Forfeited Salaries

The topic was smoothly diverted.

The Empress Dowager laughed as well. "Pan Yun? Is she the Junior Sister of Yin Song, the Summer Official of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau?"

The Emperor froze. "How did you know?"

Whenever Pan Yun was mentioned, people's first impression was that she was Pan Hong's daughter, then that she was a Daoist of Mount Longhu. Only afterward would some recall that she was Yin Song's junior fellow disciple.

Very few people placed Yin Song's Junior Sister as their first impression of her.

Covering her smile with her lips, the Empress Dowager said, "Yin Song's fortune-telling is very accurate. The palace maids and eunuchs in the inner palace all like seeking him out for readings. I also heard that cultivators like them can truly fly through the skies and vanish into the earth. Someone in the palace even saw them fly into the air and fight a demon bird."

Wang Zhen's gaze flickered slightly as he smiled. "This servant has heard of it as well. The five Officials of Spring, Summer, Middle, Autumn, and Winter all acted. Their cultivation was profound, and they flew through the air with great prowess, yet they were still no match for the demon bird. Pan Yun happened to be in the Imperial Prison at the time. Seeing that they could not defeat it, she immediately flew out through the prison window."

The Empress Dowager listened with great interest. These tales had long circulated through the palace, but few dared speak of them before her, much less recount them so vividly.

"In the end, it was Daoist Zhang in the palace who acted and drove the demon bird out of the Capital City," Wang Zhen said with a sigh. "It is a pity that True Master Zhang was not in the