Starting with being handed over to the Imperial Concubine, building a family with a thousand-year hi

Seeing his adoptive father's serious expression, Feng Bao knew his father's mind was made up and dared not object. He knelt down with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly, his voice firm: "Whatever adoptive father says, I will do! If adoptive father sends me to the Martial Arts Academy, I will go. I will cultivate diligently, live up to adoptive father's expectations, and become his capable assistant in the future, protecting him!"

"Good! Good! Good!" Su Mu was overjoyed and quickly helped Feng Bao up, a gratified smile on his face. "He truly is my good adopted son!"

After breakfast, Su Mu took out a Soul Nourishing Pill from his storage space and handed it to Feng Bao: "This Soul Nourishing Pill can nourish the soul. Take it to stabilize your soul and lay a better foundation for your future cultivation."

"Thank you, Godfather!" Feng Bao accepted the Soul Nourishing Pill with both hands, filled with gratitude. He immediately swallowed it, sat cross-legged on the ground, and began to refine the medicinal effects.

At dawn, footsteps sounded outside the study. Cao You, the newly adopted son, entered respectfully, bowed, and said, "Godfather, I greet you!"

"Get up," Su Mu said calmly. "What brings you here?"

Cao Youzhan stood up, bowed, and replied, "Father, today is Empress Lin Wen's coronation ceremony. The Emperor has sent me to invite you to the palace to attend the ceremony."

"Oh?" Su Mu raised an eyebrow, looking puzzled. "A coronation ceremony? Didn't Lin Wen already ascend the throne?"

"Reporting to my godfather, I have heard that Lin Zhengying, the sixth elder of the Tianwu Sect and the Empress's grandfather, will arrive in the capital early this morning. His Majesty has specially arranged the enthronement ceremony for today, firstly to formally confer the title of Empress and demonstrate the majesty of the imperial family; and secondly to welcome Elder Lin, thereby using the power of the Tianwu Sect to stabilize the court and deter all sides." Cao You respectfully reported what he knew.

"Hmm." Su Mu nodded, a hint of disdain on his face, and slowly said, "Go back and tell the Emperor that I have been busy with cultivation recently and have no time to attend. I will not be attending the coronation ceremony."

After saying that, he waved his hand, walked straight to the chair in front of the library, sat down, picked up a book and slowly flipped through it, ignoring Cao You.

Cao You was taken aback, his face showing difficulty—he had never imagined that his adoptive father would directly refuse the Emperor's invitation. The enthronement ceremony was a major event in the palace, and the Emperor had personally sent someone to invite him. If his adoptive father did not attend, he would inevitably offend the Emperor, the Empress, and Elder Lin. However, he dared not contradict his adoptive father and could only bow again: "Yes, adoptive father, I will go back to report immediately."

After speaking, Cao You carefully withdrew, secretly praying that the Emperor would not be angry because of his adoptive father's refusal.

After Cao You left, Su Mu put down the book, his smile vanishing instantly, replaced by icy coldness. He absolutely could not attend the Empress's coronation ceremony! Lin Wen had previously, without any investigation, sentenced him to four death sentences and even sent Wei Zhongxian to arrest him in the dead of night; clearly, she wanted to turn against him. Why should he give Lin Wen a friendly look?

That night, he refrained from killing Lin Wen in front of the Emperor, which was already a sign of restraint. There were two main reasons why he didn't take action.

Firstly, Lin Wen did not intentionally target him. Her decision to sentence him to death and send people to arrest him was all due to being misled by the Divine Judgment and Wei Zhongxian. In her view, those charges were reasonable. Secondly, killing Lin Wen in public would mean a complete break between him and the Xiao royal family, putting Xiao Anxun and the royal family in an extremely unfavorable situation.

He knew perfectly well that Lin Wen was the Emperor's principal wife, a royal concubine, and the granddaughter of Lin Zhengying. If Lin Wen were killed in public, even if Xiao Anxun valued him, he would not stand idly by—after all, Lin Wen was his wife and a royal concubine, and at that time, he and Xiao Anxun would inevitably become enemies.

Moreover, Xiao Anxun was no match for him at all—before Xiao Anxun even arrived at the library, Wei Zhongxian, a peak Grandmaster, had already been killed by him. Xiao Anxun was only at the mid-stage of the Grandmaster realm, and was by no means his opponent. However, if he were to turn against Xiao Anxun, the Xiao royal family would inevitably fall into chaos, and Lin Zhengying would certainly seek revenge for his granddaughter and take action against him.

The Xiao royal family is now in imminent danger, with tense border wars. If the newly promoted Grandmaster of Tianwu Sect were to betray them and join forces with other powers, the Xiao royal family might truly be destroyed. Even if the royal family survives, chaos will ensue, and the imperial aura within the palace will be greatly diminished, or even completely dissipated.

Su Mu absolutely did not want to see this outcome! The higher his cultivation level, the greater his need for imperial aura. The denser the imperial aura in the palace, the faster his cultivation speed would be. As long as the Great Qian Dynasty was stable and the Xiao royal family was secure, the imperial aura would be abundant, which would be the best situation for him—he could stay in the library to cultivate with peace of mind, break through to the Grandmaster level as soon as possible, and become stronger.

Su Mu could choose not to attend the coronation ceremony, but Xiao Anran, as a princess and a core member of the royal family, had to be present—the coronation ceremony was a major event for the royal family, and her presence was necessary to demonstrate the unity and majesty of the royal family.

Around noon, Feng Bao finished refining the effects of the Soul-Nourishing Pill, stood up, and found his divine soul more stable and his aura more refined. He left the Martial Arts Bureau and hurriedly returned to the Library Pavilion, where he found Su Mu.

While cooking, Feng Bao told Su Mu about his arrangements at Shangwu Academy, respectfully saying, "Godfather, I have made all the arrangements. From now on, I will stay at Shangwu Academy to cultivate, and I will come back to visit you every now and then."

Su Mu nodded, his tone gentle: "Alright, while you are in the Martial Arts Academy, you must cultivate diligently, humbly learn from the masters, avoid arrogance and complacency, and never argue with others. Protect yourself."

"Your son understands, Godfather!" Feng Bao bowed and replied, full of gratitude.

After lunch, Feng Bao packed his belongings, bowed deeply to Su Mu, and said reluctantly, "Godfather, I must take my leave!"

"Go ahead." Su Mu waved his hand, a smile on his face. "Cultivate well, and don't disappoint me."

Feng Bao nodded, turned and left the library, heading towards the Martial Arts Bureau. He didn't feel much reluctance—he knew he could often return to visit his adoptive father and continue to stay by his side.

In the afternoon, after attending the coronation ceremony, Xiao Anran hurriedly left the palace hall and went to the library again. At the library entrance, she saw Su Mu browsing through books and quickly approached him with a helpless smile: "Lord Su, you're really willful! The Emperor personally sent someone to invite you to the coronation ceremony, and you didn't even go."

Su Mu raised his head, glanced at her, and said calmly, "I'm busy with cultivation and don't have time for those boring occasions. What's wrong? Is someone unhappy?"

"That's right!" Xiao Anran sighed helplessly. "Lin Zhengying, the sixth elder of the Tianwu Sect, arrived in the capital early this morning. Seeing that you did not attend the enthronement ceremony, he looked very unhappy and was quite dissatisfied. He doesn't care that you missed the ceremony; what he cares about is that you, as the loyal and filial Grand Eunuch of the palace, have been so disrespectful to him, a Grandmaster."

Su Mu curled his lips into a disdainful smile and said indifferently, "So what if he's disrespectful? I don't know him at all, and we have no relationship. Respect is mutual—if he treats me with respect, I'll treat him with even greater respect; if he doesn't respect me, I don't need to give him face. Refusing to participate in the ceremony is just my way of making my stance clear."