Chapter 720: 468, Return to Beijing_3
Xu Zhenguan’s breath was weak, but upon hearing the words, she understood his meaning and nodded: "Alright..."
Zhao Douan immediately recalled how the Empress transferred Qi to him before, and he replicated it. He placed Zhenbao in a cross-legged position and sat cross-legged behind her, imitating the Qi transfer stance from martial arts novels, placing his palms on her back. He tried... but failed.
"Am I really too weak? Can’t do it through the clothes..." Zhao Douan took a deep breath, his eyes focusing intently.
Xu Zhenguan, struggling to endure the pain in her meridians, suddenly widened her eyes, sensing a pair of hands reaching into her loose robe.
"You... how could you..."
As she spoke those few words, it belatedly dawned on her about a crucial matter:
Since there were only the monarch and minister here, the wounds and bandages on her body...
"Your Majesty, don’t turn back. I am... adapting to the situation."
A warm current flowed into her meridians from her back. Zhao Douan’s Qi, channeled through the Dragon Essence, seemed to return home. As Xu Zhenguan unconsciously adjusted her breathing and respiration to match Zhao Douan’s rhythm, the chaotic Qi within her gradually calmed, and her pain receded like a tide.
Breathe...
Breathe...
The rain outside the temple fell softly.
After a long time, some color finally returned to Xu Zhenguan’s face, which had been pale as if devoid of blood, yet Zhao Douan still didn’t stop.
Without any medicine, leveraging the Dragon Essence for cultivation was the best medicine for injuries.
Unfortunately, despite the Empress’s fall, there was still a Great Realm between them. The use of the Dragon Essence was superficial, unable to wield its true power.
"Now that I’ve fallen to the World’s top-grade level and am heavily injured, I’m not even as good as a mortal cultivator," Xu Zhenguan suddenly mocked herself.
In such circumstances, mentioning going out to "take charge" was a joke.
Without the ability to protect oneself, recklessly appearing would only lead to a dead end.
While transferring Qi, Zhao Douan calmly said, "Your Majesty, if the Eight Princes have rebelled, it won’t take long for Prince Jing’s troops to start searching the entire territory for us. Although I don’t know the exact location, the teleportation Treasure Bead has its limits. I have a premonition that we are still within Jiancheng Road now; it’s likely that the traitors are already on their way to capture us. As for Eunuch Hai and the Sealing Team, we don’t know their situation, whether they’re facing danger..."
Xu Zhenguan analyzed calmly: "Hai Chunlin leads the entire Inner Palace experts, along with the military elites, it’s not easy for them to face trouble. Although Wu Xiankui is hypocritical, he would at least use an official reason when confronting me; for the reputation of Qingshan, he wouldn’t assault the much weaker Sealing Team. As for the ’Magic God’... ha, let’s call it ’Magic God’ for now. Although I was ambushed by it, in a hurry, I could tell it wasn’t a real ’Heavenly Human’. Xuan Yin used a secret technique, employing ’Magic God’ as an Avatar to briefly enter the Heavenly Human Realm... but a Half-step Celestial is still not truly there! Interfering in my conflict with Wu Xiankui repeatedly... it must suffer backlash! Even if this Avatar wasn’t destroyed, it would definitely be gravely injured!"
Zhao Douan thought pensively: "So, Eunuch Hai and the others are safe."
Xu Zhenguan continued: "But I can’t join them. They must also be anxiously searching for my whereabouts now. With Prince Jing’s mentality, he would deliberately monitor and watch them. If I were to be lured out, they would strike again. Although the number of Inner Court Tributors is plentiful, if Prince Jing is determined to eliminate me, encircling with a great army, it would be difficult to resist."
In other words, we can’t look for Eunuch Hai... because it would be walking into a trap... Zhao Douan nodded, agreeing with this judgment: "Similarly, we can’t rashly contact local officials or even the military mansion, as they might have already been infiltrated by the princes."
Xu Zhenguan nodded weakly but her thoughts were extraordinarily clear: "We can rest here for at most one night; tomorrow we must set off and avoid everyone, returning to the Capital as fast as possible."
Return to the Capital!
Indeed, given the situation now, returning to the Capital is the wisest decision. As long as Zhenbao returns to the Capital, with her still being the Emperor, she can leverage the densest Dragon Qi in the Capital to regain some strength. Then, seizing the throne and stabilizing morale would bring hope for a comeback...
Zhao Douan’s heart was moved, and he spoke solemnly: "Since Your Majesty can think of this, the Eight Princes certainly could too."
Xu Zhenguan nodded, turning to look in the direction of the Capital, her face glowing in the firelight like warm jade: "Yes, the road back to the Capital won’t be peaceful."
...
Setting up a flag, forcing myself to write more tomorrow.