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

This implies that he practiced cultivation in the past.

But before that—Chu Mingkong stood up, walked to Empress Pei's bedside, and asked:

"Your Majesty, would you mind if I saw your back? Let me know what's going on."

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Jinyu, you still know how to be shy?

Empress Pei sat up from the bed by herself. Although her movements were slow, the pressure on her limbs dissipated, and she was able to move more freely in front of her. After all, Empress Pei did not want Chu Mingkong to undress her in front of Jin Yu.

With her back to Chu Mingkong and Jin Yu, Empress Pei, as ripe as a peach, removed her inner garment, which was soaked with fragrant sweat. The garment slid down her fragrant shoulders inch by inch, revealing her beautiful snow-white back little by little.

Her clothes were completely removed, piled up in front of her plump, round buttocks, protecting many beautiful sights that shouldn't be seen.

Jin Yu couldn't see anything, but she still stared intently, trying to find some clues. However, apart from her mother's beautiful figure, she couldn't see anything. It was a beauty that would make many women's hearts flutter.

But Chu Mingkong did see the black patterns that clung to Empress Pei's beautiful back. It was a rough pattern of a phoenix and a dragon gracefully flying. The two birds were very close together, and at first glance, one might mistake them for a single phoenix emerging from the round, full crevice below her waist. The two phoenixes formed from the patterns spread their wings and stretched along Empress Pei's jade-like arms. However, Chu Mingkong had just absorbed some of their "wings," making it look as if some had been wiped away.

Judging from the style, it's probably a tattoo of virginity marks from the "Phoenix Blood Sutra," but virginity marks shouldn't be in this position...

At least Jin Yu, who also cultivated the Phoenix Blood Scripture, had her abode located in her lower abdomen.

"How is it?" Jin Yu asked.

"I don't know if that is the 'virginity mark' of the Phoenix Blood Scripture or a meridian diagram for cultivation. It looks like a phoenix, but it is entangled with extreme yin power."

Chu Mingkong had a bit of a headache. He shifted his stiff gaze from where the phoenix had taken flight and said:

"This vast expanse of blackness is enough to make me feel uneasy just looking at it..."

Jin Yu's heart sank after hearing Chu Mingkong's words. She did not doubt the truth of Chu Mingkong's words. If even he found it troublesome, what should she do?

"...Can I offset it?"

This clandestine exchange was like an encrypted call. Chu Mingkong figured it wouldn't work. As things stood, a woman could only give him one strand of golden thread representing extreme yang, and this thread couldn't be "charged" indefinitely. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had to be so frugal with its use when he left the capital. If he hadn't received a boost from the Princess of Chu, things would have been quite troublesome in the Abyss.

However, his heart was in a different situation. It could absorb the extreme yin energy as much as it could, and any excess that overflowed could not be countered no matter how many times he cultivated with Jin Yu.

Chu Mingkong pulled up Empress Pei's clothes and helped her lie back down to rest.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will find a way to remove this injury for you. But I also hope that Your Majesty will think carefully about how you fell ill."

Without hesitation or further words, Chu Mingkong disappeared again. Holding Jin Yu's small hand, she hurriedly led Chu Mingkong back to her own palace to prepare for cultivation.

As soon as the door opened, the imperial physicians nervously surrounded her. If so many imperial physicians could not diagnose Empress Pei's symptoms or find a cure, they would be punished. It would be one thing to be dismissed for failing to treat the illness, but the worst thing would be to have their families affected!

They asked anxiously:

"Your Highness, how is the Empress? We just asked our elders to seek help from the fairies of Hundred Herbs Valley. They should have a solution once they arrive!"

Jin Yu wanted to scold them for being useless, for all that trouble they had caused, and in the end they still had to drag Ming Kong out to remove the "poison" for the Empress Dowager, but she didn't dare to reveal the true condition of Empress Pei.

That would be too unusual. It's better to keep the Empress Dowager in a state of serious illness and weakness for now, so that others will think so!

"Without improvement, this princess will go back for a short rest. I am too exhausted to continue. I hope you can come up with a solution immediately!"

After saying that, Jin Yu left with an "angry" look on her face, leaving the imperial physicians standing there feeling melancholy and helpless.

As soon as Jin Yu left Empress Pei's bedroom and walked past the imperial physicians, palace maids, and eunuchs, she quickly pulled Chu Mingkong back to her own room.

Jin Yu breathed a sigh of relief after closing the door. Leaning against the door, she said:

"It was terrifying! This is the first time I've ever felt so nervous walking around the palace!"

Seeing the girl nervously patting her chest, making her soft breasts tremble, Chu Mingkong genuinely felt nervous for her.

To be honest, he himself was also a little uneasy. Just now, a patrol team had walked by outside the palace. If the colorless shadow had failed at this critical moment, it would have been an accident.

Chu Mingkong, without any hesitation, sat down beside Jin Yu's bed: "Jin Yu, come here, let me see your virginity mark first."

"Okay, I'm coming~"

The graceful princess walked up to Chu Mingkong. She loosened her belt and gently pulled her strapless dress, which slid off her voluptuous body, revealing smooth, rosy skin. She stood straight, her lower abdomen facing Chu Mingkong's eyes, and then activated the virginity mark from the Phoenix Blood Scripture.

Randomly, on that flat and delicate spot, a clean, light golden mark of virginity appeared. It vaguely resembled a phoenix pattern, though not as detailed as Empress Pei's, and not quite the same type of mark overall.

His eyes were closely observing the mysterious mark of virginity, and his nose seemed to smell a damp fragrance. This fragrance stirred up the deep desire in Chu Mingkong's heart. The thoughts that he had suppressed and endured with Empress Pei were all transformed into his current imposing and dignified appearance.

Jin Yu noticed Chu Mingkong's abruptly revealed thoughts, and her plump legs went weak. She reached out and touched Chu Mingkong's thigh in a comforting gesture.

Chu Mingkong, worried that Jin Yu might get tired of standing, had her lie down on the bed to continue observing her, and then asked:

"Can you move this virginity mark to your back?"

"That won't do, the mark of virginity can't be touched so easily." Jin Yu shook her head.

Jin Yu saw that Chu Mingkong was almost there, but he was lost in thought and pondering instead of focusing on her. The princess got up on her own, her beautiful and delicate body embracing Chu Mingkong, and pushing her lover down beneath her.

After mentally preparing herself, she patiently and slowly squatted down, her delicate eyebrows trembling. Finally, her body went limp and she slumped down, cradling Chu Mingkong's head in her arms, and said with concern:

"Chu Lang, you should hurry up and cultivate. You looked so unpleasant in front of the Empress Dowager just now..."

Chu Mingkong found her appearance quite adorable and asked:

"Is Jinyu worried about my injuries, or does she want to cultivate herself?"

"Oh, aren't they all the same?"

She shifted back and forth, trying to urge Chu Mingkong to start cultivating more quickly: "I'm more worried about Chu Lang's injuries than I am about cultivating myself. Right now, all I can think about is Chu Lang's injuries; I don't have so many inappropriate thoughts..."

Jin Yu was afraid that Chu Mingkong would misunderstand her as the kind of woman who, even when he was injured, only thought about her own happiness.

Chu Mingkong never expected that this girl would have a day when she would cover for him.

--------

P.S.: ...Could it be that they actually have a grudge against each other?

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Don't Let Me Find Out You Have a Planned Empress!

After a series of shallow and deep exercises, Jin Yu lay languidly and exhausted on the step, her bodice sinking between her two mounds of snowy flesh, which rose and fell rhythmically with her breath.

Her snow-white, plump body lay before Chu Mingkong, its whiteness adorned with warm rosy hues, giving it a rosy glow.

The beautiful woman with watery eyes looked at Chu Mingkong, wanting to pull him down and snuggle into his arms:

"Chu Lang, why don't you lie down and rest for a while?"

Chu Mingkong was sitting and pondering Empress Pei's matter when he heard Jin Yu coaxing him, so he lay down to do as she pleased.

Although it's called cultivation, it's actually still a matter of pleasure. That's why he went to Wushan with Jinyu. If he goes to deal with serious business now, Jinyu will inevitably be sad. Even if he won't be lying down for long, he still has to give Jinyu an attitude.

As soon as he lay down, Jin Yu, who was too lazy to move, immediately hugged him, draped one of her fragrant pink legs over Chu Mingkong's body, and even took one of Chu Mingkong's hands and placed it on her buttocks.

Having practiced several times already, Jin Yu had discovered that her lover especially liked her buttocks.

Are you feeling better?

Chu Mingkong didn't refuse Jin Yu's offer; he had to touch it, after all. Jin Yu's precious buttocks were a source of good fortune for Chu Mingkong. He suddenly smiled:

"Your question reminds me of the time I saved you. Your concern then was about the same as it is now."

"That's not quite right. You're making it sound like my feelings for you haven't grown at all. Back then, I only wanted you to be my trusted advisor."

Chu Mingkong pressed further, "And now?"

Jin Yu's slender fingers traced circles on Chu Mingkong's chest:

"Now, Chu Lang and I have a perfectly seamless relationship~"

Chu Mingkong couldn't stop smiling. It was quite interesting to have a girl who could talk to him like that. But if Jin Yu's cultivation skills were half as good as her smooth talk, that would be great. Every time, she would run out of energy in no time.

As expected of a princess living a life of luxury, even her cultivation requires him, an injured man, to serve her.

Chu Mingkong got back to the point and said:

"I'm alright now. Overall, the suppression of the Abyss Wound is at a certain limit. Do you understand what I mean?"

Jin Yu nodded her head, which was resting on the man's shoulder. She understood what he meant; he meant that there was no way to cure her mother's illness in the short term.

Chu Mingkong, now in the palace, faces a constant threat of unforeseen circumstances. He must ensure that his cultivation and combat strength are not affected by injuries. He has barely managed to suppress the injuries from the Abyss, which means that he will no longer be able to help Empress Pei deal with the situation of being entangled by the power of Yin.

"Is it too late for me to cultivate another extremely yang cultivation technique?"

Chu Mingkong paused. He could let it go at other times, but in the current situation, he didn't care about the potential impact on her.

"Jinyu, think about how long it took you to master the Phoenix Blood Scripture. By the time you've mastered another technique, I might have already healed the Empress's injuries."

Jin Yu stuck out her tongue, at a loss for what to do. Chu Mingkong could only comfort her by saying that the Empress's condition was much better now, but how convincing those words would be depended on Empress Pei herself.

Chu Mingkong mentally calculated that the only way to suppress his injuries now seemed to be to call over the Princess Consort of Chu and have her strand of Extreme Yang Golden Silk replenish its magic, but that was obviously unrealistic.

Shangguan Rong has also been practicing with him recently. It seems that only Sister-in-law Keqing is left. Before leaving the capital, Chu Mingkong gave her an Extreme Yang Technique to practice. It was something he drew from a blind box.

Unfortunately, Sister-in-law Keqing's cultivation progress is slow. This is not her fault; she lacks a foundation in cultivation and spends most of her time making up for her lack of basic cultivation knowledge.

After much thought, it seems... only Empress Pei herself remains.

"Chu Lang, why did Mother suddenly become like this? When I left the palace to meet you, she was perfectly fine. At most, she left her bedchamber less often after Father woke up. How could she suddenly become like this?"

Could it be that someone is plotting to murder the Empress Dowager, even resorting to such a sinister power as extreme yin energy?

Chu Mingkong felt that since things had come to this, regardless of whether Jin Yu could accept it or not, she had to let her know that this possibility existed:

"Jinyu, I once accidentally learned some secret information about the Emperor and Empress of Tianji. Let me ask you something first: do you know anything about the empresses of the past in the history of the Tianji Empire?"

The Tianji Empire did not experience frequent dynastic changes; most of the time, it was a transition between old and new emperors. With domestic stability, historical records were relatively well preserved, and it was almost impossible for any records to be lost.

Jin Yu nodded:

"The changes were quite frequent. The earliest records say that she couldn't bear the emperor's favor and enjoyed all the blessings in her destiny, and died young. But it wasn't detailed. Later, it only said that a new empress was established, without mentioning what happened to the old empress."

Thinking of her mother's current situation, Jinyu became worried. Could it be...?

Upon hearing this, Chu Mingkong thought to himself that the historical record-keeping agency of the Tianji Empire really knew how to rely on one side's story, completely downplaying the matter of the Empress.

However, asking those historians would probably yield no results. They mostly followed the rules left by the historians to downplay the empress's role. Moreover, based on what Chu Mingkong knew about Empress Tianji's situation, it was estimated that her highlight as empress was the enthronement ceremony, after which she remained invisible. Historians had no room to record her, and in the long run, no historian would care whether to leave any trace of the empress.

Chu Mingkong then briefly processed what "Madam Baili" had told him and told it to Jinyu.

Jin Yu was unwilling to believe such a thing, but this was one of the few pieces of information she knew at the moment. Being in the palace, the Empress's meals were tested for poison by the Imperial Kitchen before they were delivered, making it difficult for outsiders to harm her.