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

"Ah."

Shangguan Rong certainly despises the Fifth Prince's current depravity, but if she looked back to the past, she still admires him.

Unlike the other princes and princesses, the fifth prince was the most demanding of himself in terms of self-cultivation and learning. At that time, he must have felt that his efforts could win the emperor's attention and win the position of crown prince through hard work and excellence.

Unfortunately, the throne of the crown prince was quietly given to the rather undisciplined eldest prince. Later, the fifth prince, unable to bear it any longer, challenged the eldest prince to a duel, wanting to prove with his strength that he was superior to the eldest prince.

Then they lost, and lost badly.

Ten years of hard work is not as valuable as having an empress as a mother; sitting on the throne of the crown prince for a day is equivalent to ten years of hard work.

It was from that time that Shangguan Rong decided to find an opportunity to delve into the path of extreme Yang, because the cultivation of the Five Elements was far too weak in the face of the power of extreme Yang.

"Mingkong, is the cultivation of the Five Elements really so insignificant in the face of extreme Yin and Yang?"

"I think it's alright." Chu Mingkong had the authority to speak on this issue. "Extreme Yang power cannot make a person immortal. As long as one can die, there is no such thing as invincibility."

It's just like playing a video game. The enemies you can't defeat are often those without health bars. When a boss reveals its health bar, its fate is already sealed.

"But the gap is really huge. I can hardly imagine an ordinary Five Elements cultivator defeating an Extreme Yang cultivator."

"When I was in Xiling, I killed a rogue cultivator who had cultivated a wisp of extreme yang power, and he was still a child."

"?!" Shangguan Rong asked in disbelief, "Really?"

Chu Mingkong recalled the past and nodded, saying:

"Well, back then I became famous, and some rogue cultivators wanted to take me as their disciple in order to get in touch with the Chu royal family of Xiling. One of them, an extremely Yang rogue cultivator, said he would teach me a lesson in a duel."

However, Yun Han was intelligent and perceptive, possessing the talent to discern parts of others' emotions. She discovered that this rogue cultivator harbored murderous intent, most likely intending to kill me through a duel. And I ultimately won the duel!

Shangguan Rong became even more curious, and unconsciously leaned a little closer to him: "How did you deal with it?"

Chu Mingkong sneered: "The night before the duel, I called my master and we went to kill him."

Shangguan Rong: "......"

There's definitely something wrong with this master and apprentice relationship.

“A high cultivation level does not necessarily mean strong combat ability. I think the Fifth Prince was defeated because he lacked practical combat training. The Crown Prince is not as strong as we thought. I know an assassin from another region who has killed many similar rogue cultivators even without cultivating extreme yang.”

Shangguan Rong seemed thoughtful: "Is that so...?"

"Rong'er, if we include the Fifth Prince who is about to die, the Tianji royal family has recently lost two princes. I think they were both pretty mediocre. What kind of prince do you think is suitable to inherit the throne?"

"Ideally, it would be best to have a kind and enlightened person who is good at using people, with good character, and good at employing people, as the emperor. But in reality, such people are very rare."

Lowering the bar a bit, I think that a prince who is to become the emperor can be mediocre, can be average, but cannot be incompetent.

If the emperor has to handle everything personally, what's the point of having civil and military officials? All the emperor needs to do is know which officials he should be close to.

Chu Mingkong thought of what the prime minister had said, but not the prime minister surnamed Cao.

"Rong'er, are you saying, 'It is advisable to open one's ears to wise counsel... to encourage the spirit of those with lofty ideals, and not to belittle oneself or use inappropriate analogies to block the path of loyal advice'?"

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Rong's eyes lit up, and her gaze towards Chu Mingkong was filled with surprise and delight, even more unbelievable than when she had just heard that he had killed a rogue cultivator from the Extreme Yang Sect when he was young.

"Yes! You can actually spout ivory from your mouth! Where did you get that sentence from?"

No, how dare you talk like that? You're implying I'm a dog, aren't you?

"A teahouse in Xiling," Chu Mingkong answered as usual, but this time he asked an extra question, "Rong'er, I'll take you there sometime. I'm planning to kidnap you then, do you mind?"

Chapter 59 A Rare Moment of Liveliness (30/43)

As night fell, the Chu Prince's residence became unusually lively.

A lively atmosphere is inseparable from a large crowd, and for the Chu Prince's Mansion, which usually has a small number of people, tonight is a rare occasion with a bustling atmosphere.

Gu Jun Gui will be staying here temporarily. Only Feng Ke Qing will remain in the East Mansion. She was afraid to be alone there, so after observing mourning for a while, she returned to the Chu Prince's Mansion.

There were also many younger female relatives at the Cui residence. They had heard that their approachable sister-in-law had come to the Chu Prince's residence, so they came over to play tonight as well.

As a result, a rather pleasing situation has emerged.

After the Cui family finished their mourning at home, they turned around and went off to play with smiles on their faces, heading straight for the Chu Prince's mansion. This infuriated the old lady.

But there's nothing I can do; lecturing the younger generation doesn't work.

"Let me introduce you to each other." Chu Mingkong pulled Gu Jungui and Shangguan Rong together, letting them get to know each other. "This is my Aunt Gu, and this is..."

Chu Mingkong realized that it was really difficult to introduce Shangguan Rong to the Second Miss Shangguan, who almost became the Crown Princess but was rescued by him.

It's indeed difficult to define a convenient way to describe the relationship between him and Shangguan Rong.

Seeing his hesitation, Shangguan Rong introduced herself: "Aunt Gu, just call me Rong'er."

Gu Jungui recognized that this was the second young lady of the Shangguan family. Chu Mingkong had made a fool of himself in front of her, causing him to be ridiculed by people in the capital for being scolded by a mere woman.

She doted on Chu Mingkong, so naturally her first impression of Shangguan Rong wasn't very good.

"Excuse me, Rong'er, I suddenly remembered something about the Cui family that I need to tell Mingkong. Please wait here for a moment!"

"Okay, Aunt Gu, you go ahead and talk to her."

After saying that, Gu Jungui pulled Chu Mingkong to the corner.

"Aunt Gu, is there something you're doing that's so secretive about?"

"What do you mean, 'gone'?! Mingkong, what's wrong with your head? Why are you hanging out with this mean-spirited girl?"

Chu Mingkong knew what Gu Jungui was thinking and smiled:

"Aunt Gu, you can understand it as me and Miss Shangguan Er making up."

Gu Jun Gui was anxious to see his beloved turn into a sycophant. She had made him a laughing stock in the capital, and he was still being so close to her.

Losing face is a big deal or a small deal, but for someone like Chu Mingkong, it's a huge grudge!

"What conditions did she offer that you made up with her? I think this girl has a bad temper and is arrogant; she just looks down on you because of your incurable injury! Ke Qing is much better. If you showed her the same tenderness you showed her before, Ke Qing would definitely reciprocate with affection."

Chu Mingkong smiled wryly. So this guy really was thinking of bringing him and Ke Qing together...

However, to be fair, Aunt Gu's assessment of Shangguan Rong was correct in the first half, because Chu Mingkong used to think of her the same way. Now, he finds her cold and aloof demeanor rather endearing.

However, before coming here, Shangguan Rong said that she did not want him to reveal the true nature of their relationship to outsiders, especially the fact that he had given her special treatment. She told him not to tell anyone who asked.

Chu Mingkong then told Gu Jungui the excuse that Shangguan Rong had given him, saying:

"Aunt Gu, you don't know this, but my relationship with her in private is quite good. We can talk to each other a few times."

"The way she belittled me before was actually to help me hide my shortcomings. Aunt Gu, think about it, if I suddenly become close to her at the Shangguan family, what will the royal family think?"

Gu Jungui found this statement reasonable and nodded in agreement:

"Oh right, so it seems she's a good girl after all... I've been misunderstanding her all along."

"Right? Besides, he's smart. If there's anything going on at the Cui family in the future, you should consult him more often."

Gu Jungui peeked out from the corner of the wall, secretly observing the girl dressed as a man. Shangguan Rong quickly noticed Gu Jungui's gaze because she was too conspicuous.

Her breasts were so large they could be described as "masculine." Before her face even peeked out, half of her plump and full breasts were already exposed from the corner of the wall.

Shangguan Rong pretended not to see it, while Gu Jungui scrutinized her for a while longer before nodding approvingly.

"Mingkong, I think this Rong'er girl has a big bottom, she's good at bearing children. Is she interested in you?"

As expected of my Aunt Gu, that's exactly what I thought too, she really nailed it!

He shook his head honestly, concealing the truth, and said, "It's hard to say, I don't know either."

"Then I'll find a chance to test her out for you."

"Then you can try to probe her slowly. Talk to her more about the Cui family. I'll go and make you something to eat."

Shangguan Rong will not be staying at the Chu Prince's Mansion. After all, there are too many people and too much noise in the capital. It is enough to find her in the library and the Shangguan Mansion at other times. Chu Mingkong has wrapped her up tightly tonight.

However, once she becomes familiar with Aunt Gu, there shouldn't be any problem for Shangguan Rong to have more contact with the Cui family.

Chu Mingkong went into the kitchen and started preparing tonight's meals.

"System, that cooking skill you mentioned last time that could 'explode clothes' still valid? I've got plenty of filial piety in my pocket!"

The system was ruthless and taciturn; it directly opened the Filial Piety Mall in his mind and displayed a product.

The Ultimate Culinary Skill (1000 points of ordinary filial piety)

Is this pricing reasonable?

Back then, how many filial piety points did my greatsword talent only earn? And now it's so expensive to cook a dish? Is the system shop experiencing inflation? Look at how much filial piety points I've gained now, and the prices of things have gone up too?

Chu Mingkong strongly suspected that the system's pricing was arbitrary!

But it's acceptable, isn't it? This increase is much more reasonable than the housing price increases of the past.

"The food's unique flavor is imbued with the food maker's state of mind..."

Chu Mingkong chose to buy it, and the same enlightening feeling he had when he bought the Greatsword talent returned once again.

Tonight, he's going to cook roast meat. Roast meat isn't a rare cooking method, but the upper-class families emphasize light flavors in their diet, so roast meat with a stronger flavor is a novelty. Plus, there are plenty of seasonings available in the system shop.

Given that it's impossible to please everyone, at least we can give them something fresh to eat once.

"Hey, why are all the kids from the Cui family here? It's going to be a disaster if they tear off their clothes. Let's find an opportunity to do it separately."

But how can you not use the skills you've acquired?

He first made a plate of "Exquisite BBQ", and then he made a large plate of proper BBQ and served it to the girls outside.

Not long after he carried the roasted meat out of the kitchen, Zuo Qiuchi appeared in the back kitchen. She smelled the rich aroma of roasted meat filling the kitchen, her taste buds were awakened, and her mouth watered.

"That unfilial brat! He promised to bring me back, but he's been cooking barbecue for another woman in the mansion, and he didn't even send me a portion first!"

Her gaze fell on a plate of meat next to the grill, and she picked it up and smelled it.

"It smells pretty good, I bet it'll go well with some drinks. I've never seen this kid grill meat before, when did he learn?"

She picked up a piece and put it in her mouth; the unprecedented deliciousness surprised Zuo Qiuchi.

Without even realizing it, I picked up another piece and ate it...

Chapter Sixty: The Meat Was Poisoned (31/43)