(I wrote Duke Lu as Duke Of He yesterday. Sorry, I haven't finished my business yet, so I'm a bit confused.)
…
…
Duke Lu told him something about Tong Yan.
The Zhongzhou School had a close relationship with the royal family, and Duke Lu was in charge of Taichang Temple, so he knew many secrets that the regular people didn't know.
Silence. Jing Jiu listened to him, and he figured out why that child always had a cold, aloof, and loathsome appearance.
Jing Jiu picked up the teacup and took a sip, coughing twice.
"What's wrong with you?"
The worried expression on Duke Lu's face was even more obvious.
The Cultivation practitioners wouldn't catch a cold, so they wouldn't cough no matter how cold the tea was.
The whole of Zhaoge City had learned what had happened outside the old plum garden.
He knew that Jing Jiu was there, and Jing Jiu wanted to know what had happened to Tong Yan, so he couldn't help but guess that Jing Jiu might have suffered some kind of loss.
Jing Jiu said, "I met Tian Jingren in the old plum garden."
Duke Lu also knew about it, feeling puzzled, wondering if something had happened at the time.
"He wanted to kill me."
Jing Jiu didn't tell him what Tian Jingren had done.
Those spiritual awareness slid into his body, and it was more likely that they wanted to spy on him.
But this method had already threatened his existence, and if it had succeeded, his life would have been in Tian Jingren's hands.
In his eyes, Tian Jingren wanted to kill him.
Duke Lu's expression had changed dramatically, and the wrinkles on his face looked like a big flower, not because he was happy, but because he was serious.
He was shocked, and he didn't understand why Tian Jingren, a master, would do such a thing to Jing Jiu.
"If he hadn't left the old plum garden tonight, his killing of me would have been an internal affair of Aoyama."
Hearing this, Duke Lu realized that he should send someone to keep an eye on the old plum garden right away.
Jing Jiu didn't need to make any arrangements for this kind of thing.
Duke Lu said worriedly, "It's not easy for me to investigate the internal affairs of Aoyama."
Jing Jiu said, "There's no need to check. It's Fang Jingtian."
Duke Lu was shocked again, and his heart felt heavy.
Fang Jingtian was the master of the Xilai Peak of the Aoyama Sect, a big shot in the Broken Sea State.
Jing Jiu told him the name directly, which meant that he had absolute trust in him.
This kind of trust also represented self-confidence.
He was confident that the Lu family would not betray him.
Or did he not dare to?
But why was that?
Many years ago, after Duke Lu inherited this secret from his father, he began to think about this problem.
Even now he did not understand it, but he told himself that it was all very well, so that he would not have to think too much about other things.
"Tian Jinren is not easy to deal with."
Duke Lu didn't hide his difficulties.
There were twenty seven state dukes in the human imperial court, and he was the most powerful one, though he kept a low profile. The problem was that even he couldn't deal with Tian Jinren.
Tian Jinren was a master of calculation, admired by the populace, and the Institute of White-Deer was famous far and wide, and he was the close friend and half-master of the Godly Swordsman of West Ocean.
Not to mention that he came to Chaoge City because the Divine Emperor had personally invited him to do so.
Hearing this, Jing Jiu felt surprised, asking, "Why?"
Duke Lu didn't answer this question directly, saying, "The invitation to Zen Master was sent around the same time."
Jing Jiu understood now, asking, "What does the Emperor want to calculate?"
Duke Lu said hesitantly in a low voice, "I don't dare to guess."
Jing Jiu asked, "Who came from Shui Yue Nunnery?"
There were many Cultivation sects in the land, and many highly achieved swordsmen of the previous generations were good at calculating; but the most famous ones were Shui Yue Nunnery and the Guocheng Temple.
Before the appearance of Tian Jinren, all the Cultivation practitioners wanted to obtain the fortune stick or zither evaluation from these two sects.
"The Chief Nun is behind closed doors, so she didn't come."
Duke Lu said, "The one who came is very mysterious. I don't know who he is even now."
After a moment of silence, Jing Jiu asked, "Do you want to know how many years you have left to live?"
Duke Lu didn't dare respond.
The Emperor had invited the Zen Master and Tian Jinren of the Guocheng Temple in person, and he also intended to invite the Chief Nun of Shui Yue Nunnery. What did he want to calculate by paying so much attention to them?
Even the most powerful human beings in the land had an unfathomable Cultivation state. As long as they couldn't ascend, they would have to face these questions at the end of their lives.
When death was near, some emperors would keep on making magic pills and taking medicine in order to live longer; and some emperors would rather throw away their lives and have a big party.
The current Emperor was a wise emperor. He wanted to know the length of his life because he wanted to make arrangements for his own and the human race after his death.
Jing Jiu suddenly said, "I want to go to the Palace."
Naturally, this meant that he wanted Duke Lu to make arrangements.
Duke Lu was very surprised, but he didn't say anything. "When?" he asked.
Jing Jiu stood up and said, "Now."
…
…
It was late at night, and no one else would have been able to enter the Royal Palace on the spur of the moment, not even the most popular official in the Imperial Court.
But Duke Lu could, because the affairs of Taichang Temple required frequent contact with the Palace. More importantly, starting from the previous emperor, Duke Lu had been deeply trusted by the two generations of Emperor Shen.
No matter how low-key he had been, after all the ups and downs over the years, both those in the court and those in the Palace had long since understood.
The corner gate of the Royal Palace opened noiselessly, and Duke Lu walked in with a young man wearing a bamboo hat.
This scene was naturally seen by many people, but both the guards and the eunuchs who happened to be passing by turned around with a tacit understanding, pretending not to have seen it.
The people living in the Royal Palace didn't want to be thought of as someone with ulterior motives, and even less wanted to be accused of prying into the Emperor's will.
…
…
Clouds came from the south, blocking the starlight. It was dark in the Royal Palace, but the lights in the Basilica seemed especially warm.
Duke Lu stood on the stone steps in front of the Basilica, his eyes slightly narrowed, watching the movements around him like a hawk. Finally, his line of sight was attracted by his slanted shadow.
He didn't expect His Majesty to actually agree to see Jing Jiu, and in the Basilica at that.
It should be noted that Jing Jiu's identity was only an ordinary disciple of the Aoyama Sect. Why?
He looked at his own shadow and thought silently, and a smile gradually appeared on his lips.
Many years ago, he told his father that the thing that the House of Duke had been most worried about for hundreds of years, the shadow. Now it seemed that he had thought too much.
His father was right.
The will of His Majesty the Emperor and the will of the owner of the wooden plate were indeed the same.
The Basilica was very quiet, and no sound of conversation could be heard.
Occasionally, there was the sound of coughing, which should be Jing Jiu.
Occasionally, there was a hearty laugh, which should be His Majesty.
Not long after, the door of the Basilica opened, and Jing Jiu walked out.
Duke Lu didn't know what he said to His Majesty, but he didn't ask. He led him out of the Royal Palace.
…
…
Back in the manor house, Jing Jiu smiled when he saw the pile of chess books piled up like a small hill.
He randomly picked up a book and knew that this level of chess book was definitely not something that his "brother" in the front yard could find. It should be Duke Lu's handwriting.
He brewed tea, took out a bamboo chair, lay down comfortably, and began to read.
It was drizzling again, knocking on the window. Coupled with those boring chess books, it was best for him to fall asleep.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
