Translator: YHHH Editor: Book_Hoarder
The empress was sitting on top of the main hall. After a short period of time, Hong Wu came walking in with large strides.
"Greetings, Your Majesty."
"Prepare a seat for General-in-Chief Who Supports the Nation a seat of honor," the empress voiced out, and a chair was immediately put behind Hong Wu.
"When will the great general depart?" the empress asked. Every year, Hong Wu would come around this time and go back to the north after the empress's birthday celebration. This had become a routine in recent years.
"This time, coming back and seeing the empress safe and sound is a big relief to your humble servant. I will set off tomorrow," Hong Wu replied.
"I appreciate the great general's hard work of guarding the borders year after year. Unfortunately, I still cannot find anyone to take over your duties for the time being."
"Many thanks for Your majesty's concern. I am already used to it. Moreover, there are good places at the border, and at least, I can see snow during winter occasionally." Hong Wu laughed.
"That scenery is really beautiful."
"I would like to have a look as well." The empress finished her sentence and then added, "When the great general conquers Great Xia, I will go to Great Xia to see snow."
Hong Wu heard and burst out in laughter.
When Great Xia was ready for a visit after their army had been routed and beaten a retreat, he would occupy the city and let Her Majesty appreciate the snow.
"I will order the recruitment of the soldiers after you leave. Also, I will think of ways to supply weapons to you. Rest assured, General-in-Chief Who Supports the Nation," The empress emphasized.
"In that case, I, your old servant feels rest assured." Hong Wu knew the situation in Dayao very well. It was a very difficult problem, but he still hoped to get sufficient weapons. Even with only ten thousand in quantity, his confidence would be greatly boosted.
"Does General-in-Chief Who Supports the Nation know where Lu Qi is?"
"Lu Ping Hai? From what I know, he wanders about. But, he goes to the fishing village every November in the East Sea area for a few days to pay homage to a good friend." Hong Wu replied.
"Get people to wait for him and tell him that I want the Spirit Yuan Pills. He can name his price," the empress said.
Hong Wu was a little surprised, Spirit Yuan Pills were the best medicine in the world to enhance one's body immunity. It was specifically for people with weak constitutions to enable them to cultivate. In addition, it could gradually change the physique of a person within two years and speeding up the cultivation process as well. Just based on this alone, it was a valuable treasure in this world.
Her Majesty wanted this stuff for that fellow?
"From what your humble servant knows, he may only carry not more than two pills. Two years ago, I asked him for one pill and was rejected. The two of us ended up in a fight, and both of us were injured. It is not easy to beg him." Hong Wu laughed bitterly. He did not expect the empress to seek this thing specifically for that fellow.
"Tell him that if he refuses to give, I will kill him and it would still be mine," the empress said coldly.
Hong Wu still gave a wry smile. Lu Haiping was ranked the world number eight which was just one rank behind the empress. How could just saying you want to kill him mean he could be killed? Even if the empress could defeat him, trying to stop him was not easy, and if pushed to that extent, he might run away and no one could obstruct him.
Moveover, Lu Pinghai 's hometown was in the Yun Nation. It couldn't be that Her Majesty wanted to visit the Yun Nation personally?
A moment later, Hong Wu frowned slightly and went back to his mansion.
"Grandfather, your wrinkled forehead evidently shows that you are old." Hong Xian jumped a few steps to the front of Hong Wu and used her palm to smooth out the wrinkles on his forehead.
"Hong Xian, what kind of person is Ren Baqian exactly? Hong Wu asked.
On mentioning Ren Baqian, Hong Xian's face darkened a little instantly. She was returning home that day and was not punished, but Liu Ruoyao was given ten lashes, received a bout of scolding from her father and was still on house arrest.
How could that bastard be chosen by Her Majesty as her husband to be? What did the empress see in him? Hong Xian thought it over many times without understanding why. With regards to Ren Baqian, she just couldn't see any outstanding qualities in him.
However, in front of her revered grandfather, she did not dare to exaggerate and just related the incident as it happened that day.
"Yes, got it." Hong Wu nodded thoughtfully. From what her granddaughter said and what he saw that day, this guy was a villain. Having such a person by Her Majesty's side wasn't a good thing.
But, right now, it was better to watch and observe him. After all, the most important matter was to prepare for Great Xia's operation. If he discovered that Ren Baqian was really what he assumed him to be, then he wouldn't be spared.
...
…..
Ren Baqian naturally didn't know what the empress was preparing for. He also did not know the second ranked person in Dayao was observing him with some concerns.
After staying for three days in Qingxin Palace Hall, he returned to Earth. For two nights he tried to practice Ruyi Visualization but could not attain the stage of emptiness. Once he had quietened down, various thoughts would fly through his mind, like wild horses running on the prairies. He tried his best to control his mind, but after ten to twenty seconds, all kind of thoughts would emerge.
As such, the first thing he did after waking up was to check the computer for the more famous Taoist temples to see whether they could offer some help.
First of all, he went to the Laojunguan, which was near the city and observed that the incense burning there was very intense. Ren Baqian donated five thousand yuan of incense money first to get a consultation with the temple head on a certain matter.
A moment later, Ren Baqian came out of Laojunguan.
Taoism indeed espoused a method of cultivating a tranquil mind. The key point was in one word "guard", the concept of "not being born, any ideas in the process must be nipped."
But, did these words suggest he had no way to master [Ruyi Visualization]?
He did not even have an idea on what to do, so how was he to cultivate? After withdrawing from this state of mind, random thoughts emerged again.
Unless he spent a long time cultivating his mind, the random thoughts wouldn't lessen. Whether he could achieve his goals or not, the time taken at the very least, was already too long.
Even so, Ren Baqian took this meditation method along. If Buddhism wouldn't work, he would have to try this method first.
The next stop was the Forlorn Temple in another city. It had a rather good reputation on the internet. The monks here persevered through self-imposed penance and their numbers were getting less in this era.
Anyway, the average person would generally think of large head and big ears whenever anyone mentioned a monk.
Ren Baqian reached the bottom of the mountain where Forlorn Temple was in the afternoon. He went up the mountain and met the abbot, who had long bushy eyebrows and was a tanned and skinny monk about fifty-something in age.
"Abbot, in order to accomplish a task, I need to achieve a clear and transparent mind in a short time, how can I do it?" Ren Baqian asked directly.
The abbot drew a circle on the ground and said, "If a circle is painted with ink, can it be erased after one day?"
"I am afraid I may not be able to erase it." Ren Baqian shook his head in reply. After one day, the ink would have seeped in. He understood what the abbot was saying and those random thoughts were probably rooted in his mind and like the ink, could not be erased.
"That's right, it cannot be erased unless you dig the earth away. It is the only solution if you want to achieve a tranquil mind in a short time." The senior monk responded.
"How do I proceed?" Ren Baqian's spirit was lifted by the hope of having a solution.
"Slap a brick on yourself and get amnesia, forget everything and enter the universe of emptiness. Whatever and however it is drawn will naturally be purified," said the abbot.
Ren Baqian felt like cussing, "Damn you."
"I am afraid the benefactor is unwilling. If you forget, you will not be yourself anymore." The abbot laughed again.
"If you have the time, you can go to Jingxin Temple in Lu Province, East Sea to consult Abbot Su Wen. He is much better than me and may be able to help you." This was the last thing the abbot said as he turned away to leave.