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

He didn't even know? But it's all over now, Feng Ying actually sent him a telepathic message... Empress Pei lowered her head, there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"However, I don't intend to cultivate with you." Chu Mingkong's attitude was indifferent, knowing that at this time, the more disdainful he was, the better.

"Um?!"

She couldn't believe there was still a chance for things to turn around.

Chu Mingkong just wanted her to quickly reveal some of her filial piety:

“You heard me right. I really have no intention of dual cultivation, even though it is a matter of life and death for me. Doctor Baili is already a woman with three children. You are not worthy to be my dual cultivation partner. Of course, this is only a secondary reason. The main reason is that I regard you as an elder and have no improper thoughts in my heart.”

What--?!

"Am I not worthy to be your dual cultivation partner? You little prince of Xiling, just because you're a bit handsome, you really think everyone's chasing after you!"

Empress Pei never expected to be belittled like this. His words described her as an eighty-year-old woman. Of all those who had the privilege of seeing her face, who truly believed that her beauty surpassed that of the princesses of all the states?

What does this mean? The world thinks she, the empress, is even more beautiful than Chu Mingkong's mother! This kid is truly blind!

Empress Pei was truly furious, but after calming down, she was relieved that Chu Mingkong was blind to the danger, and tonight was truly a false alarm.

"But I..."

"This Empress?" Chu Mingkong looked at her.

"I, the physician of this palace, have made an agreement with Miss Feng, and now I must fulfill that agreement and cure the young prince for her." Empress Pei almost forgot to change her self-reference from the palace, and was so shocked that cold sweat broke out on her fair face.

"I told you, I don't care about you. Don't flatter yourself. I only respect you as an elder. This is the Empress's wish. Doctor Baili, do you think I am a filial and good junior?"

What respect have you shown me?!

Empress Pei forced a smile: "Yes."

Chu Mingkong closed his eyes and waited for a moment, but the filial piety payment still didn't arrive. He suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze icy.

"No, you didn't! You didn't care about my filial piety at all. You really are a stingy woman. It is said that doctors are benevolent. Is Doctor Baili not a doctor, but someone else?"

He grasped the jade-like foot of the mature woman in front of him, feeling the warmth and exquisite beauty in his hand.

"Or is it that... Madam Baili wants me to massage your feet for her to show her filial piety?!"

Empress Pei couldn't understand why Chu Mingkong's temperament was so strange. He could change his mind faster than flipping through a book, and he even showed such a ruthless side when it came to matters concerning elders and juniors.

They had agreed not to practice dual cultivation anymore, but now he was pinching her toes and forcing her into a corner of the bed. Empress Pei didn't know what to say.

Could it be that Chu Mingkong knows he's about to die, has changed his personality drastically, and now enjoys playing those ridiculous games between elders and juniors, saying she's unworthy but actually trying to force her to acknowledge this elder's identity so he can then engage in dual cultivation for pleasure?!

[System Treasure has arrived, 100 points of corrupted filial piety!]

Ok? ? ?

Chu Mingkong's expression froze. 100% filial piety, and it's even tainted!

What's wrong with Doctor Baili? Could it be that he's the kind of older woman who likes to be scolded by younger people? What kind of fetish is that?

How strange!

However, he really didn't expect that Jinwu Fengyi's physical abilities would directly reveal her distorted filial piety. She is indeed a high-quality elder, and he should see her more often in the future.

No wonder Baili Mi wouldn't give him filial piety gifts even though he was so nice earlier. So that's how you get filial piety gifts. I understand now.

Chu Mingkong's face drew close to the woman's exquisite features, glaring at her fiercely as if she were a toy. He pinched Baili Mi's smooth cheek and said coldly:

"I sense that Doctor Baili has recognized my abilities. From now on, he will come to my palace once a month in the middle of the month so that I can properly fulfill my filial duties. Doctor Baili, you can rest assured that I will not use you for dual cultivation. I have made a heavenly oath to this: if I force Doctor Baili to engage in dual cultivation and ruin your reputation, my strength will drop to only half of its peak. Do you understand?"

Empress Pei nodded. Although she didn't know why he did this, the oath of Heaven was more trustworthy than anything else; at least it preserved her primordial essence...

Chapter Seventeen: Zuo Qiuchi: Do we no longer need the female bodhisattva?

Chu Mingkong was a prudent person. Such a verbal promise was even more worthless than a "I love you" in a brothel. However, for a cultivator, it was a big problem. Not keeping the vows made in one's heart would be punished by heaven and directly affect one's cultivation future.

Regardless of whether he was telling the truth or lying, Chu Mingkong would not normally make such a vow, but the punishment in the vow was too mediocre, so it didn't matter.

For Chu Mingkong, whose strength had dwindled to only two or three tenths of its former glory, having his strength reduced to half of its peak was an incredibly good thing.

Since Doctor Baili had a teleportation talisman, Chu Mingkong did not keep her and let her leave first.

Feng Ying sensed the aura of the spatial talisman, frowned slightly, and silently appeared in the room, looking at Chu Mingkong with a hint of inexplicable dissatisfaction in her emerald eyes.

"Is it all done?"

Do you take me for a fool? If I were to do something, would Doctor Baili have kept quiet...? Chu Mingkong looked up at Feng Ying's beautiful eyes, trying to make himself appear righteous and upright:

“I didn’t treat her. The Golden Crow Phoenix Physique is indeed the most likely person to heal my injury, but unfortunately she’s not good enough. Her ‘yang’ is too weak, and I’m not interested in doing such a thing. Although it’s your good intention, the thought of having to force someone to cultivate with me just to survive makes me lose interest.”

He poured himself a cup of tea and pushed it next to him. Feng Ying did not show any forceful attitude and walked over to sit down next to him.

"Whether it works or not, we can try. That woman owes me a fee; it's her responsibility to treat you. If you suddenly die one day, where will I find my daughter?"

"I think I'm still tough. Although the wound on my chest hasn't healed, I feel much better. You saw how miserable I looked when I first arrived in Beijing."

Feng Ying didn't reply, but he clearly remembered how Feng Ying looked before. He had to suppress the rise and fall of his chest even when breathing normally, otherwise the muscles in that area would be pulled, causing him to grimace in pain and break out in a cold sweat. Now he was indeed much more relaxed, and if you didn't look at the wound, you would think he had fully recovered.

Seeing that she didn't try to seduce him or hide a dagger to test him, Chu Mingkong guessed that he was probably right this time; Baili Mi was indeed a trap! It seemed he had gotten through today's ordeal.

However, I should be careful. Who knows if she might poison me in some unspeakable way in the future?

He started making small talk: "This is the first time we've sat down and had a proper chat like this. Last time you left right after dinner, so let's stay a little longer tonight. Um... what's going on with your daughter?"

Feng Ying took out a portrait of a little girl, but it was drawn with a brush. To be honest, Chu Mingkong still didn't understand how a brush-drawn portrait could be used to identify a person.

He couldn't distinguish any differences between the wanted criminal portraits posted on the bulletin boards in the capital. The only thing he could tell from Feng Ying's portrait was that the little girl had a bit of baby fat, suggesting she was probably under ten years old, or even younger.

But instead of saying anything unromantic, he nodded knowingly and said, "She's quite cute, but not much like you."

Through her words, he began to discern Feng Ying's appearance. His initial impression of her was that she had skin like jade, delicate red lips, a charming demeanor, and a captivating, wild allure in her eyes. Now, however, he saw more of her beautiful, aloof expression and the deep, misty pool in her jade-green eyes.

But what they have in common is that they are all pleasing to the eye.

Feng Ying placed the teacup down with slightly more force, and the crisp sound of the teacup colliding with the saucer reminded Chu Mingkong to look away.

“She was adopted by me. She has the same physical condition as me. If she doesn’t have a reliable person to take care of her, she will have a hard time.”

Why does everyone have a certain constitution?

That's normal, though; those who stand out on the list of most beautiful women must have something extraordinary about them.

"So that's why you're in such a hurry to find her." Chu Mingkong suddenly realized. "Why don't you tell me when she got lost, and when she discovered that I had her scent on me? Judging the timing is also a clue."

He didn't need to analyze these things; Fengying had already investigated them.

“My daughter’s name is Xiao Cai. I went out on business for two days and when I came back I found she was missing. Xiao Cai is very sensible. I left her some food, so she won’t run away. She disappeared three months before the incident in Xiling Lizhou. I searched for her for almost half a year. Suddenly, I learned from a fortune teller that Xiao Cai’s aura was last seen in Lizhou around the month of your birthday. He also deduced that the aura was a primordial yin aura.”

Oh, so that rare reunion back then turned into a fight with swords drawn!

The funny thing is that at that time, he had just been forced to end his hasty recovery and was on his way to the capital when he was chased by assassins of unknown origin. These assassins were very strong and had used life-threatening secret techniques and pills to enhance their cultivation to ambush him. If Feng Ying hadn't appeared, Zuo Qiuchi alone might not have been able to protect him.

When Feng Ying saw that someone wanted to kill Chu Mingkong and cut off her clues to find her daughter, she cooperated with Zuo Qiuchi to kill all the assassins. After the outsiders were dealt with, she asked Zuo Qiuchi for Chu Mingkong with murderous intent, wanting to take him away to interrogate him for clues, but in the end she did not take him away.

Is it possible that the Taoist priest was framing me?

“I have asked many Taoist priests, and the results are all the same.”

Chu Mingkong carefully considered the brief account she had just given him and said:

"Now you have another idea. Does anyone know where you were staying at the time, and what made you leave for two days? If someone entrusted you with a task, you should investigate that person."

The woman held the cup, her eyes reflecting the flickering flames of the candlestick: "I've looked, but I can't find it."

ultra!

So he really is the only remaining clue!

Whether it was a coincidence or not, Chu Mingkong didn't know, but from his personal point of view, it seemed like a setup to make the female assassin target him and avenge his daughter.

If I hadn't met her once years ago, I probably wouldn't have been able to talk to her now, or even have the chance to sit down and chat.

Although it was a difficult question, the only thing Chu Mingkong could suspect now was that those Taoist priests who performed divination were all problematic.

He has no way to go to the Taoist headquarters outside the capital to find out the truth now; being too far from the capital is not advisable, as it might be seen as fleeing the capital.

However, there was still a relatively authoritative figure in the capital, a female Taoist elder, who was the one that Master Zuo Qiuchi wanted to capture for dual cultivation.

It seems I should find some time to pay them a visit!

"Where are you staying now?" Chu Mingkong asked, judging from her recent frequency of appearances, she was probably staying around the capital.

Do you think I would tell anyone about my hiding place?

“I didn’t mean to spy on your whereabouts. My idea is... why don’t you come and stay at my residence? That way you can keep an eye on me. Besides, last time you disguised yourself as a maid and went to the Zhang family to help me out of a predicament. Afterwards, when others investigated, they found that there was no such person in my residence. It would be difficult for me to explain clearly.”

"That's not to help you out of this predicament, it's just that I don't want to waste time waiting for you to come out of the Zhang family's place!" Feng Ying emphasized.

Yes, yes, yes! Chu Mingkong said he believed her.

Feng Ying had used seduction and probing before; she wasn't short of a few words. She could have simply waited in his room, or even waited for him to come out of the Zhang family and then kidnapped him. There was no need for her to go to such lengths, pretending to be a maid to take him away from the Zhang family.

Chu Mingkong didn't say much, then asked, "I was overthinking it. Feng Ying, are you coming or not? I'd like to have someone prepare a room for you in advance."

"No need."

----------

Upon returning to his residence, Chu Mingkong immediately rushed to his master's room to find her.

A bath tub was placed in the room, the wood of which emitted a faint fragrance. Flower petals floated in the tub, and wisps of steam rose from it, indicating that Zuo Qiuchi had just finished bathing.

Chu Mingkong was heartbroken. He was still a step too late. It was all because Baili Mi's temperament was so strange that she wasted so much of his time trying to gain filial piety. He didn't even make it to help Zuo Qiuchi take a bath, and he missed a great opportunity to gain filial piety!

After taking a bath, Zuo Qiuchi was already lying comfortably on the bed when she heard Chu Mingkong's hurried and noisy commotion, which she found annoying.

"Why all that commotion? Has that woman left?"

"I'm leaving after I'm done with the hammering. Master, you must have felt very uncomfortable taking a bath without your disciple by your side. Would you like to take another bath?"

"Get lost, just say what you want to say."

Why be so heartless...? Chu Mingkong put aside his regret and said, "When shall we go and visit that female immortal's Taoist temple in the capital?"

Upon hearing this, Zuo Qiuchi suddenly sat up in bed. Her snowy, full breasts trembled like ripples on water, making him dizzy. Chu Mingkong quickly pulled the blanket up to cover her.

"You don't want the female bodhisattva anymore, but instead have feelings for that female Taoist priest? Fine!"

What do you mean by having ideas? I haven't even met them yet.