Chapter 69: Entering the Palace to Kill the Consort

"Miss Cang, have you managed to extract the whereabouts of the Secret Manual of the Bone-Eroding Yin Wind Finger?"

Li Musheng turned back and asked Cang Cang Yin Yue.

Cang Cang Yin Yue nodded, looked toward the ruins of a nearby house, and said:

"I will search for it shortly; I should be able to find it."

Li Musheng nodded slightly and said:

"Very well, then. I will leave the matters here for Miss Cang to handle. Remember to come find me at the Tianjin Guard Headquarters tomorrow."

Having spoken, he turned his gaze to Shangguan Qingqing beside him and said:

"Miss Qingqing, we shall chat again when we have time in the future. I have some work to do tonight, so I will take my leave first."

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Qingqing was about to open her mouth to speak, but in the next instant, Li Musheng's figure suddenly vanished from before their eyes.

"Where... is he?"

Shangguan Qingqing searched everywhere, yet could not find the slightest trace of Li Musheng.

"He is far too fast!"

Although Shangguan Qingqing already had a significant understanding of Li Musheng's strength, this terrifying, invisible and traceless movement technique could only be described as leaving anyone who saw it utterly bewildered.

Cang Cang Yin Yue, standing nearby and witnessing this scene, also felt her pupils contract sharply.

But very quickly, she took a deep breath, shook her head, and murmured:

"Do not compare yourself to him, do not compare yourself to him. He is not an ordinary martial artist; for him to do anything abnormal is perfectly normal."

"Sister, why are you reciting a tongue twister?" Shangguan Qingqing asked with a look of curiosity.

"That is not the case. Miss Qingqing, why did you just address him as Fourth Imperial Prince?"

"Do you not know this? It has spread throughout the entire city..."

After leaving the Hou Fu of Marquis Cang Yuan, Li Musheng headed toward the Great Li Imperial Palace, which stood at the very center of Shangyang City.

He was not the type of person who liked to meddle in others' affairs.

But there was no choice; since he had already encountered her, if he did not kill someone like Noble Consort Ji, was he supposed to keep her around for the New Year?

At the same time, under the shroud of night, the Great Li Imperial Palace resembled a majestic and mysterious silent beast.

The towering vermilion walls stood lofty and imposing; behind the walls, at regular intervals, stood watchtowers where soldiers kept vigilant watch day and night.

The palace gates were all tightly closed at night, guarded by fully armed servants in front, while squads of armored soldiers patrolled back and forth throughout the palace grounds. The clashing sounds of their armor and their synchronized footsteps were particularly clear in the silent night.

The Great Li Imperial Palace was heavily guarded; besides the visible servants, many hidden sentries and clever mechanisms were concealed within the palace.

More importantly, there were numerous powerful martial arts experts stationed within the palace who did not reveal their forms. It could be said that even an expert in the Heaven-and-Mortal Realm could not infiltrate the palace without being discovered.

Deep within the inner palace, in front of a wide palace road, stood a luxurious palace, which was the residence of Noble Consort Ji—the Yixin Hall.

Inside Yixin Hall, candlelight flickered; the night wind blew, causing the curtains to flutter, and the candlelight illuminated the entire palace in a dreamlike and illusory manner.

Noble Consort Ji, dressed in magnificent palace robes, sat cross-legged on a soft couch, her palms facing upward and her eyes tightly closed.

Although she was nearly fifty years old, her skin was as white as snow, delicate and smooth, like mutton-fat white jade.

There was not a single wrinkle on her face, and her appearance had not changed much from when she was in her twenties.

At this moment, streams of crimson true qi circulated through her meridians, causing the air around her to slowly swirl, forming an aura spanning several zhang in diameter.

Within the aura, a faint scarlet blood qi surged; streaks of bloody afterimages occasionally shot out from her body, only to quickly dissipate in mid-air.

A hint of slight pain occasionally appeared on Noble Consort Ji's face, followed by a flash of ferocity; finally, she suddenly opened her eyes, with blood-red light flashing in her pupils.

"Someone come."

Her cold voice rang out, and an old nanny brought over a tray made of red sandalwood.

Placed upon the wooden tray was a dark red pill. Noble Consort Ji flicked her finger, and a thread of blood-colored silk flowed from her fingertip, rapidly snatching the pill through the air and instantly dropping it into her mouth to swallow.

Very quickly, the pain on her body seemed to vanish, and she slowly spoke:

"How much of the Blood-Transforming Pill remains?"

"There is not much left; only three pills remain."

The old nanny spoke in a hoarse voice and said:

"Your Ladyship, should this servant go urge Lady Zhu? To prepare this month's blood offering in time?"

Noble Consort Ji waved her hand and said:

"No need. My sister handles matters, and I trust her completely."

As she spoke, she picked up a bronze mirror from the soft couch beside her, examined her reflection in the mirror, and smiled:

"Fortunately, I have had some good fortune; by chance, I obtained such a miraculous cultivation technique, allowing me to restore my former beauty. The other concubines in the palace do not know how much they envy and resent me!"

Upon hearing this, a cruel smile appeared on the old nanny's face as she said:

"Your Ladyship has only consumed blood offerings for a few years, yet you are already eternally youthful. Perhaps in the future, you might even achieve immortality!"

"Immortality is not something I crave; Zhu'er does not have the fate to become Emperor."

Noble Consort Ji sighed, put down the bronze mirror in her hand, and showed a look of grievance:

"I only wish Your Majesty would draw closer to me more often. Unfortunately, Your Majesty is obsessed with martial arts cultivation and has not been close to women for many years. Now, the only pleasure I have in this deep palace is to show off in front of the other concubines!"

The old nanny's eyes flickered, and she flattered:

"Your Ladyship need not be discouraged. Hard work pays off. If one day Your Majesty suddenly feels the urge, there will be only one charming person left in the entire palace. If he does not favor Your Ladyship, who else could he favor?"

"Furthermore, Third Imperial Prince possesses both literary strategy and military prowess, with intelligence surpassing others. In the future, he may not lack the opportunity to ascend the throne."

Noble Consort Ji's eyes shifted, a gleam of sharpness flashing in them, and she pondered:

"You have reminded me of something. Today, Your Majesty just acknowledged the son of that Concubine Jing. The new surpasses the old; for a period in the future, he will likely receive more favor than other imperial princes. We could try to win him over; perhaps he could become an ally for Zhu'er."

Upon hearing this, the old nanny narrowed her eyes and was about to speak.

Just then, in the vast palace, a man's voice suddenly rang out:

"I heard you're trying to recruit me?"

At these words, Concubine Ji was instantly stunned; she leapt to her feet, her crimson true qi surging violently, whipping the curtains in the hall into a frenzy.

The old nurse beside her, however, her eyes glowed with a cold, sinister light, standing guard at Concubine Ji's side while fixing her gaze on the center of the hall.

There, at some unseen moment, a young figure had appeared, clad in plain robes, standing silently beneath the candlelight of the hall.

"Protect the Empress! Protect the Empress!"

Concubine Ji immediately cried out in a low, urgent voice, the sound echoing throughout the palace, inside and out.

She knew full well: though this man was young, anyone who could break into the Great Li Imperial Palace could hardly be an ordinary person.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Dozens of nurses and eunuchs leapt swiftly into the Yixin Hall from outside, each of formidable strength; from the martial qi they radiated, even the weakest among them had reached the Master Realm.

These nurses and eunuchs surrounded Li Musheng at the center of the hall, pinning his qi with unyielding martial energy, their eyes brimming with unmasked killing intent.

Li Musheng, as if seeing nothing, glanced at them all, then spoke slowly:

"You're all here. I don't like killing the innocent. I've sealed off this thirty-zhang radius with my qi. Whether you live or die now depends on whether you truly deserve your fate."

(End of Chapter)