Chapter 223

Having just sat down, with a few small side dishes for the wine on the table, Yan Shu reached out to grab the wine cup beside the small table. He had just poured a cup of deep red grape wine when Brother Qian Chen reached out and snatched the wine pot, pouring a cup for himself as well.

Yan Shu laughed, "I like to drink a few cups before killing someone; the more I drink, the more spirited I become. This grape wine is brewed with Wine Spring water; even a great cultivator of the Yang Spirit or an immortal of the Nascent Soul, if they are willing, can be drunk under the table. Junior brother, you must not be greedy for the cup and ruin the business."

"If it can make an immortal drunk, that is for the best."

Brother Qian Chen laughed, "Sometimes, it is easier to get things done drunk than sober. Senior brother, you should know that I truly cannot stand bowing and scraping to serve those powerful nobles, so I might as well pretend to be drunk and see if anyone dares to bicker with a drunken madman like me!"

As Brother Qian Chen spoke, he pointed to the small purple grasses dotting the bank of the Dragon Pool and said, "Besides, in this palace, they think of everything. Do you see that spirit grass nourished by the Wine Spring?"

Yan Shu took a look over there and couldn't help but frown, "Sobering Grass!"

"Even if it were true Heavenly Palace immortal wine, a wine that makes an immortal drunk for a hundred years, one only needs to pinch a single Sobering Grass and let them smell the fishy stench of the vegetation, and no matter how strong the wine's kick is, it will dissipate instantly. But very few people know that if this spirit grass is added to wine brewed from Wine Spring water, using the secret techniques passed down by the Supreme Dao, and catalyzed by the creation of heaven and earth's spiritual energy, it can be refined into the spirit wine 'True Words Drunk'."

"The most marvelous precaution of this wine is that it can make people speak the truth after drinking."

Brother Qian Chen laughed, "What do you think if I offer a cup to An Lushan?"

"Under what pretext?" Yan Shu said in a deep voice, "And can True Words Drunk really intoxicate An Lushan? He is a demon lord who even heavily wounded a Daoist Heavenly Master."

"As long as he has not entered the Nascent Soul stage, or does not have means at the Nascent Soul level, such as a spirit treasure for protection... none can resist this Immortal Drunk."

"So..."

"So?"

"So if I don't get drunk, what excuse will you use to pick that spirit grass, the Sobering Grass? Later, if the Profound Emperor asks me to write a poem, I will pretend to be drunk and get him to agree to one condition. You go pick the Sobering Grass to sober me up. If it were before today, I would still need to find an excuse to leave temporarily to refine True Words Drunk. But today, I have already comprehended the technique of refining elixirs in a dream; in just a snap of a finger, I will have refined True Words Drunk. I will offer a toast to An Lushan, and if he gets drunk, you all can interrogate him on whether he intends to rebel."

"And if he doesn't get drunk?"

Brother Qian Chen revealed a smile with a hint of drunkenness, "Then we will be certain that he has means at the Nascent Soul level..."

Pretending to be drunk was a very easy thing for Brother Qian Chen. His soul possessed the Dao Dust Pearl, so he couldn't get drunk in the first place. As long as he kept his soul tightly guarded under the protection of the Dao Dust Pearl and released a few thoughts to be tainted by the drunken aura of the Wine Spring, plus having He He Zhizhang, that drunkard, beside him.

It would be hard not to get drunk!

Seeing Brother Qian Chen drinking heavily and acting wildly, He He Zhizhang sat down with a thud and whispered, "Brother Taibai..." Only after leaning in close did he see that Brother Qian Chen was not pretending to be drunk. The Wine Spring was a spirit spring created by heaven and earth, and the drunken intent within it, even for a cultivator in the Penetrating the Law Realm, could be avoided as long as one kept their spirit platform tightly guarded. But if one were to let go of their soul and be infected by that drunken intent, even for a Yang Spirit cultivator, it would be very difficult to dispel the drunken aura for a time.

Not to mention those thoughts that could be perceived at a glance, almost ready to shed their shell along with the drunken intent.

He He Zhizhang pretended to be intimate, leaned into Brother Qian Chen's ear, and whispered, "Li Bai, what kind of mystery are you playing at again? You planned that matter and let Zhang Xu tell me; he didn't even dare to drink today and could only pretend to be drunk, terrified that he might let something slip!"

"And yet you ended up getting yourself drunk!"

Zhang Xu, lying on the ground pretending to be drunk, secretly opened his eyes and looked pitifully at Brother Qian Chen, who was facing the wine pot, pouring out a column of dark red, amber-colored wine.

His eyes were devoid of interest in life. Yan Shu found him truly pitiful and poured a cup of wine, leaning over.

Zhang Xu hurriedly waved his hand secretly, telling Yan Shu to go away and not to tempt him.

His ability to pretend to be drunk was very poor, or rather, every time he got drunk, he would be drunk to a state where he couldn't remember anything at all, so he could only pretend to be dead drunk.

"If I don't get drunk, how can I write poetry?" Brother Qian Chen swayed, raised his cup to the moon, and said, "If heaven did not love wine, the Wine Star would not be in heaven. If earth did not love wine, earth should have no Wine Spring. Since heaven and earth both love wine, loving wine does not shame heaven. I have heard that clear wine is like a saint, and turbid wine is like a sage. Since the sage and saint have already drunk, why seek the immortals? Three cups penetrate the Great Dao, one dou harmonizes with nature. Just obtain the joy within the wine, do not pass it on to the sober."

Good!

He He Zhizhang subconsciously wanted to beat the rhythm and praise it; this poem truly wrote into his heart. Hearing this poem, how could one not drink a dou to their heart's content?

But in an instant, he came back to his senses.

After Zhang Xu returned, he informed him of the schemes of Brother Qian Chen and Master Sima Master Sima Chengzhen. He He Zhizhang didn't even drink wine anymore. He struggled and hesitated for a long time, and only after Master Sima Master Sima Chengzhen sent over Liu Liu Luogu's soul did he make his final determination before entering the palace. This time, he truly had the resolve to face death.

The information he obtained from Liu Liu Luogu's soul made his heart suffer as if tormented by the Nine Heavens Demon Fire.

At this moment, his heart was already filled with murderous intent toward An Lushan.

Being able to endure without letting a single bit leak out was already due to his two hundred years of bitter cultivation and sufficiently deep scheming!

He He Zhizhang transmitted his voice, "Your cultivation is still too low! Since An Lushan was able to heavily wound Master Sima Master Sima Chengzhen, he is definitely not someone you can deal with, even with the help of the Purple Cloud Tune, right? This old man has cultivated the Yin Spirit for eighty years and has no merit to the world. Now, there is only a one-step difference between my cultivation and An Lushan's. This time, let this old man do it!"

At this moment, Brother Qian Chen stared at him with bleary, drunken eyes, but He He Zhizhang saw from his eyes a soul that was incomparably clear, even as calm as a god.

It was as if the one drunk on the outside was just a shell, and the one clear on the inside was Brother Qian Chen's true soul.

He He Zhizhang was startled, and heard Brother Qian Chen's divine sense transmission: "Supervisor He, if you do this matter, I'm afraid you won't even have a thirty percent chance of success."

"Wouldn't it be even lower if you came?"

"I have seventy percent... because you only saw An Lushan, but you didn't know that behind An Lushan's demon shadow, there is hidden a poisonous insect that is inconspicuous but will be fatal at a critical moment!"

He He Zhizhang still wanted to persuade him, but Brother Qian Chen said gloomily in his soul: "An Lushan inherited the position of the Supreme Tian Mo. I don't know what mysterious means he has. Just in case, Supervisor He, let's not mention this matter anymore!"

"Promise me... this matter can only succeed, it cannot fail!"

"Once there is a sign of failure, please inform this old man immediately... Even if this old man has to discard half a lifetime of cultivation, I will perish together with An Lushan! Taibai... promise this old man! You must save the two capitals, save the Great Tang!"

He He Zhizhang revealed a look of melancholy. The expectation, entrustment, and determination revealed in his eyes were an old man's deep obsession with the Great Tang. He grabbed Brother Qian Chen's hand, gripping it so hard that his veins stood out.

Brother Qian Chen glanced down; it was fortunate that his physical body was sturdy, otherwise it would have been crushed.

Brother Qian Chen now suspected that He He Zhizhang wanted to take advantage of his loss of emotional control to crush his hand bones.

So that he could justify taking his place in assassinating An Lushan.

He struggled slightly with his right hand, but He He Zhizhang's hands, like iron hoops, did not waver in the slightest. Brother Qian Chen had no choice but to look into his eyes and nod slightly. Only then did He He Zhizhang let out a long sigh and release Brother Qian Chen's right arm. Brother Qian Chen glanced at the palm print that had already been gripped into a purple-red color.

He had come to this world, and his first injury was actually forced by his own people?

Although that was the case, He He Zhizhang, don't even think about having the opportunity to kill An Lushan with your own hands. Brother Qian Chen was still hoping to raise his sword and strike down on An Lushan's fat-filled belly, ignite the Red Lotus Dharma Fire, and use the resentment, anger, and hatred of tens of millions of people in Chang'an from his dreams, with An Lushan as a sacrifice, to transform it into the foundation of a spirit treasure!

At this moment, the Profound Emperor, who had been holding hands with the Imperial Consort and the Prince of Ning, speaking softly with An Lushan, had the corners of his lips bloom into a smile as he said, "There are many rules at the Thousand Autumn Banquet. I will first host a private banquet at the Fragrant Pavilion to entertain the princes, to be close to my brothers and sisters, and there are also various close ministers and the heroes of the Great Tang to accompany me. It is much livelier than at the grand banquet."

The Profound Emperor turned his head and saw Brother Qian Chen in the Fragrant Pavilion, who was pouring wine for He He Zhizhang, and said in surprise, "It is rare to see Supervisor He acting so wildly! Hasn't this Li Bai only been in Chang'an for a few days? Why is he so close to Supervisor He?"

Gao Gao Lishi, who was beside him, bowed and said, "Supervisor He and that Li Bai are friends across generations, and also drinking buddies. Today at the Bodhi Temple, Supervisor He read a few of Li Bai's poems and even took off his golden turtle to give to Li Bai in exchange for wine."

The Profound Emperor laughed, "To be valued by my sister, Princess Princess Yuzhen, my beloved Consort Mei, and my beloved minister He He Zhizhang—this Li Bai cannot be underestimated!"

Yang Yang Taizhen, who was beside him, laughed, "Your Majesty, you still owe me a poem!"

The Profound Emperor raised his voice and shouted, "Li Bai!"