After finishing the incense, Jing Wan'er prepared to leave. She was actually very concerned about this case, seemingly stranger than any she had encountered before.

  As she turned around, there was a faint redness floating in the corner of Jing Wanyi's eyes. She stiffened all over and suddenly turned back.

  Those were the flowers placed beside the incense burner since early yesterday morning.

  What can be offered on the precious hall incense table are naturally offerings. This bunch of flowers can be placed here, it's not ordinary, either the person offering the flowers is extraordinary.

  Jing Wan'er slowly lifted her foot and walked back.

  Because she saw that among those white flowers, a small red fruit had grown out, delicate and tiny, hanging on the branches.

  Because this fruit grows on the back of these flowers, when you are facing upwards to smell the fragrance, it is invisible.

  So it was Jing Wan'er who turned around at that moment, with a sharp angle, and her gaze was hooked away by this bright red stroke.

  A little monk, holding a broom, slowly approached while sweeping the floor, and the sound of sweeping echoed loudly in the great hall. The young monk was dressed in white robes, which were as clean as the floor he had swept.

  "Little Master." Jing Wanyu called out to him.

  The little monk slowly raised his head, with a blank expression on his face, and politely gave Jing Wanyan a Buddhist salute.

  Jing Wanner looked at him, he seemed puzzled by Jing Wanner's appearance here, but didn't dare to ask questions.

  "Little master, may I ask what is the name of this bunch of flowers in front of Buddha?" She spoke softly with a smile at the little monk. "I've never seen such beautiful flowers before."

  The little monk looked cautiously at the incense table, then withdrew his gaze and stared at Jing Yuanyu, saying after a long time: "Tell the donor, that is Haiyu flower, which is a tribute to the Tang Palace."

  A sentence from the Tang Palace's tribute left Jing Yuanner unexpectedly startled, her eyes rolling: "Could it be that this is a foreign country's gift to my emperor?"

  The little monk held the broom awkwardly: "Yes."

  All nations come to pay homage, and praise the great Tang. The rare treasures brought by small countries from afar are all gathered in the capital of the Tang Dynasty, and some of these treasures are the only ones in the world.

  Only collected in the national treasury, for Emperor Tang's personal appreciation.

  In the Temple of the Guardian Deity, there were actually offerings.

  Jing Wan'er looked at the little monk again, "Is it something that Your Majesty brought back from his retreat in the temple?"

  The little monk shook his head and said more cautiously after a long while: "It was His Highness, the King of Chang Le, who made an offering half a month ago."

  When he came to the Taiyuan Treasure Hall to burn incense, he offered this sacred object as a sacrifice to the Buddha.

  This is just the way for devout believers to express their faith.

  Jing Wan'er felt that she was standing here, and with just a slight stretch of her hand, she seemed to be able to pick off the small red fruit.

  The little monk watched with a cold eye: "Using your hands to touch the sacred objects in front of the Buddha is disrespect to the Buddha."

  Jing Wan'er gave up the idea: "Every day, who comes to tend these flowers?"

  The little monk said: "I'll come to water it."

  That little monk continued to lower his head and sweep the floor, with white sleeves waving back and forth, sweeping this vast hall spotless. Originally there was no tree of Bodhi, nor a platform for a bright mirror. Since there is nothing from the beginning, where can dust be stirred up?

  Jing Wan'er didn't want to stay any longer and lifted her feet to rush out of the grand hall.

  The little monk finally raised his eyes and looked out of the main hall with a blank expression.

  ——

  "Your Highness, at the beginning of this year, there were over a hundred foreign envoys who presented more than 360 kinds of tribute." Pei Shiwei said slowly to Pei.

  This is the prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty, and the number of tributes this year is obviously not the most in recent years, especially during the reign of Empress Wu.

  Pei Tan found something was off about Jing Wanyu after she came back, and the result of asking her about it was shocking and beyond expectation.

  "What is the country of origin of the sea yam flower that was offered as tribute to the Tang Dynasty?" It can be used as a tribute to the Tang Emperor, it must be a rare or precious product of various countries, or something that has never been seen before in the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

  Pei Shuaiwei said: "It is a country called Mengjia."

  It was indeed a rare name, and Pei Tan thought for a moment before saying: "This sea hibiscus must be a rare flower that grows in his home country, I suppose Gong Jing presented it to him.

  "How many entered the palace?"

  Pei Shuaiwei paused and said, "There is a young nephew in the Pei family who serves in the Nan Book Building. According to his investigation, Meng Jia's tribute from Fan Guo was five seeds of sea hibiscus flowers. They were stored in the palace warehouse that day and later cultivated by the manager of the Imperial Garden. Three seedlings survived."

  Only one of these three can be in the Great Hall of Treasures.

  "Further investigation revealed that after the three plants survived, one was moved to Your Majesty's study, one withered during transplantation, and the only remaining flower was bestowed upon the Empress by Your Majesty."

  Wei Empress. The two people in the house gasped again at hearing this name.

  The emperor and empress's affection for each other was deep, all the treasures presented to the palace would immediately appear in the empress's chambers if she liked them. Even if not, Emperor Zhong usually thought of ways to send various precious objects to the empress to delight her.

  "Could it be that Your Majesty had Prince Wang present the flowers as an offering to the Qinglong Temple?" Pei Tan's fingertips tapped lightly on the table, his expression not calm.

  "If it were an imperial edict, the monks of Qinglong Temple should not have reacted that way."

  Or rather, the monks who have really seen the Buddha's hibiscus in front of the sea only have a handful of people, but only the monks who are responsible for sweeping and sprinkling the treasure hall every day will definitely see it.

  That little monk obviously knew it was a tribute, but he dodged and reserved himself.

  Bai Tan was a bit silent, if Zhong Zong really wanted to give something to the Qinglong Temple, it shouldn't be casually taken from his own study window and given to the gods.

  What was said solemnly was indeed a tribute from Fanbang, but such a tribute might not be considered a valuable gift to Zhongzong.

  It's just a flower with some ornamental value.

  "If this sea lily flower wasn't from Your Majesty's study." Jing Wanyi's eyes sparkled, the young lady had always been known for her bold and unconventional thinking, she turned her gaze towards Pei Tan.

  Pei Tan's eyes were deep and profound, if this flower wasn't from the study, then it must be from the imperial harem...the Empress. For some reason, he didn't feel any discomfort or resistance towards such a result, which again had something to do with the Wei family and the powerful external relatives of the Tang Dynasty.

  Department

  So how did the sea hibiscus, which was originally in Wei's imperial palace, end up in Li Xiuzhi's hands? And why did he casually offer it to the temple...

  Jing Wan's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

  "But the tribute given by Your Majesty cannot be casually bestowed on others." Apart from gold and silver, anything that Your Majesty bestows upon me can only be revered, and if it is inadvertently damaged, it would still be a grave offense against you, let alone giving it to someone else.

  Who has such a big nerve.

  But it was Wei Zifu.

  Since Your Majesty was demoted to a commoner and fell into hardship, I, your wife who has been with you through thick and thin, have never left your side. Your Majesty once said that you would give the world to me, Wei Shi.

  "Prince Chang Le often came and went from Da Ming Palace," Pei Tan said slowly, "it's not ruled out that this flower was bestowed by the Empress herself."

  The Gongpin flower was bestowed upon the Prince of Changle by the Empress, and the prince, who was naturally reckless, came to the temple for purification and presented the Haitan flower as an offering in the Mahavira Hall.

  After all, the way that flower was placed on the altar looked just like a devout believer offering a pure flower.

  The flower leaves are purely white, as if clean and boundless.

  "No need to guess."

  Pei Tan's eyes were clear and calm as he gazed at the courtyard.

  Jing Wan'er was the first to understand his meaning, her heart skipped a beat as she said: "Sir, are you saying that..."

  Pei Tan's eyes were like a deep well that couldn't be seen into. "Go ask the prince directly and everything will become clear."

  Of course, the most intuitive thing to do is to ask the parties involved, but are they facing such a simple matter? Even the bold and forthright Jing girl hesitated and didn't dare to respond to Pei's words.

  "No one would lie about offering sacrifices, it's not worth it." Pei Tan said calmly.

  Although it is said so, but as for that Prince Wang, they seem to still not quite understand him.

  Jing Wan'er felt that it didn't seem like Pei Tan's usual cautious approach.

  But Pei Tan had his considerations, the sea buckthorn fruit that was dug out from Hui Gen's throat was still quietly on the table. In this Green Dragon Temple, it was hard to say how many people knew about the sea buckthorn flower and its fruit.

  Even the young monk who sweeps the temple may not have carefully looked at it.

  He went to ask Li Xiuzhi, and he would surely know the origin of the flower in Qinglong Temple. And some other unknown things, such as whether Li Xiuzhi knew about the existence of Haifengguo when he presented the flower.

  Pei Tan's eyes narrowed even more.

  The Qinglong Temple has a very early evening meal. Many monks who practice asceticism do not eat after noon, so when ordinary people come here to practice, it is to cut off the desires of the mouth and stomach.

  "In the temple, who might know that the sea buckthorn flower bears fruit and its fruit is highly toxic?" Pei Tan looked at the guard and the girl in front of him.

  The girl glanced at him, "A monk who sweeps and cleans must have seen the fruit on the flower."

  But she suddenly remembered what the little monk said, that touching the offerings with one's hand is disrespectful to the Buddha. So the cautious and meticulous little monk would naturally not touch it either.

  The lotus flower is placed on the fragrant table, so beautiful, but no one dares to approach.

  "The monks of Qinglong Temple did not dare to approach the offering table, which means that even if someone saw the flowers and fruits, they may not have had the opportunity to know that the fruit was poisonous."

  After some thought, it was probably a person, Jing Wan'er slowly opened her mouth: "It's just the king."

  As the person who brought flowers, it's hard to say he knew nothing. If he says he was completely unaware, how much credibility does that statement have?

  "The flowers in the palace were still in their buds and probably had just bloomed." Jing Yuanyu recalled.

  "However, it cannot be confirmed."

  If the flower had borne fruit before, Wang Chang Le would have known about it and deliberately brought the flower into the Qinglong Temple. This thought also makes sense.

  "Problems can only be solved one by one," Pei Tan said lightly.

  Now you want to know the origin of the flower, and even try to figure out the whole case in words. Even a wise man like Di Gong can't do it.

  "Let's go," said Pei Tan, standing up. "We'll go see the king." First, let's make it clear how this sea lily flower ended up in Li Xiuzhi's hands.

  。

  Jing Wan'er took a look at Pei Tan. This lord of hers seemed to be getting more and more assertive in his actions.