The First Lackey Under The Empress

Zhenbao actually convened a gathering of the Imperial Faction?

Such a large formation? … … Zhao Du'an was secretly astonished.

Did His Majesty summon me and bring him along as a convenience, or was the primary purpose to summon this kid, but considering this Duke's face, he just brought me along? … … Grand Eunuch Ma glanced at the eunuch's face, at the eager and enthusiastic flattery, and a sour feeling arose in his long, thin face.

The thoughts in their hearts were not for outsiders to know.

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Ma Yan immediately got up and simply arranged for Haitang and the others to stay behind.

He and Zhao Du'an did not ride in a carriage, but each rode a horse, and together with the young eunuch, the three of them rode straight to the Imperial Palace.

Upon arriving at the palace city, someone was already waiting, leading them straight to the palace hall where the Imperial Faction had last gathered.

Zhao Du'an felt somewhat dazed; this was the second gathering he had participated in.

The last time was when the 'New Policies' were introduced, and a storm was brewing in the court. He was outside the stage, engaging in guerrilla warfare, plotting against Li Yinglong, and after defeating the Little Grand Secretary, he rushed to the palace to attend the small court meeting.

“Your Majesty, Grand Eunuch Ma and Lord Zhao have arrived.” The female official leading the way gently knocked on the door and said.

A voice from inside said, “Enter.”

Only then did the two tidy their clothes and step over the threshold. The creaking door opened, and it was still the familiar side hall.

The Empress Dowager sat upright facing the hall door, and on both sides, chairs were arranged according to civil and military ranks.

At this moment, a glance revealed that familiar faces such as Grand Tutor Dong Xuan, in his twilight years, the refined and handsome Da Qingyi Yuan Li, and the stern and upright 'Military God' Xue Shence had already taken their seats.

The atmosphere in the room was heavy, and everyone seemed to be preoccupied.

“Sit.” Xu Zhenguan seemed to be in a bad mood, glanced at the two, and did not express any extra words.

In public, Zhenbao always treated him with a business-like demeanor… … Zhao Du'an smacked his lips and habitually walked towards the chair closest to the door.

There was no other way; his fourth-rank honorary title still placed him at the bottom of such high-level meetings.

“Investigator Zhao, you can sit here.”

Xue Shence surprisingly spoke, gesturing for him to sit in the second-to-last chair.

Zhao Du'an was stunned for a moment, his gaze shifted, and comparing it to the last time, he realized that there were three more chairs in the room.

The Imperial Faction was recruiting? Why didn’t I know? … … Although Zhao Du'an was curious, he still nodded and silently took his seat.

No one spoke in the room, waiting for the others to arrive.

Next, people arrived one after another. Apart from the old faces from last time, the first one to surprise Zhao Du'an was a vice officer from the Qianniu Guard within the Imperial Palace Guard.

He had only met Zhao Du'an a few times. Their last interaction was when he mobilized troops to besiege Chai Keqiao, the successor of Martial Emperor City.

“Your Majesty.” The burly Qianniu Guard vice officer cupped his fist in salute.

Xu Zhenguan lightly “En” and signaled him to take his seat.

The other party walked to Zhao Du'an's side, still wearing light armor, nodded politely to him, and sat down next to him.

… … Something's not right, when could a vice officer of the Imperial Guard also attend small court meetings? … … Zhao Du'an raised an eyebrow, and then he heard another voice from outside:

“The Heavenly Master's Residence's Dan Dao Divine Official and Hanlin Academician Kong have arrived!”

The creaking door opened.

This time, two newcomers arrived together, and it seemed they had arrived at the Imperial Palace at the same time.

Zhao Du'an curiously looked over, his gaze first attracted by a divine official.

The divine official's robe was dark red, embroidered with a pill furnace on the chest.

He looked to be around fifty years old, with bright, piercing eyes, and he also showed arrogance when stepping through the door.

The other Hanlin Academician Kong looked older, already with white hair and beard, a skinny old man.

The two entered the door, one made a Taoist salute, and the other cupped his hands: “Greetings, Your Majesty!”

The Empress Dowager nodded coldly, and the two sat down in the other two empty chairs opposite Zhao Du'an.

Seeing that everyone was here.

Xu Zhenguan's slender phoenix eyes swept across the entire room and said:

“Today, I have summoned you all here. You all know what it is for, right?”

No one answered, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Xu Zhenguan did not wait for a response and continued, “The Bewitching Taoist has reappeared in the world. How do you all view this?”

When leaders hold meetings, even if a decision has been made, they must first solicit opinions and listen to speeches.

Zhao Du'an perked up his ears and saw that his cheap senior brother, Little Ma, took the lead in speaking:

“Your Majesty, may I ask if it is confirmed? Is it really that Taoist?”

This was the question everyone was concerned about!

Xu Zhenguan said calmly, “It cannot be determined yet, but I have verified the seal, and it is indeed the aura of the Bewitching Taoist without a doubt.”

The crowd exchanged glances, their faces solemn.

Even the pseudo-Celestial Human Realm Empress Dowager had determined that it was the same person's aura. Unless there were extremely rare circumstances, the matter of a return from fake death was likely confirmed.

“Your Majesty! Regardless of whether this Taoist is genuine or not, let us assume for the time being that it is true. Now returning to the capital and declaring it in this way is undoubtedly a provocation to the court!

This person was a member of Jian Wentong's party in the past, and today, I fear he is also appearing as a member of the Kuangfu Society's rebellious faction! In this old minister's opinion, I fear that another traitor has come to rectify the rebellious party in the city, attempting to ruin the court!”

Grand Tutor Dong Xuan said in a deep voice, his jujube-red face revealing solemnity.

Yuan Li nodded in agreement:

“Grand Tutor is absolutely right. The Kuangfu Society in the capital has been without a leader for a long time. Previously, both Han Shuangjian and Thousand-Faced Divine Lord were sent, but Zhao Jisi eliminated them and suffered setbacks, and the rebellious party's branch was forced to go into hiding.

However… … the rebellious party will not give up. The capital branch is of great significance to the rebellious party!

Zhuang Xiaocheng has repeatedly suffered defeats and will definitely not make the same mistakes. If he truly hid the trump card of the Bewitching Taoist, it is not surprising that he is playing it now, hoping that he will take action to reorganize and make a comeback.”

Xue Shence said coldly, “I am more curious, what does this Taoist intend to do by declaring it so grandly? Could it be like that Thousand-Faced Divine Lord, wanting to make the entire court, civil and military officials, panic-stricken?”

Ma Yan pondered for a moment and said, “That may not be the case.”

“Oh?” Everyone looked over.

Ma Yan explained, “The character of this Bewitching Taoist, everyone here should know better than I do. In the past, he was arrogant, unruly, and vengeful in the capital.

When he was 'killed' back then, even if he did not die completely and used some method to escape, I fear that he suffered serious injuries. He has been missing for nearly three years without any news, which can also prove this judgment.

Given this person's temperament, if he was not hiding to recuperate, why would he show up now?

If it is really so… … now that he is back, I fear that he has been holding his breath in his heart. The act of publicly declaring it does indeed fit this person's character.

Therefore, in my opinion, his declaration is more like a preview of revenge, more from an individual than from the interests of the Kuangfu Society.

Or rather, in everyone's opinion, based on this Taoist's past behavior, is he a person willing to work diligently, be a helmsman, and care about others?”

Unruly and vengeful… … why do I feel like you are describing me… … Zhao Du'an frantically slandered, feeling like he was being mirrored!

Ma Yan's words caused the ministers to nod in agreement:

“This statement is reasonable.”

“Given this Taoist's temperament, he is extremely selfish, and revenge is indeed more likely.”

Soon, everyone reached an almost unanimous opinion.

They believed that the Great Yu National Teacher's return this time was likely to be for revenge against the court.

Xu Zhenguan nodded lightly, expressing agreement:

“That is what I think as well. Therefore, the reason I have summoned you here today is to discuss a solution.”

Although she said discuss, Zhao Du'an, observing her expression, always felt that Zhenbao already had an idea.

Today's meeting, rather than a discussion, was more like unifying opinions and appeasing people's hearts.

His heart stirred, and he tried to speak:

“Your Majesty, may I ask, what abilities does this demonic Taoist truly possess? What makes him so fearsome? My knowledge is shallow, and my understanding of him is only superficial. I implore you to enlighten me.”

……

……

Just as the Emperor's faction's small court meeting began in the palace.

The capital city.

Outside a certain tailor shop, on a long street, a Taoist priest slowly walked amidst the rolling crowd.

The Taoist was about fifty years old, wearing a black and white checkered patched robe, his hair fixed with a peach wood hairpin, and a black peach wood sword slung diagonally across his back.

His face, slightly weathered and with somewhat three-dimensional features, was framed by two yellowish eyebrows.

The old Taoist was travel-worn, seemingly having come from afar, walking neither too fast nor too slow in the crowd.

A pair of deep eyes seemingly inadvertently swept over the faces of the common people coming and going on the street.

However, few people noticed that in the depths of his pupils, vortices were slowly contracting.

At the same time, wisps of Qi, invisible to the naked eye, flew out from between his eyebrows on that paper-like face, and were swallowed into his abdomen with each breath.

The old Taoist swallowed all the way, his face showing a slight flush, and he muttered, with a hint of intoxication:

“In this vast Jianghu, it is this capital city where desires are strongest, truly intoxicating.”

He stopped.

Turning around, he looked at a clothing store on the side of the street.

Because it was morning, not long after opening, there were not many customers in the store.

The middle-aged shopkeeper was holding a feather duster, gently patting the clothes hanging in the store, dusting them off.

The shopkeeper turned back, looked at the old Taoist who had stepped into the store, travel-worn, yet giving him a faint, hair-raising feeling, and forced a smile:

“Is this Taoist priest here to buy clothes?”

The former Grand Preceptor of the Great Yu Kingdom, now the bewitching demonic Taoist, quietly stared at him, smiling and said: “I am looking for someone.”

The shopkeeper was stunned, and asked vigilantly: “Who are you looking for?”

The bewitching demonic Taoist’s two pupils suddenly turned into pitch-black 'Bewitching Eyes', his voice echoing like a mountain valley, layered upon layered, surging from all directions:

“I want to know the information of a few old acquaintances, oh, and also that Zhao Du'an, this National Preceptor is very interested in him.”

The middle-aged man, who was the liaison of the Kuangfu Society branch, had a blank face, as if his soul had been taken away.

He mechanically walked to the store door, closed the door, and closed for the day.

……

……

Hearing this, everyone looked over. Xu Zhenguan was not surprised, and nodded:

“Well asked. Some of you ministers are probably still unclear. Mo Chou, please explain.”

Beside him, Mo Zhaorong, who was acting as a “recorder,” softly opened her mouth:

“This demonic Taoist claims to have no name or surname, so we now refer to him as 'Bewitchment'. The essence of his demonic arts lies in the word 'Bewitchment', as he is extremely skilled at bewitching people's hearts.

He has two main abilities. One is that when he converses with people, he can manipulate their thoughts and ideas for his own use. However, this ability is most effective on ordinary people. The higher one's cultivation and martial strength, the more difficult it becomes.

Moreover, this bewitchment has a time limit. If a person is bewitched and not continuously bewitched, the spell will wear off in about three days, and the person will regain consciousness on their own.”

Through conversation, he can control people to do his bidding?

An ancient version of a hypnosis master… Zhao Du'an was secretly shocked.

This kind of technique is simply impossible to defend against. Once out of control, if any official is bewitched, wouldn't they become a spy?

Well, although it's short-term… it's still deadly.

Mo Chou continued:

“However, this kind of verbal bewitchment can still be guarded against, and outsiders can more or less detect changes in the bewitched person. The truly powerful one is the latter, 'Dream Entry'.”

“Dream Entry?”

“That's right,” Mo Chou glanced at Zhao Du'an and said:

“After making certain arrangements, as long as he gets close enough to the target, he can silently enter the target's dream and cause the target to recall the deepest and most important memories in their heart… and devour the target's dream.”

Zhao Du'an was stunned: “Devour? What do you mean?”

Mo Chou sighed and said:

“After this demonic Taoist 'died', His Majesty also carefully studied his lineage's techniques and discovered that his method of increasing cultivation is more like drawing on people's 'desires'. Everyone has desires, but they restrain and suppress them when they are awake, knowing what they can and cannot do.

But in dreams, the defenses of the heart will decrease. This demonic Taoist will induce people to dream and recall the various events of their lives.

Those memories contain people's 'seven emotions and six desires', and he will devour and erode these desires to strengthen himself.

And the result of this act is the devouring of dreams… well, or to put it more accurately, the devouring of people's memories.”

It can still be like this… Wait, is this really a legitimate technique?

The more I listen, the more bizarre it becomes… That's right, this person is probably just an evil Taoist priest, right? That's why he's called a “demonic Taoist”… Did the old emperor find an evil Taoist priest to be the National Preceptor? Amazing…

Zhao Du'an opened his mouth, swallowed his saliva, and tentatively asked: “Is there no way to counteract it?”

He was a little worried, how could one resist being attacked while sleeping?

Mo Chou looked at him again and slowly said:

“Yes, the simplest way is to have a much stronger cultivation than him. Other than that, if your will is strong enough, you can also try to forcibly wake up from the dream, but the price is that a part of your memory will be swallowed, causing you to forget some things…

Oh, there is also a way, which is that your spirit strength or memory is larger than his.

Well, in theory, the amount of dream he can devour at one time is limited. As long as you have enough memories and your dream is big enough, you can stuff him to death.”

When she said the last sentence, she had a bit of teasing and mocking in her tone.

How can a young man in his twenties, with not a complicated life experience, compare the total amount of accumulated memories with a demonic Taoist who has lived for who knows how many years, has rich life experience, and has devoured who knows how many dreams and memories of others?

Therefore, the last method given by Mo Chou was purely teasing him.

The others didn't take it seriously at all, after all, the words “in theory” basically eliminated the possibility.

However, Zhao Du'an didn't say anything, but was a little absent-minded.

Being a person in two lifetimes, Zhao Du'an in his previous life, as a modern person, how much information did he receive in decades of life?

In the era of information explosion, the amount of bloated and huge memories he received from the Internet and in reality… is unimaginable for ancient people.

It is difficult for ancient people to leave the county where they are located, and they spend their entire lives turning around in one place, but how many landscapes has he seen?

Ancient people dare to say that they are erudite after reading five carts of bamboo slips, Zhao Du'an can obtain more content than this quantity level by watching a few short videos casually.

Well, don't worry about whether it's rubbish or not, just tell me if there's a lot…

So, if it is said:

As long as there are enough memories and the dream is big enough, you can stuff him to death… then myself… it seems…

It's really possible…

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ps: A bit of writer's block, set a flag to write more tomorrow, shamelessly asking for monthly tickets~