The Great Witch Temple was quiet.
After dawdling a bit in the Third Prince’s Mansion, by the time he arrived at the entrance with a ghost-faced beast head, the sky was already covered with a hazy nightfall.
Zong Luo crossed the corner of the street, and finally, his heart was calm.
It was not the calmness of being indifferent to everything, but rather, it was deathly silence.
Along the way, in order to calm down, he did not ride a horse, nor did he use the carriage of the Third Prince’s Mansion. Instead, he walked slowly, activating his internal energy under his feet, and used lightness skills to get here.
Although the Third Prince’s Mansion was not far from the Great Witch Temple, this short distance was the longest road Zong Luo had ever walked. His state of mind went from being complicated, stirring his internal organs, to finally becoming resolute.
Originally, after returning, Zong Luo should have gone to see Emperor Yuan first.
As a result, not only did Pei Qianxue come to persuade him to leave, but even Yu Beizhou also came to stop him. This delayed quite a bit of time, but fortunately, he still adhered to his original intention.
“Third Highness!”
When he came to the Great Witch Temple, he happened to run into Yuan Jia, who was standing at the entrance of the temple, looking anxious.
Yuan Jia was anxiously waiting for the little eunuch to bring back a message. He didn’t expect to turn his head and see the Third Prince. He hurriedly said, “His Majesty has been looking for you for a long time. You are not in Yuchun Palace, nor in the Third Prince’s Mansion. You almost scared this old servant to death.”
Yuan Jia, who had always been by Emperor Yuan’s side, naturally knew who the child that His Majesty cared about the most was.
In addition, the Witch Sacrificial Ceremony was imminent. The prince returned a few days ago, and although he had won a victory, he brought back a head full of white hair. Emperor Yuan was furious, and it was only after finding out that it might be the side effect of the pill that he let it go.
Tomorrow was the most important time. If something went wrong today, no one could afford it.
However, Zong Luo was puzzled and asked, “His Majesty is looking for me?”
“Exactly.”
The entrance was heavily guarded. Seeing Yuan Jia leading Zong Luo, they all turned a blind eye.
As Yuan Jia led Zong Luo into the Great Witch Temple, he whispered, “The process of the Witch Sacrificial Ceremony is very complicated these two days, and His Majesty has been following up and cooperating. It’s not easy to have some free time. He has to stay in the Great Witch Temple for one night tonight. Only then did he order the servants to move a few jars of fine wine from the palace. Perhaps it’s to take advantage of the tipsy feeling.”
Generally speaking, the Witch Sacrificial Ceremony of Emperor Yuan was held during his prime years, and only Emperor Yuan had been delaying it until now. However, considering the bloody history of the Zong family’s ascension to the throne, it seemed that it didn’t matter whether the ritual was held early or not.
Zong Luo and Yuan Jia walked through the layers of witch buildings together.
Unintentionally, he seemed to see a bit of crimson between two wooden buildings.
However, upon closer inspection, he found that the red spot suddenly disappeared, so quickly that it seemed like an illusion.
Zong Luo concealed his doubts in his heart.
Before the Witch Sacrificial Ceremony, the entire Imperial City was under martial law, and the higher the position and power of a person, the more they had to stay in their mansion. Especially for someone like Yu Beizhou, a vassal king who held military power, every move was watched. Now, if he dared to appear openly in the Great Witch Temple, it would be tantamount to seeking death.
Even he, upon hearing Yuan Jia say that Emperor Yuan summoned him, was full of doubts.
Because according to reason, princes should not enter either.
It should be that he misread it.
Just as Zong Luo was pondering, Yuan Jia brought him to the Star Observation Tower.
This place was located behind the Great Witch Temple, and the architectural layout was a bit like the Temple of Heaven that Zong Luo had seen before. It was surrounded by wooden boards, and the center was hollowed out. Standing in the middle, one could have a clear view of the sky.
He had just walked to the entrance when he heard a familiar and cold voice inside. “Here?”
Pushing open the door, Emperor Yuan was standing with both hands behind his back, standing in the center of the Star Observation Tower. The sound of the Mian Diao colliding was ringing, and after the sharp gaze looked over, he first carefully looked at him from head to toe.
Zong Luo lowered his eyes and said, “Father Emperor.”
Yuan Jia thoughtfully closed the door of the Star Observation Tower, leaving the quietness to this pair of father and son of the imperial family.
After taking two steps forward, Zong Luo smelled the strong smell of alcohol in the Star Observation Tower.
Sure enough, on the table next to the emperor wearing a black gold dragon robe, there were jars of fine wine. Several of them were even empty, and a strong smell of wine came from inside. Emperor Yuan also held a bronze wine cup in his hand, obviously he had not drunk less.
Emperor Yuan was fond of wine. Or rather, people who march and fight wars all love wine. But for him to go and conquer other countries just to drink their fine wines, he should be the first.
But once he became an emperor, he restrained a lot, and even only drank one or two cups at palace banquets. In the current situation of heavy drinking, it was obviously rare.
“This is the wine buried under the plum tree behind Zhang Palace when Zhen ascended the throne. It has been twenty years now, and it is just right to open it now.”
Zong Luo was flattered to take this cup of strong wine poured by His Majesty himself.
He also marched and fought wars. In his previous life, when he was on the border, he relied on wine to keep out the cold, so his alcohol tolerance was naturally good.
A cup of cold wine went down, and immediately began to burn in his esophagus and stomach, as if adding a lot of courage to him.
Heroes at the end of the road were all accompanied by wine, although he was not a hero at the end of the road, but drinking some was still possible.
“Father Emperor, I–”
Just as Zong Luo was about to speak, Emperor Yuan interrupted him, “Zhen hasn’t spoken yet, how come you’re speaking first? What’s so urgent that you have to put it before Zhen?!”
Under the heavens, naturally, the emperor was the greatest, how could others presume to overstep?
Having no choice, Zong Luo could only say, “This servant dares not.”
Seeing him say this, Emperor Yuan was finally satisfied.
The emperor turned around, walked to the front of the long couch, and beckoned to the prince in white, “You, come here.”
The latter hesitated to approach, but was scolded by him, “Come closer, why are you standing so far away?!”
Having no choice, Zong Luo had to obey the order and walk to the front of the long couch.
