031 Astonished

In my memory, that place wasn't far, yet despite sweating profusely, we hadn't arrived yet. Needless to say, we must have gotten lost, and I was immediately flustered.

"I'm sorry, Lingjie," I said with embarrassment, "I shouldn't have lost my temper with you earlier."

Zhang Ling held my hand tightly and said firmly, "It's alright. Come what may, I'll be with you through thick and thin."

After a brief rest, we wandered aimlessly like headless flies, narrowly avoiding detection several times, fortunately without incident.

After many twists and turns, we climbed a steep slope and suddenly found ourselves on a flat road paved with bluestones, remarkably broad.

The path we had taken so far had been winding and uneven, all makeshift dirt roads that required crouching in some places to pass through. This place, however, was different—smooth pavement and ample space.

Standing at a height of one meter seventy, Zhang Ling raised her hand and tiptoed, barely able to touch the ceiling. She crouched down and felt the floor tiles.

"These are just like the ones in the underground palace. It seems this road was constructed during the Western Wei period."

"But why would they build such a road underground?"

"Don't forget, next to Emperor Yuanbao's Yongling is his sister, Princess Yuan Mingyue's accompanying tomb."

"Are you suggesting that this road was built to connect Yongling and the accompanying tomb?"

"The ancients regarded death as life. After Emperor Yuanbao's death, Princess Yuan Mingyue cried herself to death, showing their deep sibling affection. So, it's a possibility."

However, this was only speculation. When we were trapped in the underground palace, on the brink of life and death, we searched meticulously but found no passage connecting to the outside.

"Hush!" I made a hushing gesture, "Lingjie, don't speak. There's something happening over there."

Lights appeared about two to three hundred meters ahead.

"Let's go, see what's happening."

After quietly approaching, we made a groundbreaking discovery.

This was a vast underground space, about five to six hundred square meters. After observing for a while and confirming that there was no one inside, we cautiously entered.

A half-opened coffin unexpectedly appeared before us, with a grave stele standing in front inscribed with the seven characters "Princess Pingyuan, Yuan Mingyue."

This was the underground palace of the accompanying tomb!

The content on the stele was divided into two parts.

The first part recounted Yuan Mingyue's life and her deep affection for her brother, Emperor Yuanbao. The second part nearly dropped my jaw.

It turned out that Emperor Yuanbao was determined to take part in state affairs and pursue his ideals, but unfortunately, one of the Eight Pillars, Yuwen Tai, was an insurmountable obstacle. Thus, Emperor Yuanbao never achieved his aspirations. Consequently, in secret, Yuan Mingyue used the pretext of overseeing the construction of the tomb to establish a vast military group underground, including all Twelve Generals of the Eight Pillars, hoping that after death, these individuals would serve her brother.

When Zhang Ling tiptoed to touch the ceiling, I was puzzled. The road was too high. Now, I suddenly realized that the road wasn't for connecting to Yongling at all; it was built to facilitate the transportation of goods by carriage.

After Emperor Yuanbao's death, to permanently conceal this truth—after all, many of the Twelve Generals of the Eight Pillars were still alive and would never agree to become funerary items—Yuan Mingyue ingested a large amount of mercury and died, guarding her brother's earth-shattering secret to the end.

After reading the content on the epitaph, my heart remained unsettled for a long time.

On one hand, it's often said that within the palace gates, familial bonds are as deep as the sea, yet royal blood can be ruthlessly spilled without a second thought. However, the sibling affection between Emperor Yuanbao and Princess Yuan Mingyue transcends a millennium, still shining brightly, truly astonishing.

On the other hand, it's evident that Emperor Yuanbao was an individual of extreme complexity, even bordering on disarray. Such conflicting facets of personality doomed him to a life of unfulfilled potential.

Firstly, he revered Buddhist theories and believed in the law of karma, embracing the Buddhist notion of seeking enlightenment not in this life, but in the next. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been such grandiose terracotta warriors.

Yet, he was also anti-Buddhist; otherwise, he wouldn't have meticulously preserved the "Shen Mie Lun" with gold leaf.

Perhaps, until the moment of death, he was still entangled in this dilemma.

"Guangting, the princess's body is missing," Zhang Ling exclaimed, looking at the opened coffin.

I walked over for a look, only to find the elliptical stone coffin, carved with intricate patterns of golden branches and jade leaves, empty. At the same time, I noticed something peculiar.

While the Emperor's body had decomposed into a pile of mud, the Princess's stone coffin was remarkably dry. Could it be that her body hadn't decayed?

A person who had been dead for nearly fifteen hundred years had vanished into thin air. Could it be that they had truly encountered the mythical elixir of life? I couldn't help but shiver.

Zhang Ling pointed to something not far away, covered with a green tarpaulin, obscuring its true form. The body was likely hidden inside.

The tarpaulin was made of plastic, and the sound it made when pulled was naturally loud. In the current environment, it sounded like the crackling of an old-fashioned microphone.

After confirming safety, the two of us bent down and crawled in. When we saw what was inside, we were almost scared out of our wits.

Zhang Ling's eyes widened in astonishment, almost popping out of their sockets. Not to mention her, even I, a grown man, almost wet myself at the sight.

A transparent coffin lay before us—or rather, a container resembling a coffin made of organic plastic, unbreakable.

The container was filled with transparent liquid, likely formalin, with a body floating inside. From the attire, it was unmistakably the Princess.

Anyone with medical experience knows that formalin is commonly used to preserve bodies, a process known professionally as "fixation."

The Princess floated within, her body naturally elongated after absorbing moisture, her features delicate and discernible, standing about one meter sixty tall, adorned with a phoenix crown and draped in luxurious robes, breathtakingly beautiful.

However, due to the bleaching effect of formalin, the clothes and skin of the Princess appeared somewhat pallid, as if she had suffered from a severe illness.

At that moment, the sound of footsteps gradually grew clearer. Zhang Ling and I held our breaths and slowed our breathing.

Two individuals walked past us, and through the cracks in the ground, I saw that they were wearing reddish-brown Martin boots, with large feet, estimating at least size 45.

At this point, the two individuals began speaking, their language incomprehensible to me, aside from a few words such as "tonight," "quickly," and "money."

"Guangting, these people not only intend to steal the Twelve Generals of the Eight Pillars, but also to abscond with Princess Mingyue. It's utterly outrageous, utterly despicable," Zhang Ling lamented.

"Lingjie, can you understand them?"

"I forgot to tell you, my major in university was English."

After the two individuals walked away, we crawled out and immediately followed suit.