Daoist Master of Qing Xuan - Chapter 244
Chapter 244: Imperial Seal
Gu Caiwei finished with her training that day. She opened her eyes filled with joy. When the Silent Room was filled with iridescent colors, she thought, “Junior apprentice-brother is back.”
She left the Silent Room and she could see the glowing mist ahead. There were two lights that went across the sky and were heading in the same direction.
One of the lights was clear like the blue sky and turquoise water. As it went across the sky, it was definitely her junior apprentice-brother. She could see roughly in the other light, where there was a lotus within.
When the light appeared in the sky, the pretty and delicate looking young man was Shen Lian.
Standing next to him was an extremely beautiful lady, even by Gu Caiwei’s standard, she could consider her a gorgeous girl. She had clear eyes and jade-like teeth which were as neat as seashells. She carried a gorgeous smile which could touch people’s hearts. Not even Yaotai Fairies could compare with her beauty as her white clothes flowed with the wind.
Gu Caiwei thought to herself, “Junior apprentice-brother isn’t one who’d be attracted by beauty. Why did he bring such a fairy back?”
When they landed, the light faded.
Gu Caiwei smiled and asked, “Junior apprentice-brother, what took you so long? You only come back after the celestial market has ended for a month. The friend here, may I ask which sect do you come from? Caiwei hereby sends my greetings.”
Shen Lian smiled as he spoke to Zhao Xiaoyu, “This is my senior apprentice-sister, Gu Caiwei.”
Zhao Xiaoyu looked at the lady in front of her – she looked graceful and gentle, while not extraordinarily gorgeous, her lucidity was not something that could be found easily among female cultivators. She immediately developed a liking towards her.
Gu Caiwei had yet to reach Huandan, but she gave her a similar feeling as when she first met Shen Lian. It seemed that they both took on the same Daoist technique, which was Taixu Strategy. This person could be considered as the disciple’s disciple of Fairy Ziling.
Zhao Xiaoyu smiled, “So you’re Sister Gu Caiwei. I have heard about you since a long time ago. Allow me, Zhao Xiaoyu, little sister, to greet you.”
With her cultivation experience, she would only refer to herself as little sister out of respect to Shen Lian and Fairy Ziling, also how friendly Gu Caiwei treated her.
She intended to form alliances with Shen Lian, and hence she did not mind to lower her status in Qing Xuan.
Shen Lian knew the kind of person she was, and hence he did not say anything. Furthermore, Zhao Xiaoyu did help him out. It was not his style to turn against someone.
Zhao Xiaoyu should supposedly have parted ways with him, but as she intended to visit Longevity Temple, Qing Xuan’s affiliate, Shen Lian just took the chance to invite her over as a guest.
When the three arrived at the Silent Room, they were chatting about the interesting incidents that happened and after about ten minutes, Zhao Xiaoyu decided to take a walk.
After Zhao Xiaoyu left, Shen Lian said to Gu Caiwei, “Senior apprentice-sister, if you have anything, say it now.”
Gu Caiwei said, “I can’t hide anything from you. Twenty days ago, Qingjiang Sword Sect sent air message to Qing Xuan. As you weren’t in, Uncle-Master Hong sent a message to me saying Guangqing Sect’s Huang Longzi went overboard and decided to eliminate Qingjiang Sword Sect. He had trained under Incantation of Dragon Transformation and could turn into a real dragon. He chased away the water demons and had cornered Qingjiang Sword Sect. He only allowed others to enter and not leave.”
Shen Lian frowned and said, “Guangqing is still a Xuanmen sect. Why would they do such thing which can bring shame to their name? Although Huang Longzi is impatient, he shouldn’t be without a sense of propriety.”
Gu Caiwei said, “As he has already committed to this, this is not the time to understand the reason why. Zuo Shaoqing has begged me for a few times and I did not let him go. I am waiting for your return to make a decision.”
Shen Lian sighed in his heart, if not because how shorthanded Qing Xuan was, such matter could be easily resolved by the sect.
Huang Longzi was ranked the last among the Twelve True Cultivators of Guangqing but he was also a master in the level of Powang. Nobody in Qing Xuan could compete, other than Bai Suhuan and Drunken Daoist.
However, the two would not take action easily, especially Bai Suhuan, who actually had some beef with him.
Shen Lian made a decision quickly, “It was my mistake to not leave you a way to contact me in an emergency. Given Qingjiang Sword Sect can still send out an air message, it is not the worst yet.”
Gu Caiwei said, “There is nothing wrong with you not leave me a contact method. If I make a mistake and allow others to find you, it will be more of an issue. Helping Qingjiang Sword Sect is necessary, but it must be resolved at first shot. If it drags on, we then can’t show our status, and complications can happen.”
Unless if Huang Longzi was in the rank of celestials and Buddha, if not it would not be possible for him to break into Qingjiang Sword Sect in such a short time. If not, he would not even mobilize the Water Clan to affect the Mountain Defense Formation to deplete Qingjiang Sword Sect.
Shen Lian said, “With my power, it is not difficult to beat Huang Longzi. But in order to give him a lesson, it will be difficult and it is not suitable for me to step in.”
Gu Caiwei understood, as Shen Lian was the chief, regardless of how powerful Huang Longzi was, he was just one of the Twelve True Cultivators of Guangqing. He was also the one ranked last, and Guangqing’s chief, Yuming the Honored Celestialist’s apprentice-nephew.
If Shen Lian took action, it will not reflect well on him.
To other sects, it could be useless, but to Guangqing, it was what they wanted.
Gu Caiwei said, “Why don’t we let Jianmei go?”
“If we send Senior Apprentice-Brother Chen, I am afraid it will also attract the others from Huang Longzi’s sect. It is not appropriate, “Shen Lian said.
Zhao Xiaoyu could be a candidate, but Shen Lian knew that to have Zhao Xiaoyu help out in the name of Qing Xuan meant for her to be in the opposite side of Guangqing. It had a hefty price tag.
Shen Lian said, “I have some measures for this. Apprentice-sister, please don’t worry. When you return to the sect, please send Yan Bugui over to Longevity Temple. I have other items for you.”
After that Shen Lian informed Gu Caiwei about the elixirs.
On the fifth year of Zhou Dynasty, the Empress was sick. The Prime Minister, Yu Tianlin and several respected chancellors took the opportunity for a coup d’etat. They entered the palace by force and forced the Empress to give up the throne and pass it on to the prince, Zhao Xun.
As Zhao Xun succeeded, the Empress took on the position of Taishang Huang, with the nomination of ‘Divine Emperor’. The Zhou Dynasty was then returned to Dawei Dynasty.
As the new emperor succeeded the throne, the throne for the Empress’ nephew was eliminated and nothing much happened from there. The political environment stayed relatively stable, and it was rumored that it was because Taishang Huang had stated her intent.
The residents were fine with the change from Zhou to Dawei. The new emperor did not abandon the Empress’s orders. The only surprise was the Prime Minister, Yu Tianlin, as he retired after half a year.
Before when Yu Tianlin was still Prime Minister, his door front was always bustling with traffic, but immediately after he retired, the house became abandoned.
A lot of the scholars sympathized his situation. How the tides had changed. There were some famous wild artists who made poems to satirize how cruel the royal family was.
When Zhao Xun became the emperor, he was cautious and conscientious. He dared not to relax, but as the operating environment became better, he indeed derived satisfaction from his effort.
After he was done with his work, he went to the Imperial Garden and he saw how beautiful the blooming flowers were. He lingered around, immersing himself in the beautiful scenery. The garden was huge with small paths leading to the depth of it. He was lost.
The path led to somewhere spacious, and there was a pavilion.
The aroma of the tea entered his lungs and made him feel more awake. His fatigue was mostly gone.
He saw a young Daoist who was dressed in feathered clothing and star crown sitting at the pavilion. The person was drinking steaming tea, and it was the source of the aroma.
Zhao Xun despite having the sophistication of an emperor, when he saw an outsider, he could not help but felt shocked and lost some of his composure.
The young Daoist laughed and said, “Your Highness, have you forgotten about me?”
When Zhao Xun heard the voice, he found it to be slightly familiar but mostly unfamiliar. When he realized the servants around him had disappeared and that he had never been to this pavilion, he knew something was wrong.
He stepped forward and he finally saw how the young Daoist looked like. He lost his voice for a little, “Mister Qingxia?”
Shen Lian said, “I am glad that Your Highness remember me. Please, have a cup of tea.”
Zhao Xun knew Shen Lian was a powerful master, and at such a short distance, even if he had ten thousand soldiers, none would be able to defend him against Shen Lian, and even his mum sang high praises for him.
While he was the emperor, he too had a sense of propriety. He knew Shen Lian was not one to care about the worldly wealth. If he did, he would not have left to seek the path to Dao when he was back in the extremely wealth Shen family at State Capital of Qing.
It had been seven years since then and Shen Lian looked no different and perhaps even younger, akin to a virgin. His age should be approaching forty, and Zhao Xun could not help but to feel a bit envious, as cultivators while they lived with not much wants, they too enjoyed longevity and youth, and it was something which emperors did not get to enjoy.
After he had a sip of the tea, which tasted like bejeweled nectar, the heat began to flow through all his meridian. It made him feel so comfortable like he was rising to heaven that he could not help but moaned.
He felt that he had behaved inappropriately and hence he smiled awkwardly.
He had not reached the age of fifty, but ever since he became the emperor, he had been working too hard and hence he began to have white hair. He thought about passing on the baton to the prince Zhao Xiang, but while Zhao Xiang was brilliant by nature, he was too headstrong. He could have a great career, but once he succeeded, he could get complacent. He always wanted him to polish his character further.
Zhao Xun sighed, “Sometimes I indeed feel envious towards people like you, Qingxia. You don’t seem to have a worry in the world and are happy.”
“Emperor, you have the wealth of all four oceans. If you are looking for more, it is not the fortune for you.” Shen Lian smiled when looking at him.
“It is easy to say that if you know how to be satisfied, you can be happy, but in fact, it is hard to implement. Why does mister pay me a visit today, and with this cup of tea? It seems like you need a favor from me. If I can do it, I will not say no,” Zhao Xun spoke with a low voice.
For the emperor, he was used to calling himself as ‘Zhen[1]’, but when he was speaking to Shen Lian, he referred to himself as ‘I’ instead. When he realized that, he could not help but feel amazed by Shen Lian’s aura, which could even suppress the presence of an emperor.
“I am here to borrow something from you, Emperor.”
“I have all kinds of treasures here, but in your eyes, Qingxia, I am afraid they are not any better than the grass and wood on the mountain. What can be the item you’re looking for?” Zhao Xun felt curious.
Shen Lian smiled, “I want to borrow your Imperial Seal to suppress a real dragon.”
Zhao Xun almost spits out his tea. He did not imagine that when Shen Lian had a request, it would be the Imperial Seal.
He felt difficult, “If it is another item, I will just give it to you if you request, Qingxia, but this item is important.”
Shen Lian said, “I am not borrowing it against nothing. Do you think your life is worth more than the Imperial Seal?”
Zhao Xun felt angry for a while, and thought, “Even if you were a celestial, you should not be threatening Zhen.” But as he saw Shen Lian’s clear eyes, which did not have any contaminant or violence, he thought to himself, “He was not this type of person.”
[1] 朕 －A self-address for Chinese Emperor/Empress.
