Chapter 30 Shangshan Bureau Twenty-three
I heard that two old Taoist priests who are extremely skilled in alchemy have come to Yun Guang Taoist Temple to offer the Emperor a Heart Nourishing Pill. This Heart Nourishing Pill is no ordinary pill; the formula is unique, and the medicinal materials were brought back by the Taoist priests from all over the country, making it extremely rare.
Such a rare elixir was successfully refined in one go. Even Zhen Su had to marvel at how there were such powerful alchemists in the mortal world.
Before formally cultivating Taoism, he had tried alchemy. In a batch of twelve pills, others would usually have half of them become pills, with only one or two containing a small amount of pill toxins. But he did the opposite, with only about one or two pills becoming pills, and they were inferior pills mixed with impurities, containing pill toxins that were extremely toxic and completely inedible.
"..."
Wait a minute, looking at it this way, besides being a Grand Talisman Master, could he also have the talent to be a Poison Cultivator?
Although he is currently cultivating the Five Extremes Scripture to the extreme of poison, he looks no different from a poison cultivator.
What concerned him was not the perfect pills the two old Taoist priests had refined, but rather the channels through which they obtained the ingredients. If he could get his hands on the raw materials and the formula, he might be able to refine a poison pill.
So when Shinju finished serving the meal, he was happy to be kept by the Emperor. However, on that very day, he was greeted by the arrival of the old Taoist priest.
Master Fuyin, his fellow disciple Master Wenbi, and the Director of the Imperial Observatory gathered in the main hall of the Zhengren Hall.
Shinju then eavesdropped in the east side room.
"Three days later, at the end of the 9-11 AM, the ritual must be performed on a three-foot-square platform, summoning a thousand people from the city to gather the vital energy of heaven and earth, and the essence of the sun and moon. After my senior brother bestows the divine blessing upon this elixir, His Majesty can then consume it. It is guaranteed to have endless benefits for the imperial body, nourishing the body and mind, and prolonging life," said the fat Taoist Wen Bi.
...Blessing? Can he bestow it? Zhen Su didn't know if he had been removed from the ranks of immortals. After being recorded in history books, he lost contact with Bai Yujing, and he could only find out the details when he returned to the cultivation world.
This place has no connection to Baiyujing at all, so how did they manage to communicate with the gods? Zhen Su looked doubtful.
After a long silence from the Emperor, Masakuni heard a slightly deep, middle-aged male voice, which should have come from the Director of the Imperial Observatory.
"Your Majesty, I have calculated the auspicious time and the location of the ritual are all planned out. Once Your Majesty approves, we can proceed with the arrangements and will complete them within two days."
"Your Majesty, my senior brother and I have exhausted all our strength, gathering the essence of our Taoist temple to refine this elixir. It was no easy feat! Currently, the daily operation of our temple is quite strained. Apart from the Empress Dowager's eternal lamp, which we have managed to preserve with all our might, we can no longer afford to maintain the other four offerings. I did not wish to discuss such mundane matters and disturb Your Majesty, but we are truly struggling to continue. I implore Your Majesty to find a way out for Yun Guang."
"Your Majesty, Yunguang has indeed been squeezed year after year, and its scale has been declining, which is a great pity. If we could restore the number of Taoist temples in the capital as before, and occupy eight prime locations in the city, it would surely be of great benefit to the country's fortunes," the Supervisor said with great emotion.
Upon hearing this, Shinju's expression turned serious.
Is this some kind of hasty decision? The Emperor wouldn't actually agree, would he...?
A moment later, he heard the Emperor's voice, deep and resonant like a bronze urn churned by a cold, rainy wind: "Very well. Regarding the matter of repairing the old Taoist temple site, I hereby order the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue to submit their plans by the day after tomorrow, in accordance with the details of the temple's management. Furthermore, I propose to reward Master Fuyin and Master Wenbi with one thousand taels of silver each, and two boxes each of Chang'e Jewelry and Jade..."
Shinjuku paid no attention to the rest of the long string of words. A moment later, when the Emperor returned to the side room, Shinjuku looked at him as if he were a spendthrift son, his eyes filled with complex emotions, and he hesitated to speak.
The Emperor seemed oblivious to Masakatsu's glare, merely fiddling with his gold earring. "I'm a little hungry. Go and have the kitchen prepare a bowl of quail soup for me. How about that?"
This suited him perfectly. Zhen Su had been restless for a long time, and if he went to chase after them now, he should still be able to catch up with the two old Taoist priests.
So Shinju nodded and left. A short while later, the King of Poison walked to the window and said in a deep voice, "Keep a close eye on them."
.
Shinju first went to the imperial kitchen to convey the emperor's request to the imperial chefs, and then opened his five senses to follow the old Taoist's trail.
They barely managed to catch up with them before they left the palace, at which point Masakatsu was only a few dozen feet away from them.
Surprisingly, they didn't whisper at all and were unusually cautious. Shinju didn't hear any useful information. As he watched them board the carriage and prepare to leave the palace, Shinju remembered that he hadn't yet tested the quality of the Heart-Nourishing Pill.
However, the distance is quite far. If one were to use their six senses, it would be hard to say that the scene from two days ago would not be repeated.
However, he could not leave the palace at this time, so Zhen Su did not hesitate and opened his six senses again. This time, he easily expanded the range of his six senses to several tens of feet away, which was a whole circle larger than before.
Shinjuku focused his gaze and noticed a shiny black dot on their bodies.
"That's the Heart-Nourishing Pill?"
But look at that color! Their alchemy skills are even worse than his? It's truly a supremely pure poison pill, what kind of "Heart-Nourishing Pill" is this?! It's more like a "Heart-Corroding Pill." How dare they try to extort the Emperor with this?
Imagining the Emperor becoming pale and weak after swallowing the elixir, his dark eyes gradually becoming empty, Zhen Su couldn't help but shake his head vigorously, the anger in his eyes almost tangible, about to overflow.
Simply ruining this "deal" isn't enough; he wants to uproot them completely!
Not long after, Shinju returned to the imperial kitchen and delivered the cooked quail soup to the emperor.
However, the Emperor was no longer in the side room. Waiting there was the head palace maid, Tang Quan. Unlike before, when she was as cold and aloof, this time her expression was unusually lively, and her gaze kept glancing at his ear, as if she cared a lot.
"To relay His Majesty's words, he is busy with other matters, so please have Qingchuan prepare the quail soup for him. Let's not waste it." Tang Quan noticed Zhen Su's gaze and immediately said seriously.
“…Okay.” Tang Quan’s appearance almost made him think that what he had seen before was an illusion, but when he looked down at the food box, Tang Quan would stare at his ears.
The quail breast meat in the quail soup looked very fresh and tender, and the thickened sauce was rich and flavorful; it should taste quite good and be very nutritious. Shinjuku closed the food box and decided to take it back to give Kodun a good meal.
So Shinjuku didn't linger. He nodded to Tang Quan in greeting and left the Zhengren Hall.
After walking quite a distance, the burning gaze behind me finally disappeared.
Xiaodunzi has been lying in bed for the past two days, and the medicine on his body has been applied by Shinju. The imperial physician said that it would probably take half a month for him to fully recover, so Shinju helped him get half a month's leave. Therefore, Shinju went to serve him meals by himself.
He felt that the imperial physician's diagnosis was not quite right, because he didn't feel much pain in his body today.
He was bored lying in bed and really wanted to go serve the meal with Qingqing instead of staying here. But if he told Qingqing that he was all better, he wouldn't get her to apply the medicine and massage him. Although Qingqing was incredibly strong, and he was in so much pain that he didn't dare to utter a sound, feeling like his bones were about to break rather than his bruises were gone, Qingqing's hands were so soft and smaller than his.
Just as Xiaodunzi was lying there lost in thought, Masaya returned, carrying a vermilion food box.
In his excitement, Xiaodunzi almost sat up in bed, but he quickly recovered and lay back down, waiting for Masaya to come over.
Mayuki put the food box aside and went over to feel Kotsuko's forehead. "You don't have a fever anymore today, do you?"
Xiao Dunzi felt the softness and coolness of the palm and grinned foolishly, "You're back."
"Hmm." Shinju glanced at him. "There's quail soup. Get up and eat some to replenish your nutrition."
Xiao Dunzi propped himself up and slowly sat up.
"You eat first, but remember to leave me a bite. I haven't tried quail soup yet," Shinjuku said generously.
Xiaodunzi shook his head abruptly. "Qingqing, you try it first."
Since his injury, he once called out "Qingqing" directly instead of "Qing Chuanshan" as he was originally asked to call her. He found that Qingqing was not angry, so he mustered up his courage and has been calling her that ever since.
Seeing that he insisted, Shinju took the spoon, scooped up a mouthful, licked his lips, and secretly scooped up two more mouthfuls before handing it to Kodun.
Xiao Dunzi didn't dare look at the spoon, but he scooped up a mouthful and stuffed it directly into his mouth. He didn't taste anything, but he did sweat from his nose as he ate.
"Let it cool down a bit before you eat it." Shinjuku noticed that his face was red, though it wasn't very noticeable due to his dark skin tone, but he was close enough that Shinjuku noticed it immediately.
"...It's not hot. I just...I might be sweating." Xiaodunzi said, his eyes darting around.
Shinjuku didn't say anything, but got up to get a handkerchief.
Little Dunzi was a little dizzy, eating spoonful by spoonful, but he kept his eyes following Masaya.
He is so happy.
How could he leave the palace? The two old Taoist priests' hideout was most likely in the Yun Guang Taoist Temple, or at the very least in the city; it was unlikely to be inside the palace. Therefore, he had to find a way to leave the palace.
Shinjuku fell into deep thought.
Unfortunately, he currently only has the cultivation level of Qi Refining. In the past, he could simply use his split spirit (avatar) to act separately without arousing any suspicion. Now, however, he is no different from a mortal, and his actions are hindered at every turn.
Wait a minute, is he at that age where he always reminisces about the past?
Masakatsu puffed out one cheek in dissatisfaction and handed a handkerchief to Kodama.
.
Just as Shinju was planning to violently escape from the palace, King Zhen summoned him and asked him to help him decide which clothes suited him best.
"Are we going to wear it on the altar for the religious ceremony?" Masaki asked bluntly.
The Emperor glanced at him indifferently, his eyes intriguing. After a pause, he said, "The religious ceremony is scheduled to be held in the city. There will be a lantern festival the day before, and I plan to go and take a look."
A lantern festival? Outside the palace? He wants to go too!
The Emperor glanced sideways at his earlobe, the golden beaded earring making Zhen Su's golden eyes even more dazzling, like molten gold condensed in a celestial furnace, or like quicksand under the sun, making it hard to look away.
"Does Qing Chuanshan think gold suits me?" the Emperor suddenly asked.
Shinjuku glanced around at the gorgeous robes being held in the hands of the maids, and looked at the gold one. "Gold is a bit tacky."
"..." The emperor seemed to choke, his expression becoming indescribable.
Shinju didn't realize he had spoken too bluntly, and the maids from the Imperial Stud were already trembling with fear at his words.
However, the Emperor clearly did not take Masakatsu's offense to heart, which made them seem to realize something, and they trembled even more violently.
"This outfit is quite nice." Shinju took a liking to a red and black outfit, but then thought that since they weren't going hunting or riding horses, the Emperor probably wouldn't wear it.
Unexpectedly, the Emperor walked up to the outfit and casually said, "Alter this outfit for Qing Chuan Shan to wear."
The maids quickly agreed.
Masakatsu was taken aback. Why was he being chosen?
Before I could figure it out, the Emperor said:
"You shall also leave the palace with me."
A note from the author:
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It hasn't been polished yet, I'm in such a rush, sob sob, I'll polish it later. Sorry.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the next chapter will likely be a paid chapter. However, I haven't applied for it yet; I'll post an announcement when it's officially available. Thank you all so much for your support! I thought it would be a long time coming. Thank you so much, everyone!!
[Edited] Polished.
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