Chapter 54: The Imperial Court Conference Triggered by Nüwa's Descent

  Zhang Zixing took advantage of the night to arrive at the imperial palace's forbidden area, and the Five Gods hurriedly welcomed him. The previous night, during the thunderstorm, the five monsters saw from a distance the scene of Qingjiao's sneak attack. Due to the great cultivation of both sides, they did not dare to show themselves, but were afraid that this "Upper Immortal" who grasped his own life's origin soul might have some mishap, and harm them to the point of burial. Now seeing Zhang Zixing unharmed, they revered him even more. Zhang Zixing did not ask about the events of the previous day, but instead arranged a residence for the Five Monsters in the forbidden area, ordering them to cultivate on their own and not leave, saying that after some time there would be another task, and the Five Monsters naturally obeyed.

  Then, Zhang Zixing ordered someone to secretly escort two death row prisoners to the forbidden land. These two death row prisoners were extremely evil and deserved to die. They had been drugged with medicinal wine beforehand as instructed.

  "Let's get started..."

  "Understood! Activating biological control mode!" The two semi-transparent spheres in front of Super Brain responded in unison, these two spheres were identical to Super Brain, slightly smaller in volume, and were the two sub-bodies it had split out.

  The two spheres flew up to the faces of the two men, and slowly drilled into their mouths. Before long, the two men's faces contorted in agony, their eyes rolled back, and their bodies began to convulse, their skin twisting and turning with wave after wave of bulges, as if something inside was frantically stirring, looking incredibly terrifying.

  "The completion rate 50%, 60%, 70%..." The voice of the super brain broadcast progress dissipated a lot of the gloomy atmosphere. When the progress reached 100%, the two dead prisoners had stopped their painful struggles, their expressions calm, but with a kind of shocking emptiness in their eyes.

  "Target control successful!" The two dead prisoners simultaneously uttered a stiff voice, and they crawled out of the ground at the same time, their movements appearing mechanical and strange. This mode is to implant the controller into the biological body, thereby controlling all the actions of the target, divided into incomplete implantation and complete implantation. The former is temporary or phased control, which does not cause any harm to the target itself, but the technical requirements for implantation are very high; the latter is to completely replace the biological brain with a controller, the original consciousness being completely erased, like a puppet, every move controlled by the corresponding program, and once the controller leaves, it will inevitably die.

  "Initiate control function attempt." This command brought about an even more terrifying scene, with the two of them performing actions that completely defied physiological norms, such as rotating their necks 360 degrees, stretching their arms to three meters long, and sharp metal bone spurs protruding from their fingertips...

  This terrible scene did not move Zhang Zixing, these two dead prisoners were originally guilty of death, even if they were not dead prisoners, he would have ruthlessly done so to change the fate of the country's destruction and family ruin, sacrifice was inevitable.

  He calmly looked at the two bodies that had actually lost their lives and said, "From now on, you will be called Zhang One and Zhang Two. Your first mission is to explore resources, and in a few days, I will give you detailed action instructions. You should use these two days to familiarize yourself with these two bodies and energy applications as soon as possible, so that you can fully simulate normal humans and avoid mistakes when performing tasks."

  "Yes sir! Master!"

  Zhang Zixing finished giving instructions and walked into the quiet room for cultivation. His yuan fetus had just formed, and he needed to consolidate it well. Normally, even if a cultivator's natural talent was high, it would take at least 500 years or more to cultivate from an ordinary body to a half-immortal body. It was rare to have such an opportunity like his, where he could achieve so much in just a few years of cultivation. Of course, the experience on the previous night had also been life-threatening; if not for his good luck, he would have become food for the Qingjiao True Man long ago. This was indeed a great fortune that came from narrowly escaping death. Zhang Zixing knew that such an opportunity was hard to come by, and although his superbrain had successfully separated from his body and became his most trusted assistant, he still didn't give up on cultivation - now putting in one more bit of effort would mean having one more thread of hope in the future.

  A few days later, Zhang Zixing announced in the imperial court that he would visit Dongqi, a new vassal state, next month to inspect politics and people's livelihood. As soon as the words fell, the Prime Minister Shang Rong walked out and said: "Your Majesty, I have something to report. Dongqi is an important place, and the newly established vassal state has not been long, with many things waiting to be restored. Your Majesty's inspection tour is also reasonable. However, next month is the birthday of the Holy Mother Nuwa, which is less than half a month away from now. Your Majesty must go in person to offer incense and pray for blessings. Dongqi is far away, and it will take several months for the imperial carriage to travel back and forth. I'm afraid there will be some delay. Therefore, I, an old minister, dare to ask Your Majesty to postpone the time of the eastern tour, or send a high-ranking official as an envoy to lead the imperial edict to inspect Dongqi."

  "Nuwa's Birthday"! These six words were like a thunderbolt on a clear day, heavily striking Zhang Zixing's heart - why now? The incense-burning event at the Nuwa Temple was clearly in the seventh year of King Zhou's reign, in the second month of spring, after Taishi Wen Zhong led an expedition to conquer the 72 states of the Northern Sea. Now that he had been on the throne for less than five years, and it was already deep autumn, how could Nuwa's birthday be now? Since his rebirth as Shouwang, a series of events transcending time had occurred, and the original plot seemed to have undergone corresponding changes, not following its expected course. Could it be that the premature occurrence of the Nuwa Temple event was also related to this?

  The Grand Duke Fei Zhong was skilled at observing words and expressions. After Shang Rong finished speaking, the Emperor immediately fell silent, only saying that what Shang Rong said had displeased him. Secretly thinking that an opportunity to express himself had arrived, he stepped forward and spoke: "Although the old Prime Minister's words are reasonable, I, Fei Zhong, have a different view. Your Majesty is a sage who has descended upon the world, with civil and military achievements, and all under heaven bow to you. Now that the eastern land has been newly pacified, it is unavoidable that people's hearts are not uniform. If Your Majesty personally goes on an inspection tour, wherever you go, the barbarians will surely be moved by your supreme virtue, and without being taught, they will be transformed, thoroughly submitting their hearts. The Empress Dowager will also be at peace, building up Eastern Qi, making it a place where people can live in happiness and contentment. From now on, our great Shang should never again have troubles with the eastern land. Although the matter of Nuwa's descent to offer incense is important, for the sake of the country and the people, we should still prioritize the eastern tour. We can use the Prime Minister's words as an excuse, and send a relative of the imperial family to go in Your Majesty's place to offer incense, so that both matters will not be neglected."

  What Fei Zhong said seems reasonable on the surface, but a discerning person can tell that this speech is first flattering the emperor's virtues and then hinting at the Moon Empress's affair in Dong Qi. It implies that the emperor will go to Dong Yi for both public and private reasons. Finally, using Shang Rong's previous suggestion of sending someone to Dong Yi as a response to the fragrance descending from the Nuwa Temple is also to cater to the emperor's eagerness to tour the east. Fei Zhong lives up to his reputation as a famous jester. A simple short speech contains profound meaning and leaves people with no room for rebuttal. Several ministers who are usually very aware of the situation, such as Wei Fan and Fei Lian, also stood up to echo Fei Zhong's proposal.

  Shang Rong's expression turned solemn, and he furrowed his brow, saying: "The Goddess Nuwa is an ancient divine maiden with sacred virtues. In the past, when Gonggong's head touched Mount Buzhou, the sky tilted to the northwest, and the earth sank in the southeast; Nuwa then gathered five-colored stones, refined them to repair the azure sky, and thus brought blessings to the people. The common folk established a sacrificial ritual to repay her kindness. If we worship this auspicious deity today, the four seasons will be peaceful, the national fortune will be long-lasting, the wind and rain will be in harmony, and disasters will disappear. This goddess's birthday is celebrated every twelve years, and each time, the Son of Heaven must personally go to offer incense to receive the blessings of a prosperous nation and protection for the people. At that time, the offering of incense would not take more than one day, and after completion, we can proceed to Dongqi without delay. As an old minister who has committed crimes and holds the reins of power, I dare not fail to remonstrate; please forgive me, Your Majesty."

  This proposal was immediately supported by Bi Gan, Mei Bo and others. Fei Zhong and others were naturally dissatisfied, and the two sides opened a fierce dispute on the spot. Zhang Zixing couldn't help but smile wryly at this scene. As the saying goes, "Eat the salary of an official, bear the worries of an official." These employees had been noisy for half a day, but not one of them knew what their boss was worried about in his heart.

  "Alright, let's not argue anymore. Let's follow the old prime minister's words. Next month, I will personally go to the Nuwa Temple to offer incense and then prepare for the eastern tour." Zhang Zixing knew that the Shang Dynasty attached great importance to sacrifices, so he waved his hand to stop the quarrel among the officials. He really didn't want to continue the unnecessary debate on this issue. Shang Rong heard that Zhang Zixing had adopted his suggestion and repeatedly praised the wise emperor. Fei Zhong just said that the emperor was helpless under pressure from Shang Rong, secretly calling him "old fool who doesn't know when to advance or retreat", and couldn't help but sneer.

  "Gentlemen, if there is nothing else, let us adjourn the court for today." The officials were all old hands and could see that the emperor's expression was particularly solemn. Some who had wanted to make a petition changed their minds.

  After the morning, Zhang Zixing locked himself in the imperial study. Originally, his main reason for going to Dongqi this time was not to inspect or visit Yuemei, but to plan to use Zhang Yi's super brain as a base, and with the help of Zou Xi, establish a secret base using Dongqi's rich mineral resources; In the plan, Zhang Er was the core of the secret base in Chao Ge. If he had a few more years of development time, he would have been able to produce advanced equipment and weapons from thousands of years later. However, the sudden appearance of the Nüwa Temple incident completely disrupted his overall plan.

  This Nuwa's Christmas originally occurs once every twelve years, requiring the emperor to personally offer blessings. No wonder in recent years I haven't heard anything about the descent of incense, and I don't know how many years this "old woman" Nuwa has lived up to now. At that time, even if the current emperor doesn't compose any romantic poems, she might still come looking for trouble on purpose due to long-term menopause leading to some kind of endocrine disorder...

  Zhang Zixing maliciously indulged in fantasy for a while, but ultimately returned to reality, letting out a long sigh: "It seems that my appearance has become an unpredictable variable in this world, and future events can no longer be completely planned according to past experiences..."

  Zhang Zixing, feeling depressed, habitually thought of Qing'er, his confidante: as for the matter of being a "husband with a wife", he didn't know how she had considered it, several days had already passed, today was her teaching day, so he might as well go to Caotang first.

  When he arrived at the thatched cottage in plain clothes, he found that Qing'er was not there, and only some students were "self-studying" there. Upon inquiry, he learned that the female teacher had been unwell recently and had suspended her lectures.

  Qing'er is ill? Zhang Zixing's heart couldn't help but feel a wave of worry, and he immediately headed towards the not-too-distant Grand Preceptor's residence.

  Qing Er is "sick", Dian Dian is also sick, having a low fever and suffering, insisting on updating while being ill, please give some votes...

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