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

While Gu Jun Gui was struggling with his inner turmoil, he suddenly heard Feng Ke Qing say:

"Sister-in-law, I think you could also have a child with Mingkong..."

"Huh? Are you serious?" Gu Jungui was stunned.

"Mm." Feng Keqing nodded.

"Keqing, you really are... why are you joking with me?"

“Mingkong killed the clan leader because of you. He said the clan leader had designs on you… Actually, I envy my sister-in-law. At least you have Mingkong who cares about you so much and remembers your kindness without hesitation.”

"I've been in the capital for so long, and I've seen many young men from the Cui family and other noble families, but which one is like Mingkong?"

Normally, Gu Jun Gui would have flatly denied it, saying it was inappropriate. But right now, Feng Ke Qing's words had left her dizzy, and she remembered the thin gauze dress and undergarment that Chu Ming Kong had given her indiscriminately before...

Feng Keqing had led him astray, and he began to wonder if he was capable of doing it.

She snapped out of her daze and shook her head repeatedly:

"How can this be? I am his elder, a very close elder. Besides, I'm already a twenty-five or twenty-six-year-old spinster. No way, no way!"

"Sister-in-law, you seem guilty~"

"Feeling guilty my foot!" Gu Jungui laughed and scolded, "I'm not joking with you anymore, I'm serious. Mingkong has returned to the manor during the day, and I'll help you take him down! Otherwise, do you expect him to treat you well after Cui Rong becomes the clan leader in a few days?"

Gu Jungui initially treated Feng Keqing as his daughter-in-law, using his knowledge of the past to persuade her:

"Actually, Mingkong used to have feelings for you... he admired you. He even asked me privately if he could give you a bellyband, but I refused. He always listens to me. So now Mingkong only has feelings for you but keeps them within the bounds of propriety. Right now, he needs someone to have children for him. Keqing, if you take the initiative, it will definitely work!"

----------

"Ah-"

Chu Mingkong sneezed loudly before he even reached the academy.

This familiar feeling... why does it feel like someone is spreading rumors about me?

How dare they spread rumors about me! I have such a bad reputation now!

Don't let me find out who it is, or I'll gag you with a big stick.

As he walked, Chu Mingkong suddenly stopped.

"Come out, your sword intent can no longer be hidden."

A sharp blade flashed past, and Chu Mingkong retreated like a ghost, his blade intent turning to attack his lower body.

He had no choice but to take out a long spear to deflect the sword intent.

Overall, there were no major incidents or dangers, and the visitors had no intention of killing; they were merely testing the waters.

"This swordsmanship is making my foreskin tremble with fear! It's been a long time! Old Master Cui, I just realized that you disguised yourself and infiltrated Xiling for so long back then."

"Long time no see, young prince!" The old man bowed to him.

The visitor was none other than the stingy old man from the Cui family who had previously only shown him a tiny bit of filial piety.

While watching Cui Jiazhen's battle, Chu Mingkong felt that the swordsmanship looked somewhat familiar, and then he quickly thought of the old military doctor in the Xiling Army.

"Is this because they see that Cui Jiazhen is dead, and they want to settle scores for their descendants?"

The old man said seriously, "No, I came to ask the young prince for a seed. I wonder which of my Cui family's wives the young prince has designs on?"

Chu Mingkong: "..."

Chapter Thirty-Six: I Want Them All!

This... must be a hallucination, right?

That last sentence must have been a hallucination. Whether it was about seeking revenge or discussing swordsmanship, Chu Mingkong wouldn't be surprised. There's no reason why it would suddenly turn into this kind of topic.

"Grandpa, your knife skills are pretty good! That last cut scared Bao Ying so much she almost ripped my pants open!"

As he spoke, Chu Mingkong patted the fabric in that spot.

Old Master Cui remained calm: "Young Prince, please don't joke. If you had no ulterior motives, your belt wouldn't have suddenly bulged so badly."

"Sorry, I usually tie it up with a rope to prevent it from swinging around, but the rope just came loose... Okay, enough joking."

Chu Mingkong looked around and found a quiet place to have a detailed chat with the old man of the Cui family.

"Grandpa, you...you're getting senile. Do you even know what you just said?" Chu Mingkong asked seriously.

The white-haired but muscular old man took out a gourd of wine and gestured towards Chu Mingkong, who waved his hand dismissively, indicating that he would not drink it.

That old military doctor had lived in the Xiling army for more than ten years. Around the time Chu Mingkong was brought back to the Xiling Prince's Mansion, he was already working in the army as a doctor.

Of course, at first I did join the team to hunt down the ferocious beasts of the Abyss, but later I lost interest and settled down to carving decorations behind the scenes.

When he was a child, Chu Mingkong asked him what kind of wine he was drinking, and the old man jokingly said it was the "chicken skin" cut off to make a virgin wine.

Whether it was a joke or not, I dared not accept the wine and drink it.

"It means exactly what it says. The last two generations of the Cui family have not been doing well, and my lifespan is running out. I know that if things continue like this, the Cui family will soon be swallowed up, and no one in the family will be able to protect the reputation and property that the Cui family has inherited for so long."

"Don't be pessimistic. I see you're still in good health. You haven't even fully grasped the Dao Immortal realm yet, and you're already in such a hurry to ride the crane to the west and cut the skin off the gods?" Chu Mingkong encouraged.

It's quite ironic and hurtful that he would say such a thing.

Grandpa Cui's lifelong wish was to comprehend the Dao Immortal Realm, a goal he had been stuck on for his entire life.

When Chu Mingkong started practicing his sword, he was already a half-step sword immortal. A few years later, Chu Mingkong had achieved the sword immortal realm, while the old man was still cutting and pondering the last half-step.

Even now, after returning to the Cui residence for seclusion, he hasn't completed the final half-step.

Grandpa Cui shook his head with amusement: "You're quite the smooth talker. It's a good thing your eldest daughter from the Chu family isn't here, or she would have pinched your mouth until it was swollen."

“If I ride your wife’s horse, even if she has a child, it will still be my bloodline. You don’t mind?”

"I used to mind it, but now I've really figured it out, and I can't help but mind it now."

I've been looking around for so long, hoping that a decent man will come out of the family to support us, but the longer I wait, the worse he gets.

Young Prince, you've been active in my Cui residence for a while now, have you discovered anyone with potential?

Seeing that he had been so frank and open, Chu Mingkong stopped talking nonsense and said tactfully:

"The future is promising."

"Right? There isn't a single one. Everyone else is hoping that good seedlings can grow up, but I'm hoping that one good seedling will emerge. I don't ask for much, just half of what you, Little Prince, have is enough."

"Half of mine, and you're still not asking for more?"

"..." Old Master Cui's expression disappeared, and he pretended not to hear: "Normally speaking, according to the plan given by our ancestors, there should have been someone in the previous generation of Cui family descendants who could take over my position and serve as the behind-the-scenes protector of the Cui family. But we haven't been able to find a decent one."

"When a family grows large, one can no longer be willful; one must be ruthless when necessary. Although I am not involved in family business, I have seen a lot and can see through many things."

Too many people and families covet the Cui family's position. If I fall, the first to take a bite out of me will be the royal family.

Do you think the Celestial Royal Family won't bite you?

At the height of the Cui family's power, when the emperor wanted to marry a woman from the Cui family, the Cui family refused, saying that the woman was not worthy of him.

The old man thought about it for a moment and said:

"It would be too easy to bring down the East Mansion. Given the current state of the East Mansion, we could just find some excuse about its corrupt family practices and moral depravity, expose its scandals, and confiscate its property. If the East Mansion falls, the West Mansion will also be in grave danger; we'll be left with nothing."

But is the infidelity of the father and son in the East Mansion really the root cause? No, the root cause is the incompetence of the family members!

“When a family is powerful, you can do whatever you want or be ruthless without any problem. But when the family is weak, anything can become a reason for destruction.”

“I consider the Cui family as extinct. Once I die, they will fall within ten years. So please, Your Highness, come and continue the lineage, or even several lines, so that at least a family tree and ancestral hall can be preserved.”

"To be honest, I'm fed up with all the mess in the clan. Because of a promising descendant, I can't even concentrate on honing my swordsmanship. I have to keep thinking about my descendants outside!"

"Not only can she not have children after messing around, but she also goes around sleeping with men and gets slept with by them!"

Grandpa Cui said those last words through gritted teeth.

But can we go and kill these descendants? No, once they're dead, they're gone.

Chu Mingkong couldn't help but admire Master Cui's...decisiveness?

For an elder who values ​​family ancestral halls so much, making the decision to introduce outsiders' bloodlines must have taken a great deal of effort.

"One request: to preserve the 'Cui' name and ensure the continuation of the family genealogy..." Old Master Cui took a sip of wine. "Tell me, young prince, which wife have you taken a fancy to?"

Chu Mingkong stretched out his hand, his palm slowly clenching as if he had grasped something. He tilted his head and looked at the old man of the Cui family.

"I want it all!"

"puff--"

Old Master Cui spat out the wine in his mouth. Fortunately, Chu Mingkong dodged quickly, otherwise he would have been smeared with the "virgin wine".

Chu Mingkong laughed heartily:

"That's an exaggeration, but it's not really that exaggerated. I think the current descendants of the Cui family all look like they're about to die."

For example, my sister-in-law Keqing will soon become a widow. Cui Rong colluded with outsiders and used the Yin Core to put incense burner to harm me. I cannot let him get away with this.

Cui Lian couldn't be sure either; this guy's actions were rather outrageous, but he was also a bit timid, so maybe nothing would happen.

It's something most people wouldn't do: Cui Lian was able to conspire with Cui Rong to marry You Erniang and keep her as a mistress outside.

The old man suddenly seemed to have aged several years, and his once robust body became somewhat hunched.

"Alright, then I'll assume they're dead. Young Prince, you can take whichever wife you want from now on, but if you do, make sure a branch of your family is included in the Cui family genealogy. That's not too much to ask, is it?"

Before Chu Mingkong could return, the figure of the Cui family patriarch disappeared from the spot.

Most likely, they went there to question the meaning of life.

Chu Mingkong felt uneasy when he thought of Aunt Gu in his household.

I don't know how to face it when I go back.

"This Cui family is too strange. I need to find Rong'er to analyze tonight's attack for me." Chu Mingkong suddenly slapped his forehead, annoyed, "Why did I kill all those assassins? Wouldn't it have been better to leave one for questioning!"

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Meeting Jin Yu at Night