Chapter 823
You Didn't Win
Chapter 823 You Didn't Win
The wind was so strong that if you just held onto the kite and ran a few steps, it would take flight.
Pan Yun watched the kite soar higher and higher, nodded in satisfaction, and looked past the crowd of tourists to the convoy of cars passing by on the roadside.
On the riverbank, village elders were worshipping the water god, and nearby was a small stream drawn from the river. Scholars and young girls each occupied one side, playing the game of "floating wine cups on a winding stream."
No one knew that a prince was sitting in the carriage passing by on the roadside.
King Lu was already a low-key person, and after the verdict in the case of the interception of the mission, he became even more low-key.
Even though local officials knew that the Prince of Lu was passing by, they dared not approach him.
King Lu also tried his best to avoid suspicion of forming cliques and engaging in corrupt practices, so even though it was the Shangsi Festival, he did not stay in the city, but continued on his journey and spent the night at a post station outside the city.
Pan Yun was unwilling to harm anyone on such a beautiful festival, so she waited until after midnight before taking Xiao Hong and Hong Yan to the post station to see Prince Lu.
It was mainly Xiao Hongjian who came to join in the fun, and Pan Yun who came to clean up the mess.
Xiao Hong stood in front of Lu Wang's bed, looking at him intently. Cold air kept emanating from her. Lu Wang on the bed didn't move for a long time. Angered, she reached out and touched his neck...
King Lu could no longer hold back. He suddenly opened his eyes, clutching the blanket and backing away repeatedly: "Who are you, and what do you want?"
Xiao Hong raised her head, blood instantly flowing from her seven orifices. Her face was covered in blood as she looked at him, her expression sinister as she retorted, "Prince Lu, you've wronged me so badly, and you dare to ask me who I am..."
The King of Lu turned pale and shouted outside, "Guards! Guards!"
There was no sound outside the door, and the room was quiet, so quiet it was unsettling. Apart from Lu Wang's cries for help and Xiao Hong's mocking laughter, he couldn't even hear the sound of an insect.
Pan Yun set up a soundproof barrier, and Hongyan added an illusion array, making Lu Wang's room essentially an independent space.
Seeing that no one had come after a long delay, the King of Lu guessed that this was her doing. His lips trembled as he said, "You are the female ghost Asagao from the mass grave case..."
"It seems you are not completely ignorant, but simply choose to turn a blind eye."
King Lu looked up and shouted, "Pan Yun, come out! I knew you were here!"
Pan Jun lay there without moving.
Prince Lu: "You dare to order a female ghost to kill me! If the Daoist Registry finds out, they will punish you severely! Make any request you have, and I will grant it to you if I can!"
Pan Jun lay on her back, gazing silently at the starry sky.
Hongyan urged Xiaohong, "Hurry up, the rooster will crow soon."
Xiao Hong gave King Lu a sinister smile: "Those who do bad things, how can they not pay the price?"
There was a series of crackling sounds inside the room, but apart from Pan Yun and Hongyan who were guarding the post, no one in the entire post station could hear it.
King Lu was eventually frightened to death.
Pan Jun finally entered the room, put everything back in its place, and erased all traces of Xiao Hong's presence.
Prince Lu is right. If he dies at the hands of a ghost, the Daoist Registry will definitely intervene. They don't care about right or wrong; they only know that if someone in the common people raises ghosts to take lives, it is a great taboo. At best, they will be expelled from the Daoist sect; at worst, they will lose their lives.
Therefore, King Lu could die from disease, suicide, or murder, but he could not die from being killed by a ghost.
Pan Yun looked at the Prince of Lu, who was lying on the ground with his eyes wide open, but did not move him. Instead, he shook his head and stepped past him: "Killing you will only deduct ten merit points from my merit, the same as the merit points deducted from killing a Japanese pirate."
Xiao Hong protested, "I scared him to death, why should it be your fault?"
Pan Yun pointed to the formation that had not yet dissipated.
After clearing away all traces, the man, the ghost, and the demon finally left. Oh, and the pendant, Pan Xiaohei, was also taken away. With King Lu dead, they had much more time.
Instead of using the Three Treasures Cauldron to travel, the group relied on rented vehicles or their own two feet to train along the way, heading towards Guangxin Prefecture.
Apart from Miaozhen, Pan Jun and the others all had to take the ordination certificate qualification exam.
This time, Miaozhen helped them review.
Xue Shao was very interested in this and wanted to take a look.
Pan Yun said directly, "At your age, if you were to take this as a reference, your parents would be in for a beating."
Xue Shao then gave up.
Along the way, they loved to gossip in restaurants and teahouses.
The Ming Dynasty had a relatively high degree of freedom of speech. Well-informed and daring storytellers would share the information they had collected in restaurants and teahouses. This might not be a secret to officials and gentry, but for the lower and middle classes, it was an important channel for them to understand the national situation.
Unfortunately, Pan Yun and his family belong to the lower-middle class.
Recently, restaurants and teahouses across the country have paid particular attention to the mass grave case in Ji'an County and the case of the interception and killing of the mission at sea. Everywhere they go, storytellers mention a story about it.
Finally, one day, they heard some fresh news: "His Majesty, considering that Prince Lu was a member of the imperial clan, let him off lightly even though he was suspected, only punishing him with half a year's salary. However, unexpectedly, Prince Lu was unlucky and fell seriously ill and died on his way back to Yanzhou..."
"Seriously ill? Could it be that he was frightened to death by the emperor's ruthless methods?"
"I think it's karma for doing too many bad things."
"Shh, be careful what you say. The case has been settled. Even the emperor said that Prince Lu is innocent. Don't make any wild guesses."
"Since everyone's here to listen to audiobooks, I can't help but wonder what kind of audiobook you're here to listen to?"
"I heard that Prince Lu was murdered? I heard that even the Embroidered Uniform Guard has been mobilized."
“Who would harm him? The case is closed, and even the emperor hasn’t questioned him.”
"I heard that Prince Lu has also been charged with colluding with the Northern Hu. Could it be that there are some unknown conspiracies involved, and Prince Lu was silenced by his accomplices?" The man lowered his voice and pointed in the direction of the capital, saying, "Like that one..."
Although it wasn't said aloud, it was common knowledge that in the Ming Dynasty, one could discuss the emperor's gossip, but one had to be careful about discussing the gossip of other people, because they could really abuse their power...
That man's name is Wang Zhen!
Pan Yun clicked her tongue twice, then put her hand to her mouth and whispered to Miao Zhen and the others, "That man looks like a scholar. It seems the literati are working hard too..."
Even Pan Jun herself didn't expect that the person they killed would eventually be suspected of being Wang Zhen.
After that person put forward the hypothesis, it became the consensus that Wang Zhen was the murderer of Prince Lu.
The news traveled from the provinces to the capital. Apart from the emperor and Wang Zhen, who were unaware of it, all the civil and military officials with a keen ear heard about it.
Pan Yun and his companions, amidst all the gossip and chaos, returned to Guangxin Prefecture and took the exam together with a group of fourth- and fifth-year students from the academy.
The exam results came out quickly, and Pan Yun, Miao He, and Tao Yanbai failed again.
Pan Jun was very unwilling, believing that she had answered every question perfectly.
If she's not convinced, she should go and ask.
The chief examiner from the Daolu Division raised his eyes and glanced at her, then opened the booklet and scanned it before saying, "Oh, Pan Yun from Sanqing Mountain, you are tied for first place."
Pan Yun put her hands on her hips: "Since it was a tie for first place, why wasn't I chosen?"
(End of this chapter)