The time spent in the Temple of the Sacred Fire allowed Asana to experience a different kind of life from that of the court. She felt much more free than in the palace, with no maids and no palace guards to limit her movements. And for a few days, even Sahedah could only chant verses in the temple to comfort the dead, and would no longer summon her or bless her.

In this short period of time, the only thing that made Asana feel a little regretful was that Kutsaya couldn't come with her on this trip. With no one to talk to, she felt a little lonely because of this.

One afternoon, wandering alone through the temple, Asana met some members of the Dimi nobility that she would not normally meet. However, due to her long stay in the palace, the fact that no one had introduced her to the magnates, and her own lack of proficiency in Dimi, Asana could not even identify the characters among them. However, even so, Asana tried to get in touch with them as much as possible, knowing in her heart that if she wanted to have her place in Dimi in the future, she would always need to build her own network and network.

Asana, who was walking slowly on the side of the temple garden, quietly stopped a maid who was serving fruit to the crowd of powerful people, and then looked at the crowd and looked at a middle-aged man dressed gorgeously dressed and with a large beard and asked the maid, "Who is that?" ”

"Your Royal Highness, that is Prime Minister Zuo Shujae." The maid replied.

Asana nodded slightly, then looked at a sturdy man in a black fringed round hat and a dark coat who was walking briskly with her attendant, and continued to ask the maid, "What about that one?" ”

"Your Royal Highness, that is the general of the Immortal Army, Husseini." The maid said.

"Hmm." Asana pondered for a moment and then asked, "Who are you going to give the fruit to?" ”

"Your Royal Highness Princess Asana, this fruit is going to be given to Princess Tajiman." The maid said.

"Oh, okay." Asana then said to the maid, "Then give me this fruit, and I will personally give it to Princess Tahiman." In addition, you go and get two more servings of the same fruit and give them to Prime Minister Zuo and the generals of the Immortal Army. If they ask who asked you to send it, you say it's me. ”

"Yes, Your Royal Highness." The maid said to Asana with both hands on the fruit bowl.

Asana took the fruit tray, and she carried it towards the temple house where Tahiman was. Holding a fruit bowl in her hand, she deliberately chose the route through the places where the powerful gathered. Walking in the crowd, Asana found that although these Dimi's male magnates all bowed down to avoid her, they also secretly cast admiring and amazed glances at her.

Facing everyone's gaze, Asana smiled lightly and naturally. She knows the psychology of men, and who doesn't want to take this opportunity to see the most beautiful princess in the empire up close. After leaving the crowd, Asana suddenly turned around and smiled back at everyone. And this smile made the crowd unconsciously exclaim with envy.

At night, Asana sat alone outside the door of the temple of the Holy Fire. She looked at the twinkling stars in the night sky, looking a little lonely. It made her look like the princess who was in the spotlight during the day.

Just as Asana was unconsciously reminiscing about her hometown, suddenly, she heard a deliberate cough from under the dark shadow of the trees not far away.

Asana looked under the shadow of the tree in surprise, and she saw an old monk dressed in the robes of the Holy Fire Sect slowly walking out of the dark shadow. The monk was as thin as wood, and his walk was trembling, but his eyes were sharp. His keen gaze was fixed on Asana.

Seeing the strange old monk slowly approaching her, Asana couldn't help but ask precautionarily, "Who are you?" ”

Seeing that the old monk did not speak, Asana continued to ask, "Who are you looking for?" ”

"Princess Asana, I know you." As the old monk walked by Asana's side, he whispered without turning his head, "Please come with me, I have something to say to you." ”

Asana hesitated to see that the old monk did not stop by her side, and then slowly walked behind the corner of the house. After a moment's hesitation, Asana looked around for a moment, then got up and walked over to the old monk.

Turning the corner of the house, Asana opened her mouth and asked the monk in a soft voice, "What do you have to do with me?" ”

The old monk stopped, turned to Asana, and suddenly changed to Asanna and whispered in Asor, "Your Royal Highness, I think you must remember Star Safidanga, right?" ”

Asana's heart chuckled, she never expected that the name of the regent of Asor would be so easily said from the mouth of this old monk, and he still used the Athol language.

When the old monk had finished speaking, he turned and walked away. It took a while for Asana to calm her astonishment as she watched the old monk's trembling back, until the old monk was about to disappear again under a dark wall, and she hurriedly stepped away and chased after him.

Following the old monk, Asana came to a small hall with three stone doors in the Fire Temple. The three stone gates of the small hall are smaller on either side and taller in the middle, and on the taller stone doors in the middle, like other Zoroastrian buildings, are carved with their god, Asura Mazda.

The old monk walked slowly into the stone gate on the left, and Asana followed. After entering the stone gate, she found that the three stone doors were divided by a wall, and the door she entered led to the left side of the main hall of the temple.

On the porch, the old monk lit a lantern. By the light of the lantern, Asana followed the old monk through the corridor and turned around a few corners. After turning another corner, Asana suddenly realized that the hallway had come to an end.

"Where are you taking me?" Asana asked the monk as she looked down the hallway.

"Your Royal Highness, please rest assured." The old monk said.

As Asana hesitated, the old monk inserted the handle of the lantern into a preset hole in one side of the wall, and then he used the light to twist a few knobs on the walls on either side. With the turn of the knob, the old monk pushed one side of the wall, and the wall immediately exited a secret door.

Following the old monk as he approached the half-open secret door, Asana found that behind the secret door was a narrow downhill corridor. The hallway wasn't very long, and after a few quick turns, it led to a room that wasn't too large.

The old man lit the candlesticks in the room one by one with the fire in the lantern, and only then did Asana see the whole room, which was a small room with intricate relief carvings on the four walls. Under the four walls of the room is a circle of tables, and on top of the tables, there are more than a dozen various gadgets and small wooden boxes.

"Princess Asana, please be seated." The old monk interrupted Asana's look around the room, and he reached out and pulled a small chair from under the table and pushed it in front of Asana.

Asana looked at the chair, which she had nodded to the old monk before she gathered her dress and sat down on her legs.

"Tell me, who are you?" Asana asked the old monk after he had also sat down on a small chair.

"It doesn't matter who I am." The old monk slowly spoke, "The important thing is that I can help you with what you want to do, Your Highness. ”

"What do I want to do?" Asana asked, "I don't have anything I want to do, so what are you going to help me achieve?" ”

"Princess Asana, you are a smart man." The old monk said, "If there is nothing in your heart that is encouraging you, why would you follow an unknown monk to a secret room?" ”

"I'm just curious." Asana said.

The old monk smiled slightly and said, "It's curious that an old monk can easily say the name of the regent of Athore, right?" ”

"His name is not uncommon, and everyone in Azor knows that their regent is Safidanga." Asana said.

"But not everyone knows that his name is Star Safidanja." The old monk said with a light smile.

"Who the hell are you?" Asana continued to ask, feeling a little surprised.

"I said, it doesn't matter who I am." The old monk said, "We have more important things to discuss, don't we?" Her Royal Highness the Imperial Princess. ”

"Okay." Asana thought for a moment and said, "You said you would help me, so what do you want to help me do?" ”

"Revenge, of course." The old monk said, "Take revenge on the Azores, who have forsaken you, broken your oath, and killed your relatives. Your Royal Highness, you must always be thinking about revenge on the Azor, right? ”

"I want revenge, of course. My people were slaughtered by Athore, and of course I have hatred. I don't need anyone else to help me get my revenge, though, because it's my own business. Asana looked at the old monk and said.

The old monk chuckled and continued, "Your Royal Highness, with all due respect, for now, if no one comes to help you, I'm afraid that your desire for revenge will be difficult to fulfill, and you may not be able to fulfill it in your lifetime. ”

"What a joke." Asana said.

"Your Royal Highness, you know, I'm not kidding." The old monk said, "You need our help. ”

"Your help?" Asana looked at the old monk again suspiciously, and then asked, "When you say you, do you mean Zoroastrianism, or some other organization?" ”

The old monk said, "Your Royal Highness, you are very alert and wary. But I'm sorry, but please don't pursue the topic of who I really am. That's not the point of our conversation. ”

Asana thought for a moment, then said firmly, "If you want to help me, you should tell me who you are and what forces are behind you, if you don't say it, then I won't be able to trust you, and we won't be able to talk anymore." ”

The old monk hesitated for a moment and asked, "Then this is the end of my conversation?" ”

"yes, that's the end of it." Asana got up from her chair and said, "And I will immediately inform the guards of your actions, you, as a monk of the temple, lured the imperial concubine into this secret chamber. ”

The old monk shook his head and smiled and said, "Your Royal Highness, if I tell you my identity, can you trust me?" ”

"At least we can talk about it again." Asana said.

"Your Royal Highness," the old monk thought for a moment and said, "It's better to do this, let's give each other a step, let me first tell you what I can help you do, if you think we can cooperate, then how about I come and tell you about my identity?" ”

Asana thought for a moment and said, "So... Well, you can. Then tell me, what can you do for me, and what do you want? ”

The old monk smiled slightly after Asana sat back in her chair and said, "Your Royal Highness, I have no intention of getting anything, and I can help you control the entire Zoroastrianism. ”

When the old monk's voice fell, Asana's eyes widened suddenly, she couldn't believe her ears, she hesitated for a while before she asked, "You, what did you say?" ”

The old man smiled and repeated, "I can help you control the entire Zoroastrian religion, and all the Zoroastrian followers. Your Royal Highness, you should know what this means, once you control Zoroastrianism, then you will basically control the entire lifeline of Dimi, and even your influence will go beyond Dimi, reaching the Zoroastrians in Zhanluo, Ilo and other countries. ”

"This... This... How can it be... Even if you are the high priest of Zoroastrianism, no, even Sahedah, he can't do this, how can you do it. Asana said in astonishment.

The old man smiled and said, "Although I am not a high priest of Zoroastrianism, I can do what the high priest can't do." Of course, it will take your full strength to control the entire Zoroastrianism, to achieve control of Dimi and to take revenge on Azar. ”

"If everything is as you say, of course I will cooperate. But even if I cooperate, under Dimi's system, how can you let me control Zoroastrianism and even Dimi? Asana asked the old monk.

"Here." The old monk pointed to his head.

"Intrigues?" Asana asked, looking at the old monk.

"Whatever it is, wouldn't it help you?" The old monk said.

"Well, I ask you, if you really have that ability, why are you here to help me?" Asana asked.

"Because we have a common enemy, and we can only do it by helping you." The old monk said.

"Are you talking about the common enemy of the Atholl, or the Star Safidangala?" Asana hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Why?" Why do you hate them too? ”

"Yes, I hate them. My enemies, like you, are the people of Athor and the regent of Safidhangar, and even Karim, the king of the East. The old monk smiled lightly and said, "Your Royal Highness, you must hate them very much, right?" ”

"Yes, I hate them. But I still don't understand why you came to help me, I am now far away from Azor, and I am no longer the princess of Emperor Azor, but the princess of Dimisa Hedah. Asana said, "If you're looking for me to work with them against them, are you looking too far?" ”

"Your Royal Highness, if it is really as far as you say, then why do you still want to control Dimi, and then use Dimi's power to attack Azor for revenge?" The old monk asked.

Asana couldn't help but be a little shocked when she heard this, and after a moment's thought, she asked, "How do you know what I'm thinking?" ”

The old monk smiled and said, "It doesn't matter how I know, the important thing is that our goals are the same." We deserve to cooperate. ”

"Do you want to help me and then fulfill your desire to have the Dimi attack the Azor?" Asana asked.

"Of course."

Asana pondered and asked, "But what benefits can you, or you, gain in the process?" ”

"The good thing is that when the Safidanga royal family of Azor is destroyed, we can prop up a new regime." The old monk said.

"It's so ambitious." Asana said.

The old monk smiled and asked, "I wonder if Her Royal Highness the Imperial Concubine is interested in cooperating?" ”

"Okay, I'm interested in working with you, but you're going to tell me who you are." Asana said, "Whoever you are, even if you're an Eagle-Eyed Apostle, I'll consider working with you, but you'll have to tell me who you are. I don't want to be kept in the dark, and I don't want to be manipulated. ”

"Okay .. Your Highness. My name is Jashni," the old monk whispered after a moment of silence, "I am from the Absu Snake Secret Society. ”

Asana gasped.

She knew about the Absu Snake Secret Society, and she had heard about the Absu Snake Secret Society from the mouth of Emperor Azor as early as the time of Asol. The Emperor told her that the Absu Serpent Society was an ancient serpent that inhabited the belongings of Azor, and that they had secretly controlled the rise and fall of several dynasties in Azor.

"The Absu Snake Secret Society," Asana said softly in thought, "No, I don't think I can trust you. ”

"Could it be that Her Royal Highness the Imperial Concubine is prejudiced against me or our organization?" The old monk said.

Although Asana said that she could not be trusted, she did not get up and leave her chair and left. In her heart, she was very entangled, and although she was worried that there was an even more unknown conspiracy behind the Absu Snake Society, she also really wanted their help. Asana hesitated to look at the small wooden box on the side of the house, and did not reply.

Looking at Asana, who had not spoken, the old monk spoke again, "Princess Asana, I hope you will put aside the bad rumors you have heard about our organization. Whoever you hear from someone about our Absu Secret Society is untrue. Because whoever speaks, he must not have really touched us, let alone know our greatness. ”

"Great?" Asana chuckled before saying, "I don't think that word seems to have anything to do with you. ”

"Imperial Princess, it seems that you are still prejudiced against us, I hope you will not be disturbed by the words of others before, because it is not conducive to our future cooperation." The old monk said.

"Did I say I'm going to work with you?" Asana asked.

"Princess Asana, I don't want you to give up this opportunity to cooperate." The old monk said, "Because it is almost impossible for you to gain power in the hierarchical Dimi by your own words. ”

"Really?" "But I don't think so, I don't think anything is impossible." ”

"Princess Asana, with all due respect, you must be trying to gain power in the palace by giving birth to a male heir for Sahedah, right?" The old monk said.

Asana was extremely surprised that the old monk knew, but she quickly calmed down the fluctuations in her heart and said, "That is the dream of every imperial concubine, and the mother is more precious than the son, and this is an eternal thing in any empire." ”

"But the princess, it's different in Dimi." The old monk said, "Because even if you give birth to a male son for Sahedah, he will not be able to become Sahedah's heir, and you will not be able to truly gain glory and status." At Dimi, the purity of the bloodline is more important than everything. And whether it is Princess Tajiman or Princess Dabal, they are all children of the noble family of Dimi, they are not only strong in the family, but also have a noble blood, and the heirs they gave birth to for Sahedah are naturally even more noble. And you, even if you give birth to a man for Sahedah, then your children will not be valued by the royal family because of their bloodline, and they will not be able to compete with the children of those imperial concubines for the position of Sahedah's heir. ”

Asana's heart suddenly cooled, she was silent, she actually knew that what the old monk said was also true. She also knew that as a woman married from a foreign race, it would be very difficult for her to rise out in this hierarchical Dimi royal family, which attached great importance to blood, and to make her heir the heir of Sahedah.

Looking at the old monk from the Absu Snake Secret Society in front of her, Asana fell into tangled thoughts.