Chapter 20: The Taoist and the Nun (Part 2)

  That night at candlelight time, Princess Jincheng, Shi Tai and Xiao Si snuck into the palace to meet with Yang Guang.

  All the shrimp soldiers and crabs occupying Liu Garden were driven out, but Duan Zhentian was detained. Geng Shaohua and Wanyi brought back the guards from Jiangzhou City to re-take control of the garden, and Xue Yue Zhenren also moved in with his young apprentice, it seemed that even in the whole of Chang'an, there were not many people who dared to forcefully intrude.

  Xiao Si and Wan'er didn't even have a chance to exchange a few private words before being dragged away by Princess Jincheng. As he walked out of the Liu Garden gate, he distinctly felt that behind him were a pair of eyes burning with fierce flames staring intently at himself and the young princess's skin. When they return from the imperial palace, the reception protocol will probably be raised several levels again.

  Three people arrived outside the imperial city, and the palace gate was already locked. But with Princess Jincheng present, naturally there were no taboos, and the group entered the imperial palace directly to see Yang Guang.

  The news of Princess Jincheng's return had already been reported to Yang Guang by the eunuchs, and soon an imperial edict was issued summoning the three of them to an audience in the Imperial Study. Xiao Si followed closely behind Princess Jincheng, tilting her head to ask Absolute Gold Shifang beside her: "Godmother, when we meet the Emperor later, you... won't really kill him, will you?"

  "Rest assured, it won't."

  Xiao Si had just begun to feel at ease when he heard Master Taiyin continue, "Wouldn't that be letting this beast off too easily? I want to ruin the rest of his life, from now on he'll never have a good day again!"

  Poor Xiao Si mistakenly heard "the second half of life" as "the lower body", and her heart skipped a beat, her face turned pale: "You... you want him to be a eunuch too?"

  "Absurd!" said Abbess Fahai frowning, "I have my own reasons!"

  Three people walked into the imperial study, and Princess Jincheng stepped forward and greeted: "Father Emperor, I'm back."

  Yang Guang sat behind his desk and looked up, glancing at Yue Jin Shi Tai, asking: "How did things go?"

  Princess Jincheng's expression remained calm as she replied, "I have fulfilled Father Emperor's entrustment and it is already taken care of."

  Yang Guang smiled slightly and said: "Very good, this also fulfills one of my wishes."

  Xiao Si let out a sigh of relief, it seemed that being a fake son wasn't so bad after all. As long as Yang Guang didn't go crazy and demand the throne for himself, everything else would be easy to handle.

  He thought for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, there is something that I, your humble minister, need to report to you."

  He told Yang Guang about Duan Zhen Tian's matter, and after listening to it, Yang Guang didn't have much reaction. After all, a retired leader of the Guanluo Agency was insignificant in his eyes. He casually wrote a note and handed it to Xiao Si: "You go deal with this, no need to report back."

  Xiao Si took the note and saw that it read: "By imperial decree, Xiao Si, Commander of the Left Guard of the Imperial Army, is authorized to take action. In conjunction with Quetu Tong, he will apprehend the rebels and turn them over to the Ministry of Justice for punishment."

  Xiao Si's heart was filled with great joy, this note is clever precisely because of the two words "cheap", it's clear that the Emperor has given him permission to take advantage of any opportunity to gain an advantage, truly a case of knowing one's son better than anyone else.

  "Father Emperor," Princess Jincheng suddenly said, "I want to ask you something. Who was my birth mother?"

  Yang Guang put down his imperial brush and frowned: "Fei Er, what do you mean by this?"

  Jue Jin Shuai pulled off her disguise and coldly laughed: "Yang Jun, do you still recognize me?"

  Yang Guang's heart skipped a beat, the two words "Yang Jun" were his alias when he was still a prince and traveled to Jiangnan in disguise to gather military intelligence.

  He stared at Juejin Shitai with a mixture of shock and doubt, saying: "You... you're Rong'er?"

  "Clang!" Absolute Gold Master drew out the Demon-Slaying Sword, pointing it at Yang Guang's heart, her face frosty with killing intent overflowing: "Your Majesty, it's rare that you still remember me! For eighteen years, I've been thinking of using this sword to pierce your chest and see if you really have a wolf's heart and dog's lungs!"

  "Unacceptable!" Xiao Si had already made up his mind on the way here, immediately putting on a loyal and protective stance, drawing out his long sword, and charging forward with abandon.

  Yang Guang neither dodged nor shouted, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on Master Juejin, and after a long while, he sighed and said: "You really are Rong'er, I haven't had a single day where I didn't miss you."

  Jue Jin Shifu was stunned for a moment before coldly laughing and saying: "You want me to die, don't you?"

  Yang Guang shook his head and said, "Since the day you left without saying goodbye, I have been secretly sending people to search for you everywhere. I just want to know why you did this? I remember that you promised me that you would wait for me to ride the colorful dragon boat upstream and marry you as my new bride. But why did you leave?"

  Xiao Si was stunned, the two versions were vastly different. Was it the nun who dumped the emperor or the emperor who played with the nun? The truth, there can only be one...

  "Scoundrel! It was clearly you who sent someone to snatch Fei'er from my arms!" Zhen Jin Shifu's eyes turned red with rage, her teeth clenched in anger. "No matter how eloquently you speak, I will never believe you again!"

  Yang Guang said in shock: "I sent someone to take away your consort? Wasn't it you who instructed people to send the consort over to me?"

  "Ah, my own flesh and blood daughter, why would I send her to you for no reason? Besides, at that time you were going by the name Yang Jun, where was I supposed to find you?"

  Yang Guang's face revealed a hint of anger, and Xian Xiao Si felt a chill in his heart, for the first time experiencing the majesty of the Son of Heaven. This majesty had nothing to do with cultivation, but was an innate imperial dignity that came with birth. No matter how skilled you were in cultivation, it was impossible not to react to it.

  "Li Yuan!" A name burst out coldly from between his teeth, and the imperial brush in his hand was snapped with a "crack".

  Xiao Si observed the expressions and words, seeing that Princess Jincheng remained silent from start to finish, unable to guess who she would help if the old emperor and the old nun started fighting. He then thought to himself: "Foolish, they are a couple, quarreling in bed but making up at the foot of the bed. The emperor is really anxious, like an eunuch."

  In the quiet study, Yang Guang gazed at Shi Tai for a long time. His angry expression gradually turned gentle and he sighed: "So you're a nun, no wonder you never eat meat or drink wine."

  "Is that ugly man who always followed you around back then Li Yuan?" said Absolute Gold Master slowly.

  Yang Guang nodded, glanced at the demon-slaying sword still pressed against his heart and said: "Rong'er, after all, I am in the wrong. If you want to kill me, just go ahead. I once vowed that if I were to die under the hibiscus flower, even as a ghost, I would be carefree!"

  "Ah!" The Demon-Slaying Sword fell to the ground with a clang, and Absolute Gold Master's face turned pale. She stroked her chest, her body weakly swaying back and forth, tears welling up in her eyes as she said resentfully: "You... you're using this again to comfort me!"

  Yang Guang took the opportunity to walk around the table, ignoring the pair of children who were still arguing and couldn't hit each other, stretched out his hand to hold onto Jue Jin Shi Tai's shoulder, and said softly: "Rong'er, don't become a nun anymore, how about following me?"

  Jue Jin Shuai Tai sighed and shook her head: "It won't work. If it were possible, I wouldn't have had to hide my identity from you back then."

  Yang Guang looked at the weak and helpless appearance of Jue Jin Shi Tai, as if he had returned to eighteen years ago. He suddenly felt his heart surging with emotion, his blood vessels swelling, and gritted his teeth: "Fine, I won't be an emperor, I'll go with you to become a monk!"

  Xiao Si couldn't help but sigh in admiration, to be able to make an old nun turn into a young woman in an instant, this kind of skill and power, how many years would one need to cultivate to achieve it? It's clear that chasing after beautiful women requires having thick skin, a black heart, bragging without drafting, this is exactly the same principle as being an emperor or a high-ranking official.

  He turned his eyes and whispered: "Your Majesty, since you admire Buddhism so much, why not build a Buddhist temple in the palace, issue an edict to invite the high monks of Mount Emei Ci'en Temple to reside, promote Buddhist teachings to educate officials, and pray for the Buddha's blessing for our great Sui Dynasty to be peaceful and prosperous?"

  Yang Guang looked at Xian Xiao Si with approval and said, "Are you still a Qian Niu Wei? This time the Jiangzhou mission was done to my satisfaction. Tomorrow, I will order the Ministry of War to promote you to Zhige General!"

  Xiao Si didn't care that the Emperor had bestowed a few more official ranks upon himself, but he thought that promotion and wealth were always linked together. Since his official rank had already been promoted, would wealth be far behind? For now, he pretended to be overjoyed and thanked the Emperor profusely: "Long live the Emperor, long live, long live!"

  Yang Guang burst out laughing and looked at Master Absolute Gold: "Rong'er, what do you think of this?"

  The old nun's cheeks actually floated a touch of red glow, and she lowered her head without responding.

  Xiao Si knew that if she stayed any longer, she would become annoying, so she tactfully withdrew from the imperial study.

  Jincheng Princess also left the imperial study together with him and said: "Do you know that your idea just now was a bad one?"

  Xiao Siyi was taken aback and asked: "Could it be that Your Highness thinks it would be better for His Majesty to go to Emei Mountain to become a monk?"

  Jincheng princess stared at Xiao Si for a while, making sure that he was not pretending to be stupid, before saying coldly: "As for Duan Zhen Tian's matter, I will mention it to my sister so that Yuwen Chengdu won't make too much of a fuss. But you should also know your limits, the Yuwen family is not something you can handle."

  "Don't worry, I'm not free to play with them. With this spare time, it's better to drink some wine and take a nap, enjoying the happy life of being rich."

  The princess of Jin City's cherry lips curled up with a faint smile that was almost negligible, and she said: "In those three days and three nights, you didn't eat or sleep, digging holes and burying dirt, covered in stinky sweat, wasn't it also done quite happily?"

  Xiao Si's eyes widened and he said: "Were you watching from the side when I was working?"

  The Princess of Jin City nodded and replied: "Only that time, you still had a bit of humanity."

  Xiao Si angrily said: "You see how exhausted I am, like a dead dog, and you don't even come to help me out?!"

  The princess of Jin City didn't get angry either, and calmly said: "I like it."

  Xiao Si felt uncomfortable with this remark, and spat out: "So you like the smell of men? Next time before entering the palace, I won't take a bath for three days, see how long you can stand it!" After saying that, he quickly turned his head and left, afraid that Princess Jincheng would react and let Xiaoxue bite him.

  He rode out of the palace on horseback, leisurely strolling around the willow garden, thinking about how to get in touch with Qu Tutong and make some money from this matter. He didn't know where Li Yuanba and Changsun Wujie, those two scoundrels from Qingcheng, had gone, but if he could pull them into dealing with Yuwen Chengdu, that would be even better.

  Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard the sound of people chattering in front of him. Row upon row of torches illuminated the sky, making it as bright as daytime. The entire road leading to Yong'an Square was sealed off by the imperial guards, and outside, crowds of onlookers were packed tightly together.

  Xiao Si's heart sank as he knew something had happened again at Liu Yuan tonight.

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