Supreme Golden Palace

Chapter 2 Duke of Qi

"Is this my chance?"

Lu Shang suppressed his turbulent emotions and reached out towards the stone door. His years of experience as a thief told him that this was a truly great opportunity. Just looking at the style of this appearance, it was definitely not ordinary. It must be a congenital being with a world-shaking background.

If Lu Shang hadn't just had a flash of inspiration, a sudden realization that vagueness is the Dao, and ignorance is Zen, he would have missed this incredible opportunity. It was truly a stroke of divine inspiration, a rare opportunity, that allowed Lu Shang to obtain this treasure of great Dao.

boom!
An indescribable feeling of weightlessness enveloped Lu Shang's mind the moment he stretched out his hand, followed by a pulling sensation like the ebb and flow of the tide, each wave stronger than the last.

It seemed to tear Lu Shang's body apart and shatter him into pieces of nothingness, and his vision darkened.

He was in a daze, and after an unknown amount of time, the feeling of weightlessness gradually faded away. The colors around Lu Shang gradually became vivid, and his sense of existence gradually increased.

He tried hard to open his eyelids, trying to see the chaotic scene in front of him, but he could not open his heavy eyelids. His intuition told him that he was now experiencing a complete sublimation of life.

By the time he had fully adjusted, he had found himself in a completely different world. He stared blankly at the unfamiliar interior decorations: pearl curtains and jade tents, carved red sandalwood beams, and rosewood, all of them a truly luxurious sight. With trembling hands, he pushed open the carved window beside him, revealing a small garden beyond.

Everywhere he looked, there were secluded bamboos and ancient pines, a new pavilion on the willow creek, a lotus pond on the moon platform, secluded paths, the square bridge on the north tower, and the moon pool on the west hill. These were even more exquisite and magnificent than the gardens he had in the State of Xu.

"Too, to think that such a thing would happen?" Lu Shang stood there in a daze. Everything in front of Mumu, the 'surprise' behind the door was too big, so big that even he, who always prided himself on being an old thief who never showed his emotions, could not control himself.

He was silent for a moment, then turned and came to the bronze mirror in the middle of the study. He looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar face in the mirror, which seemed to be crying and laughing. He sighed softly and said, "Lü Shang,"

"Lü Shang!"

Pieces of memory fragments surged in his mind, and Lu Shang finally knew the whole story.

The heaven and the earth have yin and yang, and the qi is divided into clear and turbid. Everything in the circle of qi has positive and negative sides, which are mutually generated and restrained, and circulate over and over again.

This stone gate stands between yin and yang, the boundary between positive and negative, and the innate thing at the moment of birth and death. It itself seems to be alive and not alive, seems to exist and not exist, between reality and illusion, and exists above the universe. It cannot be seen by anyone other than Taiyi, and cannot be touched by anyone other than Taishang!

The reason why Lu Shang was able to touch the stone gate as a real person in the Great Wilderness of Mountains and Seas was not because he was extremely talented, able to do what others could not, but because he was very special. In the Great Wilderness of Mountains and Seas outside the gate, there was already a Xu Boshang from the Gonggong clan.

And in the world behind this door, or should we call it the Jambu world, there actually exists a relative of the emperor named Lu Shang.

"The maternal relative of Emperor Yang Jian of the Northern Sui Dynasty, Lü Shang, the prince of Qi!"

After Lu Shang completely integrated the memory fragments, he lowered his head and whispered.

It is not wrong to call it the Northern Sui Dynasty. At that time, the Northern Sui Dynasty had just replaced the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and the Sui Emperor Yang Jian had been emperor for only two years, that is, the second year of Kaihuang.

The mystery of fate is beyond belief. Lu Shang never expected that after his death in his previous life, for some unknown reason, his true spirit was split into two. One part was born into the Xu Kingdom in the vast wilderness and mountains, and the other part was born into the mother's clan of Emperor Wen of Sui, Yang Jian.

Spanning two worlds, separated by infinite time and space, now, guided by the stone gate, the two true spirits meet again. Both are Lu Shang, originally one person, but with two hearts. The feeling is really hard to describe in words.

"However, the status of the Duke of Qi is more prestigious than when I was in the Great Wilderness of Mountains and Seas."

Although Dahuang Lü Shang was the ruler of a country during his time in Shanhai, offering sacrifices to the heavens and accepting the Mandate of Heaven, Yanfu Lü Shang's origins were strictly speaking superior to Dahuang's. After all, the current emperor, Yang Jian, was his cousin and an absolute close relative of the emperor.

Even though the Yanfu Lü clan was a small family, and Lü Shang's grandfather, Lü Daoxing, was a simple farmer, the Lü clan's influence was unstoppable. Lü Daoxing's sister, Lü Kutao, married the young and relatively unknown Yang Zhong, becoming the future Duke of Sui. Lü Kutao's eldest son, Yang Jian, not only inherited Yang Zhong's title of Duke of Sui but also usurped the throne of the Northern Zhou dynasty and became the founding emperor of the Northern Sui dynasty. After Yang Jian ascended the throne, he posthumously conferred titles on his relatives, and the Lü clan, as Yang Jian's maternal clan, was certainly not overlooked.

Other relatives were fine, but the branch of Lu Kutao's brother Lu Daoxing was indeed treated with great favor. Yang Jian posthumously awarded his maternal grandfather Lu Shuangzhou the title of Shang Zhuguo, Taiwei, Governor of Qingzhou, and Duke of Qi County, and gave him the posthumous title of "Jing". He also posthumously awarded his maternal grandmother Yao the title of Lady of Duke Jing of Qi.

He also issued an edict to rebury him and build a temple in Qizhou. He also issued an edict to let Lu Daoxing's son Lu Yongji inherit the title of Duke of Qi County and stay in the capital. From then on, the Lu family became prosperous!
Yang Jian was a stern and imposing figure, possessing a steely exterior but a keen mind. He was ruthless towards those who threatened his throne. His ruthless methods were evident in his disregard for the father-daughter relationship and his decision to eradicate the last remaining descendants of the Northern Zhou dynasty.

As for the Lu family, who posed no threat to his throne and were his close relatives on his mother's side, the Sui emperor showed them a gesture of gracious reward and generous treatment.

Even when a cousin of Lü Kutao made such vulgar remarks in front of the ministers as "You can't steal a child if the child is not yet confirmed, it looks like Sister Kutao," Yang Jian did not punish him. Instead, he suppressed his anger and sent his uncle to a lower-level county as a governor.

Although there was a sense of out of sight, out of mind, Yang Jian's wealth, status, and honor remained unchanged, a testament to his mother's family, the Lü clan. If anyone else had dared to embarrass Yang Jian in this way, Yang Jian's character would have meant their death and the extermination of their clan.

Don't think that just because Yang Jian was later called Emperor Wen of Sui, he was a benevolent and kind monarch. Yang Jian was notoriously cold-blooded and ruthless. Just look at the later years of his old friends and heroes such as Liu Fang, Liang Shiyan, and Wang Yi, and you can see what kind of person Yang Jian was.

Be it relatives, friends, classmates, or teachers, there was no one that Yang Jian couldn't kill!
"Of course, being born into a noble family has its advantages. At least my identity as the prince of Qi County is still very impressive outside." Lu Shang walked to the desk and gently stroked several Taoist books on the desk. There was a rare flicker of heat in his eyes.

Whether it is Lu Shang of Dahuang or Lu Shang of Yanfu, they are essentially the same person. In his previous life, Lu Shang pursued the true Taoist teachings hard and even dug up graves and became a tomb raider. In this life, he was born into a noble family and the resources he can mobilize are far beyond his imagination in his previous life.

What's more, the Sui Dynasty in the world of Jambu is not the Sui Dynasty in normal history. If we really want to make an analogy, we should compare it with novels such as "Shuo Tang". Most of the important civil and military officials in the court are stars from heaven. It is said that Yang Jian's youngest uncle Yang Lin is the incarnation of Dayao Jidu.

Here, gods and monsters serve as officials and generals, and Taoist priests come and go. Of course, Lu Shang wants to use the reputation of the Duke of Qi's Mansion to find a high-level Taoist priest to teach him the true Dharma, so as to make up for the regret of not having the true Dharma in his previous life.

However, when Lü Shang sought the Dao from a sage acquaintance, he was flatly rejected. Dharma should not be passed on lightly, nor should the Dao be taught lightly. Even though his status as the heir apparent of the Duke of Qi might have caused the sages to give way, expecting them to submit, or even to impart the fundamental Dao, was simply wishful thinking on the part of Lü Shang.

However, although they rejected Lu Shang, these noble scholars also respected the power of the court. In addition, seeing that Lu Shang often provided sacrifices and worshipped them in all seasons, they also passed on some methods such as taking yin to replenish yang, rubbing the navel to invigorate the qi, using prescriptions, burning grass to build a cauldron, adding red lead, and refining autumn stone.

While these methods couldn't bring immortality, they were highly sought after by the wealthy and powerful. It's said that Yang Jian, the former Prime Minister and now Emperor of the Sui Dynasty, dabbled in this art. Judging from the scholar's attitude, these Daoist texts likely crossed Yang Jian's desk.

After all, before Yang Jian became emperor, he was already the Duke of Sui during the Northern Zhou Dynasty, holding immense power. Few dared to refuse him openly when he asked for something. The court was filled with divine generals born from the stars, and with these divine generals around, even the gods from the upper realms wouldn't tremble in fear.

Even the gods in the upper realms had to submit, let alone these cultivators who had not yet entered the heavenly talisman and ascended to the immortal class. They really couldn't cause any trouble. Yang Jian had too many ways to control these people. If Yang Jian was really pissed off, just as Yuwen Yong could destroy Buddhism, he could also destroy Taoism.

Therefore, even if the Taoist book presented to Yang Jian did not directly point to the path of immortality, it was still a treasure that ordinary Taoists would find hard to obtain in their lifetime. Some of them could even be used as the treasure of some small sects and handed down to future generations.

Now Lu Shang has the opportunity to get his hands on these Taoist books, all thanks to his status as the emperor's cousin. If it were an ordinary person, it would take ten years of hard work to carry firewood and water, and ten years of hard work to burn the stove and fan the fire. Let alone touching these Taoist books, even looking at them from afar would be a sin.

“But even if you hone these Dongzi Kung Fu skills to the extreme, although you will have magical powers, it is difficult to reach the level of immortality, let alone immortality. It is like catching the moon in the water. Even if there is a shadow, where can you get it?” Lu Shang said quietly after picking up a Taoist book and flipping through a few pages.

Finally, Lu Shang picked up a Taoist's Miscellaneous Notes, looked at the slightly scribbled words on it, and said with a smile: "Perhaps, my future destiny as an immortal will be found in this travelogue."

This Taoist travelogue was not given by a sage, but was a unique copy that Yanfu Lu Shang bought from the market at a huge expense. It is said to have been left by a Taoist who was about to join the immortal class before his ascension. It records some of the Taoist's miraculous experiences before he became an immortal.

Among them, what interested Lu Shang the most was the Five Elements Mountain in the west. According to Taoist priests, the Five Elements Mountain fell from the sky five or six hundred years ago. Legend has it that there is a divine monkey under the mountain. This divine monkey often calls himself the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, and the mountain gods and land gods of the Five Elements Mountain are all controlled by him.

The Taoist at that time was just a shepherd boy. Because the divine monkey had picked fruits and vegetables several times, the divine monkey was pleased and gave him some pointers, which benefited him for the rest of his life.

(End of this chapter)