Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons

Nothing is more precious than the imperial family, but the imperial family is inferior to the immortal family. As a messenger from the heavenly family, the embroidered robe messenger must be worshipped wherever he goes, but he still dismounted obediently in front of Wen Jiao's building. He wanted to tie the horse to a tree by the roadside, looked at Huo Ling'er, and felt a little uneasy.

It was not the first time that Huo Ling'er faced such anxious looks. She shook her paws skillfully and said, "Go in with peace of mind. I am not hungry at the moment and cannot eat your horse."

The embroidered-robed messenger heaved a sigh of relief, bowed to her, and then entered the courtyard. However, he did not dare to actually enter the building. He just stood in the courtyard, bowed to the air and said, "Master Jingrong..."

"But the Queen summoned me to the palace? Please make a special trip in the snow. Come in and have a cup of hot tea to warm yourself up before leaving." Wen Jiao's voice floated down from upstairs, like a piece of crystal snow.

"The Immortal is truly as good as a god and can predict the future!" said the envoy in embroidered clothes admiringly.

The falling snow blocked Wen Jiao's smiling lips.

In fact, she had heard it. The embroidered-clothed messenger had just said it once at the corner gate and again at the courtyard gate. Even if she had a bad memory, she would not forget his purpose.

The embroidered robes messenger said, "I dare not delay any longer as the phoenix is ​​on my mind. Please hurry up and get up. If we are destined to meet again, I will give you another cup of immortal tea."

"It's okay, just drink, it won't delay your work." Wen Jiao said when she saw that his face was blue and purple from the cold, and his fingers without clothes were red and swollen like radishes.

The envoy in embroidered clothes did not dare to disobey her, so he entered the building, and felt the fragrance of warmth fill the room, and his frozen hands and feet gradually regained consciousness. A wisp of tea smoke floated from one side, and he looked carefully and saw a pot of tea and a plate of snacks on the table. He tested them with his hands and found that they were both hot. Knowing that Wen Jiao was treating him, he did not hesitate to drink the pot of hot tea and eat the plate of snacks, and then he felt warm all over.

Wen Jiao just walked down the stairs slowly at this moment and said, "Let's go."

The messenger in embroidered clothes was just hesitating whether to muster up the courage to go upstairs to find her, when he saw her coming down by herself. She immediately smiled and said yes repeatedly.

"Sister Huo, let's enter the palace." Wen Jiao raised her voice.

"Yes!" the Fire Spirit replied. When the words fell, the fiery red lion appeared at the door, lying on all fours, with an obedient look ready to be carried on the back. Wen Jiao acted like a master, and walked steadily onto her back with a graceful gait like a lotus. The lion stretched out its limbs, stood up lightly and walked out.

The embroidered-clothed messenger quickly untied the reins and rode to catch up. He saw that the road was covered with ankle-deep snow. The man and the lion were walking in front of them, and their footsteps were so light that they did not leave any footprints. The snowflakes as big as goose feathers were mixed with the cold wind and came towards them, but they seemed to touch some invisible barrier and slid around them one foot away. Thanks to them, he himself was no longer blown by the wind and snow. He walked all the way back without feeling the slightest bit of winter cold, and was secretly amazed.

Who knew that what surprised him even more was yet to come. When he arrived at the Lizheng Hall of Taiji Palace where the empress lived, there was another Wen Jiao there, holding a glass of warm lamb wine and chatting with Empress Changsun and the princesses.

The envoy in embroidered clothes pointed at Wen Jiao, then at Wen Jiao beside him. He was so stunned by the horrifying scene that he was speechless and his eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets.

"I said, it won't delay your business." The Wen Jiao who was joking with the queen looked at him with a smile. As she spoke, another Wen Jiao turned into a ray of light and sank into her Niwan Palace.

Empress Changsun cheered again and again: "Master Jingrong really has great magical powers. I wonder what this magic is called?"

"This is the art of incarnation. I just saw that this eunuch looked kind and wanted to play a joke on him. I hope this eunuch will not blame me." Wen Jiao said, and then turned back to the topic just now, "The Queen wants to choose a few young concubines to be her helpers, so she asked me to see who is suitable?"

Empress Changsun sighed, "I have been feeling my eyesight has been failing lately, so I want to find a few young concubines with good eyesight to accompany me, take care of palace affairs, and run errands. There are many talented young concubines who can read and write, but there is no trivial matter in the six palaces, so we have to find those with a clear mind and a clean character. Otherwise, if we pick someone with bad intentions, it will always be troublesome. This has been a headache for me recently, and Yuying Royal Sister recommended a real person to me, saying that the real person has the ability to see the qi, and will be able to tell who can accomplish great things and has great ambitions."

Wen Jiao only had a little knowledge of qi reading, but it was enough for a few palace concubines, so she said happily: "Although I often come to the palace, I am not familiar with the young ladies. If there is anything I am not sure about, please do not blame me, Your Majesty."

"It doesn't matter if I'm wrong. I will think carefully and consider all factors. Just speak freely." Empress Changsun said with a smile.

The concubines entered in a line, each with a youthful and tender face, clear and elegant temperament, and looked to be around seventeen or eighteen years old. Since Li Shimin returned from the dead and showed mercy to the palace maids, the palace no longer selected girls from good families to enter the palace as concubines. These girls should be the low-ranking concubines who were selected to enter the palace before.

Wen Jiao stood up and walked slowly past the girls one by one. She saw that the aura on their heads was either thick or light, all of which were red, symbolizing wealth and nobility. In this era, being raised in a pampered family and being selected into the most wealthy palace in the world naturally meant that they were destined to be rich and noble, but only the girl knew how it felt.

She paused and stopped in front of a talented person in a moon-white dress. Her aura was a mixture of red and gold, as bright as a sharp silver mirror reflecting the sunset glow, and she exuded a noble and virtuous aura.

"This lady looks unfamiliar." Wen Jiao said.

The girl she chose had a pair of eyes as bright as star stones, long eyebrows sweeping across, and a natural and restrained demeanor under the forest. Empress Changsun knew that she had chosen this girl, and when she glanced at her, the female official next to her immediately said, "This is Xu Hui, the talented lady."

Empress Changsun also remembered: "Xu Cairen was able to write poems at the age of four and prose at the age of eight. She is a talented woman known throughout the world."

Princess Yuying also said, "Xu Cairen is a well-known poet in our Daming Palace. Since she entered the palace, the empresses and princesses from various palaces who came to ask her for poems almost broke the doorstep."

Hearing the two superiors praising her so highly, Xu Hui simply smiled. Her expression was truly open and aboveboard, without any trace of inferiority or complacency.

Wen Jiao felt that she was the most famous concubine of Li Shimin in the late Zhenguan period, Concubine Xu Xian. She looked at the girls who were either envious or dissatisfied, and she thought: "Are these the only people the Queen wants me to see?"

Empress Changsun glanced at the female official beside her, who immediately said, "There is another talented person named Wu who has asked for leave due to illness."