It was nearly a year ago when Gu Cheng left the capital. At that time, Li Yuangong failed to refine the elixir of immortality and killed his son with his own hands. Although he was furious under such a double blow, he did not look so mature.
.
At this time, Li Yuangong's beard and hair were all white, and even most of his hair had fallen out. His whole body was filled with a strong aura of twilight. It could even be said that Gu Cheng would not be surprised if Li Yuangong died at any time.
Seeing Gu Cheng coming, Li Yuangong's eyes suddenly showed a hint of hope.
He asked Gu Cheng to find the Everlasting Wonderland, but he didn't have much hope.
But now that Gu Cheng is back, maybe this hope will actually become a reality?
"Gu Cheng, have you ever found the Eternal Wonderland?"
Gu Cheng bowed and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, I have found the Immortal Land, but unfortunately there is no elixir of immortality in it."
With that said, Gu Cheng told Li Yuangong what happened in the Everlasting Wonderland, but he concealed many things.
Including everything he did in the southwest, Gu Cheng also explained it from beginning to end.
Anyway, in his description, he is Gu Changan, a loyal and patriotic man who worked hard to eradicate moths in Daqian and search for the elixir of immortality for His Majesty.
However, Li Yuangong didn't want to listen to these things now. After hearing that there was no elixir of immortality in the Wuhuxian, his eyes suddenly dimmed.
With a long sigh, Li Yuangong waved his hand and said: "Okay, I know all this. You can just discuss the matters in the southwest with the commander of Jingyesi and deal with them later."
In Li Yuangong's current state, he no longer has the energy to deal with government affairs normally.
At this time, Gu Cheng asked: "Your Majesty, what should be done about the position of my ministers now?"
At the moment, Gu Cheng is still the supervisor of the four southwest counties. The problem is that he has returned to the capital now, so it is a bit awkward to still sit in this position.
Li Yuan Gong frowned because he had not thought about how to arrange Gu Cheng.
The power of the supervisors of the four southwest counties is too great, and it is obviously inappropriate to give Gu Cheng an ordinary supervisor.
If Gu Cheng could bring back the elixir of immortality, he could even make an exception and promote Gu Cheng to the rank of commander, but that's obviously not possible now.
Seeing Li Yuangong's hesitation, Gu Cheng suddenly sneered in his heart. His Majesty said it nicely before, but in fact he only cared about the elixir of immortality. It was obvious that he had never thought about how to arrange Gu Cheng.
At this time, Gu Cheng suddenly thought of something and asked: "Your Majesty is in a bad state now?"
Li Yuangong nodded weakly. Eunuch Chen, the general manager standing next to Li Yuangong, shook his head and said, "Isn't it bad? Your Majesty has not slept for several days. The doctor has been prescribing medicine every day, but the effect is not very good."
At this time, Gu Cheng said: "Your Majesty, when I was in the southwest, I conquered the Miao Territory and made the Miao Territory completely surrender to my Dagan. I also got some things from the Miao Territory.
Although Miao Jiang's voodoo is poisonous, there are some poisons that can be used for healing. I got a Miao Jiang voodoo pill from somewhere, which can relieve your majesty's pain."
With that said, Gu Cheng took out the mirage bead that had consumed all its power.
The power of this thing has been completely exhausted, and now only some negligible mental power remains. It can produce hallucinations and avoid pain, but it actually has no therapeutic effect on one's own injuries.
This thing is naturally of no use to Gu Cheng, but Li Yuangong can use it at this time.
For Li Yuangong now, anything that can relieve his pain is enough to drive him crazy.
He subconsciously wanted to catch the mirage bead, but Eunuch Chen stopped him in advance and said, "Your Majesty, it needs to be tested before taking it."
After saying that, Eunuch Chen said to Gu Cheng: "Don't be offended by Mr. Gu. Our family is not doubting Mr. Gu, but this is the rule."
With that said, Eunuch Chen called several imperial doctors and asked them to carefully check whether there was anything wrong with the mirage.
Several imperial doctors looked at it cautiously for half an hour, and finally the oldest doctor said: "This thing is not toxic at all, and its power is not too strong. Your Majesty can bear it now.
But I think this thing doesn’t seem to have any alien power leaking out. It feels like a monster’s inner elixir but not like it, which is weird.”
These imperial doctors in the capital are also practitioners, but they are practitioners who specialize in medicine. However, with their eyesight, they cannot recognize this legendary mirage bead, especially a mirage bead that has exhausted its power.
Eunuch Chen didn't say anything, as long as the thing was harmless.
After Li Yuangong swallowed the mirage bead with water, he immediately narrowed his eyes and his mental strength was relieved. Even though his body was still weak, the pain in his body disappeared, which made him groan softly.
When he looked at Gu Cheng again, Li Yuangong suddenly felt that the person in front of him was much more pleasing to the eye.
You must know that he has been tortured by the disease for several months. These imperial doctors did not dare to prescribe strong medicine, but even mild medicine did not work. This made him miserable.
After coughing, Li Yuangong said: "Gu Cheng, even though you didn't find the elixir of immortality this time, you still solved the shortcomings of the Southwest over the years and performed well.
Now that you have left the southwest, you are indeed no longer suitable for the position of supervisor of the four southwest counties.
But the current position of commander is due to your lack of qualifications. If I force it on you, I'm afraid it will also attract criticism.
In this way, from now on, you are the chief inspector of the capital. Your power is equivalent to that of a commander. You are qualified to command any security inside the capital. At the same time, you can also override any inspector and governor outside. There are higher-level officials.
Supervisory power.
Just recently, I am planning to re-establish the crown prince, and many people from Taoism and Buddhism have come to the capital.
You and Hong Dingshan did a good job in the Supervision Department before, so you will be responsible for this this time."
After accepting Gu Cheng's favor, Li Yuangong became much more generous when he exerted his power.
Just like what Li Yuangong said now, the power Gu Cheng currently controls is almost equal to that of a commander, and he can even be said to be the first person under the commander.
In addition to not having the title of commander, he also has everything a commander should have.
And considering the reason why Gu Cheng jumped out to escort him first last time, he, as a loyal and patriotic escort expert, has a very stable position with Li Yuangong.
So this time Li Yuangong didn't hesitate much and handed over the security of the capital to Gu Cheng.
But at this time Li Yuangong suddenly said: "Gu Cheng, I heard that you are very close to the fourth child?"
Gu Cheng was stunned for a moment, then said in a deep voice: "To be precise, I am very close to the Ninth Prince. The Ninth Prince has an approachable personality, and I am also a good friend with him.
It’s just that the Ninth Prince belongs to the Fourth Prince, so I have some contact with the Fourth Prince.”
Li Yuangong nodded slightly and said: "That's good, Gu Cheng, you are mine, you don't need to take sides in the battle for the throne.
No matter who ascends the throne in the future, as long as I tell him that you are a trusted confidant of Da Qian, he will definitely use you."
Gu Cheng lowered his head and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I am only loyal to Da Gan. I will be loyal to whoever is the emperor of Da Gan."
Hearing what Gu Cheng said, Li Yuangong nodded with satisfaction and said, "It's best if you think so. Okay, you've been traveling all the way back from the southwest, so you can rest for a few days before taking up the post."
"Then I resigned."
Gu Cheng bowed and left, but when he turned his head, a sneer appeared on his lips.
Li Yuangong looked very sick before, but now that he had recovered from his illness with mirage beads, he began to beat Gu Cheng.
However, Gu Cheng also understood why the fourth prince was so anxious to call everyone from the Tianzheng Alliance. I am afraid it is not only the pressure from the second prince, but also that Li Yuangong has already made a choice in his heart.
The reason is very simple. If Li Yuangong had chosen the fourth prince, then there would be no need for him to beat Gu Cheng now.
It was very likely that in his mind he was ready to choose the second prince, so he gave Gu Cheng a slap in the face and asked him to keep a distance from the fourth prince and not do anything outrageous.
After Gu Cheng left, Li Yuangong sat there with dull eyes.
After a while, he suddenly said: "Eunuch Chen, do you think I can survive this time?"
Eunuch Chen sighed, but he still consoled him: "Your Majesty, don't worry, this time three of the five great sects say that the method of the Xian Qin sect is effective, so it should be of some use."
"But Master Lu of Taixuan Dao Sect is not sure about this."
"Your Majesty, have you forgotten the history of Taixuan Daomen? Taixuan Daomen was just a branch of the ordinary Daomen before. It only really rose to prominence five hundred years ago, just like my Daqian, while the Xianqin Daomen can be traced back to five thousand years ago. It’s normal for Headmaster Lu to be unsure and not dare to speak nonsense.”
Hearing what Eunuch Chen said, Li Yuangong seemed to be completely relieved and lay on the bed and fell asleep deeply.
He had not closed his eyes for several days in agony, but now he could finally sleep.
It's just that the sweet dreams brought by the mirage are just sweet dreams, but his vitality is constantly passing by at a speed visible to the naked eye.
As soon as Gu Cheng came out of the imperial city, he saw a group of Taoist priests driving into the city with carriages and horses, and all kinds of pomp and ceremony. The leader among them looked familiar to Gu Cheng, and he turned out to be the upright Zhao Dansheng!
Gu Cheng was stunned. He had just returned to the capital, and the Zhengyi faction had arrived in the capital so quickly?
At the same time, Zhao Dansheng also saw Gu Cheng, which made him frown slightly.
Although he failed to rob Gu Cheng last time, he didn't hate Gu Cheng because of it.
But when he saw Gu Cheng, he thought of the scene where he was defeated by the mysterious man in the Bashu dense forest. This was a blow to his Taoist heart.
So he waved his hand and led the people to ignore Gu Cheng and enter the city from another direction.