Hu Xiang slowly clenched the handkerchief in her hand, turned around and smiled apologetically at Fang Chaozhou, "Hu Xiang is useless and made the Ninth Prince worry about me. It is really Hu Xiang's fault. The Ninth Prince is returning to the capital today and must go to the palace to meet Grandpa Huang first. When the Ninth Prince is free another day, Hu Xiang will host a banquet to apologize to the Ninth Prince."
Fang Chaozhou refused directly after hearing this, "No need to hold a banquet, I'm already fasting, eating earthly food is useless, and harmful." He looked behind him, and the people all knelt down when they saw Hu Xiang and his group coming out, "Let's not stand here anymore, let's go in quickly."
Hu Xiang nodded slightly, "Then please get on the sedan chair, Uncle Nine."
After he finished speaking, several people came over carrying a sedan chair. Fang Chaozhou looked at the people carrying the sedan chair, thought for a moment, and asked tentatively: "How about you all take my flying sword? It will be much faster this way."
"Okay." Hu Xiang remained calm when she heard Fang Chaozhou's words, and raised her hand to stop the person next to her who wanted to say something.
When Fang Chaozhou saw that the other party agreed, he immediately enlarged his flying sword. He first got on the sword body, and then reached out to support Hu Xiang who was in the front. When Hu Xiang saw the hand stretched out in front of her, her long eyelashes trembled before she put her own hand on it.
Fang Chaozhou grabbed Hu Xiang's hand and pulled him up. He asked him to find a place to stand, and then reached out to pull the next person. When Hu Xiang saw Fang Chaozhou's action, his eyes changed. When the next person saw Hu Xiang's eyes, he immediately stepped back a few steps and said, "You are too polite, Ninth Prince. We will not ride on the flying swords. We will take the sedan chair back later."
Fang Chaozhou tried to persuade them, saying that his flying sword was fast and would arrive soon, but those people were unwilling to come up. He thought it would be bad to drag on, and the people were still kneeling, so he could only say, "Okay, then we'll go ahead."
After he finished speaking, he set up a barrier for Hu Xiang behind him to prevent her from being blown down by the wind when she flew on the sword.
As the flying sword went up into the sky, Hu Xiang's already pale face turned completely pale. He glanced at the scenery below his feet and saw that the people there were as small as ants. He only took a glance and immediately raised his eyes, and when he raised his eyes, he naturally saw the young man with his back to him.
He was wearing a single robe and standing in the wind. Although he was standing at a high place, the other party was not afraid at all.
Is this the monk? It’s different from mortals like them.
Fang Chaozhou flew for a distance on his sword and saw a palace in the city. He looked back at Hu Xiang behind him and saw that the other person's face was pale, his eyes were closed, and his body was shaking slightly, as if he was about to faint at any time. He quickly reached out and grabbed the other person's wrist and passed on spiritual energy to him.
However, Fang Chaozhou knew that the other party was a mortal, so he did not dare to pass too much, and only passed a little bit. After seeing that Hu Xiang's face was not so pale, he withdrew his hand and said, "Nephew, this palace under your feet is the imperial palace, right?"
Hu Xiang opened his eyes when Fang Chaozhou grabbed his wrist. When he heard Fang Chaozhou's words, he gritted his teeth and glanced down, then immediately looked away and nodded to Fang Chaozhou, "Yes, but I can't fly a sword in the palace anymore, so I'll have to trouble Uncle Nine to ride in the sedan chair with me later."
"Then let's go down and stand firm."
Normally, Fang Chaozhou would land on the ground all at once, but now that he was carrying a mortal, he could only slow down his speed many times. Even so, Hu Xiang's face turned pale again because of the feeling of weightlessness, and she didn't dare to open her eyes for a long time after landing on the ground.
It was not until the guards at the palace gate came over to salute that Hu Xiang opened his eyes. He looked at the guards kneeling on the ground, said calmly, "Stand up," and said to Fang Chaozhou beside him, "Ninth Uncle, let's go into the palace."
The sedan chair traveled for about an incense stick of time before it stopped. As soon as it stopped, someone came forward to help Fang Chaozhou open the curtain of the sedan chair, "Ninth Prince, we have arrived."
"Thank you very much."
Fang Chaozhou thanked him and got out of the sedan. What caught his eye were two white jade steps with nine layers and three sections. In the middle of the white jade steps was a huge white stone with a relief of a five-clawed white dragon on it, and dragon patterns were engraved on the left and right handrails.
Hu Xiang walked to Fang Chaozhou's side and said softly, "Ninth Uncle, this is Grandpa Emperor's bedroom. Let's go in."
He led Fang Chaozhou forward. When the palace servants guarding outside the palace gate saw them, they opened the door and knelt quietly on both sides.
The hall was quiet. It was not until Fang Chaozhou walked into the inner room that he heard a cough.
The person who is coughing seems to be in great pain, and his coughs sound weak, as if he is about to faint at any time.
Upon hearing the cough, Hu Xiang, who was walking beside Fang Chaozhou, immediately quickened her pace, "Is the Emperor coughing again? Are those imperial doctors doing nothing? They just let the Emperor cough like this!"
He rushed to the bedside, and asked about the person's well-being for a long time before he mentioned Fang Chaozhou, "Grandpa Emperor, the Ninth Uncle is back."
The person on the bed coughed suddenly, his voice sounding weak, "Really? My Chao Zhou is back? Chao Zhou, Chao Zhou, are you there?"
Along with the sound, a hand stretched out from the bed. It was obviously an old man's hand, full of wrinkles and dark brown age spots.
Seeing this, Hu Xiang immediately turned to look at Fang Chaozhou, "Ninth Uncle."
Fang Chaozhou paused, then walked over and held the hand, "I'm here, Father...Emperor."
The old man lying on the bed was wearing bright yellow pajamas. His hair was almost white, but his face looked like a man in his early forties. However, the skin on other parts of his body clearly revealed that he was an old man.
When he saw Fang Chaozhou holding his hand, his tired eyes suddenly became much brighter, full of surprise, "You are really my Chaozhou. You look exactly like me when I was young."
When Hu Xiang saw Fang Chaozhou holding the old man's hand, she took the initiative to make way for him and said, "Grandpa Huang, Hu Xiang will go check on your medicine."
The old man seemed not to hear Hu Xiang's words, and his eyes were fixed on Fang Chaozhou.
Hu Xiang lowered her eyes and left the palace.
Without Hu Xiang, the old man spoke again.
"Chao Zhou, did you have a hard journey back? Are you tired? I see you are too thin." As he spoke, tears welled up in the old man's eyes. He struggled to touch Fang Chaozhou's face with his other hand, but he had no strength and couldn't lift his hand for a long time.
Fang Chaozhou looked at the hand, then took the wrinkled hand and put it on his face. "It's not hard. I'm a cultivator. I arrived in the capital in no time. It was an easy journey. Thanks to my father, I saw a lot of scenery along the way. I can't see it if I stay in the mountains."
"Really? I'm glad it's not hard." The old man laughed, but as soon as he laughed, he started coughing violently. Upon seeing this, Fang Chaozhou quickly helped the old man sit up. Seeing that the pillow he was sleeping on was a jade pillow, he frowned, moved the jade pillow away, and took out a soft gold-thread pillow from his storage ring and placed it behind the old man's waist.
When the old man saw Fang Chaozhou's actions, he couldn't stop coughing, but there was a smile in his eyes. After a while, when he stopped coughing, he said weakly: "When you left, you were only that big, just a little taller than my calf. At that time, the immortal came to choose a disciple and chose you. You cried bitterly and hugged my legs, saying that you didn't want to leave. In the blink of an eye, more than 30 years have passed. I am really old, and Chaozhou, you have grown up."
He talked a lot and Fang Chaozhou listened, nodding from time to time. When the old man was tired and fell asleep, he couldn't help but use his spiritual energy to feel the other's pulse.
It is indeed a sign of death.
Fang Chaozhou paused for a moment before taking his hand back and covering the old man with the quilt.
Most mortals nowadays live to be in their sixties or seventies. His original body was a late-born child, and his father was now in his eighties, almost ninety years old. In any case, he was considered long-lived, but his face was too young and did not fit in with the rest of his appearance.
Fang Chaozhou sat beside the bed for a while, and only got up and left when he saw that the old man did not cough in his sleep. As soon as he went out, he saw Hu Xiang.
Hu Xiang smiled softly when she saw Fang Chaozhou coming out, "Uncle Nine, is Grandpa Emperor asleep?"
"Um."
"Grandpa Emperor always feels sleepy at this time, so Hu Xiang specially asked the people in the Imperial Hospital to boil the medicine later." He paused, "By the way, before Ninth Prince left the palace, he lived in the Prince's Residence, which is now sealed and no one has lived there for many years. As for the other palaces, they are all occupied by female relatives, so Hu Xiang dares to invite Ninth Prince to live in my humble room for a while."
Hu Xiang's residence was outside the palace, but not far from the imperial palace. There were soldiers guarding outside the mansion, but the words "Ye Mansion" on the plaque hanging above the mansion made Fang Chaozhou stunned.
After entering the mansion, Fang Chaozhou was led to the main courtyard. Hu Xiang said beside him, "Hu Xiang's residence is not big, but this main courtyard is pleasing to the eye. I hope Uncle Nine will not dislike it."
Fang Chaozhou had even lived in Xue Danrong's bare cave, so he now felt that anywhere was good, so he nodded happily, "Don't mind, I'm fine with anything."
Seeing this, Hu Xiang wanted to say something else, but before he opened his mouth, he turned his head, covered his lips with a handkerchief and coughed softly, looking as sickly as Xi Shi holding her heart.
The attendant beside him immediately said, "Master, you are not in good health. In order to arrange for the Ninth Prince to return to the capital, you have not taken any medicine for the whole day. During this period, you have been serving in front of the emperor day and night, and you are very tired. If this continues, you will fall ill."
"I'm... fine, cough cough." Hu Xiang said weakly, "It's just that my throat is a little uncomfortable. The Ninth Prince just came back, I can't be rude."
"It's okay, you should go back and rest." Seeing that Hu Xiang was like this, Fang Chaozhou didn't feel comfortable letting anyone stand in front of him any longer. He was even a little afraid that she would cough up blood.
After much persuasion, Hu Xiang was finally persuaded to go back and rest. However, he left a group of people to serve Fang Chaozhou. Fang Chaozhou was used to being free and easy, and was not used to having so many people serving him. But those people were unwilling to leave, and they knelt down when Fang Chaozhou drove them away. In the end, Fang Chaozhou had no choice but to keep those people.
late at night.
The room was heated by the floor heating. The man kneeling on the floor had only been in the room for a short while, but his neck was covered in sweat. The young man sitting on the couch was still clean, and he even wrapped his fox fur coat tightly because he was extremely afraid of the cold.
"What is the Ninth Uncle doing now?" he asked softly.
The kneeling man quickly replied, "My lord, the Ninth Prince is giving a massage."
The young man was stunned. "Massage?"
"Yes, the Ninth Prince wanted to kick all those servants out before, but somehow, they all stayed. Now the servants are scrambling to give him massages, because he said those who do a good job will be rewarded." The man paused, his tone turned envious, "The rewards are all elixirs."
"Immortal Pill? What a good thing." The young man said softly, "Do you also want to serve the Ninth Prince?"
Upon hearing this, the man immediately kowtowed and said, "I dare not, I dare not."
He kowtowed more than ten times in a row, and even though his head was bruised, he didn't dare to stop.
The young man pulled the corner of his lip, still speaking softly, "Okay, I know you are loyal, but he is a cultivator, don't even think about wanting to serve him, even me, if you serve him well, you can get the elixir."
As he spoke, he picked up a pair of scissors on the small table next to him and cut the fox fur coat into pieces.
The next morning.
Fang Chaozhou got up as usual, but as soon as he opened the curtain, he saw the room crowded with people and froze instantly. When those people saw Fang Chaozhou wake up, they came up to him with a smile, calling him the Ninth Prince and saying that they would help him get up.
Fang Chaozhou was massaged for nearly an hour last night. For the first time, he understood the pain of a cat. Although the massage was comfortable, it took so long and there were people vying to give him the massage, which really made him panic. Now, seeing a group of people surrounding him, he immediately shrank back and raised his hands to block those people.
"No, I'll get up by myself! Back off!"
He forced those people out of the room, washed up, and then climbed out of the window. Even to get out of the yard, he jumped directly from the wall.
Not long after leaving the main courtyard, Fang Chaozhou ran into a servant from the mansion. The servant was about to kneel down to pack his luggage when he saw Fang Chaozhou, but Fang Chaozhou stopped him first and asked, "Do you know where my eldest nephew lives?"
He couldn't stand it anymore, he had to talk to his eldest nephew, he really didn't need so many people to serve him.
Upon hearing this, the servant hurriedly said, "Ninth Prince, are you going to look for the master? I will lead you there."
Hu Xiang's residence was quite far from Fang Chaozhou, and it took him a cup of tea to get there. The servants led him into the yard, and the servants in the yard were a little panicked when they saw Fang Chaozhou, and they knelt on the ground. Fang Chaozhou couldn't stop them, so he could only quickly ask them to get up and then ask.
"Is my nephew still sleeping?"
One of the servants said, "The master has woken up, but now is the time for him to take medicine."
"Oh, then I'll wait for him."
As soon as Fang Chaozhou finished speaking, the door opened from the inside and a beautiful maid walked out. The maid bowed to Fang Chaozhou and said, "Ninth Prince, our master invites you in."
Fang Chaozhou was stunned for a moment, but without thinking too much, he went straight into the house. As soon as he entered the room, he smelled a strong smell of medicine, and then he found that the room was particularly hot.
When he walked into the inner room, he saw Hu Xiang sitting sickly on the beauty couch.
Hu Xiang was so weak that he could not even wear clothes. Although his legs were covered with a quilt, his face was still pale. His right hand was holding a medicine bowl, so part of his wrist was exposed. The wrist was so thin that it was not much thicker than a woman's wrist.
He seemed not to hear the footsteps, frowned and took a sip of the medicine in the bowl.
It seemed that the medicine was too bitter. Hu Xiang took a sip and couldn't help sticking out her tongue. After a while, he picked up the medicine bowl again and took a sip.
Fang Chaozhou, who witnessed all this, thought for a moment, found a chair and sat down, then watched Hu Xiang drink the medicine.
At this time, Hu Xiang finally noticed Fang Chaozhou, and a shy smile appeared on his face, "It is really Hu Xiang's fault that the Ninth Emperor Uncle saw Hu Xiang like this."
"It's okay." Fang Chaozhou said.
But Hu Xiang put down the medicine bowl and said, "Uncle Ninth Prince came to me so early in the morning. Is there something wrong? Is it that Hu Xiang has not served you well enough?" As he spoke, he lowered his eyes, with a gloomy look on his face.
Fang Chaozhou shook his head. "No, it's not that you didn't serve me well, it's that you served me too well. I used to practice in the mountains and was used to living alone. Now there are more than a dozen people serving me alone, and I'm not used to it. So, nephew, can you let those people leave? Of course, they all served me very well."
Hu Xiang was silent for a moment before nodding slightly. "Since it is the Ninth Prince's intention, Hu Xiang will naturally listen. The Ninth Prince must want to ask when I will enter the palace today, right? Today is a day off for the court, and all civil and military officials will not attend court. Grandpa Huang has to take a medicinal bath today, so he will not be free until the afternoon."
"Then let's go in the afternoon." Fang Chaozhou stood up after he finished speaking. The two purposes of his coming here had been achieved, so it was time to leave. "I haven't been down the mountain for a long time. I have nothing to do this morning, so I'll just go to the market. I can do it alone, so there's no need to send anyone to follow me."
After saying this, he left, walking very fast for fear that someone would follow him. He didn't breathe a sigh of relief until he was several streets away from the Ye Mansion.
Fang Chaozhou asked someone about the most prosperous market in the capital, and set out to buy something, but he didn't expect that almost all the shops in the market were closed.
The shops in the world of cultivation are open 24 hours a day.
He lost interest in an instant and prepared to walk around. After walking for a while, he unexpectedly saw an open shop. Seeing that the shop was open, Fang Chaozhou walked in, but as soon as he walked in, he was ready to come out.
It turned out to be a rouge shop.
"Sir, wait a minute!"
Before he could walk out, someone called him.
The one who called Fang Chaozhou was a charming woman. When she saw Fang Chaozhou responding, she turned around and waved the fan in her hand, "Since you are here, why don't you take a look? This rouge can be used not only by women, but also by men."
As she spoke, she dipped her little finger into some rouge on the floor and gently rubbed it on her forehead.
Fang Chaozhou was stunned for a moment when he saw the woman's action, and the next moment, someone came out from the back hall, "Young Master, the account book has been counted."
The person who spoke didn't expect that there was someone else. After saying that, he looked at Fang Chaozhou vigilantly.
Young master?
Fang Chaozhou moved his feet back. This name seemed familiar. Wasn’t this the name that the people in Fengyue Temple called the pervert Song Lianyi?
He looked at the woman who was still talking and laughing.
It shouldn't be that unlucky, right? Can I still meet that pervert when I come to the capital?
But it’s better to leave first!
Fang Chaozhou turned around and wanted to run, but he found that the shop was under a barrier.
The person behind him chuckled, "I didn't expect you to recognize me so quickly. You've gotten smarter this time."
The voice was getting closer and closer to him, and by the last word, it was already next to his ear.
A white, tender, boneless hand rested on Fang Chaozhou's shoulder.
"Fang Chaozhou, my candle hadn't finished dripping last time."
There seemed to be a hint of nostalgia in his tone.
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