Touring Shanglin Park

"You must be so happy!"

Zhang Xuezhou felt that the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon had recently been living a good life.

The other party must have felt extremely embarrassed when they first encountered A Qiao. After Zhang Xuezhou married A Qiao to cure her illness, she even had thoughts of killing Zhang Xuezhou.

After a long period of time, Zhang Xuezhou felt that the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon's emotions had calmed down.

Zhang Xuezhou didn't expect that physical pleasure could subdue the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, but this was the only effective way he could fight back at the moment, and it was a counterattack by the weak to gain a little initiative.

Life goes on, so does the torment.

As he passed by the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, he scoffed as usual, only to find his mind blank, as if he had forgotten something.

Having eliminated the perception brought by his mental power, he could already see the carved wooden bed in the blink of an eye.

Loud shouts of training came from outside, and Zhang Xuezhou immediately realized that he was still in Shanglin Garden.

He touched his body and found that the black and white horse pendant hanging from his waist as an ornament was still there, which relieved Zhang Xuezhou.

Although it's impossible to pinpoint Hongku right now, Zhang Xuezhou is certain that if he returns to his old residence in Chang'an City, there's a very high probability he'll see Hongku, thus completing a mutually beneficial transaction.

Hey, is anyone there?

"Is there anything to eat?"

Are Liu Quji and Xin Zhui here?

Zhang Xuezhou called out several times before the door was finally pushed open.

"Han Yan?"

Intense light shone through the door into the room, making Zhang Xuezhou's room even brighter.

Han Yan pushed open the door and entered, her face still flushed, and her gait carrying a hint of strangeness.

Once he got closer to Zhang Xuezhou, the expression on his face quickly became serious.

"Dongfang Shuo, you've finally come to your senses," Han Yan said.

"My illness keeps me awake and asleep all the time, I'm used to it," Zhang Xuezhou laughed. "You don't need to worry about me not being fully awake!"

"I was really worried you'd never wake up," Han Yan shook his head and said, "You have no idea how anxious His Majesty was at the time; he practically wanted to drag you out of bed and into the mountains!"

"What? His Majesty went into the mountains later?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"They went in three times," Han Yan said in a low voice. "The location of the secret place you discovered is very erratic, sometimes east, sometimes west, sometimes south, sometimes north. It appeared during the day and was encountered at night as well. His Majesty chased after it three times!"

"And the final result?"

"His Majesty successfully entered once, and led men to harvest six purple Ganoderma lucidum and ten Polygonatum sibiricum!"

Han Yan held up two fingers in succession, indicating that the new emperor had reaped considerable rewards.

Compared to Zhang Xuezhou's cautiousness during his investigation, the new emperor was much bolder and brought the Imperial Guards with him, resulting in a greater harvest than Zhang Xuezhou's.

But after three consecutive chases, the towering white light that Zhang Xuezhou and the others had seen never appeared again.

Even though many Imperial Guards were busy in Zhongnan Mountain, none of them stepped into the secret place again, nor did they find the true entrance.

"Your Majesty is truly amazing!"

Zhang Xuezhou could only offer his praise in the end.

Zhang Xuezhou was able to enter the secret area only because of his rapid flying speed; it was absolutely a coincidence that the new emperor was able to lead the Imperial Guards into it.

Zhang Xuezhou was confused at the time, and he was still confused after the formation disappeared. The new emperor would also be confused after entering. Being able to directly excavate the great medicine was extremely decisive.

Deciphering a formation is no easy task, especially in a secret place that relies on the mysteries of heaven and earth.

Such places cannot be found through human searching alone. Only a master of formations can thoroughly investigate and search, or the formations may have been damaged by time, leading to oversights and revealing flaws.

For example, Zhang Xuezhou had lost interest in this secret place at the moment. At most, he would come to visit in his spare time to try his luck, or perhaps he would be invited by someone skilled in formations to help him investigate. It was absolutely impossible for him to devote all his time to this place.

He was glad that the new emperor had gone to the secret place; the other party probably wouldn't bother him.

"Weren't you in the palace? How did you get out here?"

Putting aside the matter of the secret location, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but look at Han Yan with curiosity.

"Don't even mention it! His Majesty hasn't been seen these past few days, and the Empress Dowager has been making trouble for us," Han Yan said, his head aching. "I didn't do anything wrong, yet I still got ten lashes!"

"Then what?"

"Then I wondered if His Majesty had come to Shanglin Garden, so I came out of the palace to look for him. I found you first, and then I found His Majesty," Han Yan said, spreading his hands.

"Don't tell anyone I kidnapped His Majesty," Zhang Xuezhou said. "I'm already ill and can't take a beating!"

"Hehe!"

Han Yan smiled without understanding the meaning, which made Zhang Xuezhou's heart skip a beat, as if he had just had a minor clash with a cultivator of destiny.

Whether it's the new emperor, the empress dowager, Han Yan, or myself, they are all independent individuals cultivating their own techniques, and each person's cultivation method is likely to be different, even the new emperor and the empress dowager.

The Empress Dowager could use her bloodline to avoid or reduce the clash of energies with the new emperor, but these people could not avoid it.

Whether it's good or bad, you can easily get into trouble if you're not careful.

Zhang Xuezhou could only try to avoid the topic, and he gave Han Yan a forced laugh as well.

Seeing that Shanglin Garden was not providing him with food or drink, Zhang Xuezhou decided to return to Chang'an City as soon as possible.

He had just stepped out of the palace room when he saw a crowd of people lined up in the distance, a phoenix palanquin slowly circling around, and a canopy laid out like a long dragon.

This made Zhang Xuezhou immediately understand why Han Yan smiled so meaningfully, and why the Imperial Guards in Shanglin Garden shouted incessantly during their drills, each one practically risking their lives.

At present, only the Empress Dowager and the Empress are qualified to use the phoenix carriage for travel in the Great Han Dynasty. The Empress's current focus is on recuperating and giving birth to the Crown Prince, so it is obviously impossible for her to come to such a place.

Zhang Xuezhou stood on tiptoe to look, and could vaguely see the Empress Dowager's figure and headdress through the curtain of the leading phoenix palanquin.

This made Zhang Xuezhou scratch his head repeatedly, feeling that he might really get a beating this time.

He took a step back, feeling a little guilty, only to see Han Yan looking at him with surprise.

"Stop hiding. The Empress Dowager wants you to go there as soon as you regain your senses," Han Yan said.

"I haven't eaten or drunk anything for a while, and I feel dizzy when I see the sun. Oh dear, my body is failing me!"

Zhang Xuezhou yelled something incoherently, ignoring Han Yan's cries, and lay back down on the bed in the side hall.

"Lord Dongfang, you're not kidding me!"

Han Yan felt a sense of shared suffering, but Zhang Xuezhou's failure to go to the Empress Dowager to pay his respects and apologize was a sign of his poor performance.

Let alone someone like Zhang Xuezhou who has no powerful backing, even someone like Han Yan, a son of a noble Aristocratic Clan born out of wedlock, would be punished without hesitation if the Empress Dowager found something wrong with him.

Thinking about the medicine plastered all over his buttocks, and how he had to walk with a limp these past few days, Han Yan definitely didn't want to be punished a second time anytime soon.

"If you don't get up, I'm going to report it exactly as you said!"

Han Yan gave a warning, but seeing that Zhang Xuezhou ignored him, he had no choice but to lift his buttocks and tiptoe out.