Heartburn

After staying in the Lingjue Temple for two days, all the large troops took a break, preparing for the upcoming ceremony of worshipping the heavens.

I once asked the guards who followed Yan Ke all the way. There were more than 300 people in their group when they set off. There were constant casualties on the road. After they arrived in Xining for inventory, in addition to the accompanying guards, even ordinary attendants and handymen had varying degrees. The loss of life, and the two unfortunately chosen servants have already died on the road.

——In a sense, I killed them.

If I hadn't acquiesced to Yan Ke's proposal and brought them to join the caravan of Xining Jitian, maybe they would still spend the rest of their lives in the backyard of the palace and live a calm life.

With the addition of the woman who was the substitute, I have indirectly killed three lives... This is just a situation that I know in my heart, and there may be many blood debts that I don't know.

Stroke after stroke, I don’t know if I can pay it off in the rest of my life?

No matter how sad I blame myself, it will not affect the task that must be completed when I come to Xining this time.

On the third day, half a moment before noon, I was served by Xiao Chan and put on the prince’s brocade clothes and garb. Against everyone’s attention, I held the prince’s shelf and walked slowly to the sacrifice step by step. The jade high platform of the sky.

The place closest to the altar was enclosed by the guards on the three and outside three levels, so that even a fly would not be able to fly in. Standing behind the guards were a group of Zen Master Kongxi in robes and robes. The nuns stood silently with their rosaries in their hands, solemn and solemn between their eyebrows.

This altar is three feet high, with a length of more than ten feet each. There are fruits on it, and a palm-sized white jade wine bottle lies in the center. I feel a little bit in my heart: Shouldn't you drink a bar during this ceremony?

I don't know how much Kwong Xihan's drink is. Anyway, I am a casual pourer. If I make a fool of myself after getting drunk for a while, it would be bad.

When I was frantically worried, when the attendants at the outermost periphery of the crowd seemed to get instructions, they rang the gong behind me with all their strength, and after a loud and deafening noise, the group of nuns began to recite what I didn't understand. Scripture.

The mumbling was accompanied by the scent that gradually became thicker in the air. It was supposed to be a calming scene, but I felt my eyelids thumped, as if something was always going to happen, and my heart was very impatient—probably because of it. Face the scorching sun at noon.

Patience pretended to be a sculpture on the altar and did not dare to move. After finally waiting for the passage of the scriptures, Master Kongxi chanted the Buddha's name, and then announced: "Noon has come, and the ceremony has begun."

The nun next to her nodded, stepped past the guards surrounded, and walked towards me quickly-I noticed something hidden in her sleeve, which was shone by the sun, giving off a sharp metallic light.

When she walked in front of me, she bowed deeply and saluted, suddenly raised her hands, her broad sleeves slipped down, and then I could see that the thing in her hand was a dagger studded with colorful gems.

-There are assassins!

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

Unexpectedly, she was more frightened than I was, and under the push of all my strength in my panic, she retreated a few large steps and almost fell from the altar.

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

——This assassin is so bold that he would dare to commit crimes in broad daylight!

Those guards are also true, why don't they let them go without a good inspection?

If it weren't for my timely response, I'm afraid I would become a dead soul under the sword...

When I was in a state of panic, my hands firmly supported my shoulders and supported my shaky body. The cold and watery voice faintly sounded in my ears, teaching me to find the backbone of the master: "His Royal Highness. "

Looking sideways, Jiang Zhuo's face did not change, and I wrestled away from the arm that I hugged her arm tightly in a hurry, and whispered: "The blood sacrifice is the core of the ritual, please cooperate with your Highness."

--what? Take blood for sacrifice?

Isn't the nun an assassin, she was holding a dagger just to get some of my blood?

That said, I misunderstood.

My face flushed involuntarily, I took a deep breath, stood straight from her, and said solemnly, "It's the king who is worrying too much... you go ahead."

Realizing that I had made a big joke, I didn't even bother to blush. I just wanted to end the ritual as soon 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. Instead, he waited not far away, probably because he was worried about another accident. Knowing that she was nearby, I became relieved a lot, as if I was suddenly impatient. Get down to earth.

Standing in the guards, Yan Ke, who has been watching the trends here, seemed to say something, but in the end she chose to let it go, and I couldn't help but smile back at her.

The little nun got up tremblingly, picked up the dagger on the ground, and looked at me nervously-I gritted my teeth and stretched out my left hand to her, while still comforting her against my intentions: "It's okay, just do it... this This time, this king will never push you away."

She was even more nervous than I was the one who did it. It wasn't until I couldn't help urging her to do it, that she was cruel, holding a dagger in her backhand, and stroking a dagger between my wrists.

"Hiss--" The tingling from my wrist taught me to whisper. The little nun was not as frightened as I expected, but swiftly took the white jade wine bottle placed on the incense table and followed me. The blood gurgling from my wrist...not long before the small wine bottle was full, and my eyes turned black.

——I thought she would choose to stroke her palms or the back of her hands. I didn’t expect that she would directly hit the veins on her wrists. If it weren’t for this little nun’s expression, I would really doubt that she had any grudges against me. And took the opportunity to retaliate.

This wrist vein is very dangerous, and the cut is deep, not to mention the worry of breaking the palm, and even worse, it will endanger the life. I don’t know if she has been instructed in advance to specify that it should be placed here, or if it is temporary, it is not light I didn't take it seriously... Anyway, it really hurts.

There is a dampness in my eyes, which is not entirely a conditioned reflex.

When he was grinning in pain, Jiang Zhuo immediately came over and tied a clean white silk handkerchief tightly around my wrist, which barely stopped the bleeding; as for the specific dressing, I had to wait for me to finish the ritual. The last part of it will do.

——Well, this prince is not so good to be a prince!

I sighed and shook my dizzy head. I tried my best to ignore the pain in my wrist, and picked up the white jade wine bottle-strangely, after it was stained with my blood donation, the wine bottle completely turned into a deep blood red. As if the blood inside was smearing through the jade cup-bowing towards the north.

After three kneelings and nine knocks, sprinkling the blood from the white jade wine bottle in the incense burner is considered a gift.

This set of rituals was completed only after the strength of the nine cows and two tigers. I felt sweat dripping down from my sideburns, and the back of the close-fitting clothes was already soaked.

Fortunately, this life-threatening ceremony was finally over. The big rock in my heart fell, and I was finally able to go back and rest.

Seeing my shaky appearance, Jiang Zhuo approached me three or two steps, as if he was planning to support me before I fell; I felt very happy with her kindness, and smiled at her sideways.

When she turned her head and was about to walk down the altar, she saw her indifferent expression suddenly changed. Before I could ask, she had taken my hand and dragged me to her side while raising her hand. Blocking—I watched her arm be pierced by a sharp long sword, and the sound of the sharp blade cutting the cloth and even piercing the flesh and blood made people stand upright, and the roots of her teeth were sour.

"Ah!" I yelled out of fright, but this time it was nowhere near as loud as when I was frightened by the little nun before. It seemed to be due to weakness caused by anemia, which made my yelling strength weakened a lot.

"There is an assassin! Protect Your Highness!" Jiang Zhuo calmly blocked the guard who had suddenly drew his sword and stabbed him, and at the same time spoke for me what was stuck in his throat.

——Unexpectedly, this assassin was so cunning, mixed into the guard team, and the timing was very well grasped. It was the long ritual that was about to end. At the moment when everyone was relaxed, the chance of success for a sudden launch was far better than others. Sneak attack and storm are much bigger.

The only accident may be that my mistake made Jiang Zhuo mount the altar and guard me, and it happened to block the assassin's attack. I have to say that it was a blessing in misfortune.

When I was secretly rejoicing, I saw that the assassin was stopped and stabbed Jiang Zhuo with a sword that undermined her plan. The latter did not have a weapon in his hand, and did not dodge in order to prevent her from breaking through. His sword pierced his chest!

I stared at all of this blankly, only to feel that the long sword seemed to have pierced my heart at the same time, teaching me the pain to almost faint.

"Jian Zhuo——"