The Empress's No.1 Lackey

Mr. Zhao Douan felt as though he were in a trance, like a series of paintings gradually being "refreshed" frame by frame before him. At first, the images were somewhat jerky, but then they became increasingly fluid. novelbuddy.cσ๓

"Is this... a scene from the bedchamber? Wait, my eyes aren't open, how can I see all this... And what's with this panoramic view... Hiss, could this be what they call the Cultivator's Divine Thought? Because of the Green Lotus's blessing, have I prematurely acquired this ability?"

Mr. Zhao Douan's mind was groggy, half-dreaming and half-awake, as he observed his surroundings with this novel perspective.

After realizing that the Empress wasn't in bed, he didn't even react, just subconsciously continued to spread his Divine Thought.

Gradually, he "saw" the garden outside the door, the lanterns hanging in the cold wind in the distance, the bright moon in the sky, and heard the sound of the night wind and... water?

Mr. Zhao Douan's Divine Thought unconsciously followed the sound of water, effortlessly penetrating layers of buildings, and then...

He saw a pair of familiar eyes.

Those eyes met his "gaze" with astonishment, then fury like thunder surged, and after that, a Divine Thought many times more vast and powerful than his own slammed into him.

Mr. Zhao Douan's dispersed Divine Thought immediately retracted back into his mind, the Green Lotus shook violently as if struck, and before he could regain his senses, he simply and cleanly fainted away.

Creak—

The closed door was abruptly pushed open by a pair of hands, and the cold wind rushed into the warm room.

Dressed only in her undergarments, Xu Zhenguan floated in like a ghost, her gaze resting ominously upon Mr. Zhao, who had completely passed out on the ground.

"Get up."

She commanded with an unfriendly look in her eyes, "I want you to get up!"

"..."

"Really asleep?"

Xu Zhenguan's eyebrows slowly furrowed, a hint of surprise and uncertainty crossed her face. After a moment of silence, she suddenly kicked him, once, twice...

"Get up!"

"Get up for Your Majesty!"

"...Fainted, huh? Lucky you."

After a while, the Empress who failed to physically rouse him, swept back to her bed, leaving behind a dragon-patterned jade pendant to form a Barrier, then closed her eyes to sleep.

...

The night passed without incident, and morning came in the blink of an eye.

When Mr. Zhao Douan opened his eyes, his first thought was of the aching soreness throughout his body:

"Isn't this... It's as if I've been kicked several times..."

He was a bit dazed, propped himself up with his hand on his forehead, and glanced around the room. The curtains had been drawn back, the bedding inside was neatly arranged, daylight had broken, and sunlight filtered through the window paper, filling the entire warm hall with whiteness.

"How long have I slept..."

Mr. Zhao Douan shook his head vigorously, sitting on the ground and slowly recalling his memory: "Last night, it seemed like my Divine Thought inadvertently spread... Divine Thought spread?"

His eyes lit up, and he immediately tried to envision the "Green Lotus" again.

But this time, no matter how hard he tried, he could not replicate the state from the previous night.

"Did I accidentally enter that state, or was there... no Divine Thought spread at all, and it was just a dream I had?"

Mr. Zhao Douan began to doubt himself, but remembering some vague fragments from the "dream," he felt the dream was somewhat perverse... Yes, it must have been a dream for sure. Far-fetched...

Disappointed, he dressed and pushed the door open—squinting as the sunlight hitting his face stirred him fully awake, the cool breeze clearing his head.

"Mr. Zhao," said a eunuch approaching, "Her Majesty said, when you wake, I am to lead you out of the Imperial Palace."

Mr. Zhao Douan let out a heavy breath and smiled, "Thank you for the trouble, Eunuch."

...

After taking back the horse he rode the day before from the Imperial Guardsmen at the palace gate, Mr. Zhao Douan felt refreshed and trotted homeward on horseback.

Passing the familiar snack street, he tethered his horse to a post and stepped into the soup bun shop, ordering sheep offal soup and steaming buns like a regular.

Once he'd eaten, he felt completely revived. His ears perked up as he distinctly heard nearby diners discussing yesterday's Debating Scripture event.

Only a night had passed, and there were no new developments from the outside world, neither from Divine Dragon Temple nor the Western Regions Monk Group.

Still, Mr. Zhao Douan didn't dare to let his guard down. After all, it was unlikely those monks from the Western Regions would swallow their pride after losing both in chess and in debate.

As he contemplated what moves they might make next, a figure suddenly took the seat opposite Mr. Zhao Douan.

He looked up, somewhat surprised at the sight of the young monk disguised in plain cotton clothes and a cap.

The junior monk Dan Che unconsciously moved to bring his hands together in a gesture but then stopped and smiled:

"Mr. Zhao, my master requests your presence."

"..." Mr. Zhao Douan slowly swallowed the buns in his mouth.

At that moment, his demeanor was exceedingly calm. He casually took another sip of soup, then took out a handkerchief to wipe his mouth before asking:

"Where is the Holy Monk?"

...

It was no coincidence that the Western Regions Monk was here.

Similar to the previous encounter with the Old Heavenly Master, he must have been waiting on the way home.

Mr. Zhao Douan wasn't worried that these foreign monks would be brazen enough to harm him within the Capital; he was more curious about their reason for contacting him in private.

After settling the bill, Mr. Zhao Douan followed Dan Che, leading his horse into a nearby alley and arriving at a mansion owned by someone unknown.

Dan Che confidently pushed open the door, making a welcoming gesture, then said:

"Please, Mr. Zhao."

His feet remained outside the threshold, signifying that he did not intend to enter but rather to stand guard at the door.

Mr. Zhao Douan took a deep breath, handed the reins to this chess prodigy, straightened his clothes, and stepped into the courtyard.

The yard was small, with remnants of frozen snow on the crenellations, and next to the stone mill in the courtyard was a wooden desk. The house appeared uninhabited, with doors and windows firmly shut.