The fake prince was exposed at the beginning, and I took office as emperor on the spot

Chapter 181 Golden Hairpin Pendant (5k)

However, although they had seen Xu Zhenguan's performance and knew that he had great potential, they could tell from his demeanor and speech that he must have come from humble beginnings and that Gu Fangchen had been kind to him.

In the past few days, some of Xu Zhenguan's defeated opponents, following instructions from their elders, have extended olive branches to Xu Zhenguan.

However, Xu Zhenguan remained steadfast in the face of various promises of benefit, showing his utmost loyalty to Gu Fangchen and demonstrating his character.

Such people are extremely stubborn; they'd be willing to die for someone, but it's practically impossible for them to poach talent from others.

The Dugu family could only envy Gu Fangchen's incredible luck, wondering where she had picked up such a good subordinate.

"Alright, it's getting late. Today's martial arts demonstration will end here. I will personally test your skills later."

Dugu Xia stood up and looked at the juniors who were sitting down and whispering. This immediately drew a low groan, but they still had to bow respectfully and say "Yes" in unison.

The younger generation were eleven or twelve years old, while the older ones looked about the same age as Gu Lianxian. They were still attending private school at home and practicing martial arts.

The reason why Dugu Xia agreed to set up the arena directly at the Dugu family these past few days was because he wanted to broaden the horizons of the younger generation in the family.

Witnessing such a spectacular series of challenges on the Little Heaven Ranking is a rare opportunity, and we certainly can't miss it.

Those who dare to challenge Gu Fangchen are mostly quite strong. Being able to witness a battle of this level at this age is very beneficial to one's own cultivation.

Moreover, this is also a good opportunity to enhance the influence of the Dugu family of Gushu...

So many people have come to take on the challenge these past few days that there's been a long queue.

However, because Xu Zhenguan is getting stronger and stronger, the number of people has decreased significantly in the past two days.

Dugu Xia waved his hand, summoning servants to see off those who had failed in the challenges, and then dismissed the younger generation before turning to look at Gu Fangchen:
"Has Your Highness uncovered any clues about what happened back then in the past few days? If needed, the Dugu family can provide full assistance."

"I feel quite guilty about what happened back then, and I want to do my part for the Princess."

Ning Caiyong shook his head, stepped forward to support Dugu Xia, and said softly:

"Uncle, you're exaggerating. What happened back then was meticulously planned by the Demonic Sect, and even the dignified Prince of Zhenbei didn't notice it. How can you blame the Dugu family for their poor protection?"

Dugu Xia paused, sensing that her niece's words had a hidden meaning, but things had come to this point, and anyone could see that Gu Fangchen and Gu Yuye were irreconcilable enemies.

Ning Caiyong's choice to accompany Gu Fangchen to Gushu at this time already shows his attitude.

Judging from the tone, even if there hasn't been a complete break, it's probably not long...

Dugu Xia sighed deeply. His sister was a disappointment, passing away early and leaving behind these two children, who had been raised in Jian Ge since childhood... In the end, they were surnamed Ning and were not of the same mind as them.

If any clues about what happened back then were to be uncovered...

There's probably no chance of a peaceful resolution.

Gu Fangchen closed her fan, looked at Dugu Xia, and smiled:

"Thank you for your kindness, Uncle, but I have already sent my men to the Eye of Heaven Bureau. I expect we will be able to find out the truth soon."

Dugu Xia was taken aback, hesitated for a moment, then frowned and said worriedly:
"This... I also sent people to find the Eye Heaven Division back then, but the Demonic Sect had already killed the Eye Heaven Division members guarding this place, so there was no way to verify the facts."

"Although the Eye and Eye Bureau has connections everywhere, it seems there's no way to investigate now!"

“Hey—Uncle, you’re mistaken. Although the man from the Eye of Heaven is dead, his eyes are not dead. Not only are they not dead, they can still stare at people.”

Gu Fangchen shook her head and said leisurely:
"Although the chief of the Eye Gods died tragically back then, the Eye Gods have recently discovered that he managed to leave behind an eye before he died. If we can find that eye that was buried here back then, we will be able to uncover the truth."

Dugu Xia's hands, which had been hanging limply within her sleeves, suddenly clenched, and she raised her head, saying:
"There's actually such a thing..."

Gu Fangchen said to herself:
"At first I didn't believe it either, but the people from the Eye of Heaven spoke with such certainty that they must be quite sure."

He smiled brightly:
"I thought this trip to Gushu would take at least ten days to half a month, but I didn't expect the truth to come out so quickly. It's truly like finding something you've been searching for without any effort at all. Don't you think so, Uncle?"

Dugu Xia released his hand, a look of relief on his face:

"Since that's the case, I can rest assured. You and your son can enjoy yourselves in Gushu these next few days. It just so happens that it's summer now, and the daughters of noble families love to go on the pleasure boats on the Jiangling River together. You're of age now, so you can go and see if there's anyone you like. Then you can choose a good girl to be your consort."

He looked at Ning Caiyong and said kindly:

"Wasn't it on a pleasure boat back then that Caiyong captivated the prince at first sight?"

Ning Caiyong lowered her eyes, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and smiled faintly:
"That's all in the past. Why bring it up again, Uncle, and make fun of me in front of the children?"

"Let's not talk about it anymore, let's not talk about it anymore..."

Dugu Xia sighed:

“As people get older, they tend to reminisce. So many years have passed in the blink of an eye. Time waits for no one. Your mother was a playful young girl back then. You haven’t been here all these years, and I’ve sorted through a lot of your mother’s belongings…”

Upon hearing this, Ning Caiyong's expression was slightly moved, and he looked at Gu Fangchen again.

Although Gu Fangchen was wary of her great-uncle, with Ding Xingfeng watching over her, and no one in the Dugu family capable of harming Ning Caiyong, she didn't disturb their reunion and returned to the courtyard next door with Xuexiang.

The arena is not far from the courtyard, so there's no need to worry about being exposed due to the distance.

"His Royal Highness."

As I passed through the corridor, a servant approached and knelt respectfully beside me to pay his respects.

Gu Fangchen suddenly paused, narrowing her eyes:

"I don't recall ever seeing you at the Dugu family's residence before?"

The servant's expression changed, and without hesitation, he pulled out a handful of poisoned needles and sprinkled them on the two men.

Xuexiang stood there, stunned, not yet able to react.

The poisoned needle was a physical attack, and it was obviously ineffective against Gu Fangchen in her divine sense state.

"Shhhhh!"

The poisoned needles pierced through Gu Fangchen's body in an instant. He immediately blocked the part that was about to hit Xuexiang. Then, he glared angrily, adopting the wrathful form of a Vajra, and looked coldly at the servant.

This is a visualization diagram I recently obtained from the Eye God Temple. The "Diamond Realm" I gleaned from it is a technique for suppressing and killing.

Although the so-called eye actually has nothing to do with the Eye God, it is another side quest in the game, and it was just used to trick the Dugu family.

However, the Eye God is still under his control, so creating a few visualization diagrams is still quite simple.

The servant was stunned by Gu Fangchen's gaze, terrified, and almost instantly felt his soul disappear.

But as a professional assassin, he immediately activated the restrictions placed on his mind, experiencing a moment of clarity before death. He gritted his teeth and, at the cost of self-destructing his dantian and meridians, triggered the final mechanism.

"boom!"

The assassin died instantly, his body exploding from the inside out, turning into a limp mess.

"Snapped!"

The poison needles that Gu Fangchen had intercepted froze in mid-air before suddenly exploding into golden phosphorescent light that scattered in all directions, accompanied by a misty haze.

The mist was five-colored, a beautiful sight indeed.

Gu Fangchen's pupils contracted; she recognized it at a glance—

"Gold hairpin pendant!"
It is indeed a poison, but its toxicity is not fatal even to ordinary people, and the antidote is very simple.

Its name is derived not only from its color but also from the properties of the poison.

The golden hairpin fell, descending to the mortal world.

This is fucking a potent aphrodisiac!
Who came up with this assassination plan? What a genius!
Gu Fangchen twitched her lips, speechless.

No wonder they were able to bring this into the Dugu family so openly. This thing works on both men and women, and many playful young men from noble families like to use it to enhance their enjoyment!

It works quickly and effectively.

It's perfectly normal for someone to appear in aristocratic families; no one would bother to investigate their origins.

Under normal circumstances, the "golden hairpin" will not be fatal. The principle of this poison is to stimulate the upper, middle and lower dantian, opening up the flow and causing the spirit and blood to burst out instantly. As long as the excessive energy and blood are released, there will be no danger to life.

Only by forcibly suppressing the urge to breathe can one suffer damage to their dantian (lower abdomen) or even die from bodily explosion.

The problem is that the middle dantian is actually the heart, which controls the circulation of qi and blood and is also the place where the sun rises.

For most people, being struck by the "Golden Hairpin Pendant" simply means their heart is pounding like a drum, their blood is surging, and they turn into a woodpecker.

However, Gu Fangchen was no ordinary person.

He still carries the unrefined "Heart-Planting Poison" on him!
This poison was planted right in the heart!
By using the Flower-Picking Seal, he has been suppressing the outbreak of poison over the years, as well as suppressing some of his qi and blood, keeping him in a relatively calm state at all times.

This is also why Ning Caiyong has been strict with Gu Fangchen all these years, preventing him from acting recklessly.

If he acts recklessly, he could die.

That's why Gu Fangchen said that the person who came up with this assassination plan was truly a talent.

The "golden hairpin" is not fatal at all, but it can be used as a trigger to directly detonate the "heart-planting poison"!
The most important point is that the "Golden Hairpin Pendant" is one of the few poisons that can also affect the soul!

Therefore, those poisoned often feel mentally euphoric and can fight for seven days and seven nights.

Gu Fangchen is currently in a divine soul state. Although he only has a wisp of divine thought, it is still his own thought. With his cultivation level, he is not yet at the point where he can sever a thought without harming himself.

To prevent the poisoned needle from harming Xuexiang, his wisp of soul came into direct contact with the needle.

The moment the poison needle exploded, it also affected Xuexiang.

The pretty little maid stared wide-eyed at the dreamy golden sky, still bewildered. She looked at Gu Fangchen with a confused expression, then hurriedly stepped forward, frantically trying to check if he was injured, yet too afraid to touch him, only able to worry helplessly.
"Your Highness! Are you alright?"

Gu Fangchen was of course fine.

The puppet body of the "magic refiner" has begun refining the "golden hairpin pendant." To him, any poison that can cause pain is merely nourishment. The problem is that once the poison is refined, it becomes a permanent effect on him, such as the poisonous blood all over his body.

Now, why does he want the effect of the "golden hairpin pendant" to last?
Improving blood circulation is somewhat helpful, but isn't it a bit excessive to do it all at the same time?
However, in order to prevent the "Heart-Planting Poison" from causing him to explode and die, he had no choice but to refine the thing. At worst, he could set up a special isolation zone for it and release it when needed...

Gu Fangchen looked at her maid and glanced at her flushed cheeks:
"I'm fine... Are you alright?"

Xuexiang blinked in confusion:

"Me? I feel... I feel a little hot, so hot! Your Highness, waaaaah, I'm so hot!"

She quickly realized something was wrong; her face and neck turned bright red, showing through her fair skin, and she almost instantly broke out in a sweat.

The sweat quickly evaporated into mist due to her body temperature, mixing with the hot breath she exhaled.

It had just rained in Gushu a couple of days ago, and the weather was still cool, but she was acting like it was winter, as if she was emitting white smoke.

Xuexiang's mind was also quickly overwhelmed, and she felt extremely excited. Her eyes were bright, and she looked at Gu Fangchen with great enthusiasm.

She felt inexplicably uncomfortable, as if her whole body was boiling, and desperately wanted to touch something to gain some sense of security.

However, the Crown Prince, who is closest to me, is under the influence of illusion magic and cannot be touched.

Although Xuexiang didn't understand cultivation, she remembered the young prince's instructions very well.

She could only pant and stomp her feet in frustration as she told Gu Fangchen about her distress. Her bright eyes quickly filled with tears, and she was so aggrieved that she was about to cry.

"Your Highness, waaaaah, what should I do? I'm so hot!"

At this moment, the wet girl was like a puppy that had been caught in the rain, wanting its owner to pet and comfort it, but also afraid of getting its owner's clothes wet, running around in circles anxiously.

Gu Fangchen glanced at the corpse beside her, then simply set up a simple illusion array and notified Xu Zhenguan to come and deal with it.

Then she looked at the room next door and said softly:

"Come on, let's go inside. My body temperature is low. You'll feel better if you hold me."

He reached out his hand to Xuexiang.

Xuexiang was drenched in sweat, her clothes completely soaked, and she was so hot she was almost delirious. She had just raised her hand when she remembered:

"But...but what about His Highness's illusion array?"

Gu Fangchen smiled and said:

"Afterwards, I'll teach you how to set up a new one. Anyway, the main objective has been achieved. The Dugu family is afraid of the truth being exposed and can't hold back, so they will definitely agree to the cooperation of 'Qing' Dao."

"Hmm... the people from the academy should be arriving soon."

"Once I'm inside the Wenwu Tower, they won't have time to care whether I'm real or not... Slow down, don't fall."

As he spoke, Xuexiang's already fragile willpower was completely shattered.

Being able to hold on for even a few seconds was already Xuexiang's limit.

Having obtained permission from her young master, the little maid grabbed Gu Fangchen's hand and pressed it against hers.

So cold!

The moment their skin touched, the difference in their body temperature made Xuexiang shudder. She started babbling incoherently, rubbing against Gu Fangchen and looking dazed.

Your Highness was right, it feels so good!

Although Gu Fangchen is currently only a thought, once the state of mind is attained, it can be transformed into a physical form, entirely depending on the individual's own will.

The only difference is the length of time.

However, his current state is equivalent to his soul leaving his body.

Commonly known as...ghosts.

Therefore, the body temperature is very low, with no body temperature at all.

Letting Xuexiang touch her now is just to keep her a little rational so she can walk back to her room on her own.

At the same time, due to Xuexiang's touch, the "mirage array" on his body was broken and began to slowly disappear, and his form became somewhat ethereal.

Xuexiang was held in his arms, all sticky and affectionate, and they quickly went into the room and closed the door.

Gu Fangchen's figure also became very faint, as if it had been gradually erased.

This is why he needed a "mirage" to cover himself.

A weak, unrefined divine sense, at a glance, is just a ghost...

Xuexiang was burning up with heat and was only focused on taking off Gu Fangchen's clothes. She used her hands and feet to cling to him, trying to cool herself down by using this human ice block. She even started biting his buttons with her mouth, trying to take them off as soon as possible.

Gu Fangchen looked speechlessly at the girl on top of her, flicked her forehead, pushed her hair, and whispered:

"look up."

Xuexiang's clothes were almost dripping wet, and she was a beat slow to react before she looked up.

Gu Fangchen lowered her head and kissed Xuexiang's lips.

Xuexiang was not only hot but also thirsty, and soon took the initiative, greedily sucking up and scouring every available water source.

She had no time to think about anything else, only vaguely feeling a chill on her body, and then another chill.

Then she fell onto the bed, her legs were lifted, her embroidered shoes were kicked off, and her soaked white stockings were gently removed.

Xuexiang tilted her head back, closed her eyes tightly, and hugged the young man tightly, feeling the icy cold sensations all over her body.

Her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to explode.

The sensation of being immersed in ice water brought her to her senses, but then her eyes widened in shock, and a wave of embarrassment washed over her.

"Ugh... Your Highness, I... I need to relieve myself..."

"Then go."

She struggled in a panicked, quiet voice, barely moving.

But her hands were pinned above her head, and she couldn't struggle at all until she arched upwards and hugged Gu Fangchen's body tightly, as if she wanted to melt him into her own body.

When Xuexiang came to her senses, she was startled, and her rationality returned.

Because Gu Fangchen was no longer in front of her.

Xuexiang panicked immediately, thinking that she had really absorbed the Crown Prince into her body.

"His Royal Highness?!"

"I'm here."

Gu Fangchen's voice rang in her ears, and even her breathing sounded just as distinct.

Xuexiang lay on the messy bed, her face flushed red, but her eyes were full of surprise and curiosity.

She could sense that the Crown Prince was indeed present in front of her, even intimately connected with her, but she could no longer see Gu Fangchen's presence.

"This is... um... hard to explain to you, just relax, I'm here."

Gu Fangchen's perspective is also quite peculiar now.

He is now almost completely attached to Xuexiang's soul, and the two are only one step away from merging.

The divine way of this world is very mysterious.

Even without a physical body, cultivators of the divine path can exist independently for a long time, or even abandon their physical bodies and produce offspring directly through spiritual intercourse, leaving behind many strange and wonderful legends among the people.

Therefore, the merging of consciousness... can also solve the problem.

However, Gu Fangchen is currently only a wisp of divine thought, which can probably only provide temporary relief. To completely detoxify, she would need to undergo a dozen or twenty more treatments.

As soon as Gu Fangchen made up her mind, she completely immersed herself in Xue Xiang's unguarded and unprotected soul. The two became one, blending together like water and milk.

Xuexiang bit her lip, feeling herself being flipped over in her dazed state.

She was clearly alone in the room, yet she could sense everything she was supposed to sense; it was so strange…

She buried her face in the pillow and covered her wriggling belly with her hand.

……

Ying Liangxin hid in a corner, cautiously watching the young man who suddenly ran to the bed to meditate.

Gu Fangchen had just been saying he would set her free, but in the blink of an eye, his face turned red, veins bulged on his forehead, and he looked like he was about to use violence against her.

Fortunately, he only forced himself to meditate immediately, his eyes bloodshot.

Ying Liangxin looked at his appearance and was startled:
"A gold hairpin pendant?"

Upon realizing this, she had a feeling that her life was over...

Fortunately, Gu Fangchen was right, as he had said, and did not intend to do anything to her.

Little did people know that all the peace and tranquility we enjoy is only possible because someone is bearing the burden for us...

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: 5,000 words, please vote with monthly tickets!
(End of this chapter)