Chapter 244 Imperial Seal (2/2)
After that Shen Lian informed Gu Caiwei about the elixirs.
On the fifth year of Zhou Dynasty, the Empress was sick. The Prime Minister, Yu Tianlin and several respected chancellors took the opportunity for a coup d'etat. They entered the palace by force and forced the Empress to give up the throne and pass it on to the prince, Zhao Xun.
As Zhao Xun succeeded, the Empress took on the position of Taishang Huang, with the nomination of 'Divine Emperor'. The Zhou Dynasty was then returned to Dawei Dynasty.
As the new emperor succeeded the throne, the throne for the Empress' nephew was eliminated and nothing much happened from there. The political environment stayed relatively stable, and it was rumored that it was because Taishang Huang had stated her intent.
The residents were fine with the change from Zhou to Dawei. The new emperor did not abandon the Empress's orders. The only surprise was the Prime Minister, Yu Tianlin, as he retired after half a year.
Before when Yu Tianlin was still Prime Minister, his door front was always bustling with traffic, but immediately after he retired, the house became abandoned.
A lot of the scholars sympathized his situation. How the tides had changed. There were some famous wild artists who made poems to satirize how cruel the royal family was.
When Zhao Xun became the emperor, he was cautious and conscientious. He dared not to relax, but as the operating environment became better, he indeed derived satisfaction from his effort.
After he was done with his work, he went to the Imperial Garden and he saw how beautiful the blooming flowers were. He lingered around, immersing himself in the beautiful scenery. The garden was huge with small paths leading to the depth of it. He was lost.
The path led to somewhere spacious, and there was a pavilion.
The aroma of the tea entered his lungs and made him feel more awake. His fatigue was mostly gone.
He saw a young Daoist who was dressed in feathered clothing and star crown sitting at the pavilion. The person was drinking steaming tea, and it was the source of the aroma.
Zhao Xun despite having the sophistication of an emperor, when he saw an outsider, he could not help but felt shocked and lost some of his composure.
The young Daoist laughed and said, ”Your Highness, have you forgotten about me?”
When Zhao Xun heard the voice, he found it to be slightly familiar but mostly unfamiliar. When he realized the servants around him had disappeared and that he had never been to this pavilion, he knew something was wrong.
He stepped forward and he finally saw how the young Daoist looked like. He lost his voice for a little, ”Mister Qingxia?”
Shen Lian said, ”I am glad that Your Highness remember me. Please, have a cup of tea.”
Zhao Xun knew Shen Lian was a powerful master, and at such a short distance, even if he had ten thousand soldiers, none would be able to defend him against Shen Lian, and even his mum sang high praises for him.
While he was the emperor, he too had a sense of propriety. He knew Shen Lian was not one to care about the worldly wealth. If he did, he would not have left to seek the path to Dao when he was back in the extremely wealth Shen family at State Capital of Qing.
It had been seven years since then and Shen Lian looked no different and perhaps even younger, akin to a virgin. His age should be approaching forty, and Zhao Xun could not help but to feel a bit envious, as cultivators while they lived with not much wants, they too enjoyed longevity and youth, and it was something which emperors did not get to enjoy.
After he had a sip of the tea, which tasted like bejeweled nectar, the heat began to flow through all his meridian. It made him feel so comfortable like he was rising to heaven that he could not help but moaned.
He felt that he had behaved inappropriately and hence he smiled awkwardly.
He had not reached the age of fifty, but ever since he became the emperor, he had been working too hard and hence he began to have white hair. He thought about passing on the baton to the prince Zhao Xiang, but while Zhao Xiang was brilliant by nature, he was too headstrong. He could have a great career, but once he succeeded, he could get complacent. He always wanted him to polish his character further.
Zhao Xun sighed, ”Sometimes I indeed feel envious towards people like you, Qingxia. You don't seem to have a worry in the world and are happy.”
”Emperor, you have the wealth of all four oceans. If you are looking for more, it is not the fortune for you.” Shen Lian smiled when looking at him.
”It is easy to say that if you know how to be satisfied, you can be happy, but in fact, it is hard to implement. Why does mister pay me a visit today, and with this cup of tea? It seems like you need a favor from me. If I can do it, I will not say no,” Zhao Xun spoke with a low voice.
For the emperor, he was used to calling himself as 'Zhen', but when he was speaking to Shen Lian, he referred to himself as 'I' instead. When he realized that, he could not help but feel amazed by Shen Lian's aura, which could even suppress the presence of an emperor.
”I am here to borrow something from you, Emperor.”
”I have all kinds of treasures here, but in your eyes, Qingxia, I am afraid they are not any better than the grass and wood on the mountain. What can be the item you're looking for?” Zhao Xun felt curious.
Shen Lian smiled, ”I want to borrow your Imperial Seal to suppress a real dragon.”
Zhao Xun almost spits out his tea. He did not imagine that when Shen Lian had a request, it would be the Imperial Seal.
He felt difficult, ”If it is another item, I will just give it to you if you request, Qingxia, but this item is important.”
Shen Lian said, ”I am not borrowing it against nothing. Do you think your life is worth more than the Imperial Seal?”
Zhao Xun felt angry for a while, and thought, ”Even if you were a celestial, you should not be threatening Zhen.” But as he saw Shen Lian's clear eyes, which did not have any contaminant or violence, he thought to himself, ”He was not this type of person.”朕 －A self-address for Chinese Emperor/Empress.