UGB Chapter 409 Tianxiangzi has arrived in Dayuan! The tense Jianwen Emperor!
Chapter 409 Tianxiangzi has arrived in Dayuan! The tense Jianwen Emperor!
The Imperial City of Dayuan, Chang'an Street.
It was midday, the autumn sun was warm, and the streets were bustling with people.
Since the fall of Chu and the impending crisis for Zhao, the prestige of the Dayuan Iron Army has grown daily, making the imperial city more prosperous than ever before. Shops line the streets, vendors' cries fill the air, and armored soldiers patrol the alleys, their steps precise and their menacing aura palpable.
At the entrance of Baicaotang, Old Li was directing two employees to move medicinal herbs.
Cuihua came out of the inner room carrying a teacup. Seeing that Old Li was sweating, she hurriedly offered him the tea and said woodenly, "Master... have some tea... no rush..."
Old Li took the teacup, drank it all in one gulp, wiped his sweat, and said, "Why aren't we in a hurry? The palace just sent an order, specifically requesting three hundred-year-old Ganoderma lucidum and five ounces of snow frog fat, saying that the Empress Wu's wife is in poor health and needs to be nourished."
Cuihua blinked; as a paper doll of the Fu Sect, she couldn't understand such complicated news at all!
"Forget it, you wouldn't understand even if I told you," Old Li said in a low voice. "Get back to work..."
As they were talking, Old Li suddenly felt a tightness in his chest.
He subconsciously looked up towards the street corner.
Not only him, but all the cultivators on the entire Chang'an Street, whether they were rogue cultivators concealing their auras or sect disciples disguised as ordinary people, all stopped at this moment and looked in the same direction.
An invisible pressure was slowly spreading from the direction of the east gate of the city.
The oppressive aura was not domineering; it could even be described as gentle, like a spring breeze or moonlight. Yet, within this gentleness lay a profound and chilling power, like an abyss hidden beneath a calm sea.
"Nascent Soul..." a cultivator muttered to himself, his face deathly pale.
Although there are cultivators coming and going in the city, most of them are Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment cultivators, and Core Formation cultivators are rare.
Nascent Soul cultivator?
That's someone who could establish a sect and be revered as an ancestor, so how could he suddenly appear in the Great Abyss Imperial City?
The teacup in Old Li's hand fell to the ground with a "clatter" and shattered into pieces.
He didn't bother to tidy up; he stared intently at the street corner, his hair standing on end.
On the second floor of the teahouse diagonally opposite Baicaotang, a young man in fine clothes sat by the window.
The young master was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, with a handsome face and an air of authority that came from long-held high positions. However, at this moment, his eyes were filled with solemnity.
Standing beside him was a woman in white. She was beautiful, with a sharp glint in her eyes, and her cultivation level was around the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.
"Your Majesty, this person is hostile," the woman whispered.
The young man in brocade robes was none other than Emperor Jianwen, and the woman was none other than Xiaobai!
He shook his head slightly and said, "Not necessarily. There's no killing intent in this pressure; on the contrary... it feels somewhat familiar."
Before the words were even finished, a figure appeared at the street corner.
It was a woman.
She wore a plain white dress, her black hair cascading down her back, loosely tied up with a single wooden hairpin. Her steps were light and unhurried, and with each step she took, the stone slabs beneath her feet shimmered with a faint glow, like lotus flowers blooming.
Pedestrians on the street quickly made way for her, instinctively clearing a path for her.
It wasn't fear, but a kind of instinctive awe, as if they were unworthy to stand in front of her.
The woman was stunningly beautiful, with skin as smooth as jade, eyes as clear as autumn water, and an ethereal air that seemed otherworldly.
What is most astonishing is the Daoist aura flowing around her, which is perfectly integrated with the natural world, as if she were a part of this autumn afternoon.
"So beautiful..." some people murmured in admiration.
"Beautiful? That's a Nascent Soul cultivator! Aren't you afraid of dying?" His companion hurriedly covered his mouth.
The woman seemed not to hear the discussion and walked straight into the depths of Chang'an Avenue.
Her gaze calmly swept over the shops on both sides, finally landing on the signboard of Baicaotang, and she paused slightly.
Old Li's breath hitched.
He clearly felt that the woman's gaze lingered on him for a moment.
Although it was only for a moment, it felt like being covered in ice and snow, chilling him to the bone.
The woman did not stop and continued walking.
Her target appears to be the royal palace.
On the second floor of the teahouse, Emperor Jianwen slowly rose to his feet.
"Your Majesty?" Xiaobai exclaimed in surprise.
"It's alright." Emperor Jianwen waved his hand and walked down the stairs. "I'll go and meet her."
"Your Majesty, you mustn't! The other party is a Nascent Soul cultivator. If they harbor ill intentions..." Xiao Bai's expression changed drastically!
"If we harbor ill intentions, it makes no difference whether we hide here or stand in front of her," Emperor Jianwen said calmly. "Besides... I have a pretty good idea of who she is."
Xiao Bai wanted to persuade him further, but Emperor Jianwen had already pushed open the door and stepped into the long street.
The crowd on the street automatically parted.
On one side was a woman in plain clothes walking slowly, and on the other side was a young man in brocade robes standing with his hands behind his back.
When the two were ten zhang apart, they stopped at the same time.
Emperor Jianwen cupped his hands and said loudly, "Junior Xiao Quan of Dayuan greets Senior. May I ask what brings Senior to Dayuan?"
The woman looked up and her gaze fell on Xiao Quan's face.
This one glance was like a refreshing breeze washing away the dust. Xiao Quan felt his mind clear up, and most of the fatigue from dealing with state affairs for days disappeared.
"Are you Emperor Jianwen of Dayuan?" the woman asked.
Her voice was gentle and melodious, like pearls falling onto a plate or a clear spring flowing over stones, perfectly complementing her ethereal beauty.
But the moment the sound entered his ears, Xiao Quan's pupils suddenly contracted!
He stared intently at the woman, an expression of disbelief appearing on his face for the first time: "You...you are Senior Tianxiangzi?"
Tian Xiangzi nodded slightly: "You recognize me?"
More than just recognizing them!
The Jianwen Emperor was filled with turmoil.
Three years ago, when this man stormed into the capital, he terrified Da Yuan, causing him to live in constant unease and unrest.
At that time, Tianxiangzi, though she had the appearance of a woman, had a rough male voice and acted decisively and without regard for details, which was completely different from the gentle and ethereal fairy in front of her!
If it weren't for that unique Taoist aura, the faint outline between his eyebrows and eyes, and the matter of the two people that his master had mentioned, Emperor Jianwen would never have dared to recognize him.
"The voice of a senior..." Emperor Jianwen asked hesitantly.
"Your Nascent Soul is complete, and your cultivation technique is perfected. Your voice has changed somewhat." Tian Xiangzi's tone was calm, as if he were talking about a trivial matter!
Emperor Jianwen suppressed his shock and cupped his hands again, saying, "May I ask why you have come to Dayuan this time, senior...?"
"Protect the Great Abyss."
Tianxiangzi's voice remained gentle, but the four words she uttered carried an undeniable firmness.
Emperor Jianwen was taken aback.
"What do you mean by that, senior?"
Tianxiangzi's gaze swept across the long street, past the shops on both sides, and over the majestic imperial palace walls in the distance. She said softly, "Dayuan is the only thing the old eunuch left behind. Now that he is gone, I will guard it for him."
Emperor Jianwen's breath hitched; he understood the deeper meaning behind those words!
In Tianxiangzi's heart, her master Chen Fan was already dead.
"Senior," Emperor Jianwen took a deep breath, "Master... he has not yet perished."
Tianxiangzi's eyes flickered slightly.
For the first time, ripples appeared in those eyes that were as calm as a lake.
"What did you say?"
"Master is not dead," Emperor Jianwen repeated, "but I do not know where he is now."
silence.
Along the long street, the autumn wind rustled through the fallen leaves.
Although the common people and cultivators on both sides could not hear the conversation between the two, they could feel the increasingly heavy atmosphere and held their breath.
After a long silence, Tian Xiangzi slowly asked, "Is he at the Qingyun Sect?"