Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 308 Royal Banquet
Xiao Zhengli followed behind and said in a muffled voice: "This is an echo layer used to amplify sound. It is temporarily used to store valuables. Is there any problem?"

"Whether you have any questions or not, we'll tell you after we've seen it." Chen Qingzhi said, waving his hand. "Open it!"

To be on the safe side, Tan Tai Po Lu used his Yang Shen to enter the secret room, and the Fifth Dimension also prepared a protective formation.

Everyone saw his Yang Shen carefully opened a box, but let out a "huh" sound.

Immediately afterwards, Tan Tai Po Lu opened several wooden boxes one after another, and his face became very ugly.

His original body whispered a few words to Chen Qingzhi, and the latter also showed a look of surprise on his face.

"What are you mumbling about? Say it out loud so that everyone can hear it!" Xiao Zhengli's arrogance suddenly soared.

Ren Yuan was very surprised when he saw this, and he quickly went to an open wooden box, only to find that it was filled with sacrificial ritual objects such as bi, cong, and gui wrapped in silk. Where were the rhubarb bricks?

He still didn't give up, so he opened the box he had checked before, and the yellow bricks inside were gone, replaced by ritual objects such as zhang, amber, and huang...

Afterwards, the ghostwriter checked every box, including those on the ship that had not been moved into the warehouse in time. The result was the same, all of them were filled with various ritual objects.

"Is this the object of unknown origin that you mentioned?" Xiao Zhengli had completely gained the upper hand at this time. He picked up a piece of yellow jade and almost put it in Chen Qingzhi's face.

Chen Qingzhi was also very embarrassed and had to bow and apologize: "Sorry, Lord, we are just in case. We would rather believe it than not."

"Don't think you can get away with it so easily!" Xiao Zhengli sneered, "I thought I didn't know that you, Gou Chensi, have been plotting to kill my father and me for a long time, and you have done everything you can to frame us! My father has already reported it to my uncle, and this time you will be punished!"

"This is my duty. I am truly sorry for offending you, Your Majesty." Chen Qingzhi said calmly, "If the emperor wants to punish me, I will accept it. If there is nothing else, we will not disturb you for now."

"Hmph, let's wait and see!" Xiao Zhengli hoped that they would get out of here as soon as possible, so he stopped pestering them for the time being.

~~
The people from the Gou Chen Division followed Chen Qingzhi and reluctantly left the Altar of Heaven.

Tan Tai Po Lu couldn't help but complain to Ren Yuan: "What's wrong with you? You can even misread this."

"Before you came, I just opened the box and saw with my own eyes that there were still those 'nitrate yellow bricks' inside!" Ren Yuan was also a little confused and asked: "How could they be replaced in the blink of an eye?"

Everyone looked at the Fifth Dimension who was the best at this. The Fifth Dimension spread his hands and said, "This is beyond human power. I can't do it anyway."

Ren Yuan knew what the Fifth Dimension was talking about. He also knew the Five Ghosts Moving Technique and the Six Ding and Six Jia Talismans, which could quietly empty a warehouse of everything, but that was all physical moving, and it took time.

The only thing that could replace hundreds of boxes in the blink of an eye is a large-scale space spell, and under the restrictions of the Jinling formation, even the Nine Apertures Divine Ability cannot do it.

"Forget it, let's disband." Chen Qingzhi sighed, looked at the stars in the sky and said, "I'll give you four hours to go home and celebrate the New Year. Gather at the government office at 1:00 a.m."

"Yes!" Everyone in the Gou Chen Division naturally felt better. Who doesn't want to go home and reunite with their families during the New Year?

"Chen Shuai, why don't you keep an eye on us? What if they do something again?" Ren Yuan said softly.

"What are you still making trouble for!" A trace of displeasure finally appeared on Chen Qianzhi's face. He turned away, got into the car, and went back home surrounded by his entourage.

"Hey, kid, you've been in the spotlight enough this year. There's no need to be so anxious." Tan Tai Po Lu patted Ren Yuan's shoulder, shook his head, mounted his horse and left.

"Don't take it to heart. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes." No matter what the owners of the buildings thought, it was not their turn to make sarcastic remarks, so they all tried to comfort him.

When everyone left, only Diwu Wei and his brothers were left. "You should all go home for the New Year as soon as possible. Your families are waiting for you." Diwu Wei first let Ren Yuan's men go home, and then took him aside to talk:

"I believe that with your level of carefulness, you won't be wrong."

"I've been tricked." Ren Yuan didn't doubt himself at all and whispered, "This proves that something is going to happen tomorrow."

"Just listen to what Chen Shuai says." Diwu Wei raised his hand to signal him not to continue, and said in a deep voice: "We are just doing our job, don't get too involved in the drama."

"Well, okay." Ren Yuan nodded, but still didn't give up. It wasn't for the purpose of protecting some damn emperor, but the more the other party played tricks, the more he wanted to know what they were up to.

However, the Fifth Dimension seemed to see through him, and held his shoulders tightly and said, "Let's go to your house to celebrate the New Year. You won't refuse to take in a poor lonely person like me, right?"

Nangong rolled his eyes upon hearing this...

What else could Ren Yuan do? He was half-forced to return to Ping'anli.

~~
In Taicheng.

The Daliang royal family gathered together to celebrate another New Year after they took control of Jiankang.

In front of the Taiji Hall, there was a nine-foot-high pile of peach wood and pine branches, which was ignited by the Taizhu official using flint to make a "open flame", and the fire burned all night long.

The wealthy royal family even threw a large amount of plague-repelling pills into the fire, just to get good luck.

In addition to "Ting Liao Zhao Sui", there is also "Jinwu Expelling Nuo".

Hundreds of imperial guards wearing four-eyed golden masks and holding black spears and red shields galloped around the palace, imitating the "Fang Xiangshi" and leading the twelve mythical beasts to patrol the palace, singing the "Ghost Exorcist Speech": "The armor eats evil, and the stomach eats tigers!"

A thousand-Buddha lamp wheel was set up in Hualin Garden. Amid the bright lights, hundreds of monks chanted the "Ninno Hokoku Sutra" to pray for the royal family.

In the Taiji Hall, the emperor held a grand banquet, of course it was a vegetarian feast, and there was no music or dance to entertain the guests. The royal family members could neither eat nor see the feast, so the younger generation was always unhappy and felt very uncomfortable.

However, the atmosphere at the royal New Year's Eve banquet was exceptionally harmonious. Without Xiao Wei and Xiao Hui, the emperor did not have to listen to their quarrels or watch them collude in bullying Xiao Hong.

The princes tried their best to say auspicious words, not wanting to displease their father at this critical juncture.

Although Xiao Yan knew that they had ulterior motives, he was still very happy that he was not stupid, deaf, or a household thief.

After the Second Prince toasted him, Xiao Yan held Xiao Zong's hand tightly and looked at him lovingly, saying, "My son has lost a lot of weight. Could it be that he is not used to the climate in Guangling?"

"Your Majesty, you are joking. Guangling is less than 200 miles away from Jiankang. There is no reason to be uncomfortable with the local climate." Xiao Zong seemed to have forgotten the hatred of his father's murder. He also said with admiration, "It's just that I just arrived in Southern Yanzhou. First, I miss my father and mother very much. Second, I am afraid that I will not govern well and disappoint my father. As a result, I have lost my appetite and can't sleep at night."

"Oh, my son, you have suffered a lot." Xiao Yan sighed, and then said with relief: "But if you don't keep grinding, you won't become a useful person. Seeing that you have become more calm and experienced, I am very relieved." After a pause, he smiled again:

"As for missing home, it's even simpler. It's not far away anyway, so I can just go back home often."

"Yes, father." Xiao Zong said respectfully.

Seeing that his rebellious second son had grown up, Xiao Yan was very happy and decided to reward him:
"Tomorrow morning, you will also join us in offering sacrifices to the gods."

(End of this chapter)