How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

Chapter 262 If you are still in heaven, please guide your daughter!

Taiji Hall is the place for royal sacrifices. The remains of the late emperor will be placed in the Taiji Hall. The Ministry of Rites will arrange the mourning hall, hold funeral ceremonies, and finally bury the remains in the imperial mausoleum.

Emperor Jian had left his will long ago, stating that if he died, his body would be buried in the imperial mausoleum, but his dragon robe must be buried next to Concubine Hua in a cenotaph.

After Concubine Hua died, her body was not buried in the imperial mausoleum, but was buried together with Shao Changqing's tomb according to her will.

So there are two coffins in the Taiji Hall.

The one keeping vigil tonight was Concubine Xi. Perhaps she was too tired and had passed away at some point. There were gusts of cold wind in the hall and the white mourning banners were fluttering. The guards standing guard outside the hall were rubbing their arms and thinking that it was a really cold day.

Seeing the two princesses, the guards who were guarding the coffins all bowed quickly, "Your Highness."

Xie Ping'an raised his hand to signal, then he and Xie Shu stepped into the hall.

"My mother should have gone to the side hall to rest." Xie Ping'an took a quick look, walked forward to clean the incense burner in front of the coffin, and replaced it with new incense.

Then he started to complain.

"Father, as soon as you passed away, the Crown Prince hid my second brother."

"Now we don't know where my second brother is. If you are still alive, please guide your daughter."

After saying that, Xie Ping'an knelt on the mat and bowed.

Xie Shu, who had been hungry all night, was wiping the sacrificial fruit she had taken from the vigil platform. Upon hearing this, she took a bite and chewed, "Royal sister, it is better to ask for help from yourself than from others, and it is better to ask for help from ghosts than from others. You might as well worship me instead of worshipping our father!"

Xie Pingan glanced at her in a reprimanding manner, "Don't make trouble in front of the emperor's spirit."

Xie Shu shrugged, put the fruit into the spirit plate, and deliberately hid the gap inside.

After performing the three kowtows and nine bows ceremony, Xie Pingan stood up and said, "Let's go."

Xie Shu followed obediently, but after taking a few steps, she heard something falling behind her, a muffled sound, and then rolling. She looked back and found that the fruit she had just eaten had fallen onto the vigil platform.

Xie Pingan raised his chin and said to the stunned Xie Shu, "Hurry up and clean it up. Don't let anyone see it."

Xie Shu hurried over, wiped the fruit, and put it back on the spirit plate.

Then he turned and walked towards Xie Pingan.

"Boom—gululu..."

Just as he walked to Xie Shu's side, he heard the sound of fruit falling to the ground behind him again, rolling along the traces it had just rolled, and finally stopped in the same place.

The mourning banners fluttering outside seemed to have been blown down by the strong wind, causing the guards to shout in panic and rush to lift the platform of the mourning banners.

Xie Ping'an and Xie Shu looked at each other and felt a chill on their backs for the first time.

"Father, could it be that the Emperor is really appearing?!" Xie Shu couldn't help but shiver.

Xie Ping'an pondered for a moment, then she walked towards the falling fruit, reached out to pick it up, then swept her eyes around steadily, finally fixing on the direction where the fruit rolled.

"Over there, I remember there is an inner hall for rest."

Both the sacrifice and the vigil take a long time, and the imperial palace is not small, so going back and forth is obviously tiring. Therefore, there is a sleeping hall in the Taiji Hall. If someone can't hold on any longer, they will go to the sleeping hall to rest and take a nap.

Xie Shu also remembered, "Yes, there is a small house. I went in there when I was young."

The small inner hall is adjacent to the main hall of Taiji Hall. Taiji Hall also has a luxurious and clean sleeping hall, and this small inner hall is just a place to rest for a while. Even during sacrificial ceremonies, no one would choose to rest in that simple little house.

Not to mention usual times.

Thinking of this, Xie Pingan and Xie Shu looked at each other again.

Second brother, could he be hiding there?

Speaking of which, the small inner hall was indeed inconspicuous. If the fruit had not fallen, Xie Ping'an and Xie Shu would not even have remembered that there was such a small house.

The most crucial thing is that this is the Taiji Hall, and now it is the place where the coffin of the late emperor is placed. I am afraid no one would have thought that the prince would imprison the regent next to the body of the late emperor!

"Let's go and have a look." Xie Pingan said calmly, "It's better to be safe than sorry."

Xie Shu nodded.

The two of them quietly moved towards the small inner hall and passed through a very long corridor at the back. When they were about to turn the corner, Xie Shu quickly pulled Xie Pingan.

"Someone is there." Xie Shu gestured, "There's someone guarding the door."

"Could it be my mother's people?" Xie Ping'an asked in a low voice. Her mother, Concubine Xi, was keeping vigil last night, and now there is no one here. Perhaps she has gone to rest.

Xie Shu carefully poked her head out, then quickly retracted it and confirmed, "It's not a palace maid, it's a guard."

The person in the inner hall is most likely my second brother.

"What do you mean?" Xie Shu asked silently.

Xie Ping'an lowered his eyelids and thought carefully.

Breaking in openly was obviously not an option. Minister Shen had been targeted by the Crown Prince and was already in the open, at a disadvantage. If this hiding place that was discovered with great difficulty was exposed, not only would the two of them who were hiding in the dark be exposed, but their second brother would also be removed.

It will be even more difficult to find it again then.

"Wait for the right time." After a long while, she whispered, "Minister Shen only told us to take the letter to my second brother. Find a way to get the letter in first, and then go back to discuss it with Minister Shen."

Xie Shu nodded.

To be on the safe side, the two men first evacuated the mourning hall and hid on the eaves not far from the Taiji Hall, secretly observing any suspicious people coming and going.

People eat grains and cereals, but they have three urgent needs.

If my second brother is imprisoned here, he must eat, but there is no secret passage in the Taiji Hall, so food can only be delivered from the outside.

And the chamber pot must also be cleaned.

Either send the letter through the food box or send it through the chamber pot.

Xie Ping'an and Xie Shu hit it off and chose the lunch box as their first choice.

Soon, the two of them targeted the suspicious person.

The offerings on the vigil platform were changed every day. Several eunuchs carried food boxes and filed into the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Xie Shu had good eyesight and had practiced martial arts, so she naturally noticed that one of the eunuchs had a vigorous and masculine step, unlike the other eunuchs who had a weak and weak step.

The other party is good at Qinggong.

Xie Shu was determined.

He raised his elbow and nudged Xie Pingan, who understood what he meant and said, "Go ahead."

One takes action, the other keeps watch.

They have sneaked out of the palace countless times and walked the streets looking for gossip, and they have already cooperated tacitly.

Xie Shu folded the letter paper in the envelope several times, put it in her palm and hid it. Then she rubbed her eyes vigorously, turned over and jumped off the eaves silently, and walked towards the Tai Chi Hall.

The guards at the door were surprised that she came back, but after seeing Xie Shu's red eyes from being rubbed, they just thought that the third princess was filial and did not have any other suspicious thoughts.

Xie Shu glanced at the eunuch who was walking briskly. He was pretending to pack up the sacrificial fruits. Xie Shu walked over and "accidentally" knocked over the old sacrificial fruits on the vigil platform.

The spirit dish containing the sacrificial fruit fell to the ground and broke. Xie Shu frowned for a moment, then said calmly, "Go get a new one."

The eunuch paused, glanced at Xie Shu from the corner of his eye and saw that she didn't look strange, then said in a low voice, "Yes."

Presumably, the Third Princess would not have thought that the Regent, who should have died in the fire, was in the inner hall, nor would she have thought that the Regent's breakfast was placed in the food box. In order to avoid delaying too long and arousing suspicion, the eunuch turned around to look for a new dish.

While no one was paying attention, Xie Shu quickly opened the lunch box and stuffed the folded letter paper into the rice.

Then he covered the food box, bowed in front of the coffin in a pretentious manner, and then left quietly.

She couldn't stay here either, otherwise the fake eunuch would have no chance to enter the inner hall.