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

After washing the things off his hair, Balan left the bathhouse alone late at night. Although it was only the first contact, he could still give his ancestors an explanation with a clear conscience. Even if his ancestors said, "Don't forget to tell your father at the family sacrifice," Balan could say with a clear conscience, "I have been working on it."

The next morning, Balan continued his normal schedule, accompanying Queen Balan to handle affairs.

Although the rest time is short, it is enough for cultivators. In addition, some time has passed since the great formation was destroyed, and the period when troubles came one after another has ended, making the current situation much easier to handle.

Half a morning has passed, and today's business is over. Balan's next plan is to cultivate alone, but before that, he still has time to chat with Queen Ba.

Leaving the study, the two strolled through the royal gardens, eventually sitting down in a pavilion. Once outsiders were no longer present, they were no longer in a relationship of ruler and subject, but rather longtime friends.

However, recently, it has become difficult for them to avoid talking about their ancestors in their casual conversations.

Queen Ba sighed:

“I contacted Master Yun, hoping she could communicate with our ancestor again, but our ancestor seems to be ignoring me. He's determined to put pressure on us.”

Ba Lan had kept this a secret, but unexpectedly Ba Qingling went to find out the situation from Yun Nongyu herself.

Fortunately, Balan has already begun to deal with this pressure.

Ba Lan also began to take on the pressure that belonged to Ba Qingling.

"You don't need to worry about this. I already have a way to get our ancestors to soften their attitude and re-engage with us." Balan brushed a strand of hair behind his ear.

"Oh? What method?" Queen Ba's spirits lifted slightly, her eyes filled with curiosity.

"I haven't actually communicated with the ancestor yet. I'll trouble Master Yun to make a trip later to see the ancestor's attitude. If it doesn't work out, you can continue to worry about it later. There's no need to rush now."

After saying that, Balan suddenly wondered if he had secretly run away from Empress Ba and secretly approached Chu Mingkong.

Queen Ba shook her head helplessly and said irritably:

"You're keeping this a secret, fine. Let's see what you can do to ease the ancestors' demand to 'preserve the lineage,' or you'll come back disappointed."

She trusted Balan completely and didn't delve into the mystery she was keeping, knowing she would find out soon enough.

"However, Master Yun's talent is truly remarkable. We can only communicate with the will left behind by our ancestors by relying on her as an intermediary. If she leaves with Mingkong, even if we worship the Sword Emperor Scripture with great incense offerings, it will be difficult for us to communicate with our ancestors."

From this perspective, it's understandable that our ancestors instructed us to befriend Mingkong, even to the point of having descendants to carry on the family line.

Balan deeply agreed, acknowledging that focusing on others' abilities and befriending them might have impure motives, but their positions inevitably required such considerations.

"A physique like Master Yun's is unheard of in the past. It's a pity that such talent is difficult to pass on to offspring. Otherwise, if she and Mingkong had a child, she would definitely bestow a princess or prince title upon the baby to be close to him."

"But then again, if your little tricks don't work, in the end we'll still have to discuss the matter of having an heir with Mingkong, according to the ancestors' wishes. I've heard from Mingkong's elders that they also really want Mingkong to have more heirs."

Unfortunately, we weren't very familiar with him. Several wives of the peak masters of the sword peaks wanted to ask me to introduce their daughters to Mingkong, but he refused, saying he was busy taking care of his baby. That was quite a different kind of indifference.

"They're not easy to get close to..."

Queen Ba was also concerned about Jin Yu's attitude. Ming Kong was considered the husband of the younger generation, and it would be somewhat improper for them to get close to him.

But she naturally had no idea that Balan had already started to act unethically.

Speaking of indifference, Balan could still recall his encounter with Chu Mingkong last night. Perhaps because he was still not quite at ease, he didn't show much emotion, maintaining a blank expression while struggling with his feelings, with only occasional changes in his reactions.

So last night, when Balan was helping him relieve stress, improve blood circulation, and reduce swelling, she saw him with a completely expressionless face, but then he started gushing over her, a stark contrast.

That enormous and concentrated amount was truly terrifying, like a raging beast, both chilling and alluring. If his body hadn't undergone the mutation, with that amount, he could probably impregnate any woman he met.

"Then we'll see how our ancestor reacts. There's another matter. Mingkong relayed our ancestor's words to me. Our ancestor suspects that the great formation was secretly tampered with by the people of the Heavenly Domain. This tamperer was left in this world due to restrictions or something similar, and may still be hiding in some corner of the Sword Dynasty."

Queen Ba listened attentively, but couldn't help but complain:

"Your topic has changed quite suddenly. I guess this person has probably been in contact with Li Tairan. Otherwise, Li Tairan wouldn't be so eager to complete the formation. I'll ask a few peak masters to keep an eye on the disciples of Zhengjian Peak. Actually, I've been keeping an eye on them all along, and now we've screened more than half of the disciples of Zhengjian Peak."

I also have something I need you to handle, which is also to look after Mingkong's female relatives.

"Oh? What is it?" Balan was slightly surprised, unable to think of anything that required her to do.

A memorial appeared in Queen Ba's hand. Balan took it and saw that it concerned business matters.

The gist of the matter is that Qingse's Immortal Treasure Pavilion was doing too well, so someone complained that Qingse was secretly selling resources and treasures controlled by the Sword Dynasty.

The Sword Dynasty does not allow merchants to profit from cultivators' cultivation resources. How can it tolerate merchants raising prices and monopolizing things that concern the Sword Dynasty's strength?

The result of allowing merchants to get involved is that some high-level cultivators are lured to their side by the promise of rare spiritual treasures and medicinal herbs.

Therefore, the Sword Dynasty always sends its own troops to explore secret realms and uses its own resources to support its own cultivators, preventing the outflow of talent.

However, over the years, the Sword Dynasty government has still released some ordinary cultivation resource management rights to the private sector, but these rights have mostly been obtained by the meritorious families of the first generation through connections, which is unavoidable.

The background of the person who could send a memorial to Queen Ba to complain about Qingse was self-evident.

The Queen of Ba said helplessly:

“The Minister of Commerce is my mother’s sister, so it’s inconvenient for me to get involved. Balan, you can handle it. I’ll just make an excuse that the aftermath of the destruction of the great formation hasn’t been dealt with yet, and I don’t have time to deal with these trivial matters.”

Balan put away the memorial. If he could help handle this matter, he would have more legitimate reasons to approach Chu Mingkong in the future, and he wouldn't have to be afraid of being rejected.

"Okay, then I'll take care of it."

......

Before long, Balan appeared near the Immortal Treasure Pavilion in the capital, which was surrounded by a large crowd, mostly men, all cursing and swearing at the pavilion.

Furthermore, there are some strange phenomena. Women who enter the Immortal Treasure Pavilion are in cahoots with the men outside before stepping in, determined to find some irrefutable evidence. However, as soon as they come out, they are blushing, sweating profusely, and refuse to mention what happened inside. They even speak up for the Immortal Treasure Pavilion.

"What's going on here? Why are so many people gathered here causing trouble?"

Balan pretended to be unaware, his voice not loud, but the penetrating sword intent silenced the crowd.

Chapter Ninety-One: The Tacit Understanding of the Beautiful Women of the Sword Dynasty

For Balan to handle this kind of thing is incredibly simple: just go in for a symbolic stroll, see what's being sold, and then find an excuse to approve the permits for those goods to Qingse.

When Qingse first arrived, Balan accompanied her in choosing the location for her residence, and the situation with this trading company is similar.

Balan also felt that Qingse's shop was just a hobby, and that Chu Mingkong, at his level, was truly not short of money.

Before, when this business was called "Xianzhen Pavilion," it was deserted and no one paid any attention to it. How come now that they've corrected the typo, there are suddenly so many people here?

When these people who were blocking the way saw Balan arrive, they all felt that someone could uphold justice and support them.

One of them guessed that this might be a helper they had found; the memorial had already been sent up, and it was time for him to appear.

Jiang Daoli stepped out from the crowd. The thought that the Sword Immortal of the Sword Emperor Dynasty was now supporting him made his steps much lighter. He was calm, composed, and carefree.

However, as he approached Balan, he regained his steady gait and said:

"This Immortal Treasure Pavilion sells rare and precious items, which is praised by cultivators, but those items are prohibited by the Sword Emperor Dynasty. This is disregarding the laws of the Sword Emperor Dynasty!"

Balan, without a smile, retorted:

"What prohibited items were sold? Is there any evidence?"

She remembered telling Qingse before that those were government-run businesses, and asking her if she wanted to run them jointly. Balan could help her get the operating license, but it would be difficult for Balan to make the decision for Qingse to sell the resources at will.

At the time, Qingse had said she didn't want to make things so complicated, and that she wouldn't sell it secretly.

Jiang Daoli, who had stepped forward, was speechless. He truly had no idea that someone else in the crowd was making accusations:

"Lord Balan, what kind of demonic illusion has been placed inside this Immortal Treasure Pavilion? We invited many young ladies to go inside and help investigate the situation, but when they came out, they all seemed a bit off and even started speaking up for the Immortal Treasure Pavilion. There must be something fishy going on here!"

Please, Your Excellency, see this clearly!

“Yes, yes!” Jiang Daoli quickly agreed.

Balan stopped wasting time with their nonsense and went straight inside to investigate. It was just a formality; he only needed to make a show of it in all aspects.

But Jiang Daoli hurriedly said:

"Lord Balan, you must be careful. Beware of any traps. The women who have come out these past few days have all seemed rather strange!"

Balan's figure vanished from the spot and reappeared in the Immortal Treasure Pavilion in the next instant. With her senses released, she quickly found Qingse.

"Qingse, what kind of business have you been doing here? The commotion outside is really huge. Of course, these guys are being xenophobic, but I don't know how you managed to get them so wary."

Qingse felt relieved when she saw that they were her own people, but she wasn't really worried anyway, since she had people backing her up.

"I run a jade jewelry business, and the materials I use may be quite precious, but high-quality spirit jade isn't considered a contraband, is it?"

“That doesn’t really count. Spirit jade is mostly used for clothing, ornaments, hairpins, and the like. How can we put these under government control? ...Then what’s this about the woman being bewitched here?”

Knowing she couldn't hide it any longer, Qingse took Balan to see the truth about the goods with her own eyes. However, in the spirit of completing the registration process all at once, Qingse also took Balan to see the seafood enclosures as well.

"This... is made by using medicinal gelatin to imitate a woman's private parts. According to a certain professional, this is called a 'Tao Mo' and can be used to store things."

"...?"

Balan remained silent. Storing things? Could it be that there's a storage space array inside, which could be used to store bracelets and such?

Is it really necessary to store things like this? What kind of weird quirk is this?

She chose to remain silent, respecting the decision despite her lack of understanding. Others have their reasons for spending money, and whether it's good or bad is for the person willing to pay to decide.

Seeing that Balan didn't say anything, Qingse then led him to visit their main business—exquisite jade carvings.

She gently lifted the silk cloth covering the display table, revealing a neat row of jade pieces underneath.

Balan was dumbfounded. Upon suddenly seeing those colorful women's personal belongings, she felt a sense of bewilderment, as if her eyes were being assaulted.

But upon closer inspection, she noticed that these carvings looked somewhat...familiar!

Although these sculptures varied in size, she could immediately tell that the prototypes were all from the same person. They had simply sculpted each state in the process of "awakening and standing up," "improved state," and "angry out." They even looked like they were mass-produced by some mysterious force, rather than being hand-carved.

Qingse introduced:

"I don't really know much about the Sword Emperor Dynasty, but judging from the experiences that Qiu Chi and Dong Lu have shared, I think the female cultivators in the Sword Emperor Dynasty face immense pressure in their lives."

Of course, male monks also face great pressure, but my scope of work is limited and it's beyond my jurisdiction, so I can only take care of my female fellow monks.

Therefore, I think female cultivators could try cultivating in a relaxed way. These carvings are all of decent quality, and while relieving stress, they can also aid in cultivation without interfering with their main duties. If they can help female cultivators alleviate their mental burdens and pressures, then that would be a meritorious deed.”

Balan felt he should say something, but there were too many things to complain about.

Is this quality of spirit jade considered average? And what's with this price? You could make a profit just by reselling it for the price of a spirit jade.

"Whose handiwork is this? And who sculpted it?"

Balan slowly walked to a model of wind and thunder attribute spirit jade, thinking to himself: Mingkong was in this state last night, so it can be several sizes larger?!