Discussing Fortune Techniques

"You mean Liu An's shadow assassins came here and even touched a sword!"

The new emperor was not obsessed with women; he cultivated his inner self and gradually began to show his ruthless methods in governing the country.

Perhaps due to the heavy-handed methods used in court affairs, the new emperor still carried a lingering murderous aura when he went out for leisure.

You let him touch this sword!

The new emperor's gaze fell upon the fake Red Empyrean Sword hanging in the main hall of his mansion.

A fake sword is of little practical use, but confirming the authenticity of the Red Empyrean Sword is valuable.

You shouldn't have let him touch that sword!

The new emperor paced back and forth several times, feeling that if he were to encounter the other party, the other party would inevitably have eighteen meridians severed, be imprisoned in a dungeon to extract all their knowledge, and finally become an abandoned corpse in a mass grave.

"What if the King of King of Huainan also had a sword?"

The new emperor's reaction upon learning of the matter was completely different from Zhang Xuezhou's.

If Jin Chang had encountered a new emperor, the latter would indeed have met a very bad end.

The new emperor's beliefs and ways of doing things are completely different from Zhang Xuezhou's. Whether you say the new emperor is direct or grand and magnanimous, he is not as roundabout as Zhang Xuezhou.

Only when Zhang Xuezhou pointed out the possibility of the matter did the new emperor's eyelids twitch slightly.

"If that sword were in the King of Huainan's Household, the King of Huainan should be exterminated!"

The new emperor murmured to himself.

Anyone who covets the Red Empyrean Sword is essentially trying to deny his right to inherit the throne from the founding emperor, a situation no different from treason.

If the other party had taken the Red Empyrean Sword six months earlier, the new emperor would have been in serious trouble.

The new emperor clearly has no mercy, especially since he is currently focusing all his efforts on external affairs and will not allow internal strife to break out within the Great Han Dynasty.

It would have been one thing if the King of Huainan hadn't sent anyone, but sending his own men meant he couldn't escape responsibility.

The other party was also a competitor of the new emperor after he ascended the throne. The Empress Dowager at the time even had the idea of letting the Prince of King of Huainan move to Chang'an City.

The nature of probing and investigating is completely different from taking away and exchanging the Red Empyrean Sword. The new emperor's anger surged, and his words were full of murderous intent, as if he wanted to confiscate his family property and exterminate his entire clan.

"If he swapped the sword for a fake one, he shouldn't have come back to check the sword!"

His mind was filled with anger, but his rationality remained very clear, and he questioned Zhang Xuezhou's guess.

"Perhaps he was unsure of the previous sword thief's competence, or perhaps he hadn't fully understood the sword, or maybe he suspected he had a fake and wanted to examine the real one!"

Zhang Xuezhou pointed to the main hall of the mansion.

It's rare that Jin Chang was caught red-handed, so the matter can directly implicate the King of Huainan, and dragging the new emperor into it won't be difficult at all.

Compared to his and Dong Zhongshu's clandestine sabotage and sabotage, the one with the real power to decide was still the new emperor.

The new emperor is most likely to confront the King of Huainan head-on, and can also initiate military campaigns within the Great Han Dynasty. Both have the military power to suppress such conflicts, giving him a significant advantage over Zhang Xuezhou and his allies.

"If the King of Huainan harbors rebellious intentions, Your Majesty should enhance your magical abilities as much as possible to prevent him from performing rituals at the altar," Zhang Xuezhou advised.

"He presented me with the 'Honglie' a long time ago, which contains Liu An's insights into cultivation techniques. He is indeed a great talent in this field. My cultivation using ancient methods is inferior to his, and if I cultivate using his methods, he will know them and thus be able to counter me," the new emperor said. "Over the years, I have never been able to break out of his cultivation technique framework, and my cultivation level is far inferior to his. I can only rely on the Red Empyrean Sword to keep him from causing trouble!"

"Your Majesty resides in the heart of a powerful dynasty, where cultivation gains are abundant. The King of Huainan, on the other hand, is merely in a small territory, and even the most ingenious development has its limitations. Your Majesty will inevitably surpass the King of Huainan in the future," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"You also know about divination?" the new emperor asked suspiciously.

"I once viewed the 'Tomb Classic' at the Wenying Pavilion, and also read the 'Honglie'. I even had a chance encounter with the King of Huainan, who gifted me a jade pendant!"

Anyone who discusses divination with the new emperor will inevitably be questioned.

This is an extremely risky discussion, and Zhang Xuezhou only dares to speak out when there is a third party involved in the main conflict. He also tries to be as open and honest as possible to avoid being unable to back down when the conflict breaks out in the future.

"Unless one plots to overthrow the Great Han Dynasty and become emperor, non-royal members can only cultivate the 'Tomb Scripture' to improve their fortune," the new emperor said, glancing at the dragon and phoenix jade pendant. "King of Huainan, you have ill intentions. If you were to wear this pendant and flaunt it in front of the Empress Dowager, she would have already had you dragged out of the Meridian Gate and beheaded!"

"How could someone as sickly as me become an emperor?" Zhang Xuezhou waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "I've managed to get away with things without serious trouble all these years, and I thought it was this jade pendant that played a big role. I never expected the danger to be so great!"

"Fortune is unpredictable; where fortune rises, fortune inevitably falls," the new emperor said. "It's a double-edged sword. Those who attempt to take shortcuts through luck will inevitably suffer a backlash. Only by constantly strengthening oneself can one possibly withstand the risks. But human ability has its limits; constantly relying on fortune will inevitably lead to defeat!"

The new emperor looked at Zhang Xuezhou.

He wasn't worried at all that Zhang Xuezhou had any ambition to become emperor. After all, Zhang Xuezhou's illness was real, and he had no chance of becoming emperor. No emperor could continue to rule with such a chronic illness.

Zhang Xuezhou had no factional power in the imperial court, and was not even capable of holding a powerful official position.

If he were to be overthrown and usurped by such a person, the new emperor would feel that he deserved it.

He only felt that Zhang Xuezhou was running around seeking medical treatment everywhere, and while his strength was constantly improving, his illnesses were also increasing. It was very likely that he had encountered a backlash from his cultivation techniques.

Once you're on the bus of technology, getting off is very difficult.

If one cannot effectively improve their ability to withstand risks, the more times they rely on the advantages of good fortune, the greater the probability of death.

Despite seemingly escaping danger in every situation and continuously improving his cultivation, Zhang Xuezhou's actual physical condition proved the dangers of the cultivation technique.

"Once the King of Huainan is no longer around, we'll remove this thing to avoid being negatively affected by him!"

The new emperor touched the dragon and phoenix jade pendant that Zhang Xuezhou had handed over. He didn't want to ruin Zhang Xuezhou's luck, but he told Zhang Xuezhou that fortune is mysterious and hard to fathom. He had borrowed the luck of the Prince of King of Huainan, and when the King of Huainan suffered great misfortune in the future, he must sever ties with him to avoid being affected by the misfortune himself.

Zhang Xuezhou made an assumption: the new emperor spoke with absolute certainty, clearly unable to tolerate others sleeping soundly under his bed, and had long harbored the idea of eliminating the Prince of King of Huainan.

However, the new emperor still managed to control his emotions well and did not immediately retaliate against the King of Huainan because of this incident.

"If Liu An were to learn the truth about this sword, what do you think he would do?" the new emperor asked.

"He will likely study that sword until he possesses the abilities of His Majesty the Great, thus gaining legitimate recognition," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"This sword... it's such a good fake!"

The new emperor whispered.

He spent ten years trying to master a real sword but achieved nothing; Liu An was just wasting his time with a fake sword in the same way.

The first fake Red Empyrean Sword forged by the Pingyang Marquis's mansion played a far greater role than imagined.

This situation even forced the new emperor to adjust his plan to use a fake sword as a decoy.

If Liu An could spend several years studying this fake sword, it would all be worthwhile.