The First Lackey Under The Empress

Thump!

Realizing this, Zhao Du'an subconsciously swallowed.

It was truly just a subconscious action, without any other thoughts mixed in.

After all, he had just drunk so much; it was a natural action to ease emotions when surprised.

But this appearance, falling into Xu Zhenguan's eyes, brought a hint of 'disdain' to the Empress's gaze.

“Your Majesty… Your Majesty… This subject…” Zhao Du'an was quick-witted and realized his actions had caused a misunderstanding, so he wanted to explain, but he found that the current atmosphere and occasion were really a bit inappropriate.

In the past, when the two met, although there were often private moments, apart from that time in the palace bath when the Empress personally gave him an empowerment,

the other times, they were always fully clothed, and the atmosphere was serious.

The sovereign was the sovereign, and the subject was the subject.

Clearly defined.

But now, it was already late at night.

He was only wearing 'pajamas,' speaking with the Empress in her boudoir, and she was not in a dignified posture, but rather a lazy appearance as if she had been woken up not long ago.

It's… quite strange.

“Alright, no need to explain anything; it was I who ordered you to be brought here.”

Xu Zhenguan smiled, looking at Zhao, who was usually eloquent and persuasive, but now flustered and stammering.

The coldness from before melted away like ice and snow.

She walked to the door and casually kicked off her shoes, leaving them at the entrance.

In his haste, Zhao Du'an only caught a glimpse of two lotus-white jade feet stepping on the knitted carpet, then being covered by the trailing gauze skirt, with a hint of red flashing under the soles.

No socks… The first thought that popped into his bewildered mind was this.

For some reason, his mouth, which had just drunk a pot of water, felt dry again.

Perhaps because his brain was swelling, Zhao Du'an found that his thinking was unusually slow tonight.

He wasn't as clever as usual, responding freely in front of his female leader, and his reaction speed had also become much slower.

It was as if he had suddenly returned to the clumsy state of a fresh graduate entering the workplace.

“Sit down, you performed great service at the risk of your life tonight.

I am only too happy to reward you, so how could I mind a slight breach of etiquette from a meritorious subject?”

Xu Zhenguan said casually, taking the initiative to walk over and motion for him to sit down as well.

And when the Empress behaved generously and naturally, the strange atmosphere eased, and Zhao Du'an felt relieved and much lighter.

He hurriedly thanked her respectfully, and then, the sovereign and subject sat facing each other on either side of the coffee table.

Zhao Du'an was in a cross-legged posture.

Xu Zhenguan, being a woman, considered it unseemly to sit cross-legged in front of a subject, so she sat sideways with her legs bent, her small legs peeking out from the gauze skirt and disappearing under the coffee table.

“Tell me, what exactly happened tonight?” Xu Zhenguan asked seriously:

“Ma Yan told me some things, but he wasn't there, so I want to hear the whole story, don't leave out any details.”

“Yes!”

Seeing that she was talking about serious matters, Zhao Du'an took a deep breath, collected his scattered thoughts, and said:

“This matter must start with the demon priest controlling the rebel party 'Ballast Stone' to see this subject during the day…”

Since the Empress wanted to hear the details, Zhao Du'an indeed spoke very carefully.

From the days when he had been preparing to take action against the rebel party, to the demon priest's arrival, he was worried that delays would bring trouble, so he advanced the roundup…

He spoke all the way until he was forcibly drawn into a dream.

He didn't hide anything in the first part, but he changed his story in the dream part:

“This subject was still somewhat conscious at the time.

The demon priest was still in the dream, trying to further bewitch this subject, saying that the reason I found him was because I was being bewitched, trying to make me afraid.

This subject had never experienced such bizarre magic, and worried about being bewitched, I didn't dare to say more to him, so I followed the method Your Majesty instructed me to use, and visualized the Six Chapters Sutra.

After that, the dream spun around, this subject's memory is unclear, I only remember that the demon priest roared repeatedly, and then exploded into a ball of white light…”

This was the story he had prepared long ago.

Xu Zhenguan raised her eyebrows and nodded:

“When you visualize the Six Chapters Sutra, it is equivalent to entering a state of meditation.

When the demon priest invades your dream, he will be wrapped up by you and crash into it together.

Only those who practice this lineage can enter the scroll left by the Great Ancestor.

Outsiders who break in will be resisted by the power within the scroll… The spinning you saw must have been caused by the collision between the two.”

Speaking, she frowned slightly:

“However, I have never experienced it, so I don't know the specifics.

Well, according to Ma Yan, you met a red-clothed female mage in the Six Chapters Sutra? Was it she who descended and crushed the demon priest's spirit?”

No… Little Ma, are you such a blabbermouth? You tell everything… Zhao Du'an complained and nodded without hesitation:

“This subject checked the information in the armory and tentatively guesses that the female mage's name is Pei Niannu.”

He didn't expect to hide this matter at all.

Firstly, Ma Yan knew about it, and secondly, he couldn't hide the fact that he came to the palace to check the information.

Since the Empress asked, he might as well be honest.

“Pei Niannu…” A look of surprise flashed in Xu Zhenguan's eyes, and she suddenly realized:

“The number one female mage in the Jianghu six hundred years ago? The ancestor did have some interactions with her, but I didn't know that there was such a person in the Six Chapters Sutra.”

These words were a bit ambiguous.

Zhao Du'an could only smile awkwardly, but he had already revealed to the Empress that he was the new master chosen by the 'Dragon Soul'.

Therefore, there was something special about the practice of the Six Chapters Sutra, which made sense.

Moreover, this made it easier to explain the matter of killing the demon priest.

Since the Empress didn't know about Pei Niannu's situation in the Six Chapters Sutra, she couldn't estimate her strength, which became something that couldn't be verified unless Zhao Du'an himself said so.

Anyway, the wedding-dress-wearing female mage who loved to listen to immortal cultivation stories couldn't come out to clarify…

“Does Your Majesty know this person's depth? This subject tried to check, but the information is very limited.” Zhao Du'an smoothly changed the topic.

Xu Zhenguan was indeed led astray, thought for a while, and said:

“I'm not very clear either.

Six hundred years ago, there were constant wars and smoke everywhere in the human world.

Many classics and even inheritances were cut off.

It is very difficult for later generations to explore, especially since the people of Jianghu don't have court historians to record.

Many things are completely buried in time when a generation dies.

However, I vaguely remember seeing in an ancient book that this Pei Niannu was a pseudonym, and her true identity was suspected to be a royal aristocrat of the ancient kingdom of Xiliang…”

Ancient kingdom of Xiliang?

Zhao Du'an was stunned.

He knew that many large and small countries had been destroyed during the chaotic times six hundred years ago.

This Xiliang country seemed to be a small country in the Western Regions.

Its old site was probably west of Yumen Pass or west of Yangguan Pass, which was really far from the capital.

A noble woman from a small country in the Western Regions?

How noble?

Could it be a princess or something… Zhao Du'an was full of reverie, secretly thinking that he could check the information of this ancient country when he had time.

“Let's put this aside and you continue,” Xu Zhenguan interrupted him, almost derailing the topic.

“Oh, oh, it's just… that the demon priest's spirit exploded, and then I caught a glimpse, taking advantage of those memory fragments before they were completely annihilated, and saw two scenes.”

Zhao Du'an continued to tell, first telling the conversation between the Bewitching Real Person and Zhuang Xiaocheng in its entirety.

Then he said that he hastily saw that the demon priest had taken out a statue and candles from a place suspected to be a treasure house.

He didn't mention the jade leaf, firstly because he wanted to hide some private money from the Empress.

Secondly, he was worried that if the leaf could really resist the 'Martial God Visualization,' his lies would have huge flaws.

“Is this it?” After listening, Xu Zhenguan waved her sleeve, and a palm-sized black hideous statue and three extinguished purple candles appeared on the coffee table between the two.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Zhao Du'an nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, and asked curiously:

“What is this? Did the demon priest use this thing to control the puppets?”

Xu Zhenguan nodded lightly, her jade face frosty: “This is the treasure of the Underworld Sect.”

“The Underworld Sect? The evil Taoist organization in the Jianghu?” Zhao Du'an was shocked.

Since crossing over, he was no longer the simple-minded newbie he used to be.

He usually read some information.

Although there were still a lot of knowledge gaps, he had heard of several evil organizations.

Xu Zhenguan “En” a sound, seeing his face full of thirst for knowledge, had to explain:

“The three major evil organizations are the Five Woe Sect, the Underworld Sect, and the White-Clothed Sect, which respectively believe in the Woe God, the God of Death, and the Mourning God… This demon priest is a believer of the Five Woe Sect, and this faction is different from the other two.

The people of the Underworld Sect and the White-Clothed Sect often appear in groups, similar to sects or gangs.

But the Five Woe Sect is very loose.

In addition to believing in the Woe God and indulging in desires, the members have no concept of superiors and subordinates, and often act alone…”

She briefly explained the difference before solemnly saying:

“It seems that the demon priest has cooperated with the people of the Underworld Sect, or at least received help, to possess this thing.

This can also explain why he died in the palace three years ago, but now he can return.”

Zhao Du'an asked the most worrying question:

“Does Your Majesty think that this demon priest is really dead this time? Or is there still a possibility of resurrection?

If he is not completely dead and comes back to life, will he remember this subject?”

Xu Zhenguan glanced at him, thinking he was worried, and comforted him:

“Although I am not sure whether this person is dead or not, even if he can still live, he will inevitably have to pay a great price, and may fall into a long-term weakness.

If the Underworld Sect really helped him, then even if he really comes back to life, he will not remember that he was killed by you.

He won't even remember all the memories after coming to the capital.

Heh, the reason why he knew who to seek revenge on when he came to Beijing this time must have been learned through subsequent investigations.”

Eh, it sounds like you know a lot about the Underworld Sect's resurrection method, Zhenbao wife… Your tone is so sure…

Zhao Du'an was surprised and relieved a lot.

Although he didn't really care about the exposure of the dream… After all, who would believe the words of a crazy Taoist?

But it was still safest for him if the other party lost this memory.

Even…

If the Bewitching Real Person can be resurrected and doesn't know how he died this time, then when he recovers, can't Zhao Du'an repeat the same trick and harvest a wave?

It's like raising leeks fat and repeatedly harvesting them… Hiss, suddenly I'm kind of looking forward to him not being dead, what's going on…

— —

Next chapter around midnight

Thank you Xiang Yan's 500 points, Zuoke Nanshan's 500 points, 2021…8220's hundred reward support!