Chapter 36 It's no wonder the Emperor was furious.
No wonder the emperor was furious.
Because many high-ranking officials spoke shamelessly in court, pressuring the emperor with the principles of integrity and filial piety, claiming that the Empress Dowager's eternal lamp was still being worshipped by Yun Guang, and that the Imperial Observatory's righteous path should not be moved, and also mentioning that they had already promised to repair it, that the plans had been drafted, and that the Ministry of Works had already recruited people, they should not go back on their word and abandon the project halfway. They forced the emperor to proceed with the repairs, never mentioning the evil deeds of Yun Guang, and completely ignoring the fact that the repairs used national treasury funds, which was illegitimate.
The Emperor was repeatedly questioned about the case in court, which naturally provoked his fury. In an instant, everyone in the harem was in danger and trembling with fear. The concubines, despite their fear, went to comfort the Emperor, and those with princes and princesses sent their children, but unfortunately, all to little avail.
Later, the emperor simply stopped seeing anyone, except for attending court and even stopping to pay his respects to the Empress Dowager.
Meanwhile, Masakuni was still working for the tutor, but he had heard a little about this matter.
This matter appears to be the Empress Dowager's doing. She has always favored Yun Guang, and besides, if it weren't for her, why would so many ministers be lobbying for this? No matter how deeply the powerful and influential are connected with Yun Guang, they would never dare to support this matter rashly if the Empress Dowager hadn't intentionally pushed it forward.
However, to Masakuni's surprise, the Emperor was actually angered by this.
Since the Empress Dowager was behind this plan, shouldn't the Emperor have obediently agreed? According to historical records, the Emperor was almost completely obedient to the Empress Dowager, and his image of blind filial piety was deeply ingrained in people's minds. His earlier acceptance of the Nourishing Heart Pill offered by Fu Yin and his fellow disciples was very much in line with this image.
However, this time, the Emperor seemed unwilling to comply with the Empress Dowager's wishes, which forced Masakatsu to re-examine the previous intelligence.
Historical records describe Emperor Yuhu as a rather frail person on more than one occasion. This "frailty" does not simply mean that he was inclined towards civil administration and not good at military affairs, but also includes his physical weakness that he was born with.
But the physique of the Poison King... and the strength that could slightly rival his True Immortal Body, were not something an ordinary person could possess. Even martial artists with internal energy might not be able to withstand even a single move from him.
I thought it was just that what is written in history books cannot be entirely trusted, since the people who write history books cannot be omniscient and omnipotent, and there will inevitably be some discrepancies between the historical records and the actual events.
But then Zhen Su thought again: That's not right! This small world was originally based on historical records and was generated using the King Hui Formation. How could it contradict the historical records or even be so different?!
Therefore, his previous conclusion was probably correct!
—Your Majesty, no, the Prince of Zhen, is not Emperor Yu Hu himself at all.
Thinking of this, Shinju suddenly straightened up on the edge of the bed, startling the old man who was instructing him on how to tidy up the bedding.
"What...what is it now, my ancestor?" The instructor had already resigned himself to his fate, not daring to complain or offend anyone, and could only ask tremblingly.
"...It's nothing." Shinjuku sat back on the bed and continued to ponder.
Clearly, he had been holding a misconception that only cultivators at the scattered cultivation level could enter this small world, therefore it was unlikely that any cultivator other than himself could exist within it. But what if the other party, like himself, also used the King Serpent Formation to create a small world?
He had heard of a rare, isolated case where the spiritual energies of different array setters achieved a perfect 100% compatibility, resulting in the creation of the same small world. If his situation with the Poison King was similar... based on the time of creation, he was likely the later arrival, and could be considered an intruder.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the King of Poison is very likely a cultivator, just like him!
Since he is an intruder, he must not let the Poison King discover that he is also a cultivator, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable. The Poison King is protected by laws, while he is not, which means that the laws of this small world take priority over the Poison King. If his purpose in creating this small world conflicts with that of the Poison King, he may be destroyed by the laws, controlled by the Poison King, or even expelled.
.
At dawn, as the frost melts and dew gathers, the palace servants would walk through the corridors and alleys, lighting lamps, burning firewood, and washing themselves. Once they were ready, they would prepare to serve their masters as they rose from their seats.
Today is the day that Majutsu officially takes office as a servant.
When Shinju arrived at the duty room of the Seinin Hall, he did not see any other eunuchs. After hesitating for a moment, he used his divine sense and found that King Zhen had just gotten up to wash in his bedroom, but there were no eunuchs serving him.
"How strange..." According to the rules, he was supposed to wait in the duty room for other attendants to hand him over before he could go in to serve them. But the booklet did not mention a situation where the Poison King woke up and there was no one serving him.
After hesitating for a moment, Masakatsu still walked towards his bedroom.
"Greetings, Your Majesty. Attendant Qing has come to report for duty," said Shinju, standing outside the door.
However, there was no response from inside.
After an incense stick had burned, the King of Zhen emerged, dressed impeccably. He was only missing his dragon robe and imperial crown. He wore a dark silk undergarment and a jacket with a lily-of-the-valley pattern, long trousers and high silk stockings. His hairband, belt, and leggings were all properly tied, and he still looked aloof and noble, without a trace of carelessness.
As if he hadn't seen Shinju, King Zhen walked to the table in the outer room, sat down, and then tapped the table.
Before long, the head palace maid Zhixi entered, bowed, went into the inner room to bring out a washbasin, and then left quickly.
The King of Poison flipped through the old files, ignoring Masakatsu, who was kneeling outside the door the whole time.
As Shinjuku listened to the sound of turning pages and the unhurried footsteps of the head palace maid, he should have felt peaceful and tired, but his dantian stirred strangely.
It seemed to be drawn by something, becoming unusually restless, vibrating like a buzzing bee, and throbbing with intense pain.
Shinju clenched his jaws tightly, showing no sign of anything amiss on his face. But in reality, if that biting force were applied to any flint steel, it would likely shatter into dust in an instant.
What was on the Poison King's body... that was constantly affecting his dantian?
Zhen Su forced himself to open the depths of his divine sense in his secondary purple mansion. After a moment of careful observation, he discovered that there were several tiny strands of crimson dragon energy on the Zhen King's body, extending outwards like silk threads and connecting to him.
Then it broke off just three inches away from the Baihui acupoint on the top of his head.
Shinju felt that although his dantian was riddled with holes, it was still struggling to function, desperately pulling on the thread as if trying to draw the dragon energy over.
"!" No. He couldn't let the Poison King discover that he was also a cultivator.
To stop the chaotic and uncontrolled absorption from the dantian, Shinju used the poison he had previously refined from the diaphragm, condensed it into a knot, and then blocked the Baihui acupoint.
The next moment, however, Shinjuku saw the outline in front of him begin to throb violently, even gradually distorting, and then alternating between various shades of red and green, like a hallucination seen after being poisoned. Shinjuku's brows furrowed uncontrollably, and his forehead was covered with fine sweat, which quickly formed beads and seeped into his eye sockets.
"Ha..." Shinjuku's low groan, barely containing his restraint, was extremely faint, but before the sound faded, the person sitting behind the desk moved.
Before the man could even get close, a pair of strong, powerful hands reached out from the other side and grabbed Shinjuku's shoulder.
"Qingqing! Qingqing, what's wrong with you?!" The person who came was Xiaodunzi, who happened to be serving the meal. From the moment he followed the head palace maid Zhixi into the palace, he felt his blood surging unusually, but it was quite different from the usual call of the True Abode, which made him uneasy.
"...I'm fine." Shinjuku's senses were hazy and confused, and he could barely make out who was speaking and what they were asking him.
At this moment, the King of Poison strode up to them, placed one hand on Shinju's forehead, and his palm immediately became cold and wet.
Seeing Xiaodunzi's tiger-like eyebrows almost curled into the shape of caterpillars, he subconsciously tried to block the Zhenwang's hand, but was frightened by the Zhenwang's gloomy glance.
Immediately afterwards, the King of Poison hooked Masukuni's chin, causing Masukuni to slightly raise his face. Then, Masukuni's golden eyes became unfocused, and his black pupils seemed to be swallowing up the surrounding gold. The black gradually expanded to the entire eyeball, which was quite eerie.
The King of Zhen's heart tightened, and his shoulders, back and arms bulged as he exerted force. He pushed aside Xiao Dunzi's hands, picked up Zhen Su horizontally, and then carefully placed him on the chaise longue next to the dragon bed, supporting the back of his head.
Xiao Dunzi instinctively wanted to follow him in, but was stopped by Zhixi, who was guarding the side.
“No unauthorized personnel are permitted in His Majesty’s bedroom,” she said.
“But Qingqing…” Xiaodunzi anxiously peered inside, but was nudged back several steps by Zhixi’s hand.
"Thank you for the meal. Please go back. You just placed the food box on the ground. Please go back to the kitchen and get a fresh breakfast. If possible, please also bring a bowl of congee."
Xiaodunzi had looked like he was about to cry, but after hearing Zhixi's suggestion of congee, he guessed that it was probably prepared for Zhensu. He took a couple of deep breaths, composed himself, and immediately ran to the imperial kitchen.
Zhixi lowered her eyes, then closed the bedroom door and waited outside.
Since being picked up, Shinju felt dizzy and disoriented. After lying down, the spinning didn't stop; instead, it began to toss and turn even more violently. But amidst the chaos and confusion, only the crimson purple remained unmoved, like a towering peak in the distance, giving him something to refer to and preventing him from getting lost. It was also like a stabilizing force, preventing his consciousness, which was like an earth dragon turning over, from collapsing.
Looking at Zhen Su's dazed state, the King of Zhen's expression grew increasingly solemn. He was about to order Zhi Xi to summon the imperial physician when a fair, jade-like hand grabbed his sleeve as he got up from the bed.
"Don't go." Shinju's soft and weak voice struck the heart of the King of Poison like a heavy hammer, making him freeze.
With difficulty, the King of Poison turned around and met the dependent gaze of the True Monk. Suddenly, he felt a hand slip into his clothes.
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