Chapter 1: Cold Night (3)

The office of the Honglu Temple in the Great Zhou Dynasty is located in the southeast corner of the imperial city, connected to Chongguang Gate in the north and Binyao Gate in the east, and is only one step away from the Eastern Palace of the Crown Prince. Because the Honglu Temple undertakes important matters involving the dignity of the country, such as court meetings, guests, good and bad etiquette, and its official residence is magnificent and solemn, and it is even more magnificent and magnificent than the Prime Minister's Office in the Secretariat. The New Year is approaching, as the first gathering point for envoys from various countries to worship the Celestial Empire, this entire two-story yamen is even more bridal and magnificent. The various officials and foreign officials in front of the government office are coming and going, and they are extremely busy from morning to night.

Before we knew it, winter night was coming. The evening drum had just sounded, and at this time in the past, the entire imperial city would fall into silence. But the situation was different these days. Although the terminal door in front of Tianjin Bridge was closed, the left and right doors on both sides were still open. The chariots and horses who were preparing for the New Year ceremony kept flowing in and out of the imperial city. The officials of the Honglu Temple were even brightly lit, and the officials were still cheering up, forgetting to eat and sleep for this annual celebration.

In the main hall of the Honglu Temple, the Honglu Minister Zhou Liangkun sat upright in front of the case, listening to the Honglu Shaoqing Liu Yifei reporting official duties. Zhou Liangkun is over 60 years old and has a medium figure. He has a goatee beard on his long and shriveled face, and a few strands of gray beard mixed with gray beard. Shaoqing Liu Yifei is a young man in his early thirties. He is not outstanding in appearance but has a pair of bright eyes.

"The banquet for New Year's Eve, the ceremony and music are all ready to stop; the order of the ceremonies of the officials of the ceremonies, the arrangement of the drums and music were reviewed this afternoon. The list of the four barbarians' meetings was also invited to pass the list. The Concierge Court today informed the Turks, Uighurs, Tubo, Kucha, Dashi, Khotan, India, Persia, Zhaowukang, Su and other countries of the country... " Liu Yifei held a book of chronicles in his hand, while reciting the praises.

While paying attention to Zhou Liangkun's expression, he felt a faint worry in his heart. Liu Yifei has been working in Honglu Temple for more than five years. He is very familiar with the smart and capable boss of this immediate superior. He knows that he is full of energy and strong will. The more complicated the business, the more excited and devoted it. He often works for days and nights without any fatigue. But at this moment, Zhou Liangkun looked very abnormal, with a gray face and a blank eyes, and he looked completely absent-minded.

"Master Zhou, Master Zhou." Liu Yifei ended the report and gently covered the book in his hand. Seeing that Zhou Liangkun had no reaction at all, he had to raise his voice and called twice. "Ah?! OK, very good." Zhou Liangkun woke up in his dream and waved to Liu Yifei: "You go. Have a good rest tonight, and I'm afraid there will be no time to sleep starting tomorrow."

"Yes." Liu Yifei bowed and was about to turn around and leave when he suddenly remembered something and whispered: "Mr. Zhou, there is another small thing. Today, the Concierge came to report and said that he had lost a Turkic translator two days ago, named Ukdoha."

"Oh? Ukdoha?" Zhou Liangkun frowned, his eyes flashing: "I remember this person being captured when the Turks invaded the border seven years ago. Because he was fluent in Chinese and very abide by the rules, he was recruited to the Honglu Temple as an interpreter. He has been doing well over the years, why did he suddenly get lost?" Liu Yifei said: "Yes. I went down to ask, and said that this Ukdoha is one of the top Turkic translators here and is highly valued. The emperor, the prince, and even all the princes, who are sent to him to do the translation when they receive important Turkic envoys in daily life. He has always been very stable and has never had any trouble. He suddenly left the museum two days ago and was missing. The Concierge House also sent someone out to look for it, but he found nothing."

"Yes." Zhou Liangkun nodded in contemplation and asked, "Have you arranged the Turkic translation of this ceremony?" "Please rest assured that a proper candidate has been arranged, and it will not affect the New Year's ceremony." "Okay. I'm too busy these two days, so I'll put it aside in advance. After the New Year's greetings, if he doesn't come back, I'll report to Jingzhao Mansion."

Seeing that Zhou Liangkun was silent again, Liu Yifei lowered his head and gently retreated out. When he walked to the door, he heard Zhou Liangkun shouting, "Yifei, don't leave first. I just remembered that I would go to the East Palace tonight to report to His Royal Highness the ceremony preparations. I am not in good spirits today, so please accompany me to come."

Liu Yifei hurriedly bowed his hand and said yes. Zhou Liangkun stood up and led his head out the hall. As soon as he went out, the fierce cold wind blew over, and both of them couldn't help but tremble. Because the official office of Honglu Temple was very close to the Eastern Palace, he did not call a carriage, but just walked side by side. The weather was too cold, and neither of them had the intention to speak. They accelerated their steps at the same time. From Honglu Temple to the north, they walked north along the corridor on the wall on the east side of the imperial city, passed Binyao Gate, turned left, and walked for a short section to the palace gate of the Eastern Palace.

Because I just came out of the dazzling lights of the government office, the path under the city wall became increasingly dark. Zhou Liangkun lowered his head and tried hard to distinguish the path under his feet. I don’t know why he felt inexplicably fear. It was too dark and there was no moonlight. If it weren’t for the lights in the palace city in the northwest, this place could be described as missing five fingers. Fortunately, the East Palace was very close and was about to arrive...

Suddenly, Zhou Liangkun heard a dull sound beside him, and Liu Yifei seemed to snorted lightly. Zhou Liangkun smiled and said, "Yifei, is it too dark? Did you kick something?" There was no answer. Zhou Liangkun turned around involuntarily and faced Liu Yifei's twisted and deformed face. This face was close to Zhou Liangkun's eyes. Taking advantage of the sudden bright moonlight, Zhou Liangkun only saw a pair of blood-red and dazed eyes, staring at himself. This was already a pair of dead eyes.

Zhou Liangkun pushed Liu Yifei away at his fallen body, and his hands felt warm and wet. He trembled and reached out to his eyes, and the red blood dripped down. "Ah!" Zhou Liangkun finally couldn't help but scream from his throat, stumbled forward along the base of the wall. He could clearly feel something behind him chasing him, neither slow nor far nor near.

When the Yulin Army guarding the Eastern Palace Gate and Bin Yao Gate arrived after hearing the sound, they happened to see Lord Zhou Liangkun, whose chest was covered in blood, rushed from the dark corridor. When they saw the guards with light balls and torches, Zhou Liangkun opened his mouth wide and struggled for a while before spitting out three words "Life and Death Book!", and then collapsed to the ground and fainted.
Chapter completed!