Chapter 175: Smoke Rising from the Ancestral Tomb

Ah Bao completely ignored Di Jiaoyang.

Seeing Feng Zhuo carrying Ah Bao away, Di Jiaoyang was furious.

Sitting on the cold ground, continuing to copy Buddhist scriptures, she became so enraged that she kept muttering insults like “pighead, big fool!” And then… without realizing it, she ended up drawing a little pighead on a long scroll??

Oh dear.

Di Jiaoyang only realized it when she came back to her senses. The scriptures had been copied halfway; she wondered if she would be able to finish it in time.

Just then, a voice came from above, “Luan’er, what are you doing here?”

Di Hongluan looked up to see the Queen Mother, who had somehow arrived while leaning on her cane.

Instinctively, Di Hongluan replied, “Grandmother, I’m copying Buddhist scriptures. I want to do my part to help the ancestors transcend, so they can ascend to the Pure Land…”

She spoke earnestly, even with reddened eyes.

The Queen Mother believed her. “Copying scriptures again?”

This child, why does she only think about copying scriptures all day?

It reminded her of the day before yesterday. After all, she was her granddaughter; a little punishment would be enough. Could she really throw her out?

“Are you copying the Ksitigarbha Sutra again?”

Di Hongluan looked down and replied, “Yes, Grandmother. The Ksitigarbha Sutra can help guide lost souls. Every character I copy, I think of the achievements of our ancestors, and I even have a transcending charm…”

The Queen Mother interrupted her, “Do you know that only wandering souls and ghosts need to be guided?”

Di Hongluan shivered, “Y-yes, I know.”

But, one could also transcend them on ordinary days.

The Queen Mother should be impressed by her cleverness for coming up with such a surprising action.

Di Hongluan waited eagerly for praise.

“Nonsense! Do you think the ancestors are wandering souls and ghosts now?” The Queen Mother was furious. “Are our ancestors wandering souls and ghosts?”

“Ah? Grandmother, that’s not it.”

“Not it? Then why are you guiding them?”

Di Hongluan was dumbfounded. Wasn’t it possible to guide them if they weren’t wandering souls or ghosts? What kind of logic was that?

The Queen Mother sighed angrily and looked down, noticing a pattern on the long scroll.

In front were the Buddhist scriptures, not yet finished, and at the back was a distinct drawing—it was a—

“Pighead??” The Queen Mother pointed at the drawing on the paper.

Di Hongluan saw it too and hurriedly picked up the paper, hugging it to her chest.

The Queen Mother’s face was cold. “Hand it over!”

“Grandmother, I…”

The old maid had already stepped forward, prying Di Hongluan’s hands open and passing the long paper to the Queen Mother.

The Queen Mother took a close look. “How outrageous, Di Hongluan! You actually drew a pighead in the text for guiding the ancestors. Do you think our ancestors are pigheads??”

“Grandmother, that’s not it. I wouldn’t dare.”

“Dare? Where did this pighead come from?”

Di Hongluan: !!! Stammering, unable to say a word.

“The thoughts you hold in your mind are what you draw with your pen. I see that you think of our ancestors as pigheads.”

Di Hongluan wanted to cry. “The ancestors are not pigs…”

“Then who is a pig?”

Di Jiaoyang and Ah Bao.

Di Hongluan was numb all over. She had been so focused on insulting Di Jiaoyang that she made this mistake while copying the scriptures.

Had she known the Queen Mother would show up, she wouldn’t have been so quick to scold Di Jiaoyang.

Everyone knew the Queen Mother favored Di Jiaoyang. If she said Di Jiaoyang was a pig, the Queen Mother would surely think that as an elder sister, she couldn’t tolerate her younger sister. Moreover, Di Jiaoyang was a princess, and she was only a county princess.

“I’m the pig, Grandmother. I was thinking about myself when I drew it.”

The Queen Mother’s eyes rolled back in anger, trembling all over. “Do you believe such a ridiculous excuse yourself?”

Naturally, she didn’t believe it. Di Hongluan was treating the Queen Mother like a fool.

As the queen of palace intrigue, the Queen Mother could see through Di Hongluan’s intentions. “Di Hongluan, on the day of the ancestral worship, you show such disrespect to our ancestors, implying they are wandering souls and ghosts and drawing them as pigs. Such behavior is intolerable. Since you like copying scriptures so much, you shall copy them here a hundred times! Don’t get up until you finish!”

The Queen Mother stormed off, her sleeves swishing.

A hundred times?

In the middle of winter, was she trying to freeze her to death?

Di Hongluan cried on the spot.

Why did things always go wrong?

She only wanted to make an impression, why was it so difficult?

Di Hongluan didn’t realize that Ah Bao was a little ancestor, and ancestral worship was for the old ancestors. Insulting any ancestor was unacceptable.

In the distance, civil and military officials listened intently.

At first: The little county princess is truly a filial and loving child.

By the end: The little county princess is truly a rebellious child.

Feng Zhuo witnessed the whole scene, looking at the happily playing little princess with a twitching mouth.

The little princess was indeed quite perceptive.

“Feng Guoguo, meat, yummy…” Ah Bao licked her lips, being held by Feng Zhuo, and pointed towards the main hall for the ancestral worship.

“Does the little princess want to eat meat?”

[Remove ‘want,’ I just want to eat meat.]

Everyone knelt on the white jade steps, fifty meters away from the main hall, earnestly participating in the ancestral worship.

Ah Bao took advantage of no one looking up at the hall. Her small figure slipped into the main hall.

The almost one-year-old girl had just rolled into the hall when the incense burner with three burning sticks swayed slightly.

The large incense stick, originally emitting white smoke, suddenly turned into green smoke.

“Your Majesty, Queen Mother, we have news from the royal mausoleum. It’s said that green smoke is rising from the royal tomb!” A guard rushed in to report.

The Great Tyrant, who was kneeling on the ground in reverent ancestral worship: ??

And the Queen Mother, who was previously frustrated by Di Hongluan’s behavior: ??

“Green smoke from the royal mausoleum?” The Great Tyrant’s eyes lit up. This… this is excellent news.

Who wouldn’t want to see green smoke rising from their ancestral tomb?

For the royal family, the ancestral tomb must be the royal mausoleum.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty, the grand hall of the ancestors also has green smoke rising from the incense.” Another guard came to report. Today, only one guard was stationed around the ancestral hall.

No one would dare cause trouble on the day of ancestral worship under the Great Tyrant’s watchful eyes, so many guards had been withdrawn from the ancestral hall today.

The Great Tyrant trembled with excitement. “Mother, I’ll go check it out.”

The Queen Mother, with her excited, dimming eyes, said, “Ah, ah, ah, go quickly and be sure to observe closely.”

The Queen Mother was excited, the palace concubines were excited, and the civil and military officials were even more excited.

Was the fortune of the Tiansheng Dynasty about to explode? Although the Tiansheng Dynasty didn’t have a national deity, their ancestors were powerful.

Of course, if the ancestors could summon a national deity, that would be even more spectacular.

The Great Tyrant entered the main hall, and Ah Bao, hearing the noise, quickly hid beneath the offering table, her small body completely covered by the red silk cloth.