The Empress's No.1 Lackey

Chapter 1043 - 579: Identity Revealed (Part 1)

It must not be worse than the poem that Zhao Douan wrote.

The female temple priest found the Empress’s description peculiar, but being of a gentle disposition, she opened the browser, typed in the corresponding entry, and then skipped over the top few advertising links ranking third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth...

Finally, she opened an article listing the "Top Ten Mid-Autumn Poems."

"Miss, take a look." The temple priest handed over the phone.

Xu Zhenguan said earnestly, "Can you read it to me?"

"..." The female temple priest paused, thinking that perhaps this girl has amnesia to the point of being unable to recognize the words, and nodded sympathetically, reading, "The most famous would be this poem ’Water Melody,’ composed in the year Bingchen during Mid-Autumn, drinking till dawn, deeply drunk, written this piece, also thinking of Ziyou."

"When will the bright moon appear? With a cup in hand, I ask the blue heavens. Not knowing in the celestial palace tonight, what year it is..."

Upon hearing the words ’Water Melody,’ Xu Zhenguan slightly furrowed her brows, surprised by the coincidence of the name of the Mid-Autumn poem in this world being the same as what Zhao Douan had written... Also surprised by the fact that two worlds share the same poetic name...

And when she heard the female temple priest recite the original poem, she was suddenly taken aback, her eyes widening, staring blankly at the temple priest.

Staring at the lines of text on the phone screen.

Her gaze filled with emotions as if... she had seen a ghost!

"May people live long, sharing beauty across thousands of miles..." As the temple priest finished the last line and looked up, she was startled, cautiously observing the Empress staring intently at her: "Miss, you are..."

Xu Zhenguan’s breathing became heavy, her delicate hands clenched tightly, fixedly staring at the temple priest. Suddenly, she asked, "Who is the author of this poem?"

"...Su... Su Shi."

"Not Zhao?"

"...A famous poet from the Song Dynasty, how could he be named Zhao?"

The Empress fell silent, then abruptly said, "Help me search again, is there a poem called ’Farewell to Dong Da’..."

Indeed, after saying this name, she felt it was not quite right and added, "The first line is ’Yellow clouds stretch across a thousand miles, the sun sets gloomily...’"

The temple priest laughed, this time even skipping the search: "Yes, there is. It’s a poem by Gao Shi from the Tang Dynasty."

"..." The Empress fell silent once more, stubbornly asking, "What is the relationship between Su Shi and Gao Shi?"

The temple priest uncertainly replied, "No... no relation, they’re from different dynasties, basically..."

She was also unsure, how many years apart they were.

The Empress fell silent again and suddenly said, "The Emperor’s red beauty I as a youth... Does this line exist?"

The temple priest honestly searched again using the browser and shook her head, saying, "No, but there is a line, ’Teacher’s red beauty I as a youth,’ Miss you remembered it wrong?"

Saying this, she recited the original text.

Xu Zhenguan fell silent once more.

"Miss? Miss?" The temple priest saw Xu Zhenguan as if her spirit had been drawn away and tried to call her.

Xu Zhenguan merely sat down dazedly, gazing at the city in the night outside the window, her expression ever-changing, suddenly as if understanding something, she pressed out a name from between her teeth:

"Zhang... Hui..."

...

...

"Ah-choo!" At Zhengyang Mountain, inside Zhengyang Academy.

Zhao Douan inexplicably sneezed, rubbed his nose, and simultaneously put down the teacup in his hand, murmuring to himself: Who’s thinking about me...

Immediately, he cast his gaze towards the Old Heavenly Master, expecting an answer.

Zhengyang Academy is elegantly constructed, even on the mountain, the courtyard remains filled with green bamboo and flowers, pavilions and towers adorning, showcasing aesthetic taste.

In the hall, ancient masterpieces hung on pink-white walls, and two blue-and-white porcelain vases placed accentuate a sense of antiquity.

Mr. Zhengyang and the student Lu Cheng saw that everyone was about to converse, got up and went out, stepping outside the courtyard, the other scholars who had come out earlier due to the commotion gathered outside the courtyard and did not disturb.

Inside the hall, there were only Zhao Douan, Zhong Pan, Yu Xiu, and Jin Jian left, joining forces to interrogate the shameless Zhang Yan Yi sitting in the main seat.

"Master, what’s really going on here? Why have you appeared here?" Yu Xiu also began to investigate.

They were too curious!

"Hehe," Zhang Yan Yi maintained an air of an old sage, exuding an immortal and ethereal charisma, with a mysterious smile, "This is a long story..."

Zhao Douan interrupted, "Then make it short?"

"..." Zhang Yan Yi glared at him irritably and said helplessly, "Old me waited here naturally to lay early arrangements to kill this Sorrow God."

It was indeed arranged... Zhao Douan wasn’t surprised; instead, it confirmed his suspicion, "So, when I found you in the Capital back then, you had already foreseen today?"

Zhang Yan Yi nodded, then shook his head, "Involving the Divine, how can it be seen clearly? Old me only saw you with dark clouds looming over your head, indicating a bloody disaster, so I wanted to observe more. But unexpectedly, I was obstructed by the Heavenly Dao. Currently, in this world, those who can block my sight are few. The Emperor is in the Capital, Xuan Yin, that bald monk, seeks not to be besieged and thus refrains from acting. Wu Xiankui is in the East Sea, inactive since the Sealing... Plus, you were going to deal with Xu Jingtang, it’s clear even with a little thought that it involves the White Clothes Sect."

Zhong Pan suddenly realized, "So, Master, you guessed back then that the White Clothes Sect might summon the Sorrow God to descend, and only Divine-level power could achieve this... Thus, slaying the Evil God is our unshirkable duty, hence you decided to take action and annihilate the Sorrow God?"

Zhang Yan Yi nodded with approval, with a demeanor of someone saving the common people.

Really?... This old man is so kind? Zhao Douan was skeptical. Jin Jian sitting beside him saw his disbelief and leaned over to quietly explain, "Practitioners of the Heavenly Dao need to deal with evil spirits to aid their cultivation, maintain the righteous path, preventing rampant spirits which benefit the Master’s cultivation."

Zhao Douan suddenly realized, so Old Zhang did it for political credits... for the Divine Heavenly Dao.

He had heard Zhenbao mention before, the cultivation of the "Heavenly Dao" has many taboos and requirements.

For instance, the Heavenly Dao represents rules, and the more one cultivates to the deep levels of Heavenly Dao, every action must align more with that ethereal yet real "Dao" between heaven and earth.

Therefore, the Heavenly Master Mansion set the rule of not interfering with the secular world, both to preserve the legacy and avoid disasters, as well as to follow the "Dao"...

Similarly, eradicating evil spirits is not just due to a sense of justice or for stability’s need; it also conforms to the "Dao".

Zhang Yan Yi glared at his female disciple, sighed lightly, and explained, "Eliminating evil spirits does indeed benefit old me’s cultivation somewhat."

You’re just benefiting yourself; why pretend as if you’re acting for the world... Zhao Douan despised inwardly but showed admiration on his face, "Heavenly Master is noble!"

Zhang Yan Yi immediately felt much more comfortable and smiled, "Since the Vassal Kings rebelled, war is everywhere, and the mourning energy in the world is dense, losing its balance. Therefore, old me aligns with the Heavenly Dao, also intending to weaken evil spirits. However, the Divine is difficult to deal with, even with old me’s mana, it requires effort, using Zhengyang Mountain’s Feng Shui to set up a grand array to ensure nothing goes wrong."

Well, this sentence is half-true.

If it were merely about defeating the Sorrow God, there’s no need to arrange an array at all.

But if one wants to prevent the mourning energy from scattering and returning to the world, and imprison the Sorrow God’s power as much as possible into the Heavenly Book... then an array is needed.

Zhao Douan nodded, roughly understanding:

Old Zhang saw he has a bloody disaster, guessed the White Clothes Sect’s intention, simply used himself as bait, let the White Clothes Sect put in the effort, summon the Sorrow God into the mortal world, then lure it into this grand array on Zhengyang Mountain, trapping it like a turtle in a jar.

The life-saving charm he gave him was also to ensure he lived and brought the Sorrow God to Zhengyang Mountain.

Zhao Douan said gloomily, "So, since you planned so well, why can the leaves you gave me only transport twice? Does the Heavenly Master know, if I hadn’t taken another path midway and thought of a way, we couldn’t have reached Zhengyang Mountain at all?"

Yu Xiu and Jin Jian both nodded, chirping, explaining Zhao Douan’s role.

They all held some grievances.

Zhang Yan Yi, with the demeanor of a master, originally wanted to say, "Everything is within poor Dao’s calculations."

But was interrupted by Zhao Douan’s premature sarcastic smile, "Heavenly Master, could it be you even calculated that I could obtain the Dragon Girl and just happen to borrow the Dragon Girl to hide?"

Jin Jian shook his head, "Master can’t plan so meticulously."

A merciless undermining machine.

Zhang Yan Yi nearly lost his composure, his beard slightly quivering, glaring at Jin Jian, "You think your master has no heart to care for you?"

Isn’t it so? Yu Xiu and Jin Jian thought inwardly.

Suddenly, Zhong Pan, who had been sitting beside, spoke slowly, "Actually, Master also left me some life-saving measures."

Zhao Douan and the two women looked at him in astonishment.

The simple and reliable Little Heavenly Master smiled slightly, revealing white teeth, "Master’s decree to me had arrangements long before, so if it really came to danger, I could also ensure we reach Zhengyang Mountain."

There’s a traitor among us!

Zhao Douan widened his eyes in sudden realization.

It’s true, back then Zhang Yan Yi did say he would separately give Zhong Pan a decree, Zhao Douan also waited two days in Yongjia City before Zhong Pan arrived.

They were all kept in the dark.

"Alright, you go out first, Master still has something to discuss with him alone." Zhang Yan Yi suddenly said.