The low-key prince summons trainees from the Imperial Household Department at the start of the game.

After Liu Quan took his leave, only Chunlan and Qiuju remained in the side hall, circling around Zhou Xing. One brought him ginseng soup to replenish his energy, while the other brought a thin blanket to cover him in case he caught a cold.

Zhou Xing obediently drank the ginseng soup, put on a blanket, and then said he wanted to go out for a walk to get some fresh air.

Chunlan wanted to stop him, but seeing that His Highness was in good spirits, she gave in and followed him closely.

The osmanthus blossoms in the Imperial Garden are fragrant, and sunlight filters through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the bluestone path.

Zhou Xing walked slowly along the path, and stopped when he passed the old locust tree next to the artificial rockery.

A gray sparrow in the tree was tilting its head and looking at him, chirping twice.

Zhou Xingchong smiled, extended his index finger with the tip pointing upwards, as if greeting the sparrow.

The gray sparrow tilted its head and looked at him for a while, then suddenly flapped its wings and flew away, the sound of its wings fluttering particularly crisp in the quiet Imperial Garden.

As Zhou Xing watched the direction it flew away, the smile on his lips deepened.

Because he heard it clearly; every flap of the gray sparrow's wings as it flew away was clearly audible to him.

He could even tell that it was an adult sparrow, weighing about two ounces. When it took off, it used more force with its left wing than its right wing, so its flight path was slightly to the left.

This information was not analyzed by his consciousness, but rather automatically captured by his senses.

This is the change brought about by foundation building: an enhancement of perception.

For ordinary people, this improvement might simply mean "more sensitive hearing" or "brighter eyesight."

But for him, this means that the accuracy and efficiency of intelligence gathering will enter a completely new stage.

He lingered in the Imperial Garden a little longer, and as he walked past the pavilion by the lotus pond, he saw a tall figure patrolling along the path in the distance.

The man was wearing black armor from the Imperial Guard, with a standard long sword hanging at his waist. His steps were steady and powerful, each step on the bluestone slab carrying the same rhythm.

It's Xu Chu.

The moment their eyes met, Zhou Xing nodded slightly.

The movement was so subtle that even Chunlan behind him might not have noticed it.

Xu Chu did not stop walking, but placed his right hand on his left breastplate, performing a silent salute.

With the prince having successfully established his foundation, as the deputy commander of the Imperial Guard, he had every reason to congratulate His Highness. This silent gesture would not cause any problems even if it were seen by others.

Zhou Xing continued walking forward, and while passing through a bamboo forest path, he "bumped into" Zhan Zhao again.

Zhan Zhao was not on duty today, so he changed into a simple set of casual clothes, but the sword that he had never drawn in public was still hanging at his waist.

He was leaning against a pillar in the pavilion, holding a book in his hand, as if he were enjoying the cool air while reading.

Seeing Zhou Xing approaching from afar, he leisurely closed his book, stood up, and bowed slightly, his movements as casual as if he were stretching his muscles.

As Zhou Xing passed by him, he said in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Instructor Zhan, please give me some pointers on your lightness skill another day."

A fleeting smile flashed in Zhan Zhao's eyes, but his expression remained calm as he replied, "This humble general will be at your service, Your Highness."

His answer was perfectly proper, like a subject responding to a prince, without the slightest impropriety.

On the way back to the side hall from the Imperial Garden, Zhou Xing was in a good mood.

It wasn't the kind of ecstatic joy, but rather a calm, confident feeling that everything was progressing according to plan.

His perception improved, which means that his ability to receive and process information has taken a step forward.

More importantly, from today onwards, he can legitimately contact Xu Chu, Zhan Zhao, and the others. It is perfectly normal for a prince to seek martial arts advice from the experts of the Imperial Guard after he has achieved Foundation Establishment, and no one will suspect anything.

Once this barrier of identity is broken, his connection with the Imperial Guard will have an extra layer of legal cover, and he will no longer need to secretly pass notes.

Back in the side hall, Chunlan had already prepared lunch.

Today's dishes were much more plentiful than usual: a small bowl of black chicken soup with goji berries, a plate of steamed sea bass, a bowl of soft and sticky red date rice, and a plate of bright green stir-fried bok choy.

As Chunlan served him soup, she murmured, "Your Highness has expended a lot of energy today; you need to replenish it. This chicken soup was started before dawn and simmered over a low flame for a full two hours..."

Zhou Xing sat at the table, sipping his soup from the bowl.

The soup was very flavorful, with the umami of the black-boned chicken and the sweetness of the goji berries blending together. As it slid down my throat, the warmth spread all the way to my lower abdomen.

The faint vortex of energy in his dantian seemed to be nourished by this warmth, and it spun more smoothly than before.

After he finished the last sip of soup and put down the bowl, Qiuju quickly brought him mouthwash.

Chunlan nodded in satisfaction, thinking that His Highness's good appetite today was a good omen.

What she didn't notice was that His Highness's gaze as he drank the soup was so calm that it didn't seem like that of a seven-year-old child who had just established his foundation. It wasn't the composure a child should have, but rather the natural calmness of an adult after completing a key milestone in a plan.

After lunch, Zhou Xing did not go to play in the yard as usual, but said he wanted to go back to his room to review the "Qi Cultivation Manual".

Although Chunlan felt that His Highness was working too hard, she didn't say much. She just told him not to overwork himself and quietly closed the door and left.

Zhou Xing sat cross-legged on the bed, opened the book "The Secret of Nourishing Qi" left by Liu Quan, and began to read it page by page.

The booklet was only a dozen pages long, and he already knew its contents by heart, but he was still pondering it word by word, not the technique itself, but the things behind the technique.

The "Qi Cultivation Technique" is a foundation-building exercise commonly used in the inner court, which means that all princes and princesses have practiced this technique.

The exercise itself is fine; it is balanced, moderate, and steady, making it the most suitable introductory exercise for beginners.

But the question is, what path should one take after establishing the foundation?

According to Liu Quan, after a prince establishes his foundation, the emperor or the Grand Commandant's office will select a suitable cultivation technique from the royal armory based on each person's physique and talent.

There's a lot of room for maneuver here. Favored princes can naturally get high-level cultivation techniques; unfavored princes might just be given a first-rate cultivation technique and that's it.

He was the ninth prince, the least favored of the seventeen princes.

If he follows the normal procedure, he will most likely get a mediocre low-grade cultivation technique.

However, the grade of the cultivation technique is not the most pressing issue for him. He has a system, and there will be plenty of ways to solve the cultivation technique problem in the future.

However, he cannot stand out too much, nor can he perform too poorly. He needs to strike the right balance. If he does it too fast, it will attract unnecessary attention and suspicion.

He's too slow; people will think he's hopeless, and no one will respect him in the future.

He needs to find a precise balance between being "good" and "not garish".

Earning one item a month, this pace should be just right.

It's faster than that of an ordinary prince, but not as outrageous as Zhao Gao's entry into the first rank in ten days. It won't arouse excessive vigilance, but it also won't cause anyone to forget about it.

Given the precedent set by Xu Chu and his three companions, if he were to act too conspicuously, it would only attract unnecessary scrutiny.

Maintaining a moderate to high pace and moving forward steadily is the best long-term strategy.

He silently considered his next cultivation plan, then closed the "Qi Cultivation Manual" and placed it under his pillow.

It was late at night, and the side hall was quiet.

The spring orchids and autumn chrysanthemums have already faded away, and the moonlight outside the window seeps in through the window paper, casting a silvery white glow on the ground.

Zhou Xing didn't sleep. He pulled out another booklet from under his pillow. It wasn't "The Art of Nourishing Qi," but a blank booklet that he had bound himself.

By the moonlight, he turned to the first page, which contained a densely drawn diagram of relationships. It was his hand-drawn diagram of the power structure of the imperial palace, showing Zhao Gao, Wei Zhongxian, Gao Lishi, Zheng He, Xu Chu, Dian Wei, Zhan Zhao, Li Yuanfang, Lu Changfeng, and Yi Dun.

Each person's name was marked in their respective position, and next to each person, their current status and next plan were written in small print.

Of course, these names use simplified Chinese characters from the previous life, which people in this world don't recognize at all, and would only think they are scribbles.

Then he put a checkmark next to Foundation Establishment.

Then, in the "Next" column, three lines of text were added.

First line: Within one month, enter the first rank.

The second line: Contact the maternal clan and investigate the whereabouts of the maternal grandparents' family.

The third line: Heshengyuan, which will achieve profitability within three months.

After writing these three lines, he closed the booklet and tucked it back under his pillow.

Deep in the original owner's memory, there was always a blurry figure: a woman dressed in coarse cloth. Her face was no longer clear, but she was remembered to have a gentle voice and to sing a southern folk song whose name she did not know.

That woman was the birth mother of this body, a palace maid in the cold palace, who died of postpartum hemorrhage when she gave birth to him.

Regarding his maternal grandparents' family, the original owner only had a vague impression in his memory. It seemed that they were farmers in a village on the outskirts of Beijing, and their surname was Shen.

Before my mother entered the palace, although my maternal grandparents' family was poor, they could still ask someone to bring some dried sweet potatoes they grew themselves to the palace during festivals.

After my mother died, this connection was severed.

He wasn't looking for relatives for the original owner of the body; he was the Ninth Prince, Zhou Xing, and his ambitions were far greater than those of this palace.

But a person cannot be without roots, especially in a world that values ​​birth and social standing.

Although his maternal clan was of humble origin, if they could be found, they might come in handy.

Even a few honest farmers could serve as a secret stronghold for him outside the palace.

Moreover, he needed a private space that belonged entirely to him and was not controlled by any power. A manor, a few acres of land, or even just a farmhouse on the outskirts of Beijing would be much freer than this side hall where he was constantly being watched.

He closed his eyes and let himself sink into the tiny vortex of energy in his dantian.

The cyclone rotated slowly, like an engine that never stops, humming in the silent night with a sound that only it could hear.