The Empress's No.1 Lackey

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Gah—

In the soup and pancake restaurant early in the morning, people milled about, and the aroma of rich soup filled the air. Yet Zhao Douan just wanted to curse someone.

Scaring people, to scare them to death. Completely unguarded, he was involuntarily startled to see the "Heavenly Master Mansion Dispatched Official" again.

"Why is it you again?" Zhao Douan could not help but complain, his heart filled with astonishment at the other's methods.

He had just undergone a transformation and was particularly sensitive during this time; he should have noticed an acquaintance, especially one who was a magician, upon entering the pancake shop.

But in reality, it was not until he sat down across from Zhang Yan that he belatedly noticed.

This old guy is a master... Zhao Douan became more convinced of this judgment.

With a ruddy face and narrow eyes, the Old Heavenly Master gazed down benevolently, still dressed as an aged commoner. In front of him was a half-eaten bowl of mutton soup with pancakes. He smiled and said,

"It's because Little Friend and my Heavenly Master Mansion are fated."

"..." Zhao Douan was speechless and puzzled.

"Old Sir, as far as I know, we're quite far from the Heavenly Master Mansion. Don't tell me you ran all this way early in the morning just to eat this place's pancakes."

He was a bit skeptical.

He highly suspected that the other party had learned of his overnight stay in the palace, and thus had made a special trip early in the morning to intercept him.

For a "Dispatched Official" from the Heavenly Master Mansion, finding out such a minor detail was not difficult.

The Old Heavenly Master, with long brows and a long beard, smiled,

"According to what this old man knows, Little Zhao's home is also quite a distance away. Did you come from the Imperial Palace?"

You sly old fox, you've even figured out where my home is... Zhao Douan silently criticized, and said grumpily,

"Yeah, I achieved some merit yesterday, received the Saint's reward, and spent the night in the palace, tiring myself out all night before coming out."

A skillful lie is one in which every word is true, but yet the meaning as a whole is false.

To outsiders, this sounded like he had served the Empress in bed.

By saying this, Zhao Douan meant to subtly convey that his relationship with the Empress was deep so the old man should not bother.

Job-hopping is out of the question; it's only by living off a woman that I can sustain my life.

Second, he was implying that as a Favored Minister of the Empress, he was not afraid of a mere Dispatched Official.

Zhang Yan, however, smiled without being deceived. He looked him up and down and said,

"The Book of Changes" has cleansed your marrow, you've shed your mortal body and bones... It seems that His Majesty indeed cultivates you."

"Heh, Old Sir, you have good eyesight," Zhao Douan said with a laugh,

"So, you needn't waste your effort, I'm truly not interested in joining the Heavenly Master Mansion."

At this moment, the pancake shop owner brought over a large bowl of hot soup and five plump, steaming hot pancakes.

Zhao Douan drank a mouthful of the soup and took a bite of the pancake, the hot food settling in his stomach and greatly improving his mood.

Ah, it's just a pity that the soup lacks seasoning; improving the diet with the creation of new condiments is urgent.

Zhang Yan shook his head and said,

"Cultivation speaks of fate, if Little Friend is unwilling, this old man will certainly not insist. Today, I have come for two reasons."

"Speak," Zhao Douan said while focusing on eating his pancake, his words muffled.

"The first is that I quite liked the profound gently-worded principles of the Heavenly Dao discussion you shared last time. I have gone back and copied them for the younger generation to see and wanted to inform Little Friend," the Old Heavenly Master said leisurely.

It was only then that Zhao Douan remembered the original lines from the "Tao Te Ching" he had blurted out in a drunken stupor last time.

He wasn't too concerned with the old man's liking; after all, he was just a transporter between two worlds, and Great Yu didn't have copyright laws.

He couldn't collect royalties, and if someone copied them, he couldn't do anything about it.

Isn't that why novels about worlds with perfected copyright laws always mention protagonists crossing into an otherworldly realm right at the start...

But this old man isn't exactly forthright; he freeloads the lines I brought over without even offering a gift or something... Zhao Douan remained silent, waiting for what would come next.

"The second is that this old man has some research in divination, interpreting celestial events, and fortune-telling. On a whim yesterday, I divined that Little Friend would soon encounter a bloody disaster, so I came to give a warning," the Old Heavenly Master went on to say.

"Pfft!"

Zhao Douan almost choked on his mouthful of mutton soup, lifting his head in astonishment, his eyes filled with the unspoken accusation "Are you cursing me?"

Then he remembered that in this world, unlike in his previous life, there were gods and the man opposite him was a Taoist of the Heavenly Master Mansion.

To be able to divine and calculate was not surprising, and he immediately assumed a serious demeanor, putting down his soup bowl:

"Old Sir, please don't deceive people."

Zhang Yan couldn't help but smile wryly, gently stroking his beard:

"Why would this old man do such a thing? If Little Friend does not believe, you may consider this old man as a swindler from Jianghu."

Zhao Douan's expression grew solemn as he bowed slightly,

"I apologize for any offense in my earlier words; please can explain a bit more."

But Zhang Yan just laughed and shook his head,

"Heaven's secrets are unpredictable, there's no absolute in the world. Heaven and earth are kind, the blessings and misfortunes given are not constant; how can one speak in detail?"

Heh, if you're going to talk about this, I feel like discussing quantum physics with you... Zhao Douan frowned.

He did not believe that an important figure from the Heavenly Master Mansion would come to idle away his time just to scare him.

And a bloody disaster... meant that he might encounter danger soon, which also made sense.

The capture of the two at Iron Ruler Pass meant that the Kuangfu Society's espionage network in the Capital had been greatly shaken.

Ordinary people might not know the key role Zhao Douan had played in this case.

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But the rebels certainly knew.

Hence, retaliation against oneself was a logical consequence.

Of course, potential enemies were not limited to the rebels, but also included the "Li Party" he had continuously offended, encompassing the Pei family of the Huai River, Prince Jing Mansion, Princess Yunyang...

"Heh, I have indeed grown stronger, but my enemies have multiplied, and at an exponential rate at that," Zhao Douan mocked himself inwardly.

It's quite possible that some small-minded enemy would attempt to assassinate him and then frame the rebels for it.

"Many thanks, Old Sir, for the advice," Zhao Douan sighed, "I'll be cautious."

That said, he could not think of a good method for self-preservation.

He couldn't possibly shrink away in the Imperial Palace or the Supervisor's Governor Hall every day, seeking protection from the powerful.

Nor could he venture out with the fully armed Lihua Hall as escort, could he?

It was also unrealistic to seek bodyguards from the Old Director.

Asking for temporary help in cases was one thing, but it was impossible to have an expert provide round-the-clock, close-quarters protection year-round.

Zhao Douan's status did not afford him that privilege, and even if it would, he was not keen on the idea—having someone watch over him constantly would mean losing all privacy.

In the end... to forge iron, one must be strong oneself, Zhao Douan felt the vigorous flow of qi in his meridians after a "transformation" and the "Golden Crow Flying Dagger" in his sleeve.

Coupled with "Protective Radiance" and "Galaxies Inverted," these were two royal martial skills, one offensive, one defensive.

A desire to test his abilities surged within him.

He suddenly had an epiphany, this might be what the Grand Ancestor Emperor referred to as the martial artist's "spirit."

However, with his personality, although he did not fear assassins, nor lack the courage to fight them to the death,

If he could dispose of his enemies without lifting a finger, only a fool would choose to confront them himself.

Mr. Zhao was precious porcelain, how could he clash with common earthenware pots?

"Although I cannot provide specifics, I do have an item to gift," said Zhang Yan Yi as he suddenly flicked a silver talisman paper from his sleeve.

He pressed it with a finger and slid it across the table.

Zhao Douan looked at the talisman paper in surprise; on the silver talisman, there was the emblem of the Heavenly Master Mansion.

In the center, with azure cinnabar, were flourishing strokes depicting a Daoist imperial order.

Upon closer inspection, that azure cinnabar seemed not physical but more like a stream of clear qi flowing slowly.

"Imperial Talisman!" He was taken aback, recognizing the origins of the item.

In the Capital, the products of Divine Dragon Temple and Heavenly Master Mansion were distinct.

Divine Dragon Temple excelled in medicine, and its healing drugs were unparalleled. Martial artists who sought to temper their bodies would opt for Divine Dragon Temple products, considering them top-grade.

Marketed throughout Great Yu's territory, every major prefecture had apothecaries under Divine Dragon Temple.

Heavenly Master Mansion specialized in alchemy and talismans, of which the production was scarce.

But each batch of elixirs and each talisman were worth a fortune, usually only the wealthy clans and high-ranking nobles could afford them.

The silver Imperial Talisman, once torn, could summon a deity to assist in battle.

The origin and strength of the deity were determined by the quality of the talisman.

It was a valuable item hard to purchase, capable of saving lives at critical moments.

"Old Sir, this item is too valuable, I can't accept it," Zhao Douan said solemnly as he placed his hand over the talisman paper.

"..." Zhang Yan Yi looked at his grip, which did not loosen in the slightest, and gained a new appreciation for the young man's thick skin.

"Ha ha, take it," said the Old Heavenly Master with a light and airy demeanor, "consider this a reward for the unauthorized copying of your insights about the Heavenly Dao."

Zhao Douan's eyes gleamed, thinking to himself if the Tao Te Ching was worth so much money. He pondered for a moment and then said:

"My insights are actually plenty..."

Zhang Yan Yi laughed and said, "You didn't say so last time, you mentioned you had only realized those few lines."

But last time you only gave me a bowl of sobering soup... Zhao Douan earnestly said:

"Oh, it's because I've had new realizations these past few days."

"..." Zhang Yan Yi smiled nonchalantly and said:

"Oh? Then let's hear some of them?"

With his cultivation level, he was not really ignorant of the meanings behind those otherworldly phrases.

But to articulate the same principles in sufficiently concentrated and exquisite sentences was a whole other matter.

The Heavenly Book of the Heavenly Master Mansion had been perfected over a thousand years and Zhang Yan Yi thought it was already flawless, with not a single word worth adding or removing.

Yet the lines Zhao Douan had casually uttered seemed more refined than those pondered over by generations of Great Cultivators in the Heavenly Book, pointing directly to the grand principles of heaven and earth.

However, just as poetry is divinely inspired and genius strikes by chance, Zhang Yan Yi was skeptical whether the lines Zhao Douan had previously shared were indeed the best he had.

Even if the subsequent additions were still good, they might not warrant replacing the words already in the Heavenly Book.

Meanwhile, Zhao Douan was also considering which sentence might be more valuable. After some thought, he said:

"Just now, Old Sir mentioned that heaven and earth are benevolent, providing enlightenment. I have a different view on that."

"Oh?"

Zhao Douan expounded:

"Heaven and earth are not kind; they regard all beings as straw dogs; sages are not kind; they regard the people as straw dogs. Between heaven and earth, is it not like a bellows? Empty but unyielding, motion brings forth an outflow. Much hearing leads to exhaustion, it is not like keeping to the neutrality."

He paused, then added: "This speaks to the unkindness of heaven and earth."

Under the cooling shed of the pancake stall, Zhang Yan Yi was startled.

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