(_)Jia Zheng's Suspicions
By now, construction of the Grand View Garden was gradually nearing completion.
The lively bustle that had once filled the floating island complex with the palace halls built for the imperial visit—cargo airships coming and going in a steady stream, and Celestial Court craftsmen gathering in droves—had quietly faded. In its place was a different kind of work: more meticulous, more unhurried, yet still busy.
For instance, the craftsmen skilled in formation arrays had begun making their final adjustments and refinements to the wards inside the halls and pavilions. Temperature-regulating arrays, ventilation arrays, pressure arrays, and the like had all been inscribed to ensure a comfortable living environment on these floating islands high in the Ninth Heaven.
Otherwise, aside from those with profound cultivation, ordinary maids, matrons, servants, housemen, and other retainers—as well as newborn babies—would be frozen or suffocated by the harsh conditions at such a high altitude!
Beyond the basic arrays, immortal artisans skilled in landscape design were carefully transplanting exotic flowers and rare plants gathered from all across the Three Realms, along with precious immortal flora and wondrous spirit fruits. Following the layout on the jade slips prepared long ago, they placed each one in its designated spirit field or among the rocks, then carefully nourished them with spirit springs to ensure they survived.
In addition, certain immortal officials who specialized in talismans hovered in midair, dipping silver brushes into spirit ink to paint the final spirit-gathering patterns on the pavilions, terraces, and towers.
After all, this was a blessed abode of the immortals, the place where the imperial concubine would soon arrive from the Heavenly Court for her family visit. How could it be lacking in spiritual energy?
Even if the imperial concubine might stay for only a few short hours, the dignity