The Treacherous Concubine’s Guide To Whitewashing

Chapter 13, Pt 1 - Thunder Strikes

At the foot of the altar.

Civil and military officials and members of the noble imperial clan had long been assembled forming a dense mass of people as far as the eye could see.

The crowd stood in the cold wind attired in court dress. Inevitably, the weaker of them were shivering.

The East China Sea king stood in the front row, looking at Sikong Lin’s figure from behind as he knelt together with civil and military officials and nobles of the imperial clan.

The sacrificial ceremony procedures are all of ancient origin and even Sikong Lin, who was stupid, knew that this occasion should not be taken lightly. He obediently stood in the center of the altar according to the guidance of the courtesy officer.

The entire altar was decorated with silver paint and golden dragon patterns were carved into the sides. The ceremony kept with the traditional order step by step.

Empress Wei stood on the side of the altar and Yuan Luo stood beside her, her gaze not too distant. The East China Sea king seemed to sense her preoccupation. Turning her head away, Yuan Luo hurriedly withdrew her gaze.

Halfway through the sacrificial ceremony, Yuan Luo suddenly heard a roar from a distance.

Here we go!

In an instant, her spirit was stimulated and she looked into the distance.

The Temple of Heaven was built on Gongshan Mountain north of the city walls. It was surrounded by a vast mountain range.  She didn’t know what the East China Sea king had deployed on the distant mountain summit to make such a roar.

But to the ear, it really was similar to the sound of thunder from the sky.

A smile appeared at the corners of the East China Sea king’s mouth. He couldn’t help but glance at the altar. The ceremonial officer at the side of the high platform received a signal. Taking advantage of his bowed position, he secretly used just a fingertip to shoot a little flame in front of him.

It was as if sparks fell into a pile of dry rice straw and instantaneously a bright ball of flames rose. However, the ceremonial officer was astonished. The flame did not spread inward along the silver paint, but instead went outward, suddenly rushing toward his own feet like lightning.

Unable to avoid it, the ceremonial officer was enveloped in flames in an instant. The East China Sea king was also had flames rushing toward him as he was standing on the periphery of the altar. He was originally waiting for the flames to rise at the altar, but, completely contrary to his expectations, the fire went toward his feet instead.

Shocked and not wanting to wait for the fire to approach, his feet suddenly rose from the ground.

The smile at the corners of Yuan Luo’s mouth suddenly froze.

Hey, the East China Sea king actually knows martial arts? Why haven’t I been informed of this before?!

An intense fire exploded, sparks flew everywhere, and everyone was shocked.

Normally the Temple of Heaven was empty and there would not be many places where the fire could spread. However, this was the altar! It was the most sacred and solemn place and the most noble bloodline of the empire was where the fire was centered.

Momentarily, she was unaware which official shouted, "Guards!"

But earlier Miao Zi Fang had already rushed forward with the imperial bodyguards.

Yuan Luo saw a frightened Empress Wei in front of her, staring blankly. She reached out to her and drew her several steps backward.

Empress Wei staggered back to a safe location and soon imperial bodyguards came to surround her. Gradually, she came to her senses.

"What’s going on?" She couldn’t stop herself from turning around to ask Yuan Luo.

As it was a dignified, sacrificial ceremony, none of their maids have approached and it was inconvenient to speak with the imperial bodyguards by their sides, so in her panic she could only ask Yuan Luo.

Yuan Luo glimpsed that a little while ago Miao Zi Fang had already removed Sikong Lin safely from the altar. Then she was able to turn and said, "Maybe the courtesy officer acted carelessly and ignited something. Don't panic."

She appeared calm so Empress Wei gradually also calmed down. Following her strength, she retreated behind the guards.

Drawing on Empress Wei’s wrist, Yuan Luo clearly heard the sound of a +20 favorability. Yuan Luo was surprised. As it turns out, the trick to raising her favorability was this.

Concubine Shu Zhuo cut in next to her: "Empress, do not blame your servant, but just now I personally seemed to hear the rumble of thunder. Could it be that thunder has fallen like fire from Heaven?"

Clearly, it wasn’t only Concubine Shu Zhuo who had this idea.

The crowd of officials in the audience had their tongues wagging and looked terrified.

The East China Sea king, whose face was very flush, was at the heart of the crowd’s attention, because only a moment ago he was standing at the center of the flames and explosion. How could this be? Undoubtedly, the fire, thunder powder had been mixed with silver paint and had smeared on the altar!

This naturally had all been of Yuan Luo’s design. After seeing through the East China Sea king's conspiracy, she had secretly ordered people to clean the silver paint on the altar and then replaced it with safe and reliable silver paint.

In addition, the silver paint which had been scraped off was then mixed with a bit of carbon powder. This gave it the appearance of dust. It was then sprinkled along the edge of the altar near the location of where the East China Sea king would be standing.

To do unto one’s body as one would do to another, the result was the scene which had been presented.

Only, it's a pity the incident couldn't kill that person. However, thinking about it, the chemical purity of this era was simply inadequate. Although the sound and light produced were tremendous, the actual destructive power was limited. Furthermore, it was practically impossible to kill a person in the open space of the altar surrounded by imperial guards.

Originally, the East China Sea king had not thought he could kill the Emperor. He merely wanted to use this trick to win people's hearts and gain the advantage of public opinion.

Because of the Heavenly fire and thunder, this year’s sacrificial ceremony hurriedly came to an end.

Sikong Lin returned with everyone to the Capital.

----

At the East China Sea king’s mansion.

Sikong Yan slammed the tea cup in his hand to the ground. None of his trusted advisors or subordinates dared to utter a word.

Du Wang, who was responsible for this matter, knelt on the ground and repeatedly cried out about his grievances. "Your Highness, this lower official serves you with body and soul every day. There has been absolutely no disloyalty!"

Sikong Yan remained silent, so another official asked, "Why then did that flame explode on the soles of His Highness' feet? There were definitely no flaws in the repeated experiments before."

Du Wang wept bitterly. "Your servant doesn’t know why it happened."

Another subordinate considered for a while and hesitantly said, "Could it be that the last time, when the imperial concubine went there, the woman's body was filthy, so she damaged the set up?"

"Heavenly thunder powder is an object of the sun. For a woman to bump into it, it is possible something strange may have happened."

The corners of Han Chang Wen's mouth twitched. What woman’s body is filthy? By implication, they were thinking that she was using a Taoist priest practice to draw thunder!

The subordinates in the study were having a lively discussion with everyone talking at once. People in this era don't have a deep understanding of chemistry and merely use silver powder as a medium of magic.

Sikong Yan lowered his gaze, concealing his unfathomable expression, and stepped forward to personally help Du Wang stand up. "This king does not doubt High Official Du's meaning, but this matter is strange and needs to be investigated in detail."

The rims of Du Wang’s eyes were red with emotion. "Prince, your servant will definitely investigate the matter strictly and will discover the truth of the whole story."

----
TN: On 02 Nov 2021, the Midnight Translations site has reached a cumulative 5000 views. In celebration and as a thank you, another half-chapter will be posted tonight. Hope everyone is enjoying the story!