Inside and Outside the Palace

"Brother Dongfang, I will definitely repay you handsomely!"

Having encountered a major crisis, Kong Zhong had no intention of wasting time.

He pawned the imperial edict, the only thing he carried that could be considered heavy, to Zhang Xuezhou.

The Sage Kong Ling (Confucius's Decree) is a token of the Kong family, and it's fair to say it's one of the most valuable items in the Kong family, but it's also fair to say it's one of the most useless and valuable items in the Kong family.

Only those with the bloodline of Confucius can bring glory to the Sage Kong decree; it is of no use to others who hold the Sage Kong. As for the Principle of Confucius's protection of his descendants, it varies from person to person. In any case, Kong Zhong did not expect the Sage Kong decree to save his life.

He himself could not rely on the edict of Sage Kong, so others obviously could not either.

Accordingly, he was willing to pawn this very valuable but useless treasure.

If it could offset the hefty reward mentioned by Kong Anguo, Kong Zhong felt it might not be impossible.

Kong Zhong arrived in a hurry with his entourage and left in a hurry with Kong Anguo. Even Kong Anguo, who had intended to introduce them, had no choice but to leave with his father.

He turned his head back and forced a smile at Zhang Xuezhou.

This prompted Zhang Xuezhou, holding the slightly heavy black token in his hand, to wave to Kong Anguo.

"There are indeed many extraordinary people in the world!"

Zhang Xuezhou could only sigh that the children of wealthy and powerful families were indeed different from them. Compared with Kong Anguo and Kong Zhong, he felt that he was ridiculously stingy.

Even though Zhang Xuezhou felt he had been generous enough, he didn't offer any reward, let alone a large sum of money as collateral, to someone he had only met once.

He looked at the token in his hand. Kong Zhong had shown this token in Yangling before, and Zhang Xuezhou knew that it was a token of the Kong family, and that it even contained incredible power.

"But I didn't expect you to unleash your power to protect me!"

Holding an inkstone in his left hand and the Confucian edict in his right, Zhang Xuezhou felt that going out for walks regularly was quite nice.

Although his inkstone and calligraphy model were somewhat interchangeable, and the Confucian edict was of little use to him, it was still an unexpected gain.

If he had more of these unexpected gains, Zhang Xuezhou felt he might have a chance to become wealthy.

"Hey, is this guy trying to find someone to keep this token safe?"

While an inkstone can be stuffed into a pouch, the imperial edict of Confucius is impossible to fit into one.

Zhang Xuezhou had no choice but to stuff the object, which felt to be over thirty pounds, into his sleeve pocket.

He walks quite briskly, and can even hop and jump.

If someone comes to investigate, Zhang Xuezhou can once again perform a final burst of energy before death.

But with such a heavy black stone in his hand, Zhang Xuezhou felt somewhat uncomfortable walking. When the imperial edict was placed in his left hand, his left side felt slightly heavier, and when placed in his right hand, his right side felt heavier.

He had no choice but to stagger out of the area near the city gate and then hailed a carriage.

"To salvage a useless treasure and lose money on the carriage fare, I'm definitely not lucky!"

Zhang Xuezhou muttered to himself as he lay down in the carriage and drove away.

The eunuch Cui, who had been flogged earlier, stood near the imperial city. He looked up and glanced at the scene several times before hurrying back to the palace with a faltering yet forceful gait.

Not many people remember Zhang Xuezhou, but he is undoubtedly one of them. After all, he was given forty lashes because of Zhang Xuezhou, and it's hard not to remember that.

But Cui, the eunuch, couldn't blame Zhang Xuezhou. There were many rules governing things in the palace, and if you didn't follow them, it was normal for them to lose their heads.

The eunuchs who survived to old age in the palace were all very clever. They would offend those they could, but they would not touch those they could not afford to offend or those who might cause problems. In fact, Eunuch Cui no longer approached Zhang Xuezhou to communicate or ask questions, but only stood at a distance to observe.

He returned to Anle Palace and looked at his fellow eunuchs who were queuing up to report on matters. They all nodded and exchanged greetings.

Clearly, regardless of how things turned out, everyone was at least able to deliver a satisfactory result, and the atmosphere was far less somber than before.

"Summon Li Fu to an audience!"

"King Xuan of Shang requests an audience!"

"Summon Zhao Zhilong to an audience!"

After waiting for nearly two hours, Eunuch Cui finally heard his name called, which made him groan and run into the main hall of Anle Palace.

"Your Majesty, I was stationed outside the Golden Horse Gate when I saw that Scholar Dongfang go to the inner palace. He seemed to be feeling unwell. The servants inside said he sat with another scholar, Scholar Kong, for two hours. Then they left at noon, and Scholar Dongfang was seen swaying as he got into the carriage," Eunuch Cui said repeatedly. "To prevent him from pretending to be fine, I secretly observed him!"

"Okay, you can go now!"

"Only!"

The Empress Dowager did not speak, but Princess Dou responded, which made Eunuch Cui nod in agreement, and then he left, clutching his backside.

"It took him another twelve days to regain consciousness; his health is deteriorating," said Princess Dou with regret.

Behind the screen, the large incense burner of the past had been replaced with a small one, and the Empress Dowager sat in front of the small incense burner and took deep breaths.

The wisps of ambergris were constantly being inhaled into her body, giving her pale face a slightly yellowish hue, making her look less frightening than before.

"In recent years, no physician has produced a top-tier master like Bian Que," the Empress Dowager said, pursing her lips. "It's normal for her treatments to have shortcomings, and besides, Ti Ying's cultivation level is a fatal flaw!"

"Zhao Rui seems to have mentioned that Chunyu Tiying rashly attempted to break through to the Sole Self Realm, which left her with a serious health problem," said Master Dou.

"To rashly attempt to reach the Sole Self Realm without sufficient conditions will inevitably lead to failure and serious consequences," the Empress Dowager said silently. "If she had the ability to achieve this naturally, I would give her a push. Her cultivation is too far from the Sole Self Realm; how can I push her?"

If Chunyu Tiying had the ability to enter the Sole Self Realm, when the Empress Dowager had a need, let alone Chunyu Tiying asking for it, even if Chunyu Tiying stepped into the gate of Anle Palace with her left foot, the Empress Dowager would say that it was a good step, and then bestow rewards upon her.

The problem is that Chunyu Tiying is far from meeting the standards of the Sole Self Realm, and even if the Empress Dowager wanted to, she was powerless to push it forward.

Now that Chunyu Tiying has fallen to such a state, all she can do is sigh.

"Order Donghai County to find more ambergris," the Empress Dowager said, looking at Princess Dou. "This ambergris can keep me alive for at least ten years. After that, you'll have to rely on yourself!"

"Yes!"

Princess Dou responded in a low voice.

With everything settled, the Empress Dowager had clearly given up any thoughts of taking risks and accepted her current physical condition.

"Zhuang Qingdi said that Zhao Wan and Wang Zang committed suicide due to unbearable pressure. Will this anger Shen Pei and cause him to turn against you?" Dou Taizhu asked.

"He's getting old, and his strength isn't what it used to be!"

The Empress Dowager squinted and replied, then added further details.

"He is in the Sole Self Realm, and so are Sole Self Realm. Even if I don't expect you to defeat Shen Pei, you can certainly put up a fight with him. Once the Lone Sun Soul finds his lodgings during its travels, he will be defeated!"

For the Empress Dowager, eliminating potential risks in the fastest way possible came at a very low cost.

Once Confucian School gains power, it can turn the world upside down with a flick of its wrist, making it virtually impossible to shake its dominance.

Things turned out much better than she had imagined.

Before Anle Palace could bear the stigma of slaughter, the Confucian School school descended into chaos, pushing the already burdened Zhao Wan and Wang Zang directly into the abyss of death.

The Anle Palace was targeted because the new emperor had abandoned Confucian School, and a descendant of Sage Kong testified against them in court. This was someone that Zhao Wan and her allies could not afford to offend, leaving the two of them with no way out.

"Zhuang Qingdi handled this matter very well. Zhao Wan and Wang Zang committed suicide, and Shen Pei no longer has the confidence to denounce me; all he has left is the ability to vent his anger!"

The Empress Dowager murmured, and the sounds in Anle Palace finally faded away.