"Duke Yue, how is His Majesty?"
"Reporting to the Queen, I have already used the method of calming the mind and strengthening the body, but Your Majesty is still in a coma..."
"What happened?"
"Your Majesty... your body... is too weak. You fought too hard in your early years. After ascending to the throne, you were busy with government affairs. Considering the recent fall of the evil star and the rampage of the corpse demons, you are physically and mentally exhausted, and evil spirits have entered your body..."
"Tell the truth!!!"
"… Your Majesty is in poor health and is almost at the end of his rope."
…
The conversation continued outside the bedroom. In the inner room, on the dragon couch decorated with golden satin, the sleeping Yang Jian slightly opened his eyes, and his perception and consciousness gradually became clear.
"Someone..."
The emperor shouted weakly, and stretched his arms under the quilt to the edge of the bed. The eunuchs who were guarding all around hurried over to support him. They quickly opened the palace door and bowed to the man and woman who were talking outside and said:
"Your Majesty, Duke of Yue, His Majesty has awakened."
The door creaked open, and Empress Dugu Qieluo and Duke of Yue Yang Su walked quickly into the bedroom one after another. Seeing the emperor sitting up against the head of the bed, they hurried forward. The woman waved her hand to let the eunuchs around her retreat, then sat on the edge of the bed and gently held her husband's hand.
"Your Majesty, are you still feeling uncomfortable?"
"I'm fine, just a little sleepy."
Yang Jian saw his cousin Yang Su standing respectfully beside him and grinned: "Look how scared you are. Don't be so nervous. It may be that I haven't recovered from the typhoid fever I had a few days ago."
He paused, pulled his wife's hand away, and patted the back of her hand gently.
"Garro... I'm sorry to have made you worried."
Putting aside the royal titles and using their names, one can see the affection between the two. Dugu Jialuo smiled and extended her other hand for her husband to hold, suppressing the words she had said to Duke Yue before.
"Your Majesty, what are you talking about? How can a wife not worry about her husband? When I heard that Your Majesty suddenly fainted in the palace, I was so scared that my whole body was numb and I rushed here directly from the palace. Fortunately, Your Majesty is fine. Next time, don't scare me like this. I can't stand it."
"Haha, the queen also gets scared sometimes. I thought my queen would remain calm even if the sky fell and the earth collapsed. It seems that I am still useful."
The couple chatted back and forth, seemingly endlessly, leaving Yang Su standing aside awkwardly, not knowing whether to leave or stay. After a while, Dugu Jialuo finally let go of the emperor's hand and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, you talk to the Duke of Yue. I will go down and prepare some nourishing soup for you."
"Okay, then I'll wait for the Queen to make it herself."
Yang Jian watched his wife leave with a few sturdy palace maids with a smile on his face. His smile gradually faded. He raised his arm to signal Yang Su to come over and help him. He took two weak steps, adjusted himself, and then walked out of the bedroom and came to the outside palace eaves. Looking at the rolling mountains in the distance, he asked in a low voice:
"Has the news of my illness spread?"
"No." Yang Su entangled his brother's arm, followed him half a step slower, and said in a low voice: "But Crown Prince and Second Prince, I have already informed them immediately. Prince Jin has just recovered from a serious illness, and he is on his way after hearing the news."
"Where's the prince?" After walking a few steps, Yang Jian retracted his gaze from afar and turned his head to look at his cousin. "What's his reaction?"
Yang Su hesitated for a moment, lowered his head slightly, and whispered:
"The prince... was drunk at a banquet with scholars yesterday, and he hasn't sobered up yet."
Yang Jian stopped walking and said "hmm" expressionlessly. He reached out and grasped the nearest fence, looking at the pleasant mountain scenery in the distance.
In the setting red clouds, hundreds of birds return to the forest. The breeze blows across the mountains, and the woods and fields gradually turn slightly yellow.
The emperor, holding onto the fence, recalled a conversation he had had with the imperial teacher in the past. His gray beard fluttered in the wind, and he smiled: "Cao Zhi of the Three Kingdoms."
Then he spoke again, his words calmly.
"Tell the Prince of Jin not to come, let's go back to the palace. By the way..." After a pause, the old man looked at Yang Su and said, "Find a way to contact the Imperial Master. If possible, ask him to return to Chang'an. I want to meet him."
"Brother, we must find the Imperial Master!"
At dusk that day, Yang Su returned to Chang'an in a carriage, tidied his clothes, and went to Wanshou Temple. He naturally knew that Lu Liangsheng was not there, but the dragon in the Hibiscus Pond should know his whereabouts.
He asked his left and right hands to retreat far away, then walked to a place where no one could see him and summoned the old dragon lurking at the bottom of the lake. The old dragon appeared from behind the reeds in human form.
"It's the Duke of Yue, calling me out of the water, what's the matter?"
"Do you know where the Imperial Master is going and where he will stay?"
Lao Jiao knew that the Duke of Yue had always been on good terms with Lu Liangsheng, so he did not hide it and said, "When Daoist Fellow Lu leaves, he will first go to the Wanfo Temple, and finally stay at Chengyun Gate for a while."
"Thanks for letting me know!"
After saying this, Yang Su did not exchange any more pleasantries with the old dragon. He returned home, packed up, changed into his Taoist robe, took his magic weapon, informed his family, and left the city overnight.
"drive!"
He waved the whip and hit the horse's buttocks, then galloped at full speed along the official road leading to the northeast, rushing to Cangyu Mountain.
…
As the night deepened, the rolling hills were shrouded in darkness. The clouds in the night sky drifted away, revealing a half moon that shone on the Taoist temple in the mountains below, casting a silver glow.
In the backyard of the solitary building, the flowers and plants were fragrant, and the lights on the window lattices cast shadows of people on the paper windows. In the room, Sun Yingxian sat on a low stool with his chin propped up, dozing off with his head shaking.
On the other side, cups were clinking lightly at the round table, and there were sounds of talking.
"Regarding the matter of the demon star, I hope Chengyun Sect can help contact other sects. The headmaster also knows that because of the matter of my master, the cultivators have grudges in their hearts. If we go to their door to apologize, it won't be difficult. I'm afraid that after a few times, the other party will not only ignore it, but also get angry, delaying the scattering of the demon star fragments to various states."
"So, Master Lu wants me, Chengyunmen, to be a peacemaker and intercede on his behalf?"
Lu Liangsheng poured some hot tea, spread his sleeves, and held them in his hands: "Although I don't want to say it, it is true. I hope you can help me!"
Having said that, he stood up and toasted.
“Master Lu, there is no need to be so polite.” Master Chengyun raised his hand and pushed the scholar and the tea back through the air. He closed his eyes, stroked his beard and thought for a while.
"In fact, we cannot stop the rise and fall of nations, but it is our responsibility as cultivators to stop demons and monsters from wreaking havoc on the world. Even if the Imperial Master doesn't come, I will inform my disciples and fellow Taoists to work together to defeat the demons and monsters."
As the old man spoke, his eyes glanced at the bookshelf that the scholar had placed at the end of the bed. The Toad Taoist leaned against the gourd, picked up the small tea bowl, met the glance, and blew away the hot air calmly.
"Look at me, I'm a good man now."
"hehe."
Yun Ji stroked his beard and chuckled. The Taoist Zixing in his memory was indeed not like this. After several years, when they met again, he had become... so... funny.
"Master." Lu Liangsheng saw that the atmosphere was not what he had expected when he came. The old man laughed and interrupted, saying, "My master and I came to your sect not only for the matter of the demon star, but also to make up for the evil deeds my master did back then. My master and I personally piled up and carved the Luohe Town Stone Stele one stone at a time to support the people who died unjustly back then. And here, there are all kinds of classics and secret treasures that were robbed back then, which are returned in full."
Over there, when Toad Taoist heard his disciple's words, he turned his face away with a look of heartache. Yun Ji, who was sitting opposite the scholar, was also stunned for a moment, and then he saw Lu Liangsheng stand up, use a move of the bookshelf, and the folded Qilin cloak was put on him at that moment. The sleeves of his robe spread open, and a breeze blew out.
There was a sudden ping-pong noise in the empty space in the room. The old man turned around and saw a "small hill" standing there abruptly. From time to time, porcelain bottles and small magic weapons would slide down from it...
The old man's hand, which was stroking his beard, hovered at the tip. Even though he was well-informed and calm, he was dumbfounded when he saw the colorful 'hill' and slowly stood up.
"This... so much..."
One can imagine how many Taoists or demons the Purple Star Demon swallowed up in the past.