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

Chu Mingkong walked to her side and patted her shoulder: "It's nothing, take me to the stables. By the way, can you just kill the palace maids and eunuchs here?"

"...?" Consort Wan asked in confusion, but still replied, "Yes, but don't kill too many."

"Then lead the way."

Consort Wan opened the door and walked ahead. Two palace maids immediately stepped forward to ask her where she was going and what her orders were, but Consort Wan dismissed them, saying that she just wanted to take a walk.

Chu Mingkong delivered an uppercut to the chin of a palace maid standing near the palace entrance, breaking her neck with tremendous force and twisting half of her mask off.

This is a human skin mask, and fine blood vessels can be seen "rooted" on the face of the palace maid who died suddenly.

Her real appearance was quite ordinary; at least, someone with that kind of looks wouldn't have been chosen as a palace maid.

That must be because of his exceptional skill in disguise that he was recruited as a retainer and sent to monitor Consort Wan.

Unfortunately, her specialty wasn't surveillance; her amateurish observation skills gave away her identity.

"When did this palace maid arrive?" Consort Wan asked.

The head maid arrived quickly, and the sudden death of one of her maids horrified her. She said in fear:

"She was just sent here by the Fifth Prince not long ago, just now. He said she was skillful and was sent to take care of the Imperial Concubine, but there's no need to disturb the Imperial Concubine. Let this maid stand at the door and get familiar with it first."

Consort Wan remembered what Chu Mingkong had said to her in the room, and she clenched the long sleeves of her magnificent palace dress.

They secretly planted a fake palace maid without making a sound, not wanting to alert her. What were they after?

"Leave the body here for now. I'm going for a walk outside. You don't need to follow me."

The system's sigh echoed in Chu Mingkong's mind.

[Poor woman... I've triggered a special filial piety quest for you. Fulfill the filial duties for the Fifth Prince's birth mother. If you do so properly, you'll be rewarded with 5000 corrupted filial piety points.]

Wait, is this special filial piety task triggered so casually? Shouldn't there at least be a task panel or something?

So, you just sympathize with Consort Wan and then verbally notify her to trigger the quest?

But so far, apart from tampering with the blind boxes to cheat him, the system hasn't fooled him in any other way.

Well then, I'll just do the tasks as they come.

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

We arrived at the gate of the Imperial Stables.

Chu Mingkong saw a guard cautiously questioning the head eunuch from afar. He noticed Consort Wan's appearance, abruptly stopped asking, walked out of the imperial stables to Consort Wan's luggage, and quickly left.

Seeing this person's reaction, Chu Mingkong knew that Shangguan Rong had guessed correctly again.

The Fifth Prince truly valued the horse given to him by the Empress more than his own mother, and planned to investigate the traces left by Consort Wan when she secretly left the palace to make a fuss.

This is a plan to sacrifice his own mother to harm Chu Mingkong!

Chu Mingkong grabbed Consort Wan's fair wrist, "No need to go in, I'll take you somewhere, come with me first."

Filled with doubt, the graceful Consort Wan was pulled by Chu Mingkong to a secluded corner.

To the passing guards, she walked there on her own; it appeared that only the Imperial Concubine was taking a solitary stroll.

Suddenly, she noticed that Chu Mingkong had stuffed a piece of paper into her hand.

"Activate this talisman, and you should be able to see me, and you will also be able to appear without a trace like me. But wait, don't make a sound, and don't stray too far from me."

Consort Wan did as she was told, and soon Chu Mingkong ordered her to lead the way to where the Fifth Prince was recuperating.

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

The Fifth Prince's bedroom was a scene that was quite shocking; to put it simply, everything that needed to be connected was connected.

Male ← Fifth Prince ← Male.

The man behind the Fifth Prince was none other than the guard who had just met Consort Wan in the Imperial Stables. The Fifth Prince always entrusted important matters to his trusted confidants.

The fifth prince, flanked by men on either side and chickens in front and behind, frowned angrily and asked in a deep voice:

"How's the investigation going?"

"We've found out. Consort Wan did indeed take Your Highness's horse out. Someone at the academy found an unfamiliar fine horse in the secluded library, and the description says it's the same horse Your Highness went missing!"

"Good! Organize the evidence and prepare to send it to the Imperial Clan Court in a while, reporting that she has disgraced the royal family and had an affair with Chu Mingkong, so that she and Chu Mingkong, that adulterous couple, can be executed together!"

wrong!

That would take too long. There are bound to be enemies of my mother among the concubines. How about we hand them over to them? That way we won't have to wait!

The man in front of the Fifth Prince said, "But in that case, the credit for upholding justice by sacrificing family ties won't go to Your Highness. Please be patient!"

Outside the window, Consort Wan, witnessing her son develop such a peculiar habit, was already trying her best to suppress her grief.

Hearing her son's heartless words, Consort Wan tried to cover her mouth, but she still couldn't stop sobbing and tears streamed down her face.

"Who's there!"

Her crying startled the three people inside the room.

A throwing knife flew towards the direction from which the sound came!

------

P.S.: Goodnight, fifth update.

Chapter Fifty-Three: The Imperial Concubine Kills Her Son

After throwing the first knife, the man at the head of the "human centipede" formation threw out a few more needles.

This move is a series of consecutive attacks. The throwing knives used in the lead were never intended to hit the enemy from the beginning. They were more about forcing the opponent to dodge and using the scent of poison powder from the throwing knives to lock onto the opponent's location, essentially marking and locating them.

The real danger lies in the several flying needles that follow. They are extremely fast, difficult to catch and lock onto, and can even be used to track the enemy by taking advantage of the locking effect of the throwing knives.

Without prior warning, it is easy to fall victim. Once the poison needle touches the victim even slightly, the toxin can quickly paralyze their movements, even their spiritual veins.

Chu Mingkong immediately pulled Consort Wan into his arms, grabbed a guard who had just arrived, and used him as a human shield to block the flying knives and poison needles.

He had already decided to kill the Fifth Prince, but he hesitated.

It wasn't that I was afraid of upsetting Consort Wan; the Fifth Prince had already clearly expressed his intention to harm him, and he had even obtained the "evidence" used to frame him. No one could save him now.

Chu Mingkong was worried about the location; this was the imperial palace, and making too much noise would always be a big problem.

The Fifth Prince is not an insignificant palace maid. It's fine to kill him outside, but it's very troublesome to kill him inside the palace.

Then...let him die in a different way for now.

Society is dead!

Chu Mingkong used one hand to remove the poisoned needle and throwing knife from the "shield," and following the opponent's sneak attack strategy, he threw the throwing knife to clear a path.

However, this time he didn't have any poison needles following him. Chu Mingkong sensed that the flight trajectory of those poison needles was trembling, which meant they could definitely be controlled. They might fly out and then turn around and come back to stab him.

He held Consort Wan in one arm, and his transparent figure appeared in front of the three people in an instant, faster than a flying knife!

The five princes and their two companions originally intended to disperse quickly, but unlike Cui Lian, who was a coward who would cower at the slightest fright, those who had cultivated themselves would subconsciously become excited when faced with such a situation. Even if they were afraid, their bodies, honed through long-term cultivation, would enter a state of heightened fighting spirit.

However, their current "conjoined twin" position and the resulting active blood circulation have led to further "expansion," which has blocked their movement and made them inseparable!

The fifth prince, especially, was caught in the middle; he was like a gourd in a string, with no way to escape.

"Let me show you my Farmer's Three Punches in Conqueror Mode! From now on, your horse is mine!"

Chu Mingkong did not circulate his spiritual energy; he used pure physical strength to deliver three punches. The speed of his punches was so fast that the person who was hit at the front only felt that he had been punched once.

The force of the punch passed through his body and was transmitted to the two people behind him, causing all three of them to have their chests caved in.

However, this was not fatal. The person at the front still wanted to fight back despite the pain. His thinking was very clear: first, he would circulate his spiritual energy to build up a shield to block for a while, and then quickly get rid of the "string of gourds" state.

"Too late to activate your spiritual energy shield!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the throwing knife that Chu Mingkong had thrown out earlier finally arrived.

The throwing knife flew past the crotches of the three men, and an unbearable pain shot through them. Their eyes bulged and veins stood out.

This strike is called...

—Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs—it kills three birds with one stone!

"Such a big reaction, it's just a cut on the skin. Oh, I cut too hard. Sorry, I rarely use throwing knives, I'm not skilled."

Chu Mingkong took out a poisoned needle and slashed the three people's bodies, and they quickly lost the ability to fight back.

Time was of the essence for Chu Mingkong to stop talking nonsense to them, so he used whatever was available, tearing up the bed sheets to make ropes and tying the three of them up.

They dragged the chicks out of the room like they were carrying chicks.

Outside, more and more guards arrived because the Fifth Prince's guards shouted "Assassin!" They also knew that the Fifth Prince was plotting something bad. To kill someone in the palace, there had to be a legitimate reason, so they had to first confirm the identity of the "assassin."

Seeing so many people, Chu Mingkong found it convenient. He tossed the "string of gourds" in front of everyone, spent a Dust-Free Talisman as insurance, and quickly left.

Behind him, the Fifth Prince was caught in the middle, suffering excruciating pain, in full view of everyone.

The body is in pain, and the mind is in pain as well.

After howling at the palace gates early this morning, it is now continuing to wail inside the palace.

The imperial physician reacted quickly, discovering the Fifth Prince's serious injury, and hurriedly called out:

"Hold off the assassin! Quickly, someone release the Fifth Prince! We need to sew him up fast, or his testicles will fall out!"

----------

After leaving the scene of the crime, Chu Mingkong carried Consort Wan to the imperial garden closest to her palace, placed her there, and removed the dust-free talisman from her body.

She'd better have some kind of alibi now.

"Why don't you go and see the Fifth Prince? I didn't kill him; he can be easily cured."

Chu Mingkong appeared relaxed, but in reality, he was far from optimistic.

The palace felt somewhat restrictive; it wasn't the capital city outside. He wasn't sure if the recent exchange might have left any lasting consequences.

Whether or not the Fifth Prince is killed is irrelevant now; his henchmen have probably already sent out the evidence of Consort Wan's infidelity, which is the most dangerous thing.

Moreover, Chu Mingkong didn't know who his people were, and he had no idea how to deal with the accusations of "stealing the imperial concubine."

Consort Wan had calmed down considerably. Suddenly, she hugged Chu Mingkong's waist and rested her face against his chest.