Chapter 125: The Palace Relocation Banquet

With two emperors dying in succession, the enthronement of the third Taichang Emperor seemed much more hurried.

Fortunately, with Chu Danqing assisting from the side, the process of power transition did not encounter any waves.

Then, Chu Danqing began to push for bandit suppression work.

This behavior caused an uproar among the greenwood bandits.

Everyone had been burning, killing, and looting for so many years, and it had become a convention; you actually wanted to get rid of them? Was this reasonable?

Chu Danqing didn't care at all what these bandits thought; he had activated a hidden task.

【Hidden Task: Before returning, suppress more than 50% of the greenwood bandits within the Taichang Dynasty】

【Trial Difficulty: A-Rank (Heroic)】

【Trial Reward: 10,000 Paradise Points (for every 1% progress beyond the target, an additional 200 Paradise Points are obtained), +4 Attribute Points】

【Trial Failure: -20,000 Paradise Points, -1 Random Attribute】

After accepting, a percentage value appeared to facilitate Chu Danqing's progress tracking.

100% suppression was impossible; being able to handle half was already very good.

Chu Danqing used the state machine of the Taichang Dynasty to suppress bandits through violent means, and the progress increase was still quite considerable.

However, the young Emperor was very dissatisfied with his behavior of seizing absolute power.

While disguising, the young Emperor constantly contacted various ministers in the court.

It was just that, hindered by Chu Danqing's military power and prestige, they were all watching from the sidelines.

Compared to the previous two Taichang Emperors, this one was more like a rational political animal.

It was both a good thing and a bad thing; as long as the other party was in power, he would move forward with his political ambitions, and whoever stood in his way would have to die.

The young Emperor focused on endurance and wouldn't succeed for a year or two.

Let alone a year or two, a month or two was enough for Chu Danqing to complete the hidden task and run away.

During this period, he cultivated while paying attention to bandit suppression matters.

He certainly wasn't the one commanding; there was specialization in every field.

He didn't know how to suppress bandits; he couldn't command the front-line soldiers to move their bows five meters to the left.

Commanding three or five people was fine, but this was a macro-control of the Taichang Dynasty; if he had this ability, he would have been in business long ago, and wouldn't have been crushed into mud by his own manufactured products.

Bandit suppression progress was slow, but cultivation progress was different.

After completely refining the remaining Five Clouds Pills, plus the slight Five Elements Qi provided by the Konggu Youlan, he raised the Five Elements Spirit Beast Scripture and all the skills it carried to LV5.

It took a total of half a month, mainly because the Five Clouds Pills were used up, and the resources provided by the Konggu Youlan later were too few, so he could only grind slowly.

He thought he could reach LV6; he had overestimated his aptitude.

【Five Elements Spirit Beast Scripture (Inherited) LV. 5】

【Mana +100 per level】

【HP +100 per level】

【Inherited Skills】

【Five Elements Magic Orbs (Active/Passive) LV. 5: Resident Five Elements attribute surrounding magic orbs, equivalent to 50 points of shield value, simultaneously causing 50 points of Five Elements attribute damage to contacted targets; requires 5 mana to condense after shattering】

【Gold Spirit Body Guard (Passive) LV. 5: Summoned object negative status resistance +50】

【Wood Spirit Vitality (Passive) LV. 5: Summoned object HP +500】

【Water Spirit Moistening (Passive) LV. 5: Summoned object mana +500】

【Fire Spirit Refining Spirit (Passive) LV. 5: Summoned object attack power +50】

【Earth Spirit Guarding Heart (Passive) LV. 5: Summoned object defense power +50】

With the improvement of the Five Elements Spirit Beast Scripture, the respective buffs of the three derived skills, Spirit Seal, Spirit Bead, and Spirit Flag, also changed from the 30s to the 50s.

"Cultivation is truly resource-consuming."

"With resources, you advance a thousand miles a day; without resources, you crawl at a snail's pace." Chu Danqing couldn't help but sigh.

As for saying he was too dependent on resources? What else could he do? His aptitude was there; without resources, the daily cultivation progress he could obtain was simply not suitable for the fast-paced life of the Paradise.

There was also no need to worry that relying too much on external objects would lead to a shaky foundation; the Five Clouds Pills he had were produced by the Guo family.

If the pills given by a major power to their own disciples had side effects, then what kind of major family was this? If they couldn't even solve this small matter, they would have disbanded long ago.

"Next, I can condense the Spirit Patterns and Spirit Talismans." Chu Danqing looked at the next plan; it wasn't difficult to cultivate these two derived skills to full level.

Ten hours would be enough, but he intended to take a break.

Although the pace was fast, one had to combine work and rest.

He wasn't made of steel; after high-intensity cultivation, his body needed to relieve stress, otherwise, constant intensity would lead to serious damage.

Constantly challenging the limit wouldn't break the upper limit, only lead to hemiplegia.

How many athletes didn't have hidden injuries after retirement?

That was another matter for those with special constitutions.

Anyway, without the protection and help of pills and props, he couldn't do it.

"Little Chu, letter." Seeing that Chu Danqing was no longer cultivating, Dabao took the opportunity to bring an invitation.

Chu Danqing was focused on cultivation, and with Dabao's protection, he naturally didn't have much heart to pay attention to the outside world.

Picking up the invitation, it was sent by the young Emperor, saying he was inviting him to a banquet.

"Why invite me to dinner so suddenly tonight? It wouldn't be a Hongmen Banquet, would it?" Chu Danqing looked at the gilded invitation in his hand.

His surname wasn't Liu, so he couldn't be immune to a Hongmen Banquet.

Chu Danqing thought about refusing, but then thought, he hadn't done anything wrong, so what was there to be guilty about?

He wasn't Emperor Gaozu of Han, that was true, but the other side wasn't the Overlord of Western Chu either.

If anyone was the Overlord of Western Chu, it should be him; Guo Ming's martial power was right there.

Chu Danqing checked the time; there was still about half an hour before the banquet started.

He tidied up simply, washed his hair, and took Dabao to the banquet.

Rushing and hurrying, he finally arrived before it started.

After arriving, Dabao started eating, without any scruples at all.

Chu Danqing also wanted to just focus on eating like Dabao, but unfortunately, his status was too high, and people were always bothering him.

He wanted to ignore them, but because the logistics coordination for bandit suppression was still in the court, he could only engage in human interactions.

"His Majesty has ascended the throne for more than half a month, and the position of Empress has been vacant until now. I wonder who Commander Chu favors?" Suddenly someone asked such a question.

Chu Danqing replied with a calm expression: "This is a major royal affair; how can I interrupt? It should be decided by His Majesty himself."

Who the Empress was had nothing to do with him.

The young Emperor was also a bit confused by Chu Danqing's words.

In his plan, Chu Danqing's performance shouldn't be like this.

Chu Danqing's image was that of a powerful minister who seized absolute power and eliminated dissidents, yet he didn't interfere in the choice of Empress.

Mainly because during Chu Danqing's cultivation period, the bandit suppression progress had already reached 25%, with only half the progress left.

If there were no accidents, at most another month, he had no need to get involved in these things.

"Why? Can't His Majesty decide for himself?" Chu Danqing looked at the young Emperor and continued: "Then choose slowly; you have so many people in your harem, there's always a suitable one."

"I remember you had a Crown Princess; shouldn't she have become the Empress when His Majesty ascended the throne?"

Just like the previous Taichang Emperor, after ascending the throne, the original Crown Princess became the Empress.

But it seemed she didn't have much presence.

The current situation was quite bizarre; although the young Emperor didn't have an Empress, there were the Empress Dowager and the Grand Empress Dowager.

These two seemed to have always wanted to rule from behind the curtain, but Chu Danqing was quite fierce, making their ideas impossible to implement.

"I want to establish an Empress, but the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager don't like it, so it has been shelved for the time being." The young Emperor hesitated and told the situation.

It wasn't that he hadn't fought for it, but there was really no way.

"You are the Emperor; you have to stand up for yourself." Chu Danqing said immediately.

"Commander Chu doesn't know." A minister explained: "The Grand Empress Dowager resides in the Yangqi Hall and is unwilling to give it up; the Empress Dowager is in the Qingrong Palace, and His Majesty still temporarily resides in the Eastern Palace."

When these words came out, Chu Danqing was also stunned.

He understood the young Emperor's idea: he wanted to use his strength to strike at the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager, and let himself return to legitimacy.

"Unreasonable!" Chu Danqing slapped the table: "How dare they bully His Majesty like this."

Everyone was frightened by his behavior.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, leave this matter to me to handle." Chu Danqing said, then stood up, intending to go and gather people.

"Commander Chu has such great prestige." A voice came, and he saw the Grand Empress Dowager and the Empress Dowager walking in one after another, surrounded by people.

Chu Danqing swept his gaze; these two had won over some of the loyalists of the previous two Taichang Emperors and incorporated the remnants of the Investigation Bureau, forming a brand-new force.

Mainly because Chu Danqing had been cultivating during this period, and even if he paid attention, his focus was on bandit suppression.

Manpower was limited; if he had to divert his energy, the Five Elements Spirit Beast Scripture wouldn't have reached LV. 5.

"I am here; let's see how Commander Chu intends to solve this matter." The Grand Empress Dowager said coldly.

At the same time, a group of people holding swords and wearing armor flooded in.

This group of people had messy formations and no discipline in their actions; one look and they weren't regular troops.

"Greenwood bandits?" Chu Danqing recognized their origin.

"Chu has a good eye." A burly man holding double axes sneered: "The dog official deceives the Emperor; we greenwood heroes have been persecuted by you for no reason."

"Today, I will kill you, this dog official, and return a clear world to the world."

The other party spoke righteously, but in reality, only he knew what he was thinking.

"Just this? There isn't even a master." Chu Danqing's tone was full of regret.

Among this group of people, the number of masters added up wasn't even as many as he had encountered in the Ghost Market.

It seemed that after Li Wanwu died, the court had completely lost control over the greenwood side.

Fortunately, Chu Danqing acted in time; otherwise, it would probably be chaotic again.

All summoned objects were summoned, and Chu Danqing said directly: "Kill all these bandits; don't leave a single one."

Innocent? The other party was pointing a gun at him; he wouldn't be soft-hearted.

Being a good person didn't mean having no bottom line; when it was time to act, don't hesitate.

As the saying goes, killing life is to protect life; cutting karma is not cutting people.

Talking about human rights with robbers—then what do you say to the victims?

The battle began, and it was an immediate one-sided victory.

The enemy's mob had no power to resist at all.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 126 =====