Chapter 281 Xu Zhenguan: How do you explain this?
About a quarter of an hour later.
After washing himself clean and dressing himself, Zhao Duan, carrying the "Tai'a Sword", walked through the noon corridor under the guidance of a beautiful palace lady and came to the "dining hall" of the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
This is not Zhao Duan's first arrival.
A few months ago, on the third day of his journey through time, he entered here and underwent a life-and-death interrogation.
That was also his first time dining with the empress.
Several months later, at noon in autumn, he came to this door again, about to face another major interrogation.
My mood was uncontrollably tense.
Zhao Duan tried his best to get rid of his complicated thoughts and put himself into the alert state of "big secret".
He knew that if he handled this conversation between the emperor and his subjects incorrectly, it would be very likely that everything he had accumulated during this period would have to start from scratch.
"Lord Zhao, His Majesty is just ahead, please come in."
The strange female official stopped walking, her skirt still swaying.
He turned sideways and gestured "please".
At noon in autumn, the dark clouds over the palace gradually dispersed, the sun shone through, and the air was still damp and slightly chilly.
Birds flew over the palaces from the direction of the Imperial Garden. Every ten or so meters along the long corridor, there stood a palace servant.
But at this moment, everyone had a blank expression and was unusually quiet.
"...Thank you." Zhao Duan took a deep breath and showed an impeccable smile. He took a step forward and once again entered the role of a loyal minister in seven steps.
After seven steps, he arrived at the door, bowing his head:
"Your Majesty, I, Zhao Duan, pay my respects to you."
After about two breaths of delay, a familiar cold voice came:
"Sit down and eat."
"Yes." Zhao Duan did not try to refuse. In official circles, understanding the elegant intentions by listening to music is a basic skill.
What one listens to is not the content of the words themselves, but the tone and context, in order to guess the emperor's true intention.
Zhao Duan had heard a saying in his previous life:
Language is an imperfect carrier of thought. Humans invented language and writing to express meaning.
But from the moment the words left the lips and teeth, most of their true meaning had faded and they became incomplete.
Therefore, in the long process of evolution, humans have learned to combine context, tone, expression... to understand the true intention of a sentence.
In fact, language and characters only account for a very small proportion in expressing meaning.
Thus, there is room for text and speech to be misunderstood.
Just like now, when the empress said eating, she really just meant eating, and it had no other meaning.
So Zhao Duan walked into the house, came to the table, sat down on the prepared round stool, picked up the chopsticks... After completing this smooth movement, he raised his head.
The round table was filled with delicious food.
Sitting directly opposite him was the elegant and graceful Xu Zhenguan.
She was the same as usual, wearing a white dress, her long black hair casually draped behind her, without any ornaments on her body, so she became the main subject.
Skin as white as jade, almost uncarved, natural facial features, thick eyelashes, a straight nose, and plump lips...
The jawline is soft and flows smoothly downward, forming a pink neck that suddenly converges at the neckline below.
The noble ladies in the capital dressed boldly, but the empress, as the ruler of a country, was extremely "conservative" in her dress.
While Zhao Duan was secretly looking at the empress, Xu Zhenguan was also looking at him.
There was no emotion in those slightly slender phoenix eyes, only those two pupils as black as ink, which were purely scary.
The king and his ministers' eyes met.
"Let's eat."
Xu Zhenguan said casually, and then started eating first.
From the outside, it seemed as if he was chewing slowly and elegantly, but he ate the rice at an unusually fast speed. In the blink of an eye, he had finished two meatballs.
No interrogation.
There wasn't even a single "question", but Zhao Duan felt even more stressed.
"I obey your order." He squeezed out these few words and simply lowered his head to eat with relish.
The lineage of the God of War has always had a big appetite. After his advancement, he fought hard and his stomach was already growling with hunger. Fortunately, the empress seemed to have given extra instructions to the royal kitchen to increase the amount of food today.
When two people finished their food, the palace maids would immediately remove the plates and bring new dishes to fill their bowls.
In the room, only the king and his minister were left, and they devoured everything in their path.
After a long while, when Zhao Duan felt full and his eating speed slowed down, the empress also put down her chopsticks, wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief, and said, "Let's go."
"yes."
One by one, the palace maids came forward, began to clean up the battlefield, and served tea after the meal.
Zhao Duan, feeling ready to die, drank a sip of tea to moisten his throat and confessed:
"Your Majesty, I actually..."
He felt that as a man, he should take the initiative and not wait for others to ask him anything.
However……
Xu Zhenguan raised her hand, interrupting his speech. Her pure white skirt fluttered as she stood up and walked out, leaving behind a sentence:
"Follow me."
…
…
Zhao Duan, whose spell was interrupted, had no choice but to keep up, standing side by side with the empress and one step behind her - so as to avoid letting the empress's plump and perky buttocks come into his field of vision.
The two of them walked through the long corridor, exited the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and on that autumn afternoon, crossed the huge square in front of the palace's Noon Gate, which was large enough to accommodate thousands of people fighting in formation.
Arrived outside the "Arsenal" where the imperial city was enshrined and guarded.
"Your Majesty." The old eunuch Hai Gonggong in a dragon robe had been waiting here for a long time. Upon seeing the two arrive, he bowed and saluted.
Xu Zhenguan's face was dignified. He said softly, "Yes," and said:
"No one is allowed to disturb you unless it's important."
"yes."
Xu Zhenguan stepped forward, crossed the threshold, and entered the building complex where many palace treasures were displayed.
...When Zhao Duan passed by Lao Hai, he winked at him frantically, asking:
What do you mean?
But Eunuch Hai pretended not to see anything and acted like an invisible person, which made him depressed and increasingly uneasy.
In the silent armory, the king and his minister walked one after another along the central axis, passing through one red wooden door inlaid with brass nails after another.
Arriving at the deepest part, we came to the small courtyard overgrown with weeds.
In the autumn, the weathered buildings before our eyes look particularly desolate and sad.
"Go upstairs."
Xu Zhenguan said softly and walked up the stairs.
Zhao Duan crossed the stone wall on the first floor that was engraved with the "God of War Picture" and climbed to the second floor with the empress.
The door was pushed open with a creaky sound. The layout of the second floor was almost the same as that of the first floor, the only difference was.
The stone wall in the room was much narrower and higher. It looked more like a "monument" than a "wall".
The sky was not bright, and the room seemed a little dark.
The surface of the second stone wall was gray and no patterns could be seen.
The king and his ministers stood side by side in front of the door, letting the dim light behind them cast into the room.
"Your Majesty...I actually..." Zhao Duan spoke for the second time.
"Sword." The empress interrupted him again, and the word came out of her red lips.
"……oh oh!"
Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment, then quickly untied the Taia sword from his waist and offered it with both hands:
"I dared to borrow the sword, which is truly a heinous crime, unforgivable, and extremely evil..."
Xu Zhenguan looked at him disdainfully, ignoring his nonsense, stretched out his white wrist, and casually grasped the hilt of the sword with his slender fingers.
With his other hand, he put his fingers together and gently brushed the black and red sword. The magical weapon, which was originally only wielded by Xu Zhenguan in the world, was as docile as a cat.
The surface has a ripple-like sheen.
A soft, joyful sound of sword could be heard faintly.
There seemed to be a hint of... flattery in the sound.
Zhao Duan had a strange expression on his face. He inexplicably felt that he and this sword were a perfect match. Facing the peerless beauty before him, he was just a dog-licker...
It's hard for brothers and dogs to be...
"Do you know how long it took me to transform from a mortal body into a god?" The beautiful woman stroked the sword and asked softly.
Zhao Duan shook his head frankly and did not try to be witty at this inappropriate time.
"Half a year." Xu Zhenguan gave the answer.
Zhao Duan admired:
"Your Majesty is gifted with extraordinary talents. He is truly a rare talent."
Crossing a realm in half a year is indeed very fast. Although Zhao Duan is also fast, it should be considered that he had been stuck in the low-level mortal realm for a long time before crossing over. The total time has reached several years.
Well, if we count from the time I traveled through time and practiced the Martial God Diagram, it’s been less than half a year…
Xu Zhenguan shook his head and said:
"This kind of talent is nothing. The path of cultivation becomes increasingly difficult as one progresses. Moreover, the time spent in the Mortal Realm is nothing more than tempering and accumulating experience... Therefore, within the royal family, what is truly valued is the ability to obtain some inheritance and recognition from the Emperor Taizu."
She was silent for a moment, then said meaningfully:
"Just like this Tai'a Sword, among the many offerings in the palace, there are only a few who can truly cultivate to the point of being able to wield this sword and gain its recognition...
Haha, this is a secret within the royal family. Even my uncles and princes don’t know the key to holding this sword.
I just thought that one needs to have a high enough level of cultivation, or the permission of the emperors of past dynasties..."
Zhao Duan's forehead was covered with sweat and he felt a little panicked.
Xu Zhenguan stared at him with her beautiful eyes, and said in a calm tone:
"Do you know when I was recognized by this sword?"
“…I don’t know.”
"That was long after I reached the Secular Realm. Before I ascended the throne, even during a coup, I could only barely grasp the sword, but I couldn't summon it at will."
Xu Zhenguan recalled with melancholy.
Then, he gently turned his wrist and placed the Taia sword on Zhao Duan's shoulder.
The empress's jade-like face was frosted, her beautiful eyes were filled with evil, she stared at him, her breath as sweet as orchid:
"How did you do that?"
…
Typos should be corrected first and then replaced
(End of this chapter)
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