fifth form

Chapter 3463 Late Night Meeting
Zhang Xuezhou didn't need medical treatment, but he was somewhat disappointed that one of his few treasures was missing.

"Princess Dou, a fifty-year-old woman, had an affair with an eighteen-year-old boy. This is truly immoral and morally reprehensible!"

Dou Taizhu's death was a true social death.

Even Dong Zhongshu, who was focused on writing books to guide the transmission of Confucianism and teach people in all directions, couldn't hold back his anger and came to Zhang Xuezhou's residence to inquire about the situation.

After the news leaked, it first caused an uproar among the marquises in Chang'an. After many people visited Princess Guantao's residence to confirm the facts, this gossip spread at an alarming speed, even with some embellishment added.

Dong Zhongshu received what was then a version of the news, which mentioned that Princess Dou had taken a liking to Dong Yan's beauty ten years ago and had been secretly dating him every day until this was finally exposed.

If we extend the timeframe slightly, the situation regarding Princess Dou becomes even more serious. After all, Princess Dou's husband, Marquis Chen Wu of Tangyi, was still alive at that time, and Princess Dou was not yet a widow. This behavior constitutes a blatant disregard for the dignity of a marquis.

"Men can take concubines, so it's not a big deal for Princess Dou to have a male favorite!"

Zhang Xuezhou gave a listless response.

If he could learn from it, Zhang Xuezhou was quite interested in the method Dong Yan used, since turning a powerful cultivator into someone obsessed with love was quite difficult.

Princess Dou may have considered the consequences, but her stress response made the other party disregard the repercussions. The other party may never have imagined that the matter could eventually escalate to the level of a 'male-female conflict'.

In a male-dominated society, there are certain things that men can do but women cannot, even if they hold high positions of power.

Zhang Xuezhou's words immediately drew a barrage of criticism from Dong Zhongshu, who even argued that Confucian teachings needed to guide women in the "way of women" to prevent an imbalance of yin and yang in society, which would lead to social disorder if both men and women studied in this way.

Given the attitude of intellectuals like Dong Zhongshu, the Taoist practitioners would undoubtedly be in uproar, and it would be almost impossible for Emperor Dou to maintain any prestige or power to control the situation.

"When the nation is in peril, she does not strive for progress; her virtue is not commensurate with her position, and disaster is inevitable. The Huang-Lao Daoist sect under her control will surely collapse!"

Dong Zhongshu was very dissatisfied with Zhang Xuezhou's open-minded views, but as long as he thought that Zhang Xuezhou was also rather eccentric in his views on marriage, and might be able to accept Dou Taizhu's behavior, he could only leave in a huff.

"The door's unlocked, and the patrol won't see you. Come in!"

Few people came to visit Zhang Xuezhou's residence. After seeing Dong Zhongshu off, Zhang Xuezhou went to the vicinity of the Prime Minister's residence to eavesdrop, played with the flying knife fragments for a while, and when night fell, he glanced at the backyard and then invited them.

The back gate that Huo Qubing had used to scale the wall was pushed open, and Dong Yan quickly slipped in.

His steps were somewhat unsteady, his face was pale, but his eyes held a glimmer of hope.

"We hope you will tell us what to do?"

Dong Yan bowed respectfully.

According to past arrangements, Zhang Xuezhou should not have been in charge of him, but he had not received any messages from his superiors for a long time.

Dong Yan didn't know if Zhang Xuezhou's arrangement was correct, but he had no choice at the time, especially since he had injured Zhang Xuezhou and caused great trouble. If the other party said anything more, all his merits would be lost, and he might even be punished.

Dong Yan had no choice in the matter, and he had no other way out, so he ended up making a mess of things.

"You didn't use any magic on Dou Tai, so how were you able to control her mind?"

Zhang Xuezhou did not answer Dong Yan's question first, but instead inquired about it with great interest.

"Old Master Huang has a witchcraft technique called 'Heart-to-Heart Sorcery.' I took a strand of hair from Princess Dou and my own hair, tied them into a small effigy, and buried it in the palace, offering sacrifices to it daily. This gave it a certain mystical quality," Dong Yan said. "However, I never expected that Princess Dou truly had some feelings for me, so things naturally fell into place!"

"Huang Laodao's witchcraft?"

Witchcraft belongs to the category of sorcery, but it is also a type of sorcery that has been phased out.

This technique has a low entry barrier and almost no fluctuations in spells, but the difficulty of performing curses is extremely high. It is common for someone to curse an opponent for ten days or half a month, and it is also common for someone to fail after three or five years.

The flaws in this technique are too great, so its elimination is only natural. Since this technique is insufficient to inflict damage on its opponents, it is difficult to detect when used against those close to it, and it is especially vulnerable to betrayal from loved ones.

Dong Yan's Heart-Binding Sorcery was one such technique. He used this spell to almost completely bind Princess Dou, and the spell could not be broken without breaking the hidden hair-binding doll.

However, Dong Yan's love spell was just a prelude. Princess Dou, who was in a political marriage, may have truly longed for this kind of love that transcended life and death. Even if the medium for breaking the spell was broken, she would still go with the flow and integrate into it, since there was almost no way back once she was in a state of social death.

Having figured out that Dong Yan hadn't used any special magic weapons or any special techniques from the Celestial Court, Zhang Xuezhou breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt a little disappointed.

"I'm telling you, you..."

He didn't hide anything and began to tell Dong Yan about the recent situation in Xianting.

The Celestial Court dismissed a large number of personnel, and even those with connections were struggling to gain a foothold, let alone a cultivator like Dong Yan who lacked a solid foundation.

No matter how talented Dong Yan was, it was useless. In fact, Dong Yan's superiors, Liu Ding and Liu Jia, had already gone down to the mortal world to make a living.

"How could this be?"

Dong Yan's eyes widened, and the belief in his mind collapsed almost instantly, his bright eyes quickly dimming.

Having emerged from a rigorous selection process and worked tirelessly for nearly a decade, he sought only a ticket to a top-tier school of thought in the Three Realms, so he could pursue immortality and seek enlightenment. Little did he know that once he had accomplished his goal, the Celestial Court would begin to streamline its bloated system of immortals.

At this point, even using connections wouldn't get you into the Celestial Court, let alone someone like him who wasn't officially part of the staff and was being promoted.

"You're lucky, at least you have Princess Dou to look after you. Others aren't so fortunate!"

Zhang Xuezhou sighed, which made Dong Yan feel even more hurt. He was just playing along; how could he possibly be in love with a woman old enough to be his grandmother?

Dong Yan wanted to sever his ties with Princess Dou, but severing ties would not only render him useless, but would also cause him to lose the support Princess Dou provided.

As he pondered these thoughts, he felt so suffocated he almost wanted to vomit blood.

"Why is the Celestial Court acting this way? Do they no longer need the surrender of the entire Huainan Kingdom? Do they no longer need any influence in the mortal realm? Why are they giving us this kind of test?"

Dong Yan mumbled something, which made Zhang Xuezhou's eyelids twitch.

"You mean Yao Yuanguang has dealt with Huai'an Kingdom?"

Zhang Xuezhou had just mentioned a name to test the waters when Dong Yan hesitated slightly before nodding in agreement with Zhang Xuezhou.

Dong Yan didn't know the real names of the Twelve Yuan Chen in the organization, but since Zhang Xuezhou had directly named them, why would he doubt the accuracy of the names Zhang Xuezhou mentioned?

This was largely because neither side had easy access to information about their superiors, while Dong Yan had certain channels. The Twelve Yuan Chen (a group of celestial beings) made contact with each other and revealed their respective task completion rates. The best performer even attracted the surrender of a vassal state.

What Dong Yan did was nothing compared to the surrender of Huainan Kingdom; he could hardly believe that the Celestial Court would give up such a golden opportunity.

“Currently, only I and another special envoy from the Great Han Dynasty can return to the Celestial Court. I will have the opportunity to ask the higher-ups for you,” Zhang Xuezhou said.

Dong Yan's entire belief was on the verge of collapse, but Zhang Xuezhou didn't let him collapse in his own home. Instead, he chose to temporarily appease him.

His words brought Dong Yan back to his senses, and he bowed repeatedly in gratitude.

Compared to his previous hope for cultivating immortality, Dong Yan was now undoubtedly waiting for a final judgment, and his eyes gradually became indifferent and wooden.

Before leaving, Dong Yan returned a brocade box.

The box contained the magical artifacts used to control the demon-revealing mirror.