Tainted by Sha Qi

Zhang Xuezhou was very familiar with the Palace of Peace and Happiness.

He had never been to the Palace of Peace and Happiness, but he had explored the burial chambers in the Yang Mausoleum.

The chambers had been built almost exactly like the imperial palace in Chang'an City, right down to the positions of the palace's great pillars.

He felt as though he were revisiting an old haunt, and he knew exactly how far he was from the main hall of the Palace of Peace and Happiness.

"Summoned: Chunyu Tiying and Dongfang Shuo, enter the hall for an audience!"

The eunuch surnamed Cui trotted into the hall, then hurried back out a short while later to deliver the summons.

The two eunuchs carrying the stretcher lowered their heads and carefully carried it forward.

The two entered the Palace of Peace and Happiness with extremely small movements and impeccable caution, even more carefully than when they had carried Zhang Xuezhou from the Imperial Medical Bureau into the imperial palace.

They passed through the doors and walked another fifty paces into the main hall before gently setting the stretcher on the ground and kneeling.

"Rise!"

A deep, elderly voice rang out, accompanied by an exceedingly strong scent of incense.

Beneath it, Zhang Xuezhou thought he could also detect a trace of coldness and an indescribable stench.

To someone with less acute senses, it would have been no more than the smell of rotten eggs drifting from far away, but Zhang Xuezhou found the scent distinct enough to be somewhat familiar.

It seems somewhat similar to Yellow Springs Water, but Yellow Springs Water only has that coldness, not this stench!

Zhang Xuezhou recalled the Yellow Springs Water in the Tomb of the King of Liang, then quickly put the thought aside.

The smell