The First Lackey Under The Empress

Inside the tightly closed bedroom.

Zhao Du'an sat at the round table, feeling and observing the jade-like white leaf in his hand.

Identical to what he saw in the "dream," the leaf was small, with clearly discernible veins.

Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that it wasn't pure white, but rather "transparent," with cloud-like, dense white light plasma slowly flowing within the jade-like leaf.

"Ding!"

Zhao Du'an flicked his finger, and the leaf emitted a crisp, pleasant sound, accompanied by shimmering light ripples on the surface, which was extremely mystical.

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"The Bewitching True Man said that this thing could block a Soul Severing Strike… How did he manage to absorb it into his body back then?"

Zhao Du'an muttered.

In his mind, he once again recalled the treasury in the desolate mountain temple he witnessed when reading memories.

"That was the Bewitching True Man's treasury, right? There should be many treasures inside. It's a pity that in the memory, I only saw the approximate appearance of the temple and the surrounding mountains.

But with just these memory points, I can't find the location of the treasury. Otherwise, I would have made a huge profit."

Zhao Du'an felt a surge of envy as he recalled the dazzling array of treasures in the demon's memory.

Shaking his head and calming his distracting thoughts, Zhao Du'an attempted to spew Qi from his palm.

Then, this mysterious leaf actually began to "melt," slowly seeping into his palm.

At the same time, he also glimpsed in the mirror in the room that there were illusory white leaf veins on his glabella, which flashed and disappeared.

"It's absorbed into my body just like that?"

Zhao Du'an could sense that the leaf still existed in his body, and he should be able to force it out as long as he circulated his Qi.

"Phew, it seems that martial artists can use it too." What he was most worried about was that this thing could only be activated by sorcerers using "magic power."

However, no matter how he played with it next, he didn't find any further discoveries.

Suddenly, a thought flashed in his mind:

"Since this thing can be manifested in a dream, can I give it to the big boss to take a look?"

Without hesitation, Zhao Du'an immediately got up and sat cross-legged on the bed, trying to visualize the 'Six Chapters Scripture'.

… …

In a trance, he reappeared in the familiar sparse woods on the outskirts.

"Woo woo——"

The bleak wind blew through his hair, and the dilapidated temple in front of him was clearly visible.

Zhao Du'an didn't rush into the temple, but first raised his palm, trying to give the thought of 'manifestation'. After a slight delay, light plasma surged from his palm, slowly condensing into the appearance of a white jade leaf.

"It really works!" Zhao Du'an was delighted, and at the same time, he felt that this treasure was extraordinary.

Clenching his palm, Zhao Du'an walked towards the dilapidated temple familiarly, stepped on the cracked and dilapidated steps, and forcefully pushed open the half-hidden gate.

In the courtyard, the weeds were still desolate, and the overturned incense burner in the corner of the courtyard and the spider web under the eaves of the main hall seemed to be frozen in time.

"You're here." On the eaves, Pei Niannu, wearing a deep red wedding gown, her face covered with a dark golden mysterious mask, and a tasseled steelyard lying beside her, looked at him coldly: "Let's begin."

Zhao Du'an bowed, then cleared his throat and began to tell today's story.

The female sorcerer's small legs hanging under the eaves also swayed gently in her shoes.

He discovered that the person in the painting in the Six Chapters Scripture had no perception of time, which meant that even if Zhao Du'an visualized and entered again after a month, Pei Niannu would not notice anything.

This greatly alleviated his pain of being stuck writing.

When Zhao Du'an finished telling today's story, he said cautiously:

"Senior, this junior has a strange object and would like to ask senior to take a look and see if you know its origin."

He wasn't very confident. On the one hand, the female sorcerer in the wedding gown had a temper that fluctuated between hot and cold, and she was difficult to serve.

Secondly, the other party was a person from six hundred years ago after all, and the treasure collected by the Bewitching True Man might not be six hundred years old…

"Bring it… I'll take a look…" Pei Niannu said.

Zhao Du'an quickly held up the jade leaf, and the latter actually broke away from his palm and slowly floated into the air, held in Pei Niannu's hand.

At this moment, behind her mask, her originally lazy and indifferent gaze sharpened slightly, as if she was surprised, and she re-examined Zhao Du'an, saying:

"Great Luo Mountain Jade, exists in the sea of ​​mind, can nourish the soul and defend against the soul."

Perhaps because she was a "person in the painting," the female sorcerer did not speak fluently, but it was enough to convey the key information.

This female sorcerer really knows her stuff? Zhao Du'an was first delighted, and then caught the words "Great Luo Mountain Jade" and was stunned.

Great Luo Mountain is the legendary mountain where gods live, and it is also the "Xuandu" believed by sorcerers, which does not exist in the mortal world.

It is said that on Great Luo Mountain, the trees are all made of jade, with different colors, and even the night will emit colorful brilliance.

This statement is too mysterious and more like a myth, but in some special, sparsely populated places, jade-like plants do grow.

Therefore, the so-called "Great Luo Mountain Jade" in the Jianghu also refers to this type.

The female sorcerer's words gave clear information:

This thing is not a man-made town object at all, but a "natural treasure" grown in nature, warming the soul and resisting soul attacks… which coincides with what the Bewitching True Man said.

Zhao Du'an breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. What he was most worried about was that this thing belonged to the "evil god" faction and would leave hidden dangers.

But since it was a natural treasure, it didn't matter.

He was about to thank her when he heard the female sorcerer play with it for a moment and suddenly sigh: "Smoke locks the bottom of the lake, hides the Xuan Turtle Seal, this is the key."

Zhao Du'an suddenly raised his head, but saw the female sorcerer flick her wrist and throw the white jade leaf back, and the surrounding scenery faded and disappeared.

She seemed too lazy to pay attention to him anymore.

… …

In the room.

Zhao Du'an suddenly woke up, and the female sorcerer's last words still echoed in his mind.

He suddenly got up and rummaged through the bookshelf. Last time, he collected a large number of Emperor Taizu's notes, one of which mentioned the "Xuan Turtle Seal."

Soon, Zhao Du'an found the ancient book called 'Yingchuan Miscellany' and found that article in it.

The general content is that in the past, Emperor Taizu tried to find a town object called "Xuan Turtle Seal," but he never found its hiding place. When talking with his friends, he sighed in his cups, saying:

The ancient saying goes that treasures are occupied by those with virtue. I, with such great virtue, cannot obtain them, which shows that the ancients spoke like farting.

"What does Pei Niannu mean? The Xuan Turtle Seal is hidden in Smoke Lock Lake? This leaf is the key to obtaining the treasure?" Zhao Du'an's breathing became rapid.

He didn't expect to have such an unexpected surprise.

He didn't think the female sorcerer would lie to him for nothing, and with her status back then, it was not surprising that she had such information.

As for Smoke Lock Lake… he happened to know that it was located at the "Huting" where the imperial court chose to set up a market, at the junction of Linfeng and the Huai River.

Zhao Du'an put down the ancient book, clenched the radiant leaf, and remembered Zhen Bao's jest that asked him to go to Huting to participate in the opening of the market.

His expression was strange as he murmured, "Could this be fate?"

...

...

That day, news about the Grand Yu State Preceptor being executed and the Kuan Fu Society's rebel party branch being uprooted began to spread like wildfire in official circles.

The court officials were bewildered and astonished. Just the day before, they had received urgent notice to be cautious and vigilant.

As a result, the danger was eliminated in just one day. This, while surprising, made people look down on the rebel party even more.

In particular, Zhao Du'an's dismantling of the capital's branch caused a huge shift in the attitude of the capital officials towards the Kuan Fu Society.

After all, three branch leaders had died in succession in half a year, and now it had been completely wiped out. The message behind this was undoubtedly a positive signal.

Zhao Du'an's name once again became the center of attention, but the focus of people's attention was not on his merits, but on…

"Have you heard? During the early court session, Lord Zhao came out of His Majesty's bedroom. It is said that he was covered in scratches, his steps were unsteady, and his face was pale. When he left the palace, he had to lean on the palace walls."

"I also heard that there were bursts of screams from His Majesty's bedroom in the middle of the night…"

"From His Majesty?"

"How is that possible? Of course, it was Lord Zhao screaming…"

So, a group of officials tacitly raised their glasses during the banquet, with profound expressions, everything was understood without words:

"Youth is so good…"

In a place unknown to anyone, a prisoner quietly disappeared from the imperial prison, and the relevant records were sealed.

Wu Ling quietly escaped from the capital. In the suburbs, he used the emergency contact method he had mastered to make contact with the Kuan Fu Society, and then left urgently.

As for the disappearance of the young actor from the Eight Directions Opera House, the official statement was that he was killed by the rebel party's sorcerers.

Zhao Du'an's planned prisoner exchange had also quietly begun to be laid out, but in the eyes of most people, this was just an inside story known only to a small number of people.

For most people, they didn't know what happened at all. Only Wu Ling's "death" briefly became a topic of conversation for people after dinner, and by the way, it made some noble ladies feel sad for a while.

...

...

The temperature difference between day and night in the capital was getting bigger and bigger.

There were more and more people selling persimmons on the street.

On this morning, the Zhao family was bustling with activity early in the morning.

Zhao Du'an got up early as usual and practiced martial arts first.

When he returned to the central courtyard, soaked in sweat, he saw Zhao Pan'er standing akimbo in the courtyard, loudly directing the servants to dismantle the tower.

Today was "Frost's Descent." According to the customs of the Great Yu, every household would use tiles or earth to build a "tower" shape on the ground, and then light branches inside to burn the tiles until they were scalding hot and red.

Then it would be pushed down, and the sweet potatoes inside would be heated and cooked with the red-hot tiles and eaten.

It was called "Playing Sweet Potato Castle."

After that, these tiles would also be thrown to the entrance of the village, sending them out of the house.

It was called "Sending Sweet Potato Ghosts."

"Big Brother!"

Zhao Pan'er was wearing a thicker padded jacket today, her hair was scattered behind her head, and her slightly round cheeks rippled with a blush.

It seemed that she had been standing beside the fire tower for too long, and her entire watery skin was roasted red, with beads of sweat on the tip of her nose, like a human-shaped sweet potato.

She called out sweetly, and then pointed to the servants who were throwing a basket of sweet potatoes into the red-hot tiles, and said:

"It will definitely be cooked before you go to the outer city later. If you eat sweet potatoes, you won't be cold all winter."

Zhao Du'an smiled and raised his hand to tidy up the bangs in front of her forehead, and said with a smile:

"Then you guys eat more, Big Brother is not afraid of the cold."

At this moment, You Jinhua, who was also wrapped in a dark green padded jacket, greeted her stepson and daughter to eat.

The meals this morning were also very nourishing.

After Frost's Descent, winter was about to begin, and the weather had been getting colder recently.

"When will the troop withdrawal be? Will it be delayed?"

You Jinhua stood beside the table, twisting her body, personally serving porridge to her children.

"Don't worry, I'm a nominal military officer. I just need to make an appearance when the time comes. I don't need to participate in the front."

Zhao Du'an put on the official robe of the Commander of the Divine Machine Camp today, and a polished soft armor was placed on the ground.

According to the tradition of the Great Yu, Frost's Descent is the end of autumn, and local officers and soldiers have a "troop withdrawal" ceremony, and the Divine Machine Camp must participate.

And according to tradition, firearms must be fired into the sky, commonly known as "Fighting Frost's Descent," which means to drive away the gods who control frost between heaven and earth, to ensure that crops and all things are not invaded by frost.

Zhao Du'an, as a military officer, also needed to attend.

However, he doubted whether the gods could be driven away by cannons…

Well, I can find Sister Jin Jian to communicate with when I have time…

You Jinhua nodded, and then took out several invitation cards and handed them to him to look at:

"These were delivered again last night. Seeing that you were cultivating, I didn't disturb you."

In the late autumn season, there were more gatherings in the city. Scholars went hiking together, and military men organized autumn hunts. Zhao Du'an was now very popular in the capital, and various invitation cards flew in like snowflakes, and visitors came in droves every day.

However, most of them were stopped outside by the steward.

Only those who have been screened and have a certain status will be handed to You Jinhua, and then Zhao Du'an will look at them.

"Big brother, is there a literary meeting attended by Mr. Zhengyang? Recently, I heard from those female relatives that the literary world in the city is very lively." Zhao Pan asked curiously.

Zhao Du'an pursed his lips.

Mr. Zhengyang entered the city the day before yesterday. At that time, he was followed by hundreds of disciples. After staying in the city, he attracted all the scholars in the capital to visit him.

The inn where he lived was blocked to the point where water couldn't get through for a while.

As a result, the biggest topic in the city these days was the arrival of this first hermit of the Great Yu.

Zhao Du'an didn't go to visit, but he also sent people to keep an eye on him through various channels, and the result he got was four words:

"Those who come are not kind!"

Compared with the Zhengyang School, which caused a sensation after entering the city, there was another team that entered the city at almost the same time, but only caused great attention in a small range, which made him even more concerned.

However, it was not good to tell his family about these undercurrents in the upper class and make them worry.

Therefore, Zhao Du'an just smiled and vaguely perfunctorily passed it, and after eating, he put on his armor and prepared to leave the mansion, Zhao Pan stuffed him with two red-hot sweet potatoes.

...

On the streets of the capital, Zhao Du'an rode his horse in armor, feeling the warmth of the sweet potatoes in his arms.

Witnessing every household in the streets and alleys throwing tiles outside, the people "sending sweet potato ghosts", his expression gradually became serious, and he muttered:

"Sending ghosts? Heh, Eighth Prince is sending two ghosts to Zhen Bao's doorstep."