Chapter 382 Princess: I am willing to serve you
Chapter 382 Princess: I am willing to serve you ( words)
meet again……
Zhao Duan was lying on his back in the shape of a "big" character in the barren mountains in winter. Under him were piles of dead branches and leaves. In his sight, huge trees pierced the gray sky.
When the cold wind blew, sporadic leaves from the branches swirled and fell.
He smiled and stared at Princess Lu who was pointing a sword at him, his eyes were extremely strange.
When he caught a glimpse of the silver mask, he understood the source of the indescribable "familiarity" when they met that day.
It's about temperament.
Princess Lu has a unique aura that he has only seen in Pei Niannu. It is difficult to describe, but it really exists.
After a brief recollection, when I met the shadow guard named "Hongye" in Linfeng Road in the past, there were vague similarities between them, but not as close as Lu Yan'er and Pei Niannu.
Prince Jing's wife is a powerful sorcerer? Not too surprising.
But he was really surprised that he was Pei Niannu's successor.
"I ask you questions and you answer them, not to listen to your nonsense."
The gentle princess, who was wearing a green long skirt and a silver visor, spoke in a cold voice, with the tip of the sword in her hand dropping an inch:
"How do you recognize me? If you don't answer, I don't mind letting you experience the pain of being lingchi before you die."
What a cruel woman... Pei Niannu opened my skull, and now you want to torture me, it's really the same... Zhao Duan complained in his heart, and the smile on his face spread:
"When I first met the princess, I felt that she looked like someone I was familiar with, so I had a deeper impression of her. When I asked her if she practiced cultivation, it turned out that she was deceiving me."
Princess Lu was furious, feeling that she had been fooled:
"You are about to die, but you still have the energy to flirt with me. You deserve to be killed."
As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his sword and beheaded the thief Zhao.
"Pei Niannu...Princess, what you are practicing is the inheritance of this lineage, right?" Zhao Duan said calmly.
The long sword stopped again!
Princess Lu's eyes suddenly flashed with a sharp light behind her visor: "How do you know?"
Zhao Duan smiled and said:
"I once met a shadow guard of the imperial court. She was also covered with a mask like you. Do you know her?"
Shadow guard? Lu Yan'er was stunned, a little confused.
Six hundred years have passed, and the former Pei family has long since branched out, with countless bloodlines, not to mention the inherited methods that can be practiced by anyone with a good foundation.
Therefore, it is not surprising that there are people in the court who practice the same method.
Lu Yan'er wasn't even sure whether the other party was a relative of hers. Even if they were, they were probably beyond the fifth degree of mourning.
"It seems that we are not familiar with each other," Zhao Duan sighed regretfully, "Princess, can you explain to me where this mask inheritance came from? How did it get mixed up with Prince Jing?"
Princess Lu pressed her sword down again, directly against Zhao Duan's chest, and said coldly:
"Are you interrogating me? Tell me everything you know about Pei Niannu. If you say one more nonsense, I will cut off one of your arms!"
Zhao Duan felt helpless and sighed softly, thinking that women with cold personalities were indeed difficult to communicate with.
He closed his eyes, visualized the Six Chapters Sutra in his mind, and murmured softly:
"Please come, senior."
In an instant, in the depths of the sea of consciousness, in a dilapidated ancient temple that was barely visible, the sorceress who was sitting on the rooftop bored raised her head, and her sight seemed to penetrate the boundary between the scroll and reality.
Zhao Duan clearly felt that a powerful, negative force suddenly descended upon his sea of consciousness and quickly spread to his body.
At the Divine Chapter realm, one can summon the deity one has cultivated to descend into the mortal world.
At this moment, Pei Niannu was like a ghost possessed, and with the surging magic power, he merged into one with Zhao Duan.
In the woods.
Princess Lu suddenly felt a strong sense of uneasiness. Without any hesitation, she pressed her white and tender palm on the hilt of the sword and stabbed it down fiercely!
However, Zhao Duan's right hand, which was covered with a faint red light, quietly grasped the tip of the sword.
Calmly...
Hold on.
Hold on?
Princess Lu was stunned, her expression suddenly changed, and she looked at Zhao Duan's face.
He suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils surging with plasma-like red. He seemed to have lost all human emotions, like an angry god.
"You pissed me off." Zhao Duan said this and stood up straight.
Princess Lu was horrified as she watched the long sword in her hand being dissolved by the scalding crimson aura and turned into drops of iron liquid.
In a hurry, she only had time to put on three layers of magical armor around her body, and then she saw Zhao Duan punching out.
"boom!"
The surging magic power surged out along with the fist force. In an instant, the three layers of armor were torn apart like paper, and Princess Lu's figure flew backwards like a cannonball.
The violent power of the spell whipped up a strong wind, and countless fallen leaves in the entire forest were lifted up like tiles and scattered into the air.
The silver armor on the face of Princess Lu, who had just been so powerful and in control of everything, flickered and almost cracked.
A mouthful of blood spurted out of the corner of his mouth, and he rolled like a sandbag and slammed into the rocks in the distance. Almost all of his bones were broken, and his eyes were filled with unspeakable horror!
In her perception, Zhao Duan's magical power is not much stronger than hers, and is still at the "worldly" level.
Logically speaking, the clash of magic powers between people of the same level would definitely not leave her completely helpless in her fightback.
But when Zhao Duan made his move, Princess Lu discovered with horror that her cultivation seemed to be suppressed by some kind of power that was almost like her bloodline.
It is just like a mortal encountering a tiger in the mountains, his legs trembling and unable to move.
At this moment, she saw Zhao Duan as if he was afraid of a tiger.
He couldn't even display even 10% of his cultivation. He was completely suppressed and weakened to the point where he was almost a mortal.
"How could it be...you..."
Before Princess Lu could come to her senses, she saw Zhao Duan standing up in the distance and raising his right hand to grab her.
Princess Lu's face changed drastically and she was about to escape.
Immediately, the falling leaves flying in the sky suddenly condensed into two long "chains", tied her up, and dragged her back to Zhao Duan's feet along the way she came!
There is no way to fight back!
Lu Yan'er felt a strong sense of fear and confusion in her heart. She wanted to say something, but Zhao Du'an raised his hand and grabbed her fair neck in mid-air.
Her feet kicked wildly in the air, and she tried to pry open the iron hands that were restraining her neck with her hands. Her face turned pale, like a weak woman in the mortal world.
"Do not……"
"Do not……"
Princess Lu tried her best to open her eyes wide, she had already realized something, a force of magic power rushed into her pupils, opening her third eye.
As the "Sky Eye" opened, Lu Yan'er saw a horrifying scene.
Behind Zhao Duan, there were illusory red lines formed by magic power extending towards the sky.
One end of the red strings was connected to Zhao Duan like a puppet, and the other end was held in the slender white hands of an illusory figure in mid-air.
She was a woman in ancient costume, wearing a simple bright red wedding gown, with a mysterious dark gold mask covering her face, revealing only half of her snow-white, delicate chin.
One hand held the red thread and transferred the magic power to Zhao Duan.
The other hand held a strange scale rod that was intertwined with gold and red.
At this moment, she was suspended in the air, as majestic as a god.
Six hundred years ago, the number one female sorcerer in the world, Pei Niannu, came to the world!
The moment their eyes met, Lu Yan'er, who had been struggling violently, was struck by lightning. She widened her eyes and stared at the dark golden mask and the appearance of the sorceress who was marrying her daughter. There was a gleam in her eyes, mixed with endless shock and surprise.
At the same time, after seeing the almost cracked silver mask on the other person's face, Pei Niannu frowned and suddenly retracted half of the red lines.
The plasma-like red color in Zhao Duan's eyes suddenly faded, and he felt his body suddenly become empty, his magic power was drained away, and his right hand could not restrain the other party, so he threw the green-clothed princess to the ground.
"Cough! Cough-cough-cough!"
Lu Yan'er knelt on the ground. As soon as she was freed, she covered her throat and gasped heavily, accompanied by coughing.
Extremely embarrassed.
Zhao Duan, who lost the blessing of the red buff, felt the energy in his sea of energy being consumed all the time. He turned his head to look at Pei Niannu and raised his eyebrows.
He conveyed a thought: "Senior, this is..."
Pei Niannu ignored him, her brows furrowed.
The princess on the ground raised her head and opened her eyes. She looked at the sorceress standing in the air with excitement and disbelief, and asked tentatively: "Ancestor... Ancestor?!"
Ancestor?
Zhao Duan's eyes became more and more strange.
"Ask her...her identity...for me..." Pei Niannu's voice came to my ears.
The way she came to the world was almost like a god. She could not communicate directly with outsiders and had to rely on Zhao Duan, a "believer", as a medium.
Zhao Duan looked down at the kneeling princess, smiling:
"Senior Pei asked me to interrogate you, Princess. Can you tell me now? What is your origin?"
Lu Yan'er was still immersed in great shock. She came to her senses only after being questioned. She also realized that she could not talk to the ancestor directly, and her mind was in a mess. She couldn't understand why the ancestor that the family had been searching for for hundreds of years in vain would be born to Zhao Du'an, a pretty boy.
The first thought was doubt, but it was dispelled in an instant. The rest could be disguised, but the real suppressing power based on inheritance that came from Pei Niannu could not be faked.
That is a characteristic that only this lineage possesses. Gold armor is the most important, silver armor is second, and bronze armor is the last.
Clear hierarchy.
The superior can not only completely suppress, but also punish the subordinates from a distance of thousands of miles.
As for the dark gold visor, according to historical records, only Pei Niannu was able to master it.
"Yes... yes..." Lu Yan'er answered subconsciously.
As expected, he is indeed a descendant of Pei Niannu's family. Because Pei Niannu offended too many people back then, after his death, the entire Pei family changed their identities and scattered around to avoid being hunted down.
Lu Yan'er's branch changed its surname to "Lu". She had great talent in spiritual practice since she was young. Later, she lost her relatives due to hatred in the martial arts world and became the only remaining bloodline of this branch.
Whether it is to inherit the family mission, to find the ancestral heritage, to complete the promotion, or to go one step further.
In short, Lu Yan'er searched for Pei Niannu's whereabouts for many years. Later, because the clues pointed to the royal family, and she was obviously unable to enter the palace to investigate, she unexpectedly got the promise of Prince Jing to work for him.
The whole process is not complicated.
After hearing this, Zhao Duan also felt that fate was amazing. Who could have thought that there would be such a coincidence...
Moreover, the rules of this mask suppression sound evil... It doesn't sound like the right way, but rather a bit like that of an evil sorcerer.
Could it be that the god that Pei Niannu cultivated is considered an evil god? Hiss…
"Ancestor!"
Kneeling on the ground, Lu Yan'er, in blood-stained green clothes, looked excited:
"We have been searching for you for hundreds of years. The elders in our family have always said that you are not dead. Now that we have seen you today, we beg our ancestors to return and gather the scattered people in the past..."
Pei Niannu listened quietly. Although he was wearing a visor, he still revealed a sense of vicissitudes and loneliness.
She looked at Zhao Duan and said calmly:
"Tell...her...that I am...dead. There is no need to dwell on it..."
After saying this, without waiting for Zhao Duan's response, he took the initiative to cut off all the red lines of magic power, disappeared from the world, and returned to the Six Chapter Sutra.
Hang up... Zhao Duan's eyelids twitched, and he called out "Senior" a few more times in his heart, but Pei Niannu seemed to have touched upon something sad, and didn't respond to him at all.
"Ancestors? Ancestors?!"
Lu Yan'er witnessed the wedding dress sorceress turn around and disappear. She looked around in a daze and let out a shrill cry.
Zhao Duan smacked his lips, feeling the little energy in his body being consumed in order to sustain Pei Niannu's arrival, and he took the initiative to stop his visualization. In this way, Pei Niannu could no longer feel what was happening outside.
He looked down at Princess Lu and said in a mocking voice, "Don't shout, Princess. Senior Pei has already gone back."
Lu Yan'er looked at him blankly, expecting an explanation.
Zhao Duan said calmly:
"Senior Pei said that she was very disappointed in you. It would have been fine if she had participated in the secular court's struggle, but she was willing to serve a traitor like Prince Jing and become a running dog of the mortal dignitaries. This humiliated her and this inheritance. How dare you, a descendant like her, invite her back?"
Lu Yan'er was struck by lightning, her face turned pale, she slumped down on the ground, her lips stammering:
"me……"
As he spoke, tears began to roll down his cheeks. He felt ashamed and embarrassed.
Yes.
How graceful was my ancestor six hundred years ago? He was a figure who shared the same power as Emperor Taizu of Dayu and was ranked among the strongest in the world.
Moreover, he used secret techniques to almost become a god, being able to remain immortal for six hundred years, which was unheard of.
How proud should such an ancestor be?
And what about yourself?
So, the ancestor attacked me just now because he was angry at me for not fighting back, and wanted to punish me angrily, right?
Seeing her distraught and shattered faith, Zhao Duan changed the subject:
"But... Senior Pei also told me to tell you that when you are truly worthy of her status as her descendant one day, then come back to find her."
Lu Yan'er's eyes, which had been as dead as ashes, lit up again. She climbed up and looked at Zhao Du'an impatiently, her tone excited:
"What should I do so that my ancestors will be willing to see me again?"
Zhao Duan looked at him as if he was an idiot and said:
"You still don't understand? Of course, you should abandon the dark and join the light. Senior Pei is on my side, but you are with a traitor like Prince Jing. Being my enemy means being the enemy of your ancestors."
Lu Yan'er suddenly came to her senses as if she had been hit by a slap in the face. She was happy at first, but then she realized something was wrong:
"But you just said that our ancestors were angry that I was a lackey for the rich and powerful, but aren't you also..."
Zhao Duan had a blank expression on his face and rebuked:
"Do you know that I am a disciple of Emperor Taizu? The path of martial arts I cultivate is the same as yours?
If we put aside the ordinary emperors and generals, and talk about the inheritance of the monks, the current empress and I are from the same school, and also the same school as the Sea Worshiper.
"Fellow disciples are one, do you know why Senior Pei was summoned by me? It is because Senior Pei also joined the sect of Emperor Taizu. Don't you understand?"
Lu Yan'er suddenly understood.
Yes, she overlooked this point. The world of monks is different from that of ordinary people. What matters is the master-disciple relationship.
Once it was revealed, she immediately said:
"I am willing to abandon the dark and join the lineage of the God of War. I only ask Lord Zhao to help me explain to my ancestors..."
Zhao Duan smiled teasingly and shook his head:
"Princess Lu, you just tried to assassinate me, and you still have the identity of a princess. How can I trust you?"
Lu Yan'er stood up, her eyes cold behind her cracked visor:
"I will go back to Huting and kill Prince Jing and his son as a token of my loyalty. How about that?"
Pei Niannu's appearance made her change her position on the spot. Compared with Prince Jing's blank check, Zhao Duan's side seemed more trustworthy.
“…Wait a minute!”
Zhao Duan was startled, but he stopped the other person and started thinking.
Kill Prince Jing directly? He had to admit that this was an extremely tempting offer, and he was indeed tempted.
But Zhao Duan thought again and felt that it was inappropriate.
First, killing Prince Jing would inevitably lead to unpredictable changes in the entire political landscape of the Dayu Dynasty.
The current situation, which is barely stable, will be broken in an instant, which may not be a good thing from a global perspective.
After all, there are still seven of the Eight Kings. Apart from Prince Jing, Prince Mu of Yunfu also has the potential to be the throne. The existence of the Eight Kings can still check and balance each other. If this is broken, it is impossible to clearly judge whether it is good or bad.
Secondly, as the Inspector General, he is not allowed to make such a big decision.
He was just a minister and had never reported to the empress, so he did not have the authority to do such a big thing privately.
In official circles, exceeding one's authority is dangerous even in wartime, let alone in peacetime?
The third, and most important, reason is that Zhao Duan suspected that Prince Jing was not so easy to kill.
Otherwise, why didn't the empress, who possessed the combat power of a celestial being, simply go to the south of the Yangtze River alone and kill all the eight kings directly?
Whether it was because he was worried about being infamous for eternity, or because the structure could not be easily broken, or maybe this old cunning bastard Prince Jing must have hidden some means to save his life.
In short, there must be a reason why the empress did not do this, and Zhao Duan could not do it either.
"Are you sure you can kill him? Doesn't he have any way to save his life?" Zhao Duan asked calmly.
Lu Yan'er was silent for a moment, then shook her head and said:
"I can't be sure. Xu Wen is... a man with deep scheming. I am definitely not the only one guarding him. Moreover, when he asked me to join him, I tried to show my murderous intent and felt that there was something about him that I was afraid of."
This makes sense... If someone has the guts to fight the empress, how could he not have the background? Zhao Duan asked:
"Do you know what cards he has?"
Lu Yaner shook her head and said:
"I know very little. Although I am his bodyguard, I don't get involved in his affairs. He is also quite wary of me. Not only me, but even his son Xu Jinglong only knows a less important part.
I only know that Prince Jing has some secret connection with Qingshan. He also secretly trained troops in Jiancheng Road and hollowed out a mountain to build a firearms factory. "
Then, as if to make her feelings clear, she told him all the information she knew in one breath.
Zhao Duan gained a lot, but the core things were indeed few.
It's not surprising. Prince Jing would have to be crazy to give the princess an explanation for the betrayal without any hesitation.
"Let's do this." Zhao Duan thought for a moment and said with his hands behind his back:
"I need you to continue lurking in Prince Jing's mansion. When you go back today, tell them that I have a trump card and summoned a god to injure you. Don't tell me anything else.
After that, don't intentionally collect any intelligence. Just continue as usual and wait for my orders.
Don't worry, as long as you turn from evil to good and work for me, I will speak for you to Senior Pei. Of course, the choice is always in your hands, you can trust me or Prince Jing."
Lu Yan'er didn't hesitate, and suddenly knelt on one knee, like a surrendered general in the army, and said seriously:
"I obey my orders."
She knows very well what attitude and method should be used when dealing with officials.
Since she can serve Prince Jing in pursuit of her ancestors, there is nothing wrong with her changing her career to serve Zhao Duan.
Zhao Duan raised the corner of his mouth slightly and waved his hand, saying, "Go ahead."
"Yes!"
Lu Yan'er picked up the half-broken sword on the ground. With injuries all over her body, a formation slowly emerged under her feet and she disappeared.
Large pieces of fallen leaves were scattered all over the place, leaving only Zhao Duan alone. He stood with his hands behind his back, looking in the direction where she disappeared, the corners of his mouth twitching:
"Wait, you haven't told me how to get back."
……
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(End of this chapter)