You rascal, stop right there!

Chapter 187 If You Were Not So Strong 6 Years Ago

Therefore, Bai Wan was sent to the palace with a smug look on his face because the soldiers were fooled by him.

He had previously stamped several moles on his face, so no one could recognize him even if they passed by the Qingyang Palace and Daying Painting Academy where he had been imprisoned before.

Bai Wan passed by Chuihua Palace. Countless Taoists came and went at the gate of the palace, while the eunuchs and palace maids were very respectful to him.

He walked forward alone and was about to get closer when he was immediately stopped by a Taoist priest with white beard.

The man had a fair complexion and his eyes were not visible, but his voice seemed familiar.

"Whose Taoist child are you? How dare you approach the Queen Mother's bedroom!"

"Yes, Taoist Wutong!" he said confidently.

The man on the other side stared at him in disbelief: "Who are you talking about? Taoist Wutong? Which Wutong?"

"You don't know, he's the fortune teller from the capital city!"

"How come I didn't know that I had a Taoist child like you under my command?"

The person who heard this looked at him steadily, and Taoist Wutong waved the whisk in front of his eyes again and again.

"you……?"

The air was silent for a moment.

After observing for a long time, this person found something familiar about Bai Wan, but his blind eyes did not notice it. He seemed to be calculating deeply, and his white beard trembled twice.

Bai Wan was thin and leaned forward slightly. "You are an old Taoist priest. Since we are old acquaintances, can you help me?"

After hearing this voice, Wutong quickly dragged him to a corner of the palace and whispered, "I see that your forehead is black, and there will be a blood disaster."

"My ears are all calloused. Taoist priest, please ask again." Bai Wan nodded without comment, "I just want to see the Empress Dowager."

After saying this, he shook the album bundle in his hand with a solemn expression.

Compared with other ministers, Ling Shumo's crime of usurpation is undoubtedly punishable by death. The fact that he has not been punished yet must mean that the situation is more serious than he imagined.

Bai Wan now has no official position, and all the painters she knew have been expelled from the palace. Infiltrating as a Taoist priest is the only way to enter the palace.

The two Empress Dowagers worshipped Buddha in Mount Wutai for many years and only returned to the palace for a few months. Even His Majesty rarely summoned them.

Taoist Wutong looked at the thing in the man's hand, his eyes darkened. He said to him: "I calculated with my fingers, this is a life-and-death disaster, you should not go."

Bai Wan nodded, but still didn't believe it and walked inside tentatively.

Unfortunately, the blind man directly disturbed the oncoming magnificent sedan chair, and the eunuch in front stopped it immediately.

"Who is so bold!"

After saying this, the eunuchs who were traveling with him immediately surrounded Bai Wan.

At this time, a clear female voice came from the sedan chair: "Let go, these are the Taoists that the emperor's brother has newly invited."

Taoist Priest Wutong and the Taoist priests around him reacted quickly and saluted in shock, saying, "Your Highness the Princess!"

He lifted the curtain, stepped down from the carriage, and looked down inquiringly.

The woman looked to be in her twenties, but her eyes did not look like those of a person of her age; they seemed a little haggard and tired.

She got out of the sedan chair with light and graceful steps.

She glanced at the Taoist priests kneeling on the ground, and immediately noticed someone holding a bamboo pole.

Then she said softly, "I didn't know that the blind can enter the palace now?"

Taoist Priest Wutong stepped forward and said with a smile: "Your Highness, this is my new Taoist boy. You are not in the palace for many years, so you naturally don't know about such trivial matters."

As he spoke, the prince's eyes showed some understanding: "I just want to pay my respects to my mother. Since you are the Taoist priests invited by my brother, you should also go and pay your respects to the Queen Mother!"

When Bai Wan heard this, she was happy but also felt something strange.

This woman was a princess, and she called Emperor Jiaxing her younger brother.

He could guess roughly what was going on just by guessing selfishly.

This person is probably the current emperor's elder sister, Princess Qinyang, and the niece of Li Simeng. She is also one of the reasons why the prime minister has never been truly deposed.

Bai Wan followed a group of Taoists into the Empress Dowager Cixi's Chuihua Palace, walking carefully.

The old woman sitting on the chair in the middle of the door was resting with her eyes closed. She was wearing a golden dress and there were only two palace maids and eunuchs serving her, which was extremely rare.

Then came the rituals of the princess paying her respects and the Taoist priest kneeling down.

Bai Wan found these rules very uncomfortable, but he could only kneel down and bow respectfully to the woman.

After Qinyang paid his respects, the Empress Dowager did not immediately ask him to stand up. Instead, she stroked the white jade ring on her hand without even raising her eyelids, and said slowly: "Qinyang, you can go down."

"Yes, mother." The person who came to pay his respects bowed slightly.

The Taoists who were accompanying them also knelt down and bowed, then lined up to leave.

However, the Empress Dowager raised her eyebrows slightly and spoke in a serious tone:

"When I was young, I always thought that nothing in the world would change. But now I feel that some things will still change. Blind Taoist, do you think so?"

The voice was so familiar that Bai Wan's legs and feet stiffened and his expression became a little dazed.

Bai Wan thought she had made all the mental preparations, but she still couldn't say a word.

Seeing that he hadn't said anything for a long time, the Empress Dowager Cixi suddenly said, "The others please go down. I want to listen to this blind Taoist preaching."

When Bai Wan heard this, his heart suddenly settled down.

I should have been feeling anxious and fearful, but now I have given up everything. Even if I were to start my life over again, death would not be a big deal.

Before reaching the door, Qin Yang took a deep breath, glanced sideways at the person left alone by the Empress Dowager Cixi, and walked out despite feeling confused.

At this moment, someone kneeling on the ground has not spoken a word.

There was another long silence...

The Empress Dowager finally took out a handkerchief from her hand and wiped it. She spoke calmly and slowly: "Master, why don't you explain to me what cause and effect is?"

Bai Wan ended his silence and smiled bitterly: "Taoism only talks about responsibility, not cause and effect."

The Empress Dowager Cixi felt a little annoyed. She suppressed her emotions and put down the handkerchief: "Do you think I can't recognize you? As soon as Jiang Zhou's three paintings were presented to me that day, I knew it was you!"

The person on the other side was stunned for a moment, but still smiled: "I have never thought of hiding my identity."

He finally lifted up the moles on his face, and after removing them one by one, his face revealed its former bright and beautiful features.

The woman finally looked down at him and frowned: "But I never thought of admitting it."

Bai Wan kowtowed respectfully: "After all, I just want to live, not die. Other grudges and hatreds are not worth it!"

"So you want to ask Ling Shumo to live now, right?"

"You know that His Majesty will never forgive the crime of usurpation, and Prime Minister Li, who is in favor of peace, will never beg for mercy, so you came to me!"

Bai Wan understood. He opened the album in his hand slightly and unfolded several rubbings of fragments.

Apart from the picture of Huaqing, only some sketches that were restored with great effort are left. The pieced together is not complete, but the effort has been made.

"I know what you want!"

The Empress Dowager stared at the fragments on the ground for a long time, thinking for a moment before saying, "Incomplete."

"I have done my best."

Bai Wan was blind now, so it was impossible for him to draw the same picture. He also didn't understand why this picture was so important.

He knelt on the ground, his body stiff. It was probably the first time that he had lowered his dignity to such an extent.

The Empress Dowager looked at this man so humble and sighed slightly:

"Han Miaoran, if you had been so respectful six years ago and not so stubborn, you wouldn't have been imprisoned in the well and suffered so much."

These words made Bai Wan's mind flash through many lights and shadows. He clenched his fists slightly: "So, the Queen Mother means that it must be exactly the same?"