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

The crown prince died too quickly; they didn't even have time to react or make a move.

"The Empress praises filial piety. I regard my master, Zuo Qiuchi, as my wife... She is a close friend and relative who shares my values. A teacher for a day is a mother for life. She is such an important person to me. But the Crown Prince harmed her. If I don't kill the Crown Prince, my heart full of filial piety will not be at peace!"

Chu Mingkong walked over with an umbrella, his black python robes completely dry. He bent down, grabbed the prince by the hair, and dragged his corpse toward the yamen (government office) deep in the street.

“You lackeys of the Crown Prince, I’m going to report to the authorities. I must expose this traitor who framed my master. Come to the yamen and collect his body.”

Everyone's eyes twitched. The crown prince was beheaded in the street, and then they went to the yamen to sue him?!

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks, and the onlookers nearby held their breath, fearing that they would become the next target of this murderous bastard.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

Chu Mingkong weakly coughed up several mouthfuls of black blood, looking as if he was about to die, and then slowly walked away.

I almost forgot about coughing up blood.

Chapter Eleven: That Familiar Peach Butt

The news of Chu Mingkong's murder of the crown prince spread like wildfire, and there was no way to suppress it.

The incident occurred on a busy street. Even if you can silence the common people, you can't silence the practitioners.

Chu Mingkong took the Crown Prince's body to the yamen to file a complaint. The yamen in the capital was a quiet place, with the Nightblade Division above it.

Major issues are beyond the jurisdiction of the government offices, and minor issues lack sufficient manpower to handle them. It is a typical example of a helpless and stagnant administrative department in the capital.

They couldn't possibly concern themselves with the Crown Prince's affairs. When the local officials saw Chu Mingkong carrying the Crown Prince's corpse in like a dead dog, they almost knelt down before him.

Left with no other choice, the midnight court session, which had not been held since Emperor Xiaoyuan ascended the throne, was launched. Many elderly civil officials drank several sips of strong tea in advance to rouse themselves for the court session.

Regardless of the circumstances, killing the crown prince would inevitably lead to arrest.

Soon, several commanders of the Imperial Guards arrived with their men to arrest the Crown Prince. Two of the commanders were flushed with alcohol, probably because they had been thinking of having a few drinks on the last day of the Lantern Festival and ended up working overtime.

Chu Mingkong sat on the mahogany chair that the yamen official had brought over, and lifted the prince's corpse on the ground.

"Have the commanders of the Imperial Guards come here to plead my innocence?"

The commanders of the Imperial Guards looked at each other, none daring to be the first to speak and wade into the muddy waters.

What a joke! This young master is about to die. Looking at his "carefree" appearance, he doesn't even put up a fight. He clearly knows his days are numbered and is starting to act like a mad dog, trying to drag others down with him!

After a brief exchange of glances among the officers of the Imperial Guard, the officer on duty that night finally spoke up.

"Your Highness, the matter of the Crown Prince requires investigation. We need you to go to the court to explain the situation and discuss this matter with the ministers..."

To the Golden Phoenix Palace?

It's a dangerous place, but it's definitely worth a visit, and while you're at it, see what the Queen looks like.

Chu Mingkong glanced at the shackles on the commander's hands. They had a miniature array that suppressed the flow of spiritual veins. If a cultivator was shackled, there was no way to save them unless they had the key.

Chu Mingkong reached out and grabbed it, but the corrupted fire spirit energy instantly corroded the shackles. The commander of the Imperial Guards forced himself to remain calm and threw the shackles aside, afraid of being tainted by that energy.

"Do I still need to wear it?" Chu Mingkong asked.

"Shouldn't we...still do it?" The commander of the Imperial Guards looked extremely grim. "Please, Your Highness, do not put me in a difficult position. It is my duty."

"Then wear them." Chu Mingkong took a new pair of shackles from the guards behind him and put them on himself. "Send the oil-paper umbrella to Princess Yongzhen's residence. Madam Zhen must not be disturbed. Take the Crown Prince's body with you and bring it with me to the Golden Palace. If anything goes wrong, you will be held responsible!"

The Imperial Guards remained silent. Who had been arrested?

......

Upon entering the Golden Palace, Chu Mingkong's attention was immediately drawn to the palace.

Previously, when looking at this place from the outside, he didn't realize it, but after understanding the uniqueness of that balanced barrier, Chu Mingkong could sense that the entire palace was a similar balanced barrier.

Although a wisp of extreme yang energy was holding back the wound on his body, it would still uncontrollably release a little bit of extreme yin energy.

However, upon entering the most sublime palace of the Heavenly Empire, his extremely yin energy vanished without a trace as soon as it was released.

They could no longer even communicate with the fire elemental energy in the world.

Let's get started here.

Irrational,

But it should be really fun!

The positive boost from the Abyss Wound made Chu Mingkong's battles lose their impact and exhilaration, but this place could suppress the boost from the extreme Yin energy.

If possible, Chu Mingkong hoped that such a day would never come, at least not today.

...because he hasn't yet engaged in dual cultivation with his master.

His arrival enlivened the magnificent imperial court.

The princelings' civil officials seemed to have had their ancestral graves dug up by Chu Mingkong, spewing out a barrage of literary but vulgarities, their words mainly revolving around two core themes.

First, the Crown Prince died, which damaged the foundation of the country. The murderer, Chu Mingkong, was killed.

Second, Chu Mingkong may pose a threat to other members of the royal family in the future, so he should be killed.

Of course, some neutral parties also criticized Chu Mingkong, especially after seeing him imprisoned and shackled, their words became even more sharp and unrestrained.

These people had no grudge against Chu Mingkong, but their stance on eliminating the king of a different surname was still there, so they could take this opportunity to get rid of him.

"Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince has been brutally murdered by Chu Mingkong! We cannot let him go!" The remonstrating official knelt on the ground, his upright voice trembling as he earnestly advised, "We cannot be soft-hearted!"

Chu Mingkong chuckled and retorted, "Did I do something wrong?"

The courtiers were dumbfounded.

"Didn't you do something wrong? The person you killed was the Crown Prince! The current Crown Prince! He is the very foundation of the nation!"

"He harmed my master, and his fate is now unknown. He left behind only a sword for me to remember him by. I am very sad." Chu Mingkong looked at them calmly. "This is equivalent to someone harming my mother. As a filial son, am I not allowed to seek revenge?"

The upright and incorruptible remonstrating official glared at him angrily and rebuked him:

"You're twisting the facts, confusing right and wrong, and making a scene! Although Zuo Qiuchi is a sword immortal, how can his life compare to that of my Crown Prince Tianji! Her Majesty the Empress is the mother of all under Heaven, equivalent to the mother of your Xiling Heir Apparent. The Crown Prince is your brother. How can you turn against your own brother and cause Her Majesty the Empress such grief! You've caused the mother of all under Heaven such grief, where is your filial piety?!"

That's incredibly unfilial of you!

Damn it!

Chu Mingkong realized that he had been tricked back into thinking the same thing again. These civil officials were really something; they managed to make the Crown Prince seem like his brother before they even started talking.

“Then I will take care of the Crown Princess on behalf of my brother, the Crown Prince, so that he can rest in peace in the afterlife.”

The remonstrating official was furious: "Shameless scoundrel! You dare to lay a hand on His Highness the Crown Prince's yet-to-be-married wife? Do you really think you'll live to see the end of the world—"

His words came to an abrupt halt as he saw Chu Mingkong easily unlock the shackles, loosen his wrists, and then put the shackles back on himself.

...So these shackles were just for show?

Those civil officials, who had been so impassioned just moments before seeing him imprisoned and bound in shackles, suddenly fell silent.

The upright remonstrating official even pretended to be so angry that he collapsed on the ground and "fainted".

Seeing that the court had suddenly fallen silent, Chu Mingkong didn't waste any more words:

"The Crown Prince killed my master and harmed my loved ones. I am avenging my family. I remember that the Emperor and Empress advocated filial piety, which says that it is not a crime to avenge one's loved ones. You may all perform a soul search on the Crown Prince's body."

Searching a corpse for the truth is the most unreasonable thing to do; even Conan would lose his job if he came here.

Just then, a eunuch's loud voice suddenly rang out from outside the hall: "Princess Yongzhen has arrived—"

Yongzhen, dressed in a palace gown, strode in and stood beside Chu Mingkong, bringing with her a delicate fragrance. Skipping over formal greetings, she went straight to the point:

“Some people outside are slandering Chu Shizi’s master, Zuo Jianxian, for harming thousands of people in the suburbs. However, according to the results of the Nightblade Division’s soul search, this was done by the Crown Prince to murder Zuo Jianxian and then frame Zuo Jianxian.”

He treated the common people like insects, his methods were insidious and cruel, and he was intolerable to the country. The crown prince merely killed someone who deserved to die.

The imperial throne inside the hall was empty; it was a seat reserved for the emperor.

The Empress sat beside the throne, her back to the assembled officials below. A jade beaded curtain hung down, obscuring her upper body, so that even her profile could not be seen.

The curtain had the ability to block perception, but Chu Mingkong did not try to perceive it. Instead, he stared at the vague outline of the peach.

That butt looks kind of familiar...

------

P.S.: I'm going out for dinner, I'll add another chapter later.

Chapter Twelve: He Defiled My Crown Princess!

Chu Mingkong thought it was perfectly normal to have the ability to recognize buttocks, just like everyone can remember the faces of those around them.

However, most people don't have the opportunity to stare at other people's butts. Even when looking in the mirror, it's difficult to see their own bare butts. The less they see, the less they exercise, so they feel that this area is not easily recognizable.

If Chu Mingkong were to elaborate on the topic of beautiful buttocks, he could talk about it all day long, but let's return to the Empress's peaches.

This might just be an illusion. After all, with clothes on, the wrinkles and contours can't be fully shown, and the skin color and smoothness can't be seen either. Chu Mingkong can only find that similarity from the general overall back view.

After a short while, Chu Mingkong's attention returned to Yongzhen.

Although Yongzhen is only a princess, she is not very old, but she has a high seniority and her words carry a lot of weight.

In a country that values ​​filial piety, Yongzhen's words are equivalent to those of an elder, and their value is comparable to the essence Chu Mingkong imparted to the Crown Princess during her cultivation in the palace.

The soul search of the Crown Prince and Gao Nanben was of utmost urgency. They were brought to the court almost immediately and questioned in front of all the officials.

The people in charge of soul searching included Wei Qingning of the Nightblade Division, Yun Nongyu, an elder of the Daoist sect, and some guest ministers supported by the imperial court, but the first two were the most influential.

None of them were Chu Mingkong's people; they were very fair!

Some of those retainers were from the Crown Prince's faction. Their master was dead, but they still wanted to make a fuss and try to characterize the incident as a private feud between the Crown Prince and the Heir Apparent.

A white-bearded Taoist priest searched the soul and asked, "Your Highness, did you have any grudges with Prince Chu in your previous life?"

Chu Mingkong struck with great restraint, killing the prince with a single blow. In layman's terms, the damage was not excessive, so the prince's remnant soul was preserved relatively intact, his soul body was solid, and he spoke noticeably more fluently.

"Chu Mingkong has defiled my Crown Princess... Chu Mingkong has defiled my Crown Princess..."

The court was completely silent, except for the remnant soul of the crown prince repeating this somewhat subtle sentence.

The courtiers silently turned their gazes toward Chu Mingkong, and even Shi Zheng, the remonstrating official who had been feigning death, secretly squinted one eye to peek.