At today's grand court meeting, the ministers did not have anything particularly important to report to Emperor Hongwu, so the initial appointment of Du Changsheng as the national teacher became the most important thing. Although the fifth rank is not a very high rank in the capital, the position of national teacher is the first in Dazhen. Coupled with the content of the edict, Du Changsheng was given a lot of mystery.
Moreover, the old ministers present knew the current emperor relatively well. Emperor Hongwu disagreed with Emperor Yuande and was a very pragmatic emperor. If Du Changsheng did not have the ability, he would not be favored by him. So until the court was adjourned, the ministers in the court were basically thinking about two things: the first was that, based on recent rumors and the information from today's grand court meeting, Yin Zhaoxian might really be in the recovery stage, which made some happy and some sad; the second thing was about this national teacher.
After the morning court session ended, Du Changsheng, who was still excited, left the Golden Palace amid congratulations.
Xiao Du was walking relatively behind and saw Du Changsheng and Yan Chang leaving together from afar. After greeting his colleagues around him, he kept thinking about the imperial edict.
The carriage was parked somewhere in the palace. Xiao Du climbed into the carriage and remained silent for a long time, thinking about today's information.
After waiting for his master's order for a long time, the servant asked carefully.
"Master, are we going to the Censorate or going back home directly?"
As the head of the Censorate, Xiao Du no longer needed to go to work there every day. After hearing the servant's words, Xiao Du finally came back to his senses and spoke after a slight hesitation.
"Go to the Sitianjian. I want to visit the Imperial Master."
"yes!"
The servant responded, and as the coachman drove the carriage, the entourage also left. In about half a quarter of an hour, they arrived at the Sitianjian, and it didn't take much effort to find Du Changsheng's current residence.
Upon hearing that the Imperial Censor was coming, Du Changsheng, who was assigning people to help pack up, hurried out. When he arrived at the courtyard, he saw Xiao Du standing beside the carriage outside the gate. He walked up to him and greeted him.
"Hello, Lord Xiao. Du Changsheng is here to pay his respects!"
Du Changsheng still had his own pride. When facing Emperor Hongwu, he could call him "your humble servant" all the time, remaining respectful but also a little afraid. However, the deterrent effect on other ministers was much weaker, especially since his position as the national teacher had been confirmed. Although he did not have much real power, he was also outside the normal officialdom.
When Xiao Du saw Du Changsheng, a man with white hair and beard and an immortal look, coming out, he did not dare to neglect him and took a few steps closer to him and bowed.
"Congratulations on your promotion, Imperial Master. I hope I am not disturbing you by visiting you. You are about to move into your new house. I can recommend someone to help you with the furniture, maids, and servants."
Du Changsheng put away his courtesy, stroked his beard and smiled. This Imperial Censor was such a high-ranking official, and for him to be so attentive to him, he must have something to ask for. He didn't want to beat around the bush and asked directly.
"Lord Xiao and I have rarely met. Are you here to discuss something? Lord Xiao, just be frank. I will do my best to help you. However, I have to say that the emperor has ordered that although I am the imperial teacher, I cannot interfere in matters related to the government. I hope Lord Xiao understands."
In Du Changsheng's opinion, Xiao Du's visit to him might be related to state affairs, so he would be safe if he could get himself out of the way first.
"Of course. How could Xiao make things difficult for the Imperial Master? And I will not go against His Majesty's will. Imperial Master, please excuse me for a moment!"
Xiao Du extended his hand to invite someone to the side and then walked to the side first. Du Changsheng followed him in confusion. Seeing Du Changsheng coming, Xiao Du looked at the courtyard gate and lowered his voice.
"Grandmaster, my Xiao family may have been possessed by evil spirits and may face disaster. Well, I am not referring to the factional disputes in the court, but the evil spirits. My son has been unable to have children in recent years, and I am afraid this may be related to it. When I met the Grandmaster today, I couldn't help but ask for help."
"Attracted evil spirits?"
Du Changsheng was slightly stunned. It was a little different from what he thought. Then his eyes became serious.
"Master Xiao, please stand still and wait for Du to observe you with his divine eyes."
After hearing Du Changsheng's words, Xiao Du stood still and watched Du Changsheng take two steps back. Then he formed seals with his hands and pointed with his sword finger from his dantian to his forehead.
Du Changsheng closed his eyes, and under the concentration of magic power, he suddenly opened them. At this moment, in Xiao Du's sight, he could vaguely see a flash of golden light in Du Changsheng's eyes, and his eyes were filled with a strong sense of insight into Xiao Du, which suddenly increased his hope.
In Du Changsheng's eyes, Xiao Du, as an official appointed by the court, had a more distinct aura. Now that he was the national teacher, his ability to sense court officials even exceeded his own Taoism. He actually found that the black air he had seen before actually had some flames gathered below. He couldn't tell what it was, but it vaguely looked like many candles with strange lights and colors. He also felt a trace of demonic aura that seemed to be a little old.
After a long time, Du Changsheng closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the feeling of being seen through in his eyes had faded a lot.
"National Master, what's going on?"
Du Changsheng frowned, stroked his beard and thought for a moment, then said to Xiao Du.
"Master Xiao, it seems that you have been entangled with that evil spirit for quite a long time. I would like to ask if it has anything to do with the fire. Well, I am not sure if my description is accurate. Anyway, it does not look like a big fire, but rather like a lot of candle flames."
Xiao Du was obviously excited and subconsciously took a step closer to Du Changsheng.
"What the Imperial Master said is correct. It is correct. This is indeed an old grudge and is indeed related to the candlelight. Now that I am in trouble, my Xiao family may be extinct because of this!"
Du Changsheng was actually not familiar with the officialdom, but he roughly understood some of the main contradictions. However, he still had some principles, and he had just become the imperial teacher. It was his job to take care of the court officials who were entangled by evil spirits, so he did not shirk his responsibilities.
"In that case, there is no time to lose. I will go back to the mansion with Master Xiao immediately to take a look first."
"That's great, that's great! Imperial Master, please get on Xiao's carriage, Imperial Master, please!"
Xiao Du was overjoyed and quickly invited Du Changsheng to get in the car. Du Changsheng was very pleased that such a high-ranking official of the court was so respectful to him. This seemed more like a royal teacher.
The carriage moved very fast and soon arrived at the Xiao Mansion. At Du Changsheng's request, Xiao Du not only sent someone to call Xiao Ling back, but also personally took Du Changsheng to visit every corner of the Xiao Mansion. After more than a quarter of an hour, they returned to the living room of the Xiao Mansion.
"National Master, have you found anything?"
Seeing that Du Changsheng didn't even drink the tea and was just lost in thought, Xiao Du waited for a while and couldn't help but ask a question. The latter frowned and looked at him.
"There is no evil aura in the Xiao Mansion. It doesn't look like an evil spirit has come to the house..."
At this time, footsteps were heard outside the house. Xiao Ling had returned and entered the living room. At first sight, he saw Du Changsheng, who had an immortal look and excellent appearance.
"Dad, this must be the Imperial Master, Xiao Ling is honored!"
Xiao Ling saluted to Du Changsheng as he spoke, and the latter had already stood up and looked Xiao Ling up and down. After looking at him for a while, Du Changsheng's eyes changed and he spoke meaningfully.
"No, you are injured, but it's not because of evil spirits, but God's punishment! And, hehe..."
Du Changsheng sneered and looked back at Xiao Du who was sitting over there.
"And this is a superb divine method. Young Master Xiao was injured twice. The first time was because his vital energy was damaged, and the second time was because this god left a backup plan. It must be because you violated some oath or agreement, so you will have no descendants!"
The methods of gods are upright and easier to see through than those of demons and evil spirits. In other words, they are basically laid out in the open for those who have practiced Taoism to see.
"Hmph, Lord Xiao, I can handle matters of evil spirits, but I will not take the punishment of the gods lightly."
Du Changsheng vaguely understood that the god who left behind this method must be of extremely high level, and the traces of his divine aura were very shallow but very obvious.
"A spirit?"
Xiao Du stood up suddenly, looked at Xiao Ling and then at Du Changsheng.
"Master, my Xiao family has always worshipped gods. The City God Temple even has a long-burning lamp. Why would the gods want to harm my Xiao family? And how could my son offend the gods? Even if he did offend them, mortals don't understand the truth and can't see the true bodies of the gods. As the saying goes, ignorance is not a crime. Why did he set out twice and make my Xiao family extinct? Master, please think of a solution..."
"Oh? Really you haven't seen it before?"
Du Changsheng narrowed his eyes and looked at Xiao Ling, who had a rather ugly expression, and then looked at Xiao Du, who had a look of shock.
"I don't think so. Mr. Xiao, you'd better tell me everything about your affairs, otherwise I won't care. And Mr. Xiao, when I asked you about the old grudge, you said that your ancestors broke the agreement and randomly found hundreds of lanterns to send to you. I'm afraid it's more than that, right? Humph, you are still talking about other things when disaster is imminent. I'm leaving now."
As he spoke, Du Changsheng put his hands behind his back, brushed past Xiao Du, and walked out of the living room.
"Master, please stay! Master, please stay!"
Xiao Du already believed 90% of the ability of the national teacher, so there was no way he could let him go at this moment, so he hurriedly chased after him. Du Changsheng didn't really want to leave directly, but at least he had to know the truth, so he stopped and turned around, and bowed to Xiao Du after seeing him stop.
"Master, I will tell you everything about my Xiao family's past, but it is really offensive to the gods..."
"Dad, the Imperial Master is right. I have indeed offended the gods..."
Xiao Ling came out of the living room and continued with a wry smile on his face.
"It's not the City God or the Land God that's offended, but Lady Ying of Tongtian River..."
"Empress Ying?" "Empress Ying!"
Xiao Du and Du Changsheng had different reactions. The former was slightly confused, while the latter was horrified.
"You...are so brave..."
"Master, is this a very difficult situation? I have ordered people to prepare to go to the river to offer sacrifices to appease the anger of the gods..."
"I'm afraid this matter is not that simple. Tell me everything first and let me think about it carefully before speaking!"
Du Changsheng's face was gloomy and he had already backed down in his heart. He didn't know how many debts the Xiao family had owed. Not only did they attract evil spirits, but they even offended gods. After hearing the truth, he planned to go to Ji Yuan for help. If there was something wrong, he had to reject the Xiao family even if it would lose face for himself as the national teacher.