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

Chu Mingkong arrived at the kitchen, still unable to figure out Princess Jinyu's purpose.

What exactly did she come to see me for? Was she testing me on behalf of the royal family? Or did she want to see if I had anyone hiding in my residence? Since she's just looking for trouble, I'd better find a way to get rid of her.

"They seem to be close to me, but when we meet, they 'force' their way into my house, sometimes order me around to cook, and try to lead me by the nose at every turn. They have ulterior motives!"

Chu Mingkong devised a plan.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, Chu Mingkong spent a fortune, reluctantly spending 20 points of filial piety to buy the skill of cooking home-style dishes for this princess.

Soon, a strong smell of spicy cooking oil filled the kitchen.

Before long, Chu Mingkong returned to Princess Jinyu with several plates of ordinary-looking, heavily spicy dishes.

These dishes are very spicy, but they are definitely the kind of delicious flavors that Jin Yu would accuse him of deliberately making things difficult for her.

"Jinyu, please try my cooking. Please bear with the taste."

Jin Yu prefers mild flavors. She smelled the strong spicy aroma and felt a little scared, but she still took a small bite without changing her expression.

She was taken aback after taking a bite. The dish was delicious, not at all like it looked, and it didn't seem very spicy.

She ate a few more bites and began to regret it. The spiciness spread from her stomach to the tip of her tongue, and she tried to resist the urge to stick her tongue out—that would be too inappropriate!

Princess Jinyu, with her voluptuous figure, soon broke out in a sweat from the spiciness, and fine, fragrant sweat appeared on her smooth, snowy skin.

Princess Jinyu quickly scooped up a sip of soup, only to discover that what looked like a light broth was actually spicy!

Seeing her reaction, Chu Mingkong was secretly delighted. You're sweating so much, aren't you going to go back and wait to expose yourself while you're all drenched in sweat?

He also ate a few bites, but he didn't let the food touch his taste buds; he swallowed it directly to avoid getting burned by the spiciness. This action was his way of telling Princess Jinyu: "This food is just too much for you; I'm not deliberately teasing you."

"I wonder what business Princess Jinyu has with me?" He once again used the word "princess" in his address.

Jin Yu could tell from his smiling expression that he was deliberately making things difficult for her with this dish! She had never suffered such a loss at someone else's hands before!

But if I were to show a hysterical attitude and break off relations with him now, that would be a real loss.

She endured the burning sensation on her tongue and the heat rising in her body from the spiciness, and smiled, "I didn't expect Mingkong to be so hospitable to me. Jinyu came today because she has something important to convey, but more than that, she's just curious~ But Mingkong, have some soup first, you need to moisten your throat before eating~~!"

Princess Jinyu sat closer to Chu Mingkong and enthusiastically ladled a bowl of spicy soup into his bowl, wanting to watch him drink it with her own eyes!

This dish is indeed delicious, but what kind of chili extract is this?! I, the princess, would like to see how you manage to drink this stuff!

Chu Mingkong downed the bowl of spicy soup in one gulp. Just as Princess Jinyu was smilingly waiting for him to shed tears from the spiciness, he took out a glass bottle of milk and drank it down.

To relieve the spiciness, you need milk.

"I've moistened my throat, Princess, please speak. Mingkong is all ears."

Jin Yu stared at him in disbelief. Surprisingly, she was somewhat prepared. She was already burning from the spiciness and was about to take off her clothes if she didn't get relief. Forgetting about the rules between men and women, she rather rudely picked up the glass bottle that Chu Mingkong had drunk from and drank from it.

"This is... milk? But isn't milk supposed to taste awful? How could it taste like this?"

Raw milk is indeed very hard to drink; even Chu Mingkong himself couldn't stand the taste. The milk he had now was modified based on the taste from his previous life. It couldn't taste as good as he remembered, but at least it wasn't as bad as raw milk.

Chu Mingkong remained silent, only eating his food, ignoring her questions.

I don't have time to waste on your nonsense. Just say what you need to say directly. Why are you playing your sycophantic game with me?

Jin Yu was quick-witted and understood his silence, but as a counterattack, she took a bite of food and then a sip of milk, deliberately speaking slowly:

"I have heard that the Zhang family has been lacking in manners. This is the fault of the royal family. They failed to see the Zhang family girl's character clearly for Mingkong and to choose the best person for her. Therefore, the royal family has found another good girl for you."

You guys are doing this again, aren't you tired of it?

But isn't that old bastard emperor seriously ill? How could he still have the mind to help me find a "girlfriend"? No, it's possible that the emperor didn't choose her.

If it were truly the emperor's choice, Jin Yu wouldn't have mentioned "royal family"; she would most likely just be someone close to the emperor.

"Could it be that Her Majesty the Empress helped me choose this person? If so, I really want to thank Her Majesty the Empress in person for her concern for me, her junior. Otherwise, it would be difficult to quell my sincere filial piety... I wonder which young lady it is this time?"

This time, Jin Yu ignored him and focused on eating. As if she had discovered a new continent, she had come to love the spicy dish that Chu Mingkong had made. Moreover, with milk in hand, she was no longer afraid of being burned by the spiciness.

Chu Mingkong wasn't in a hurry; he waited patiently.

I wonder if Princess Jinyu has practiced fasting. She seems to have some cultivation. If she hasn't, and she's enjoying spicy food so much now, I hope she doesn't come looking for trouble later when she's burning her anus in the outhouse.

"Before revealing this young lady's identity, Mingkong, could you please answer one of Jinyu's questions? Everyone says your cultivation is ruined, so how did you manage to kill the deputy commander's adopted son with a single blow?"

Chu Mingkong narrowed his eyes slightly. Princess, your question is a bit sensitive. Are you really here to probe my situation?

Chapter Thirty-One: Call Me "Good Brother," and I'll Give You Milk

"Could it be that Mingkong was very strong in the princess's eyes back then?" Chu Mingkong chuckled softly. If Jinyu was here to test him, it would be too frivolous.

Or does Jin Yu think that the seductive arts she has cultivated are so unbeatable that anyone who comes will be completely captivated by her?

Princess Jinyu was very beautiful, possessing a dignified and elegant beauty, a quality usually reserved for wives of kings or noblewomen or prodigies of sects. She had just eaten spicy food and was covered in sweat, her phoenix eyes reddened from the spiciness. If one did not know it was from the spiciness, they would think she had been forcibly bullied and manipulated into such a disheveled state.

She looked at Chu Mingkong with a haggard, tearful face and said, "I have neither tried nor seen how strong you are, but everyone says that when you were twelve years old, you could fight against people at the second-stage Great Perfection level, and by sixteen you had already fought dozens of opponents of the same level alone and remained undefeated."

"Hey—stop, let me clarify, this is a rumor, it's really exaggerated." Chu Mingkong clicked his tongue and shook his head, "People's words can be a real threat. I wasn't fighting dozens of people alone, I still had a few good weapons with me."

Jin Yu frowned slightly. He really could fight so many people of the same level on his own. Many families in the capital had outstanding disciples who were sent to the sacred grounds of the sects for cultivation, but he had never heard of anyone who could do this.

Although the weapon is superior, it doesn't matter much in the early stages of cultivation, because a divine weapon depends on the user. Even the best weapon is just a sturdy and durable weapon in the hands of a novice cultivator.

Even the largest instrument needs skilled personnel to be effective. Do you really think any small horse has the strength to pull a large cart?

"And there's another point that's a rumor: it's not that there were dozens of soldiers, it's that there were hundreds."

"...?"

"So now my strength is only two or three tenths of what it used to be, and I can only fight ten opponents of similar strength at the same time. Isn't that just being useless?"

Princess Jinyu stared at Chu Mingkong in astonishment, unable to tell whether he was joking seriously or revealing the truth in jest.

However, given Chu Mingkong's current situation, even if he is arrogant and doesn't want to hide his talents, he wouldn't be so arrogant as to reveal so many things to her. This is completely inconsistent with his previous "cowardly" behavior.

She suddenly smiled sweetly, a smile that was charming yet not vulgar, a smile that came from genuine interest:

"I was disheartened and resigned to my fate because I thought I had fallen from the Mingkong realm. I never expected that I would be such an interesting and wonderful person."

"Now, can you tell me about this new girl I'm about to meet? I'd like to choose a day to pay her a visit."

"What's the rush? Jinyu will send someone to tell you next time. It's getting late. You've made me all sweaty. I have to go back to my residence to change my clothes before I dare to return to the palace."

She took out a handkerchief to wipe away her sweat, then took a garment from her storage bracelet and draped it over her body before leaving.

Chu Mingkong was dumbfounded. Are you kidding me?!

He realized that Jin Yu, because of her favored status and her mother being the Empress, knew a lot of inside information and knew in advance how his "new girlfriend" was arranged. So she used her as a pretext to play with him. In reality, even if she didn't come, a eunuch would come to convey the message in a few days, just like before.

"By the way, Mingkong, where did you find that milk? Do you have any more? If you give me another bottle, I will tell you the girl's identity."

Princess Jinyu turned around at the door, smiling at him. This seemed to be a continued retaliation against his poor hospitality, with a look that said, "I'm going to tease you, but what can I do about it?"

Chu Mingkong stared at her expressionlessly, cracking his knuckles.

"What, you want to lay a hand on me?" Princess Jinyu raised her eyebrows, staring at him with her beautiful phoenix eyes, her hands on her slender waist, her aura no less imposing than the tall man in front of her.

Chu Mingkong suddenly smiled and said, "Princess Jinyu, I do have some milk here, and it's been blended to a very good taste. But you have to say, 'Good brother, give your milk to Jinyu.'"

Princess Jinyu immediately rolled her eyes and said in a coquettish tone, "I'm so annoyed!"

"Pah! I'm a year older than you. It's already a favor that I don't call you 'little brother,' but you want me to call you... 'good brother'? I'm leaving!"

She turned and left. Chu Mingkong reached out and slapped her plump, round buttocks with a crisp sound, the tender flesh trembling.

Princess Jinyu stared at him in disbelief. How dare Chu Mingkong be so audacious? Was he courting death?!

Chu Mingkong threw a bottle of milk into her arms and used the words he had learned from Zuo Qiuchi: "Get lost."

"You'll remember this!" Princess Jinyu gritted her teeth, her face flushed red, one hand covering her rounded area that had never been touched by a man before, the other holding a milk bottle, and stormed off in a huff.

The Prince's mansion returned to peace. Chu Mingkong sat quietly by the pavilion, watching the koi swimming in the water, reflecting on his impulsive actions just now.

"I became impulsive. I couldn't help but slap him just now. Was it because Master wasn't around? But I calmed down after slapping him."

Recalling the sensation he had just experienced, Chu Mingkong was surprised to find that it was no less than that of Zuo Qiuchi.

However, we need to ascertain Princess Jinyu's intentions and see what she will say when she returns.

Chu Mingkong sensed the spies around the Prince's mansion and found that there were indeed more spies sent by the Nightblade Division, but it didn't matter. The Abyss Wound had disrupted his pulse and also made his presence aura chaotic and disordered. These low-level spies couldn't keep an eye on him.

Chu Mingkong, dressed in a black cloak, slipped into the night and followed Princess Jinyu's carriage all the way.

The place she went to was not the mansion bestowed upon her by the emperor, but a small courtyard in a relatively remote part of the inner city.

Even mansions are ranked. The small courtyard she went to could actually be considered a mansion, but it was in a quiet and secluded location and not very big.

Chu Mingkong didn't know everything about the capital and didn't know who lived in this courtyard, but it certainly wasn't Jin Yu's.

"What is she doing here? Didn't she say she was going back to the princess's residence to change clothes and return to the palace? Why is she in such a secluded corner? Could it be that she's keeping a lover?"

This is interesting. Princess Jinyu, who has suitors who could line up for several streets and has always been regarded as a lady from a prominent family, actually had a lover in private!

If we can use this as leverage, we can extract a lot of information from her in the future. Given her status, we might even be able to find out who used the Abyss Core as a firecracker to blow him up.

But unexpectedly, his whereabouts were discovered, and a solemn yet clear female voice came from behind him.

"Sir, what brings you here after all this searching?"

Chu Mingkong recognized the voice, and his earlier surprise vanished. The voice belonged to Princess Jinyu's guard, the female Nightblade Guard known as "Jade-faced and Brocade-clad".

"Of course I'm here to see if there's any chance to find out which scoundrel set off firecrackers on me." He turned around, took off his cloak hood, and coldly stared at the jade-faced woman holding the knife.

A complex expression appeared on Wei Qingning's pretty face. She bit her lip slightly and spoke in a low voice with difficulty: "...Brother."

"Don't call me that, we're not close."

Chapter Thirty-Two: A Vile Woman Offered to Me

The five most powerful clans in the capital are Cui, Lu, Wang, Xie, and Pei. However, these five clans cannot possibly have influence throughout the entire country. Local clans each have their own powerful local factions. For example, Chu Mingkong's Chu clan may not have a strong presence in the capital, but if they were to establish a ranking in the provinces...

They still can't get a place in the rankings because their family is relatively small, they don't have much of a clan or kinship network, and their ancestors for three generations weren't very productive enough to have many children.

Returning to the issue of surnames, aside from the Cui, Lu, Wang, Xie, and Pei families in the capital, the major surnames outside the capital are Xiao, Gu, Li, Xue, and Wei. In fact, there are many emerging family forces. As long as there are cultivators, it is normal for a family to produce a genius and then the entire clan to rise to prominence. However, only those families with historical foundations and the ability to remain stable will be remembered for a long time.

The Wei surname originated in Xiling, and the clan has a deep-rooted tradition of witchcraft, which is said to be closely related to the ancient Si surname.