An unnamed courtyard in the capital.
"...We followed Lord Yaochi's instructions and tried to be as discreet as possible. We did not make a move on the day Jiajing favored Consort Cao. On the other days, we weakened his yang energy when he was exhausted after favoring his consorts and maids."
Qi Die's voice was beautiful and melodious as she recounted the events of the past ten days. Her thoughts were clear, indicating that she had carefully planned how to present the story.
Li Changzhou nodded: "You did a good job."
One of Bi's men suddenly stepped forward and curtsied: "Lord Li, we did a good job, is there any reward?"
Li Changzhou was taken aback, not only because she suddenly wanted to reward... a blonde Russian woman, who suddenly performed Xia Kingdom etiquette.
Laughter erupted inside the room. There were fifteen people in total, but Li Changzhou was the only man. Everyone wanted to bully him and see him get bullied.
"They've been keeping a close eye on Jiajing these past few days, and they've even learned the rules of the Ming Dynasty," Qi Die explained with a smile.
Li Changzhou chuckled and turned to look at Yang Qinglan, who was smiling with her lips pursed: "Is there anything else in our house?"
"Blood beads."
"Has it gotten to the point where I have to sell my blood?"
Li Qianxia reminded him, "Brother, my family has always been very poor."
The Russian female player who had been bowing straightened up and was about to say that it was alright, when Yaochi smiled and said, "I'll do it."
A ray of golden light illuminated the room, the temperature rose rapidly, and her skin felt hot—a comfortably hot kind of hot. A sunflower appeared in her hand.
Half of the sunflower seeds on the plate were gone, and she plucked twenty off with her slender fingers.
"Two for each of you."
"What is this?" Li Qianxia asked curiously.
Yaochi gave her three more sunflowers, then, holding the sunflowers, she smiled more brightly than the flowers and said to Li Changzhou, "Do you know what the sunflower symbolizes?"
"The meaning of flowers, Valentine's Day chocolates, and Halloween apples are all capitalist conspiracies."
"It's a conspiracy, and it isn't," Yaochi laughed. "Everyone wants to pursue a happy and fulfilling life. Isn't it better to have someone in your life who's willing to send you flowers, and someone you want to receive an apple from on Halloween?"
Li Changzhou looked at Yang Qinglan, sized her up, and then nodded with a smile.
"Blind!" Yaochi grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds from the sunflower and threw them at his face.
Li Changzhou flicked his sleeve and caught the sunflower seeds that looked like they were made of gold.
【Name: Magic Sunflower Seeds】
[Type: Item]
Quality: B
[Special Effect: Restores Mana]
Minimum requirement for use: Living being
[Description: Each sunflower seed consumed restores 200 units of mana within ten seconds (equivalent to 200 points of ability)]
[Note: The sunflower symbolizes silent love and "you are the only one in my eyes"—therefore, it can only restore magical power. If the power is converted into 'true qi', 'inner strength', 'magic power', 'battle qi', etc., it is useless.]
He took out one and handed it to Yang Qinglan.
"Is this one of the medicinal ingredients in the fifty free pill recipes from Little Jade Cauldron?"
Yang Qinglan held the golden sunflower seeds between her fingers, examining them closely.
"By the way, brother, did Jiajing agree to your conditions when you went to the palace today?" Li Qianxia asked curiously.
"About 70-80%," Li Changzhou said.
At this moment, the Water Maiden's expression suddenly calmed down, as if she were listening to something.
Everyone noticed her unusual behavior and waited in silence.
After a while, the Water Maiden came to her senses and said, "The water I put in the vase in the palace heard the conversation between Jiajing and Tao Zhongwen."
"Release them," Yaochi ordered.
The Water Maiden nodded, and with a splash, her transparent human form transformed into a water curtain, displaying a scene of Emperor Jiajing receiving Li Shizhen and Tao Zhongwen.
The sound of rushing water grew fainter, and Emperor Jiajing's voice became clearer.
Yang Qinglan, who was examining the sunflower seeds, also looked up. Li Changzhou glanced at her and asked with his eyes if these were the medicinal materials in the prescription.
Yang Qinglan nodded slightly.
Li Changzhou grabbed her hand, stuffed the remaining sunflower seeds into it, and took the opportunity to touch her hand all over. Her skin was delicate and smooth, and slightly cool.
How it feels isn't really important; what matters is the warmth of two people's skin touching.
Okay, let's stop fooling ourselves, both are important.
Li Changzhou was kicked by Yaochi, whether to remind him to get back to work or to let him know that she was jealous.
Yang Qinglan also withdrew her hand, and Li Changzhou had no choice but to look at the water screen. In fact, he was listening with his ears and watching with his peripheral vision.
"...If Your Majesty agrees, a life-or-death calamity will surely follow one year later; one hundred and four years later, the Ming Dynasty will surely be in chaos, and those who bring chaos to the Ming Dynasty will surely be surnamed Li."
'Is it Li Changzhou?'
'The secrets of heaven are obscure; this humble Taoist cannot see them clearly.'
What, then, is a life-or-death ordeal?
"Your Majesty, as the Son of Heaven, cultivates the Dao. If you succeed, the empire will remain unchanged for ten thousand years. Heaven will not allow it, earth will not allow it, and the people will not allow it."
"You mean there are constant natural and man-made disasters? And someone is even trying to assassinate me?"
'Heavenly secrets are difficult to fathom; only those with extraordinary destiny can see them. I have already done my utmost.'
'I ask you this: have I entered the Dao?'
'It's in.'
"Is the Li that Tao Zhongwen mentioned Li Zicheng?" Li Qianxia turned her head and asked.
"It's him." Li Changzhou had a headache.
Although his surname was Li, the surname Li is extremely common, and the fact that he shared the same surname as Li Zicheng was purely coincidental.
Yang Qinglan, holding the Ruyi scepter, was exquisitely beautiful and pondered:
"In the original history, it was Li Zicheng who attacked the capital and caused Emperor Chongzhen to hang himself on Wansui Mountain. In other words, in real history, Emperor Jiajing entered Taoism, which is why he encountered the Renyin Palace Coup in 1542. After that, he moved to Xiyuan and devoted himself to Taoist cultivation."
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