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

If you use the right persuasion, you can still send out these crystal balls.

Chu Mingkong glanced at the description of the red-quality gift a few more times, especially the section on benefits, which was the key point used to deceive people.

"When placed inside the body, its effect on nourishing the soul increases with the duration of placement; when used in dual cultivation... the effect is even better?"

If it's just about placing it inside the body, then it doesn't matter where it's placed, as long as it fits.

But it's not appropriate to put it anywhere other than in your mouth...

"Just say that if you put this bead in your mouth while sleeping, it can nourish your soul during meditation and rest... Hmm, that's a good explanation."

Chu Mingkong looked through the window and saw Yongzhen walking towards it. She closed the window, intending to take a short rest.

"If Yongzhen is asleep, I'll go to Madam Zhen's place. I shouldn't stay with Madam Zhen for too long, otherwise it will be troublesome if Yongzhen comes out."

After making his plans, he walked to the main gate of the courtyard and waited for a while before going in to visit Madam Zhen.

After leaving Yongzhen's room, Madam Zhen sat back in the front hall, fiddling with tea and unable to concentrate on her book. Chu Mingkong said he would be there soon, but it was taking too long.

Someone must have gone into Mother's room just now; it couldn't have been anyone other than Chu Mingkong.

"Chu Mingkong will most likely show up soon."

Madam Zhen silently counted in her heart, her gentle and delicate hands picking up the teacup. Before she could even drink the tea, Chu Mingkong appeared.

"Madam Zhen, I apologize for keeping you waiting. I had some matters to attend to at home, which delayed me. Fortunately, I still managed to send my regards."

Madam Zhen glanced inadvertently at Yongzhen's room, worried that Yongzhen might come out and prevent her from contacting Chu Mingkong.

"You've kept me waiting. I've already changed the tea several times and was about to go to my room to rest."

Upon hearing this, Chu Mingkong presented the newly wrapped gift box with both hands:

"Then Mingkong will not disturb Madam Zhen's rest any longer. This is a gift that I found. Madam Zhen can open it and take a look when she is in the mood. I hope it will please Madam Zhen and make her happy!"

"No rush to rest, let's go to the room to talk, Mingkong, come with me."

After saying that, Madam Zhen got up and walked towards her bedroom, leaving Chu Mingkong behind in a daze.

When Madam Zhen saw me before, she was always very opposed to my contact with Yongzhen. She looked at me with such fear and wished she could prevent all men from having contact with Yongzhen.

But now Chu Mingkong can understand Madam Zhen's worries. Yongzhen is kind, innocent, and gentle. Chu Mingkong doesn't think he's done anything wrong, yet he's managed to win Yongzhen's heart so much, and she even sings his praises...

......boast.

If it were someone with ulterior motives, Yongzhen would definitely be deceived! Madam Zhen should keep a closer eye on her daughter.

But why did she suddenly become willing to accept him again? She even took him into the bedroom to chat.

Chu Mingkong followed behind Madam Zhen, passing through a small garden that was "small but complete in every way," and arrived at Madam Zhen's bedroom.

He paid no attention to how beautiful the garden was; his gaze was drawn to Madam Zhen's voluptuous figure from behind.

Madam Zhen was about the same height as Yongzhen, but her figure was quite different from her daughter's. Yongzhen's plumpness was concentrated in her breasts and buttocks, and if she were dressed properly, she would only appear slender.

Madam Zhen's figure was just the right amount of plump. Although her clothes were conservative, with only her neck and a little bit of her collarbone exposed at the collar, she gave the impression of being full of moisture, with the delicate softness of a mature woman, exuding charm along with her body fragrance.

Chu Mingkong had felt a similar feeling from Aunt Gu, except that Madam Zhen was a bit aloof and indifferent, somewhat like the Princess Jinyu in the public's perception.

After entering the room, Chu Mingkong waited for Madam Zhen to sit down before pulling up a chair and sitting down himself.

Madam Zhen seemed unaccustomed to the weight of her breasts. Shortly after sitting down, she leaned forward slightly, placing her ample bosom on the table to ease the burden, and asked:

“Mingkong, why are there rumors that you are violent and cruel, that you treat human life like dirt, and that you get into conflicts with the royal children every few days? But you don’t seem like that kind of person. You are very diligent with Yongzhen.”

"In the past, there were rumors that I was weak by nature and dared not fight back when bullied by women. Now it's just a different rumor and not worth mentioning. As for the conflict, I really had no choice but to do it. The Crown Prince and the Fifth Prince always wanted to use me as a stepping stone, aggravating my injuries and causing me to lose control of my emotions. By the time I came to my senses and calmed down, I didn't expect that the Crown Prince had already run into my knife and died."

Regarding the incident with the Fifth Prince, I was fortunate to have learned from my previous experience and managed to stop in time, controlling my emotions and only shooting the Fifth Prince in the leg. This is already a sincere act of repentance.

Madam Zhen could tell from his self-righteous tone that he showed no remorse and simply wanted to kill her.

"You could tolerate Shangguan Rong and the tavern girl insulting you, but you can't stand it for a moment when a prince provokes you?"

Chu Mingkong was puzzled. Why was Madam Zhen asking this? Yongzhen wasn't curious about those things; she was more interested in whether he was injured. At times like this, he could only bring up the Abyss Wound, which no one seemed to understand!

"I am a patient person, but times have changed. My injuries have worsened, and the injuries have taken control of my emotions!"

I regard the Empress as my own mother, and the eldest prince and the fifth prince as my brothers. I could have tolerated their willfulness, but it was the injury that caused me to hurt my brothers!

"But please rest assured, Madam Zhen, my emotions are stable now and I will not harm you or Yongzhen. If my injuries relapse, I will leave immediately!"

Madam Zhen couldn't say how serious his injuries were, as she knew very little about them. However, Chu Mingkong was quite eccentric, saying how terrible his injuries were and how ruthless he was in killing princes outside.

The room suddenly fell silent. Eager to record his filial piety, Chu Mingkong changed the subject back to the gift. He opened the box and introduced it:

"This bead is called 'Hanzhu'. When you meditate or take a nap, you can put it in your mouth to nourish your spirit."

...Nourish the spirit and soul?!

Madam Zhen placed the transparent bead from the box in her palm. It felt cool and comfortable to the touch. Just by touching it, she felt her heart draw closer to the bead.

She suspected that the reason she couldn't switch back with her mother's soul might be due to a problem with the soul itself. She thought that if she could use this item to nourish her soul for a period of time, there might be a chance to switch back her body.

She had already decided to fully accept this identity, but unexpectedly, there was such a turning point!

Seeing the barely perceptible joy on Madam Zhen's face, Chu Mingkong felt happy for her and waited for his filial piety to be fulfilled.

[System Treasure has arrived, 1500 points of corrupted filial piety.]

He flipped through the account book, then took a closer look at Madam Zhen in front of him... Hmm?

Filial piety from Yongzhen?

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Madam Zhen: Who Gagled My Mouth? (39/43)

Chu Mingkong recalled the introduction to the Filial Piety System, which stated that one could only receive Filial Piety Points if the elders were genuinely satisfied; mere outward satisfaction was useless.

Chu Mingkong had just visited the Cui family to celebrate their birthday. At the time, he didn't recognize that Old Master Cui was actually the disguised old military doctor and flattered him several times. Old Master Cui always had a happy expression, but in reality, he didn't give him any extra points for filial piety. He was a real scoundrel.

So, given Madam Zhen's current situation, she seems quite satisfied. Could it be that she is actually dissatisfied inside?

That's not quite right. When Chu Mingkong discovered that Madam Zhen would express filial piety on Yongzhen's behalf, he thought there was some kind of connection between mother and daughter. When Yongzhen was happy, Madam Zhen would sense it and feel happy too, then express filial piety to him. But it was just a shared feeling, not a true sharing of senses. Otherwise, Madam Zhen wouldn't have attacked him so suddenly when Yongzhen helped him with the flute.

Yongzhen didn't show him filial piety before because she wasn't his elder. Just like when Chu Mingkong tried to coax Wei Qingning, she was just a younger sister and it wasn't her place to show filial piety to Chu Mingkong.

But things are different now. Chu Mingkong has already tied Yongzhen to his elder, so it's perfectly normal for him to show filial piety.

If we continue to take the premise that "there is some kind of telepathic connection between Yongzhen and Madam Zhen and her daughter",

"Yongzhen gave him a distorted form of filial piety."

It can be concluded that "Yongzhen sensed that her mother was happy".

You can get the message "Madam Zhen was happy with Chu Mingkong's gift".

But then another problem arises: since Madam Zhen was satisfied with his gift, there's no reason why Yongzhen wouldn't show him filial piety, since Madam Zhen wouldn't give him any!

Chu Mingkong considered a possibility; he had never seen anything like this before, but the more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed...

What if I end up licking Madam Zhen's boots while trying to lick Yongzhen's boots?

How about we test the waters first?

Chu Mingkong took a deep breath and said:

“Madam Zhen, why don’t you try it now? It might be a little… embarrassing to talk about, but I want to know if you experience any discomfort when using it. After all, such a magical treasure is quite rare. If there are any problems, I will try to find someone to ask about it.”

Madam Zhen thought Chu Mingkong's words made sense. She held the pearl in her palm and suddenly realized that the pearl was a bit big and that her mouth might not be able to fit it.

“I’ll give it a try,” she said.

When you encounter a magical treasure, it's always a good idea to infuse it with spiritual energy first.

A beautiful woman in a palace dress, alluring yet with a cold aura, found that the pearl was too much of a strain on her lips. She infused it with spiritual power, and the pearl did shrink slightly, but not noticeably. Moreover, the spiritual power she infused transformed into two ropes.

"How do I use this?" Madam Zhen asked, puzzled. Why would something she put in her mouth have two ropes attached to it?

Chu Mingkong felt uneasy and said, "I have an idea. I wonder if I could try it out?"

Taking the pearl from Madam Zhen's hand, Chu Mingkong placed the beautiful crystal ball near Madam Zhen's mouth and tied a rope behind her head to secure the pearl.

Madam Zhen found that this method was indeed more effortless, at least she no longer had to put the bead in her mouth and get it stuck there. Now, with the help of these two straps, it could be easily secured to her mouth.

It's like... a hostage being gagged?

This doubt was quickly dispelled by the refreshing feeling that the pearl brought to her soul. Madam Zhen felt as if her soul had been nourished by spring rain.

The soul and spirit are very difficult to cultivate and grow. Generally, when one breaks through the Five Elements cultivation, one can temper the soul by chance.

But now, this bead held in his mouth is slowly nourishing and tempering his soul!

Although it is indeed unseemly to have a pearl in one's mouth, this small price to pay is insignificant compared to the benefits.

"This gag... the longer the bead is placed inside the body, the better the cultivation effect. Once it's removed, it needs to be re-accumulated. Is Madam Zhen satisfied with this gift from her junior?"

Forget about being satisfied or not, Madam Zhen now even wants to drive Chu Mingkong away so she can focus on her cultivation.

She removed the bead from her mouth and nodded, saying:

"satisfy."

She had to admit it, but she and her daughter didn't like to take advantage of others. Ordinary gifts were one thing, but this precious treasure was given to her by Chu Mingkong without hesitation, and it was exactly what she needed!

I feel uneasy accepting this!

Madam Zhen's coldness had lessened considerably:

"Mingkong, why did you think of giving me such a gift? This gift is far too valuable! I don't know how to repay you. Do you perhaps need something from me?"

Seeing her reaction, Chu Mingkong knew that Madam Zhen was genuinely satisfied with the gift, and not just pretending.

"No, I thought that Yongzhen had that dizziness problem, and I figured that Madam Zhen might have it too. It just so happened that someone presented this treasure to me, and I immediately thought of Madam Zhen. If Madam Zhen is also unwell, Yongzhen would probably be even more worried and upset, which would not be good for her mental recovery!"

"But you haven't seen Yongzhen much, have you? You're already this worried about her? Forgive me for being blunt, but even if an auction house came across such a treasure, they would want to buy it out of their own pocket rather than put it up for auction. And now you're just giving it to me like this? I feel sorry for you."

If you feel bad, I can rub it for you.

This kind of filial piety gift is essentially a case of the money coming from the consumer's pocket. And putting aside whether it's a treasure or not, Chu Mingkong can't appreciate it just because of its strange shape.

“A treasure is only a treasure if it can be put to use; otherwise, what’s the difference between it and a toy? Besides, I might not have much time left, so what’s wrong with being a spendthrift?”

The most painful thing in the world is dying before you've spent all your money.

What's wrong with me giving away some money to make Princess Yongzhen happy? If Yongzhen is happy, I'm naturally happy too.