Chapter 58: Alchemist
To be honest, the next half a quarter of an hour was probably the most terrifying and frightening half a quarter of an hour in King Yin’s life. He sat there motionless, his old face turning red, then white, then white, then green, all colorful and very pretty. All the civil and military officials in the court held their breath, waiting for what the eloquent prince would say. Although they saw that Prince Yin's face looked a little strange, no one dared to say anything - everyone thought that the prince was holding his breath and practicing qigong!
So, King Yin stood there in front of everyone in silence for a full half a minute, and then several ministers realized belatedly that something was wrong. Finally, it was the experienced chief eunuch Li Zaifang who quickly stepped forward to save the situation. He first loudly scolded the prince for being disrespectful and talking nonsense in front of the palace, and asked him to leave immediately to reflect. Then he randomly picked a eunuch who knew how to read the expression and asked a question for His Royal Highness Prince Yin to "divine fortune".
It should be said that Prince Yin was quite capable since he dared to show off his magical powers in front of the emperor and his ministers. It is very likely that he had studied the charlatan's face-reading and fortune-telling techniques, and had also made a relatively accurate study of the psychological conditions of ministers and eunuchs (probably because he had made a mistake with the Crown Prince), so he was able to accurately understand the thoughts of everyone present and say exactly what everyone wanted to hear.
Whether the divination is correct or not is not important, but saying the right thing at the right time is a great ability. The methods used by the Jianghu sorcerers to spy on people's hearts are profound and subtle, and are particularly effective on nobles who have lived in the deep palace for a long time and have little experience. From Li Shaojun and Luan Da of Emperor Xiaowu to Lin Lingsu of Emperor Daojun, most of them took the path of seeking favor by misplacement. Today, King Yin is eloquent and has the demeanor of an ancient alchemist; it's a pity that the first impression is quite important. No matter how profound and subtle the words after divination are, everyone will always think of King Yin who was choked and his eyes turned white a quarter of an hour ago, so there is certainly no question of admiration and awe.
A good plan was messed up, and the rage in Prince Yin's heart can be imagined; although it was inconvenient for him to get angry, he still glared at the prince fiercely when no one was paying attention. Unfortunately, the prince returned to his usual silent and submissive attitude, and was unable to vent his hatred.
·
Prince Yin deliberately showed off this skill during the audience, of course he had other intentions. Within a few days, Mu Qi heard a rumor from the eldest son of Duke Xu that Prince Yin had brought with him a Taoist priest named "Shan Yunzi" when he came to the capital. They not only ate and drank together, but were also very close. Now, the prince often brought this priest to various banquets held in the capital, and he praised him strongly at the banquets and asked the Taoist priest to show his "magic powers".
Facts have proved that the alchemist who was specially brought to the capital by Prince Yin did have such a skill. After deliberately getting rid of the nightmare Waterloo in the career of the Prince of Mu, he was really at ease and comfortable at banquets of all sizes. He was proficient in physiognomy, divination, fortune-telling and feng shui. He easily captured the hearts of all the dignitaries at the gathering. Not only the old ministers who did not know the truth were greatly attracted to him, but even the civil servants who had some insights were quite moved, and were even willing to take the initiative to humble themselves and have a chat with this "Chan Yunzi".
The art of face reading is probably just a crude psychology circulated among the people; but the ability of this Can Yunzi seems to be far more than that, and even those who have experienced it are quite impressed.
The eldest son of Duke Xu described it vividly:
"Seventh Brother, this guy has real kung fu skills! I saw him eat a fish head with my own eyes!"
Mu Qi raised his eyelids: "Fish head? I can eat fish head too, and stewed with tofu is the best. If you think this is real skill, I can teach you."
The eldest son of Duke Xu was speechless for a moment: "It's not a stewed fish head, it's a raw fish head! The white fish head just brought from the pond, the bones are very hard. But this man didn't change his expression, grabbed the fish head and dipped it in the seasoning, and swallowed the raw fish head like a dog chewing a bone in a short while! He said that this is hard qigong, and it depends on holding it in one breath to swallow it without getting hurt. In the future, if you practice it to a very deep level, you can be invulnerable to swords and guns, and become an immortal on the spot."
Mu Qi finally sat up straight, feeling inexplicably surprised. Of course, he didn't believe in the nonsense about becoming an immortal instantly. If eating fish heads as a cruel thing could make one immortal, then there must be at least 100,000 x-audio x-handers among the immortals, and the first one to achieve the Golden Immortal should be Lao Ba. However, unlike the ordinary food broadcasts, eating fish heads does require some technical skills. After all, fish heads are sharp and fragile, which can easily scratch the mucous membrane; people who practice this method need to use chopsticks to stimulate the throat and induce vomiting for a long time, artificially creating hyperplastic tissue in the esophagus to barely resist the scratches of fish bones.
This is of course a very painful thing. Even the folk dictionaries that record this matter repeatedly lamented that it was truly a bitter meal. Even the penniless sorcerers rarely practiced it. How could a sorcerer who was supported by Prince Yin's palace and held a very high status be proficient in such terrible skills?
Mu Qi looked up at the eldest son of Duke Xu:
"Did the Taoist priest just demonstrate eating a fish head? Didn't he say anything else?"
The eldest son of Duke Xu let out an "ah" and was a little embarrassed. The reason why Shen Yunzi was so widely praised was of course not only because of his ruthless work, but also because of his ability to prescribe the right medicine. There were mostly elderly people at the banquet, so he would talk about the secret method of using the soul to maintain health and prolong life; there were mostly young people at the banquet, so he would talk about the tricks of adjusting feng shui to get promoted and make money, and occasionally he would talk about some obscene techniques of sex - such as the bored sons of nobles like the eldest son of Duke Xu, what they heard were of course more private and more unpresentable things - such things could be talked about after drinking, so how could he have the nerve to talk about them now?
Mu Qi roughly guessed the routine, so he just rolled his eyes and shrank back into the recliner. Hearing is not as good as seeing. In fact, he also wanted to go to the scene where this Chan Yunzi was giving a lecture and try to figure out the alchemist's background. But unfortunately, ever since that incident in front of the emperor, anyone with a bit of common sense in the court would never put Mu Qi and Prince Yin together as these two unstable factors, and would rather be rude than invite the Prince of Mu to join them. So up to now, a situation has emerged in the capital where the king does not meet the king - the prince of Duke Mu and Prince Yin each occupy a high position, but they avoid each other and have never seen each other again.
…but it doesn’t matter. Mu Qi shrank back in the recliner again: If this "Shan Yunzi" was really a quack, then even if he didn't try to meet him, he would definitely come after everything was prepared. In folk terms, his previous approach was called "challenging the stage", which was to embarrass them in public; and after being challenged by others, they would either go far away and never cause trouble again, or they would have to fight head-on and knock the troublemaker down. Of course, King Yin would not give up the capital, so they would have to come and challenge him. All Mu Qi has to do is wait patiently.
Waiting patiently certainly does not mean doing nothing. In fact, in the past few days, Mu Qi has been thinking about the same question:
What is the origin of this alchemist?
·
It is said that if I do not come to the mountain, the mountain will come to me. Although Mu Qi had never met this Can Yunzi, he had heard a lot of reports about him from various news channels. Most of these observations are fragmentary and even conflicting. But after careful analysis, Mu Qi still discovered some key points - for example, the rhetoric and techniques of this Can Yunzi were highly consistent with the routines that King Yin had demonstrated before, except that they were more mature and sophisticated; if there was reasonable suspicion, the mastermind behind King Yin's entry into the capital must be this strange alchemist of unknown origin. The theory promoted by this alchemist was exactly the same as that of King Yin. Although he tried his best to use Taoist terms such as "inner elixir" and "primordial spirit", the ultimate strange smell of the priest Dawang Lama of the Shaolin Temple's Wudang Mountain Office could not be concealed no matter what.
Mu Qi was not well versed in the evolution of religion, but he always felt that there was some strange sense of déjà vu in the words and sentences used by this evil Taoist. However, this sense of déjà vu was ultimately indescribable, and he could only keep the doubts in his heart.
Until that evening, Zhang Taiyue, who had already joined the Hanlin Academy, brought back the revised "History of Yuan Dynasty" as usual (yes, every failure makes a wise man, and now the newcomers who were ordered to urgently compile the History of Yuan Dynasty knew to let the prince take a look first). Mu Qi took a quick look at the history of the late Yuan Dynasty, and suddenly realized something, and almost slammed the table:
[Damn it, this sorcerer is following the teachings of the Ming Cult!] 】
·
Master Feixuan's right hand trembled slightly, and two drops of warm tea dripped onto his trouser leg. He calmly put down the teacup and casually shook his sleeves to cover his wet pants.
Through the heavy veil in front of the imperial couch, no one could see the emperor's momentary shock. Under the imperial couch, a thin Taoist priest who was specially granted a seat on the ground was practicing the cross-legged meditation posture with his five hearts facing the sky, and explained to the emperor in detail the quiet exercise of cultivating the primordial spirit; while Prince Yin knelt beside him, listening attentively, with great respect.
That’s right, after Prince Yin worked hard to build momentum, the emperor, who was in a period of emptiness, felt lonely for a while, and finally summoned the immortal master who had been repeatedly recommended by his uncle. In fact, Prince Yin’s original plan was to make a splash at the beginning of the audience and use his power to push Shan Yunzi in front of the emperor. Unfortunately, he was defeated before he could even accomplish his mission. After his golden body was shattered by the magical move of the Prince of Mu, Prince Yin's plans almost all fell through. He had to endure the humiliation and go around the capital to promote his products. However, the final effect was inevitably much worse.
Based on this alone, he and that mad dog are sworn enemies!
However, Can Yunzi's eloquence is excellent after all. Although he had such a terrible debuff when they first met, the old alchemist patiently and eloquently told the emperor his story, and in just a few words he aroused the emperor's greed for immortality. The right medicine was prescribed and the question and answer session became quite interesting.
However, although I am interested, once the words "Mingjiao" are involved...
Master Feixuan raised his eyebrows slightly.
[The duality of good and evil, viewing the physical body as a prison of darkness, and the pure and clean soul as the essence of light - although it was disguised a bit with the use of the primordial spirit or something, this is definitely the Ming Cult, but the Ming Cult's doctrine has been greatly distorted... Hiss, Zhu Yuanzhang's descendants actually found a Ming Cult alchemist, isn't this a bit too subtle? 】
It was indeed a bit too subtle, so subtle that Master Fei Xuan's breathing became disordered. Because of deliberate concealment and distortion, for hundreds of years since Emperor Gaozu, few people have been able to discover the vague connection between the imperial court and the Ming Cult, let alone pay attention to the past events at the beginning of Emperor Gaozu's career (otherwise the "thief monk" and so on could not have been covered up for so long); perhaps only emperors of all dynasties could get a glimpse of the truth from internal records.
Originally, I thought that after many changes in the world, the Ming Cult gradually declined, and this past event could have been erased by time; but now it seems that it is hard to say whether others know about it, and this matter cannot be hidden from the exiled immortal after all.
[From the rediscovery of Da'an's history in the 1970s, it can be seen that Emperor Gaozu Zhu Yuanzhang's starting point was absolutely related to the Ming Cult and the White Lotus Cult. Even the first original share might have been invested by brothers in the cult. Many ancient books call Zhu Yuanzhang "the wise king" and "the king of teaching", which actually has its origins. 】
Below this section of heart sounds, countless strange noises flashed by my ears. It was obvious that the banished immortal had activated some kind of "search" function of the heavenly book and was looking for information one by one. These materials are either profound or obscure, and it is difficult to fully understand them by just skimming through them. But the emperor's expression was calm, and he just gently made a Chongdou Zhenxin hand gesture with his right hand - compared with later researchers who watched from the sidelines, the emperor always had more first-hand information. Feixuan Zhenjun and Wanshou Emperor understood clearly that Emperor Gaozu was more than just "inseparable" from the Ming Cult. The ties between them are so heavy that no matter how hard we try to erase them, no traces can be removed.
In fact, when Emperor Gaozu ascended the throne and established the country's name, the influence of the Ming Cult had already surfaced; Emperor Gaozu was once granted the title of King of Wu, and according to the practice since the Han and Tang dynasties, the name of the new dynasty should be "Wu"; but the name King of Wu was too common after all, and he came from Han Liner, a Red Turban Army member whom Zhu Yuanzhang tried hard to forget, so it was really not appropriate. So they had to settle for the next best thing and planned to find the ancestral home of Emperor Gaozu and use that as the name; but Emperor Gaozu's ancestral home happened to be in the Song Dynasty during the Spring and Autumn Period, so according to convention, he should be called "Song", which would be the safest choice. But when it comes to naming a country, it is better to buy a new one than an old one. He, Zhao Da, is a Song, and I, Zhu Chongba, am also a Song. When the history books are torn apart in the future, who will be the orthodox one?
——Besides, Han Liner’s regime is also “Song”!
Therefore, when the dispute was still going on, the name of the country "Da Ming" quietly surfaced and was agreed upon by almost everyone. It was not until a civil servant accidentally discovered that the reign title of Liu Jun, Emperor Xiaowu of the Liu Song Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties, was also called "Daming".
——You guys in the Song Dynasty are not done yet, right? How about changing Emperor Gao's name to Han Chongba, Zhao Chongba or Liu Chongba, and everyone can form a group called F4 of the Song Dynasty and make their debut? !
In this sinister world where the Song Dynasty was hidden everywhere, Zhu Yuanzhang, who never wanted to become the Song Dynasty, struggled hard and finally abandoned all previous conventions. He took the name of "Anguo Jiedushi" that he once held and named the country "Da'an".
However, although the "Great Ming" failed at the last minute, its ability to overcome all objections and survive to the end basically shows the weight of the Ming Cult and the White Lotus Cult. Of course, trivial matters from hundreds of years ago don’t count, but what does a Mingjiao follower want to do by trying every means to cling to the royal family and reach the emperor’s presence?
Master Feixuan and Emperor Wanshou narrowed their eyes.
Just at this moment, the Heavenly Book began to mutter again:
[Perhaps because of this, the remaining Ming Cult has always had mixed feelings towards Zhu Yuanzhang and his dynasty. After Emperor Gaozu ascended the throne, he basically completely abandoned the ideas of the Ming Cult, and even called the Red Turban Army "demons", completely transforming such a large country into a Confucian agricultural empire that was no different from the orthodox empire of past dynasties. No matter how you look at it, this was a real case of crossing the river and destroying the bridge, which could not but arouse deep and lasting resentment among the Ming Cult believers. But on the other hand, Emperor Gaozu's achievements were too brilliant, even beyond the wildest imagination at the beginning of the establishment of the Ming Cult. Therefore, the believers unconsciously feared Emperor Gaozu and were wary of the Zhu royal family, and regarded them as the incarnation of gods, the great Ming King - in the final analysis, they only dared to rebel on their knees.
But to be honest, although Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed not very kind, it would be a bit crazy if he established the country according to the folk religion. According to the doctrines of the time, Zhu was the incarnation of the Ming King and could be called the Heavenly King, and Zhu Laosi was the incarnation of Zhenwu and could be called the Heavenly Brother. Although the Heavenly King and his brother lived in harmony, it eventually came to the point where the Heavenly Brother killed his nephew. So, the same thing applies: we in Da'an also have our own Hong Tianwang, and we in Da'an also have our own God Worshipping Society. The world is a huge Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the rate of plagiarism in history is too high. 】
The Heavenly Book continued to complain, but the emperor no longer cared. He sat up straight abruptly, a gleam of light suddenly flashed in his eyes, and he looked straight at the old alchemist with wrinkles on his face.
There might be some trivial past between Emperor Gaozu and the Ming Cult, such as the affair of seducing and then abandoning, or the deep resentment later only because their initial encounter was so beautiful, but to the current emperor, all this is not important at all. There were only two earth-shattering words that could make him react quickly:
"rebel"!
You mean rebelling on your knees? You are not allowed to rebel on your knees, you are not even allowed to think about it! This is the Achilles' heel of imperial power, and anyone who touches it will be killed; even if there is only a little suspicion, there will definitely be thundering suppression!
The remaining thirst for knowledge and curiosity in Zhenjun's heart disappeared in an instant, and all that remained was a fierce and ferocious murderous intent. He stared at the Taoist priest from a distance and interrupted him directly:
"You've been talking about meditation for so long, but I wonder what effect it will have if you practice it to a deeper level?"
After saying this, the emperor had already framed the crime in his mind. No matter what effect this Can Yunzi confessed, he would let this person perform it on the spot; if there was anything wrong, he would immediately put this Mingjiao alchemist of unknown origin in prison for the crime of deceiving the emperor and torture him to get all the information he needed. Even if this suspected traitor can be dealt with without any problems, the worst that can happen is that the True Lord can immediately summon the Prince of Duke Mu into the palace and use this unmatched trump card!
Can Yunzi's expression remained unchanged, he just bowed deeply:
"To reply to your majesty, this meditation has no other benefits. It only enables one to communicate with the gods when one practices it to a deep level. There will often be mysterious sounds of the heart that linger in the ears."
Just as he finished speaking, there was a clanging sound and the emperor stood up suddenly, knocking over the teacup.
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