Chapter 782 The Imperial Advisor is Stunningly Beautiful (9)

He Gonggong accepted the order and led the soldiers to the side hall.

The Emperor handed the letter to Ning Yan. "Grand Preceptor, take a look. The letter states that by the time the snow stopped, a total of seventy-three people had died in Wuzhou. However, most of them died of natural causes. Only twenty-nine people died of freezing because they ignored the government's advice and insisted on going out in the heavy snow."

Several houses collapsed, but all were uninhabited. Now that the snow has stopped, and with proper follow-up relief efforts, the people of the north should be able to weather this storm.

The prime minister led the way in flattering the emperor, and a group of people below followed suit.

The Emperor was truly delighted.

After Ning Yan read the letter carefully, she returned it to Eunuch He. The local officials handled the snow disaster well.

While the Emperor was pleased, he did not forget that the greatest credit for this matter belonged to the Imperial Advisor. He immediately raised his wine cup to toast the Imperial Advisor, saying, "Imperial Advisor, the people of the two northern prefectures were able to safely overcome the snow disaster thanks to your prediction. This cup is to you."

Ning Yan raised her cup. "The reason why the North successfully resisted the snow disaster is because His Majesty trusts Zixu. This cup should be toasted to His Majesty."

The ministers all echoed his sentiments, which pleased the emperor even more. After drinking three cups with the ministers, the banquet officially began.

Ning Yan sat at the head of the table, eating comfortably, while the Emperor's attention was almost entirely focused on her.

The Empress Dowager knew her son's temperament. Although she was extremely eager for him to get married, she only mentioned it casually in daily life. If her son didn't listen, she would try again next time. At such important banquets, the Empress Dowager would never spoil her son's mood.

Well, mainly, she has her eye on the Imperial Advisor.

Who can blame them when the Imperial Advisor is so capable?

"Someone, bring this plate of rain-soaked banana leaves over to the Imperial Advisor to have a taste."

She'd been staring at it for a while; the Imperial Advisor seemed to have a sweet tooth.

Rain-soaked banana leaves are a sweet dish.

The maidservant quickly obeyed and delivered the dishes.

At palace banquets, the dishes are served in a set order: once everyone is almost finished eating, the dishes are cleared away, and then new dishes are served.

After all, there's only one small table in front of everyone at the banquet, with a maximum of six dishes, so the dishes in front of everyone are different.

Ning Yan turned her head and met the Empress Dowager's ingratiating expression.

"Thank you for the food, Your Majesty." After thinking about it, the Empress Dowager was really a good person. In her previous life, even when the Emperor went mad, she would only advise her son and never tripped up the original owner of this body.

Later, perhaps out of sadness and grief, she died before the country was destroyed.

Such a kind old lady, she should live a few more days.

"Zixu has a good medicine here. Would Your Majesty like to try it?"

A palace maid serving the Empress Dowager: Imperial Preceptor, do you want to hear what you're saying? The Empress Dowager gave you food, and you're making her take medicine?

But the Empress Dowager's reaction surprised them. "Try it! Try it now! The elixir in the Imperial Preceptor's hand must be extremely delicious!"

Your Majesty: Your Majesty, would you like to hear what you are saying?

Turning his head, he said, "Grand Preceptor, you only give medicine to the Empress Dowager, what about me? I want some too."

The Imperial Advisor seems to have obtained a lot of good medicine from the Imperial Hospital a couple of days ago. I guess this is the finished product. No matter what kind of medicine it is, he has to taste it.

Empress Dowager: ...Don't interrupt. Wait until the Imperial Advisor gives me the medicine before you ask for it.

Ning Yan glanced at the Emperor. "My Imperial Preceptor's medicine is very precious. What does Your Majesty intend to offer in exchange?"

Does Your Majesty mean to say, "Shall I replace you?"

But he was afraid of getting beaten up.

"Never mind, I was just joking with the Emperor."

After saying that, he took out two small porcelain bottles from his body, and threw the pink one to the Empress Dowager first. "This is a longevity pill that can extend one's life by twenty years. I have only made two of them. Your Majesty will feel the change after taking them."

The Empress Dowager clutched the small bottle tightly in her hand: ...My God, just one dish, and she lived for another twenty years. Grand Preceptor, you are my god!

Afraid of losing the medicine, she quickly opened the bottle and popped the medicine into her mouth. The strong medicinal aroma belatedly escaped through her nasal cavity.

Seeing how much she trusted her, Ning Yan took the medicine without even testing it, and then threw the second jade bottle to the Empress Dowager, saying, "This beauty pill won't make you stay young forever, but it will definitely make you look ten years younger! Take it after washing your face tonight, and you'll see the difference first thing tomorrow morning."

Empress Dowager: ...

The emperor was anxious. He thought the second bottle was for him, but it turned out that it had been given to the empress dowager. What about him?

"Imperial Preceptor, what about mine?"

Ning Yan conjured another small bottle out of thin air. "Eat this when you go back to cultivate. If you're lucky, it should help the Emperor get what he wants."

The Emperor was satisfied—no, extremely satisfied.

I carefully put the porcelain away before continuing to watch the performance.

But many ministers witnessed the scene where the Grand Preceptor's hand suddenly appeared out of thin air!

Those who were interested in living started using their brains.

It's a pity that the Imperial Advisor lives in the palace; otherwise, they would have rushed to his residence overnight with gifts to curry favor with him.

Just then, the next performance finished, and the Minister of War suddenly stood up. "Your Excellency, we have heard that you can fly on a sword. We are very curious. May we ask Your Excellency to demonstrate?"

"Is Your Excellency only curious about the art of sword control, or about all the techniques my Imperial Preceptor knows?"

The Minister of War frankly admitted, "Everyone is curious."

However, I am not curious for the sake of curiosity, but because I have heard that the Imperial Preceptor can fly to Dali on his sword and return in less than a quarter of an hour. If this were used on the battlefield, how could my Canglan Kingdom not unify the other nations?

"Lord Yang! I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you."

We cultivators cannot deal with ordinary people.

"The karmic consequences of killing are too numerous, and will hinder my master's path to immortality!"

Upon hearing this, some nodded, some secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and others still did not believe in the Grand Preceptor's abilities, thinking that she was just making excuses.

Sure enough, someone spoke up, "That's a real pity, we'll never get to witness the Imperial Preceptor's abilities."

Ning Yan thought to herself: No matter when, there will always be people who are different from others.

And watch, let me show you something big.

"That's not necessarily true. Today is New Year's Eve, and tomorrow is His Majesty's birthday. I have prepared a birthday gift for His Majesty. If His Majesty does not mind presenting this gift in advance, I can give a performance now."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Yan immediately said impatiently, "The Imperial Advisor has actually prepared a birthday gift for me? I want to see it now!"

"Then please, Your Majesty and Empress Dowager, move to the Imperial Garden."

So everyone in the palace went to the Imperial Garden.

Today's palace banquet was decorated with many green plants and flowers, all of which were cultivated in greenhouses.

At this time, apart from the white and red plum blossoms in the plum garden, which were still blooming in the Imperial Garden, all other flowers had long since withered.

Ning Yan invited the Emperor and Empress Dowager to sit in the pavilion where a warm stove had been prepared in advance, and performed a Taoist salute: "Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven, who holds the power to command the world and possesses all the wealth of the world. All the good things in the world belong to Your Majesty, so it is not surprising for me to present any gift. Zi Xu has chosen a special gift for Your Majesty."

I hope Your Majesty will not find it offensive.