"Greetings to Fairy Jiang."
Looking at the sword cultivator from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect before him, Xiao Mo politely bowed.
Not far from Xiao Mo, Jiang Qingyi, wearing a light veil over her face, still only gazed calmly at Xiao Mo.
Just like their previous meeting, Xiao Mo felt as if she wanted to see right through his entire being.
This feeling was also like he had done something very excessive to her before.
"Fairy Jiang?" Xiao Mo asked questioningly.
"Mm." After a long while, Jiang Qingyi finally came back to her senses and walked toward the main gate of her National Preceptor's residence, "Since Your Majesty has come, if you don't mind, please come in and sit for a while."
"Very well."
Xiao Mo followed Jiang Qingyi inside.
Wei Xun also wanted to enter the National Preceptor's residence, but a sword qi blocked his path.Wei Xun had no choice but to stand outside the palace.
Although this woman seemed cold, most sword cultivators were like this. Moreover, she had no grudges with His Majesty, so it was impossible for her to attack him.
Soon after, the maids in the National Preceptor's residence all gradually came out, saying that the National Preceptor preferred quiet and didn't like having so many people in the courtyard.
In the National Preceptor's residence courtyard, Xiao Mo sat beside Jiang Qingyi.
The two quietly drank tea, maintaining a certain distance.
In Xiao Mo's view, this female disciple from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect was indeed somewhat cold, and even seemed to look down on him as Zhou Kingdom's emperor.
But this was normal. With Zhou Kingdom's national strength, many people already considered it Zhou Kingdom's fortune that the Ten Thousand Swords Sect was willing to accept it as a subsidiary.
Moreover, she was only cold.
Little did he know that some National Preceptors, the more corrupt ones, would even make empresses, empress dowagers, and princesses serve them.
If he wanted her to look at him properly, he as emperor would first need to regain power, improve national strength. Only when he became strong would others respect him.
"I wonder why Fairy Jiang thought to place the National Preceptor's residence in the rear palace?" Xiao Mo asked.
"Nothing much, just seeking some peace and quiet. Your rear palace has no consorts anyway." Jiang Qingyi replied coldly, those sword-like eyes glancing at Xiao Mo, "I heard Your Majesty is obsessed with cultivating the Dao?"
Xiao Mo smiled, "Since there's nothing to do in the rear palace anyway, I might as well study Dao techniques to cultivate my body and mind."
"Mm." Jiang Qingyi nodded, slightly lifting a corner of her veil to drink some tea.
Xiao Mo wanted to see her face, but unfortunately still couldn't see anything.
The two fell into silence again. Xiao Mo felt it was quite awkward being with her.
"I won't disturb Fairy Jiang any longer. If Fairy Jiang needs anything in the future, you can tell the palace maids anytime." Xiao Mo stood up, planning to go to the Dao Inquiry Platform to practice swordplay, "I'll take my leave first."
"I'm a bit hungry."
Just as Xiao Mo had stood up, a woman's voice came from beside him.
"What would Fairy Jiang like to eat? I'll have the imperial kitchen prepare it for you." Xiao Mo looked at the woman sitting on the stone stool.
Jiang Qingyi thought for a moment, then slowly said, "Do you have buns?"
"Buns?" Xiao Mo was momentarily stunned, "What kind of buns does the fairy want to eat?"
"Mm." Jiang Qingyi raised her head and looked directly into Xiao Mo's eyes, "Ordinary meat buns will do. Don't rush to leave, eat with me."
…
At the Minister of Rites' residence, beside Koi Lake, a woman in white robes picked up fish food and threw it bit by bit into the lake.
"Sister." Little Green silently appeared behind the woman in white, "Zhou Kingdom's rear palace National Preceptor's residence has been arranged, and Jiang Qingyi entered the palace today."
"Mm." Yan Ruxue nodded, still calmly scattering the fish food in her hand.
"Sister, will Jiang Qingyi do anything to Brother Xiao..." Little Green's tone was worried.
"She won't."
Yan Ruxue shook her head.
"Jiang Qingyi's past experiences destined that when she sees Xiao Mo, she'll feel very conflicted inside. She wants to get close now but doesn't dare to get close. She won't even let Xiao Mo see her true appearance, even though Xiao Mo has no memories of that life and wouldn't recognize her at all. So in the short term, she won't make a move on Xiao Mo."
Little Green was silent.
"Don't worry, she's just a little girl who's barely over three thousand years old." Yan Ruxue turned around, her eyes smiling gently, "After I enter the palace, I'll properly discipline her and teach her how to respect teachers and honor the Dao. This is also my duty as a teacher's wife."
"By the way, there's one matter, Little Green, I need to ask you to investigate." Yan Ruxue said.
"What is it, sister?" Little Green asked curiously.
"Do you know about Qin Kingdom's emperor?"
"Sister, do you mean that Qin Kingdom ruler who is more beautiful than most women in the world?"
"Hehe, more beautiful than women." Yan Ruxue's mouth curved up, her eyes carrying some unclear meaning, "Who knows whether that Qin ruler is male or female."
"But even so, sister, what's special about her?"
"Little Green, do you know what the Ancient-Knowing Sacred Body is?" Yan Ruxue asked.
"Naturally I know. Some people are born with memories of all their past lives. For such people, cultivation is merely retracing their former path. This is the Ancient-Knowing Sacred Body." Little Green replied.
"But sister, she's currently an emperor. After ancient times, heaven and earth's laws changed. Unless she abdicates, she cannot cultivate. If she truly was born knowing, logically she would have long since abdicated to pursue the Great Dao."
"Silly girl." Yan Ruxue extended her finger and tapped her sister's forehead, "Then what if sister told you that long, long ago, there was a female emperor who successfully cultivated and even stepped into the supreme realm?"
Little Green was even more confused, "Then what does this have to do with us?"
"Sister isn't quite sure either, which is why I'm asking you to probe a bit." Yan Ruxue shook her head, looking into the distance, "This person has been continuously expanding territory, and specifically in Zhou Kingdom's direction. Sister has a feeling she's coming for Zhou Kingdom."
At the same time, in Qin Kingdom's imperial palace, in most human dynasties, eunuchs could walk through the front and middle halls of the palace, but to enter the rear palace, they almost always needed special records and couldn't privately enter consorts' courtyards.
But in Qin Kingdom's palace, there wasn't a single eunuch, they used only female officials.
After finishing the morning court session, Qin Kingdom's ruler returned to the rear palace and came before a painting pavilion.
Qin Kingdom's ruler had a habit of occasionally painting a picture to place in the painting pavilion, then going to look at them during leisure time.
"You may all withdraw." Qin Kingdom's ruler said to the female officials beside her.
"Yes, Your Majesty." The female officials bowed and all departed.
Qin Kingdom's ruler opened the door and entered the painting pavilion.
In the painting pavilion hung ink painting after ink painting.
And in all these ink paintings, there was a man.
Moreover, all the men in the paintings had identical appearances.