The First Lackey Under The Empress

The casual expression on Zhao Du'an's face slowly disappeared, replaced by confusion and surprise.

He hadn't paid much attention to this Embroidered Uniform Guard who had been lurking by his side, and uncovering the other party's disguise was mostly to satisfy his curiosity.

As for the idea of trying to win them over, he had considered it to some extent, but he didn't hold much hope.

But when Nie Yurong's face, which closely resembled Yu Xiu's, came into view, Zhao Du'an finally became serious.

A coincidence? There are many people in the world who look alike, but it's rare for them to be so similar that they seem to have been cast from the same mold, especially since Divine Official Yu Xiu is in the city.

Was this deliberately done by the Mu King's Mansion?

Did they find someone who looked like Yu Xiu to get close to him?

No, that doesn't make sense. If they wanted to disguise someone as Yu Xiu, then disguising them as 'White Falcon' would be superfluous and completely unnecessary.

Besides, Yu Xiu's involvement wasn't originally part of the plan. This Divine Official always wears a veil to avoid trouble.

"What's your name?" Zhao Du'an suddenly asked.

Nie Yurong had already prepared herself for death. Hearing this, she couldn't help but be taken aback, and then her eyes flashed with mockery:

"Does the female emperor's consort dare to philander outside?"

In her mind, she had already imagined a scenario of seduction followed by assassination.

Zhao Du'an frowned and suddenly said to Song Jinxi:

"Invite Divine Official Yu Xiu here."

The latter didn't hesitate and turned to leave.

Soon, Yu Xiu, dressed in a blue Taoist robe and with a light veil covering her face, walked into the backyard:

"Lord Zhao, what do you need from this humble Taoist?"

Zhao Du'an walked out of the inner hall, pointed earnestly behind him, briefly explained Nie Yurong's identity, and then said:

Yu Xiu's breathing suddenly became slightly rapid, and she turned her head to him and said:

"May this humble Taoist be allowed to interrogate this person alone?"

So agitated?

Zhao Du'an exchanged a strange look with the Divine Official and nodded readily:

"Alright."

After speaking, he raised his chin at Song Jinxi, and the two of them walked into the courtyard, allowing Yu Xiu to rush into the inner hall. The door slammed shut, isolating the inside from the outside.

"My lord… Divine Official Yu Xiu, this is…" Song Jinxi asked curiously.

Zhao Du'an shook his head and, looking back at the closed door, he suddenly said:

"I don't know either. We'll just wait for the result. Perhaps there will be a pleasant surprise."

His intuition told him that this might be an unexpected gain in this battle.

Because he wasn't sure how long the interrogation would last, Zhao Du'an didn't leave. Fortunately, the backyard was large enough, so he went directly into another vacant room, instructed Song Jinxi to guard outside, and said that he wanted to cultivate.

Zhao Du'an stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

Once he was alone inside, he first walked to the table and took out a silver scroll from his bosom. This was the Taixu Painting Scroll, a treasure he had obtained long ago for creating illusions.

However, because he wasn't a sorcerer, it had almost become a storage space.

Zhao Du'an shook the scroll, and with two "thumps," two heavy objects slammed onto the round table.

A wooden bow and an iron staff were the spoils of war from killing Lu Tong and Fan Long, respectively.

"To be used as a main weapon by a Worldly Realm cultivator, they certainly aren't cheap items."

Zhao Du'an rubbed his hands, reaching the happy unboxing stage.

He first picked up the iron staff, which was extremely heavy in his hand. It was dark black all over, with bronze hoops at both ends.

Upon closer inspection, the staff was engraved with swastika Buddhist symbols in yin script, and on one side of the staff was engraved the name of this weapon.

"Fearless Root… What a terrible name. The people under Xuan Yin, the old baldy, are indecent, and the names of their weapons are also indecent," Zhao Du'an scoffed.

Completely disregarding the fact that the Jade Mirror of Love on his body wasn't a good name either.

"A weapon used by a martial monk should belong to the category of weapons."

Zhao Du'an tried to mobilize his remaining qi energy into it.

In an instant, a strange sense of tranquility surged into his heart, and all his fears, anxieties, and timidity… disappeared.

A spirit of fighting heaven and earth, being brave and fearless, even daring to confront the gods, arose.

At the same time, a faint circle of Buddhist light emanated from his body, and the Azure Lotus in his sea of consciousness seemed to be stirred, resonating with each other, and a cool sensation flowed through his body.

"So that's how it is. In addition to the sturdiness of the Fearless Staff itself, the wielder will also develop courage, and… it also seems to have a certain effect of dispelling curses and other negative effects…"

During these days, Zhao Du'an had handled a large pile of strange objects in the capital and in Taicang in order to melt and refine the Scarlet Flame Holy Armor.

Although most of them were of lower quality, and he didn't feel bad about melting them, he had honed his eyesight and accumulated a lot of "treasure appraisal" experience regarding the effects of some items.

"Buddhist martial monks pursue 'Vajra Supreme Yang' and take a fierce and powerful path, which naturally wards off evil and restrains yin objects, curses, etc.… It is very suitable for dealing with Jianghu sects like the White Robe Sect and the Underworld Sect."

"Good stuff, it's a pity to melt it. I can keep it for now, but unfortunately, I'm not good at using a staff, and it would be a real eyesore for a dignified imperial consort to walk around with a staff… Well, except for those who are born with it."

Zhao Du'an played with Fan Long's staff for a long time, put the Fearless Root aside, and picked up the simple and unadorned bow left by Lu Tong.

This bow was extremely light in his hand, like wood, and the golden bowstring was a bit dim. Zhao Du'an couldn't recognize the material of the bow.

He only saw two ancient characters on the bow: "Tai Bu".

"I remember seeing this name in the data of the Royal Armory. It is also a divine weapon from six hundred years ago, similar to the Soul Suppressing Saber. It is both a weapon and a treasure.

Tsk… Weapons from that era seem to be like this. Both martial artists and sorcerers can use them. The Scarlet Flame Holy Armor is also in the form of armor, not a magic robe… No wonder Old Xu would create the Martial God path, combining the two… It should be the trend of that era…"

"Let me think, the information seemed to record that this Tai Bu Bow does not have matching 'arrows', so the arrows that Lu Tong used were refined iron arrows that were made later and were not special. The key is in this bow."

Zhao Du'an tentatively bent the bow, without nocking an arrow, just pulling the bowstring and making a drawing motion.

In an instant, wisps of qi energy were drawn out, and mottled spots of light spat out section by section, actually condensing an illusory arrow while bending the bow.

A sound of wind suddenly echoed in Zhao Du'an's ears, the wind mixed with the whimpering of ancient tree branches being blown by the wind, like a whisper.

He suddenly had a premonition that as long as he shot it, he could hit the target every time!

"This Tai Bu Bow can convert qi energy into arrow-like sword qi to shoot out, and it can also be attached to physical arrows. And most importantly, as long as I aim, it will definitely hit, without having to consider archery… Bah! No wonder Lu Tong is known as the number one divine archer. I can do it too!"

Zhao Du'an complained in his heart, but his pupils were full of surprise.

After advancing to the Worldly Realm, the Golden Crow Flying Knife was gradually unable to keep up with his pace, and the Soul Suppressing Saber, although handy, was a close-range cold weapon.

The existence of this "Tai Bu Bow" can greatly enhance his long-range attack ability.

"Good stuff!" Zhao Du'an grinned, as if stroking a beautiful woman.

These two are not bad, it would be too wasteful to melt them into the Scarlet Flame Holy Armor. He plans to keep them for his own use.

"But the price is also very high. I can't find enough resources in a short time to 'recharge' the Scarlet Flame Holy Armor…"

Zhao Du'an took off the white half-body armor on his body and put it into the silver scroll together.

At this moment, waves of fatigue surged again.

"Really not a drop left," Zhao Du'an sighed softly and walked to the bed, sitting cross-legged, preparing to meditate and recover.

However, when choosing which picture to visualize, he hesitated.

During these days, he had been visualizing the Great Dream Scroll, following Pei Niannu on a journey through the Jianghu in his dreams. Unfortunately, he had never encountered Old Xu, nor had he heard of Old Xu's name.

Perhaps the time point in the dream was too early, and the Great Ancestor of Yu Kingdom hadn't risen yet.

"Should I visualize 'The Human World' again? This time, I briefly touched the threshold of the Celestial Realm and gained some insights. Perhaps visualizing this picture will be different."

Without hesitation, Zhao Du'an held his breath and concentrated, entering the "Human World" painting for the second time, the "city" that he knew and was unfamiliar with.

…

Capital City.

The Empress did not obtain a detailed answer within the Celestial Master's Mansion.

According to Zhang Yan's statement, even from thousands of miles away, he couldn't possibly know what specifically happened, but the feedback from the Heavenly Dao was that it was a joyous occasion for the Empress and the imperial court.

"Could it be a victorious battle? But why would there be such a huge commotion?" Xu Zhenguan frowned, unable to understand.

She returned to the imperial study in the palace, trying to calm down and continue reviewing the memorials, but she found it increasingly difficult to focus.

"Forget it." After trying several times, Xu Zhenguan tossed aside her slender writing brush, sighed softly, abandoned her desk work, dismissed the palace staff, and walked out of the room to relax in the palace.

What she was worried about was not the battle situation—with the Jingying reinforcements, and with Xue Shence's commanding abilities, failure was almost impossible.

Even if they didn't defeat the feudal lords, reclaiming the lost territory was almost a certainty.

What concerned her and what she couldn't let go of was that little imperial guard.

Unfortunately, the era she lived in was different from the magical world in the painting; there were no readily available treasures that everyone possessed, capable of transmitting voices across thousands of miles. Even with the fastest means of communication, it would take a long time to know the situation at the front…

Xu Zhenguan thought absentmindedly, and unknowingly arrived at the Yuanzu Hall in the palace—

This was a place built by the Taizu Emperor, with a hidden chamber underground for storing wine, and a deeper secret room for storing the Dragon Soul.

Back then, Zhao Dou'an had spent an entire night with the Empress in this palace.

Whenever Xu Zhenguan felt heavy-hearted and wanted to be alone, she habitually came here.

The white-robed, black-haired Empress pushed open the hall door, sat on a futon, stared at the empty offering table, and spaced out for a while. Then, she simply sat cross-legged in meditation, entering a meditative state to calm her mind.

What she was visualizing was naturally "The Mortal World."

The imperial family's paintings had always been independent, each person visualizing a separate painting that was not interconnected.

But at this moment, the Empress in the capital and Zhao Dou'an in Linfeng, one after the other, simultaneously visualized and entered the same painting.

…

A familiar sensation of weightlessness surged, and the city lights under the night sky flashed before his eyes like fleeting shadows.

Inside a modern office.

Zhao Dou'an propped open his heavy eyelids, which were drooping on the computer desk. His vision was initially blurry, then gradually became clear.

In his view, the first thing that came into view was the computer screen that had entered "screensaver" mode due to prolonged inactivity.

Immediately afterward, there were sticky notes of various colors pasted on the upper edge of the computer, each with a "reminder" written in neat handwriting.

Behind him, inside the file cabinet standing in the room, files were as crowded as sardines in a can, visible through the translucent cabinet door.

"Beep—"

Outside the window, a car horn sounded in the distance. He subconsciously turned his head to look. In the deep summer night, a gust of wind drilled in through the window bars, blowing his hair through the half-closed curtains.

"I'm back—"

Zhao Dou'an breathed out softly. Entering the world in the painting for the second time, he no longer felt the initial shock.

His fingers tapped on the keyboard, entered the password, and the computer entered the boot screen… His eyes swept over the time in the lower right corner of the computer.

As expected, it had just passed midnight.

"Every time I visualize and enter 'The Mortal World,' is it always at the same time? Doesn't that mean that whatever I do here, the next time I enter, it will be refreshed and start over?"

Zhao Dou'an pondered, trying to figure out the rules of this painting.

Standing up, he lifted his hand to unbutton the collar of his shirt, and walked to the mirror in the office, looking at the face that was once extremely familiar, but now slightly strange.

That was his appearance in this world. Here, he was no longer the "Zhao Dou'an" he knew, but his original self from his previous life.

Here, he had his own identity, with the name "Zhang Hui."

"Unfortunately, everything is fake." Zhao Dou'an looked at himself in the mirror and grinned, revealing a complicated smile.

Bending over, he immersed his hands in the washbasin.

"Splash!"

Cold water hit his face, quickly sobering him up and sweeping away his fatigue.

"Here, I have no cultivation and have become an ordinary person again. Speaking of which, what use is this city to Celestial-Human cultivators? Zhenbao even needs to enter here to cultivate? To learn?

Heh, the dignified Empress, a Celestial-Human Realm sword cultivator, is she going to work in a factory screwing on screws, or register as a rider to deliver takeout?

Oh, with Zhenbao's looks, she could easily debut… But according to her last statement, she can't stay here for too long…

And if every entry is 'restarted and refreshed,' she can't really accomplish anything in this fake world…"

"No… I can't be sure whether the details of Zhenbao's entry into 'The Mortal World' are the same as mine…"

Heh, in the entire history of the royal family, apart from Old Xu, the only known people who have visualized this city are Zhenbao and me. The others see an ancient city…"

"Well, maybe I can try to find the secrets hidden by Old Xu here…"

Zhao Dou'an's thoughts flickered, and he sorted out his thoughts.

According to experience, each picture on the mural hides a "guiding NPC."

The NPC in "Martial God Picture" is Old Xu.

The NPC in "Six Chapters Sutra" is the golden-armored version of Pei Niannu.

The guiding NPC in "Great Dream Scroll" is the young silver-armored version of Pei Niannu.

So…

"In this world, I should also be able to find a guide… Well, but not necessarily, after all, I am not in the Celestial-Human Realm, but entered here in the 'Worldly' Realm…

Like a game's plug-in program, the version of the painting I'm experiencing may be incomplete…"

Zhao Dou'an's thoughts were in a mess. He picked up a towel to wipe his face clean, didn't put on a coat, pushed the door open, and walked down the marble-paved corridor of the building.

He wasn't sure how long he could stay here this time, and didn't want to waste time.

However, when Zhao Dou'an walked out of the compound, stood on the street, and looked at the neon-lit city, he suddenly felt a sense of confusion.

There is no guiding NPC… Where should I go?

"Grumble…" His stomach suddenly rumbled, and a sense of hunger surged. Zhao Dou'an had an idea and prepared to go have a late-night snack first.

"Having gotten used to the unseasoned food over there in Yu Country, I almost forgot what good food tastes like…"

He took out his mobile phone and tapped on it for a while. Although information in the network world was stagnant, he actually managed to call a car…

What a world full of bugs…

After a while, a ride-hailing car stopped. Zhao Dou'an took a look at the license plate and sat in, reciting the last digits of his mobile phone number.

The driver stepped on the accelerator and drove towards the distance.

Zhao Dou'an was going to eat at a Korean BBQ restaurant that was sure not to disappoint, on the street near "Taiqing Palace", not far from here, just a few minutes by taxi.

…

Near Taiqing Palace, in a park.

Xu Zhenguan walked out. Here, she still maintained the same appearance as in the outside world, but her clothes were very different.

Her upper body was a women's shirt, her slender legs were covered in trousers, and her feet were wearing a pair of light-colored sandals, revealing ten delicate toes.

The slightly curled long hair was draped lazily, and there was a red mark on one side of her cheek from sleeping on the park bench.

"Where to go this time?" Xu Zhenguan thought blankly.

This time, she didn't choose to go to Taiqing Palace to find the female temple keeper.

"I still have to continue exploring this world. In each of the previous paintings, after I entered, I would encounter a 'guide,' just like in the first 'Martial God Picture,' the Taizu Emperor would guide me in cultivation… Logically speaking, there should also be such a person in this 'Mortal World'…"

"I previously guessed that it was that female temple keeper, but after several contacts, I found that it didn't seem to be…"

Xu Zhenguan pondered, but in such a vast city, where to start?

"Grumble—"

Suddenly, her stomach rumbled. The Empress's cheeks turned red, she bit her lip, and clutching the mobile phone that she couldn't open because she didn't know the boot password, she walked towards a Korean BBQ restaurant not far away.