Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 826: Chapter 822: Prank

Chu Zhiyuan walked down the street, his mind complex.

Eventually, he had come to this point.

He initially thought of doing his best to help the Jade Dynasty.

After all, he was the Ninth Prince of the Jade Dynasty, and the Jade Dynasty was his root.

The premise was to put himself in danger.

But now he realized he was too naive; the Jade Dynasty wanted more.

He had no choice; not wanting to become their puppet, he had to do this.

When he returned to the Prince Consort Mansion, Li Miaotan was practicing sword training in the courtyard.

Her sword light was like snow, her figure graceful and captivating.

Seeing him return, she paused her Sword Posture and cast a curious glance his way.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded lightly, ”The message has been sent back.”

The Phoenix Dynasty had no one watching him, nor Chu Hongwei.

Chu Hongwei was not being watched because of his exceptional skills in disguise, seamless and untraceable.

No one was watching him because it didn’t matter; they didn’t care what he did.

Or was it because of Li Miaotan?

”Mother sent word that we can go tomorrow.”

”The Empress really agreed?”

”I said I wasn’t feeling well, it doesn’t matter to delay a day.”

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”We shouldn’t hide it from the Empress; eventually, she’ll find out and may be upset.”

”Let her be upset then,” Li Miaotan said with an indifferent smile.

Chu Zhiyuan sighed, ”Truly enviable.”

Li Miaotan laughed, ”Sometimes it’s annoying... Big Brother sent two more bottles of Green Nether Spirit Dew.”

Chu Zhiyuan raised an eyebrow.

Li Miaotan commented, ”It seems you’ve really won Big Brother’s favor.”

Chu Zhiyuan laughed, ”I didn’t think Big Brother would be so generous.”

Looking at the Jade Dynasty’s actions, then at the Eldest Prince and Li Miaotan’s actions.

The contrast was too stark.

”Big Brother is generous, but not to this extent; it seems you truly delight him.”

Big Brother is always generous to those he values, but not to such a degree.

It seems Big Brother truly sees her husband differently.

Chu Zhiyuan laughed, ”Maybe it’s because I’m recklessly fearless?”

”You can’t fool Big Brother,” Li Miaotan laughed.

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”Big Brother is indeed remarkable, endlessly grateful.”

Li Miaotan curiously asked, ”Is this spirit dew really important to you?”

Chu Zhiyuan nodded slowly, ”Very important.”

”Green Nether Spirit Dew...” Li Miaotan pondered, ”Then I will find a way to get more.”

”The more, the better,” said Chu Zhiyuan.

Li Miaotan said, ”Why do you need it so much, is there some unknown use?”

Chu Zhiyuan replied, ”I killed too many Demon Clan members back then and suffered their backlash; I need this spirit dew to cleanse my spirit.”

Li Miaotan sighed, ”You killed over a hundred Demon Clan masters, indeed shocking many.”

It’s too difficult to kill Demon Clan masters.

In nearly a decade, all the Phoenix Dynasty masters combined haven’t killed over a hundred Demon Clan masters.

His reputation was established that day.

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”It was a twist of fate that so many Demon Clan masters were gathered; usually, it’s hard to find so many together.”

Li Miaotan gently nodded.

The Demon Clan is best at hiding; finding many Demon Clan masters at once is too difficult.

...

At dawn, golden light illuminated the Phoenix Palace.

The glazed tiles shimmered with golden light.

A few white cranes circled above the palace, letting out clear cries.

Chu Zhiyuan and Li Miaotan stood in front of the palace gates, looking up at the white cranes.

Their feathers shimmered with a White Jade-like luster, elegantly circling in the sunlight.

”Mother knows we have arrived, and she sent the Spiritual Crane to greet us,” Li Miaotan waved.

A white crane leisurely descended, landing on one leg, slowly folding its wings, its beak gently reaching towards Li Miaotan.

Li Miaotan patted its glossy black beak, took a few red pills from her sleeve, and placed them into the crane’s beak.

The white crane excitedly flapped its wings, its eyes sparkling with spirit light, looking at Chu Zhiyuan.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled at her, vaguely sensing its curiosity.

This was a highly Spiritual Spiritual Beast.

Li Miaotan waved, ”Tell Mother we’ll be there shortly.”

The Spiritual Crane seemed to understand her words, spread its wings, flapped twice, and leapt into the sky.

Amid its clear cries, it flew into the air, heading towards the layered palaces.

It eventually landed on the platform of a three-story pavilion.

The three-story pavilion was intricately carved and painted, its exterior exquisite.

It was located beside a lake.

Above the misty lake, silky strands like fine gauze floated upward, enveloping the pavilion.

The pavilion seemed to be in a fairyland, dreamlike and illusory.

Illuminated by golden light, it became even more splendid.

At this time, the pavilion was bustling.

Palace maids in colorful dresses and eunuchs in blue robes bustled in and out.

In front of the pavilion stood a colossal Golden Light-emitting cauldron, approximately three meters high and two meters in diameter.

The golden cauldron was engraved with mysterious patterns, with faint figures of phoenixes within them.

Amid these mysterious patterns, the phoenixes appeared and disappeared as if coming to life.

Watching intently, they seemed elusive, visible only through peripheral vision.

Beside the cauldron stood two women, a stunning young maiden and a beautiful matron.

The young maiden looked up at the approaching Spiritual Crane and smiled brilliantly, as if a hundred flowers bloomed, radiant, ”Tan’er is here.”

The matron said, ”I shall go welcome Your Highness.”

The young maiden pouted, ”Let them come by themselves, why bother welcoming!”

At this moment, an elderly eunuch in a Purple Robe approached, holding a jade-handled, silver-threaded duster, bowed, and said, ”Empress, everything is arranged.”

”Hmm, let them go,” the young maiden waved her jade hand, ”don’t be an eyesore here.”

”Yes.” The elderly eunuch’s face was clean-shaven, his voice soft and pleasant, his demeanor gentle.

After he retreated, the young maiden approached the White Jade railings, looking down at the lower palaces, towards the palace gates.

Unfortunately, despite the height, the South Gate of the palace couldn’t be seen from here.

The beautiful matron commented, ”Empress, the Princess has truly great fortune, accidentally finding that the Prince Consort is not just a fool, but truly exceptional, even healing Your Highness’ serious injuries.”

The young maiden chuckled lightly, ”I asked the Emperor, and he said he went along with the flow and didn’t specifically choose the Ninth Prince; it was indeed Tan’er’s good fortune.”

Of course, knowing Tan’er’s temperament, if the rumors were true, the marriage wouldn’t have proceeded.

There were many ways to disrupt the marriage.

After careful investigation, Tan’er finally accepted the marriage.

”This is all due to the Princess’ good fortune,” the beautiful matron mused, ”one cannot force such things.”

The young maiden laughed, ”I am curious to see what this Ninth Prince is like, how about we play a trick on him?”

”What kind of trick?” the beautiful matron asked.

The young maiden laughed, ”You pretend to be me, let’s test his perception.”

”You want to see if he can recognize you?”

”Do you think he can recognize me?”

”...Impossible,” the beautiful woman finally shook her head.

Who could imagine that this young maiden was actually the Empress, who managed the palace?

Whenever there was a major celebration, the Empress would appear before the ministers, dressed more maturely, a decade older.

Without makeup, the Empress looked like a young maiden in her late teens.

Standing with the Twelfth Princess, they looked like sisters, and the Empress looked like the younger of the two.

”Then let’s try it,” the young maiden eagerly suggested.