Chapter 478: Deceiving the King
Chapter 478: Deceiving the King (Double Monthly Ticket Request)
It was late at night, the empty mansion was exceptionally quiet, and the moonlight became gentle.
After taking a shower, Xu Zhenguan stared at the "master bedroom". In just the time it took to take a shower, the simple and elegant doors and windows changed color.
The entire backyard was brightly lit, and even the uninhabited houses were illuminated by large red lanterns under the eaves, sweeping away the dull and desolate atmosphere.
On the windows of the house where the two were going to "stay", there were red paper hangings with the words "囍" (happiness) written on them.
The candlelight shone through the window paper into the outside of the house, and the word "囍" became bright and dazzling.
Xu Zhenguan opened her lips slightly, as if she understood something, her eyes suddenly became gentle, and she walked into the house with light lotus steps.
Inside the bedroom, the air was filled with a faint scent of sandalwood, which came from the burning of an exquisite incense burner in the corner.
The antique shelves in the house, which were filled with porcelain vases and jade articles, were lit with candles.
Not only here, but also on the round table, on the small couch for resting... there were scattered red candles, the flickering candlelight illuminated the originally slightly dim bedroom as bright as day.
Zhao Duan changed into a loose robe and was standing beside the dining table, bending over, carefully lighting the last red candle.
He turned around and looked at the empress who pushed the door open. His eyes lit up and a smile appeared on his face:
"Your Majesty, you have returned just in time. I have found some aged wine hidden in the cellar of the mansion."
He had obviously bathed and washed himself, but he did not wash formally. Instead, he used the "Black Turtle Seal" to control the water and clean himself from head to toe.
Well, I even chewed a few fresh petals in my mouth!
"Did you...arrange these?" Xu Zhenguan asked softly, with candlelight flickering in his bright eyes.
Following Zhao Duan's hand, I saw a jar of mud-sealed aged wine opened on the table. The aroma of the wine was rich and fragrant. There were no vegetables on the table, but wine vessels were laid out.
There were still red paper and scissors on the cabinet that had not been put away yet.
Zhao Duan smiled and said:
"Things are hard to predict. We were caught off guard. The house is not fully stocked. I have no choice but to inconvenience Your Majesty. Fortunately, although the country gentry took away the gold, silver and jade, they left behind good wine. The last time we drank together was before the Fengshan ceremony, in the water garden of Jianning Mansion."
Yes... That time, the king and his minister discussed the plan after the failure of promotion. Unexpectedly, their words came true. Under the push of the situation, the world changed in the blink of an eye.
At that time...how could I have imagined that he would enter the world so soon? Xu Zhenguan's eyes were wandering, and he was a little distracted.
Perhaps it was as expected: after she took a shower and returned to the room, the scene of Zhao Duan pouncing on her impatiently did not happen.
Xu Zhenguan's tense body under her dress also relaxed.
And when I found that he was willing to spend time and effort to decorate the "new house", the slight annoyance in my heart was swept away.
What's more...
And wine.
Xu Zhenguan sat down at the table and watched Zhao Duan pour the clear and fragrant floral wine into the cup. As if trying to give herself courage, she suddenly picked up the wine bottle, raised her white neck, and drank it all in one gulp!
A mouthful of wine slid into her mouth and tongue, and the empress's delicate and charming face became even more rosy after bathing.
Wine does not intoxicate people, people intoxicate themselves!
Zhao Duan laughed in silence, then simply drank the glass. The hot wine slid into his esophagus, and his whole body seemed to be hot.
How many times have they been drinking together?
Can not remember.
There were three very memorable moments: once on the rooftop of the Emperor's Tower in the capital, once in the Yuanzu Hall in the palace, and once again... maybe it should be now.
In the Emperor's Tower, the Empress opened her heart.
When they were in the Yuanzu Temple, the two of them practiced briefly for one night and then made some progress.
today.
It's not just the heart that's opened...
With complicated and unspeakable emotions in their hearts, the two of them sat at the table without saying a word and drank in silence, as if they both wanted to use alcohol to dilute the last bit of tension.
However, how could ordinary flower wine, even if one drank a hundred jars of it, really make two worldly realm cultivators drunk?
Soon, the jar of wine was finished, and the looks the two people gave each other became a little ambiguous, as if there was a silk thread connecting them.
Zhao Duan's mouth was dry and his tongue rolled over. He felt that as a man he should take the initiative: "Your Majesty, it's late at night, otherwise..."
"Pfft!"
Before he could finish his words, Xu Zhenguan seemed to be really drunk. He dropped his head on the table with his eyes closed, and seemed to be unconscious.
"..."
Zhao Duan was silent for a moment, thinking to himself, "Zhenbao, aren't you pretending a little too much?" Don't say that your injury hasn't healed yet. I know how much you can drink.
Besides, my eyelashes are still trembling...
See through, don’t say through.
Zhao Duan stood up and tried to push her with his hand: "Your Majesty?"
no response.
Well, it seems I have to take the initiative. However, I don’t know how to practice dual cultivation... Zhao Duan was thinking in his mind. He subconsciously tightened his belt, then stood up and walked to the side of the empress who was lying on the table pretending to be drunk.
He stretched out his arms and picked up the drunken empress and princess. The moment he got hold of her, he could clearly feel the "drunk" empress's body stiffen, but she did not struggle.
It seems like an attitude of "let him do what he wants".
Zhao Duan held the empress in his arms, turned around, walked to the bed covered with bedding, and put her on the bed first.
Under the candlelight, on the soft brocade couch, she was lying in a loose dress, revealing her charming curves.
Zhao Duan moved his eyes upwards, and the first thing that caught his eye was a pair of fair jade feet sticking out from under a silk skirt.
Because she had just bathed, she was not wearing any socks. Her feet were delicate, with veins faintly visible under her skin. Her toes were round, each one like a jade bead. Her feet were exquisitely shaped and fascinating.
Immediately, his sight followed the curve of her legs upwards, but unfortunately, it was soon blocked by the hem of her skirt, just like a cloud of mist on the top of Mount Luo, blocking his sight and stretching across the peaks.
One can't help but want to disperse the clouds and mist, revealing the blue sky and white sun, shining brightly and clearly.
Zhenbao?
No...it should be a treasure...
Zhao Duan sighed inwardly, his eyes swept across the slender white goose neck and stopped on the empress's beautiful face.
She seemed to be very drunk, her cheeks were flushed, and a layer of sweat appeared on her forehead. Under the candlelight, her long black hair spread out on the soft pillow, looking extremely beautiful.
"His Majesty?"
Zhao Duan called out softly and prepared to move forward.
The "drunk" Xu Zhenguan murmured, "Turn off the lights..."
Turn off the lights... Yes, there are too many red candles in the room... But Zhao Duan was a little unhappy. It was so dark that he couldn't see anything... He gritted his teeth and whispered:
"Don't worry, Your Majesty. No one will see it."
After saying this, without waiting for Zhenbao to answer, he raised his hand, lowered the curtains of the bed, and jumped up.
Xu Zhenguan finally couldn't pretend anymore, he slightly opened his eyes and pushed him away with his hands softly, but without any dignity at all:
"Light...you don't listen to me?"
I'll listen to you under the bed, but I have my own ideas on the bed... Zhao Duan transformed into a dragon knight:
"The minister wants to deceive the king!"
……
Boom!
Outside the house, rain clouds slowly floated across the sky, covering the bright moon. Accompanied by a thunder, a strong wind blew in the dark night.
In the endless flower fields, countless branches swayed and trembled, and petals were blown away by the strong wind.
The pitch-black sky was occasionally torn apart by lightning, accompanied by continuous heavy thunder, covering up all sounds on the earth.
The thunder roared for a long time.
Suddenly, drizzles began to fall from the sky. The rain grew heavier and heavier, beating down on the thousands of acres of flower fields. The wind was also suppressed by the heavy rain and stopped.
In the darkness, the lights in the back house seemed to be the only remaining source of light in this world.
The man and woman in the house who were immersed in each other's world did not notice that there were two illusory "dragons" confronting each other in the sky above the house.
One of them was huge but illusory, with scars all over it. It was the dragon energy that belonged to the crowned emperor and had hovered on the top of the mountain during the Fengshan ceremony at Luoshan.
The other one was much smaller, but extremely solid and lifelike, and was extremely similar to the "dragon soul" sleeping in Zhao Duan's qi sea.
At this moment, accompanied by a dragon roar, the dragon soul plunged into the illusory dragon energy.
In an instant, the wind and clouds changed color, and this sudden and unexpected storm became more and more severe and violent.
……
More than half an hour later.
In the backyard, all the candles were extinguished, and the house was in darkness.
Zhao Duan exhaled softly in the darkness, lying with his head tilted back, glancing out the window at the raindrops hitting the window paper recklessly.
During the intermission, the candlelight was finally extinguished by Xu Zhenguan's palm wind.
However, at this moment, the occasional lightning outside the window frequently illuminated the room as bright as day.
"Your Majesty, how much of your cultivation has recovered?"
Zhao Duan asked softly. He clearly felt that he was unable to control the situation.
In the darkness, Xu Zhenguan lay on his side, his back to him, his eyes closed, as if feeling himself. "My injuries have recovered a lot, and my strength has returned to the level of the beginning of the world."
The empress opened her bright dark eyes and said with some surprise.
Her theoretical realm never dropped, but due to her injuries, the strength she could exert was only at the level of a god.
If not for this, they would not have been captured by Ouyang Ye and his troops with almost no losses.
And with just one time, she recovered her combat power to her full potential, which was an outstanding result.
Zhao Duan turned around and leaned closer: "If it's the initial stage, I'm afraid it's not enough."
"...Indeed." The empress subconsciously agreed, and then her expression changed slightly:
"What do you want?"
Zhao Duan's liberated serfs sang:
"Listen to the dragon's roar!"
……
Another half hour passed.
The wind and rain outside the window stopped again, but the temperature inside the room was unusually high.
Zhao Duan rested for a while, feeling the changes in his body, and was also surprised:
"My realm has been completely stabilized. I can feel that I am not far from the middle level of the world."
Compared to improving Zhao Duan's cultivation, in the current situation, it seems more reasonable to focus all efforts on improving the empress.
So, under the conscious guidance of the two.
Most of the power of the dragon soul is exerted on Xu Zhenguan.
But even so, Zhao Du'an still couldn't get close to Yu Ze. Because he had just entered the secular realm, his qi, which had not yet stabilized, was not only consolidated but also made further progress in just over an hour.
This is something that cannot be achieved through any normal practice.
"No wonder old nun Prajna always thinks about me. How cool is it to treat me like a furnace or medicine dregs?"
Zhao Duan sighed in his heart, turned his head and looked at the empress who was facing him this time with her back to the window:
"Your Majesty, how far have you recovered?"
“…Middle-class in the world.”
Zhao Duan was amazed and calculated silently:
"Middle-grade to high-grade, high-grade to peak, peak to half-step, half-step to heaven..."
"What are you mumbling?" Xu Zhenguan didn't hear clearly, but her intuition told her that this little imperial guard was harboring some bad intentions, so she shrank back vigilantly.
Get away.
Zhao Duan pondered and said, "Your Majesty, have you ever heard of a palm technique that falls from the sky?"
As he said that, he fiercely pulled the bed sheet towards him...
"Huh?! Zhao Duan, you dare!"
"My name is not Zhao Duan, my name tonight is Hang Dali!"
……
……
same night.
In the Huai River, a black-sailed boat was sailing on the river, with a bow light hanging on a wooden pole at the bow.
An orange light shone from the lampshade, as if burning a hole in the curtain-like darkness.
The sloop was moored at the pier. About five or six people on the boat walked ashore and, in the drizzle, headed towards a house on the pier with a lone lamp hanging at the door.
The leader was wearing a straw raincoat with a sword hanging from his waist. Under the raincoat was an official robe that had not been changed for many years.
The Grand Canal Governor Ning Zechen seemed to have lost some weight, but he looked more aggressive than before. He walked on the slightly muddy road to the wooden house.
Before he got close, he was stopped by someone hiding in the dark: "Someone come and report."
Ning Zechen took off the cap of his raincoat, revealing a resolute face covered with dark stubble:
"it's me."
"Please come in, Governor." The strong man in the army nodded in secret.
Ning Zechen left the people behind him outside the house and pushed the door open.
In the slightly shabby room, there was only an old wooden table with an oil lamp on it. There were figures sitting on the benches beside the table.
The position directly opposite the door belongs to Mochou.
This first female official, who was known as the "female prime minister" outside but was actually the empress's maid, looked haggard and her eyes were bloodshot.
On her right was Sun Lianying, the silver-haired and sunken-eye eunuch leader of the White Horse Division, who was also the de facto leader of the empress's trusted eunuchs.
On her right was the Minister of Rites who presided over the Fengshan Ceremony that day. His scarlet official robe was stained with mud, and the black gauze hat on his head was long gone, making him look rather dishevelled.
But more than that, there is a sense of sorrow that a building is about to collapse and a country is about to perish.
The other people in the room were all civil officials and military generals who had participated in the Fengshan ceremony in the past.
"Governor Ning, what's the situation?" Mochou forced herself to cheer up when she saw Ning Zechen coming in.
Ning Zechen clasped his hands in a very chivalrous manner and said:
"Fortunately, I have fulfilled my mission. Although the rebels are fierce, the Canal Transport Office is my territory that I have managed for many years. Although I cannot keep it, the canal soldiers of this section of the Huai River are still under my control. Now, according to the previously agreed plan, I have used gunpowder to detonate the rocks, and ordered the boats to carry the rocks to the river and sink them into the river...
This way, we can ensure that the shallows are blocked, and neither the King of Huai'an nor the King of Chen can lead troops north through the canal."
The ministers in the room were shocked, and the Minister of Rites said happily:
"Governor Ning is worthy of being the backbone of the empire. When we find His Majesty and suppress the rebels, we will definitely remember your great contribution."
Ning Zechen had long been desensitized to these scenes, and turned to look at Mo Chou:
"Is there any news, Your Majesty?"
Sun Lianying, who was nominally the White Horse Supervisor but in reality also controlled the power to dispatch the imperial guards, said in a deep voice:
"The latest intelligence is that Eunuch Hai was held back by Duan Shuiliu's men. The generals of the remaining teams tried their best to organize their troops and block the two rebel armies of Jiancheng Road and Yunfu Road from heading north at the checkpoints on the ground. They had no time to escape..."
After the Fengshan battle, Zhao Duan fled with the empress, leaving a group of ministers at a loss.
At that time, the group first tried their best to find the empress, trying to determine whether she was alive or dead. Later, after realizing that Zhao Duan had taken the empress away, they stopped searching.
At the same time, he learned that Prince Jing had started a rebellion.
The group had to split into several teams, with one group going to stop Prince Jing's troops from chasing the empress.
The other part, while returning to Beijing, tried their best to stabilize the local governments, ordering them to hold on, and at the same time thought of ways to stop the rebels.
"In this case, wouldn't Your Majesty and Envoy Zhao be in danger?" Ning Zechen could not hide his anxiety.
Sun Lianying said, "With Zhao Duan's ability, no matter how dangerous the situation is, he will turn it into a safe place and successfully bring His Majesty back to the capital."
The old official had blind confidence in Zhao Duan.
"Heh... Just because Zhao Duan is your subordinate, you are so blindly trusting? What time is it now? So many of us can't protect His Majesty, so how can we feel at ease with only him alone?" The Minister of Rites was in a bad mood and spoke harshly.
Sun Lianying glanced at him and said calmly:
"If you can't control your temper, you can go out and get some fresh air. If you don't have confidence, you can go out and seek refuge with Xu Wen, who will be a good fence-sitter."
The Minister of Rites was suddenly choked by the ridicule and said gloomily:
"I naturally hope that Your Majesty will be able to turn the danger into safety. I am just worried."
"Then why don't you go and protect His Majesty? Why let Envoy Zhao bear the pressure alone?" Ning Zechen added coldly.
"You..." The Minister of Rites was speechless after being confronted by the two. He turned his head and looked at Mo Chou for help:
"Mo Zhaorong, you know that I am just too concerned..."
Mo Chou said calmly:
"I believe in Zhao Duan, too. He has accomplished many miraculous things before. I believe he can do it this time, too."
The Minister of Rites was stunned. He looked around at the three of them, walked to the corner of the room in a huff, and sulked with his hands in his sleeves:
"Incomprehensible!"
He felt a little aggrieved. His words were unpleasant but also the truth. Yet these three guys teamed up to target him.
Ning Zechen and Sun Lianying were too lazy to pay attention to this Shangshu who played a very limited role along the way and only served as the representative of the highest-ranking official in the team.
Start spreading out the map and discuss the next team's moves:
"We have limited military power and our target is too obvious. Instead of rescuing His Majesty, we are more likely to cause trouble to His Majesty. The most important thing for us right now is to return to the capital as soon as possible and stabilize the situation."
"Now the eight princes may have rebelled, and the news will soon reach the capital. By then, the news about your majesty's disappearance or even death will surely spread like wildfire, and the capital will probably be in chaos.
We have to go back as soon as possible to bring back the most authentic intelligence, so as to stabilize the situation and wait for His Majesty to return to the capital. Otherwise, if something happens in the capital, even if His Majesty returns to the capital, it will be too late. "
"In fact... we have a concern. Maybe the capital is already unstable at this time. If His Majesty disappears, will Li Yanfu be at peace?"
Sun Lianying was worried, and Ning Zechen became more and more worried the more he listened.
He raised his head and looked at Mo Chou who remained silent:
"Mo Zhaorong? What are you thinking about?"
Mo Chou stared blankly at the drizzle outside the door, and suddenly said:
"I wonder what your majesty is doing now."
……
ps: This definitely doesn’t count as crossing the line, right…?
(End of this chapter)