Mistakenly Connected to the Jade Flower Branch

Chapter 356 Night Chat

Xu Sheng raised his cup to Luo An, saying, "To you. Thank you for your clothes and this palace."

Luo An raised his glass, and when they clinked glasses, the rim of his glass was lower than Xu Sheng's: "You're welcome."

Whether Luo An was genuinely being polite or simply being well-mannered, Xu Sheng accepted the favor: "Today's dream was different from the previous ones. Today I dreamt of a one-eyed green dragon that kept flying around me, as if it had a lot to say but couldn't say it. It was a mute dragon."

Xu Sheng first dreamed of a woman imprisoned at the bottom of the sea, and now he is dreaming of a blue dragon. Nian Yao once told him that she saw a dragon carrying a beautiful woman through dominoes.

Such a coincidence must be true, right? It's just that they can't see it or find it now.

Previously, Luo An scoffed at the idea of ​​immortality. The First Emperor went to great lengths to find the elixir of immortality, but he didn't even live to be fifty, which is enough to prove that immortality was nothing more than a hoax by sorcerers.

He never believed even the claim that his grandmother was a goddess. As for the legends about the goddess and the late emperor, Luo An thought it was just that the late emperor had encountered a fisherwoman returning from the sea when he was touring Penglai.

The fisherwoman was exceptionally beautiful, a beauty completely different from that of the noble ladies of Bianjing. The late emperor took a liking to her at first sight and brought her back to Bianjing.

Even disregarding the principle of matching social status, the crown prince marrying a fisherman's daughter would certainly have been met with unanimous opposition from the emperor to the ministers. The wise late emperor, however, fabricated a story of a goddess to deceive his parents and the ministers.

This is the story that Luo An deduced from various rumors, and he believes it is the closest to the truth.

It wasn't until he witnessed the Goddess Temple disappear before his eyes in Penglai that he began to waver: Perhaps his grandmother really was a goddess?

Now, with the Temple of the Goddess vanishing again before his eyes, and considering all that had happened in between, Luo An was almost certain that the Goddess Mother truly was a goddess!

This conviction that my grandmother was a goddess is the same conviction that she was a fisherwoman. If my grandmother truly was a goddess, then the legendary fairy mountain must also be real.

If the legendary immortal mountain is real, then the legend of immortality is also true. The land of immortality is the realm of eternal life.

Xu Sheng clearly pinned his hopes on that mirror, but how could he possibly collect all seven gems on it? What if his hopes were dashed again?

Luo An silently poured wine for Xu Sheng. Drinking with Xu Sheng was the greatest comfort Luo An could offer; he couldn't bring himself to say anything else.

Xu Sheng drank his wine in silence, then suddenly seemed to remember something: "What is something that is hermaphroditic?"

Luo An, being a doctor, instinctively thought of medicinal herbs: "Polygonum multiflorum can nourish the liver and kidneys, replenish essence and blood, detoxify, stop malaria, and moisten the intestines to relieve constipation."

Xu Sheng shook his head: "Animals."

Luo An said, "Earth dragon? It can clear heat and calm wind, and promote blood circulation..."

Xu Sheng smiled and shook his head: "Your father was the most talented man in Dongyang. He was good at being an official and a doctor. You are good at being a doctor now, and you won't be bad at being an official someday."

"I don't want to be an official." Luo An thought for a moment: "You want to ask about... the conch shell?"

Xu Sheng said, "Don't you think he's pretty strange?"

Luo An said in a serious tone, "The conch is a snake spirit."

Xu Sheng's pupils widened slightly, and he asked somewhat urgently, "How did you figure that out?"

Luo An said, "I didn't see it."

Xu Sheng asked, "What is that?"

Luo An said, "It's written in the book that a thousand-year-old snake spirit, to repay the life-saving grace of her previous life, transformed into human form, married her benefactor, and gave birth to a son who became the top scholar in the imperial examination. You two are just missing a child now."

Xu Sheng restrained himself, barely managing not to spill the wine on Luo An. He tilted his head back and downed the wine in one gulp, remarking with a sigh, "So this is how much people hate people for talking nonsense."

Luo An smiled and said, "I think he's still young. You wouldn't be so sure, would you?"

Xu Sheng said, "He's not exactly small, and I didn't do anything to him. I just... well, if you said he was a fish spirit, I would definitely believe you."

Speaking of fish spirits, Luo An immediately said, "Sea mermaids are hermaphroditic when they are young, and their sex is determined only after they reach adulthood."

Xu Sheng slowly put down his cup, and after a while he muttered to himself, "How could I not have thought that he wasn't human at all, but a mermaid?"

Because the conch shell is a mermaid, it is blessed by a goddess, so it can move freely in the water like a fish, so it is not afraid of the cold or the wet, and so it is so beautiful that it is indistinguishable between male and female...

Only if the conch shell is a mermaid can all these strange occurrences be explained.

Luo An lowered his eyes as he poured the wine: If the conch shell is a mermaid, then what is Xu Sheng?

A one-eyed, mute blue dragon, a goddess imprisoned at the bottom of the sea—could he be a descendant of the dragon clan and the goddess? Why was this descendant of the dragon clan and the goddess entrusted to his father? Who gave this child to his father? And how was he given to his father?

After all these years, could Father still have connections with the legendary immortal mountain and goddess? Impossible! If he truly had connections, Father would have already begged the goddess to save Mother.

The two were lost in thought as dawn broke. Nianyao woke up and, not seeing Luo An, quickly got up and went out to look for him. Although this was a temporary palace, something strange seemed off about it; if something happened, it would be too far for the emperor to reach them…

As soon as Nianyao opened the door, she smelled the aroma of wine. Looking up, she saw Luo An and Xu Sheng sitting opposite each other, drinking. The atmosphere seemed quite harmonious. Nianyao was surprised and puzzled: When did their relationship become this good?

Hearing the voice, Luo An turned his head and looked over, beckoning to her with a half-smile: "Drunken Enchantment, do you still remember?"

She dared not forget, she would remember even in death. Nianyao walked over and took a sip from Luo An's cup, resolutely denying it: "I've drunk so much wine, how could I possibly remember it all!"

I can make you remember again. Luo An looked at Xu Sheng, wanting to tease Nian Yao but holding back; intimate matters shouldn't be discussed in public.

Xu Sheng wasn't so reserved; he grinned in a way that was quite irritating: "Sister-in-law, you absolutely mustn't forget something like this. A heartless doctor like him has plenty of ways to make you remember."

The words weren't wrong, but coming from Qin Feng, Luo An instantly felt that his kindness in offering to accompany Qin Feng for drinks in the middle of the night had been completely wasted!

Nianyao stood up for him, saying, "You wear his clothes, live in his palace, and still call him heartless. It's you who are ungrateful and repay kindness with enmity."

Xu Sheng said, "Sister-in-law, I think it's normal to want to scold someone every time you want to, unless you're very magnanimous and tolerant."

Absolutely right! When it comes to sowing discord, Xu Sheng is number one, and no one dares to rank second.

Does Xu Sheng only dare to release his emotions at midnight, and then return to normal at dawn? That's quite pitiful! Thinking this, Luo An decided not to dwell on it.

Nianyao was furious: "Why did you give him clothes to wear and bring him here?"

Luo An rubbed his temples and casually said, "Heaven has a virtue of cherishing life..."

Xu Sheng interrupted, "I'm his own brother, he can't let me freeze to death. As for coming here, he knows there must be a reason why I insisted on coming."

"Isn't it just that rich people can't stand living in a dilapidated temple?" Nianyao didn't believe it: "What's the reason? Is there a sacred mountain hidden here? Or can living here grant eternal life?"