NFBE Chapter 49 These Years as a Charlatan in the Mortal World (Part 5)
Chapter 49 These Years as a Charlatan in the Mortal World (Part 5)
Having witnessed Baili Shu's abilities long ago, Ji Mo Zheng Yuan naturally wouldn't demand that Liu Xing Xing perform those empty formalities. Moreover, he sensed that this woman was probably the same kind of person as the Imperial Preceptor.
More than a decade ago, when he was still an unfavored prince, he was once tricked and almost died in the wilderness, torn apart by a pack of wolves. He witnessed Baili Shu, who happened to be passing by, attracting heavenly lightning that killed all the wolves.
From that time on, Ji Mo Zheng Yuan was convinced that Bai Li Shu was a strange and extraordinary person who had attained enlightenment there and had come down from the mountain to travel. He invited Bai Li Shu to become a guest master in his sect many times, and Bai Li Shu had to decline several times before he reluctantly agreed.
Ji Mo Zheng Yuan also treated him with the highest courtesy, and sure enough, after Bai Li Shu entered the manor, his life improved day by day.
After that, Baili Shu saved him from danger several times, and Ji Mo Zheng Yuan respected Baili Shu even more.
Ji Mo Zheng Yuan was no longer as focused on finding a capable person to assist him as he had been before.
During his most difficult time, Baili Shu generously helped him, but he never wanted to take credit or let him know.
Ji Mo Zhengyuan is not an ungrateful person. To him, Baili Shu is now a subject, a close friend, and an elder brother.
He had ulterior motives. Baili Shu had stated that he would leave suddenly at any time and there was no return date. Since Mo Zhengyuan could not keep him, he wanted to retain Baili Shu's abilities to find more useful talents for the future generations of Tianxing Kingdom.
He knew his own body was in bad shape and that he didn't have many years left to live. As the ruler of a country, he only wanted to do a few more useful things for Tianxing Kingdom.
As the night deepened, a slight chill still crept in even though charcoal was burning inside the hall.
Ji Mo Zhengyuan chatted with Baili Shu for almost half an hour before letting him leave. Liu Xingxing, who was given a seat at the bottom, dozed off in the chair for a long time before finally being told to go back.
This Ji Mo Zhengyuan looks sickly, but I never expected him to be such a chatterbox. Isn't he afraid of making his health even worse?
"Then I will retire first."
Baili Shu stood up and bowed at the opportune moment.
"Well, Grand Preceptor, you should go back and get some rest. It's been too late to call you here. Li Si, go and see the Grand Preceptor off."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Please, Your Excellency, Grand Preceptor."
Li Si respectfully led the group away, and Liu Xingxing also bowed to Ji Mo Zhengyuan before following suit.
After a while, Li Si came in from outside the palace again and asked with great concern, "Your Majesty, it's chilly at night. Would you like to go back to your bed?"
Ji Mo Zheng Yuan didn't make a move, but casually flipped through the books on the table and asked Li Si in a flat tone, "Don't you think this Liu Xingxing looks a bit familiar? I feel like I've seen her somewhere before."
"Your Majesty, this woman was specially sent in by Prince Xu a few days ago, along with another person who had been arranged beforehand, to the Imperial Observatory. The people in the palace had not received any news about her before, nor had they found out about her background."
"Then why was it sent to the Imperial Observatory?"
"They are from the Imperial Household Department. This servant has already secretly detained them and should be able to get information out of them soon."
"Hmph, do you even need to ask? It was my good third brother who did it. He was too hasty, he even started to target the people around me."
"Your Majesty, shall we proceed with her?"
"No rush, let's observe first. Didn't she just surrender? And the Grand Preceptor seems to value her highly; he was paying close attention to her during our discussion earlier."
"Yes."
Ji Mo Zhengyuan seemed to remember something and suddenly stood up: "Change your clothes and come with me to the ancestral hall."
Li Si looked on in surprise and doubt: "Your Majesty, what is the reason for this? The air outside is very thick right now, your health..."
Ji Mo Zheng Yuan glanced at him indifferently, and Li Si knew that he had overstepped his bounds, so he hurriedly went to help Ji Mo Zheng Yuan change his clothes.
The crescent moon slanted westward, the palace road was deserted, and a group of people carried a palanquin and hurried towards the ancestral hall in the west.
A thin layer of mist had already formed in the air.
Ji Mo Zhengyuan was wrapped up tightly in a hand warmer incense burner, but his already pale face turned even paler, as if he were a paper doll that could be blown away by the wind at any moment.
The ancestral hall is where the ancestral tablets and portraits of the ancestors of the Mo family are enshrined. Even if you only visit the ancestral hall three to five times a year, its halls are always brightly lit.
The gatekeeper was dozing off when he was startled to see someone coming so late, and he immediately perked up.
Upon realizing it was His Majesty's entourage, they were even more startled and hurriedly bowed in respect.
Upon seeing the ground, Ji Mo Zheng Yuan dismounted and entered the ancestral hall.
The ancestral hall was very empty. Apart from the offering table in front, there were only two long rows of candlesticks on both sides, with a hundred or so candles burning. There were also four rows of round pillars running from the outside to the inside, with a portrait hanging on each pillar. That was all.
It was much warmer inside than outside, and Ji Mo Zheng Yuan's expression finally softened a bit.
"Which one is it...?"
Ji Mo Zhengyuan slowly examined the paintings hanging on the pillars.
The figures depicted above are all emperors and empresses of the Mo family throughout history, or ancestors who were granted special permission to be included in the list due to their merits to the royal family. The closer the figure is to the altar, the longer their lineage.
Ji Mo Zhengyuan looked all the way until he was almost at the altar before finally stopping and looking at the painting hanging on the pillar in front of him with a puzzled expression.
The portrait had faded considerably due to its age, but it was still possible to make out the appearance of a woman in military attire, holding a long sword, with her hair tied up high, riding a fine horse and galloping across the battlefield.
The woman in the painting looks solemnly ahead as if she is about to sweep away all enemies. Even though the portrait has faded, it cannot hide her sharp edge.
On the right side of the portrait are two lines describing the person in the painting: "Her graceful figure and youthful joy are unforgettable; her beauty is unforgettable in this lifetime."
"Li Si, look at her, does Liu Xingxing resemble this person?"
Li Si looked puzzled: "Your Majesty, how could she resemble Empress Zhixi? The Empress's countenance is so magnificent that this little woman is not even one ten-thousandth as beautiful as her."
It's no wonder Li Si said that. Back then, it was Zhi Xi who helped Emperor Mao of Jimo conquer this country. Her contribution was so great that it wouldn't be appropriate to bestow the title upon her as an empress. So, Emperor Mao bestowed the title upon Zhi Xi in the name of the empress.
Being granted the surname Jun (君) is equivalent to being half a monarch, and can rule the world together with the emperor, rather than just being a mistress of the harem.
Ji Mo Zheng Yuan stared at the person in the portrait and fell silent for a moment.
Indeed, no matter how you look at it, Liu Xingxing doesn't resemble Zhixi at all. Their faces aren't even that similar. How could he possibly think Liu Xingxing looks like Zhixi?
But the moment Ji Mo Zheng Yuan saw Liu Xingxing, he felt a deep sense of familiarity with the person, and inexplicably he found Shang Zhixi's portrait.
As expected, she is someone who has won Baili Shu's favor. Ji Mo Zheng Yuan's intuition is always very accurate. It seems that he should pay more attention to this Liu Xing Xing.
"Go back first."
Ji Mo Zhengyuan took a few more glances at the people in the painting before walking out of the ancestral hall.
Liu Xingxing, who had returned to the Imperial Observatory, was unaware of what Ji Mozhengyuan had done after they left. She was still worried about where to stay.
"You, the Imperial Advisor, really live in such a small place without even your own palace? Ji Mo Zheng Yuan is too stingy!"
Baili Shu shrugged: "Yeah, I don't really care about these external things. He offered me a palace first, but I refused. This place is great because I can live here and work here. Who knew you would come along like this?"
"Sigh, forget it, the Imperial Observatory is such a big place, can't you just give me a room to live in?"
"You should have said so earlier. In that case, I'll trouble you to stay here for now. I'll see if I can ask Ji Mo Zheng Yuan for a palace for you to live in another day."
"No, it would be too much trouble to go back and forth to the palace every day if we really lived there. We wouldn't be able to discuss things immediately if something happened. It's quite convenient to live here, and we should be able to find the boundary soon."
As she spoke, Liu Xingxing took out the ball of white light that was tightly trapped from her storage ring.
"This was taken from your brain, but there's no way to find any clues from it right now. I need some time to study it."
Baili Shu curiously picked up the lump of stuff and looked at it for a few moments: "Is this the thing that's messed up my memory? It looks like residual spiritual energy, but it doesn't feel like it."
"Yes, what kind of good person would have such lively and active residual spiritual energy?"