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

Yongzhen's cultivation level was crystal clear to Fengying. Regardless of his actual combat strength, Yongzhen could handle many situations. However, the Crescent Moon Kingdom wasn't a safe haven where no one would steal anything. It was hard to predict whether the guards outside had any other secret orders. With Fengying gone, it wouldn't be good if something happened to Yongzhen.

“But you can also sense that those cultivators are all heading towards the capital. Maybe something big has happened,” Yongzhen insisted, his expression solemn.

"Even if something really serious happens, Mingkong can still escape. That Annihilation Domain is very unreasonable. Even if he is trapped by some kind of barrier, his Annihilation Domain can keep him inside for a very, very long time. The princess on her way to the marriage can rest assured."

Fengying dropped the topic and looked at Yongzhen with the same shrewd gaze as those frivolous young men, admiring her elegant beauty and fragrant body. Although her clothes were not yet completely red on the way to the marriage, her fur shawl had been changed to a bright peach color by the royal family.

Feng Ying's gaze wasn't really meant to flirt with her; it was just a way to end the conversation. Sometimes, it's best not to fall out with someone, so you can only use some frivolous actions to annoy them and quickly create an awkward silence.

However, to be honest, Feng Ying couldn't say he was completely at ease with Chu Mingkong's situation. After witnessing the absurdity of the Annihilation Domain, he certainly had confidence. But for a secular dynasty to pull off such a grand show was truly extraordinary.

If possible, she would also like to leave the princess who was sent to marry into the country and go back to see what had happened.

Given the current situation, it will probably take several days before we can get news about Tianji Capital from the intelligence dealers.

Silence fell over the carriage. Yongzhen frowned as she looked out the window, constantly sensing the dolls to see if she could communicate with them. Fengying, on the other hand, resumed rhythmically tossing daggers to pass the time. Occasionally, when the guards outside asked if the princess needed to stop and walk around to rest, Fengying would disappear.

Before long, Fengying noticed that someone had vaguely locked onto the marriage procession and followed it for a while, but they didn't seem to be hostile.

Yongzhen's divine senses were keen, and he had already detected this aura. He asked Fengying, "Who is this?"

Feng Ying raised an eyebrow and said approvingly, "Your spiritual strength is quite good. I'll go check it out; it's nearby."

With her powerful spiritual perception, Yongzhen could still detect Fengying's faint aura for a while after she concealed herself, confirming her location. However, this time, she watched as Fengying's figure disappeared and her aura appeared in the sky in the blink of an eye.

Fengying quickly discovered who was following the marriage procession. It was a blindfolded female Taoist priest standing on a sword in the clouds. The white blindfold could not hide her stunning beauty. She had an ethereal and otherworldly aura. Her Taoist robe was conservative, with the collar tightly protecting her neck, but her exquisite and curvaceous figure could still be seen.

Feng Ying remembered that Chu Mingkong's plan included finding Yun Nongyu to obtain the Dust-Free Talisman later, but she hadn't expected to run into her unexpectedly. She spoke first:

"Could you be the Daoist Yun that Zuo Qiuchi mentioned? What brings you with you on this marriage alliance journey?"

The female Taoist priest stood barefoot on the flying sword. Her fair, rosy feet appeared even more translucent in contrast to the sword's cold gleam. She nodded slightly in greeting and said:

"You and the woman in the carriage both carry the aura of the Dust-Free Talisman I gave to His Highness. However, the spiritual energy in the manor is depleted. I sensed the aura of the talisman while passing by and came to take a look."

Dust-Free Talisman?

A yellow talisman appeared at Fengying's fingertip. After the spiritual energy was exhausted, this talisman was no different from a piece of waste paper in her perception, yet it could still be locked onto by someone's aura.

As someone who habitually conceals his presence, Fengying is particularly concerned about this.

"This talisman was given to me by Chu Mingkong. He said it should be used as a protective charm to ensure good fortune and ward off misfortune. He's had a good experience using it, often encountering other people cheating on him."

"..." Master Yun fell silent, feeling that her talismans were being used in strange and unusual ways.

Although Feng Ying didn't know the relationship between this Taoist priest and Chu Mingkong, he should have a close relationship with Zuo Qiuchi. Zuo Qiuchi seemed to have said that he had slept with her, and her breasts looked much larger than expected.

“It’s good to meet you, Daoist Yun. I’m being entrusted by Chu Mingkong to protect this princess who is being sent for a political marriage. Could you please look after her, or send a female disciple to accompany her? This favor will be credited to Chu Mingkong and his master. I’m going back to the capital; there seems to be some big commotion there.”

"What's happening in the capital? I've noticed unusual celestial phenomena there, and many cultivators are gathering there?"

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

"Still can't catch a glimpse of the Empress? Where is she hiding, and what tricks is she using? How could she have remained hidden for so many days!"

In a secluded chamber, the emperor looked at the man leaning against the wall in the corner of the room and asked in a cold voice. The emperor's face was very ugly, with bulging blue veins like earthworms on his forehead and neck, making him look even more ferocious. This abnormality did not come from the backlash of the dragon vein, but from the influence of extremely yin power.

Now, more than a majestic and mysterious emperor, he is like a sinister but high-ranking monster. The eunuchs and palace maids who have been in contact with him feel this deeply, but no one dares to speak out, much less utter such words that could lead to their deaths.

The man in the shadows shook his head:

“I can’t find it. There’s no other extremely yin energy in the palace. I’m certain of that. The Empress didn’t hide herself using extremely yin power. She used other methods. The ability of extremely yin power to hide is useless to me.”

The emperor sat in his chair, exhaling a heavy breath of black smoke. His face was filled with anger, but he could barely suppress his temper through the patience he had cultivated over the years.

These past few days, the palace has been thoroughly searched, from top to bottom, even the places where the palace maids and eunuchs relieve themselves have been searched, but the Empress is nowhere to be found.

The invisible dragon vein phantom within the palace also yielded no clues, which is highly unusual!

Now, even the Prince of Jin, who has regained his senses, has come, but still no clues have been found. The Emperor's previous guess that Chu Mingkong used the power of extreme Yin to hide Empress Pei has failed.

In fact, as long as Empress Pei remained in the palace, it didn't matter whether he could find her or not. However, the emperor was uneasy. If he couldn't keep such an important person under his control, she would always be a hidden danger.

A few days ago, the emperor accelerated the absorption of the dragon vein's spiritual essence into the Golden Crow Phoenix Body, a move that would also hasten the loss of her life force.

He wanted to use this to force Empress Pei to compromise and show herself, otherwise he would use this method to kill her!

But it was an impulsive decision. After making it, the emperor regretted it. His hidden henchmen searched the entire country for the Golden Crow Phoenix Body, and even went to the black market in other places to try their luck, offering exorbitant prices to slave traders to find it, but unfortunately they found nothing.

Before he could find a suitable candidate for the Golden Crow Phoenix Body, he accelerated the fading of Empress Pei's life force. What else could this be but digging his own grave?

This is the price of seeking momentary pleasure in anger.

The Prince of Jin broke the silence, came up with a plan, and said:

"The Thousand Autumns Festival is approaching, a time of national celebration and a grand event for the marriage alliance. We can take this opportunity to pretend to break the palace's protective barrier, trick Empress Pei into escaping, and then capture her."

"That's a good plan, but what if she still doesn't come out?"

"Then let's maintain this stalemate and stop focusing on her. Just make sure Empress Pei can't escape from the palace. All that's left is to find a new replacement as soon as possible. The slave traders have more information than we do; it's impossible that Empress Pei is the only one with the Golden Crow Phoenix Body in the world."

......

Chu Mingkong lay on the armchair with a lazy, carefree attitude, like an elderly man enjoying his twilight years.

He had maintained this position for several days, and Empress Pei had been lying on him for several days as well. At first, she would get up and move around from time to time, but later she basically stayed in his arms and rarely moved.

Although she did not show any signs of pain, Chu Mingkong could clearly feel that her life force was rapidly fading away over the past few days. During those days, Chu Mingkong deliberately acted foolishly, gently probing Empress Pei's sensitive area with his fingers, but she had no strength to scold or rebuke him.

Things have gotten a bit better these past two days, but it's only because the Emperor has regretted it and realized that he was more concerned about Empress Pei's safety. The Emperor's absorption of Empress Pei's divine aura has slowed down again.

Chu Mingkong felt distressed about Empress Pei's life, but he wasn't in a hurry. He had already replaced her with a superior elixir that could replenish her lost life essence, but he hadn't given it to her yet. This kind of medicine wouldn't work the second time after being taken once, so he would only give it to her when she was "really beyond saving."

These days, Chu Mingkong has been wondering, do I really have to wait like this...?

Am I so worried about revealing my whereabouts that I'm too cautious to take action? What's the point of waiting like this? Is there really going to be a turning point?

His original idea was that by waiting for the right opportunity, he could minimize the risks and take Empress Pei away safely. However, the days when Empress Pei's life force was rapidly fading were the most stimulating to his rationality.

This completely deviated from the original intention. If Empress Pei hadn't noticed the fluctuations in the Nirvana Domain and reminded him to stay calm from time to time, Chu Mingkong would have really rushed out to test the emperor's strength.

This was still under the suppression of his master's wife's original spiritual energy, causing fluctuations in his state of mind. In the past few days, the extreme yin power in his body had "reignited" with his emotions, as if it had suppressed the extreme yang power.

Empress Pei shifted slightly, her ample, soft flesh, protected by her bra, almost bursting out. She managed to maintain her tone, but her voice was much weaker:

"You traitor... why do you always write tally marks on my leg with your finger?"

Chu Mingkong hadn't made any advances toward Empress Pei these past few days, because facing a stunningly beautiful woman whose life was fading away, he felt more depressed than restless.

Even when he hugged her, it felt like he was holding her close to keep her warm. At most, he would occasionally write tally marks on her legs.

“Record the number of times,” he said briefly.

"...Record the number of times?" Empress Pei was completely confused. "Record the number of times what?"

Chu Mingkong spoke nonsense with a blank expression:

"You just tempted me, shifted your body slightly, and gave me a glimpse of your white, fleshy breasts. I couldn't lay a hand on you right then and there, but when I got back, I bullied Jinyu. The daughter has to pay for the mother's sins. Then, I'll say that I've been dutiful in the palace, remaining unmoved by temptation, but your mother admires my handsome appearance and tries to seduce me from time to time. Luckily, I'm an honest person, so I blamed all the lust I felt on you, Jinyu."

"And I've written so many lines on your thigh, and you haven't resisted at all. That's practically a silent seduction of me. If I add one more line, I'll go back and let Jinyu know just how despicable her mother truly is."

Empress Pei was speechless. Although she knew this was also Chu Mingkong's way of provoking her, trying to get her to go out with him and stop him from talking nonsense and spreading rumors to ruin her reputation, she was still amazed that he could come up with such an outrageous reason...

After a long pause, Empress Pei scolded gently:

"Shameless and unfilial son!"

Her intention was to insult his son, calling him a bastard, much like the common street insult "You son of a bitch," but this tactic was useless against Chu Mingkong. Instead, he laughed in surprise:

"Oh~ So Mother has finally acknowledged me? Then I must show Mother my deepest filial piety!"

Empress Pei was furious: "Shameless!"

After scolding her, Empress Pei coughed weakly, and Chu Mingkong immediately lost his interest in clown talk.

He noticed the commotion outside and realized it seemed rather lively. After thinking for a moment, he realized that today was the Thousand Autumns Festival, the birthday of that tortoise-like emperor.

"Hmm? It seems the Emperor has lifted the barrier around the palace, and the dragon vein phantom outside has also disappeared. Does this mean he's given up on finding you?" Chu Mingkong was suspicious and didn't quite believe it.

Empress Pei shook her head and said firmly:

"It's fake. This is definitely a trap. The emperor probably didn't expect that the more the dragon vein absorbs from me, the more I can sense its movements. It's just hiding, lying in wait, ready to pounce."

Chu Mingkong took out the map given to him by his master's wife, looked at the weaknesses of the formation circled on it, and felt the chill in the primordial spiritual energy. This clear coldness did not seem to hide any falsehoods or lies.

Did Master's wife really use this map to deceive him? Last time, when they broke that stone lion, there was no sign of anything related to the "weakness of the formation," it was more like they had angered the dragon vein.

Try again!

His master's wife wouldn't lie to him, but she might withhold certain information, such as revealing that only one of his weaknesses is true.

He's been sitting here waiting to die for many days, and he's already lost what he was supposed to lose. It's like he's already suffered the consequences of the risk for no reason, but he hasn't even started taking the risk yet. If he doesn't take the risk, he'll really lose.

"Are you really going to force your way in?" Empress Pei could read the increasingly determined look in Chu Mingkong's eyes.

Chu Mingkong nodded, then suddenly stood up, holding her in his arms, ending his days-long period of lounging around. Looking at Empress Pei's beautiful face, he felt a mixture of infatuation and resolute seriousness.

“I also plan to give the emperor a little surprise. I will not use my cultivation technique anymore. I want to ruin your primordial yin body.”

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: I've put both updates together; I'll try to get it closer to an 8.5 today.

Chapter 136 Second Visit to the Palace, Another Bleeding (8.3/18)

Chu Mingkong carried Empress Pei toward the dragon bed, but stopped just as he was about to place her on it.

Countless women in the Heavenly Empire yearn to be on the emperor's bed, but Empress Pei seemed to have expressed her dislike for it just a few days ago, so she decided not to use the bed to avoid spoiling the mood.

Outside the palace, the illusory dragon veins that had been wandering around searching for a few days ago had disappeared, even though they were there just yesterday.

It was probably to make the whole act more convincing by removing the dragon vein illusion, so that the empress would be careless and try to escape. Since that was the case, Chu Mingkong felt that he should also make a move. Since the emperor was waiting for the whole thing, then Chu Mingkong wouldn't play along.

He stored the bedding on the dragon bed in his storage ring. The items on the bed were changed daily by palace maids, and regardless of whether the emperor was resting in his bedchamber, Chu Mingkong was always woken up by the maids' noise. While the dragon bed itself was annoying, the bedding couldn't be so bad, could it?

Chu Mingkong made his way to the Empress's palace with ease, without any obstacles along the way. He no longer needed to worry about the elusive appearance of the dragon vein phantom, and even the number of patrolling imperial guards had decreased significantly. It seemed that the palace had indeed returned to its former glory and tranquility.

After he told Empress Pei that he wanted to break her virginity, Empress Pei remained silent, giving him no clear answer but also not refusing, simply letting Chu Mingkong carry her back to her palace.

The Empress's palace is much less crowded with palace maids. Most of them were captured and killed by the Emperor to search their souls, hoping to find out if the Empress had returned from the remnants of their souls. Now, only a few young palace maids remain to guard the palace.

After finishing their work, the young palace maids sat in the courtyard, enjoying the cool air and taking a break, wondering where the older maid who had led them to their work had gone.

The murmurs made the Empress frown. It wasn't that the palace maids hadn't schemed against each other before, but at least the maids here could support and help each other. The senior and junior maids were like elders and juniors. From those innocent and questioning voices, Empress Pei heard worry and unease, and felt unfortunate and saddened by the fate of those senior maids.