Passing on a Gift

Zhang Xuezhou is indeed engaging in a multi-party game.

The Chang'an City involves all sorts of people, including Princess Dou, the Empress Dowager, the new Immortal Court, and the Twelve Celestial Stars.

Chang'an City, he collaborated with Hongku on trade to counter a possible counterattack from Donghua, and was also involved in assisting Li Shaojun to rescue 'Bai' from the Western Sect, as well as cooperating with Dong Zhongshu to fight against the King of Huainan. These matters were also quite numerous.

The situation was complicated and chaotic, but there was one major premise in doing all of this: eliminating the risks that Zhang Xuezhou would encounter.

Compared to a few years ago, Zhang Xuezhou is very satisfied with his current situation.

Although things still seem somewhat bad, Zhang Xuezhou's life is indeed getting better and better.

After being guided by Ren Anran, Zhang Xuezhou not only let go of his ideological problems, but he also promptly adjusted his past solitary mindset and instead created a private small group to deal with risks.

Entrusting his affairs to the Great Han Dynasty provided Zhang Xuezhou with substantial support, preventing him from being attacked by large groups. Meanwhile, his private small groups could mitigate individual risks. This complementary arrangement allowed Zhang Xuezhou to minimize potential dangers.

Everything was unfolding according to Zhang Xuezhou's plan.

Zhang Xuezhou's only remaining task is to quickly remove the Yang-locking power from his body, restore his normal Technique Method cultivation, and then promote the secondary Divine Ability transformation of some of his Technique Method.

As for whether to seek three more Divine Ability powers for the Grain Avoidance Instruction in the future, such a thing requires both opportunity and timing.

If Zhang Xuezhou were to run to the Jade Emperor for help at this point, Zhang Xuezhou would absolutely not have the courage.

He spoke with Yi Shuo about some things.

For Zhang Xuezhou, these were just routine matters, but for Yi Shuo, each one inspired awe and reverence.

"Husband, how do you manage to interact with such important figures?"

After mustering her courage to address him, Yi Shuo quickly inquired about Zhang Xuezhou.

Everyone knows that powerful figures wield immense power and wealth, and anyone who can even remotely associate with them can reap the benefits. However, most people can only dream about it; meeting them is extremely difficult, let alone obtaining any advantages.

But in Zhang Xuezhou's eyes, the other party didn't seem to have such an obstacle; instead, they were people who could directly reach the top.

"This requires building stepping stones," Zhang Xuezhou explained simply. "We can learn about another person through this one. If your direction of understanding is upward rather than downward, you will soon be able to meet people at a higher level!"

"Is it really that simple?" Yi Shuo asked in surprise.

"It really is that simple," Zhang Xuezhou nodded. "But there's a major prerequisite for doing this: you must understand what you can offer the other party, and whether you can build a stable or temporary relationship of mutual benefit in order to complete this operation!"

"This sounds simple, but very few people can actually do it!"

Zhang Xuezhou's method is very simple, but very few people can actually implement it.

For example, Yi Shuo worked at Changxin Palace, which gave her the opportunity to come into contact with the Empress Dowager. However, Yi Shuo could not bring any unique benefits to the Empress Dowager and could not maintain a stable relationship of interests, so she could not operate like Zhang Xuezhou.

What seems like a simple thing is actually so complicated that it can be a real headache.

In this process, how to leverage the benefits brought by various relationships to increase one's own value and thus move up step by step is a process with extremely low tolerance for error.

Zhang Xuezhou was neither the most powerful cultivator nor a shrewd and worldly official, but Zhang Xuezhou was undoubtedly someone who combined these two abilities exceptionally well.

More importantly, Yi Shuo felt that Zhang Xuezhou might have overlooked a factor.

"Cousin, come out and take a look!"

Just as Yi Shuo was about to say that Zhang Xuezhou likely possessed the ability to conduct a comprehensive review, thus enabling him to untangle various complex relationships, she heard Rong Tianding shouting from outside the room.

"What's up?"

Zhang Xuezhou hurriedly left, and Yi Shuo followed him out.

As soon as she stepped outside, Yi Shuo saw Dou Shisan and Dou Shisi, who were guarding the house, lying on the ground.

Besides these two, there was also a handsome young man among them.

"The smell is really overwhelming! Everyone here is supposed to be at our banquet!"

"Dong Yan!"

Yi Shuo had somewhat forgotten her name, but Zhang Xuezhou remembered it very clearly.

Provided he doesn't suffer from forgetting, he will retain a relatively clear memory of any names or faces he encounters.

Zhang Xuezhou had long known that the Life-Creating Pill would continuously release a foul odor when removing the effects of the Gourd Pill, but he never expected that it would knock out three people at once.

Dou Shisan and Dou Shisi did not sit at the gate to guard the house as most people would imagine. Instead, they were practicing Grain Avoidance in silence. They would only emerge from their Grain Avoidance state if any uninvited guests arrived.

The stench arrived swiftly, knocking the two seated individuals unconscious. By the time Rong Tianding rushed to inform them, it was too late.

To Zhang Xuezhou's surprise, Dong Yan was also among those who were overcome by the fumes.

He glanced at Princess Guantao's residence in the backyard and thought that the other party was also unlucky and tragic. It was very likely that after the banquet, he bid farewell to Princess Guantao's residence and walked home at night, which led to this incident.

"Luckily, they discovered it early. If they had continued to be exposed to the fumes, I think they would have died from the smoke!"

Rong Tianding took a damp towel and wrapped it around his face. After seeing Zhang Xuezhou leave, he mentioned that he had already given the wet towels to Wei Shao'er and the others.

If you can't hold your breath for long, using a towel can somewhat alleviate the stench.

Of course, the most important thing is to find a sheltered spot to avoid breathing in this toxic stench.

After taking off the towel, Rong Tianding fanned his nostrils and sniffed the towel, almost wanting to throw it away for a moment.

"Ugh~"

Yi Shuo gave the three who had been knocked unconscious with acupuncture. Dou Shisan and Dou Shisi, who were Grain Avoidance, vomited a lot of sour water and then dry heaved. Dong Yan vomited all over the ground, completely losing his previous dashing demeanor.

"The Grand Astrologer Sima Tan was fumigated, but he didn't suffer any lasting health problems. You don't need to worry about any health issues from poisoning!"

Seeing that the three were swaying unsteadily and seeking further treatment from Yi Shuo, Zhang Xuezhou had no choice but to mention another case of someone being affected by smoke.

"Ugh, don't go around telling everyone such embarrassing things, naming names!"

Sima Tanyang's discontented whispers during his tour of Yangpo came and quickly faded away. Zhang Xuezhou felt that his residence was too close to the palace, which was inconvenient.

Even the slightest thing that happened in his residence attracted attention, and Sima Tan even traced it back to its source.

Zhang Xuezhou now only hopes that the poisonous gas from the wind will dissipate a bit so that it won't affect others, lest he have a hard time tomorrow.

"I had planned to use the wedding as an opportunity to gather everyone together to discuss this, but it seems I hadn't considered it carefully. I should go to an open area twenty miles outside the city to get the antidote..."

Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but feel a bit self-deprecating.

He shook his head, and as his gaze swept across the room, he saw that Dong Yan had vomited inappropriately, revealing his sleeve pocket.

The gold bowl that had been given to Princess Dou was now kept in Dong Yan's sleeve pocket.

It was Dou Taizhu's personal freedom to give away the golden bowl, just like Zhang Xuezhou taking the pearl from the duty officer and then giving it to the Heavenly King guarding the South Heavenly Gate. Such things are quite normal.

However, the fact that Dong Yan obtained Dou Taizhu's golden bowl so quickly still indicates that Dong Yan's status in Dou Taizhu's Huang-Lao Daoist training system exceeded Zhang Xuezhou's previous estimates.