Zhutian: My skills are not serious

Chapter 824 You are an adult now, you must learn to take the initiative (two in one)

The princess's guard?

Xu Pingzhi's face changed and he dared not show his emotion anymore. He quickly smiled flatteringly and led the person into the courtyard.

"Master of Consecration, Master of Consecration, the Princess's guards are here to see you."

Chu Pingsheng was stunned, not understanding why Princess Huaiqing wanted to see him.

"Master Kaiguang, can we move to Huairenju for a chat?"

"Huairenju?"

"Huairenju is the eldest princess's residence outside the palace."

"Can you tell me why the princess invited me to meet her?"

"This..." Chen Ying hesitated for a moment and said, "It's related to the International Poetry Festival."

Huaiqing also talked to him about the International Poetry Festival?
Chu Pingsheng was a little surprised. After all, in the TV series, Huaiqing didn't care about the International Poetry Festival. It was only the Drowned Princess who was looking for poets everywhere and making all kinds of trouble in an attempt to suppress the eldest princess.

And... he remembered that this plot didn't exist in the book at all.

"Lead the way."

Chu Pingsheng was not pretentious. He took the Zen stick handed to him by Fuxiang and followed Chen Ying outside.

Li Ru accompanied her all the way to the door.

"Are you going home for dinner?"

"Back."

When she heard the word "return", she smiled and went back happily.

After watching the two disappear, Xu Pingzhi put on the blue cloth and said, "Come on, let's continue, continue..."

After saying that, he noticed that there was no movement around, so he took a look and saw that Li Ru had gone to wash the vegetables, the eldest daughter was pulling the second daughter to do her "homework", and Fuxiang was collecting clothes.

No one ignored him.

Xu Pingzhi: ?????
A thousand alpacas also flashed through Xu Qian’an’s mind: ??? ??? ???
As the eldest princess of Dafeng, Huaiqing was known for her coldness, elegance and nobleness. He compared her to a lotus, which perfectly catered to her tastes. Moreover, Cijiu said that Huaiqing recommended him to be a night watchman after reading his poetry collection in Yunlu Academy. Logically speaking, Huaiqing should have invited Yang, the great talent who was invincible in the Music Bureau, to be a guest poet and writer. How did he pick peaches for the monk?

It shouldn't be like this. It absolutely shouldn't be like this.

……

Lin'an's lakeside cottage is in the east of the city, and Huairenju is in the west of the city. In comparison, Huairenju is larger because there is no lake in the manor, only a pond with red carp in the back garden.

Chen Ying was a little surprised to learn that Huaiqing was waiting in the back garden, because the eldest princess was calm and introverted, and she usually chose the front hall to entertain guests, and seldom met guests in the back garden. As far as he could remember, only Chu Caiwei and Zhong Li from the Imperial Observatory had this honor.

He was somewhat unhappy, even though he knew that the monk was a third-grade Vajra who made the night watchmen helpless and he should be looked up to, but looking up to someone was different from being close to him, not to mention that the master of consecration had a bad reputation. Everyone in the entire Jiaofangsi and East Market knew that the bald monk had taken in the most beautiful courtesan in the Jiaofangsi.

Moreover, when he arrived at Xu's house, the monk was playing hide-and-seek with a group of women. This behavior was disgusting!

It’s a pity that as a guard, I am powerless to influence my master’s thoughts and can only sulk in private.

Because they were unhappy, they kept silent. The two walked all the way in a dull mood until they saw Her Royal Highness the Princess, who was wearing a white palace dress with trailing skirt, a shawl on her arm, and a ball of corn in her hand, feeding the big red carp in the pond slowly and steadily in front of the small pavilion. Only then did the atmosphere improve.

"Princess, the person is here." Chen Ying bowed and clasped his fists.

"Okay, you go down first." Huaiqing threw the fish food, turned around and waved his hand.

"Princess?"

He was somewhat worried about letting a lecherous monk face the elegant and refined Princess Dafeng alone.

"Any thing else?"

Chen Ying gritted his teeth, bowed, took a few steps back, and walked away holding the hilt of the knife.

Chu Pingsheng was neither polite nor respectful. He turned his head to look at Chen Ying's back and said, "He doesn't seem to like me."

Huaiqing showed no joy or anger, and went to the tea table under the pavilion to invite him: "Master, please take a seat."

Chu Pingsheng put down his Zen stick and went to sit down. The maid standing beside him lowered her head and came forward, knelt down to make tea, and then bowed and left when she was done.

Huaiqing personally served the tea. He gently held the shawl with his left hand and pushed the teacup in front of him with his slender white right hand.

"Please use."

Chu Pingsheng picked it up, smelled the fragrance, and took a sip.

"Golden Mountain Silver Needle? It comes from an old tea tree in Jiulongpo that is over 500 years old. Even if you are a prince or princess, you can't get half a pound in a year."

Huaiqing smiled slightly: "As long as the master likes it."

Chu Pingsheng finished the tea in the cup and watched her pick up the teapot and refill the cup.

"Tell me, what is the purpose of inviting me here?"

"I heard that the master fought against nine golden gongs alone in the night watchman's office, and then chatted with Duke Wei for a while and left calmly?"

"Want to know what I talked to him about?"

Huaiqing shook his head: "Duke Wei knows how to act in moderation."

"If he is kind to me, he will know his limits. If he is my enemy... heh..."

Chu Pingsheng picked up the teacup and drank it all in one gulp.

Huaiqing was slightly stunned, and the silver flower ornament between her eyebrows rose and fell slightly. She thought about it again and again, but couldn't figure out what the above sentence meant.

"To be honest, I ordered Chen Ying to go to Xu's house and ask the master to come over to ask for a favor."

"what's up?"

"It is approaching the 80th birthday of my grandmother. My father has always been filial. He will host a banquet for court officials and foreign envoys in the Hall of All Nations and hold a poetry meeting. All princes and princesses must participate. I have heard that you are a poet with extraordinary talent. I would like to invite you to be my guest poet to assist in the grand ceremony."

"As far as I know, the princess once studied at Yunlu Academy, and was both a teacher and friend to the dean, Zhao Shou. Yunlu Academy has a profound background and is full of talented people. As the princess, why would she extend an olive branch to a monk from the Heaven Realm?"

"Yunlu Academy is different from the Imperial College. They are good at military strategy and not good at poetry. Since I have decided to participate in the poetry competition, I must win first place to live up to the title of a talented woman of the royal family."

"Is it……"

Chu Pingsheng smiled indifferently.

A talented lady from the royal family?

Everyone knows that Huaiqing is aloof, but few people know that she is also very cunning. Would she do something like winning the poetry competition, which would not bring any other benefits except pleasing the old lady?

Yuan Jing made Concubine Chen's son the crown prince and his favorite daughter was Lin'an, which already sent a signal - he did not like Empress Shangguan.

Imagine Huaiqing won the first prize in the poetry competition and surpassed all the other princes. Outsiders would think this was normal. After all, she was the eldest princess who was known as the most talented woman in Dafeng.

But after seeing this, would Yuan Jing suspect that his eldest daughter was recruiting guests and keeping retainers in the name of the International Poetry Festival?

Huaiqing studied at Yunlu Academy, which is good at discussing military strategies. Later, she went to Sitianjian to learn alchemy. She was both a teacher and a friend to the director. Wei Yuan loved her and took good care of her. Yunlu Academy, Sitianjian, and the night watchmen were all on good terms with her. Now she is recruiting high-level Buddhist practitioners from the heavenly realm to her side. What does she want to do? Anyone who is not a fool should think carefully.

It is understandable that Lin'an is simple-minded and only wants to win the poetry competition, but what about Huaiqing? It makes people think more.

"If I'm not mistaken, you've seen the poems Xu Qian'an and I wrote. You didn't recruit him, even though you already have a good relationship with him, but instead sent someone to Xu's house to invite me, a monk who has caused a lot of controversy. Isn't it unwise for the princess to seek a distant place instead of a nearby one?"

"Master, you don't know yet, right? A few days ago, the Minister of Rites Li Yulang attacked Duke Wei in the court, accusing the night watchman of ignoring the appeals of the beaten guards of the Jiaofang Bureau and letting the master swagger around. Duke Wei remained silent, and after the meeting, he met with the emperor alone. The next day, he defended himself in the court, saying that the night watchman was tracking down the master's accomplice, the person who was willing to pay 6,000 taels of silver to redeem Fuxiang, and was ready to arrest him after finding out his identity. Since then, Li Yulang has never mentioned this matter again, and the emperor seems to have forgotten Duke Wei's promise. So, Master, what do you think Duke Wei said when he met the emperor?"

Huaiqing poured him a third cup of tea and said, "I am only doing this to help my father. As long as you help me win the poetry competition and please the Queen Mother, from now on, no one in the Jiaofangsi Guards will dare to bring charges against you."

Chu Pingsheng scraped the rim of the cup with his thumb: "That's a good reason. Anything else?"

Huai Qing stared at him for a few seconds and said, "I, Dafeng, do not want to be involved in the feud between the Heaven Realm and the demon race. No matter what kind of connection there is between the parties in the court and the demon race, it is not what the royal family wants."

Chu Pingsheng clapped his hands and said, "As expected of the eldest princess, she can see this. She is indeed extraordinary."

He praised Huaiqing with his mouth, but he was worried in his heart. It seemed that Wei Yuan did not tell Huaiqing and Jianzheng that he was Henghui.

Logically speaking, given the relationship between Wei Yuan and the Supervisor, the conversation between him and Wei Yuan in Haoqi Tower should not be concealed.

Could it be because of Shangguan Xixue?
The position of the Supervisor is to select the gatekeeper of the Heavenly Dao, and Wei Yuan's position is Shangguan Xixue. One of the necessary conditions to become the gatekeeper of the Heavenly Dao is to have great luck. The shortcut is to kill Yuan Jing and seize the luck of Dafeng. But in this way, how can Wei Yuan face Shangguan Xixue, Huaiqing and the fourth prince? Therefore, it is impossible for Wei Yuan to take this important task. Being a eunuch to manage the night watchmen, he can rectify the government, help the people, and protect his beloved woman at close range. This is enough.

Once the Supervisor knows that he can help Wei Yuan recover his body, then his promotion from the second rank to the first rank will be a natural thing. What will the Supervisor do then when faced with Huaiqing and Wei Yuan, the two key objects of observation?
Abandoning one's own cultivation and becoming a castrator is equivalent to turning oneself into a useless chess piece. If one becomes a first-class man and shows masculinity, and has the desires that only a complete man has, the useless chess piece may be reactivated.

Being a useless chess piece allows you to be free, but being a brilliant chess piece allows you to be manipulated by others.

Therefore, Wei Yuan chose to conceal the conversation between the two. When the Supervisor asked about it later, he could also use the excuse that there was a powerful person behind him who held the resources that could shake the foundation of the Dafeng Kingdom, and warned him not to tell anyone about the content of the conversation.

"So, another reason why you asked me to be your guest is to establish a dialogue channel with Tianyu through me, so as to avoid misjudgment on the issue of the demon elders hiding in the capital and interacting with court officials, thereby exacerbating the conflict between Dafeng and Tianyu?"

"Yes."

For example, Luo Yuheng, the national teacher of Dafeng and the leader of Renzong, is a second-rank master. Wei Yuan, who achieved a crucial victory in Shanhaiguan single-handedly, is a second-rank master. Zhao Shou of Yunlu Academy, the current number one Confucianist, is a half-step second-rank master. Although the Supervisor is of the first rank, he seldom interferes in government affairs. Therefore, second- and third-rank masters are already considered the helmsmen of major forces.

Judging from his performance in the Night Watchmen's Office, with a cultivation level of the third rank or above, there is nothing wrong with Huaiqing positioning him as a member of the Tianyu Buddhist management team.

"Having said that, if I continue to refuse, it would seem that I am not generous enough. Amitabha, I agree."

He picked up the third cup of tea, and Huaiqing also picked up the third cup of tea. The two of them drank tea instead of wine at the same time. Then Chu Pingsheng stood up to say goodbye. Huaiqing clapped his hands and called Chen Ying to see him off.

Not long after Chu Pingsheng left, a man walked out from behind the rockery next to the pavilion. He had an ordinary appearance, wearing a white robe, a hat unique to the Imperial Observatory, and holding a jade plate with many pointers and scales on it.

Huaiqing asked briefly, "What rank?"

"I...I...am...not...a...right...right...opponent."

Just five simple words, but it took as long as two sentences to say them.

Speaking of the people in the Imperial Observatory, the one Huaiqing hated dealing with the most was Sun Xuanji. This second disciple of the Imperial Observatory and a third-rank astronomical master was very capable, but his stutter was uncorrectable and communicating with him was suffocating.

"That's right. I forgot that you are a sorcerer. Your combat power is not as good as that of a warrior of the same level or a Buddhist Vajra."

“No… not… it’s… like this…” Sun Xuanji stammered, “He… he… he is… a… second… second-grade… Arhat… he… he… I saw… a relic… in his… body.”

In this long paragraph, the central idea can be summed up in just three words: “relics”.

"How is this possible!" Huaiqing's face changed.

Relics are the unique product of the second-grade Arhats in Buddhism. The monk who performed the consecration was clearly at the third-grade Vajra realm, so how could he possibly produce relics?
There are two routes for Buddhist practice in Tianyu, one for martial monks and one for Zen monks. The promotion route for Zen monks is ninth grade - seventh grade - sixth grade - fifth grade - fourth grade - second grade/first grade, and the promotion route for martial monks is eighth grade - third grade - first grade.

Generally speaking, if one cultivates to the third level of Vajra, the next step is to become a first level Bodhisattva, and there is absolutely no possibility of achieving the second level of Arhat.

Sun Xuanji said: "It is…possible…to cultivate both…Zen…Zen and martial arts."

"Are you sure you saw the relics in his body?"

"There is... a bit... of a strange... energy... It's not... very strong... but... it's... real. The thing... in my hand is... my master's... Heavenly Secret... Plate. It can't be wrong...."

What kind of monster is this?

Huaiqing's brows were furrowed, and the silver flower ornaments sparkled in the sunlight.

News came from the night watchman that the monk was a third-rank Vajra, and was suspected to be a third-rank warrior. But Xu Qian'an spread the word that the monk had cultivated a Nascent Soul. Now Sun Xuanji came here with the Supervisor's Tianji Plate to observe the qi and calculate, just to find out the cultivation level of the monk who had been consecrated. However, he felt even more confused.

"Brother Sun, please go back first."

"it is good……"

Sun Xuanji took the Heavenly Secret Plate and took two steps back: "You...are fine...it's best...don't...plot against...him..."

"why?"

"He...he knew I...I was hiding behind the fake...fake mountain..."

"Didn't you set up an invisibility array in advance? How did he know?"

Sun Xuanji pointed to the place where he had been hiding just now. Huaiqing took a closer look and saw that the sand on the ground had gathered into four square characters "Never again".

Huaiqing's expression was not good. The strongest weapon of warlocks below the first rank was the formation. An invisible formation like this one that needed to be set up in advance would never be discovered by cultivators of other systems of the same rank.

Sun Xuanji was the most favored disciple of the Supervisor, and he was holding the most powerful magical instrument of the Sitianjian, but he still showed his true colors in front of the monk. This gave people a feeling of subverting common sense, just like... the cultivation standards determined by the Confucian sages in the past were completely ineffective on the monk.

"Do you think he could be... the incarnation of Buddha?"

"I don't... know..."

Sun Xuanji was shocked by Huaiqing's wild ideas.

In the past, the Buddha split off a Shenshu, who used a trick to destroy the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons. Now the influence of the Jiazi Demon-Extermination has not been eliminated. If another "Shenshu" is created, the world will probably be in disaster again.

……

Xu Qian'an was extremely upset. He was the one who came first, so why did the princess summon the monk for a face-to-face meeting? This bald donkey was really bad. He was eating from the bowl and taking over the pot. If he hadn't been a martial arts expert, he would have been beaten to death if he did this in modern society.

He originally wanted to go to the Jiaofangsi again to write a more sensational article. Considering Huaiqing's temperament, he was afraid that only "The Goddess of Luo River" would be suitable. However, after thinking it over, he only remembered one sentence: "She is as light as a startled swan, as graceful as a swimming dragon, as glorious as the autumn chrysanthemums, as luxuriant as the spring pines, as if the light clouds cover the moon, and as if the wind blows the snow back." He could not remember anything else.

This stuff is not part of the Chinese language textbooks, and it is written in a difficult way. Unlike "On the Love of Lotus", it is an article that requires memorization. I can only slap my thighs at the verses and lament how lazy I am. I wish I had worked as hard as those top students when I was in school and memorized all the classic poems and essays passed down from generation to generation.

Just when he was always sighing, Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao noticed something was wrong and wanted to take him to visit brothels to relieve his boredom. Then someone from the Imperial Observatory found him and told him that Song Qing's investigation on the jade mirror had yielded preliminary results.

Xu Qian'an hurried to the Sitianjian and learned from Song Qing that the small jade mirror should be a magical tool of the Taoist Earth Sect and was very precious. He also told him some secrets of the Earth Sect, such as the story of how the Taoist master transformed into the Three Pure Ones and founded the Heaven Sect, the Earth Sect, and the Human Sect. The story of how the head of the Heaven Sect would merge into the Heavenly Dao once his cultivation became too high, and the Human Sect would be entangled in karma because of embracing the seven emotions and six desires. In order to complement each other, the two sects had a setting of a dispute between heaven and man. He had heard about this from the monk.

However, he heard for the first time that an accident occurred when the Daoist Master's Earth Sect clone was refining the Mountain and River Seal of the Incense God. Not only did the clone fail to become the spirit of the Earth Book, but it was instead assimilated by the Earth Book and turned into a demon, almost causing a catastrophe. In the end, it had to be broken into pieces and divided into nine to weaken it.

After leaving the Sitianjian, Xu Qian'an returned home and dripped his own blood into the jade mirror. Then he was pulled into a strange space and saw eight light balls suspended in the air, from "One" to "Nine", but there was no "Three". Just when he was sure that he was the "Three", light ball "Nine" lit up and said something to him, asking him to beware of the people of the Tiandi Society and to return the jade mirror to its original owner. He was willing to pay 500 taels of gold as a reward for this.

After the light ball of No. 9 went out, the light ball of No. 6 lit up, warning him not to believe the words of No. 9, that the Tiandi Society was righteous and the Zilian of Dizong of No. 9 was evil.

Xu Qian'an knew that the jade mirror was a hot potato, so he wanted to give it to the monk and let the master of consecration who was proficient in the Tianzong's skills go to fight with the people from the Dizong Zilian and Tiandihui. However, after searching for a long time around the house, he couldn't find any trace of the monk. Considering that the date with Zilian was approaching, he finally chose to go to the night watchman and tell Wei Yuan about the jade mirror.

After some consideration, Wei Yuan sent Yang Yan to set up an ambush at Wangyue Tower. He followed the contact person outside the city and met Dizong Zilian who had already been possessed by a demon.

After a fierce fight between the two sides, Yang Yan did not gain any advantage and was trapped in Zi Lian's Hundred Ghosts Formation. The back of his hand, cheek, and ankle were all injured, but not seriously. He could still open up a defensive force field to resist the omnipresent Yin God.

"The night watchman's golden gong is nothing more than that."

Zi Lian was shrouded in a cloud of black air, and the Yin creature he raised was baring its fangs and claws, trapping Yang Yan tightly.

"In less than a cup of tea, you will die in my Hundred Ghosts Formation."

Of course, although it is called the Formation of a Hundred Ghosts, there are actually not that many "ghosts". Even though he is a fourth-rank Taoist priest of the Earth Sect, the number of ferocious ghosts he raises and controls is no more than thirty or forty. The rest are just ordinary ghosts who are just there to make up the numbers. They simply cannot break the iron body of a fourth-rank warrior. However, endurance is his strong point, and as long as the formation is not broken, he can kill Yang Yan.

"If I still had my gun..."

Yang Yan's back teeth were grinding. He had not expected that his opponent was a fourth-grade master of the Earth Sect, and a possessed one at that. He was also using a vicious spell, the Hundred Ghosts Formation, which collected ghosts and drove them to form an array. If the tip of his silver spear had not been broken by the monk's stick, he could have easily broken Zi Lian's spell from the outside to the inside if he was summoned into the field at this time.

The problem is that the spear head is gone and the magic weapon is destroyed. It is not easy to ask the Imperial Observatory for help in refining a new one. Ordinary spears cannot withstand his spear intent and energy, so he is in such a predicament.

"Amitabha, isn't this the night watchman Jinluo Yang Yan? He looks quite miserable."

An inappropriate ridicule came.

Yang Yan turned his head and vaguely saw a monk holding a Zen staff walking forward step by step.

"Consecration... Master?"

"Good, good, it is me, the poor monk."

The hunchbacked demon shrouded in ghost fog also noticed this uninvited guest who appeared silently on the battlefield.

"who are you?"

"This poor monk is consecrating the Buddha."

"This is a fight between Wei Qingyi and I, don't mind your own business."

Yang Yan was not willing to let go of this life-saving straw, and said anxiously: "Master, this is the magic of the Earth Sect, and he wants to harm Xu Qian'an. If we let him go, it will cause trouble in the future."

Chu Pingsheng said: "If you want me to save you, just tell me directly. Why are you bringing up Xu Qian'an?"

Yang Yan was stunned for a moment: "Isn't Xu Qian'an your uncle?"

(End of this chapter)