Chapter 468 Return to Beijing
Xu Zhenguan felt like he was dreaming.
In her dream, she seemed to have returned to her childhood, walking alone in the empty and deserted palace.
She walked and walked, calling out "Father" and her brother's names everywhere, but no one answered.
Until dark, the little third princess finally sat down exhausted on a step, her arms wrapped around her knees and fell asleep. She vaguely heard someone calling "Your Majesty".
However, the heavy fatigue made her unable to respond. She tried hard to open her eyelids, like a drowning person struggling in the deep sea...
finally……
Xu Zhenguan broke through the water surface, suddenly opened his eyelids, and the scenery in front of him suddenly became clear.
She saw a dark temple ceiling covered with cobwebs. She seemed to be lying in a cold place, with a bloody smell lingering in her nose and a faint rustling sound of wind in her ears.
"Where am I..."
Her consciousness was in a state of confusion, and she put in a lot of effort before finally piecing together her memories from the messy sea of knowledge.
The Fengshan Ceremony... Wu Xiankui starts a duel ahead of schedule... The leader of the Fashen Sect launches a surprise attack... He himself falls into the sea of clouds...
Then my memory was cut off and I seemed to fall into a coma.
"Not good..." Xu Zhenguan suddenly panicked. She sat up abruptly and tried to grab the Taia sword, but found nothing.
The movement was too big and pulled the wound, causing her brows to frown. Her sharp eyes swept around before she could see the surrounding situation clearly.
He found himself in a dilapidated temple of the earth god. The temple had been in disrepair for many years, and the windows and doors had been blocked with bamboo, leaving only a crack in the door, through which a beam of dim light came.
Xu Zhenguan lowered his head and found that his dragon robe was missing.
Instead, there was a loose men's gown. Her heart suddenly tightened. She pulled open the collar to take a look. When she caught a glimpse of the simple bandages on his body, she became extremely confused.
At this moment, footsteps were heard outside the temple. Xu Zhenguan vigilantly made sword gestures with his hands, and then saw the half-closed temple door being pushed open, and a familiar figure walked in.
Zhao Duan was carrying a bundle of dry branches on his back, holding two hares and three birds in his left hand, and holding the Taia sword in his right hand.
Stepping into the ruined temple, their eyes met, Zhao Duan's eyes lit up with joy. He threw the firewood and game on the ground, rushed forward a few steps, and said with concern:
"Your Majesty, are you awake?"
"Zhao Qing?" The vigilance in Xu Zhenguan's eyes quickly faded, and his tense body relaxed.
After confirming that only Zhao Duan was nearby, she said weakly:
"Where... am I? Where are the others?"
Zhao Duan was silent for a moment and wanted to speak when suddenly there was a crackling sound outside the temple. Big raindrops fell and hit the bamboo forest. The sound was small at first, but became dense in a few breaths.
The remaining light dimmed further, and Zhao Duan said, "Your Majesty, please wait a moment."
He turned around and closed the temple door
——During this period of time, he cut some bamboos and filled the places where the light was leaking into the temple. Coupled with the rain, it can be ensured that even if a fire is lit, the light will be blocked.
The sound of rain suddenly became quieter. Zhao Duan took out a flint and made a simple bonfire. When the orange-yellow flames illuminated the entire dilapidated temple, Xu Zhenguan, who was sitting sideways on the altar, felt his cold body warm up.
"Your Majesty, I don't know the exact location of this place. As for Eunuch Hai and others, I can't contact them now."
Zhao Duan looked at the empress. At this moment, the empress of Yu State sitting on the altar was like a goddess.
A female god who was unprecedentedly weak and fell to the earth.
He succinctly recounted how he heard Pei Niannu's words at the Fengshan Ceremony, which led him to make a bold association and venture up the mountain, where he happened to see the empress fall, thus initiating the process of teleportation.
Finally, he apologized:
"The situation was critical at the time. I couldn't guarantee Your Majesty would not be injured after falling off the cliff, and I was also worried about the enemy pursuing me. Therefore, I resorted to this desperate measure. Seeing that Your Majesty was seriously injured, I dared to treat your wounds. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."
Sitting on the altar, the empress, who looked like a goddess on earth, was stunned, as if she was digesting Zhao Duan's words.
Perhaps the matter was too serious, so she temporarily ignored the details of "healing".
"The God of Law... Mysterious Seal..."
In Xu Zhenguan's mind, he recalled the time when he was ambushed. He looked back hastily and caught a glimpse of the huge Buddhist image rising from the top of Luoshan Mountain. Disbelief welled up in his eyes.
She did not doubt Zhao Duan's guess, because she was extremely sure that the "God of Magic" who attacked her at that time did have the power of a "celestial being", at least at that moment.
"Xuan Yin is the God of Law? Or is it another incarnation of his outside?"
"He's actually practicing the 'Heavenly Way' with his clone? What does he want to do?"
"No wonder Xuan Yin has been secluded in Shenlong Temple for many years. It's not that he hasn't come out, but that his mind has been wandering outside, quietly controlling the Fashen Sect..."
"No wonder... when I banned Buddhism, Xuan Yin kept giving in. Could it be that he joined forces with the Eight Kings then? Was he unwilling to engage in conflict? Just for today?"
"No wonder……"
Xu Zhenguan sat on the altar, his expression shifting from gloomy to bright, as if covered in frost. All his emotions finally transformed into a chilling murderous intent: "Xuan Yin...Shenlong Temple...I have ultimately overlooked you."
Her hands clenched into fists beneath her sleeves, and the emotion in her eyes quickly turned from initial anger to worry.
She was certainly angry about being ambushed, but as the queen of a dynasty, she knew that anger could not solve the problem.
Almost subconsciously, she began to analyze the failure of the Fengshan ceremony and the aftermath of her disappearance.
After just a brief thought, the result in her mind made her face pale slightly:
"Prince Jing..."
Zhao Duan, who was standing by the fire, said calmly, "I'm afraid they've already rebelled."
While waiting for the Empress to wake up, Zhao Duan also made deductions in his mind. At this moment, he seemed unusually calm and his thinking was clear:
"It's not just Prince Jing. I suspect all eight princes have rebelled.
The Fengshan Ceremony had been in preparation for a long time. It is conceivable that this assassination must have been the product of a long-term conspiracy. How could Prince Jing alone have the bargaining chips to accomplish this?
Now that Your Majesty has failed in his Fengshan ceremony and his power has been weakened, this may be the perfect opportunity for them to cause chaos."
After a pause, he stared into the Empress's eyes and asked:
"Your Majesty, may I ask, were there two celestial beings on the mountain at that time?"
Xu Zhenguan gathered his thoughts, nodded heavily, and said through gritted teeth:
"The other one is Wu Xiankui..."
One person's plan is short, two people's plan is long. She did not hide anything and told him everything that happened on the top of the mountain.
Did Qingshan's Wuxiankui take action? That's right... Xuanyin's clone alone wouldn't be enough to succeed... When Duan Shuiliu got involved with Prince Jing and his son, I suspected something was wrong with Qingshan...
A martial arts competition in advance, what a peak in martial arts, but unexpectedly he is also a hypocritical person... Zhao Duan's thoughts were in turmoil, and his blood pressure soared when he heard it.
He took a deep breath and said in a deep voice:
"So, the possibility of the Eight Princes raising an army is 90%! Wu Xiankui, plus the Mysterious Seal, and the Death God Your Majesty mentioned... With such a large capital, it is definitely not just to disrupt the Fengshan Ceremony, it must be to kill Your Majesty!
In this situation, even if the Eight Princes don't all rebel, a few who are ready to make a move will surely cause chaos!"
At this moment, he felt a strong sense of relief. If Pei Niannu had not mentioned it at that time, he would have chosen to go up the mountain and decisively crushed the "teleportation jade" and escaped in time.
If even any link was missing, the empress, including himself and others, would have died in Luoshan.
Even if they were lucky enough to escape, the situation would still be extremely bad.
Without the suppression of the empress, the group was leaderless and surrounded by powerful enemies. Zhao Duan had no doubt that Prince Jing would take over the entire Jiancheng Road in a short time.
Together with several other vassal kings, the Yu Kingdom, which had enjoyed peace for a long time, was bound to fall into chaos that had not been seen in hundreds of years!
You know, the Xuanmen coup three years ago was just a "palace coup"!
There had been no war that affected the entire dynasty, but this time, it was very different.
Many heroes competed for supremacy and war broke out everywhere. They had hoped that the threat of the Eight Kings could be resolved peacefully with the "New Deal", but unexpectedly, they ended up taking the worst step.
Just one step away and everything will be lost!
But who could have imagined that there would be such a variable as the God of Law?
In the Temple of the Earth God, the flames flickered, and the sound of rain fell rustlingly in the bamboo forest. The king and his minister fell into a brief silence.
…
a long time.
Xu Zhenguan suddenly gritted his teeth, the flickering bonfire reflected in his beautiful eyes, and he made a move to stand up:
"If the speculation is true, I must set off immediately to take charge of the situation...ah..."
She didn't realize it while she was sitting, but as soon as she put her two slender legs on the ground and tried to stand up, her body went limp and she fell to the ground!
"Your Majesty, be careful!"
Zhao Duan stepped forward and supported the empress. Then, with both arms exerting force, he placed her back on the cold stone altar, his eyes filled with concern.
"Your Majesty's injuries..."
Xu Zhenguan was stunned at first, then a look of panic appeared on his face. He quickly closed his eyes and observed the situation inside his body.
After a moment, her already weak face became visibly paler again!
She knew that her injuries were serious, but after looking inside, she realized the severity of the injuries!
If she had only endured Xuan Yin's two palms, she would not have been seriously injured, but the key point was that she used all her strength at that time to fight with Wu Xiankui.
When being attacked, he hastily withdrew his strength, causing the internal energy to flow backwards. In addition, the Xuanyin had been accumulating power for a long time, so the timing of the sneak attack was perfect.
Also, the failure of "fengshan" caused the dragon energy to dissipate... Many factors combined, so that her injuries were much worse than expected!
Not only were the meridians in his body almost broken and his qi sea damaged, but what was even more fatal was that there was still a remnant of the cold and sinister "palm power" left by the mysterious seal in his body.
Like a poisonous snake, it kept moving around and destroying her organs.
Even without the dragon spirit, she is still not a "celestial being" after all!
At this moment, the empress tried to mobilize her energy to attack the "palm power", but not only did she fail, but it caused her blood to surge up, and suddenly she spurted out a mouthful of blood!
How could she, who was in the worldly realm, deal with the power of the celestial realm?
"His Majesty?!"
When Zhao Duan saw the empress spurting blood, his face changed drastically. He hurriedly grabbed her slender little hand and tried to transfer the qi to her to help stabilize the chaotic qi.
“No…it’s okay…”
Xu Zhenguan opened his eyes, shook his body, and subconsciously tried to take out the healing pill from an ancient jade bracelet on his wrist.
This jade bracelet was her storage magic tool, but she failed.
Xu Zhenguan was stunned for a moment before she smiled bitterly. She had forgotten that the jade bracelet on her body was a top-grade item of the royal family. There were many restrictions on it, and only she could open it. But in her current condition, she couldn't even open the jade bracelet.
He was injured so seriously!
Zhao Duan looked anxious, but he had almost used up all the pills he had, and his own divine energy was unable to contain the power running rampant in Zhenbao's body.
At the critical moment, he suddenly remembered that the two of them had tried to practice with the "Dragon Soul" in the palace.
He immediately jumped onto the stone altar and said seriously, "Your Majesty, my cultivation is not enough. I can only try to borrow the power of the dragon soul."
Both of them practiced the path of "Martial God" and their Qi energy was of the same origin.
Xu Zhenguan's breath was weak, but he understood what he meant and nodded: "Okay..."
Zhao Duan immediately recalled how the empress had given him the Qi machine, and followed suit, putting Zhenbao in a cross-legged position.
He also sat cross-legged behind her, imitating the posture of passing on martial arts skills in martial arts novels, pressing his palms on her jade back, and tried... and failed.
"Am I really too weak? It doesn't work through the clothes..." Zhao Duan took a deep breath and his eyes focused.
Xu Zhenguan, who was trying his best to endure the pain in his meridians, suddenly widened his eyes and felt a pair of hands reaching into his loose robe.
"How could you...?"
After saying these words, she belatedly remembered a key thing:
Since there are only the king and his subjects here, then the wounds and bandages on her body...
"Your Majesty, don't look back. I am... acting on the urgency of the situation."
A warm current flowed into her meridians from her back, and the energy that Zhao Duan had exhaled through the dragon soul seemed to have returned home.
When Xu Zhenguan also subconsciously adjusted her breathing, exhaling and breathing in to match Zhao Duan's rhythm, the disordered qi in her body gradually calmed down and the pain receded like a tide.
…
breathe……
breathe……
The rain fell outside the temple with a rustling sound.
After a while, Xu Zhenguan's pale and almost bloodless face finally regained some redness, but Zhao Duan still did not stop.
In the absence of medicine, the best medicine is to practice breathing exercises with the help of dragon soul.
It’s a pity that even though the empress fell, there was still a huge realm between the two sides, and her use of the dragon soul was only superficial, and it was completely unable to exert its true effect.
"I have now fallen to the lowest level in the world, and with the serious injuries, I am not even as good as an ordinary cultivator." Xu Zhenguan suddenly said self-deprecatingly.
In such a situation, talking about going out to "take charge of the situation" would be a joke.
If you don't have the ability to protect yourself and show up rashly, you will only end up dead.
Zhao Duan said calmly while crossing the air delivery machine:
"Your Majesty, if the Eighth Prince has rebelled, it won't be long before Prince Jing's troops begin searching the entire country for us.
Although I don't know the exact location, the teleportation orb has its limits. I have a hunch that we are still inside Jiancheng Road, and the rebels may be on their way to hunt us down.
I don’t know what the situation is like for Eunuch Hai and the other Fengshan team now. I wonder if they are also facing danger…”
Xu Zhenguan calmly analyzed:
“With Hai Chunlin leading the entire Imperial Palace’s experts, plus the strong men in the army, it won’t be that easy for anything to go wrong.
Even though Wu Xiankui is hypocritical, he still uses the excuse of a duel to trouble me. Even for the sake of Qingshan's reputation, he won't attack a Fengshan team that is far weaker than him. As for the 'God of Law'...
Oh, let's call him the 'God of Law'. Although I was attacked by him, I could see in a hurry that he was not a true 'god of heaven'.
Xuan Yin must have used a secret method to utilize the clone of the 'God of Law' to briefly enter the realm of heaven and man... but he is not a half-step heaven and man after all!
"Forcibly interfering in the fight between me and Wu Xiankui, and repeatedly attacking... will definitely backfire! Even if this clone is not destroyed, the injuries will definitely not be light!"
Zhao Duan seemed to be thinking:
"In that case, Eunuch Hai and the others are still safe."
Xu Zhenguan continued:
"But I can't join them. They're probably anxiously searching for me right now. Given Prince Jing's mindset, I'm afraid he'll deliberately let them go and keep an eye on them.
If they lure me out of the way, they'll attack me again. Although the Imperial Guards are numerous, if Prince Jing is determined to get rid of me, I'm afraid it will be difficult to resist with a large army surrounding me."
In other words, I can't go looking for Eunuch Hai... because I'll be walking into a trap... Zhao Duan nodded, agreeing with this judgment:
"Similarly, we cannot rashly contact local officials, or even the military headquarters, because they may have been infiltrated by the kings."
Xu Zhenguan nodded weakly, but his thoughts were very clear:
"We can only rest here for one night at most. We must set off tomorrow, avoiding everyone and returning to the capital as quickly as possible."
Return to Beijing!
Yes, under the current circumstances, the wisest decision is to return to Beijing.
As long as Zhenbao returned to the capital, she could, with her status as the emperor, draw upon the capital's richest dragon energy to regain some strength. Then, by seizing the throne and stabilizing the people's hearts, there would be hope for a comeback...
Zhao Duan's heart moved, and he said in a deep voice:
"Your Majesty can think of this, and the Eighth Prince can definitely think of it too."
Xu Zhenguan nodded and turned to look towards the capital. His face looked like warm jade in the firelight.
"Yes, the journey back to Beijing will not be peaceful."
…
Set a flag and force myself to write more words tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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