Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

Jin Yu sighed, "It's really bad timing. These past few days have been Consort Wan's birthday, but she gave birth to a child and ended up on the execution ground."

Chu Mingkong thought to himself, "It seems I should also go to the palace to offer my condolences and improve my favorability, so that Consort Wan won't change her mind and turn her anger towards me later."

This kind of woman is terrifying. I'd call her "Mom" as a way of giving her a son in return, but I don't know if that's acceptable.

Chapter 74 The Son is More Valuable than the Mother (42/51)

Jin Yu went to play with Yong Zhen, and Chu Mingkong didn't dare to accompany her, but only saw her out of the book pavilion.

Chu Mingkong walked around to the stable, where the beautiful mare he had snatched from the Fifth Prince was still there. This kind of horse was extremely docile and would not run away without being tied up. It would eat by itself nearby.

Touching the mare's muscular, rounded rump, and then stroking her mane, Chu Mingkong suddenly remembered that he hadn't named her yet.

"You were given to the Fifth Prince by the Empress, so how about I just call you the Dog Empress? From now on, whenever I call you the Dog Empress, you'll have to come and ride me, okay?"

Although this beautiful mare was somewhat intelligent, she couldn't understand the meaning of every word a person said. She turned around to graze, leaving Chu Mingkong with only her rump. In terms of generosity towards those behind her, even Shangguan Rong couldn't match this horse.

"Is it good that Rong'er is so willing to turn her back to me?" Chu Mingkong said regretfully, then pondered its name and shook his head, "The name Empress is not good. It would be inappropriate if others heard it outside. Calling someone Empress indiscriminately is a serious crime. How about I call you Consort in public? And when we're alone, I'll call you Empress?"

But then again, does a horse even know it has so many names? That seems a bit awkward.

Chu Mingkong's thoughts first lingered on the horse, then jumped from the horse to Consort Wan.

Consort Wan tried her best to please him, and she did leave a handle on Chu Mingkong, namely that imperial clan token. This token meant that she had taken the initiative to "invite the wolf into the house" and put a dangerous person like Chu Mingkong into the palace.

It's hard to say whether she felt life was meaningless after the Fifth Prince's death, and became more and more extreme, even wanting to drag Chu Mingkong down with her. If that happened, Chu Mingkong would really be in deep trouble.

Chu Mingkong is genuinely afraid of this now. He's not afraid of death itself, but he's terrified of those who aren't afraid of death. If it were just a minor affair with a palace maid or female official, at most only he would be punished. But since the affair involves someone of the rank of Imperial Concubine, the Cui family, who are currently in close contact with him, will be greatly implicated.

"System, is there anything that can ensure my allies won't betray me?" Chu Mingkong asked, then paused, realizing that even he was afraid of being betrayed, so it was understandable that Rong'er was afraid as well.

[Recite the first two levels of the "True Scripture of Harmony between Heaven and Earth Yin and Yang" again.]

Entering the palace to retain essence without damaging the original yin and yang

The flower's core is planted with demonic energy, and the woman cannot escape it in this life.

Flower core planted with demons?

Is this some kind of attack on Consort Wan?

"I'm curious, this Flower Core Demon... can it really twist other people's will? After dealing a wave of damage, they become your allies? They forget all the deep-seated hatred from the past?"

"Of course not. This second layer is more like a punishment. If she harbors any intention to harm you, she will suffer unbearable punishment."

"What punishment?"

[This is equivalent to an attack of the Supreme Acacia Dew; only your essence can cure it.]

"..."

It was indeed quite heretical and unorthodox, but this outcome actually made it much more acceptable to Chu Mingkong. If having sex could twist someone's will and force them to like you, wouldn't that be turning them into a doll? Under such circumstances, would the affection gained from the woman still have any meaning?

Those weren't the other person's true wishes; they were merely products distorted by the "Hehuan Zhenjing" (True Scripture of Union). Now, this is actually acceptable.

"Rong'er just mentioned that Consort Wan's birthday is coming up? Let's cook longevity noodles and send them over, and observe her reaction while we're at it."

The beautiful mare suddenly nuzzled Chu Mingkong with her head, pulling him back to reality.

"From now on, I'll call you Xiao Zuo. You'll have plenty of food and supplies. I'm going to ride you, ride you hard, understand?"

----------

Practice makes perfect, and Chu Mingkong slipped into the palace again, forcing the strategic resource of the Dustless Talisman into a consumption mode.

"It seems that the spiritual power of the Dust-Free Talisman is consumed faster inside the palace than outside. We need to hurry."

Chu Mingkong entered Huaxian Palace and, as usual, observed the palace maids around the palace. This time, he did not find anyone particularly suspicious, so he followed the palace maid who opened the door and went into Consort Wan's bedroom.

It was already noon, but Consort Wan was still lying in bed, not dressed up, wearing only a plain white undergarment, which made her skin look pale.

Even knowing her son was vicious and wanted to kill her, and having already taken ruthless measures to send him away, she would still remember the good things he had done for her. Before the Fifth Prince discovered that the Empress's children were so much better than the Consort's children, he still respected his birth mother. But Consort Wan's thoughts were mostly about her son from back then.

Chu Mingkong found a place to sit down and observed how Consort Wan would react. If she really wanted to take revenge on him, then when the news of her son's death sentence came today, Consort Wan would have some reaction.

He was heartbroken over his dust-free talisman, but there was nothing he could do.

Consort Wan didn't seem to have eaten yet. Before Chu Mingkong arrived, a palace maid had already brought her a meal, but it had gotten cold and the maid had taken it away. Chu Mingkong hadn't been sitting for long when the maid came in again.

Upon hearing the news of the Fifth Prince, a somber silence descended upon Huaxian Palace. No one dared to speak loudly for fear of angering Consort Wan. Even birds that stopped to rest were shooed away by the palace maids to avoid disturbing the Consort, who was in a bad mood.

"Your Highness, please get up and eat something. It's past noon, and you haven't eaten anything since yesterday. Your health will deteriorate..."

Consort Wan seemed not to hear the palace maid's words, her eyes fixed blankly on the top of the curtain, before finally replying to the maid after a long while:

"...I have no appetite, you can go out now."

The palace maid had no other choice but to take her leave for the time being. However, she would still come in every now and then to bring a hot meal to replace the cold one.

Chu Mingkong's buttocks were getting sore from sitting for so long. He was about to get up and have a chat with Consort Wan when an unexpected guest arrived at Wanxian Palace.

Xiao Chengren of the Xiao family is the biological father of Consort Wan and Princess Chu, and the maternal grandfather of Chu Mingkong.

Xiao Chengren's temples were slightly gray. Although he was middle-aged, he had not neglected his cultivation and could be described as heroic and extraordinary. Given that he had given birth to two daughters with such good looks, his own appearance was naturally not bad either.

Back then, Xiao Chengren gave his eldest daughter to the Minister's family for adoption because he feared that the Xiao family would become too powerful and attract unwanted attention. These aristocratic families knew very well what kind of women had the potential to be selected as imperial concubines.

Xiao Chengren's two daughters are more than capable of doing so. As long as they can enter the palace, with their family background and their own efforts, becoming the emperor's favored concubines will not be a problem. With a family background, everything is easier than for others.

While the concubines appeared to be the emperor's favorites, some of them were actually involved in political marriages, where family background played a crucial role.

Chu Mingkong asked in disbelief, "Don't the Xiao family and the Minister's family have little to do with each other? What is my grandfather doing here?"

Xiao Chengren first offered polite greetings about the Imperial Concubine's health, then his expression darkened, and he demanded an accusatory question:

"Xiao Hua, why didn't you protect the Fifth Prince?!"

Chapter 75 The following is for the Imperial Concubine to eat (43/51)

That's interesting. The adopted daughter still calls him Xiao Hua. Is she trying to remind him that she is a member of the Xiao family, or to emphasize that the fifth prince is a grandson of the Xiao family?

Consort Wan did not get out of bed. When the palace maid led Xiao Chengren in, she helped Consort Wan lower the curtain. They had been talking through the curtain.

Consort Wan appeared indifferent to her biological father's harsh words, and she sneered:

“My surname is Wan. And Lord Xiao, you’ve misunderstood something. It’s not that I didn’t want to protect the prince, but that he took a risky approach and brought about his own downfall. He wanted to use me as a bargaining chip to gain merit.”

Xiao Chengren sneered, "Being adopted into the Minister's family is only in name! You were born a member of the Xiao family, and you'll die a member of the Xiao family! Don't forget how you became a Noble Consort. Without the support of your family, you would have been devoured by those other concubines long ago! Look at those concubines in the harem, do they eat and live as well as you? Now you think you're something special?"

"You're the ones who sent me into the palace. Who made me live in constant fear? My son used to be so obedient and well-behaved. You've been brainwashing him all day long, instilling the idea of ​​ascending the throne in him. You've turned him into this blind man who does homosexual acts. You even want to use me, his own mother, as leverage to seize power. Tell me, who killed him?"

Unexpectedly, Consort Wan refuted him. Xiao Chengren was taken aback, paced back and forth a couple of times with his hands behind his back, and said in a low voice:

"Do you think I can't see through your tricks? You could have kept quiet about the palace maid who died in your Huaxian Palace to the Imperial Clan Court. The Fifth Prince wants to frame you, so what if you admit it? The Xiao family will rescue you then."

After the eldest prince's death, the fifth prince has a good chance of succeeding to the throne. Among the princes, he is the most ambitious and talented. Even if he doesn't ascend the throne, his merits will at least earn him a title of prince. Once he has his title, what's wrong with taking you, his birth mother, to enjoy a life of leisure?"

"Ha! Save me? That's an easy way to put it." Consort Wan was too lazy to reason with her, nor did she have the energy to do so.

When Xiao Chengren revealed the plot that forced her to acknowledge the Fifth Prince, Consort Wan no longer wanted to talk to him.

If the Fifth Prince were to fall from grace for some reason, and she, as his mother, were forced to sacrifice her life for him, Consort Wan would be willing to give her all for her son without complaint. If she didn't have this thought in mind, why would she risk leaving the palace to find Chu Mingkong?

But the Fifth Prince didn't just treat her like a mother; he treated her like an enemy and tried to harm her!

When Consort Wan heard the Fifth Prince say those words with her own ears, she really felt that she had been too foolish in the past. She couldn't understand why the relationship between mother and son had become like this. She couldn't even bear to get angry with him and risked her life to help him through the crisis. Even if he didn't feel grateful behind her back, but only complained that she wasn't the Empress, Consort Wan could pretend not to hear it. Anyway... it wasn't the first time she had heard her son complain about her like this.

But his smug expression, as if he had avenged a great wrong, completely shattered her defenses.

Her own son behaved this way, and now her biological father is coming over and accusing her of not acknowledging the crime of her son framing her.

Xiao Chengren knew that Consort Wan doubted and distrusted his words, but he did not refute her. He confidently said:

"Even in the current situation, the Xiao family has the ability to save the Fifth Prince. If you were imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison, the Xiao family would also have the ability to save you. In that case, it would be Wan Hua who dies. What good would it do for you to return to the Xiao family and become Xiao Hua?"

Even if we save the Fifth Prince now, it's still difficult to guarantee his position as prince.

Chu Mingkong nodded. "You plan to save the Fifth Prince, right?"

However, after listening to what Xiao Chengren's grandfather said, Chu Mingkong felt that the Xiao family was quite ambitious.

Normal wealthy and powerful families have deep-rooted industrial foundations. No matter how the dynasty changes, they don't care about the fate of the outside world. As long as their own family can continue to exist, that's enough. It's normal for them to send their daughters to the palace for political security.

It seems that the Xiao family of this generation is not satisfied with being one of the top five surnames.

First, send a daughter to Xiling as the princess. Without Chu Mingkong's appearance, the future king of Xiling would have half of the Xiao family bloodline. Then, there is also a concubine's son in the capital who has the Xiao family bloodline.

If they're lucky, they might ascend the throne; if they're unlucky, they'll just be made kings. In that case, the Xiao family would have produced two kings and marquises at once.

If the Fifth Prince were to eliminate Chu Mingkong, it would not only accumulate merit for the princes in the capital, but also eliminate a powerful elder brother for the original heir of Xiling, Chu Nanzhao, allowing him to smoothly become the heir and inherit the title of King of Xiling in the future.

Kill two birds with one stone, achieve two goals at once!

Chu Mingkong walked up to Xiao Chengren, and the more he looked at him, the more suspicious he seemed. He muttered to himself:

"You, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, don't look like a good person to me!"

Xiao Chengren did not linger and quickly turned to leave.

Just as Chu Mingkong was about to step over the threshold, he suddenly stuck out his foot and tripped Xiao Chengren, who fell flat on his face and landed on the ground, looking back at the threshold with a bewildered expression.

Xiao Chengren: "???"

Consort Wan: "...Pfft!"

Palace maid: "......"

"That shouldn't be the case. Even if my cultivation level reaches the threshold, I should be able to shatter it," Xiao Chengren thought to himself.

He instinctively felt that what he had just touched was not a threshold, but someone had tripped him. But how could Huaxian Palace hide anyone? He hadn't seen anyone just now, and even now when he released his senses, he still couldn't sense anyone!

It's a ghost!

"What are you laughing at!" Xiao Chengren angrily rebuked the palace maid beside him.

In reality, this was meant to intimidate Consort Wan. He dared not be disrespectful to the Consort in front of so many people, so he could only intimidate the palace maid to "set an example for others."

He tripped and fell for no reason, and in front of so many people, he couldn't bear the embarrassment and quickly left.

Once Huaxian Palace had quieted down again, Consort Wan sat up and softly called out into the room, "Mingkong?"