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

Chu Mingkong picked her up and, despite Consort Wan's shameful resistance, led her to the mirror to admire her captivating figure.

...Afterwards, Consort Wan felt somewhat resentful and angry. Her sense of shame was aggrieved by Chu Mingkong, and she had completely exposed her ugly side to him. However, Chu Mingkong considerately helped her change her clothes and simply hugged her to cheer her up, so Consort Wan couldn't bear to stay angry.

"I have to go, it's getting late."

"I will be leaving the palace in the next few days. You can come find me then."

"It's a bit risky, don't bother coming out." Chu Mingkong meant it sincerely. If the Fifth Prince hadn't made the foolish mistake of ordering a palace maid to monitor Consort Wan, this matter probably wouldn't have been resolved so easily.

"It's not risky. On the day the Fifth Prince is executed, I can leave the palace. You can come find your mother, and she'll play with you."

Did the Fifth Prince come to visit him on the day his head was chopped off...? Chu Mingkong felt this day was a bit strange, but since Consort Wan thought so, he had no reason to be pretentious.

Before leaving, Chu Mingkong hugged her again: "Don't rush to help me find clues. Mother's safety is more important. If you feel that any clues are not right, just tell me and I can send people to investigate. Mother's safety is more important than anything else."

"very nice......"

Consort Wan's jade-like arms encircled him, her pink face nuzzling against his chest, her care revealing boundless maternal love.

Chapter 78 It turns out this is a gift with continuous rewards (45/51)

As the saying goes: If love between two people is meant to last, why should they be seen coming and going?

When it's time to leave, you have to leave. Chu Mingkong didn't want to open a new Dust-Free Talisman. This Dust-Free Talisman was like a timer in a massage parlor that charges by the hour; even though you felt you hadn't enjoyed it enough, it kept urging you to leave soon. If it were about money, Chu Mingkong could afford it, but a Dust-Free Talisman... he really couldn't afford it.

Left with no other option, they had to surrender and hastily end the matter.

Before leaving the palace, Chu Mingkong left Consort Wan a jade dildo, a filial gift he had previously prepared with great care. This was a truly difficult item to give away, and seeing that his relationship with Consort Wan was nearly complete, Chu Mingkong gifted her one for her to keep.

The items extracted from the system do have some unique features. They become invisible after being infused with spiritual power and are very difficult to detect. If you don't remember where you put them, you'll probably lose them.

But losing such a thing is better than having it discovered by outsiders. According to the official rules, even if concubines use such toys, it's considered planting a seed of envy in the emperor's heart. However, there are just too many people in the harem. It doesn't matter how the insignificant concubines and officials use them, as long as they don't steal from others. But a noble consort can't be discovered using such a thing.

After Chu Mingkong left the palace, Consort Wan opened the window to let in some fresh air, allowing the atmosphere in the room to dissipate.

In fact, before Chu Mingkong left, he had already cleaned up almost all the dirty places in Consort Wan's bedroom. It wouldn't hurt to let the palace maids come in to finish up, so they wouldn't suspect that a battle between men and women had taken place there.

Moreover, he would dip his fingers in the ointment and then apply it to the affected area to massage it, relieving the initial pain. The fact that he was so considerate made Consort Wan feel both curious and uncomfortable. She felt uncomfortable because she was being taken care of so attentively.

"I've never heard of a villain who's fierce and ruthless outside being so considerate to a woman in her room. Could it be that this is why there were rumors that even though he's a prince, he's treated women with such humility?"

If that's the case, those who spread rumors are truly ungrateful! He's clearly such a good child!

Although those rumors weren't entirely without merit, the Tianji Empire was still largely a patriarchal society. A man serving a woman was considered weak and incompetent, unable to control the household. This is why sons-in-law were looked down upon; once they entered a woman's household, they had to defer to her family in everything.

For Chu Mingkong to take care of a woman like that was indeed inappropriate for a prince, and lacked proper decorum. However, Consort Wan had personally experienced his meticulous and considerate care, and couldn't bear to say anything bad about him. Let outsiders not understand; let her enjoy this care all to herself.

Although Consort Wan initially felt awkward and uncomfortable with Chu Mingkong's way of "filial piety," she has now fallen into it.

Women who are used to selfless dedication and opening their hearts to others are like this: they don't even get a thank you from their family or when they have children. But once they meet someone who is willing to take care of them, they feel that the other person is their everything.

After the palace maids finished cleaning, one of them, who was close to Consort Wan, asked curiously:

"Your Highness, why do you seem to be in such a good mood all of a sudden?"

"I just drank some hot water, and my face is a little red from being coaxed. You can go out now."

"Yes, ma'am."

Only Consort Wan remained in the palace. She secretly took out the jade rod that Chu Mingkong had given her and gently stroked its smooth, warm surface.

After some scrutiny, she recognized him as Mr. Yu Shijiao, who resembled Chu Mingkong.

Even just looking at it up close, one could feel the immense pressure. Consort Wan stared at it for a while, and her heart was already racing.

“What kind of son gives his mother such a gift…” Consort Wan smiled shyly, pondering Chu Mingkong’s meaning, and muttered, “Mingkong left in a hurry and didn’t say what he was keeping this for… Could it be that he wanted me to get used to his size in advance?”

Consort Wan's mature and beautiful face became even more rosy. She held the jade dildo and brought it under her palace skirt...

----------

After leaving the palace, Chu Mingkong found a teahouse to sit in and took a look at the system. He was startled by the sudden surge in his corrupted filial piety.

Upon checking the ledger, sure enough, the temporarily triggered task was completed.

Originally, she had already given Consort Wan over a thousand points of corrupted filial piety by cooking longevity noodles for her and during their subsequent chat. Now that the task was completed, she had given Consort Wan nearly ten thousand points of corrupted filial piety in the short time she spent meeting her today.

They even counted their filial piety with Madam Zhen, trying to accumulate points to break through the barrier, and suddenly they became rich.

"I thought this task was impossible to complete, but I completed it without even realizing it." Chu Mingkong felt a bit incredulous, and looking at the filial piety balance in his account, he felt like he was in a dream.

When I discussed with Shangguan Rong about going to the palace to comfort her today, my only intention was to confirm that she wouldn't drag Chu Mingkong down with her. The worst outcome of going in to comfort her would be like a dung beetle encountering diarrhea—a wasted trip.

I never expected to reap such a huge reward!

[System Treasure has arrived, 5 points of corrupted filial piety.]

......

[System Treasure has arrived, 5 points of corrupted filial piety.]

The notification sound of the payment arriving in his mind was making Chu Mingkong a little annoyed. It kept ringing incessantly and had a very rhythmic quality.

"What kind of nonsense is this? Where is your filial piety?!"

Chu Mingkong quickly flipped through the account book and found that it was given by his newly recognized mother. He clicked on the details to find out the origin.

The jade gift continues to please the elders.

Did Consort Wan actually use that toy?

"...Hmm, so that's the amazing thing about Niu Niu's gift—it makes my elders feel filial just by using it. Awesome!"

The notification sound isn't so annoying anymore; let it keep ringing, it's fine!

However, Chu Mingkong became worried again when he thought about how few Dustless Talismans he had left.

"My feeling is right, the Dust-Free Talismans are indeed being used up quite quickly in the palace... System, why can't you just provide a link to buy Dust-Free Talismans?"

"No, the Dustless Talisman is actually infused with the creator's own insights into the Way of Deceiving Heaven. I can't provide you with something like that."

So that's how it is. That blind female Taoist priest is really that powerful...

Chu Mingkong recalled the items he had previously purchased from the system shop, such as the heavy sword talent and the culinary talent. None of them contained a specific understanding of the Great Dao; they were merely empty shells for him to fill in the gaps himself. Although his realm as a heavy sword immortal was similar to Zuo Qiuchi's, he lacked her core "intention."

So, you shouldn't buy other people's insights into the Dao, right?

"Do you have any similar techniques here? Assassins always have ways to conceal themselves, right?"

【Yes, but you must become Feng Ying's apprentice. Her stealth techniques allow her to easily infiltrate the palace. You can only purchase her after becoming her apprentice.】

Wow, is Fengying really that awesome? Turns out, a master was right beside me.

"But she's not here now. Can I cross time and space to kowtow to her and become her disciple?"

【no. 】

Chapter 79 The Master and Disciple Are Inhuman (46/51)

According to the system, if he had taken Feng Ying as his master before she left, and then bought the assassin-related stealth techniques, he could have entered and exited the palace like a constipated person taking Wallace – completely unimpeded.

"Then we should definitely go and find Fengying. It's about time to get started."

However, he was quite uneasy about this trip. It wasn't that he had any bad premonitions, but simply that he was worried about the girls in the capital. He wasn't as carefree as he was when he was a bachelor.

To put it bluntly, he's feeling like he's settling down his affairs. No matter what, he has to make sure Aunt Gu and the others live comfortably, which involves money!

While the Cui family certainly has its own businesses, the upper echelons of the Cui family have been corrupt for so long that the lower echelons are probably not much better. We must be prepared that even if the lower echelons are completely rotten, we must ensure that Aunt Gu's life is not affected.

Chu Mingkong took a sip of tea and suddenly heard some familiar words mentioned at the next table. He listened carefully.

"So the Immortal Treasure Pavilion has come to the capital again. I wonder what the difference is between the things that immortal merchants sell and those that we mortals sell."

"Unfortunately, you need a sect's recommendation to enter, so the money we used is useless inside. We can only listen and have fun."

Oh? This shop has wandered all the way to the capital to fleece people.

Having traveled extensively, Xianzhen Pavilion must have heard of Baihu Plain, so it's my turn to harvest some of their wealth.

After paying the bill, Chu Mingkong rushed to Yunhai Taoist Temple to find Zuo Qiuchi.

Zuo Qiuchi was having a wonderful dream when Chu Mingkong kicked the door open, waking her up. She was very annoyed, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Hey hey hey! What are you doing? I was sleeping peacefully. If you don't explain yourself clearly, I'll choose an angle for you to be slapped down."

Chu Mingkong slammed the fallen door panel back onto the wall, looked at the half-broken Taoist temple, and muttered:

"This place is so dilapidated, Master, don't you mind living here?"

"Get to the point!" Zuo Qiuchi gathered fire elemental power in his palm, warning him to stop talking nonsense.

"Xianzhen Pavilion has come to the capital. Let's go take a look. How are the maids that Xianzhen Pavilion has recently taken in?"

Zuo Qiuchi clenched his fist, and the newly formed fire lotus was crushed away:

"Your reasoning has convinced me. Let's go."

If the people of the Immortal Treasure Pavilion were here and heard the conversation between the master and disciple, they would probably be furious. Their words were practically describing this top-notch merchant guild in the cultivation world as a brothel.

--------------

The Immortal Treasure Pavilion is similar to a traveling merchant guild, with missions to collect rare and exotic treasures from various places. Items can also be deposited with the Immortal Treasure Pavilion for auction. Once a sufficient number of items have been collected, an auction will be held. Adhering to the principle of "quality over quantity," the Immortal Treasure Pavilion may not even hold an auction for several years if there are no good items to attract attention. This attitude naturally ensures that whenever the Immortal Treasure Pavilion announces an auction, a large number of people will flock to it.

Back when Xianzhen Pavilion was active in Xiling, Chu Mingkong and Zuo Qiuchi often visited Xianzhen Pavilion. Taking advantage of their local connections, they would only touch the maids and not buy anything, and Xianzhen Pavilion couldn't do anything about it.

These wandering Immortal Treasure Pavilions are naturally just branches; the entire pavilion has been refined into a flying artifact, capable of flying through the air on the outside and containing a hidden world inside.

The Immortal Pavilion was high in the sky on the outskirts of the capital, attracting many ordinary people to watch from below.

"Oh dear, the Immortal Treasure Pavilion has gotten smarter. Mingkong, do you remember when you were a child, you deliberately dressed in tattered clothes to provoke the gatekeepers of the Immortal Treasure Pavilion to chase you away?"

"I remember, that was a staged accident."

At that time, the Immortal Treasure Pavilion was still located on the ground floor, and there were guards at the gate each time it opened to prevent unauthorized people from entering. Chu Mingkong disguised himself as a beggar and went there to stage an accident, but eventually revealed his identity, which was a case of playing dumb to fool others. He made the woman in charge of the Immortal Treasure Pavilion apologize, and Zuo Qiuchi was able to enter and grope the maids.

Unexpectedly, the Immortal Treasure Pavilion is now suspended in the air. No matter what you dress up as, as long as you can get to the sky, you are no ordinary person. This will prevent despicable princes like Chu Mingkong from trying to extort money.

The two flew inside, and a maid from the Immortal Treasure Pavilion, who was in charge of receiving them, came over.

The maid was dressed in a dark-colored fairy dress, but the side of the dress was slit, revealing her soft, jade-like legs wrapped in black stockings. Chu Mingkong, who had not seen stockings for a long time, felt as if he were in a fairyland.