An Expert With No Dignity at All
"Hurry up, you damn fools, carry me faster!"
Princess Pingyang was carried away hastily out of the Marquis's residence, ignoring Zhang Xuezhou who was in the middle of a meeting, and quickly slipped out through the back door towards the palace.
The conflict between the new emperor and the empress dowager may not seem like a big deal, but it could very well involve a dispute between the Weiyang Palace and Changxin Palace.
This is not just a family dispute, but also a matter of balancing and shifting power.
The Great Han Dynasty no longer had a Grand Empress Dowager to mediate the conflict between the two sides, and there were few people who could intervene to resolve the disputes.
Princess Pingyang and the Empress were among the few relatives who could go and mediate the dispute.
"Couldn't Your Majesty have been a little more patient?"
Zhang Xuezhou glanced in the direction Princess Pingyang had left, and couldn't help but feel a pang of regret, thinking that the new emperor hadn't been able to contain himself.
Han Yan submitted a trump card, Zhang Xuezhou believed could play a crucial role at the right time, thereby reversing some decisions that the new emperor found difficult to make.
This kind of trump card is not suitable to be revealed directly; rather, a better opportunity needs to be found to maximize its benefits.
To be honest, apart from keeping the new emperor in check, Zhang Xuezhou didn't sense anything particularly unusual about the Empress Dowager.
Of course, this may also be related to the Immortal Court's loss of control and disconnection. Even if the Immortal Court had a cultivator who had gone undercover and reached the level of a leader, the higher-ups were still unaware of the situation.
Cultivators also experience birth, aging, sickness, and death. If the Empress Dowager's superior family member dies, this is not impossible.
"Only my uncle, who lived so long and was frequently active within the Great Han Dynasty, could possibly know these things. It's rumored that the Empress Dowager's entry into the court is somehow related to my uncle!"
Zhang Xuezhou thought about Yao Yuanguang, wondering where Yao Yuanguang had gone off to enjoy himself after obtaining the longevity elixir.
Of course, the effects of the Longevity Elixir only last for twenty years. As time continued to pass, Zhang Xuezhou felt that Yao Yuanguang would probably fall into the miserable Immortal Court mission process again, thus seeking to survive for another twenty years.
"Given the current order of the Immortal Court, Martial Uncle probably won't find any missions. I wonder how long Donghua will take to control the Immortal Court!"
It is inappropriate for a subject to participate in a verbal battle Queen Mother, and Zhang Xuezhou should not go along, nor did he intend to.
However, Zhang Xuezhou took a shortcut through Princess Pingyang's back door and returned home.
"My sick child, what do you think of your mother's swordsmanship?"
After Zhang Xuezhou entered the gate of his mansion, he heard the chilling sound of swords clashing in the distance from the pavilion area.
Having overcome her physical limitations, Wei Shao'er was no longer the slow-moving singing girl she once was. Instead, she regained her former agility and even couldn't resist giving Huo Qubing a swordsmanship lesson.
Wei Shao'er's swordsmanship is very interesting. His opponent is extremely skilled at sneak attacks and uses assassin martial arts. The sword is also tied with silk thread for easy throwing.
This swordsmanship is completely opposite to the swordsmanship that Chen Zhang is good at, but Wei Shao'er and Chen Zhang's opposite swordsmanship can form an extremely good combination.
If it weren't for Chen Zhang serving as the head of the Imperial Household Department, Zhang Xuezhou would have really wanted to keep Chen Zhang by his side as well.
"This looks interesting. Does Mother have even more powerful swordsmanship?"
Huo Qubing, sitting in the pavilion, watched Wei Shao'er's swordsmanship with utter boredom.
Once you've witnessed superior swordsmanship, even slightly inferior techniques don't seem so impressive.
In Huo Qubing's opinion, Wei Shao'er's swordsmanship was undoubtedly second to none.
Wei Shao'er's swordsmanship had a petty, unsophisticated quality, lacking Wei Qing's grandeur and the new emperor's strength and sharpness. Such swordsmanship was indeed unlikely to impress Huo Qubing.
More than watching the swordplay, Huo Qubing wanted to know what methods Zhang Xuezhou had used to help Wei Shao'er recover.
Since Huo Qubing could remember, he had always had a mother who was slow in everything she did, and the lively and energetic Wei Shao'er in front of him even made him feel somewhat unfamiliar.
"Let me show you the Hundred-Step Flying Sword technique. This skill of mine is extremely threatening to cultivators!"
Wei Shao'er's ability to throw a sword from a hundred paces reminded Huo Qubing of the two archery techniques he had learned.
Huo Qubing believed that he would be able to shoot someone from a thousand paces away in the future, so the flying sword from a hundred paces away was nothing to him.
If Wei Shao'er is willing to learn archery, he can teach Wei Shao'er an even more powerful martial art.
"Master, master, you're home!"
Wei Shao'er's lively display of martial arts was nothing to watch; Huo Qubing was more happy for Wei Shao'er's recovery. When he was feeling somewhat bored, he saw Zhang Xuezhou approaching with a satisfied expression.
Compared to Huo Qubing, Zhang Xuezhou was indeed very satisfied with Wei Shao'er, his face beaming with satisfaction.
"What do you mean by 'tall person' or 'short person'? Give me a more normal way to address you," Zhang Xuezhou waved his hand and said.
"You're truly a master!" Huo Qubing exclaimed. "Among all the people I've met, you're one of the most capable, only slightly inferior to that strange-looking Daoist priest!"
A strange-looking Daoist priest?
Zhang Xuezhou thought for a moment and realized that Huo Qubing was referring to Divine Lord Zhenyuan.
Compared to the nickname "Divine Lord Zhenyuan," he immediately felt that Huo Qubing's way of addressing him was much better.
"There are too many masters in the world, someone like me is just beneath my notice," Zhang Xuezhou said. "It's fine for you to shout in my residence, but it makes me very embarrassed to shout like that outside!"
"But I feel like there aren't many people who can beat you," Huo Qubing muttered.
"Sick child, don't bother with Dongfang Shuo. He is knowledgeable in the Yin-Yang School's Nine Heavens Sect and is skilled in alchemy, medicine making, and formations," Wei Shao'er corrected. "Don't get it wrong. If you want to learn alchemy, medicine making, and formations, Dongfang Shuo is the right choice. For other things, you'll need to find another renowned teacher!"
"Mother, you don't understand the great master of the East at all," Huo Qubing complained. "He's really amazing!"
"How powerful?" Wei Shao'er asked with a smile.
"Well... well... anyway, he could easily take on ten of you!"
Huo Qubing scratched his head for a few seconds, deep in thought, before finally comparing Wei Shao'er and Zhang Xuezhou.
After saying this, he crossed his hands, indicating that Zhang Xuezhou could beat ten Wei Shao'er.
This comparison made Wei Shao'er chuckle, realizing that Huo Qubing's knowledge was still too limited; she had been able to easily subdue Zhang Xuezhou and others years ago.
Unless an absolute difference in cultivation level is established, martial arts cultivators will almost always be slaughtered when they approach magic cultivators.
Furthermore, Wei Shao'er had cooperated with Zhang Xuezhou and others to defeat Gongsun Gui. Zhang Xuezhou was extremely skilled, but he was definitely not one to fight cultivators head-on.
"Don't talk nonsense!"
Seeing that Wei Shao'er was about to leap out and subdue Zhang Xuezhou in order to demonstrate to Huo Qubing, Zhang Xuezhou couldn't help but spit out a curse.
He currently only has a sliver of Law Power left, and he hasn't even taken out his staff. How could he possibly defeat ten Wei Shao'er? At most, he could only take down one.
Only when his Law Power are fully restored can Zhang Xuezhou kill hundreds of Wei Shao'er.
His combat strength comparison is exactly like this: Zhang Xuezhou's gaze has always been upward, and the comparison between him and those below is indeed this result.
However, his current strength is indeed lacking.
Seeing Wei Shao'er stride forward with a burst of speed, Zhang Xuezhou gave up resisting and allowed Wei Shao'er to capture him, displaying the demeanor of a strongman.