The Heavens Begin with Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 191 We will discuss our own affairs from now on
The emperor is already old now. He has been forced to live in the deep palace for so many years. The loss of power in his hands has become more and more serious, and his health has been seriously affected. Although he has never lacked various maintenance medicinal foods, he is still gradually becoming listless, and his eyes are showing signs of blindness.

But now, a sudden disaster (blessing?) has befallen the emperor, who has died inexplicably and has no offspring. The person who should be in power is undoubtedly the emperor emeritus.

So after receiving the news, Taishang hurriedly came out of Ningshou Palace and sat back on the emperor's throne he had not seen for a long time.

He closed his eyes, leaned back on the dragon chair, and reluctantly stretched out his hand to rub the armrest repeatedly, and asked in a low voice:

"You said that a fairy came to the Princess Yuan's palace, and the prince angered the fairy and was killed by thunder..."

"I dare not deceive Your Majesty. Dozens of people witnessed it with their own eyes. It is definitely not false."

At this moment, Xia Shouzhong was like a drowned dog. He knelt dejectedly in front of the imperial desk, with a sad face, and made a report as if he had lost his parents.

Unlike the civil and military officials in the court who could wait for an opportunity to act, as eunuchs in the palace, their honor and disgrace were completely tied to the emperor. No matter how powerful he was, as long as the emperor was replaced, they would immediately scatter like monkeys when the tree fell, and there would be no room for resistance.

If he were an ordinary eunuch, he could find someone else, but Xia Shouzhong was a man trusted by the emperor, so no one would want him to join someone else's camp. He would most likely spend the rest of his life guarding the emperor's tomb.

Anyway, the result was already determined, so he didn't have any energy at all. He just answered whatever was asked, without hiding anything.

Dai Quan, the internal minister of Daming Palace, also reported in a low voice:

"Your Majesty, I have personally seen your Majesty's dragon body. It is all burnt black and horrible to look at. It really looks like it was struck by lightning."

After hearing this, the retired emperor frowned and remained silent.

The imperial study suddenly became quiet. After a while, the emperor took a deep breath and asked again:

"Where are the Princess Yuan and the Immortal now?"

That’s right, he was also thinking about that immortal!

The older people get, the more they fear death. The more power, wealth and glory they have enjoyed, the more reluctant they are to die.

Only poor people are fearless; living is torture.

At this age, health is almost as important as power.

If power could not bring him health, perhaps health would be more important than power.

He also wants the elixir of immortality!
He could now understand Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han very well, but immortals were not something that could be seen just by wanting to.

Now that he has a ready-made opportunity, if he misses it he will regret it for the rest of his life. As for his sons, even if one dies, there are still a lot of them left. What is he afraid of!
Dai Quan had served the Supreme Lord for many years and knew His Majesty's thoughts very well. He immediately lowered his head and said submissively:

"I have risked my life to send someone to check. Now the palace is empty, with only a few ignorant maids and eunuchs left."

"I have asked people to inquire carefully, and they really know nothing. They have not noticed anything about the immortals."

"Is that so..." Tai Shang nodded after pondering, "It is indeed a method used by the immortals. It is not something that ordinary people can detect."

"Dai Quan, how do you think we should deal with this?"

Dai Quan knew that he had to stand up bravely at this moment and take the blame for flattering the immortal on himself, so he took the initiative to say:
"The emperor has sinned against the heavens and has been punished by them. If this news were to be spread hastily, it would only hurt the people. It would be better to use the excuse of his death as an excuse and spread it to the public."

"Since it is a death from illness, then all matters should be handled as such."

Sure enough, after hearing this, the Supreme Lord snorted angrily, "In this case, wouldn't the emperor's death be in vain? Will the immortal be allowed to get away with it like this?"

Dai Quan knelt down and begged:

"Your Majesty, please put state affairs first."

"As for the immortal who passed by, we can wait until the national affairs are stabilized and order the Jinyi Tiqi to secretly investigate his whereabouts. Even if the immortal can hide his whereabouts, the Empress Yuan is still just a mortal, so her whereabouts will definitely be leaked."

"Perhaps the Highness can order the concubines of the Emperor to return home. Who knows, perhaps the Concubine Yuan will also return to the Jia Mansion."

"Once we find them, whether we should send out a large army to arrest them or order the Tianshi Mansion to issue a letter of reprimand, everything will naturally be decided by the Supreme."

The Supreme was still angry and refused to agree. After Dai Quan’s repeated persuasion, he reluctantly agreed.

"Forget it. Everything is based on the stability of the country. Stability overrides everything. Other matters can be discussed after the government is stabilized."

So an imperial decree was issued, announcing that the emperor had died and that the emperor would resume his regent status. Except for the empress who remained in the deep palace, all other concubines in the harem were allowed to return home.

Overnight, the capital city changed.

All the civil and military officials went to the court meeting nervously, waiting to see what would happen in the government.

Only the four kings and eight dukes began to tremble again.

They were Taishang's die-hard supporters. Even after the current emperor ascended the throne and suppressed them in various ways, they gritted their teeth and refused to rebel for the sake of their own interests.

Under normal circumstances, they would have been replaced by the upstarts supported by the current emperor sooner or later. However, circumstances changed and the emperor came to power again.

Now it's their turn to turn the tables and settle accounts.

Without going into details about the situation in the court, let's just say that Dai Quan personally led the palace maids and eunuchs, using all the equipment a noble concubine could use, and sent "Princess Yuan" back to the Jia Mansion.

Ever since Jia Zheng left the capital, news about the Jia family has become much less known, especially about matters in the court. No one would tip them off.

It will take time for the news of the emperor's death to spread, and Dai Quan arrived too quickly, so the Jia family still doesn't know the situation.

Upon hearing the news that Concubine Yuan had returned home, Mrs. Wang's legs were shaking, fearing that the news would be leaked and her daughter would be sent back by the emperor.

After cautiously welcoming the empress into the Grand View Garden, Mrs. Wang discovered that the carriage was empty and her face turned pale.

Dai Quan had been paying attention to Madam Wang's expression all the way. Seeing this, he knew clearly that Madam Wang knew nothing about Concubine Yuan's affairs. He immediately stepped forward and said with a smile:
"Don't panic, ma'am."

"I would also like to congratulate Madam. Empress Yuan has found a way to become an immortal and is now traveling with the immortals."

"The Supreme Lord has always worshipped Buddhism and Taoism. After learning about the story of Concubine Yuan, he was very envious, so he never made it public. He just sent the imperial carriage back to show his goodwill."

"If the Empress Yuan returns home in the future, please let me know. I will definitely come to visit you once I know about it."

“Uh…” Madam Wang opened her mouth wide, not knowing how to answer, “Then, then the Emperor…”

"Oh, Madam, you may not know that His Majesty unfortunately passed away last night and is now the Regent."

"Speaking of which, our Jia family is still a family of four kings and eight dukes, and we have always been of the same lineage!"

Dai Quan's face was as brightly smiling as a flower, and he was as affectionate as he wanted.

Not only is Tai Shang old, Dai Quan is also old. Who wouldn’t want an elixir of immortality?
Although it is most likely that he will not be able to enjoy this treasure, the Supreme Being values ​​his status and is afraid of being struck by thunder, so it is inconvenient for him to show up in person. It is likely that his trusted eunuch will act as a go-between.

As the person who is in the middle of the communication, if he can't even enrich himself, then he deserves to fall into the reincarnation.

Seeing Dai Quan's affectionate and slightly flattering look, Mrs. Wang always felt a little dazed.

She had met Dai Quan before, but even when the Jia family was still quite prosperous, she had never seen Dai Quan be so servile.

Of course she knew who the immortal was, but she didn't expect that the immortal's power was so strong that even the close confidants around the Supreme Lord bowed their heads in obedience.

And...what about the emperor's death?
She didn't believe that this was an accident. The emperor would have died sooner or later, but just after her daughter became pregnant with Master Zhan's child.

She saw with her own eyes last night that Master Zhan rode out of the mansion on a cloud and entered the palace.

However, she dared to keep these words in her heart, not daring to reveal a single word, so she could only laugh dryly:

"Yes, the Jia family has always been loyal to His Majesty... Don't worry, sir. If my daughter returns home, I will definitely send someone to deliver a letter to you."

After Dai Quan got her guarantee, he took his leave and returned to the palace to report.

He was not worried that Madam Wang would go back on her word. The maids and eunuchs had already received his orders and were now staying in the Jia Mansion, waiting for Concubine Yuan to return. Even if Madam Wang did not pass on the news, he would have his own channels of information.

Mrs. Wang sent Dai Quan out the door and watched him leave. She then turned around and quickly sent someone to find Master Zhan to get to the bottom of the situation.

Where on earth did he take his own daughter? Did he kill the emperor?

Now Mr. Zhan is sleeping soundly with Concubine Yuan in his arms.

When Yuanchun met with the lame Taoist last night, she was by his side and heard everything clearly. She was very anxious when she came back.

"Master, since there is a chance to become an immortal, why don't you just accept it? Why bother to conflict with that angel?"

Master Zhan shook his head and sighed:

"If he really wants the master to go to heaven and enjoy happiness, how could the master refuse?"

"But you also heard that he clearly looked down on the master. Looking at his attitude, I'm afraid that after the master goes to heaven, he will most likely be just a heavenly soldier or waiter, without any status at all, and will be destined to be a chores."

"Besides, he only wants the master to go up alone, but not to take you with him."

"The master has always been kind and gentle to women, how could he bear to abandon you and leave you alone?"

"If we can ascend, then we must ascend with our whole family. We must not abandon or give up."

"But..." Yuanchun hurriedly tried to persuade him, "Master, you have also heard from the angel that the sky of the East China Sea has leaked, and the human world will soon be submerged by a flood. What will you do then?"

Mr. Zhan was not in a hurry at all. He just hugged her and comforted her:

"Since the world is about to be destroyed, why not take the whole family with you to ascend together!"

"You've also heard him say that the destruction of this world may take several years. I, the master, will work hard and practice hard to achieve immortality as soon as possible without the blessing of heaven."

"If it really doesn't work, just throw Baoyu out to take the blame."

While Yuanchun was practicing martial arts with Master Zhan, she exclaimed in surprise, "What does this have to do with Baoyu?"

Master Zhan buried his head in Yuanchun's golden bell and ate heartily, explaining casually:
"Yuanchun, you don't know that your brother who was born with a jade in his mouth is actually a spirit from the Heaven-Repairing Stone, and was also thrown down to face the calamity."

"The spiritual jade that was born with him is actually the body of the Heaven-Repairing Stone."

"It was because he was distracted that there was a hole in the sky."

"This is a fate that was destined. I was just going with the flow, so the Heavenly Court didn't send troops to arrest you."

"If it is really impossible for the whole family to ascend to heaven, the master will throw out his precious jade and see if he can fill the hole in the sky."

"I just don't know if it will succeed without this stone spirit in charge."

"Ah...I see." Yuanchun had no source of information and easily believed Mr. Zhan's nonsense. She felt a little relieved.

Master Zhan pressed her head gently, and she understood. She slid down and knelt in front of Master Zhan, and began to do "Master Zhan's version of radio gymnastics". But then she heard Master Zhan say:
"In fact, most of the concubines in the master's house are fairies from heaven who came down to earth to respond to the disaster."

"But your status in heaven is not high either. You are just ordinary servants, flower spirits, grass monsters, etc. Although you have the aura of immortals, you do not have any skills or magical powers. Everything is controlled by the heavens, and you have no autonomy at all."

"Master, I can't bear to see you floating like duckweed, so I gathered you together and brought you into the Dao, so that you can start practicing again. If you can achieve enlightenment through practice in the future, you can also have a positive result, so that you won't always be manipulated by others at the bottom of the Heavenly Palace."

"Even if you can't achieve enlightenment, you can still become a Taoist couple with me, so that we can keep each other warm and take care of each other."

"Ah..." Yuanchun was even more moved and began to practice more diligently, hoping to achieve enlightenment and ascend to heaven as soon as possible. Master Zhan was lying there with his arms and legs spread out, practicing diligently, but he was not anxious at all.

Outsiders may not know, but he knows it very well.

In the world of Dream of the Red Chamber, the core is Baoyu, followed by the two girls, Daiyu and Chai, and the rest are the Twelve Chai, deputy chai, and additional deputy chai.

It can be said that if the total amount of immortal energy is one bucket, Chai and Dai will get eight parts, and the remaining two parts will be shared by the other women.

Now, before he even eats Chai and Dai, he has already achieved Yangshen. So after eating Chai and Dai, becoming an immortal will be a piece of cake.

When I heard what the lame Taoist said before, it seemed as if all the immortal energy was wasted by Master Zhan, and was taken as kickbacks by the golden finger. But when I think about it carefully, I know that there are big differences between immortals.

How can women like these, spirits of flowers and plants, or waiters and maids, be compared with the heavenly soldiers and generals, and how can they be compared with the immortal officials in heaven?

Although the stone in Master Zhan's body swallowed up all the immortal spirit, what it gave back to Master Zhan was not only the cultivation level but also various magical powers. It was definitely not as simple as taking kickbacks.

So even though Mr. Zhan has rejected the lame Taoist priest, he is still confident that he will have a bright future.

Don’t ask, the question is the confidence in the time traveler’s golden finger.

Although Yuanchun was not clear about all this, she was a woman of gentle character and obeyed Master Zhan's words. Since she saw that Master Zhan was so confident, she had no choice but to believe him and work hard to accompany him in his practice.

After a period of hard training, the exhausted Yuanchun fell into a deep sleep, and Master Zhan began to think about eating Chai and Dai.

There is no need to talk about Baochai. If she wants to eat it, she can eat it anytime. But Mr. Zhan is a man who cherishes women. He intends to save this good thing for last, wanting to slowly savor it on the wedding day and the bridal night. There is no need to talk about her.

But Lin Daiyu was in a bit of a dilemma.

The news of Baochai's recovery had already spread, and of course Lin Daiyu also knew about it. She immediately realized that her chance of becoming the Countess of the Zhan Mansion was completely gone.

Although she and Mr. Zhan have been very close these days and their relationship has grown stronger, her awkward personality has not changed at all. Instead, she has become even more pretentious as their relationship has grown warmer.

Mr. Zhan pondered for a long time how to persuade Sister Lin, and then he got the news from Mrs. Wang, asking about Yuanchun's whereabouts.

At this point, there was no need for Mr. Zhan to keep hiding anything any longer, so he woke up Yuanchun, put some makeup on her, put on a veil for her, and swaggered to the Jia Mansion.

After they met, Mrs. Wang recognized the identity of the veiled woman at a glance. She knew that her daughter must have become a member of the Veiled Society. According to the order, she should be Xiao Shisi. So she sighed, pulled the two into the room, and complained with a bitter face:

"Hey, why did you two come here so blatantly? Don't you know that the court is looking for you?"

"Did the palace force you to hand over Yuanchun?" asked Master Zhan.

"No, not only did they not force him, but the chief steward Dai Quan was very polite and only said that he would be notified when the queen returned home."

As soon as Master Zhan heard this, he knew what the Supreme was planning. He sneered and waved his hand, saying:
"Ignore them."

"Yuanchun will live in my house these days to avoid any embarrassment to you."

Yuanchun didn't know that Master Zhan was her godfather, and fearing that her mother would feel resentful, she hurriedly advised:
"Mother, you don't know that this world is about to be destroyed. Only by following the master and ascending together can you save your life."

Mrs. Wang was startled and her face turned pale as she screamed:
"What do you mean? Why is it going to be destroyed?"

Yuanchun briefly recounted what she had seen and heard last night, then took Mrs. Wang's hand and said to her:
"Several sisters and Baoyu in the family are actually immortals from heaven who have descended to earth. Now that the calamity is approaching, there is no need to think too much. Just follow closely behind the master and you will naturally be able to escape the calamity."

After hearing this, Mrs. Wang turned her expectant gaze towards Mr. Zhan and asked in a trembling voice:
"Could it be that I am also a fairy who has descended to earth?"

In this world, one's identity is given by oneself. How could Mr. Zhan, who has been in the world of women for so long, make a mistake in this regard? Of course he nodded in approval.

"That's right. All the women I keep by my side are fairies who have descended to the earth and are destined to be with me."

Mrs. Wang immediately became delighted and laughed so hard that she couldn't stop. On the contrary, Yuanchun was stunned and looked at the two of them in surprise.

Seeing her daughter so surprised, Mrs. Wang suddenly came to her senses, her face flushed, and she tried to persuade her daughter:

"My dear daughter, the world is about to be destroyed. What's the point of you still caring about these ethics and morals?"

"Since we are all fairies from heaven, there is no need to be so rigid about our identities in this mortal world. At worst, we can just go our separate ways in the future."

"From now on, you call me mom and I'll call you sister."

She was afraid that Yuanchun would not be able to accept it, so she threw out even bigger news to cover up her family's embarrassment.

"Sister, you don't know that in this Veil Society, besides mother, you have twelve sisters, and mother ranks eleventh."

"Your thirteenth sister is Aunt Zhao, and your twelfth sister is Madam Xing..."

Hearing those familiar names from Mrs. Wang's mouth, Yuanchun was speechless, her cherry-like mouth opened and couldn't close for a long time.

Master Zhan was listening and couldn't help scratching his head. This group of Veiled Monsters was originally just something Xiaojiu made up to please him. The top rankings were empty and no one occupied the top positions.

But now it seems that he can easily cram some women who are not willing to be seen in public in here.

"Okay, okay, you and your daughter can go to my house to reminisce about the past, and talk about these things with the other sisters."

"Master, I will go to Sister Lin and give you another sister."

"Now that the end of the world is approaching, it is time to unite and work together. More sisters means more strength!"

Mr. Zhan waved his hand and asked someone to take Madam Wang and her daughter back to the Zhan Mansion, and then he came to Sister Lin's courtyard.

Seeing Mr. Zhan coming, Sister Lin was delighted at first and stood up to greet him, but after taking two steps, she turned around and sat down, starting to sulk.

"Humph, Brother Nian Si, why are you here with me instead of staying at home with your concubines?"

However, Master Zhan did not indulge her bad habits. He stepped forward and hugged her, carefully tasting the taste of her tongue, and then said with a smile:
"Sister, you didn't drink any vinegar in your mouth, why is there such a strong sour taste?"

Sister Lin pushed and refused several times, but still couldn't get out of Master Zhan's arms, so she snorted coldly, turned her head away from him, pouted and said angrily:

"My brother only bullies the weak. He always starts to make a move on me, and he doesn't care about me at all."

"It's unfair, sister." Master Zhan cried out, "If I wasn't worried about your poor health, I would have eaten you up long ago."

"In order to help my sister recover her health as soon as possible, I gave her secret medicine every time. How much blood and essence did she lose? How could my sister be so heartless and completely deny this matter?"

Being teased by Master Zhan like this, Sister Lin was so embarrassed that she wanted to find a hole to hide in. She didn't care about being angry anymore. She quickly turned her head to cover Master Zhan's mouth and scolded him coquettishly:
"Bah bah bah!"

"Brother Nian Si is so shameless, he still has the nerve to mention something, some secret medicine, can that thing, that thing be taken by humans?"

Master Zhan stuck out his tongue and licked Lin Daiyu's palm gently, causing her to scream and pull her hand back. Then he smiled and said:
"Sister, what do you mean by that? Why can't I eat anymore? Could it be that you are eating less?"

"As for the efficacy of this secret medicine, I'm sure my sister already knows it well."

"Alas, my sister is always this hypocritical character, saying one thing and thinking another. Even if she is dead, her mouth is still hard."

How could Lin Daiyu be a match for an old rogue like Mr. Zhan? In no time, she was played around by Mr. Zhan and had long forgotten about her anger with him.

Sister Lin tried to stop Mr. Zhan from doing evil, and said coquettishly:

"Brother Nian Si only knows how to bully me, knowing that I can't do anything to you."

"Humph, even Zijuan and Xueyan have been bribed by you. They only speak in your favor in everything!"

Master Zhan smiled and waved for Zijuan and Xueyan to come over. He threw a hundred-liang silver note to each of them and praised them:
"They have long known that you will be a member of the master's mansion sooner or later, so what's wrong with expressing your loyalty to the master in advance?"

"It's just that you are so hypocritical, making excuses. Otherwise, you would have been accepted into the mansion by the master long ago."

At this point, Sister Lin became hypocritical again, frowning and pouting, and kept pinching Master Zhan's waist with her hands, and said angrily:

"Humph, who wants to go to your house and be your concubine?"

"How many sisters do you have? I can't even count them. I don't want to become like them!"

After hearing this, Master Zhan threatened her with a smile:

"Then you better be careful, little sister. I will take more and more concubines. The later you join us, the more sisters you will have."

"What?" Lin Daiyu was really shocked when she heard it, and the hesitation on her face became more and more intense.

Master Zhan took the opportunity to continue to add fuel to the fire and said:

"Look, if you agree earlier, the Sanchun sisters, the Li sisters, and Fu Qiufang will all have to call you sister."

"But now, when you enter the mansion again, you have to call them sister!"

After hearing this, Lin Daiyu became even angrier. She was angry that she shouldn't have spread the rumor that she had dreamed of becoming the legitimate wife of the Zhan family.

She was not angry at herself for being greedy, but mainly angry at herself for not thinking things through. She didn't expect that the rumor would be exposed one day.

As a result, now that Baochai has recovered from her illness, everyone knows that the news was fake. Just thinking about it makes her so embarrassed that she feels like dying.

As for the instigator of this incident, it is the dog man in front of us who makes people love and hate him.

The more Lin Daiyu thought about it, the angrier she became, and the harder she twisted her fingers on Master Zhan's body.

"It's all your fault, it's all your fault..."

"You clearly have the secret medicine and could have cured Sister Bao a long time ago, but you spread such false news and deliberately did bad things. You are really not a good person!"

She was not a fool. After taking Mr. Zhan's secret medicine so many times, she naturally knew who cured Baochai's illness. It had nothing to do with the so-called Doctor Zhang.

Master Zhan let her give him a light massage, which was neither painful nor itchy, and he did not care. He just smiled and hugged her in his arms, kissing and touching her and said:

"Good sister, now that things have come to this, let's stop being so awkward and just agree to marry me!"

"Humph, I don't want to marry a playboy like you!"

Sister Lin raised her foot and kicked Master Zhan's calf so hard that her mouth looked like it was about to burst into tears.

However, Master Zhan is well versed in female psychology and knows that at this moment, not agreeing is the same as agreeing, so he immediately said with a smile:

"Then the master has no choice but to resort to force!"

"Tomorrow the master will have someone come over to choose an auspicious date and arrange your dowry and other things. You have to agree to it whether you agree or not."

"Hmph!" Lin Meimei snorted coldly and continued to kick Master Zhan without saying a word.

Master Zhan laughed and pulled out his belt. Without waiting for Sister Lin to change color, he pinned her down and tied her up, shouting:
"I think my sister's illness is not completely healed yet. Come on, let's take a few more doses of medicine to consolidate its effect."

Sister Lin was startled and turned around to ask for help:

"Zijuan, Xueyan, come and save me..."

Unexpectedly, after Zijuan and Xueyan saw each other, they looked at each other, smiled, turned around and left, quietly went out, closed the door from outside, and guarded the door, listening to bursts of lewd music coming from inside, and felt a tingling sensation all over their bodies, and they couldn't help but imagine the happy life in the future when they would marry into the Zhan Mansion with the young lady.

(End of this chapter)