Chapter 913: Chapter 533: Return
What happened later? It was in the painting that I encountered you...
In his heart, Zhao Douan mumbled, but his face showed no sign:
"After the battle, I rested behind the county government in the County. I intended to meditate and regulate my Inner Qi, but after reflecting on the process of summoning the Water God, I felt a slight touch on the realm of Heavenly Humans. At Pei Niannu’s suggestion, I attempted to visualize the ’Human World’, wanting to try once more to see if I could enter it."
The last time, he was in the Imperial Palace, pretending not to have entered.
"Did you enter?" Xu Zhenguan’s slender jade hand inside her sleeve quietly clenched, her body leaning forward, her mind highly focused.
Faced with the Empress’s "intense stare", Zhao Douan frowned tightly, hesitatingly saying: "I don’t know."
"You don’t know?"
"Yes, I felt like I entered, but it was just in the blink of an eye, and then I appeared in the small building behind the Martial Arts Hall."
Zhao Douan’s face was puzzled: "Then, I met with Eunuch Hai and came to the audience."
After saying this, he somewhat nervously observed the subtle changes in the Empress’s expression. The expected "suspicion" towards him did not appear; Xu Zhenguan, with her beautiful brow tightly furrowed, fell into deep thought.
Heavenly Humans, meteors, Zhao Douan, Zhang Hui... No less than four influencing factors tangled together, making it difficult for her to discern which factor was playing the key role behind this matter.
Hmm... It seems Zhenbao did not associate me with Zhang Hui, could it be that there are other factors disrupting her judgment?
Zhao Douan relaxed a bit, then a strong curiosity arose, and after a long silence in the room, he couldn’t help but softly say:
"Your Majesty? What exactly is this..."
Xu Zhenguan came back to herself, raised her eyes to look at him, thought for a moment, then shook her head in confusion:
"This matter is somewhat complex. Do you know what just happened?"
Zhao Douan honestly said: "I saw the Supervisor of the Astronomical Observatory enter the palace."
Xu Zhenguan nodded, suddenly extended her hand, took the yellowed booklet from the table, placed it in front of him, and explained:
"This is a star observation record from the Astronomical Observatory."
In his current state, Zhao Douan couldn’t affect reality nor "turn the pages," but thankfully the text and dates on the booklet were complete.
He glanced down at it and was surprised: "Is this a star observation record from six hundred years ago?"
Xu Zhenguan nodded:
"Strictly speaking, this is a star observation record surviving from the fallen Qi Dynasty. During the late Qi Country period, when smoke and fire rose everywhere and war was rampant, before the Qi Capital was captured, a great fire destroyed many precious documents, but a small portion were salvaged, including this record.
Based on the timeline, before the rebellion at the end of the dynasty, a special star streaked across the sky above the Capital at that time, it was observed and recorded. In Qi Country records, this star was named the ’Disaster Star’, foretelling impending disaster.
And in the subsequent years, the world fell into chaos, lives were devastated, affecting both the secular world and the Martial World, marking the largest disaster in nearly one thousand five hundred years."
Pausing briefly, Xu Zhenguan looked at him with a heavy gaze:
"And just now, the same ’Disaster Star’ has reappeared after six hundred years."
Reappeared? Halley’s Comet... Zhao Douan paused, as a modern person who had received mandatory education, he was not unfamiliar with the concept of cyclical stellar encounters.
But considering the existence of ’Divine’ entities in this world... the setting of stars foretelling disaster doesn’t seem hard to accept.
"Could it be that this Disaster Star foretells the war with the Eight Princes?" Zhao Douan inquired.
Xu Zhenguan sighed, stood up, and paced the room, her eyes somber:
"Compared to the scale of the disaster six hundred years ago, the current struggle between the court and the Eight Princes is far lesser."
Zhao Douan suddenly realized:
"Your Majesty is worried that this war won’t end easily? Or that it might just be the prelude to a larger disaster?"
He hesitated: "Isn’t it too arbitrary to make such a judgment based solely on a so-called Disaster Star?"
Xu Zhenguan said bitterly: "I also hope the war won’t expand and can be calmed smoothly."
The atmosphere in the study was momentarily heavy.
Zhao Douan thought for a moment, then sincerely consoled:
"Your Majesty should take heart, for even if this Disaster Star does foretell the future, so what? Can we fear another chaos?"
The Empress was taken aback, met his eyes, then seemed to comprehend something, and smiled with relief.
Zhao Douan also smiled.
Indeed, ever since the Xuanmen Coup and her ascension, the Empress has faced endless troubles. The Sealing war brought her to the brink of death... After overcoming so many challenges, what’s there to fear if there are more?
Moreover, it’s ultimately just an unverified star, there’s no point in current anxieties.
Even if disaster does lie ahead, what the Emperor and his ministers can do now is to suppress the rebellion swiftly to face greater enemies. So, there is no need to worry, taking care of the present matters is enough.
The Great Yu Ancestor Emperor ended the disaster that swept across the continent six hundred years ago, bringing six centuries of peace to the world.
Xu Zhenguan intended to emulate her ancestor, ready to restore the realm once more if necessary.
With this in mind, the shadow over her heart dissipated quickly, and she felt much lighter, nodding with a smile:
"You’re right, it’s just a star, indeed no need to worry because of it. However, the records in the Astronomical Observatory indicate that the old Grand Ancestor Emperor, in his later years, became infatuated with celestial phenomena and spent a considerable amount of time observing stars in the Astronomical Observatory, trying to foresee future rises and falls.
As for this Disaster Star record, the Grand Ancestor Emperor consulted it numerous times, and according to the Royal Family’s records of the Grand Ancestor’s daily life, the Grand Ancestor Emperor referred to the Astronomical Observatory’s star records while painting ’Human World’ on a mural."