My low-key cultivation of immortality was discovered by the emperor in my diary.

Chapter 57 Let's go to the capital and see a good show.

The emperor did not sleep well last night.

Feeling inexplicably uneasy, he tossed and turned, unable to sleep, and finally got up and went to the Imperial Study.

The first snow of the year came early and was heavy. The capital and surrounding areas are okay, but many other prefectures and counties have suffered disasters.

The severe cold and snow are not the worst part; the real problem is the unrest of the northern Rong tribes, with several small groups constantly harassing the border.

The report arrived late, so the refugees must already be heading south.

A wave of refugees arrived during the summer drought, nearly causing banditry.

Winter snow disasters coupled with border conflicts mean another wave is on the horizon.

It's not even the winter solstice yet, and there's still more than a month until the New Year. I also want to have a peaceful New Year... Just thinking about settling the refugees gives the Emperor a huge headache.

Sigh, let's put this awful report aside for now.

The emperor sighed, opened the "Cultivation Diary," and waited for a new entry to appear.

Will it be Chu Lengyu? Or that mysterious debater from last time?

The emperor suddenly realized that reading this diary had become a way to relax and a habit.

Gradually, words appeared on the blank pages. The emperor waited patiently for a while and began reading the ninth entry in the diary.

"Nothing much to do today, so I'm indulging in a hot pot feast."

"Alright, it seems to be Chu Lengyu," the emperor muttered to himself. "But what is this hot pot?"

"It's hard to imagine that Daxia doesn't have chili peppers, tomatoes, or potatoes."

"There are spices like Sichuan peppercorns and dogwood here that can be used as substitutes. But without chili peppers, it's still not quite the same."

"In the end, I made a mushroom broth hot pot and a peppercorn and diced peppercorn hot pot. I even made the yin-yang hot pot on the spot. Cultivating immortality is truly versatile and practical."

"I asked the system where I could get chili peppers so I could fly on my sword to collect the seeds, but the system said it didn't have enough energy to scan that far..."

"I don't know how big the continents here are or how they are distributed. If I want to cross the continents and oceans, I guess I'll have to wait until I reach the Nascent Soul stage. Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing if I ran out of spiritual energy halfway through."

"For a Nascent Soul stage expert to travel across oceans just for some foreign plant seeds seems a bit beneath him. Perhaps, if I'm in a good mood, I could help Great Xia unify the other countries?"

"No, we can't be so hasty. What if the Emperor of Great Xia is an incompetent and foolish ruler? Wouldn't that lead the whole world astray? I still need to investigate further."

The emperor's gaze froze on the words "crossing the ocean" and "foreign land".

The profound shock to his worldview left him speechless for a long time.

In this world, there was not only the Great Xia, but also the Rong tribe in the north, the Great Brahma in the west, and other countries. There were even countries on the other side of the sea.

The emperor suddenly had a strong desire to build a large ship so that they could go out to sea and see the world.

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

After reading the rest of the diary, he opened the intelligence report delivered by carrier pigeon.

Lou Qing and his colleagues are still diligently completing their daily reports, but with little to show for it.

The emperor only saw that Chu Lengyu went to Xuanzhen Temple yesterday, and then the Lin family's carriage came and left quickly. Lin Li still looked sickly, and in the afternoon she took Lüyun into the city and went to many shops to buy things.

Lou Qing concluded by writing: Miss Chu seems to have no intention of participating in the snow appreciation banquet.

The emperor was surprised and puzzled, thinking: That's not right, I've already sent her the invitation, and I heard from the Consort that Jin'an even went to deliver a gift to her yesterday.

But thinking of Jin'an... the emperor suddenly realized something was wrong. If Jin'an had gone to Xuanzhen Temple yesterday, he would never have returned to the palace so quickly.

He summoned the Night Guard commander, whom he hadn't seen for several days, and asked, "Where did Princess Jin'an go after leaving the palace yesterday?"

Ever since being reprimanded by the emperor, the Night Guard Commander had been feeling uneasy. Now that he finally had a chance to prove himself, he naturally seized it immediately.

He replied succinctly and forcefully: "Your Majesty, Princess Jin'an first went to Yingxue Tower yesterday and stayed for about an hour; then she went to the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, but only stayed for a short while before leaving; afterwards, Princess Jin'an went straight back to the palace and did not go out again."

Upon arriving at the Duke of Zhenguo's residence, the Emperor understood what was happening and ordered, "Investigate where Chu Lengyu's invitation from the second batch of invitations for the snow-viewing banquet that the Princess sent out went. Did it even reach her?"

"Yes!" Sensing the emperor's urgency, the Night Guard commander immediately accepted the order and left.

The emperor then instructed Hong Fu, "Go, immediately send a letter to Lou Qing, asking him if Chu Lengyu has received the invitation?"

The emperor's current mood is like this: he made a plate of dumplings for a dish of vinegar, but just as the dumplings were about to be cooked, the vinegar suddenly disappeared. So even if the dumplings were cooked, they would taste bland and tasteless.

……

The carrier pigeon fluttered and landed at Xuanzhen Temple.

Lou Qing saw the contents of the note and realized that there was probably something wrong with Chu Lengyu's invitation to the snow appreciation banquet.

Although he didn't know why His Majesty the Emperor wanted Chu Lengyu to participate in this banquet, a snow appreciation banquet, with its gathering of powerful and distinguished figures, might not be an occasion that Miss Chu preferred.

He had Cheng Zi take the carrier pigeon downstairs, while he himself, carrying the note, went to knock on Chu Lengyu's door.

Since the day they "volunteered" themselves, Chu Lengyu tacitly agreed that they could stay by her side. Their identities had been revealed, so there was nothing left for them to hide.

In addition, Chu Lengyu had already gotten used to setting up soundproof barriers, so Lou Qing and the others couldn't eavesdrop on anything.

After learning of Lou Qing and the others' presence, Lin Jiuxiao couldn't bear to see them enduring the wind and snow day and night outside the temple, so he prepared two guest rooms for them to stay in temporarily.

Chu Lengyu had just received today's system reward, and his cultivation had broken through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. He was currently meditating to consolidate his progress.

She stopped when she noticed Lou Qing approaching.

This person rarely takes the initiative to contact me; they must have something to say about it.

"A snow appreciation banquet?" Upon hearing this, Chu Lengyu, with her excellent memory, recalled that when she first transmigrated, Chu Wen'er had shown off the invitation to her.

She frankly admitted, "I'm not interested."

Lou Qing smiled wryly: "His Majesty and the Princess both want to invite Miss Chu."

Chu Lengyu's expression turned slightly strange: "What do you want me to do?"

"This... I don't know the reason." Lou Qing hurriedly asked, "Miss Chu, actually the princess sent you an invitation a long time ago, I wonder if you received it?"

"An invitation for me? I've never seen it before." Chu Lengyu shook her head, stating firmly.

"Then it seems that he was detained by the Duke of Zhenguo..." Lou Qing changed his title from Duke of Zhenguo to Second Master Chu.

She sneered, "As expected of my good second uncle."

Chu Lengyu originally had no interest in the snow appreciation banquet at all.

In her past life, she was too lazy to participate in such banquets and didn't want to force a smile and engage in ineffective socializing with a large group of strangers.

But Chu Wenchen would rather risk being held accountable by the royal family than let her go, which instead aroused her curiosity.

After all, Chu Wenchen is the kind of person who won't do anything without a reason.

So she asked, "Is there anything special about this snow-viewing banquet?"

Lou Qing recalled for a moment and introduced to her, "This banquet is hosted by Princess Jin'an. I heard that in addition to the Chu family, the young masters and ladies from the Qin Prince's Mansion, the Li State Duke's Mansion, the Ying State Duke's Mansion, and the Qi State Duke's Mansion will all be attending. Besides these four kings and eight dukes, there will also be young descendants from other marquis families and ministers' families participating."

"Oh, so this is a large gathering of the younger generation in Shenjing? That sounds interesting," she muttered to herself.

Is Chu Wenchen unwilling for her to appear because he's afraid she'll steal someone's thunder?

Or were they wary of her, afraid that she would reveal the scandals of the Chu family in public?

He didn't want her to go, but hey, she went anyway!

She said to Lou Qing, "Please call Lü Yun, my martial uncle, and my senior brother over here."

"Okay." Lou Qing accepted the order and left.

Chu Lengyu watched him turn and leave, then called him back: "Call your team members here too."

Lou Qing nodded in confusion.

Soon, everyone stood in front of her.

Seeing that she had brought so many people, Lüyun asked curiously, "Miss, what are you going to do?"

"I'll take you to the capital to see a good show," she chuckled.