Chapter 531 Xu Zhenguan is offline, Zhao Duan returns to Beijing!
Inside the barbecue restaurant, the meat on the grill continued to burn, but the two people sitting opposite each other ignored it. They also lost interest in eating a midnight snack.
Zhao Duan felt it was very marvelous. This "Human World" was indeed very special. When he and the empress were both in a state of visualization, they could actually meet here. This was an extremely magical setting.
However, considering that Taizu of Dayu was infinitely close to the power of "human immortal" in the past, it is not surprising that he mastered some special methods.
What really makes the current situation delicate is that... for some unknown reason, he appears here as a "chapter".
No matter how imaginative Xu Zhenguan was, it was difficult for him to think of this level. Due to the inertia of thinking, he was regarded as the "guide" in the scroll.
"So... up to now, she probably hasn't encountered any 'guide'-like character in this painting...
Well, this is an 'open world'?
However, thinking about it the other way around, if Old Xu from six hundred years ago could draw the world at the time I traveled through, and according to Zhenbao, before her and me, the cultivators of the royal family in all generations could not see this city even if they visualized the 'human world'...
So, is there a possibility... that this world was deliberately prepared by Old Xu for her and me?"
Hiss... Thinking of this possibility, Zhao Duan felt a little horrified.
But thinking back, he had previously guessed that many things that happened after he traveled through time had traces of being "arranged"... This absurd idea might not be impossible.
"If that's the case, does that mean that, in the original plan, I was her guide? Just like in the Great Dream Scroll, I was accepted as a disciple by Pei Niannu, who belongs to that world. In this world, I am a native, and Zhen Bao is the outsider..."
"Stop—the more I think about it, the more confused I become. It's pointless to speculate without evidence. If I want to find out the truth, I can only continue to contact Zhenbao... Well, perhaps our encounter will trigger something..."
Moreover, he keenly noticed that the empress's expression changed significantly after he said her name.
But she wasn't supposed to have heard her own name.
Zhao Duan's mind flashed and he made a decision.
He planned to hide his identity temporarily and try to play the role of a guide.
After all, the thing called "time travel" is really hard to explain, and he is not ready to share this biggest secret with the empress.
Although... as long as the empress continues to learn about this city, she will be exposed sooner or later.
"Oh, it seems Miss Xu has a lot of questions. But don't worry, the night is long, we can talk slowly."
Zhao Duan acted as if he was in control of the situation. He picked up the water cup and took a sip before casually asking:
"Ms. Xu, you've probably heard of my name, right?"
Xu Zhenguan frowned, sensing the difficulty of the person in the painting. She said coldly:
"No."
A blatant refusal to answer.
Have you really heard my name?
Zhao Duan confirmed his guess and became more and more confused. Suddenly, a strange idea came to his mind:
This can't be the "blind date" arranged by Lao Xu... Unfortunately, I've already hit a home run in real life...
Hey, after I came here, I lost my cultivation, and Zhenbao should be the same. Doesn't that mean that if we practice dual cultivation here, we can bypass the limitation of being squeezed dry like dregs due to the realm gap?
Well... the prerequisite is that I take the initiative to reveal my identity... Phew, it's not the right time yet.
As for using this identity to approach Mask Lei, he had no interest in that kind of tactics.
Compared to the brief sexual pleasure, he cared more about exploring the secrets left by Lao Xu in the murals.
"You haven't answered my question yet. If you continue to beat around the bush, I'm not interested in wasting my time with you."
Seeing that he remained silent, Xu Zhenguan's face turned cold and she urged him coldly.
The time she stays in this world is limited!
She had no interest in playing charades with a person in a painting. Given her identity and personality, even if she had lost her power, she was still not someone a person in a painting could control. She wanted to take the lead.
You are worthy of it... Zhao Duan smiled helplessly, but his expression remained calm.
This is the world he is familiar with and his home ground.
"Miss Xu has a quick temper, haha, that's fine.
Uncle Xu left a long time ago, and I don’t know where he went. He did leave me some things before he left.
He also gave me a time and a place, and asked me to come here at that time to take care of a relative for him for a period of time.
I came here today as scheduled, and it seems that Miss Xu is the one I'm waiting for."
Zhao Duan is just talking nonsense, and his main point is that whether you believe it or not, I believe it anyway.
Is this the arrangement of Emperor Taizu? Xu Zhenguan's heart moved, without any doubt, he immediately stood up and said:
"What did he leave you? Where is it? I need to see it."
No, I haven’t had time to edit it yet... Is this the style of your practice in the scroll?
Zhao Duan sighed softly, smiled, thought for a moment, and also stood up:
"Okay."
The waiter standing not far away saw the two of them about to leave, stood up and walked over, saying in surprise:
"Are you two leaving?"
Xu Zhenguan's expression suddenly froze as she realized an embarrassing problem: she had no money to pay the bill!
Unable to move forward and end her meditation to "escape the bill," she froze in place, unable to move forward or backward. As a dignified emperor, she had to face the dilemma of having no money to eat. Her pearly toes in her sandals curled slightly...
"Let me do it." Zhao Duan raised his lips, calmly showed the payment code, and then said to Xu Zhenguan:
"It doesn't make sense to ask guests to pay for meals."
Xu Zhenguan had a stern face, but he felt slightly relieved.
Afterwards, the two of them, having paid the bill, walked out of the restaurant one after the other, leaving behind a large group of diners with faces filled with shock, jealousy, and regret.
The two of them were talking quietly, so in the eyes of many people, it seemed that Zhao Duan had approached her, exchanged a few words, and then took the beautiful woman away without even eating...
"Why? If I had known this was possible, I could do it too." Countless people secretly regretted and lamented.
Outside the restaurant.
Zhao Duan was feeling the night breeze. Instead of taking a taxi, he gestured in a distant direction, put his hands in his trouser pockets, and walked along the quiet road.
Xu Zhenguan was a few steps behind him, staring at him warily, his sandals tapping on the ground, making a crisp "tapping" sound.
For some reason, she always felt that this chapter was filled with an indescribable weirdness. However, although she had lost her cultivation, she could "exit" meditation at any time, so she was not afraid of any danger.
"Miss Xu, you don't have to be so wary of me. Well, speaking of which, where is Miss Xu from? How long have you been here? Does she live nearby?"
Zhao Duan asked casually, trying to find out the situation.
Xu Zhenguan's beautiful eyes were filled with anger and she suddenly stopped.
…
…
Capital, Imperial Observatory.
As a court agency established at the beginning of the Yu State to record the stars and weather, the Imperial Astronomical Observatory was located in a corner of the capital and was a low-income government office.
But it has the tallest building in the capital... Well, the big bell tower of Tianshi Mansion doesn't count.
The top floor of this building, called "Observation Terrace", displays many complicated and intricate observation instruments.
Not only that, it is also used to store books and scrolls. The walls of books on three sides are several meters high, so many ladders are needed to carry books.
It was afternoon at this moment. Wisps of thin clouds in the sky blocked the sunlight and cast a large shadow. On this huge top-floor building, several officials from the Imperial Observatory wearing special clothes were on duty.
Suddenly, several officials stood up at the same time and bowed towards the entrance to the lower level, "Master Supervisor."
A one-eyed old man with gray hair, a slightly hunched figure, and a frail appearance, one of his eyes damaged by too many stargazings in his youth, walked up wearing an official robe and holding a scroll under his arm.
Beside him was a servant boy about ten years old.
The old man was the director of the Imperial Observatory, nominally a third-rank official, but had no real power. He was just a figurehead in the ritual system. Also, since Emperor Taizu, there were strict prohibitions against astronomical officials in all dynasties from having contact with court officials.
Therefore, even the Xuanmen coup and the subsequent court turmoil did not affect the Imperial Observatory.
In the past few years, this old man has only attended court and entered the palace a handful of times, and most of the time, he is forgotten.
The old man waved his hand, dismissed the officials and went downstairs. He staggered across the dividing line between light and dark on the ground and came to the observation deck, a huge semicircular platform paved with white marble that protruded from the outer wall and looked like half of a star disk.
At night, the sky is dotted with stars and you can enjoy the view of the Milky Way from here.
Even in broad daylight, when the stars are blocked, we can still observe the stars with the help of huge instruments.
"Master, why do you have to come on duty so often these days? In the wind and sun? There are so many people at the office you could use, and your eyesight is not good, so why bother with this?"
After the servant helped the old man sit down, he also sat down on the edge of the platform and opened a parasol.
The one-eyed old man stroked the cannon-like instrument fixed on the white marble and smiled:
"When I was young, when I was your age, I started stargazing, day and night. If I hadn't done that, I wouldn't have lost my good eye. But if I could exchange it for a lifetime of peace and wealth, I wonder how many people in the world would be eager to do it."
After a pause, the old man restrained his smile and said:
"When the previous dynasty fell, a fire destroyed the previous dynasty's astronomical records. After the Imperial Astronomical Observatory was rebuilt, generations of astronomical officials recorded the changes in celestial phenomena for 600 years and also discovered some patterns.
This pattern is sometimes accurate and sometimes not, and according to the oldest records in the prison, the world is in turmoil and war is raging everywhere, so perhaps a corresponding astrological phenomenon will occur soon."
The book boy curled his lips and said disapprovingly:
"People use the stars to predict good and bad luck, but how can you predict good and bad luck and then use the stars to predict it?"
The old man smiled and said:
"Little boy, you will understand in the future that those of us who record the stars are no different from the historians who record the emperor's daily life. No matter how much we adhere to 'faithful recording', we cannot escape human interference.
If the emperor occasionally lost his temper after drinking, and the historian recorded it and asked him to delete it, would he delete it? The historian who did not delete it would lose his head, and the star officials are no different.
The book boy seemed to understand, but not quite, and asked curiously:
"Master Sijian, according to what you said, could it be that the six hundred years of astrological records recorded in our Imperial Observatory were also fabricated? Who would be so bold as to fabricate such a thing? With the laws of our great-grandfather Emperor Taizu, who is not afraid of being beheaded?"
The old man said meaningfully:
"You also know that it was the law established by Taizu."
However, he did not continue speaking. Instead, he operated the cannon-like stargazing instrument and slowly fastened the tube onto the remaining eye.
And at this moment, the old man suddenly trembled, his face became extremely solemn, and his dry hands operated the instrument with extreme familiarity.
"Master Supervisor? What's wrong?" The servant boy was shocked.
The one-eyed old supervisor, who had been idle all his life, suddenly stood up, quickly spread out the book under his arm, turned to a page filled with dense handwriting, muttered something incoherently, stretched out his hand, and kept moving his fingers on the paper.
He was stunned for a moment, then murmured, "It matches."
Then, the one-eyed supervisor staggered to his feet, walked downstairs with a solemn expression, and roared:
"Prepare the carriage! I need to go to the palace to see the emperor!"
…
…
"What's wrong?"
Zhao Duan heard the footsteps stop, turned around and looked at Xu Zhenguan, who was dressed as an urban young woman.
The empress stared at him and said coldly:
"I don't like people prying into my affairs. Also, I have... well, as you say here, a fiancé. I came here just to learn about my 'father.'"
Well, although it’s just a dummy in the painting, the empress’s strong personality makes her really dislike being questioned.
She had only revealed her soft, feminine side to a very few people, and most of those relatives were dead now, leaving only... After much thought, apart from Mo Chou and Sun Lianying who had served her since childhood, there was only Zhao Duan left.
In addition, perhaps because of the hint given by the temple priest in Taiqing Palace, she was very annoyed by some of the relationships between the characters arranged for her in this painting.
It just so happened that the way the man looked at her in this chapter made her feel a little uncomfortable, as if she was being "seen through".
It was as if I, a "person outside the painting", had no secrets in front of him...
After much thought, I decided to make it clear and draw a clear line first.
Yes, yes, that's the look that looks at people as if they were trash... It's so right... Zhao Duan didn't get angry after hearing this. Instead, the smile on his face deepened. He said with interest:
"Miss Xu seems to have misunderstood something. I'm just trying to be a good host. After all... to some extent, Uncle Xu and I are friends."
"That's good." Xu Zhenguan nodded with satisfaction.
Zhao Duan suddenly asked:
"Speaking of which, for a girl as outstanding as Miss Xu, her fiancé should also be a very capable person, right?"
Xu Zhenguan didn't expect the topic to turn like this. He thought about it, and didn't know what he thought of. His cheeks flushed slightly, and he gritted his teeth and said:
"He's a jerk."
Zhao Duan's expression froze. No... I'm not talking about that kind of "awesome"...
At this moment, Xu Zhenguan's expression suddenly changed slightly, as if he sensed something. He raised his head and looked at the night sky, muttering to himself:
"Is it time?"
"What?" Zhao Duan blinked.
Xu Zhenguan just glanced at him and said:
"Nothing, I...I'm leaving first. I'll come back when I have time."
After she finished speaking, her figure gradually disintegrated into a cluster of starlight, and she actually rose from the ground and flew into the night sky.
The Empress is offline!
Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment, a little disappointed, but then he looked at the remaining star streak in the night sky, thinking about something.
So, is this how people who meditate withdraw?
Are these remaining star marks the traces of departure?
He reached out curiously and touched the star mark in front of him.
Then, the accident happened!
Zhao Duan's hand actually reached into the star mark, as if... this star mark was an extra crack on the scroll...
The next second, a suction force suddenly came, and Zhao Duan plunged into the crack.
Disappeared!
…
In the capital city, in the imperial palace, deep in the martial arts hall, Zhao Duan suddenly walked out from a mural!
(End of this chapter)
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