Light Dance Jiajing

The Hidden Garden has been destroyed, and the Taoist priest in white has disappeared. The emperor is angry but can do nothing about it. He has very complicated emotions towards this stinky Taoist priest. This person is none other than Zhang Yanqi, the 48th Heavenly Master of Mount Longhu. Six years ago, Zhang Tianshi came to the court for an audience. Although this man was boasted to be a master of Taoism at a young age, the emperor did not take it seriously. He thought that such people were just pretending to be gods and fooling ignorant people, so his words were full of sarcasm. Zhang Yanqi was choked by a few words. He had seen something strange in the emperor's face, and when he heard that the emperor despised the Heavenly Master lineage, he was so angry that he ignored his father's warning and silently calculated the emperor's fate. This calculation made him more and more confused. The emperor was obviously destined to die young, but his imperial spirit was still strong. Zhang Yanqi was young. Although Ji was not very old, he had read the fortunes of countless people, and had never encountered such a strange thing. He could not help but use all his life's learning to deduce. The emperor's fate was of course invaluable, but the fate was also very conflicting. He concentrated his mind, and the more he calculated, the more frightened he became. He broke out in a cold sweat in the hot weather, and did not even hear the emperor calling him. Zhang Yanqi only felt the blood boiling in his chest at this time. This deduction was quite exhausting. He barely finished arranging the hexagrams and suppressed the fishy and sweet smell that rose up his throat. At this time, he heard the emperor calling him again, and he had not yet come to his senses. When he hurriedly raised his eyes, the complicated and confused expression in his eyes did not escape the emperor's eyes. The emperor asked him if he was feeling unwell, and Zhang Yanqi quickly shook his head. After that, the more he tried to pretend nothing had happened, the more abnormal the emperor felt about him.

Zhang Yanqi secretly regretted calculating the emperor's fate. When the emperor asked him again, he only told the emperor four words: "pure heart and few desires", and did not say much else. However, the emperor secretly kept it in mind. He was guilty because he traveled through time and space, and any abnormality of Zhang Yanqi made him suspicious. Could it be that Zhang Yanqi had seen something? He thought to himself, could this stinky Taoist priest have some skills? No matter what, this man could not be let go. The emperor remained silent, and when Zhang Yanqi was about to leave Beijing, he suddenly issued an edict, conferring the title of Zhenren of Zhengyi Sect on Zhang Yanqi, and gave him a golden crown, jade belt, python robe, silver coins, and allowed him to stay in Beijing.

Others only thought that the emperor favored Zhang Yanqi and kept him by his side to discuss philosophy and law, but Zhang Yanqi knew the truth very well. He only regretted that he was young and could not hide his emotions, which eventually made the emperor suspicious. His father had calculated that he would have this disaster before he died, and he did not expect that it would happen to him in the royal family. He could only deal with it carefully whether it would be a blessing or a disaster in the future.

When Zhang Yanqi was summoned again, the emperor was the only one in the room. The Jiajing emperor had a fierce look in his eyes. Zhang Yanqi continued to show weakness, hoping that the emperor would think that he was just a charlatan who relied on some magic tricks to cheat people out of food and drink. Unexpectedly, the emperor did not let him go back, but kept him in the palace. Except for the eunuchs who trusted the emperor, no one knew that he was placed in Yinyuan. Six years ago, on a sunny day, the emperor brought him here. The emperor pointed to two bamboo houses and told him that this would be his residence from now on. Zhang Yanqi knew that it was useless for him to hide his incompetence. It seemed that the emperor was going to trap him to death here. Sure enough, the emperor then said: "Master, you will live here from now on. Just concentrate on refining elixirs and praying for me. I have sent people to take care of all the affairs of Longhu Mountain. You don't have to worry about it."

Zhang Yanqi's heart sank. Longhu Mountain was his base, not the government office. Even if he, the head of the family, did not go there to take charge, there was no reason for the court to intervene. Zhang Yanqi suppressed his displeasure and asked, "Your Majesty, why did you trap me here? Why not tell me directly?"

The emperor looked over with a leisurely gaze, and Zhang Yanqi did not dodge and looked back calmly. Few people could meet the emperor's gaze, including the empress dowager and everyone in the cabinet who were very afraid of him. This Zhang Yanqi seemed extremely calm, and the emperor admired this demeanor very much. The emperor suddenly relaxed his expression and said, "I have heard of Longhu Mountain for a long time. I think the Heavenly Master must not be famous for nothing. I want you to find someone. As long as you find her, you can go back." These words sounded polite, but there was a sharp light flashing in the emperor's eyes, and the threat was very strong. It was clearly that if you can't find the person he is looking for, you can forget about leaving in this life.

Zhang Yanqi asked, "Who is it?"

The emperor said solemnly: "A woman."

Zhang Yanqi thought that it would not be difficult to convince a woman, so he said, "Your Majesty, just bring the clothes or items that this woman has worn or used."

The emperor took out a scroll and slowly unfolded it. After a long while, he said, "She may not look like this anymore, but I know she must exist in this world. If you can find her, I will agree to any conditions you have."

Zhang Yanqi was not a god, and he did not have the ability to identify a person based on a portrait. He shook his head honestly and said, "Forgive me for my incompetence. With just a portrait, I really can't do anything."

The emperor said, "Something must have happened to her eight years ago. I don't know anything else. Anyway, you have to find this woman." The emperor said and left. Zhang Yanqi thought carefully. Eight years ago, his father saw the crape myrtle suddenly dark and bright. Was it a coincidence? What happened to this woman eight years ago?

Zhang Yanqi spent a long time in Yinyuan, and gradually found that the Forbidden City was indeed a very good feng shui, with purple air lingering all year round. It was a good place for spiritual practice, so he calmed down. The emperor would come to see him every few days. Every time he came, he would find that Zhang Yanqi had renovated the bamboo house. After each trimming, it felt fresh again. I don’t know where he found the tools, but he even made two rocking chairs with local materials. One day, the emperor approached and saw him half lying on the rocking chair to bask in the sun. Zhang Yanqi glanced at the emperor, then closed his eyes and continued to take a nap. The emperor snorted and pulled a chair over to sit down. The two of them basked in the sun quietly. After a long time, Zhang Yanqi spoke: "I didn't know the emperor was coming. Please forgive me for my inappropriate behavior."

The emperor snorted heavily and said, "When have you ever been so inappropriate when I came?"

Zhang Yanqi laughed and said, "Your Majesty, do you want to ask me about the progress?" The emperor didn't say anything, so he continued, "No." The emperor had expected him to say that. He was disappointed but also used to it. In the past six years, his only answer had been 'no'.

At first, the emperor came to the bamboo forest to find him because he wanted answers, but gradually, he really liked sitting here. He didn't have to act like an emperor when facing Zhang Yanqie. Zhang Yanqie was a man of few words and was not afraid of him or trying to please him like others. He even often neglected him. But the more he did this, the more at ease the emperor felt.

Although Zhang Yanqi treated the emperor carelessly, he was actually cautious in everything. Although the emperor treated him casually and intimately, he was not so foolish as to treat the emperor as an ordinary person. The emperor looked kind, but he knew that he would turn his face and not recognize his relatives. The emperor seemed to have expected that Zhang Yanqi could not escape from his palm, or there had been no progress for so long, so he wanted to give him some clues to find that woman, so he said without beating around the bush: "You people in Longhu Mountain are good at strange arts. I heard that you can call the wind and rain, drive away ghosts and communicate with immortals. You have read my face countless times, right? If you have seen anything, why hide it?"

Zhang Yanqi didn't say anything, so the emperor continued, "I had a calamity at midnight on Gengxu in the first year of Jiajing, but I got through it safely. It's just the law of nature and my fate. She is the same as me." The emperor threw a small porcelain bottle to Zhang Yanqi, "Don't you want my fingertip blood? Then you can set up the formation, right? When can it be set up?"

Zhang Yanqi shook his head and said, "I don't know. I'll try my best."

Unexpectedly, after this meeting, Yin Garden was burned down and Zhang Yanqi disappeared. The emperor was furious and immediately summoned Jinyiwei commander Lu Bing. He sent people to search the scorched earth of Yin Garden, but Zhang Yanqi's body was not found. He hated that the stinking Taoist must have escaped from the palace. He guessed that the stinking Taoist would not dare to run back to his lair, Longhu Mountain, so he only ordered Lu Bing to secretly investigate Zhang Yanqi's whereabouts. He also issued an edict to the world to search for talented people. At the same time, he planned to offer sacrifices to the heaven, earth, sun and moon separately, establish four suburbs, build Circular Mound and Square Mound in the south and north suburbs, offer sacrifices on the solstices, build Morning Sun and Evening Moon Altar in the east and west suburbs, offer sacrifices on the vernal equinoxes and autumnal equinoxes.