The First Lackey Under The Empress

Heaven and earth are not benevolent… Heaven and earth are not benevolent…

In the early morning, when Zhao Du'an uttered these words in the soup stall,

the old Celestial Master, who originally didn't pay much attention and didn't have much expectation, seemed to be struck by lightning.

Silently chewing on this sentence, although he was old, his eyes, still as clear as a child's, suddenly brightened a bit.

Strictly speaking, the "benevolence" that Zhao Du'an said is different from the "benevolence" that Zhang Yan mentioned just now in terms of context.

Zhang Yan said that heaven and earth are benevolent, which is a sigh in a specific context.

It means that as a warlock who believes in the "Dao of Heaven", he can glimpse good and bad fortune from the operation of the Dao of Heaven.

So as to avoid it, which is like the "benevolence" of heaven and earth to the world.

It is a subjective sigh, but it does not mean that he really thinks that "Heavenly Dao" has human-like emotions.

The sentence repeated by Zhao Du'an is a calm, even slightly cold description.

It means that heaven and earth do not care about "benevolence" or "unbenevolence". Heaven and earth exist naturally, and all the things in the world follow the laws of birth and death.

If so, the heaven and earth are like a huge bellows.

Empty but not exhausted, agitated and windy, numerous government orders disturb the people, it is better to keep emptiness and quiet.

In his previous life, Zhao Du'an saw someone use this sentence to expound Lao Tzu's view of "governing by doing nothing".

Interpreting it as a Taoist doctrine, an admonition to the upper rulers.

But the same sentence, in a different world, said to this "Celestial Master's idle official", has a slight difference in meaning.

It is more like an elaboration on how "cultivators" should understand the world.

How to deal with oneself, avoid external disturbances, and guard the heart.

…

"What a heaven and earth are not benevolent."

Zhang Yan couldn't help but exclaimed.

As a warlock who studies the Dao of Heaven, he has a particularly deep understanding of this. Looking at Zhao Du'an, he became more and more fond of his talent:

"Little friend has never cultivated the Dao of Heaven, but he already has such a thorough understanding. It is a waste of talent to choose to walk the path of a martial artist."

Zhao Du'an blushed a little from being praised.

Young Master Zhao still wants face.

Not to mention that this was copied, even if you put this aside, anyone who has studied in his previous life and has taken physics classes can reach this level of understanding of the laws of the objective world.

He said with a serious face:

"Old sir, don't say such things again, I'm afraid Your Majesty will misunderstand."

The old Celestial Master smiled, intending to say, "That girl Xu Zhenguan will only delay you."

But after thinking about it, he didn't say anything, but said:

"Little friend's exposition on heaven and earth is insightful and easy to understand, but in my opinion, it is still lacking."

Zhao Du'an was not convinced:

"Sir, I can't pretend I didn't hear what you said."

Zhang Yan smiled and said:

"Don't misunderstand, it's not to belittle, but to be incomplete. As you said, heaven and earth are not benevolent, and cultivators should guard themselves with emptiness and quiet. But if you only know emptiness and quiet, you are still a mortal, how should you cultivate?"

Zhao Du'an didn't rush to speak when he heard this, but slowly ate a few bites of cake and drank half a bowl of thick soup.

In this way, he aroused the old Celestial Master's curiosity for a moment before smiling and saying:

"This is even simpler."

"Simple?" Zhang Yan raised his eyebrows.

"Of course," Zhao Du'an said calmly:

"Since the old gentleman also agrees that heaven and earth are not benevolent, and the Dao of Heaven exists naturally. Then what we should do is very simple, I summarize it in thirteen characters."

He remembered his last experience and wanted to use the soup to write.

But considering that there was too much oil in the mutton soup and there were too many words, he gave up.

Thirteen characters?

The old Celestial Master was curious. The words in the Heavenly Book that summarize the description have as many as twenty-one. In the past five hundred years, they have not been changed.

This young man dares to make such bold remarks, and can explain it clearly in thirteen characters?

Zhang Yan was a little expectant.

I only heard Zhao Du'an suddenly sit upright and say every word:

"Man follows the Earth, the Earth follows Heaven, Heaven follows the Dao, and the Dao follows Nature."

Dao follows… Nature!

At this moment, even though he was prepared in his heart, and even because of the lesson of "Dao gives birth to One" last time, the old Celestial Master quietly set up his position.

Cut off the connection between the two and heaven and earth.

But when these thirteen big characters slammed into his ears one by one, they still set off layers of storms in the heart of this great warlock who stood at the top of this world.

"Follow" here means "to imitate".

The two sentences that Zhao Du'an threw out, when connected, mean:

Heaven and earth are not benevolent and follow the laws of objective operation, and the cultivation of human beings is to imitate the laws of nature.

And the last four words "Dao follows Nature" do not mean that Dao imitates Nature, but that Dao imitates itself.

Translated into vernacular, it is actually not complicated or profound.

Just like most of the truths in this world, they are simple and unpretentious.

But to really understand, it takes many people a lifetime.

As for Zhang Yan, although he had already understood these principles many years ago, he had never thought about it.

It can use such condensed words to clearly explain the understanding of "Heavenly Dao" and the essence of cultivation.

None of the Celestial Masters of the "Celestial Master's Mansion" in the past could do it, and neither could Zhang Yan.

But today, a martial artist who takes the path of a martial artist, a mere mortal martial artist, said it in one breath.

How could he not be surprised and surprised?

"Old sir, what do you think?"

Zhao Du'an was also observing the other party's reaction, with a smug smile on his lips.

Well, it seems that these two sentences should be able to sell for a good price.

Zhang Yan came back to his senses and took a deep look at Zhao Du'an, with mixed feelings in his heart:

With just the four words "Dao follows Nature", he knew that some of the words in the "Heavenly Book" had to be revised.

Ironically, Zhang Yan's changes to the Heavenly Book in the past hundred years as the headmaster were not as much as half a sentence that Zhao Du'an made up casually.

"Not bad."

The old Celestial Master said with a bit of depression, then got up and said with little interest:

"I still have something to do, so I won't disturb you."

With that, he turned around and took a step, disappearing into the crowd in the blink of an eye, as if he had never appeared.

And none of the surrounding people noticed.

"No…"

Zhao Du'an opened his mouth, a little dumbfounded.

Thinking to himself, what does 'not bad' mean? Shouldn't you express something?

Give me another talisman or something… In a trance, he felt like he had been taken advantage of.

Gritting his teeth, he stuffed the silver "Imperial God Talisman" on the table into his arms as a trump card.

Zhao Du'an finished the pancake and meat soup, left a few big coins and was about to leave.

The owner of the stall chased after him, timidly saying:

"This young master, your friend hasn't paid for the soup and cakes he ate."

"… ?" Zhao Du'an said expressionlessly:

"I don't know him."

The owner of the soup and cake stall was an honest man, and said with a stiff neck:

"You two have eaten at my shop twice."

Zhao Du'an sighed to the sky: "… What a sin."

…

…

Eight Directions Opera House.

Because there are performances in the afternoon and evening, it is the most lively time for the opera house.

Therefore, the opera house does not receive guests every morning. The actors close the door and start practicing their voices early in the morning to hone their basic skills.

As a newly promoted "top card", Wu Ling arranged for the opera house troupe leader to live in a separate courtyard.

However, this morning, when this "Xiaosheng" with a white face and powder and a handsome appearance like a woman opened the door to the backyard, he was greeted by a group of uninvited guests.

They were all wearing gray robes and covered their faces with veils.

The leader wore an indigo ghost face mask.

Judging from the exposed body parts, it should be a middle-aged man.

Wu Ling welcomed the group into the room. After closing the door, he eagerly clasped his fists and saluted:

"Subordinate greets the helmsman! I don't know that the helmsman arrived in the capital in advance. I have failed to welcome you from afar."

The middle-aged man wearing the indigo mask smiled:

"No need to be polite. You should have known that my trip to the capital is to take over Zhuang Taifu's position as the head of the Kuangfu Society's capital branch. However, the capital seems to be not peaceful recently."

Wu Ling said bitterly: "Has the helmsman already found out?"

The middle-aged man nodded, his tone also becoming a bit serious:

"I received an emergency message outside the capital yesterday, saying that the person buried in the Zhao Yamen has been removed, so I entered the city early. However, the letter was short and did not explain the situation. Please tell me in detail."

Wu Ling nodded.

He immediately revealed all the information he had about the exposure of the inner ghost in the Zhao Yamen.

All the gray-robed people were moved, while the new helmsman listened quietly.

Finally, he asked:

"So, after the Iron Ruler Guan duo were captured, you immediately notified their related upline and downline to evacuate?"

Wu Ling said:

"Yes. However, it was too hasty after all, and some members still had accidents. For example, the person arranged next to that Zhao thief died at the hands of Zhao thief."

The new helmsman frowned and said:

"As you said, yesterday's disaster was also designed by Zhao Du'an?"

Wu Ling nodded and said seriously:

"As far as we know, that's indeed the case. Everyone underestimated Zhao thief. Since Taifu was forced to flee by him, this person has repeatedly made great achievements in the past two months, and has become a scourge."

The new helmsman asked: "Have you ever tested him?"

Wu Ling smiled bitterly:

"Subordinate once tried to intercept and kill this person, but didn't even see the other party's face. The Substitute God of Opera was destroyed by a great cultivator. Subordinate suspects that the false emperor took action.

Zhao thief's weight in the false emperor's heart is far beyond expectations. This person's skills and wisdom are by no means as bad as rumored."

Hearing this, the group of Kuangfu Society members who were dusty and arrived in Beijing from other places were very surprised.

They didn't expect that the notorious male favorite of the empress in the Jianghu rumors would have such a high evaluation in Wu Ling's mouth.

"People can't be judged by appearances. This time is a lesson."

The new helmsman sighed and looked around at everyone:

"Beijing is the false emperor's territory. We are new here, and it happens to be turbulent. Pass my order, all members should lie dormant for the time being and avoid the limelight."

Everyone said yes.

The new helmsman changed the topic, looked at Wu Ling, and smiled:

"However, you don't have to be discouraged. After Zhuang Taifu left, you were leaderless, which gave the court and that Zhao Du'an an opportunity to take advantage of. Now that I have arrived, I will definitely not let the brothers in the club sacrifice in vain."

Wu Ling's spirits were lifted:

"Helmsman, what do you mean…"

The new head of the Beijing branch of the Kuangfu Society, covered with a ghost face, smiled:

"Since as you said, then start with this Zhao Du'an. The false emperor can protect him for a while, but he can't protect him for a lifetime.

Since he dares to be our enemy, then take this person's life first to pay tribute to the brothers, boost morale, and also avenge Zhuang Taifu's layout that was destroyed by this person that day."

…

I will correct the typos later.

Thank you to book friend Zhizhu Zaiwo for the 500 coin reward support!