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

Chu Mingkong added, "If Yongzhen doesn't want me to touch your upper body, how about I touch your feet and give you a foot massage? You don't go out or move around much, so your legs and feet aren't getting any blood circulation."

Fearing he might misunderstand, Madam Zhen quickly explained, "It's not that I don't want you to touch me, I'm just shy. Mingkong, if you really want to touch me, I'll let you touch me for a while..."

Chu Mingkong started to scheme. He had taken so many socks from the Immortal Treasure Pavilion without ever having a chance to use them. He was bound to wear out a few pairs!

"Yongzhen, don't be nervous. I'm not angry because I can't touch you. I'm just thinking of you. If you're really shy, and I insist on touching you, wouldn't that ruin the mood of you spending the night with me? So I just want to touch your feet. I like every part of Yongzhen's body."

But I'm also afraid that touching you might make your skin itchy and uncomfortable. Luckily, Xianzhen Pavilion gave me quite a few new-style socks to give to you, Yongzhen. How about you wear them?"

He decisively pulled out a large wad of cash and randomly picked out a pair to give to "Yongzhen".

Madam Zhen had never seen such stockings before, but she thought Chu Mingkong made a lot of sense. Legs are inherently difficult to distinguish from each other, so even if he touched them, she wouldn't be afraid of being exposed. In addition, with such a pair of long stockings covering her thighs, she was even less afraid that he would notice anything unusual.

After asking how to wear them, Madam Zhen quickly put on her long stockings, sat on the embroidered couch, supported herself with her hands behind her back to maintain her center of gravity, and stretched her pair of fleshy, beautiful legs covered in silky fabric into Chu Mingkong's arms.

Some say that beautiful things should be admired from afar but not touched, but Chu Mingkong just loves to touch them.

My fingers, through the thin silk stockings, caressed the pearly white toes and the pads of the toes. Although my eyes were obscured, the rosy color seemed to be right before my eyes, and the curves of the instep and arch were outlined in my mind more clearly than usual. The well-maintained jade feet of a noble lady were truly irresistible.

His palms rested on the beauty's heels, moving upwards along her ankles. Her jade-like legs were beautifully shaped and supple, each part a precious gem, a sight to behold.

Even if nothing else happened tonight, just this one program of commenting and "tasting" would keep Chu Mingkong entertained.

Her jade-like feet trembled with suppressed emotion, and Madam Zhen unknowingly broke out in a fragrant sweat. Her chest felt as if it were burning with desire. Even though she had only asked Chu Mingkong to massage her, she began to deliberately suppress that wonderful and strange feeling.

She brought up some topics:

“Mingkong, why are these socks made like this? The craftsmanship is superb, like a sheer gauze dress, so thin and transparent that they look like they could be torn easily. I’m afraid they’ll tear if I apply even a little force.”

Chu Mingkong began to help "Yongzhen" stretch her legs, struggling to muster a little rationality to compose her, and said:

"These stockings are called silk stockings. If they can't be torn, they have no purpose. They have to be easy to tear. Does Madam Zhen have a sheer dress?"

"No, but I have seen them. Before the Yueqi Kingdom was divided up, it produced a lot of these kinds of clothes, like the socks I'm wearing. I think they used to be produced there too. The dancers' skirts that are popular in the Tianji Empire all originated from the Yueqi Kingdom."

Chu Mingkong was filled with awe. He realized that such a brilliant craftsmanship and civilization existed in this world. No wonder it had stagnated; it had fallen apart long ago.

"Is it the place west of Xiling?"

"Yes, that was a long time ago. When I was a child, I didn't really feel anything when I heard the news. I just felt that there were fewer and fewer new and interesting things coming from the Moonlit Kingdom. Now that I think about it, the disappearance of an empire is such a sad thing... Hey, Mingkong, why did you position me like that? My knees are touching my shoulders..."

Chu Mingkong was losing his composure. Stockings were indeed a powerful, almost masochistic thing, possessing a terrifying power to drive men mad. He explained:

“Yongzhen, you don’t go out and move around much, your muscles and bones are stiff. You need to stretch them. Just relax your legs naturally. I’ll put my arms on your shoulders and help you press your legs down. If you feel uncomfortable, remember to tell me.”

......

Yongzhen was soaking in a bathtub that had been changed to a medicinal bath at some point. The medicine in it had a calming effect and was suitable for use when cultivating the soul. The effect was only so-so, but aids for cultivating the soul were extremely rare. Otherwise, she and her mother would not have suffered the side effects of soul exchange for so long because of this broken cultivation method.

The beautiful and elegant woman sat in the now-cold medicine. An invisible force gathered in her brain, and an aura rippled outwards. If she hadn't set up an array in the room beforehand to block external perception, this fluctuation would probably have woken Madam Zhen from her sleep.

"I didn't completely break through, but I've at least taken one step over this threshold. This cultivation is just too difficult..."

Yongzhen sighed, then tore down the formation and tried to sense the improvement brought about by this half-step breakthrough.

"It seems I can vaguely sense a fluctuation in my mother's emotions...?"

This cultivation technique binds her soul and her mother's soul together. According to Yongzhen's speculation, the various "side effects" brought about by the technique are due to their insufficient control over their souls. The most direct improvement from cultivating and refining the technique is that their souls become stronger and their mental control becomes much stronger.

At that time, she will be able to freely control the return of her soul, and will not need to be so passive, having to hide and not see anyone every month at that time.

But this was just her previous speculation and could not be verified, because cultivating one's soul is too difficult. However, now she can feel a little soul fluctuation from her mother's soul, which means that her connection with her mother's soul is gradually becoming under her active control, and she is no longer the one being manipulated by the cultivation method.

She took the initiative to try to connect with her mother's soul, to see if she could sense what her mother was thinking in her dreams through this connection.

"Ok?"

Yongzhen suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze filled with fear and confusion.

Her long, slender legs lifted uncontrollably, her fair toes splashing water, her feet taut, as if an invisible force was pressing down on her legs, pressing down to her shoulders.

"My toes, my legs... it feels like someone is gnawing on them? Is Mother having a nightmare?"

Why does it feel like someone is caressing my thigh?!

......

"Yongzhen, can we go all the way? I'm getting a little impatient, but if you don't want to, I can stop now. But if you bring it up halfway through, I won't be able to control myself."

During the soul exchange, Madam Zhen suffered the most severe memory loss, but she did not forget some extremely important things, such as the fact that Yongzhen's innocence must not be tainted, otherwise it would cause irreparable harm to both mother and daughter.

But now that Mingkong is being deceived by her, he still likes this body so much. Let's just consider it compensation and let him have some pleasure for a while.

"Okay, as long as you listen to me and follow my rules."

The rules are as mentioned before: no touching things with your hands, and no peeking with your eyes open.

"I promise I won't watch it!" Chu Mingkong readily agreed.

The woman was still worried, so she covered his eyes with her hands and pursed her lips, trying not to make a sound. She was afraid that Chu Mingkong would notice something was wrong with her voice.

"Alright, you, you come here... good boy, you still have injuries, no need to rush, take your time!"

"Listen to Yongzhen."

"...It's not Yongzhen's turn to listen to me, it's my turn to listen to you."

"Then who are you?"

“I, I...I am Yongzhen.”

"Then I'll do whatever you say."

After Chu Mingkong finished speaking, he recalled his feelings when he first practiced archery. Archery was actually not difficult; it was so simple that it was almost boring.

However, blind shooting is still somewhat challenging.

The bowstring, which had been taut for so long, was released, and the arrow was released in one swift motion!

Under the same roof,

Princess Yongzhen and Empress Dowager Zhen's pupils suddenly contracted, and their movements were surprisingly synchronized. They covered their mouths and raised their toes.

......

The blindfold actually fell off halfway through, but "Yongzhen" didn't notice at the time. Anyway, Chu Mingkong didn't realize it; even with his eyes rolled back, he still had the leisure to see so clearly.

However, with parting approaching, Chu Mingkong didn't want to cause her unnecessary distress before she was fully prepared, because he had been fooled and was continuing to play dumb.

Once she had regained some of her senses and was able to return to her room on her own, Chu Mingkong continued to act as if he were still confused and left.

It seems that although the words of the ancients may have some outdated elements, they do have some truth to them—it's rare to be muddleheaded in life.

Chu Mingkong, leaning against the wall, left the princess's courtyard and returned to his own doghouse.

His body could still hold on, and he even wanted to continue, but Chu Mingkong's spirit was already saturated, and he had completely entered a sage mode, as if a living Buddha had been reborn.

"I'll go to court tomorrow morning."

He sat cross-legged on his bed and suddenly remembered something. Madam Zhen was the previous empress. It is said that empresses need to have the Golden Crow Phoenix Physique. Madam Zhen should also have it. He wondered what was so special about this physique.

Chu Mingkong opened his clothes and glanced at his chest.

"Ok?"

A golden thread appeared on his heart!

By infusing spiritual power into it, the newly added golden thread was actually a ball of golden light, and the sound of a phoenix seemed to emanate from within the ball of golden light.

"What if a phoenix hatches out one day..."

------

P.S.: The two chapters are put together. Go through this part first.

Chapter 125 Yongzhen: This is very suspicious! (22/26)

The following morning, Yongzhen woke up.

Or perhaps "the next day" shouldn't be used at all; I didn't fall asleep until almost dawn.

The holiday was just a physical shock, and a cultivator's physique could easily recover in a short while. However, Yongzhen forcibly tried to establish a connection with Madam Zhen's soul. This was equivalent to being stabbed in the body, but for Yongzhen, it was as if his soul was suffering such an impact.

The difficulty in cultivating the spirit and soul lies precisely here. Normal cultivation emphasizes gradual accumulation, and then, during a breakthrough, one must squeeze out all the potential of the current stage to achieve a sublimation in one fell swoop, and be reborn when the oil lamp runs out, stepping into a higher realm.

It's not obvious at lower orders, but it becomes more obvious at higher orders.

The soul must also follow this principle, but the soul is a very fragile existence. How can it last until the oil lamp runs out? This amount is very difficult to control. If you are not careful, your soul may be damaged, severely injuring your source, or even causing your death.

However, Yongzhen's absurd experience last night actually tempered her soul, and the half-step realm she hadn't completed last night inexplicably broke through after she woke up!

By training his soul in this way, Yongzhen truly felt the impermanence and strangeness of the world.

The key point is that although each impact from the pile driver was heavy, making her sway, it was also very gentle.

The bizarre encounter in the middle of the night resulted in faster progress in her spiritual cultivation than she had achieved in half a year of arduous meditation...

After opening her eyes, she thought about many things in a daze, then suddenly sat up, checked her virginity mark, found it was still there, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"It felt so real, I thought it was some invisible monster defiling me..."

Her long black hair was soaked with sweat, much of it sticking to her cheeks and neck. At the end of last night, she was too exhausted to dry herself and simply fell asleep in the bathtub.

After quickly washing herself, Yongzhen rushed to Madam Zhen's room without even having time to put on her clothes properly, just draping them over Xue's shoulders, to check on her condition.

Madam Zhen's condition was similar to Yongzhen's; sweat had stuck her hair to her skin, and sweat stains could be seen on her pillow.

Yongzhen gently pulled up the blanket and looked at it. Her clothes were still there, without any signs of tearing or ripping, so it didn't seem like she had suffered any inhuman treatment.

Based on the empathy that Yongzhen received from her mother last night, if her mother had really been defiled, she would have been injured under that intensity. However, after Yongzhen sensed that her mother was fine in all aspects.

Judging by observing the breath, it's actually quite good...?

"Could it just be that she had a nightmare? But the nightmare lasted far too long." Yongzhen harbored deep suspicions about this matter, and her suspicions vaguely pointed to Chu Mingkong, that scoundrel who delivered the underpants, but she couldn't find any evidence to support her guess.

Noticing Yongzhen's presence in the room, Madam Zhen woke up. She slowly sat up. She had been exhausted when she returned to sleep before dawn, but now she felt refreshed.

Seeing Yongzhen looking at her, Madam Zhen felt uneasy. She pretended to be still half asleep and asked in a daze:

"Yongzhen, good morning... Why do you look so tense? What happened?"

Yongzhen couldn't discern anything from her mother's face, and asked:

"You're talking in your sleep, Mother. Did you have a nightmare last night?"