Dugong

Chapter 71 Fist is Power
Li Ping'an extended his large palm and slammed it hard against the old woman's head.

The old woman's expression changed drastically. With no time to dodge, she had no choice but to use her protective technique. Her aged, wrinkled skin tightened instantly, revealing a bluish-gray copper-iron color.

Bang!
The force of the impact hit her face, sending the old nanny flying dozens of feet before crashing into the wall of the Cold Palace.

"Cough cough cough..."

The old woman vomited several mouthfuls of blood, then stood up shakily from the ruins. There was a half-inch deep palm print on her left cheek, her jawbone was broken, and her cheek was deformed.

"It is truly rare for a woman to cultivate such a powerful martial arts technique!"

Li Ping'an gave a sigh of admiration, but did not take the opportunity to pursue and kill them. Instead, he coldly looked at the shirtless old eunuch.

"We are entrusted with this task, and we must be loyal to it. However, if things are beyond our control, preserving our lives is the priority. Repaying the debt of gratitude is not important."

The old eunuch deliberately spoke slowly and deliberately, secretly counting to more than twenty, and saw that Li Ping'an's breathing showed no signs of weakening.

Instead, he had consumed more than 50% of his own energy, so he immediately dispelled his Vajra Indestructible power and used his lightness skill to leave the Cold Palace.

Li Ping'an stood in the doorway of the palace and didn't move, letting the fellow leave.

"We'll remember you..."

The thought had barely crossed his mind when the old eunuch was already flying back.

Regardless of what this fellow intended, Li Ping'an immediately unleashed a double punch, only to see the old eunuch stand there blankly, neither dodging nor avoiding, and with a bang, his body shattered into a shower of blood.

"Who?"

My heart suddenly tightened. There were only a handful of people in the palace who could kill the old eunuch silently.

A figure in a green robe walked slowly towards them. His steps seemed ordinary, but upon closer inspection, one would find that his feet were half an inch off the ground, and his whole body was floating in mid-air.

"You are very good."

Upon hearing the praise, Li Ping'an did not dispel his Vajra Indestructible power. Instead, he gathered his true energy at his fingertips, bowed, and said, "This junior greets Eunuch Wei."

Eunuch Wei asked in surprise, "You've heard of my name?"

"Grandpa once told the younger generation about this."

Li Ping'an was on edge and took the initiative to explain his relationship with Eunuch Chu: "Grandpa said that Eunuch Wei has protected three dynasties and is truly the most loyal and meritorious minister of the Great Yong Dynasty!"

Eunuch Wei sneered, "Little Chu wouldn't flatter me like that, and he certainly wouldn't dare to fight me."

"It's my first time meeting a Grandmaster of the Innate Realm, and I'm genuinely a little nervous."

Li Ping'an felt as if he were standing on the edge of an abyss. According to Eunuch Chu's description, the martial arts master in front of him was extraordinary, capable of breaking through a thousand armors by himself and capturing flags from ten thousand troops.

The exact nature of the Innate Realm was not clearly explained by Eunuch Chu.

Perhaps they dare not say it, or perhaps they do not know.

Upon hearing the words "innate," the heavily injured old woman beside him shone with light in her eyes and said, "Even if I die at the hands of a grandmaster, it will not be a waste of my learning."

Without even glancing at him, Eunuch Wei turned and left, disappearing into the moonlight in a few steps.

"Since you're staying in the Cold Palace, I'll go back to the Hall of Diligent Governance."

The new emperor has only been on the throne for a day and has not yet officially ascended the throne. Even if he has the support of the officials and nobles, there is no guarantee that some ruthless prince will not take risks for the throne.

"Respectfully seeing off Eunuch Wei."

Li Ping'an watched Wei Gonggong's departing figure and couldn't help but feel a little envious. When did we start referring to ourselves as "I"?

It was at least five or six years ago; I don't know if I'll ever have another chance in this lifetime.

"The innate, the innate..."

Li Ping'an found that after eating white flour buns, new desires kept arising one after another: he wanted to get rich, he wanted to become an official, and now he had an innate ability.

He picked up the black iron cane from the ground, weighed it in his hand, circulated his true energy into his arm, and hurled it fiercely at the old woman.

Stab it!

The cane pierced through the old woman's chest and then sank two or three feet into the ground.

Li Ping'an dispelled his Vajra Indestructible power, leaving only a small amount of true energy to protect his body from sneak attacks such as poison needles and hidden weapons.

His clothes were completely torn and he was naked. He went to his room to change his clothes before returning to the main hall to pay his respects to the Empress.

"Your Majesty, I'm so sorry to have startled you."

"It's alright. Although I have lived in the inner palace for a long time, I have also experienced life and death several times."

The Empress looked at Li Ping'an with increasing satisfaction. Her previous closeness stemmed from his care and filial piety over the years, and now that he had received praise from Duke Wei, she considered him a reliable confidant and pillar of the state. "Little Anzi, I don't know much about Duke Wei, I only know that he is from Ningjin County."

"Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty."

Li Ping'an's eyes darted around, and a look of regret appeared on his face: "Our ancestors were from Ningjin County. We fled to Hengyang because we couldn't find food. We are practically from the same hometown as Lord Wei. We should have caught up with each other earlier!"

Since Eunuch Wei had been castrated before entering the palace, he was probably destitute in those days. When poor fellow villagers meet, they immediately become close.

The Empress smiled slightly, thinking, "Little Anzi is truly amusing."

"Then you should read more of the Ningjin County Annals, lest you accidentally let something slip and annoy Lord Wei."

"Your Majesty is right."

Li Ping'an, having received guidance and instruction from Eunuch Chu, deeply understands that what the elderly nobles in the palace need is not only filial piety and ability, but also the ability to amuse and cheer them up.

In old age and declining health, emotional value is more effective than gold and silver jewelry.

Li Ping'an seized the opportunity and told several jokes, which made the Empress giggle. Then he lamented the bitterness of his youth.

He said that his elder sister and younger brother had starved to death, and that he had to fight with dogs for food, which brought tears to the Empress's eyes.

Of course, all of this is based on Li Ping'an's martial arts prowess. If it were someone else complaining, they would probably be dragged out and slapped, but the Empress is kind-hearted and cannot bear to see the people suffer.

……

The next day.

The sky is bright.

Li Ping'an stood by the bedside all night, pretending to sleep. In the latter half of the night, the Empress, feeling sorry for his hard work, allowed him to sit in a chair and keep watch.

The apology was met with tears of gratitude. There was no rule in the palace that one should sit on night duty. Perhaps the Empress was testing him to see if he was arrogant because of his achievements.

It would be a huge waste for our family to work so hard and ruin our future because of a little comfort.

suddenly.

Hearing the sound of hurried footsteps, Li Ping'an suddenly opened his eyes and flashed into the courtyard.

An old eunuch led dozens of young eunuchs, standing anxiously outside the gate, not daring to step over even though the gate of the Cold Palace had collapsed.

Upon seeing Li Ping'an appear, he greeted him with a fawning smile: "Greetings, Eunuch An. I am Wu Qianshu, the Vice Director of the Palace Guard. I heard that the walls of the Cold Palace had collapsed due to years of disrepair, so I quickly brought people here to repair them."

Li Ping'an glanced at the cane stuck diagonally in the ground and the corpses strung on it, and greatly admired Wu Gonggong's ability to lie through his teeth.

Such a large corpse, with blood and broken bones scattered all over the ground, did not exist in his eyes at all.

"Isn't the repair of the palace walls under the jurisdiction of the Directorate of Palace Attendants?"

"Eunuch An is unaware of something."

Eunuch Wu explained, "His Majesty is expanding and repairing the imperial mausoleum for the late emperor, and the Palace Attendants Bureau is too busy to handle it all. The Palace Attendants Bureau is temporarily taking over the repair work in the palace."

Li Ping'an narrowed his eyes slightly, subconsciously guessing that the new emperor wanted to adjust the power structure of the Inner Palace Affairs Bureau.

The term "temporarily assigned" has no specific time limit. It is uncertain whether the duties will be transferred to other departments after a while, which would effectively reduce the power of the Directorate of Palace Attendants.

The two supervisory commissioners will inevitably fight for power, and the new emperor only needs to make slight adjustments to ensure that he can completely control the situation.

"Then I'll trouble you, Father-in-law. Please remember to keep your voice down, as Her Majesty is still resting."

"You're too kind, Eunuch An. It's just my duty."

Eunuch Wu immediately ordered his men to move bricks and wash the bloodstains off the ground with water. However, even with three or four eunuchs working together, they couldn't pull out the cane.

Li Ping'an raised an eyebrow: "How has the Inner Martial Arts Hall been teaching? It's getting worse every year!"

With a bitter face, Eunuch Wu said, "You can't say that. Anyone with a bit of ability wouldn't be assigned to work in our Palace Guard."

Li Ping'an stepped forward and easily pulled out his cane with one hand, causing the eunuchs to exclaim in surprise.

Eunuch Wu bowed slightly and flattered, "Eunuch An is exceptionally talented. With such martial arts skills, his rise to prominence is just around the corner!"

"Thank you for your kind words, Father-in-law."

Li Ping'an glanced at Eunuch Wu's green official robe, then looked at his own fist.

The first time he used force to gain power and prestige, he suddenly realized that fists were power, a more solid backing than godfathers, godfathers, or even ancestors.

(End of this chapter)