The ape-like man shook his head. The beardless eunuch subconsciously pressed, "What a pity?"

The ape-like man glanced at him, a strange smile appearing on his face. "The Mandate of Heaven is unpredictable and cannot be revealed. How about I tell you a story? What you can glean from it depends entirely on yourselves."

"A story? I like that." Bai Yongyan rubbed his palms together, moving his seat forward a little.

"Once upon a time, Xin Gongping, the magistrate of Gao'an County in Hongzhou, and his friend Cheng Shilian, were on their way to Chang'an to accept their appointments when they were caught in a heavy rain. They took shelter at the Yulin Inn west of the Luo River."

The ape-like man said in a low voice, "The two met a traveler in green robes at the humble inn. This man called himself Wang Zhen, and he was quick-witted and eloquent, earning the respect of Xin and Cheng.

After a few rounds of wine, Wang Zhen claimed to have the ability to predict the future. He spoke of the location where Xin Gongping and Cheng Shilian would stay the following night, as well as the food they would eat. He also stated that he could only travel at night and would not be able to accompany them the next day.

Xin and Cheng exchanged smiles, naturally disbelieving. The next day, they left the inn and continued their journey. Sure enough, they stayed at the location Wang Zhen had mentioned, and the food they ate was exactly as Wang Zhen had described. The two were greatly astonished.

That night, Wang Zhen appeared, and the three traveled to Wenxiang. Wang Zhen asked the two if they had guessed his identity. Xin Gongping guessed that he was a hermit, but Wang Zhen shook his head and denied it, saying that he was an underworld official welcoming the emperor."

An underworld official welcoming the emperor?

The expressions of the guests subtly changed.

Yu Qingqiu's narrowed eyes suddenly opened, staring intently at the ape-like man.

However, the ape-like man, as if unaware of the murderous intent, continued to tell the story unhurriedly.

"Xin Gongping asked Wang Zhen if he was the only one welcoming the emperor. Wang Zhen shook his head, saying that there were five hundred armored horses and a general, right here in this desolate wilderness, surrounding the three of them, but Xin Gongping and Cheng Shilian could not see them.

At dawn, Wang Zhen bid farewell to the two again. Upon arriving at Huayin, he appeared once more, bringing a lavish feast of wine and meat to entertain the two, and sincerely invited Xin Gongping to witness the scene of His Majesty's ascension to immortality.

Xin Gongping agreed. Cheng Shilian wanted to go with him, but Wang Zhen said that he had a thin life and could not bear to watch the welcoming scene.

Xin Gongping went alone to the agreed location west of Ba Bridge, and felt a gust of yin wind pass by. A team of heavily armed soldiers appeared on either side, one of whom was Wang Zhen.

Xin Gongping followed Wang Zhen to pay respects to the general leading the five hundred soldiers, and the team entered Tonghua Gate and stationed themselves in a temple, staying for several days without finding an opportunity to welcome the emperor."

The ape-like man paused, scratching the back of his hairy hand. "The general was frustrated and said that the time was approaching and they could not wait any longer, but the emperor was protected by many gods, making it difficult to welcome him.

Wang Zhen then offered a plan, saying that they could hold a night banquet, using a full feast of meat and fish to make the gods drowsy.

The general smiled and nodded, leading his troops into Danfeng Gate, past Hanyuan Hall, through Xuanzheng Hall, and surrounded the palace where the night banquet was being held.

Xin Gongping followed the army into the hall, where he saw that the sounds of silk and bamboo instruments were pleasing to the ear, and the singing and dancing were joyous, but the musicians and dancers were all expressionless, like puppets, paying no attention to the soldiers who had broken into the palace.

At the same time, all the candles in the hall glowed with moonlight, reflecting the current emperor, who sat on the dragon throne, expressionless, overlooking the singing and dancing.

Then, a strange-looking person with a long beard, wearing a blue shirt and black pants, holding a golden dagger about a foot long, presented it to the general, drawing out the sound as he shouted, 'The time has come.'

The general held the golden dagger and presented it to His Majesty. The music suddenly stopped, and the emperor felt dizzy and was helped into the West Pavilion, not to emerge for a long time. The general urged him, and a sound came from the West Pavilion, saying that the emperor was bathing and changing.

After a long time, the emperor boarded a jade carriage and left the West Pavilion. The general did not kneel when he saw the emperor, but simply bowed and asked if the emperor still had a clear mind amidst the chaos of the human world.

The emperor claimed that he was troubled by the affairs of the mortal world and his mind was cluttered, but now he had abandoned external things and had nothing to worry about.

The palace servants and concubines sobbed and shed tears, wiping away blood, unwilling to see the emperor on the jade carriage leave, but the general just laughed loudly, led the jade carriage out of the palace, and drifted away."

Saying this, the expression on the ape-like man's face was a little strange. "Xin Gongping, who had witnessed the scene of the emperor's ascension to immortality, was finally sent by Wang Zhen to the home where Cheng Shilian was staying, and personally witnessed Wang Zhen's figure slowly disappearing into thin air.

Cheng Shilian asked him about the welcoming scene, but Xin Gongping only said that he would talk about it when he had the chance.

Several months later, news came that the emperor had died. The following year, Xin Gongping was promoted to the position of registrar of Jiangdu County in Yangzhou."

The ape-like man looked around at the guests with their varied expressions, and quietly asked, "Everyone, do you understand?"

The hall was silent, and no one answered.

*Clatter.*

Bai Yongyan placed his chopsticks in the wooden dish and said calmly, "Welcoming, of course, is welcoming the emperor. Underworld welcoming, of course, is sending the emperor to heaven.

However, if it is a normal underworld official welcoming the emperor, it should be when the emperor is terminally ill and beyond cure, and the emissaries of the underworld come to welcome him.

In the story, Wang Zhen and the general acted strangely, not like living people, yet they still had a way to enter the capital and station themselves in a temple near the palace. I'm afraid they were rebellious officials in the name of underworld officials.

The general complained that the emperor was protected by many gods. Here, the gods probably refer to the emperor's personal guards.

During the night banquet, the rebellious officials devised a way to transfer the emperor's personal guards, and then used daggers to 'invite' the emperor to ascend to immortality. Subsequently, the emperor was taken into the West Pavilion to bathe and change. The so-called bathing was probably the addition of knives and axes.

The concubines sobbed and shed tears, wiping away the blood all over the floor, which meant that the emperor who came out of the pavilion and boarded the jade carriage was already a corpse."

Bai Yongyan glanced around at the guests, who were as quiet as cicadas in winter, shrugged indifferently, and said casually, "Bai remembers that the late Emperor Shunzong's cause of death was very suspicious, right?

Back then, Emperor Shunzong tried to reform the government, but due to the opposition of the eunuchs and a group of partisan ministers, the reform ultimately came to nothing.

That faction of eunuchs, in order to eliminate future troubles forever, directly forced the palace, forcing Emperor Shunzong to abdicate and become the Supreme Emperor, passing the throne to the then sixteen-year-old crown prince, who is now His Majesty the Emperor.

Emperor Shunzong tried to send someone to Qin Prefecture, demanding that the Longxi Pacification Commissioner send troops to depose the new emperor, but the matter was exposed, the secret envoy was killed, and Emperor Shunzong was placed under house arrest.

The following year, His Majesty the Emperor claimed that the Supreme Emperor had been ill for a long time and needed to reside in the inner palace, unable to see anyone.

Five months later, His Majesty the Emperor declared that the Supreme Emperor had died of illness. The time just happened to correspond to the story of Xin Gongping's ascension to immortality.

If the story of Xin Gongping's ascension to immortality that you just described is about rebellious ministers rebelling and secretly executing Emperor Shunzong, then the rebellious ministers here are likely to be the eunuch group that once helped the current emperor win the battle for the crown prince.

The reason for fabricating Xin Gongping, Cheng Shilian, Wang Zhen, and others was to use a bizarre form to obscurely record the truth of what happened at that time."

Bai Yongyan glanced at Yu Qingqiu, whose face was extremely ugly, and said to the ape-like man indifferently, "The meaning of this story is very simple. Since the Supreme Emperor who tried to reform the government was forced to abdicate and even killed by the eunuch group, then the current Emperor, who personally witnessed or even participated in the eunuchs' plan to murder the Supreme Emperor, naturally cannot promote political reform."