A captivating fragrance permeated the room. At first whiff, it seemed like flower perfume, but upon careful consideration, it was more refined than mere floral scent. After prolonged exposure, one would enter an extremely comfortable state, yearning to fall into sweet slumber and wash away all fatigue.

This was Mu Nan Zhi’s unique body fragrance, containing traces of the Immortal Tree’s essence. It could remove fatigue and pain from living beings near her, extending their lifespans.

Xu Qi An glanced at the woman lying sideways on the bed but didn’t rush to join her. Instead, he walked behind the screen and looked at the bathtub filled with water, where white chrysanthemums and red rose petals floated on the surface.

This was the bathwater Mu Nan Zhi had used before sleep.

Usually, it would be cleared away the next day.

He immediately removed his robe and boots and stepped into the tub. The water had long since gone cold, but the chilling sensation felt even more refreshing. Xu Qi An leaned against the tub wall, staring at the ceiling, emptying his mind of all thoughts.

After about an hour, from behind the screen, Mu Nan Zhi’s irritated voice came from the bed:

“Are you done bathing yet?”

Still staring at the ceiling beams, Xu Qi An hummed:

“Well well, since you’ve been awake all this time, why haven’t you come to attend to your husband’s bath? Have you forgotten all household propriety?”

“Husband?” Mu Nan Zhi gave a cold laugh:

“Your proper wife, whom you married with an eight-bearer bridal sedan, is sleeping soundly in the next courtyard. What has that to do with me? Here, you’re just an impudent junior.”

Xu Qi An immediately changed his expression, leaping from the tub and scampering to the bed with a mischievous grin:

“Aunt Mu, this junior has come to serve in your bedchamber.”

As he ran, the water automatically evaporated from his body.

“Get out!”

Mu Nan Zhi couldn’t handle his shameless behavior. She wrapped herself in the blanket like a chicken roll, turning her back to him.

Throwing another tantrum… Xu Qi An glanced at the thin blanket and threatened:

“Want to bet I’ll poke you with a toothpick?”

Mu Nan Zhi ignored him.

Xu Qi An forced his way in. Soon, sounds of struggle and resistance came from under the covers, followed by silk pajamas being thrown out, then a tender lotus-colored undergarment.

Accompanied by Mu Nan Zhi’s muffled groans, all movement ceased. After a few seconds, the carved bed began to creak.

The bed curtains swayed gently, the thin covers rising and falling.

Unknowingly, an hour passed. The room fell silent again. Mu Nan Zhi lay on her pillow, chin resting on her arms, eyes half-closed seductively, her cheeks flushed as if drunk.

Xu Qi An lay on her back, kissing her neck, fragrant shoulders, and jade-like back smooth as silk.

“Tsk, Aunt Mu’s body is truly irresistible.”

Xu Qi An teased.

Mu Nan Zhi was too lazy to respond, enjoying the peace after the storm.

“After the great calamity ends, let’s continue traveling the Nine Provinces together. We can visit the Western Regions or tour the northeast,” Xu Qi An said softly.

Mu Nan Zhi opened her eyes and parted her lips, seeming to want to say something, but in the end, only gave a light “mm” in response.

After a while, she said:

“I miss home.”

She meant that small courtyard where she had once lived as an ordinary woman, worrying daily about cooking meals and washing clothes. In her spare time, she would wonder why that awful man hadn’t visited yet.

If he didn’t come soon, she’d put arsenic in his soup.

“Maybe later!” Xu Qi An inhaled the fresh fragrance of her hair and said:

“But you’ll still have to wash clothes, cook, raise chickens, and grow flowers.”

Mu Nan Zhi quickly said:

“Then we’ll need two maids.”

“Alright!” Xu Qi An nodded.

She thought for a moment and added:

“Ugly ones.”

“Alright…”

Only then did Mu Nan Zhi feel at ease, humming coyly:

“I can’t keep wearing this bracelet forever, but if I take it off, your aunts, sisters, and little lovers would all feel inferior.”

If any other woman had said this, Xu Qi An would have spat in her face.

But who made her the Flower Goddess?

Xu Qi An rolled off her back and fumbled under the covers for a moment, retrieving a soft pillow from between Mu Nan Zhi’s legs. Looking at the damp pillow, he tossed it aside helplessly.

“Let’s share a pillow.”

He held Mu Nan Zhi in his arms, her delicate, soft, unclothed body pressed tightly against his.

Time flowed quietly by. As fish-belly white light appeared in the east, Xu Qi An gently pried away Mu Nan Zhi’s lotus-like arms from around his neck.

Her eyelashes trembled slightly as she awakened.

“I have urgent matters to attend to, must leave right away,” Xu Qi An said softly.

The Flower Goddess knew these were troubled times, so she didn’t ask questions or try to keep him. She simply withdrew her arms.

Xu Qi An put on his clothes, raised his wrist slightly to activate the large eyeball, and vanished from Mu Nan Zhi’s chambers. The next moment, he appeared in Ye Ji’s chambers.

Before the Hour of Mao, the sky was still dark.

Fish-belly white light showed in the east as hundreds of officials gathered outside the Wu Gate.

“Yesterday, the Cabinet issued an order commanding the Administrative Commissioners of Lei and Chu provinces to relocate the people of twenty-four border counties eastward. What’s the reason for this?”

“Could it be that the Western Region countries are about to wage war with our Great Feng?”

“We haven’t received any news yet. Today’s court session must be about this matter.”

“How can we be at war again? The court had only just pacified the Yun Province rebellion. Less than a year has passed—how can we endure such turmoil? If Her Majesty intends to rashly wage war, we must remonstrate to the death to stop her.”

The officials gathered in small groups, discussing in low voices.

The nearby eunuchs responsible for monitoring discipline pretended not to hear.

Officials weren’t supposed to converse while waiting for court, even coughing and spitting would be recorded. However, this rule had gradually become a mere formality—as long as they didn’t create a loud disturbance or fight publicly, the eunuchs uniformly ignored it.

Yesterday, the Cabinet had issued a policy order that most capital officials couldn’t comprehend—relocating the people of twenty-four counties from the Lei and Chu border provinces eastward!

It was simply preposterous!

Though Lei and Chu provinces were sparsely populated due to their vast but barren lands, with hardly any large counties or prosperous prefectural cities.

But the twenty-four counties combined still had over a million people.

Setting aside the question of how to resettle these people, just the migration itself was an enormous project that would exhaust the people and drain resources.

The court had only just caught its breath, with countless matters needing attention. How could they afford such disruption?

Most heartbreaking to some officials was that the Cabinet had agreed to this.

How laughable that Wei Yuan was so thoughtless, Zhao Shou so muddled, and Wang Zhen Wen so useless!

Did they understand how to govern the realm? Did they know how to handle state affairs?

“Master Yang speaks correctly—we must demonstrate to the death!”

“How can we allow such nonsense? Remonstrate to the death!”

The officials spoke with conviction.

Even members of the Wang and Wei factions couldn’t understand their leaders’ actions, shaking their heads and sighing.

With the sound of bells and drums, the Hour of Mao arrived. The officials entered through the two side gates of Wu Gate, and crossed the Golden Water Bridge and square, with the senior ministers entering the Hall of Supreme Harmony while the rest lined up on either side of the vermillion steps or in the square.

A few minutes later, the Empress arrived in dragon robes, her makeup exquisite, hands clasped behind her back. She ascended to the throne and sat regally.

“Your Majesty!”

As the audience began, a Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue took the lead, stepping forward and bowing:

“The twenty-four counties of Lei and Chu provinces are heavily populated. This eastward relocation will exhaust the people and drain resources. It cannot be done. Please withdraw your command.”

Immediately after, Supervising Secretaries from various ministries spoke up in succession, urging Huai Qing to rescind her order.

The very purpose of Supervising Secretaries was to remonstrate against the emperor’s improper actions.

In their view, the Empress had just made a terrible mistake, and this was the perfect opportunity to make their names in history.

Seeing this, Liu Hong, a core member of Wei Yuan’s faction, glanced at the immovable figure in dark blue robes ahead, hesitated, then stepped forward:

“Your Majesty, these ministers speak reason.

“The Mahayana Buddhist followers will soon arrive at their designated settlement areas—over two hundred thousand people, both humans and horses consuming the court’s grain.

“Moreover, harvest time approaches. How can we relocate the people of twenty-four counties at this crucial moment?”

Huai Qing listened quietly, then said gently:

“The day before yesterday, Buddha personally appeared in Lei Province, intending to devour Great Feng!”

This simple statement struck the assembled ministers like thunder, shocking them into raising their heads, and staring at the Empress on her throne in disbelief.

Buddha personally appeared in Lei Province, intending to devour Great Feng?!

The assembled ministers were scholars and even the nobles among them weren’t particularly strong cultivators. But from their high positions, they thoroughly understood what a Transcendent represented.

It represented invincibility!

Therefore, hearing that Buddha intended to devour Great Feng, the ministers’ hearts suddenly jolted with suffocating fear.

But they quickly felt something was amiss. If Buddha was targeting Great Feng, how could the Empress sit so calmly on her dragon throne?

Why would the Cabinet do nothing but relocate border residents, without deploying troops?

Before the ministers could remain confused for long, Huai Qing gave them their answer:

“Officer Xu has advanced to half-step Martial God. The night before last, he fought Buddha in Lei Province and drove him back.

“However, though Buddha retreated, he may return at any time. Battles between Transcendents and half-step Martial Gods can destroy heaven and earth, which is why I ordered the relocation of the people from twenty-four counties.”

Another thunderbolt struck.

The ministers stared blankly at Huai Qing. After a long while, someone quietly dug at their ears.

The Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue who had first stepped forward to remonstrate asked in confusion:

“Your Majesty, I… I don’t understand.

“What is… a half-step Martial God?”

The term “Martial God” sounded unfamiliar. The ministers struggled to recall that it was the peak of the martial artist system.

A title designated by the Confucian Saint himself, though in the 1,200 years since the Saint’s passing, no Martial God had ever appeared.

Wei Yuan turned around, surveying the assembled ministers with a gentle but firm tone:

“You need only know that a half-step Martial God can contend with Transcendents and easily kill Rank One martial artists.”

The Supervising Secretary’s mind buzzed.

Had Officer Xu become this powerful?!

If memory served, when the National Teacher—no, Daoist Leader Luo underwent his tribulation, he and Officer Xu both advanced to Rank One. How much time had passed since then, yet he had already grown into someone who could contend with Transcendents… Though shocked, the ministers felt inexplicably reassured.

The fear and panic brought by Huai Qing’s earlier words largely dissipated.

At least facing a Transcendent, Great Feng wasn’t completely helpless.

Liu Hong said solemnly:

“Why did Buddha move against the court?”

The ministers frowned in unison—this was also something they couldn’t understand.

Since ancient times, for over 1,200 years after the Confucian Saint, no matter how Great Feng and the Witch God Sect fought, the Witch God remained uninvolved, as did Buddha.

Why would they suddenly try to devour the Central Plains without reason?

Huai Qing had prepared for this question, her voice clear:

“What does Minister Liu think—why did the Buddhist sect suddenly break with the Central Plains and support them instead? Devouring the Central Plains was Buddha’s intention, showing signs as early as the Yun Province rebellion.

“When Yun Province’s army was defeated and Officer Xu and the National Teacher advanced to Rank One, naturally Buddha had to act personally.”

The ministers nodded, asking no more.

In warfare between nations, no reason was needed—conquest was an eternal truth.

Liu Hong’s earlier question merely expressed surprise that Buddha, who had always avoided worldly affairs, suddenly took the field personally.

Huai Qing’s gaze swept across the hall: “Does anyone else have objections?”

The Supervising Secretaries fell silent, and other officials had no grounds for rebuttal.

Huai Qing nodded slightly and moved to the second matter:

“Last night, Officer Xu personally went to Jingshan City and forced the Witch God to take all shamans of the three kingdoms into its body for protection. From now on, there will be no more shamans in the Nine Provinces, and the Yan, Jing, and Kang kingdoms will be administered by our Great Feng.”

A third thunderbolt struck!

If Buddha’s intervention had weighed heavily on the ministers’ hearts, then hearing of the Witch God Sect’s “destruction” and the three kingdoms’ territory all belonging to Great Feng filled them with wild joy and astonishment.

This heaven-sent fortune nearly made the scholars faint.

“Your… Your Majesty, is this true?!”

The speaker wasn’t a civil official but the Prince of Yu. This prince with frost at his temples flushed strangely, his lips trembling uncontrollably as he stared straight at Huai Qing.

The royal clan members were the most excited.

Huai Qing nodded:

“In the Hall of Supreme Harmony, how could I jest?”

Expanding territory, expanding territory… only these four words remained in the Prince of Yu’s mind.

“Your Majesty has accomplished what our ancestors could not—an achievement for the ages…”

A prince wept with joy.

“This is also Officer Xu’s merit,” a nearby duke quickly corrected.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony stirred as ministers whispered excitedly to each other.

The Chief Eunuch gripped his whip but this time did not crack it to reprimand them.

Looking at the ministers’ surging emotions and barely contained excitement, Huai Qing smiled:

“Ministers, how do you think we should administer the three kingdoms?”

While the civil and military officials were caught up in surging emotions and the court session reached unprecedented excitement, Xu Qi An began the third step of his time management.

In her chambers, Ye Ji immediately awoke in bed, opening her beautiful eyes. Seeing the uninvited guest was Xu Qi An, she showed no surprise and smiled seductively:

“Lord Xu!”

Xu Qi An glanced at the undergarments hanging on the screen and chuckled:

“You certainly save me trouble.”

The bed curtains swayed as the bed, which had rested peacefully for months, began to emit painful groans.

After the storm passed, Ye Ji lay sweating in Xu Qi An’s arms, head pillowed on his chest, smiling:

“What does Lord Xu think of Her Majesty?”

Xu Qi An countered:

“In what regard?”

Ye Ji blinked her beautiful eyes, “The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox clan loves strong individuals, especially the women—they have no resistance to powerful men. Lord Xu is now a half-step Martial God; surely Her Majesty has long desired you.

“Has Lord Xu never thought of marrying Her Majesty? Moreover, my seven sisters would come as part of the dowry.”

Why bring her home? Just to disturb domestic peace?… Xu Qi An complained internally.

Although that fox spirit had a slim waist, long legs, a perfect bottom, a flower-like face, and a soul-stirring presence rarely seen, her personality was truly troublesome.

If she entered the pond, Mu Nan Zhi and Luo Yu Heng would have to join forces, Huai Qing and Lin An would need to set aside old grudges, and Li Miao Zhen would handle the wilderness—all to counter the fox spirit and her eight fox spirit subordinates.

No, seven fox spirits.

One had perished, and as for Bai Ji, she was still a child.

Xu Qi An righteously declared:

“The Sovereign and I are merely ordinary friends of the Way. Having you is enough.”

Ye Ji looked disappointed:

“What a pity. Won’t Lord Xu reconsider? I know having so many sisters come as dowry would make others criticize Lord Xu as dissolute and damage your reputation. But I wouldn’t mind.”

Lord Xu shook his head:

“Say no more.”

Ye Ji obediently agreed, lowering her head to hide a satisfied smile.

The tea fragrance in the room rivals Ling Yue’s chamber… Xu Qi An teased. Seeing daylight had arrived, he said solemnly:

“I must go attend to business. Rest well.”

…

In the inner hall of the Xu residence.

Xu Ling Yue, wearing a pink dress and accompanied by her senior maid, entered with small steps. Looking around, she saw her mother tending to potted plants on tall stands.

Mother’s sworn sister Aunt Mu was beside her, whispering something.

Her sister Xu Ling Yin stared blankly at the ornamental red tangerines by the door.

The resident Li Na crouched beside another red tangerine plant, lost in thought.

Sister-in-law Lin An wore a high-necked, narrow-sleeved shirt, talking with visiting Aunt Ji Bai Qing.

Xu Ling Yue asked softly:

“Mother, where’s Big Brother?”

Seeing all the women look over (except Xu Ling Yin), Xu Ling Yue quickly explained:

“Big Brother asked me to help make robes. I created a new cloud pattern and wanted to ask if he likes it, but when I went to his room early this morning, he wasn’t there.”

“He went out on business,” Lin An and Mu Nan Zhi said in unison.

The hall fell silent for a moment before Ji Bai Qing quickly smiled:

“Your brother is very busy, probably left before dawn. Isn’t that right, Princess Lin An?”

Lin An expressionlessly “moved” in response.

The other women maintained normal expressions, either accepting Ji Bai Qing’s explanation or pretending to.

At this moment, Big Brother’s concubine Ye Ji entered the inner hall with a maid, swaying her hips.

Xu Ling Yue glanced at her and looked away expressionlessly, when suddenly the tea master frowned, feeling something amiss.

She raised her head again, examining Ye Ji carefully, then discreetly observed sister-in-law Lin An and Aunt Mu, finally understanding what was wrong:

They were all wearing high-necked shirts.

Such conservative clothing was usually worn when going out, and although autumn had arrived, the remaining heat hadn’t dissipated—it wasn’t time to wear such high-necked shirts yet.

Dressing so conservatively wasn’t for warmth, but rather to hide something unseemly.

How clever was Xu Ling Yue? Her thoughts turned, and her eyes immediately darkened.

At this point, Aunt sighed:

“Could there be another war? Otherwise, your Big Brother wouldn’t be so busy.”

…

At Spirit Treasure Temple.

The busy Big Brother placed his hands on snow-white shoulders, gently massaging:

“National Teacher, this humble official was at sea for months, thinking of you constantly. Surely you missed me equally.”

Luo Yu Heng narrowed her eyes, enjoying the massage, and said flatly:

“I didn’t.”

Her clothes were disheveled, a feather robe loosely wrapped around her body, cheeks still flushed—clearly, her body wasn’t as stubborn as her words.

Xu Qi An had her completely under control.

Luo Yu Heng had a queen complex, so Xu Qi An indulged her, calling her National Teacher while referring to himself as “this humble official,” which hit her sweet spot.

Afterward, sweet talk proved remarkably effective.

If Xu Qi An had called her by her given name, she wouldn’t have let him touch her today.

“Have you figured out how to advance to Martial God?” Luo Yu Heng asked.

“Easier said than done,” Xu Qi An sighed.

“When the great calamity comes, if you cannot advance to Martial God, I won’t die with you for the country. The world is vast; we can go anywhere.” Luo Yu Heng said coolly.

Her words sounded like her past repeated claims of “I don’t like dual cultivation.”

“As you wish, this humble official cannot influence the National Teacher’s thoughts,” Xu Qi An readily agreed.

Luo Yu Heng gave a satisfied “mm,” thought for a moment, then said calmly:

“Within three months, I will advance to mid-level Rank One.”

Her face was pale and cold, with a bright red vermillion dot between her brows, her hair slightly loose, wearing a feather Daoist robe—her appearance was both immortal-like and alluring, very captivating.

Xu Qi An understood her hint and said solemnly:

“This humble official will spare no effort to help the National Teacher breakthrough.”

Holy Son, I understand your hardship now—no amount of time management is enough… Xu Qi An picked her up and carried her toward the bed.

He finally understood the Holy Son’s difficulties.

…

Lei Province, Panshan County!

After a long journey enduring wind and frost, the first group of Mahayana Buddhist followers finally reached their destination.

Zhu Lai was among the first group to arrive.

The young monk Jin Si led the group.

What kind of place will the Central Plains court arrange for us?

This was the most worrying question in every Mahayana Buddhist follower’s mind throughout their journey.