "Yes, that old beggar must be Tieguai Li, one of the Eight Immortals. He's the most capable and travels all over the world!" Huang Jingchen exclaimed, slamming his hand on the table. The Eight Immortals were the most famous deities in the Song Dynasty, and Tieguai Li was particularly renowned. Zhao didn't know this, but had simply followed Zhou Xingxing's lead, yet somehow managed to get it right.

  "Huang Bo whispered, don't let outsiders hear!"

  "Yes, yes, that's also disrespect to the immortal sir. Lord Wang, please continue, where did he take you?" Huang Jingchen said in a low voice, patting his face lightly.

  "I followed him to a place, where it's said that after a thousand years, the place is extremely prosperous, with buildings as high as hundreds of feet; in the air flying are iron birds, which can travel tens of thousands of miles in a day; on the sea floating are enormous ships, which can carry tens of millions of tons, sailing against the wind and waves without using sails; on the roads running are cars that are faster than swift horses; there, farming is all done with machines, one person can take care of hundreds of acres of land, one acre can produce thousands of kilograms of grain, and many vegetables in the fields are unheard of. Zhao Zhe spoke as if recalling, speaking about these familiar things from his past life, he seemed a bit dazed, and spoke even more vividly."

  "Is Prince Wang growing vegetables from that?" Huang Jingchen was already attracted and couldn't help but ask out loud.

  "It was indeed, I traveled for a few more years in that era, came across many new things, only I was too stupid and didn't learn much!"

  "No wonder King Wang's experience is extraordinary. It turns out that he went to the thousand years after, but King Wang, you only slept for more than ten days, how can it be several years?"

  "I'm also puzzled, maybe this is what they call 'one day in heaven, a thousand years on earth'!"

  "What will be the future of our Great Song like when the king arrives?" Huang Jingchen asked.

  "It's not, our great Song has perished" Zhao Che said with a painful expression, "I asked the immortal master about the future of my dynasty, but unexpectedly it was treacherous officials who brought ruin to the country, the people were miserable, ten years, or perhaps twenty years later, my great Song was occupied by the northern barbarians, the capital city fell, the emperor and all the civil and military officials were taken away, gold and silver treasures were looted, I was anxious in my heart, suddenly woke up, and didn't know what happened afterwards!"

  "Our great Song Dynasty is a mighty and prosperous empire, with all four corners of the world under our control. How could we be defeated by those barbarians from Liao? Could it be that Your Highness has made an error?" Huang Jingchen exclaimed as he stood up in surprise.

  "It wasn't the Liao State that destroyed our Great Song, but a country with a name similar to 'Jin', and they also destroyed the Liao State. I don't believe it either, but that's what happened in my dream, so I'm not sure if this encounter with the immortal is real or fake!" Zhao Che said, seemingly troubled.

  "Oh, I've never heard of the Golden Kingdom, but what you said seems to be true!" Huang Jingchen was also at a loss, unsure of how to decide, stood up and turned around in circles, suddenly saying: "Your Highness, do you remember some things related to you that happened in recent years?"