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

He swam in the pool and only realized Chu Mingkong's presence when he bumped into him.

Upon learning of this situation, Chu Mingkong subconsciously wondered if his soul would be taken away by the Black and White Impermanence, causing his aura to disappear, just like the elusive Sword Emperor Grandmother.

However, he quickly realized that he had the Abyss Injury, which should normally be imperceptible.

"I called you several times but didn't get a response. I thought your soul had entered some kind of mental tribulation." Balan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he had recovered.

If Chu Mingkong were to encounter a mental tribulation, it would most likely be due to the influence of Zuo Donglu. On the day the Yin-Yang Chaotic Soul Array exploded, Balan experienced Zuo Donglu's power up close.

"Don't worry, it's not a mental tribulation. It's just that my soul went with Grandma Basheng to broaden my horizons, and my attention is not on my body."

"That's good," Balan replied tentatively, secretly thinking: Time to meet with my ancestors...

She was unaware that the "former grandmother" Chu Mingkong mentioned referred to the original emperor, not the will of the scriptures.

The ancestors still contact Chu Mingkong, but through Yun Nongyu, they convey their "ignoring people" attitude, which puts a bit of pressure on Balan.

Chu Mingkong failed to notice the change in Balan's expression and was unaware of what she was struggling with; his attention was focused on the current awkward situation.

Normally, no one would come to the bathhouse fully clothed. Balan was only covered by a towel, the wet part of which revealed a beautiful flesh color.

Through the reflection of the pond water, one can vaguely see the neatly tended and lush grass.

Balan's figure was slightly plump, with an overall slender and graceful physique. Her chest was not as magnificent as the late emperor's, but its shape was like an inverted jade bowl, appearing much larger than when she was dressed normally. Her plumpness was concentrated below her slender waist, with full, round, and soft buttocks. Her thighs were also plump and beautifully proportioned, and every inch of her alabaster skin was so wonderfully fleshy that one wanted to reach out and play with it.

Chu Mingkong's gaze fell upon the slender, fragrant grass, and he felt his blood rush to his head, realizing he had to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Baran, have I been here for a long time?"

Unlike typical girlish shyness, Balan quickly regained her usual confidence and poise after the initial awkwardness of their eye contact disappeared, and she spoke to Chu Mingkong with a bright and cheerful smile.

"It has been a while. It's late at night now. When I first came, the maid said you went into the bath, so I changed my schedule to come late at night. I thought you had already gone back to rest, but I didn't expect you to still be here. I only noticed you when my foot brushed against you."

Chu Mingkong recalled the matter of the Sword Emperor Scripture's will triggering something earlier, and wondered if he had told Balan and the others about it.

There shouldn't be, otherwise Balan should be avoiding him right now.

"Then I'll go out first and see if the babies are asleep. I'm sorry to have disturbed your late-night bathing pleasure." Chu Mingkong bent his legs slightly and moved little by little towards the edge of the pool, trying to get out of the water with his back to her.

Even though Balan can still see the swaying walnuts from behind when it comes out of the water, that's all that can be done.

He symbolically stepped out of the water and took a couple of steps, then activated his Nirvana Domain and ran away, mimicking Grandma Basheng's elusive presence, displaying the demeanor of a master.

"Mingkong, please wait." Balan called out to him.

"Is there anything else?" Chu Mingkong asked with an innocent and naive expression.

"If you don't have anything else urgent, why don't you sit down and we can talk about something else?" Balan's lips curled into a friendly smile, and as she parted her red lips, her pink tongue and delicate teeth were faintly visible.

Chu Mingkong sat back down, feeling a strange sense of disorientation. He was still quite young, but he felt increasingly old at heart.

Balan has a really big sister vibe. She reminds me of my student days in my past life. On my way to school, I would occasionally see those beautiful white-collar women with great figures and white shirts, pencil skirts, black stockings, and high heels. They wore glasses and exuded competence and intellect, but they weren't stern or intimidating. Their smiles made people want to get close to them. I felt that she was the kind of big sister who knew how to take care of people.

Especially now that they are not wearing sword cultivator robes and are not influenced by the clothing styles of this world, this feeling is even stronger.

He used to really like her, but without realizing it, he felt he had lost that strong yearning for mature women...

Of course, it's not that strong, but I still have a longing for it.

"What do you want to talk about? Are you perhaps interested in the matter of the late emperor that I just mentioned?"

“Yes, our ancestors have been ignoring us lately,” Balan said helplessly as he sat down next to him.

Upon hearing her words, Chu Mingkong knew that the Sword Emperor Scripture's will had truly been activated!

But if we were to say that what he just encountered was not the will of the scriptures, but the ancestor himself, wouldn't that be too shocking?

"Is that so? I'll ask Grandma next time."

"Alright, I'll be frank with you." Balan was very direct, expressing the meaning of the Sword Emperor Scripture directly, and then asked, "I've heard that your elders are urging you and your female relatives to have more children. Could you spare some energy for me to try my luck? If your female relatives don't mind, how about I join them too? That way, it won't take up any of your extra time."

Chu Mingkong really didn't expect Balan to bring it up directly. As expected, high-level female cultivators are different from women from secular families.

As if to alleviate Chu Mingkong's concerns, Balan thoughtfully stated in advance:

"But Mingkong's female relatives might worry that I will push them to the margins, like the kind of palace intrigue that happens in secular families, right? This could indeed make things difficult for you, Mingkong. If you want to keep things more private, I can guarantee that I won't let Jinyu and the others know about it."

"If I'm lucky enough to have a child in the future, don't worry about me asking you, Mingkong, for anything more. I can take good care of the child myself, as a successor... Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain to our ancestors."

After speaking, Balan did not rush to ask Chu Mingkong for a reply. She looked at him with a faint smile and waited patiently for his response.

Such a strange topic was brought up in an almost casual tone.

Moreover, Balan's words had a certain... well, you know, a sensible mistress vibe.

I can take good care of the children on my own, I will keep it a secret and won't upset your wives, don't worry, I won't covet your family fortune—that's pretty much it.

"Mingkong, could it be that you have some other worries?" Balan frowned, pondering her own blind spot, and asked doubtfully, "Could it be that you're afraid I won't let the child acknowledge you?"

Isn't your thinking a bit too far ahead? Balan, do you know how difficult it is to raise a child?

“Baran, you don’t have to be in such a difficult position. I can take you to talk to the ancestors, and I also need to explain a misunderstanding.”

"Even the late emperor approves of you, so I don't find it difficult at all. But is there some misunderstanding involved? Tell me about it."

Chapter 89 Balan: I won't let your wives know.

Chu Mingkong hesitated about whether or not to reveal the true nature of Grandma Basheng to Balan.

Judging from Grandma Basheng's attitude, she probably didn't want to have much interaction with these descendants of the Sword Dynasty, because she regarded herself as a dead person.

If they rashly revealed her existence, Grandma Basheng would still not want to see her descendants, while Balan would only become more anxious knowing about their ancestor's existence but being unable to meet her.

Thinking it over, revealing this situation would only do harm and no good.

"What I mean is... the Sword Emperor's will might not be ignoring you; it's just that there might be other circumstances, such as needing to rest for a while after appearing once..."

Chu Mingkong took out the note from his storage ring and contacted Yun Nongyu to confirm the status of the Sword Emperor Scripture's will.

Yun Nongyu knew the inside story. Last time, when Su Nu pulled Chu Mingkong to repair his Five Elements cultivation, the Sword Emperor Scripture's will resonated with Su Nu. As a result, she has been in seclusion ever since.

[Yun Nongyu: The Sword Emperor's will might be in a bad mood. I tried to communicate with her, but only received a sigh in response.]

Balan leaned closer, peering at the contents of the note. Her body exuded a delicate fragrance, and water droplets dripping from her alluring hair rippled in the pool in front of Chu Mingkong.

Upon seeing the response in the note, she said:

"Look~ Our ancestor really isn't talking to us anymore. I've been so worried these past few days. It's too much pressure to upset our ancestor, especially since he's the founding ancestor."

Chu Mingkong was a little puzzled. This shouldn't be the case. When he came into contact with the Sword Emperor Scripture's will before, he didn't think she would be the type to exert pressure in this way.

He couldn't explain it clearly, and didn't want to dwell on it, so he calmly asked:

"Nabalan, don't you feel unwilling to be forced into anything? At your level, you shouldn't like having your fate decided by others."

Balan released the towel, which floated away with the water. She sat on the steps by the pool, her slightly plump, white legs appearing exceptionally white and alluring in the shimmering moonlight.

She didn't use many cunning words or eloquent phrases, and spoke frankly to Chu Mingkong:

"Such things will naturally still happen, but more importantly, it depends on the person. Mingkong, you are impeccable in every way. Your strength and appearance are second to none. If it were any other man in the Sword Emperor Dynasty, no matter how good his family background was, I would probably find it hard to look at him."

The phrase "judging people" is indeed quite straightforward.

If it were an ordinary woman, she certainly wouldn't be so direct. She would try to be as tactful as possible and avoid such a statement, because it would make her seem like she's looking for a better price, materialistic, or opportunistic, like asking for more dowry just because your family is wealthy.

However, Balan obviously did not have such concerns. She did not need to rely on men to realize or demonstrate her value. She could be beautiful and live freely on her own. Therefore, she would definitely follow her own preferences regarding the late emperor's requirement to "produce offspring".

In her eyes, Chu Mingkong was almost impeccable. Ignoring his mastery of weaponry, his adaptability to the Abyss was excessively strong. His only flaw seemed to be that he was not a member of the Sword Dynasty and had married young.

Zuo Qiuchi and Zuo Donglu are both her juniors, and considering that Jinyu has to call her aunt, their relationship is even closer. She feels a little strange that she is now going to have a relationship with the husband of a junior, but with the late emperor's approval, Balan can tell herself that it is justified.

She then asked:

"Well, actually, I'm in a more difficult position because of Jin Yu and the Zuo sisters. You'll be seeing them all the time, and you're still their husband~"

"But if I keep it from them, and only want your child, without getting involved in any romantic feelings, Jinyu should be able to accept that, right?"

Chu Mingkong was stunned. What he was talking about was just a casual fling, but there was no such term here.

"Baran, are you talking about a romantic relationship?"

"lover......"

Balan repeated it once, blinking unexpectedly, her long eyelashes opening and closing with a unique charm.

"I thought even physical intimacy would be difficult for you, Mingkong. It turns out you also want to discuss the emotional aspect. In that case, we can only start with physical intimacy, and we can try to develop the emotional aspect later."

By this point, Balan had a fairly good understanding of Chu Mingkong's personality; he was probably a serious yet promiscuous man.

This assessment sounds contradictory, but it's not entirely contradictory. Saying he's promiscuous naturally refers to the sheer number of his female relatives, which is frighteningly large, including his elders. Even his sister-in-law was left to be cared for by him.

However, this promiscuity was concentrated during periods of emotional emptiness for him. When he had someone by his side, he wouldn't pay much attention to others.

Young masters from powerful families, whether cultivators or ordinary people, often develop frivolous habits, such as touching and verbally harassing passing maids.

However, based on observations over the past few days, Chu Mingkong basically devotes all his energy to his female relatives, and when he walks around, he is too lazy to even glance at the pretty maids inside and outside the palace.

Furthermore, after Chu Mingkong dealt with Peng Bao Daoren with that towering python and resolved the Two Elements Chaotic Soul Array, quite a few families in the Sword Emperor Dynasty tried to get close to Chu Mingkong.

In particular, the information that he brought a group of female relatives to the Sword Emperor Palace could not be concealed. As a result, many families and forces were eyeing this point to "offer" women to get close to him and cater to his preferences.

While the Ba royal family could certainly try to stop some of them, those people were determined to make contact, and there was nothing Ba Lan could do. She had no right to stop so many people for Chu Mingkong.

From her observation, all the families who wanted to get close to him had undoubtedly failed—they couldn't get close at all, and Chu Mingkong ignored those women.

Balan had a preliminary understanding of Chu Mingkong and took the initiative. Her plump body slid gently into the water and approached Chu Mingkong's firm lower abdomen in the warm pool.

"Alright, Mingkong, you've been soaking here for quite a while now. Let's get used to it beforehand."

......

When Chu Mingkong came out of the bath, he felt a little dizzy from soaking in the tub.

This was really just a preliminary encounter. I never imagined that Balan, who usually seems rather flat-chested, would turn out to be the type who's got muscles when he takes his clothes off.

Confucianism is truly remarkable; its knowledge is profound!

It must be said that the Sword Immortal Realm has a strong learning ability. At first, he was still clumsy in his movements, but in no time he grasped the essentials through his reactions.

"It's funny to think back to when I came to the Sword Emperor Dynasty, imagining being treated coldly and hunted down by the royal family. The situation is completely different from what I imagined!"

Chapter Ninety: Using Public Office for Private Gain