fifth form

Chapter 3231 The Empress Dowager Promotes the Test

From the tense standoff to the plan to kill Dou Ying and the encirclement of many marquises at the gathering point, to the creation of a fake imperial edict to confuse the public, the decisions made in Changxin Palace were extremely swift.

Most of the close ministers summoned by the new emperor did not arrive in time, and the new emperor then left in a hurry.

"Aren't you going with His Majesty to deal with Dou Ying?"

Few people remained in the main hall of Changxin Palace, and even fewer dared to stay.

The Empress Dowager removed the iron-sand sleeves that had been added to her hands and sat down again.

She summoned the physician Yi Shuo, who used the traction force from inserting silver needles into her acupoints to stretch her body before she finally settled into a sickly, resting state.

As she glanced around, the Empress Dowager was quite curious as to why Zhang Xuezhou hadn't gone to join the commotion.

“I’m not in good health. If a conflict breaks out, I could easily lose my life in that kind of place,” Zhang Xuezhou said, waving his hand. “Besides, those two Yang Soul incarnations haven’t been dealt with yet!”

"You're not in good health and you still hit the Prime Minister," the Empress Dowager said.

"No, no, the Prime Minister had a mental breakdown and hit me with his crown. I was almost beaten to death!"

Zhang Xuezhou quickly waved his hand to deny it.

He used the control of 'fast and slow' to punch Tian Fen, and Tian Fen was hit before he could react. Zhang Xuezhou originally thought that his move was relatively secretive, but he did not expect that the Empress Dowager could see through it.

He obviously couldn't admit to such a thing, and the Empress Dowager didn't care, letting Zhang Xuezhou act recklessly.

Dou Ying's matter was just an interlude; the real business for the two of them was to study the Yang Soul Incarnation Technique.

Her gaze swept outside, and she saw that Zheng had moved many of the corpses of those who had died under Sima's command outside the main hall of Changxin Palace. She immediately felt that she needed to deal with the matter quickly.

"Bring in the cultivator with arrows stuck in his body!"

She pondered for a few seconds before allowing Zheng Dangshi and the others to select corpses to enter the hall for inspection.

The people outside the hall picked and chose, and finally carried in five corpses.

Clearly, more than two retainers were killed by the arrows; some retainers who relied on their agility and leaping ability were unable to escape the arrows.

The Empress Dowager disregarded the gruesome state of the corpses at the time of their deaths and personally touched the bodies.

Once she had clearly identified the true forms of the two incarnations and verified what Zhang Xuezhou had said, she felt at ease and continued to explore their bodies.

"The two of them detached from their physical bodies in fear, which is why they appear so bewildered and shapeless!"

The Empress Dowager stared at the corpse and the still-present, undiminished, yang spirit.

These two cannot come back to life from corpses. The need to maintain the Yang Soul Incarnation lies in magical power. As long as enough magical power can be supplied to condense the body, the Yang Soul Incarnation will not dissipate.

The Empress Dowager's current concern is the mental state of the Yang Soul incarnation. If it cannot maintain a complete mental state when the body dies, this method of using an incarnation to preserve life is not advisable.

This still needs to be verified by someone, rather than her risking her life to try it herself.

"Dongfang Shuo, do you think that if one dies with prior preparation, the consciousness of the Yang Soul incarnation will remain intact?" the Empress Dowager asked.

“Your question has stumped me,” Zhang Xuezhou said, spreading his hands. “If you want to know the answer for sure, you’ll have to catch another sorcerer from the Yedi River Holy Land!”

"There's no need for such trouble," the Empress Dowager said after pondering. "I heard His Majesty say that you can use the great furnace of the previous dynasty to quickly refine the elixir of immortality?"

“If you’re willing to give me a chance, I can try to refine it,” Zhang Xuezhou shrugged.

"As long as there are enough Creation Pills, some talented cultivators can quickly master the Yang Soul Incarnation Technique," the Empress Dowager said. "It just so happens that some cultivators with talent for cultivation have committed capital crimes. If they can take the pills and cooperate, this could be a way out for them!"

“Then one must at least reach the Divine Power Realm to cultivate. There aren’t many cultivators at that level, and even fewer who commit capital crimes,” Zhang Xuezhou realized and asked, “Do you want Guan Fu to conduct the test?”

"It's not Guan Fu!" The Empress Dowager turned her gaze towards the Imperial Medical Academy.

As a brave warrior of the three armies during the reign of Emperor Jing, Guan Fu naturally possessed talent for cultivation. In previous years, Guan Fu also served as the Grand Master of the Imperial Stud, one of the Nine Ministers, making him a high-level talent of the Han Dynasty.

Dou Ying, who was even stronger than Guan Fu, was known as a genius and for a time was almost as famous as Grand Commandant Zhou Yafu.

It is somewhat regrettable that Dou Ying became weak in the later stages of his cultivation and has not yet stepped into the True Self Realm, but it is enough for him to cultivate the Yang Soul Incarnation Technique.

Whether Dou Ying can be made to obey depends on whether the new emperor's methods of using "genuine and fake edicts" will be effective.

"Guan Fu is impulsive and somewhat unyielding," the Empress Dowager said. "He would rather die than cooperate, but it will be different if Dou Ying is involved. He will definitely cooperate out of loyalty!"

"Pity!"

Zhang Xuezhou sighed.

"It's no pity," the Empress Dowager said. "If Dou Ying had real talent and ability, he would have turned the tide long ago when His Majesty ascended the throne. Guan Fu was only suitable for frontal assaults. If he won, that was fine, but if he lost, he would die. The talents of these two were actually limited, and their benefits to the Han Dynasty were also limited!"

As if knowing what Zhang Xuezhou was sighing about, the Empress Dowager spoke up to explain.

If Dou Ying hadn't possessed the secret edict, it wouldn't have mattered. But to lose his position as prime minister despite having such a trump card in hand, the Empress Dowager didn't feel it was a pity for such a person to die.

When this kind of indecisiveness in one's personality reaches a high position, the damage it causes is immeasurable.

"Wang Hui can also participate in the cooperation test!"

The Empress Dowager sighed with regret when she spoke of her former generals.

Wang Hui was almost a carbon copy of Dou Ying; he performed exceptionally well in ordinary times, but lacked decisiveness at crucial moments.

On the battlefield, there are not many opportunities to make repeated mistakes; every mistake can lead to huge losses.

The same applies to the Empress Dowager herself; one practical experience fully validated the formula, and she no longer needed to try it again.

"Your Majesty has nurtured Wei Qing, a general of exceptional talent. What do you think of Wei Qing?" the Empress Dowager asked.

"I don't know Wei Qing!"

Zhang Xuezhou shook his head repeatedly, his vehement denial causing Yi Shuo's needle to tremble slightly.

Zhang Xuezhou did not form any alliances and had little contact with many officials, but Wei Qing and others were exceptions.

Yi Shuo knew that Zhang Xuezhou and others had just been having a heated discussion with Wei Qing at night, and that Wei Shao'er had been stationed in the mansion for a long time. This also involved Huo Qubing and their close relationship, as well as the fact that Lady Wei in the harem had repeatedly shown goodwill towards them, even though Yi Shuo had been summoned several times.

Under normal circumstances, Yi Shuo felt that Zhang Xuezhou should recommend Wei Qing.

"His Majesty has placed almost all his bets on the younger generation. His style is very radical," the Empress Dowager said. "Some of the current generals are somewhat incompetent, but they are mature and will not participate in wars with no chance of winning. You must take the opportunity to advise His Majesty to prevent him from making a big mistake by acting recklessly!"

"Your Majesty is a man of both literary and military prowess, and his decisiveness is unmatched. There must be a reason behind Your Majesty's decisions. Why should the Empress Dowager worry about everything? Just like this Yang Soul Incarnation Technique, whether it succeeds or not will ultimately be determined through testing!"

Zhang Xuezhou does not like to get involved in political struggles.

There's no problem with him recommending Wei Qing, but there will be a problem if Wei Qing suffers a defeat.

Such a recommendation may not bring any benefits if it is correct, but if it is wrong, it will cause subsequent trouble.

He was reluctant to engage in any digressions, and the conversation repeatedly veered towards the Yang Soul Incarnation Technique, clearly wanting the Empress Dowager to become a qualified researcher.

Just like his experience in the real world, Zhang Xuezhou would also entrust tedious research to others to avoid working in isolation.

Whether it was Zheng Wukong and others, the Empress Dowager, or Dong Zhongshu, Zhenyuan Shenjun and others, all of these people were top talents. Only with the continuous insertion of these top talents could Zhang Xuezhou have the possibility of comprehensive summarization.

He spared no effort in promoting it, and repeatedly mentioned the potential benefits of the Yang Soul Incarnation Technique. In the end, he managed to immerse the Empress Dowager, who was suffering from illness, in it, and she turned to Zhang Xuezhou to discuss this technique that Confucianism was promoting everywhere.