Yamada Keiko lived up to everyone's expectations. She became a Jounin at the age of 18 and obtained the Black Feather Order at the age of 20. She became the youngest Black Feather Ninja after Yamada Shingo. Tokugawa Ieyasu was overjoyed. He kept her by his side at all times as his personal guard.
However, Tokugawa Ieyasu had always been cautious. Although he arranged for Yamada Keiko to be his personal guard, he still had a trick up his sleeve. In the name of taking care of her, he brought Yamada Keiko's parents from the countryside and sent people to take care of them. It was called taking care of them, but it was actually house arrest.
Tokugawa Ieyasu had no choice but to do so. In Dongying, there were countless cases of personal guards being bribed. He had a respected status, so naturally, he was even more careful.
"You mean, if you disobey Tokugawa Ieyasu's orders, your parents will be in danger?" Long Zhijie asked with a frown.
"After so many years, I know Tokugawa Ieyasu's character too well," Yamada Keiko said. "He doesn't trust me now. If I disobey his orders again, I'm afraid my parents … "
Long Zhijie understood what Yamada Keiko meant. If something happened to her parents because of her, she naturally didn't want to live alone.
"Will the sailors on this ship report everything about you to Tokugawa Ieyasu regularly?" Long Zhijie asked.
Yamada Keiko nodded.
"From now on, you will sleep in my room," Long Zhijie said to Yamada Keiko. "You sleep here, and I will sleep on the other side of the screen."
"How can that be?" Yamada Keiko hurriedly said. "Keiko is already very grateful that you allow me to stay here. How can I let you suffer? There is a stove here. You can sleep here. I can sleep on the other side of the screen. "
"You'd better sleep here," Long Zhijie said. "If you want to do it, do it more realistically and save yourself the trouble."
Yamada Keiko blushed and nodded slightly …
Great Ming Imperial Palace. At night.
In the side hall, more than a dozen middle-aged men in Taoist robes sat on both sides of the square table.
The three people in the lead were none other than Zhang Shaoyang, the head of Mount Longhu's Zhengyi School, Yu Xingchen, the head of Quanzhen Sect, and Lu Yuanshan, the head of Maoshan.
The remaining Daoists were the sect masters of the other branches of Daoism, such as Tranquility Sect, Zhengyang Sect, Chunyang Sect, Chongyang Sect, and so on. Sitting at the head of the table was none other than State Preceptor Xuan Ji, dressed in a luxurious golden robe.
"May I know why the Grand Preceptor has summoned us here in the middle of the night?" Celestial Master Zhang of Dragon Tiger Mountain was the first to speak. The people who came today had extremely high statuses in Dao Sect. Other than the Sect Master of Purple Sun Monastery, Qing Chenzi, almost all the representatives of Dao Sect were present. This kind of thing had never happened before. He had a vague feeling that something was going to happen.
"To be honest with you, Celestial Master, I've invited all of you here today because I was summoned to do so," Xuan Ji bowed to Celestial Master Zhang and said.
After all, he was also from Daoism. Although he was now the State Preceptor, Celestial Master Zhang's status in Daoism was much higher than his.
"Summoned?" Celestial Master Zhang looked back at Quanzhen Sect's Zhenren Yu and Maoshan Sect's Lu Yuanshan. After hearing Xuan Ji's words, the two of them looked at each other in confusion.
The rest of the headmasters also began to mutter in their hearts. Usually, when the emperor summoned the representatives of Taoism, he only summoned the Zhengyi School, the Quanzhen Sect, and the Maoshan Sect. The Taoism sect they belonged to had never been summoned at all. What was going on today? Why did the Emperor suddenly summon them?
Seeing that everyone was confused, Xuan Ji took out a yellow silk scroll and stood up solemnly. "All sect masters, receive the imperial edict."
When everyone saw Xuan Ji take out the imperial edict, they did not dare to be negligent. With a crash, they all stood up and knelt on the ground.
"By the will of the heavens, the Emperor decrees," Xuan Ji read the imperial edict aloud. "Since I succeeded the throne, I have received the will of the heavens above and followed the will of the people below. Yesterday, the late Emperor visited me in a dream and said, 'With the appearance of the Nine Cauldrons, the mountains and rivers will be secure.' In order to ensure the stability of the Great Ming Dynasty's mountains and rivers, I hereby appoint State Preceptor Xuan Ji as an imperial envoy and order all sects to search for the whereabouts of the Nine Cauldrons.
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!" The sect masters kowtowed and saluted.
"Sect masters, please rise!" Xuan Ji said as he handed the imperial edict to Zhang Tianshi.
Zhang Tianshi raised his hands above his head and respectfully received the imperial edict, then stood up.
Everyone stood up and returned to their seats. They did not say a word and frowned.
What was wrong with the Emperor? Why was he looking for the Nine Cauldrons all of a sudden? Just because of a dream? One had to know that the Nine Cauldrons had disappeared after the decline of the Zhou Dynasty. Emperor Qin Shi Huang, Empress Wu Zetian, and the other Emperors had sent people to search for the Nine Cauldrons, but all of them returned empty-handed. The Emperors of the previous dynasties had mobilized the country's resources but could not find them. How could a few sects find them? What kind of joke was this? Everyone complained incessantly in their hearts, especially those sect masters who were summoned by the Emperor for the first time. They felt even more miserable. They had planned to benefit from the glory of Zhengyi, Quanzhen, and Mao Mountain. Now, not only did they not benefit, but they had also fallen into a trap.
Zhang Tianshi did not say a word. He slowly put the imperial edict in his hand into his sleeve.
Sect Master Yu of the Quanzhen Sect looked solemn and did not say a word.
Lu Yuanshan of Mao Mountain looked calm and deep in thought.
"I've invited all of you here to discuss the search for the Nine Cauldrons." Seeing that everyone was silent, Profound Secrets broke the silence first.
"Brother Xuanji," Daoist Yu of the Quanzhen Sect said, "You are also a member of the Daoist Sect. You should know about the Nine Cauldrons. Even the Qin Emperor, Emperor Wu of Han, and the Tang Sect's Founder Song couldn't find it. How could we, the Daoist Sect, find this divine artifact?"
"Yes."
"That's right …"
"How can we find them …"
Everyone began to whisper to each other.
"I understand what Perfected Yu means." Profound Secrets nodded. "The Nine Cauldrons are ancient divine objects. It's not easy to find them. However, the Emperor's imperial edict has been issued. We can only act as soon as the edict is received. Otherwise, we'll be disobeying the edict. "
Everyone fell silent again and shook their heads. If they did not handle this well, not only would they be removed from their position as sect master, they might even lose their lives.
"Brother Profound Secrets, do you have any good ideas?" Lu Yuanshan, who had been silent all this time, looked up at Profound Secrets and asked.
"This humble Taoist has little talent and knowledge. How could I have any good ideas?" Profound Secrets changed the topic. "However, I do have an idea. I just don't know if it'll work."
Everyone looked up at Profound Secrets's words. They didn't know how Xuanji would be able to find the legendary divine artifact.
"Oh?" Lu Yuanshan asked. "What idea do you have? Let's hear it. "
"The Thousand Ghosts Formation." Profound Secrets spat out four words.
As soon as these four words were spoken, the expressions of everyone present changed greatly. Even the leader of the three great sects, Zhang Tianshi, could not help but feel shocked.
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