Huangxiu

Chapter 2 Jade Lock
What are the identities of these two people?
Secret guards sent by the Emperor's grandfather? Or spies from other palaces, or some other unknown forces?

Just by looking at the fact that they were able to conceal their breath and hide their aura from the two masters, the guard leader Guo Chi and the personal eunuch Zou Fang, we can tell that they possess top-notch secret techniques to conceal their breath and are by no means an ordinary force.

They are following me now. If I launch a sneak attack, will Guo Chi and Zou Fang be able to react? I can't stop them now.

What the old men in the restaurant said was right. In this world, you need good martial arts skills.

Even if I were to become a prince in the future, I would still have to work hard at cultivation. I couldn't completely rely on others for my life and death.

……

It has been a year since I solved the mystery in the womb and awakened my past life memories.

In his previous life, he was hit by a meteorite falling from the sky while traveling as a donkey. When he woke up, he was Chu Zhiyuan, the crown prince of this advanced martial arts world, and his five senses were mutated.

The perception range of the five senses is greatly increased, and one can see through subtle details like a god.

You can see inside your body, including the skin, muscles, fascia, bones, bone marrow, blood, meridians, acupoints, and even hidden key points.

It can cover an area of ​​twenty feet outward, allowing you to see, hear, feel, taste and smell everything.

He called it supersense.

The reason why he advanced from the seventh level to the ninth level of acquired perfection in just one year was due to his clear and detailed inner observation.

The memories of the previous life and the memories of this life are completely integrated and inseparable. He is both Chu Yuan in the previous life and Chu Zhiyuan, the prince of Qing in this life.

The Qing Palace is in decline, but a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. As the only heir of Prince Qing, even if he lies down and does nothing, he can still inherit the throne of the prince and live a life of luxury.

But he understood that he could do nothing else but focus on practicing martial arts.

The protection of a Grandmaster may not be infallible. It would be unfair if someone so rich and powerful as this was rare in the world was assassinated.

What’s more, the higher the level of cultivation, the longer the life span.

The lifespan of the innate realm is 120 years, that of the grandmaster is 200, and that of the great grandmaster starts at 300.

Three days ago, Emperor Dajing issued an edict to lift the thirty-year ban on Prince Qing's Mansion and allowed the prince to practice in Mingwu Palace.

Mingwu Hall is where the princes and the crown prince practice martial arts. It contains extraordinary skills and secret techniques, and is taught by grand masters. It is an opportunity that martial artists all over the world dream of.

The Little Zi Yang Jue that he practiced was a secret passed down by the royal Chu family and was the world's most advanced acquired martial art.

If you want to practice the innate skill Great Purple Yang Jue, you have to go to Mingwu Palace.

Moreover, if one wants to enter the innate realm after achieving perfection in the acquired realm, one must break through the three barriers and practice special barrier-breaking secret techniques. The Mingwu Palace has the most advanced barrier-breaking secret techniques.

After entering the Mingwu Hall, he was able to learn top-notch skills and secret techniques as well as receive guidance from wise masters. He became impatient.

……

The Prince Qing's Palace covers an area of ​​500 acres, with a length and width of approximately 600 meters.

The gatehouse with double flying eaves is majestic and imposing, the glazed tiles on the roof are shining with golden light, and the three large characters "Qingwang Mansion" on the plaque are elegant and graceful.

However, the faded vermilion lacquered gate, the lifeless lanterns, and the weathered and mottled stone lions all reveal a sense of decay.

King Qing Street is ten feet wide and paved with white marble. It is clean and tidy. Walking on it are fifteen guards in black robes, patrolling in groups of three.

They wore long swords on their waists, and their eyes flashed with brilliance when they looked around, but their expressions were as lazy as cats, and they looked listless.

The front of the mansion was deserted, without a single guest.

This royal palace is the only one in the entire Yujing City that is so deserted.

Seeing Chu Zhiyuan approaching slowly from afar, the guards straightened up and saluted solemnly.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded slightly, as if he didn't notice their laziness.

As the palace declined, its guards and attendants naturally lost their energy and spirit, which could not be eliminated by strict discipline.

These guards may be decadent and lazy, but they are all innate masters selected from thousands of people. They are the cornerstone of the palace's security and cannot be treated too harshly.

……

Chu Zhiyuan stood at the bottom of the steps, looking at the palace gate and lanterns, and shook his head: "Has the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs not come yet?"

Zou Fang said softly, "My Lord, it will take another two days for the Ministry of Internal Affairs to reply."

Chu Zhiyuan said calmly: "It's been a month, right?"

"...Yes." Zou Fang nodded slightly, a layer of blue air flashed across his face, and he suppressed his anger.

The Imperial Household Department was responsible for repairing the royal residences. A month ago, Prince Qing's Mansion asked the Imperial Household Department to repaint the doors, windows, wall tiles, etc., and also replace the lanterns and other items.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs readily agreed, but said that there were limited craftsmen and they were busy elsewhere, so we would have to wait for two days.

Two days and two days, it has been dragging on for a month.

He knew the reason. It was obvious that he was cut in line. The people in the Imperial Household Department were notoriously power-hungry, but he didn't expect them to be so bold.

No matter how decadent the Prince Qing's Mansion is, it is still the prince's palace. The fact that they dare to be so negligent shows that these people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs really need to be punished!
Chu Zhiyuan shook his head, exhaled a breath, stepped onto the stairs and entered the side door of the palace. After passing the pine and crane screen wall, there was a wide lotus pond.

The pool water comes from hot springs, and the thin mist rolls on the water surface like a veil. There are pavilions on the top where you can view lotus flowers and enjoy fish.

A fat old man with white beard and eyebrows came over lightly, clasped his fists and saluted: "My Lord."

Chu Zhiyuan kept walking: "Where are my father and mother?"

Guard commander Guo Chi has already retreated.

Zou Fang saluted Feng Xi, the plump and white steward of the palace.

"The prince is talking to Master Li Mohuai at Yunguang Pavilion."

"Father finally invited this master of painting to the palace. His wish came true. ...Where is mother?"

"The princess has just returned from the palace and is in the back garden."

"No one is coming to your house today, right?"

"...No." Feng Xi shook his head.

Chu Zhiyuan kept walking while talking.

It was embarrassing that no one was interested in Prince Qing's mansion after three days of opening.

In two days, it will probably spread throughout Yujing.

He waved his hand, indicating that Feng Xi didn't need to follow him, and walked through several courtyards alone to the lush back garden.

The hot springs keep the trees, flowers and plants alive.

The clear little lake unexpectedly has a sense of vastness, with wisps of white mist rising from the surface of the lake and pavilions dotted all over the lake.

"clank……"

The sound of the piano was coming from a waterside pavilion.

He stepped into the corridor on the lake, turned a few corners along the corridor and came to the water pavilion.

Two maids stood outside the pavilion, both of them were beautiful, they bowed to Chu Zhiyuan and greeted him with smiles. One smiled reservedly, the other smiled innocently.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded slightly and stepped into the pavilion.

A woman in a lotus-colored palace dress was playing the piano with her head down.

A golden hairpin swayed gently on her shiny black hair.

The lotus-colored palace silk is embedded with strands of gold thread, which flickers faintly as it shakes, highlighting its luxury.

The delicate hand suddenly pressed down the strings, and the sound of the zither stopped abruptly.

She looked up at Chu Zhiyuan.

A jade-like face, with thin eyebrows and phoenix eyes, and a fierce look on the eyebrows.

It was Princess Bai Ningshuang of Qing.

"Mom." Chu Zhiyuan smiled: "Don't get angry and hurt yourself, it's not worth it."

The sound of the piano is filled with resentment and unwillingness.

Because he awakened the mystery in the womb, and did not travel through time to replace his original body, he was himself in the previous life and he is himself in this life, and it does not affect his family relationships.

Because the house has been sealed off, the four members of their family have become closer.

"Zheng!"

Bai Ning swept the strings of the zither with his frosty fingers and said angrily, "Why should I be angry? These heartless and ungrateful people have already expected it!"

Chu Zhiyuan sat on the embroidered cushion that the maid brought over and said with a smile, "Mother, think more broadly. Things are much better now than before. We can come and go freely. We have always lived our own lives behind closed doors, so why should we care about others?"

Bai Ningshuang snorted: "I would rather seal up the palace than suffer this humiliation!"

"Did you run into other princesses in the palace?"

"Everyone acted as if they didn't see me. It's so irritating!"

"..."

"Thirty years ago, they were very affectionate, but now they have turned against each other!"

"And those palace maids and eunuchs, they are all ugly and just take advantage of their masters!"

"Mom, you're not having a fit, are you?" Chu Zhiyuan said with a smile.

This statement sounds exaggerated and is an extreme interpretation due to sensitivity. No matter how brave those eunuchs and palace maids are, they would not give the prince or princess a cold shoulder.

"I'm not that stupid!... I just feel more and more suffocated the more I think about it!"

Chu Zhiyuan shook his head.

Being in the palace, a place of fame and fortune, it is inevitable to flatter the powerful and bully the weak.

"Yuan'er, when you go to Mingwu Palace, do your best," Bai Ningshuang snorted, "Don't be like your father, the good guy who doesn't offend anyone. If you can suppress them, suppress them hard!"

In the eyes of outsiders, a leisurely prince is living a happy life. However, they don’t know that princes are also divided into different levels, and those at the lower level also have to endure bullying and feel bitter.

If you want to escape from the bottom of society, you must seize power, and the source of power is the emperor.

The emperor attached great importance to martial arts. As the emperor's grandson, the quickest way to gain his favor is to practice martial arts.

Yuan'er is a martial arts prodigy who has achieved perfection at the age of 20. He has learned through his own practice and is sure to win the emperor's eye.

But after a serious illness a year ago, Yuan'er became calm, mature and lost his sharpness.

After entering the Mingwu Palace, he would definitely think that the Qing Palace is weak now, so it is better to be humble, hide one's strength, and bide one's time so as not to offend those princes and grandchildren of the emperor.

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Chu Zhiyuan nodded with a smile.

Bai Ningshuang snorted, "I see through it. The more you show weakness, the more you get mad at me."

Chu Zhiyuan nodded in agreement and gave a few more words of comfort.

"Yuan'er," Bai Ningshuang suddenly lowered her voice, "Your royal grandmother told me a piece of news."

"Oh——?" Chu Zhiyuan asked with a smile.

The Empress Dowager was the biological mother of my father, Prince Chu Minghou, Concubine Rou.

Thirty years ago, mothers respected their sons, and sons were honored by their mothers.

Thirty years later, the son respects his mother, and the mother is honored by her son.

As the third son, if Chu Minghou had not been unable to practice martial arts and had no status, Concubine Rou would have long been promoted to Noble Concubine or even Imperial Noble Concubine.

The Prince Qing's Mansion was sealed, and her life in the palace was not easy.

So as soon as the ban on the palace was lifted, Bai Ningshuang, the daughter-in-law, couldn't wait to go to the palace to visit. She went there once a day and had endless things to talk about.

Bai Ningshuang raised her head and glanced to both sides.

Chu Zhiyuan looked at the maids with a smile and waved his hand for them to leave.

Bai Ningshuang watched them close the door, then lowered her voice and said, "Your grandmother said that there is a Jade Lock and Gold Pass Secret in Mingwu Palace, which is a secret method created by the emperor himself to break through the pass."

Chu Zhiyuan said: "Grandfather is the most powerful genius of the Chu family in history. It is not surprising that he created a secret technique."

"Your grandmother said that this secret was created by the emperor by integrating ancient miracles. It can be said to be an extremely powerful way to break through the barriers."

Chu Zhiyuan frowned slightly.

After completing the nine levels of the acquired realm, if one wishes to step into the innate realm, one must break through the three hidden gates of the coccyx, the lumbar spine, and the occipital bone to truly build the bridge between heaven and earth.

The secret technique of breaking through the barriers is an extreme and dangerous method. If one is not careful, one may go astray, so practitioners often seek stability and prefer slowness over haste.

The emperor is a rare genius in the world, so it is not surprising that he has created a miraculous secret technique, but the completion of a technique requires time and accumulation of wisdom.

This is just like developing drugs in the past, which requires a sufficient number of people to test and make corrections.

This secret technique is suitable for Emperor Chu Qingquan but may not be suitable for others. It may be a miraculous achievement for Chu Qingquan but fatal to others.

"Is there anyone practicing this secret technique?"

"In the beginning, some people wanted to practice it, but they failed. Later, no one practiced it. Everyone kept it a secret and didn't mention it. If it wasn't for your grandmother mentioning it, no one would even know about it."

Chu Zhiyuan seemed to be thinking about something.

The princes and the heirs must have suspected that there was something wrong with this secret, but they must never say it or show such suspicion to avoid angering the emperor.

The best way is to not mention it and pretend that you don’t know.

"If you can master the Jade Lock and Golden Gate Technique, your royal grandfather will definitely look at you differently!...Yuan'er, you are a martial arts genius. If others can't do it, you may be able to do it."

"...Okay, Mom, I'll try to practice."

Chu Zhiyuan agreed with a smile, but he didn't agree in his heart.

(End of this chapter)