Chapter 3 003 Repaying a debt of gratitude, I am willing to stay by the Princess's side...
"Hey, stop recommending your Immortal Lord Zhu Jing to me." Yun Tianjiao waved his hand, his face full of rejection. "The one you worship is not my type."
"Sister, Immortal Lord Zhu Jing is truly a good person. He is not only hardworking but also kind-hearted. He never relies on wealthy pilgrims and has genuinely done practical things for many poor people..."
Throughout the rest of the banquet, Miss Shen spared no effort in praising her natal deity to Yun Tianjiao, saying that it was unprecedented and unparalleled, a unique figure in heaven and earth.
As she spoke, she poured wine for Yun Tianjiao.
As he drank cup after cup of peach blossom wine, Yun Tianjiao's face grew hot and his heart became restless. A hint of intoxication appeared at the corners of his eyes, and everything he saw became hazy, even his gaze softened.
"Sister Tianjiao, Immortal Lord Zhujing will also be participating in this year's Ascension Ceremony. If you don't have your own natal deity participating, why don't you help me add some incense for Immortal Lord Zhujing? Okay? Just a little bit?" Shen Qiongzhi shook Yun Tianjiao's arm and acted coquettishly.
Yun Tianjiao was in a good mood after being coaxed, and couldn't help but pinch her cheek. "If you have the patience to coax me, why don't you go and coax your future husband? With the wealth of a king, what god can't he worship?"
Shen Qiongzhi's face flushed red, and she glared at her angrily, "Sister Tianjiao got drunk and started bullying people!"
Yun Tianjiao smiled lazily, propped his head up with one hand and leaned back on the soft pillow, apologizing, "Alright, alright, don't be angry. I have a box of jewelry that I don't need. I'll have Chunxi bring it to you later. You can use it to add some incense for your precious immortal lord at the Ascension Ceremony."
Shen Qiongzhi clapped and cheered as she achieved her goal.
"I heard that this year's Ascension to Immortality Tournament has a grand prize: the champion's reincarnation mirror of the God of Ink Sorrow!"
Upon hearing this, Yun Tianjiao's mind stirred slightly.
Mirror of Reincarnation?
"Is it the magical artifact of the God of Ink Sorrow that can reveal the cause and effect of past and present lives?"
"That's right! The Heavenly Realm has really spared no expense for this Ascension Ceremony..."
After the banquet ended, Prime Minister Shen took the opportunity to advise Yun Tianqi, reminding him that as a ruler, he should never forget to be diligent and steady.
Yun Tianqi let it go in one ear and out the other. He had been tormented all night and just wanted to get rid of the person as soon as possible, so he kept agreeing, but Guai thought it wouldn't work.
Only after seeing the father and daughter off did Yun Tianqi finally breathe a sigh of relief. He removed his crown and loosened his belt, then lay sprawled on the couch, barely breathing.
Yun Tianjiao found it extremely displeasing, walked over and kicked it, "Hey, are you a dead fish?"
Yun Tianqi pouted, looking aggrieved: "Royal sister, dealing with this old man is exhausting. I didn't dare to breathe the whole time."
"No matter what, he is a subject and you are a ruler. Why do you act like a mouse before a cat when you see him?"
Yun Tianqi sat up abruptly. "It's so annoying! He's getting more and more nagging as he gets older. He has to control everything I do. If I don't go along with him, my ears will be worn out from all the talking! Luckily you were here today, occasionally interrupting with a chat with Azhi, otherwise I don't know how I would have eaten this meal!"
Yun Tianjiao couldn't stand it anymore and kicked him again, "You're not acting like an emperor at all. You're fifteen now. If you keep acting like this, you'll become a tyrant."
Yun Tianqi appears respectable in public, but little do people know that it is Yun Tianjiao who is constantly giving him instructions behind the scenes, pushing endless memorials onto her, and asking her about things that are difficult to understand in court. Only in this way can he barely maintain the image of a monarch.
But whenever the siblings are alone, he reveals his true colors.
"Who wants to be the emperor? It's so boring every day. All I hear during the morning court is that people chatter on and on. If you were a man, we could switch places. You can have the throne, and I can just have fun every day!"
Yun Tianjiao was particularly tired today. Looking at his brother, who was hopeless and incompetent, he said helplessly, "If I were a man, I'm afraid I would be a decadent and extravagant emperor."
"So what? You're still better than me. At least you can figure out the ins and outs of those officials." Yun Tianqi's eyes were vacant, looking like he had no will to live. "Besides, you're the emperor now. What's wrong with spending a little more money? When you have a harem, no one will dare to say anything to you."
"..."
Yun Tianjiao was speechless and too lazy to pay any more attention. He called Chunxi and Fuman to help him back to Chang Le Palace.
After removing her hairpins and silk robes, she took a relaxing bath before changing into a light gauze dress and entering her bedchamber.
The palace was empty; there were no signs of the countless male concubines rumored to be there.
In fact, Yun Tianjiao disliked being served personally before going to bed, so all the maids around him had already prepared the palace and then withdrew.
At this moment, the candlelight flickered in the palace, the curtains hung down, and the warm fragrance was intoxicating. Yun Tianjiao was already drunk, and after being steamed by the hot water, he felt his bones were completely soft and weak, and he only wanted to roll into the phoenix bed and sleep.
Just then, a cold fragrance wafted in, carrying an unfamiliar and chilling scent that instantly snapped her back to reality.
"who!"
Before she finished speaking, the knife rack beside the phoenix bed was empty. The princess, with her long hair flowing down her back, had already drawn her sword "True Words," swiftly slashing across and cutting half of the gauze curtain, then holding it to the intruder's neck.
Amidst the flickering light and shadow, a light gauze curtain slowly drifted down, revealing in turn the man's alluring eyes, straight nose, and thin lips in the candlelight.
A stunningly beautiful face appeared before him. Even with a sharp blade at his throat, he remained unmoved. His deep, dark eyes, like those of a drowning man, were fixed on her, as if he were the one who had pulled him ashore.
"Who are you? Who ordered you to assassinate me?" Yun Tianjiao snapped out of her initial amazement at the man's appearance and steadied her knife as she questioned him.
The man laughed instead of being afraid, his voice melodious and pleasant: "Since Your Highness has decided that I am an assassin, then kill me. After all, this life was given to me by Your Highness."
These are perfectly normal words and phrases, but when spoken by this person, they sound like whispered sweet nothings.
Yun Tianjiao didn't know if it was because he was drunk, but he felt even more agitated and subconsciously suppressed the "truth" in his hand.
Unexpectedly, the blade trembled slightly twice, and a glint of light flashed on the metal edge.
Yun Tianjiao raised an eyebrow, looking at the red marks on the man's neck. "Are you no ordinary person? Are you a god or a demon?"
This "True Word" was bestowed by the gods; it can slay demons and ghosts and injure gods and Buddhas—it is no ordinary weapon. The reaction of the blade just now clearly indicated that it sensed non-human power.
"Does Your Highness remember today on the road to Yunji Mountain, when you ordered someone to offer incense to a spirit tablet whose divine light was on the verge of extinguishing?" The man continued to gaze at her, his peach blossom eyes shimmering with tears, seemingly capable of seducing one's soul.
Yun Tianjiao recalled, "Hmm, so you were the owner of that nameless divine tablet?"
"It is I." The man lowered his eyes and nodded.
Yun Tianjiao sheathed his sword and sized up the man. "If you're not here to assassinate, what are you doing here?"
The man looked up and smiled: "Her Highness the Princess offered incense for me, saving me from the calamity of my divine essence dissipating. I have come here to repay her kindness."
"Repay a debt of gratitude?" Yun Tianjiao scoffed, placing the "True Words" back on the sword rack. She unfurled her sleeves and skirt, propped her head up on her hand, and lay sideways on the phoenix couch, glancing sideways at the man. "Tell me, how do you plan to repay this debt of gratitude? Hmm?"
Her figure was graceful and her posture exquisite. The "hmm" she uttered at the end was unintentionally drawn out and raised, carrying a flirtatious and frivolous connotation, instantly making the surrounding air ambiguous.
The man's gaze swept over the exquisite and graceful body revealed by the thin veil as she lay on her side, and then he lowered his eyes.
"I am willing to stay by the Princess's side and serve her."
"You are a god, you flatter me by saying that."
"Although I am a god, I was saved by the princess, so I should do whatever the princess asks for in this life."
Yun Tianjiao's red lips curved slightly, and she already understood.
Nowadays, gods can only survive by relying on the incense offerings of worshippers. This person almost lost all his divine essence today, which shows that he is a wandering god who has no one to offer incense to. He finally managed to catch her as a worshipper, and she is also the rumored rich and powerful princess who is willing to spend money on beauty. Naturally, he must make the most of her.
"Chunxi," she called out suddenly, without moving.
Chunxi rushed in response, and upon seeing the strange man in the hall, she turned pale with fright: "Your Highness, this is...!"
"It's alright." Yun Tianjiao waved his hand casually. "Go and fetch those divine tablets."
Chunxi was taken aback. "Bring them all?"
"Yes, bring them all."
Soon, palace maids carried bottles of spirit tablets into the bedchamber. At a glance, there were twenty or thirty spirit tablets of various sizes, each bearing a different deity's name.
Yun Tianjiao ordered people to offer incense to each of the ancestral tablets, and soon the Chang Le Hall was filled with fragrant smoke.
The gods' tablets emitted light one after another, and human-shaped figures of light and shadow materialized in front of them.
The light and shadow gradually solidified, revealing handsome men of different styles, each with an ethereal air.
"Your Highness is summoning a minor deity?"
"The night is long, and Your Highness is unable to sleep alone. Would you like me to attend to you in bed...?"
"Your Highness, I just learned a new spell yesterday. May I show it to you to cheer you up?"
"This is a flower wine that I personally prepared. Would Your Highness like to try some?"
A group of celestial beings, who were worshipped and worshipped by mortals outside, now swarmed around the phoenix bed, taking up advantageous positions, some massaging her shoulders, others rubbing her legs, all trying their best to win the attention of the princess.
Yun Tianjiao remained unmoved, merely tilting his head and looking at the man opposite him provocatively: "If you stay, you'll be no different from them."
The implication was that there were far too many gods lining up to curry favor with her, some as beautiful as him, and some even higher in rank than him, a pitiful creature on the verge of extinction, yet they were only good enough to massage her feet.
Not everyone can be like Qingyuan, who was promoted to the rank of Immortal Venerable by her.
The man seemed completely unprepared for such a scene; it was nothing short of a humiliating act of condescension. His thin lips were slightly pursed, his eyes were dark, and his face showed a hint of suppressed anger.
"Instead of lingering here with me, you should take advantage of your still relatively stable divine energy to go out and do more good deeds to relieve suffering and distress, and gather worshippers and believers to build temples and burn incense for you. This is the right way to be a god."
Yun Tianjiao yawned, wanting nothing more than to get rid of the person as soon as possible.
No one answered for a long time.
"Please, Your Highness, have mercy on me."
Looking up again, Yun Tianjiao saw a man kneeling in front of the phoenix bed, his robes drawn.
Ignoring the gods surrounding Yun Tianjiao, he gently lifted the hem of her dress with his well-defined knuckles, and reverently bent down to kiss her. His cascading black hair cascaded down with the movement. He looked up at her with an utterly humble demeanor, his jade-like face, sculpted like ice, was alluringly dim in the flickering candlelight of the palace lanterns.
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