Zhao Ji turned his head as an insuppressible look of surprise flashed across his face.
"Aunt…"
It was his aunt who had been widowed for many years. She was the eldest princess of the Zhao royal family, Zhao Ciyu.
This aunt of his was no simple individual.
The imperial family did not have the imperial city to command the troops, and even the crown prince's residence only had 1,800 palace guards.
However, Eldest Princess Zhao Ciyu was in charge of a 10,000-man army. This showed that the emperor of Zhao valued her.
Not only was she valued by the emperor, but she was also talented in both literature and martial arts. At the age of 18, she married a Northern Barbarian and became his consort.
Three years later, the King of the North died and a new king ascended the throne.
Princess Zhao Ciyu did not follow the Northern Barbarians' tradition of succession, in which the former king's younger brother would take over the throne. She led 30 Death Guards and risked her life to return to Zhao.
It was said that the Northern Barbarians' heavenly king, Helian Jishu, admired Zhao Ciyu very much. He even wrote a letter to stop the new king from pursuing Zhao Ciyu.
After she returned to Luojing, the widowed Zhao Ciyu spent more than 10 years wandering among the civil and military officials. She was a skilled dancer, and she also got involved in the martial arts world. She held military power, and her glory made the other royal family members envious.
Not everyone in the royal family could enjoy such glory.
"Greetings, Eldest Aunt."
Zhao Ji's expression changed as he sheathed his sword and bowed respectfully.
Zhao Ciyu swept her gaze across the sword in Zhao Ji's hand. She chuckled and said, "Zhao Ji, how about giving your aunt this sword?"
Give it to her?
Zhao Ji was slightly taken aback, and a troubled look flashed across his face.
His aunt had a lot of power in her hands. It would be best if he could curry favor with her.
However, this sword was meant for a mortal cultivator.
His father was also in dire straits, and he needed to break out of his situation.
'Should I give in or not?'
"Forget it. Give this sword to the third prince." Zhao Ciyu waved her hand and turned to walk up the stone steps. "I don't know if you have a good or bad disposition since you were born in the imperial family."
Zhao Ji felt a little confused as he walked out of the small courtyard with the sword in his arms.
He did not give the sword away, and he had no idea if his aunt's words were good or bad.
If he could not figure it out, he would not think about it.
'I'll go back to the imperial residence and see what Father has to say.'
"I, Zhao Ciyu, wish to meet Mr. Zhang Li." In the courtyard, Zhao Ciyu cupped her hands as she stood on the stone steps.
She was wearing a long jade tunic with narrow sleeves and a light green robe. Her hair was tied up with green jade, and there was a long jade pendant around her waist. She was dressed like a man.
Her handsome face revealed a heroic spirit that was difficult to hide.
There was no response in the hall, and Zhao Ciyu frowned.
"Ahem, ahem... Eldest Princess, this brother of mine has always been cold and averse to meeting outsiders." Zhu Yunshan walked out with a smile on his face.
"Thank you, Mr. Zhu." Zhao Ciyu nodded.
Zhu Yunshan waved his hand and walked up the stone steps with his hands behind his back. He passed through the corridor and walked toward Zhang Li's quiet room.
"Eldest Princess, it's good that you remember the matter between me and Yue."
Zhu Yunshan's voice rang out.
Zhao Ciyu seemed perturbed, but she finally held it in and followed Zhu Yunshan until they were outside the quiet room.
"Ahem, Brother Zhang, I'll take—" Zhu Yunshan reached out to push the door open as he spoke.
However, his expression changed as soon as his hand touched the door. Green spirit light flashed across his body, and a pale-yellow talisman appeared. Then, it self-ignited without any wind and turned into golden light to protect his body.
Bang!
His body flew 10 feet back, and he fell between a few small potted pine plants as well as a pile of green stones. His head was down, and his feet were on the ground.
Zhao Ciyu's expression changed. She protected her body with a faint layer of True Essence, and caution filled her eyes.
"Don't move. My brother is in seclusion. Even a grandmaster wouldn't be able to withstand the array's counterattack," Zhu Yunshan said in a low voice after he crawled out from the bushes.
An array...
It was an immortal technique!
Even a grandmaster could not withstand it!
Zhao Ciyu, who was in the middle stage of the Spirit Condensation Realm, had a strange look in her eyes. She nodded and took a step back before she cupped her hands toward the quiet room. "I've been rude. I'll take my leave now.
"I will come again next time and apologize properly."
After she said that, she turned around and left.
"Eldest Princess, don't forget about me and Yue!" Zhu Yunshan shouted from behind.
Zhao Ciyu stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Zhu Yunshan. After pondering for a moment, she said, "Mr. Zhu, I've watched Liu Yue and the others grow up. Let me ask you something. Are you sincere?"
"Of course, I'm sincere," Zhu Yunshan said with a straight face.
As if he felt that his aura was insufficient, he puffed up his chest as he said "sincere."
Zhao Ciyu nodded and walked out of the courtyard.
Seeing her leave, Zhu Yunshan chuckled and strode back into the hall.
Zhang Li was sitting in front of a long table in the side hall's tea room. The teapot in his hand released hot steam as he carefully washed the tea.
A light fragrance lingered in the room.
Zhang Li was not in the quiet room, and there was no array.
Everything had just been an act.
"Although there are no immortal fruits and spirit springs in the human world, it has the finest wine and tea," Zhang Li spoke softly as he slowly poured out the tea.
It was clear and fragrant.
The imperial family only received 10 catties of Cassia Snow Cloud every three years.
"There are also beautiful women in this world." Zhu Yunshan picked up a cup of tea. He was not in a hurry as he sniffed it and narrowed his eyes.
"You still have a lot of good things here…"
He took a sip and sighed.
Zhang Li put down the teapot, picked up the teacup, and looked at him. "The Light Cloud Talisman is also a good thing. Old Brother Zhu, you didn't even blink an eye before offering it.
"I was just putting on a show before the eldest princess."
"If you ask me, Brother, you have plenty of good stuff."
These words seemed to tickle Zhu Yunshan's itch, and his face revealed a smug look. He drank the tea in his hand in one gulp and then said with a smile, "I'm Zhu Yunshan of the Talisman Hall, and I have first-class knowledge when it comes to the study of talismans."
He was number one in the Talisman Hall...
Zhang Li recalled that Lin Zhaoyang had once mentioned a talisman lunatic in the Misty Cloud Sect who drew talismans until he went mad and forgot his cultivation.
He claimed to be the "number one talisman master on Misty Cloud Mountain."
Zhu Yunshan then took out a stack of yellow talismans from his pocket. He sighed with a mixture of pride and emotion. "If I hadn't been obsessed with the study of talismans, I wouldn't have reached Level 2 of the Spirit Refinement Realm at the age of 150.
"Here, these talismans are all yours."
Zhang Li's gaze fell on these talismans, and he noticed that they were all talisman papers for cleaning as well as dust removal. There were also two Fireball and Ice Arrow Talismans among them.
Together, they were worth about one spirit stone.
However, the strokes on the talisman were simple, which showed that the person who drew them had profound cultivation.
Zhang Li accepted the talisman impolitely.
"Brother Zhang, you acted well just now. You didn't make a sound or stick your head out when Eldest Princess Zhao Ciyu was around. Now, your identity as a mysterious expert has been established," Zhu Yunshan said in a low voice.
"There are precious healing pills and mysterious, powerful arrays here.
"The eldest princess paid you a personal visit but didn't see you.
"How long do you think it will take for Wang Qingyang to find out about this?
"When do you think this matter will reach the ears of the imperial family's experts?
"How long will it take for this matter to spread throughout Luojing's martial arts community?"
Zhu Yunshan stretched out three fingers and confidently said, "In three days, the identity of the mysterious master in Jing Yang Temple will be known.
"Also, your partially-magical longsword was just right."
At this point, Zhu Yunshan shook his head and said, "It's such a pity that you gave away such a treasure…"
Zhu Yunshan stretched his waist before he looked around and walked out.
"With your reputation as an expert, I can stay here for 10 days to half a month.
"But if I don't go to the pleasure boat on the Luo River for 10 days, will Yue be happy?
"Don't say it. Recently, I've indeed used up a lot of my True Essence. I need to recuperate.
"One drop of essence equals ten drops of blood…"
Zhu Yunshan's voice slowly disappeared outside the courtyard, and the smile on Zhang Li's face slowly disappeared.
He raised his hand and took out a jade tablet. With a flick of his finger, the jade tablet flew out of the quiet room and landed in front of the courtyard.
"Tell Wang Qingyang that I don't like people disturbing me for no reason."