Chapter 14 014 The Thousand Palaces here are extraordinary to me...
After leaving the palace, Qingyuan did not return directly to the Heavenly Realm, but went to the Qingyuan Temple on Yunji Mountain.
"Immortal Lord, why have you personally come today...?"
The celestial servants responsible for sweeping and cleaning the temple were extremely surprised. But when they saw the livid face of the Celestial Venerable Qingyuan, they were so frightened that they dared not even breathe and swallowed the rest of their words.
"Who was responsible for relaying the message when the Princess was in the back mountain that day?" Qingyuan asked.
The celestial attendants were all stunned, not understanding why the Celestial Venerable would suddenly remember this matter after so long.
"Go and fetch them."
"……yes."
A celestial attendant hurriedly went to look for the person.
Qingyuan sat in the temple and closed his eyes for a short rest. The temple was bustling with worshippers, and the continuous flow of divine power from their offerings entered his divine essence, which calmed him down considerably.
"Immortal Venerable, the person has been brought here."
When the fairy attendant who had gone to search for the person returned, a little fairy attendant stood behind him. This was the person who had been responsible for relaying the message to the back mountain that day.
The little fairy servant was trembling with fear, sweating profusely.
"You, come here." Qingyuan beckoned to him.
The little fairy servant trembled like a leaf, and slowly made his way to the Azure Origin Immortal Venerable.
Qingyuan asked, "How did you communicate with the Princess that day?"
The little fairy servant stammered, "I, I, I, no, I don't remember..."
Qingyuan, looking impatient, waved his sleeve to signal everyone else to leave, then placed his hand on the little fairy servant's head and read his memories from that day—
Under the scorching sun, the little fairy servant ran from the front mountain to the back mountain in a flash. When she saw the princess's entourage outside the side hall, her legs went weak and she knelt down.
The pale-faced eunuch who had been waiting outside the hall walked over and demanded, "What's going on? Why hasn't your Immortal Venerable arrived yet? His Highness has been waiting for over an hour!"
Little Fairy Servant: "Our Immortal Lord, the Immortal Lord said..."
"say what?"
"They said that worshippers only need to pay their respects in the main hall, and asked me to inform Her Highness the Princess that they would be so kind as to make the transfer!"
"..."
Qingyuan felt a surge of blood rush to his head, and the hand that had been covering the little fairy servant's head changed to a claw. Bloodshot veins appeared in his eyes, and he looked down at the little fairy servant with a blank expression.
"Didn't someone already remind you that day to tell the Princess to wait a little longer? Why didn't you say that?"
The little fairy attendant looked up and saw the immortal lord's ashen face, all traces of his usual kindness and gentleness gone. Terrified, she burst into tears, "Immortal Lord, Immortal Lord, spare me! I... I saw the princess's procession and got so nervous that I... I forgot..."
"waste."
Blood splattered as the little fairy servant's head was crushed in Qing Yuan's palm, as fragile as a melon.
The noble and untainted immortal looked indifferently at the blood flowing at his feet, dripping slowly from his throne. With a wave of his hand, he wiped it all away.
"This is really... ruining my plans."
The temple returned to its peaceful and tranquil state, with incense and candles burning continuously. Only a faint smell of blood remained, which was quickly covered by the incense.
Outside the temple, countless devout worshippers prostrate themselves in prayer to the holy and loving deity in their hearts, seeking peace and happiness.
...
The deadline in March has arrived. On this day, all the gods who meet the requirements will be announced at the incense-lighting platform. As a result, the area around the incense-lighting platform was crowded with worshippers early in the morning, just as dawn was breaking.
"I wonder if our Immortal Lord Yuanshan will be selected this time. His thousandth temple was only completed last night."
"Yes, my immortal lord barely managed to gather enough money to build a thousand temples. To raise money for the immortal lord's temples, I donated three months' worth of my own savings!"
"Sigh, I guess among the gods who met the requirements this time, the one with the most temples is probably Immortal Lord Zhujing, right?"
"Absolutely! Immortal Lord Zhujing's incense offerings are the most prosperous among this generation of new gods! I feel that he is the clear favorite to win this time!"
"I'd be satisfied if our Immortal Lord could make it into the top ten..."
While the pilgrims at the command platform waited anxiously for the announcement of the divine list, Yun Tianjiao was furious in the imperial palace a hundred miles away.
"You can't even count properly, what use are you!"
Fu Man's head was practically hanging to the ground as he said aggrievedly, "Your Highness, this servant sent out three groups of people and counted them over a hundred times. In the entire Yun Chi Kingdom, there are indeed only nine hundred and ninety-nine temples of our Zhiwei Heavenly God!"
Yun Tianjiao caught his breath and confirmed again, "Is it really only nine hundred and ninety-nine?"
"I swear on my life, it is absolutely true!"
How could General You Wei be so careless in his work? He clearly agreed to build a thousand temples, but he built one less!
Having invested so much, how could Yun Tianjiao be willing to let it all go to waste? After a brief moment of thought, she ordered people to prepare for a swift departure from the palace.
Holding a riding whip and wearing a hooded cloak, she had already reached the gate of Chang Le Palace when she saw Zhiwei coming towards her.
"Where is Your Highness headed?"
Yun Tianjiao raised his head slightly, speaking in a businesslike tone: "I have some business to attend to outside the palace."
Zhiwei stared at her intently. "Is Your Highness planning to find someone qualified from the Heavenly Ranking at the Incense Lighting Platform because my temples only have nine hundred and ninety-nine, which is not enough for the Ascension Assembly?"
Yun Tianjiao hadn't expected Zhiwei to be so perceptive, so he simply laid it all out: "The people you found are incompetent, and there's nothing I can do about it. You know, I must find someone to win the title of champion in this Ascension Assembly."
"Your Highness is truly heartless, abandoning me so quickly like a worn-out shoe." Zhiwei's eyes were filled with sorrow, like a resentful woman abandoned by her husband.
Yun Tianjiao actually felt a little guilty under his gaze.
"But what can we do? Our Highness so desires the prize from this Ascension Ceremony, and I can't bear to see His Highness burning incense and helping others..."
Zhiwei reached out and tugged at Yun Tianjiao's sleeve, pulling her back to her side little by little until she gently grasped her wrist. Looking down at her, the corners of her lips curved into a beautiful smile, her raven-feather eyelashes casting a soft, misty shadow.
"We can only think of a solution."
Yun Tianjiao was surprised, "You have another way?"
Zhiwei winked mysteriously, "Your Highness, please come with me somewhere."
Yun Tianjiao was embraced from behind by Zhiwei. He raised his hand, which was adorned with a silver finger cot, and used the wide sleeve of his black robe to shield her view. When he lowered his hand again, the two had already left the palace and appeared on a shady path.
"Where is this place?" Yun Tianjiao felt that this place looked familiar, as if he had been here before.
"Your Highness, look here." Zhiwei pointed to the bushes by the roadside.
Yun Tianjiao looked in that direction and saw a small, half-person-high blue stone temple. In front of the temple was a small memorial tablet with the two gilded characters "Zhiwei" on it.
"This is... the place where I first burned incense for you?" Yun Tianjiao finally realized, "This is the path leading to the back of Yunji Mountain!"
Zhi smiled and nodded, "This is the thousandth temple. It's not that General You Wei miscalculated; I originally ordered him to build nine hundred and ninety-nine temples."
"If you had a backup plan, why didn't you say so earlier?" Yun Tianjiao glared at him.
Zhiwei didn't argue, but smiled slyly.
“However…” Yun Tianjiao glanced at the small, somewhat shabby-looking temple again, “Since you’ve built a temple here, why not just build a bigger one? It’s so inconspicuous, I’m afraid no worshippers will come to pay their respects in the future.”
"No other worshippers are needed."
Yun Tianjiao was puzzled.
Zhiwei looked at her meaningfully, her voice soft and gentle.
"This is extraordinary for me, and it is enough that only Your Highness knows it."
A note from the author:
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