Chapter 2 Jade Lock
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What are the identities of these two people?
Hidden guards sent by the Imperial Grandfather? Or spies from other mansions, or other unknown forces?
Just by observing how they disguise their breath to deceive the guards' leader Guo Chi and the accompanying eunuch Zou Fang, both Grandmasters, it's clear they possess top-tier hiding techniques, definitely not from any ordinary power.
Now they're following me, but if they were to launch a surprise attack, could Guo Chi and Zou Fang react in time? At present, I can't fend them off.
What those old men in the tavern said was right, in this world, martial skills are crucial.
Even as a future Prince, I must diligently cultivate. My life and death cannot be entirely entrusted to others.
...
A year has passed since I broke the Fetal Mystery and awakened memories of my past life.
In my previous life, I was hit by a meteor falling from the sky during a donkey trekking trip, and when I awoke, I became the Prince Chu Zhiyuan in this high martial world, with mutated senses.
My sensory perception greatly expanded, like a divine being, penetrating the hidden and seeing the minute.
Internally, I can scrutinize my own body—skin, muscles, fascia, bones, marrow, blood, meridians, acupoints, even concealed key points.
Externally, I can encompass a radius of twenty zhang, seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling everything.
I call it Super Sense.
Within a year, I advanced from the Seventh Layer to the Ninth Layer Postnatal Perfection, thanks to this clear and detailed internal observation.
My past life's memories and this life's memories have thoroughly merged, indistinguishable from each other. I am both the Chu Yuan of my past life and the Prince Heir Chu Zhiyuan of this life.
Though the Prince Qing Mansion has declined, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. As the sole heir of Prince Qing, even without doing anything, I can inherit the title, living a life of luxury.
But I understand, while other things can be neglected, martial cultivation must be pursued diligently.
Having Grandmaster guards doesn't ensure complete protection; being assassinated after gaining rare wealth is truly regretful.
Moreover, the higher one's cultivation realm, the longer the lifespan.
Innate Realm grants 120 years, Grandmasters 200, Great Grandmasters starting from 300 years.
Three days ago, the Da Jing Emperor decreed to lift the 30-year ban on the Prince Qing Mansion, allowing this Prince Heir to practice in Mingwu Hall.
Mingwu Hall is where princes and princely heirs practice martial arts, containing secret skills taught by Great Grandmasters; it is a coveted opportunity for martial artists worldwide.
The Little Purple Sun Technique I'm cultivating is a secret lineage of the imperial Chu Family, among the top Postnatal cultivation techniques.
To practice the Innate Great Purple Sun Technique, one must go to Mingwu Hall.
Moreover, after reaching Postnatal Perfection, breaking into the Innate Realm involves overcoming three barriers, requiring specialized breakthrough secret techniques, which Mingwu Hall possesses at the highest level.
Entering Mingwu Hall, with top-notch secret skills and wise teachers' guidance, I'm somewhat impatient now.
...
The Prince Qing Mansion spans 500 mu, around 600 meters in both length and width.
The two-tiered eaves of the gate tower are magnificent, the glazed tiles atop shimmering with brilliant golden light, and the elegant characters "Prince Qing Mansion" inscribed on the plaque.
However, the faded red-painted gates, lackluster lanterns, and weathered stone lions all exude a sense of decay.
Prince Qing Street is ten zhang wide, paved with white jade stone, clean and tidy, with fifteen guards in black robes patrolling in teams of three.
They wear long knives at their waists, their eyes flickering with steady sharpness, yet their demeanor is lazy like cats, appearing listless.
The entrance was deserted, with not a single guest.
Such desolation at the mansion's front door is unique in all of Yujing City.
Far away, seeing Chu Zhiyuan approaching leisurely, the guards immediately straightened and saluted solemnly.
Chu Zhiyuan nodded slightly, seemingly oblivious to their indolence.
The mansion's decline naturally saps the spirit of its guards and attendants; it's not something strict oversight can remedy.
Though the guards are decadent and lazy, they're elite Innate Masters, the foundation of the mansion's safety, and harshness would be counterproductive.
...
Chu Zhiyuan stood beneath the steps, examining the mansion's gate and lanterns, shaking his head: "Has the Household Affairs Office not visited yet?"
Zou Fang softly replied: "Your Highness, the Household Affairs Office said there will be another two days' wait."
Chu Zhiyuan coolly said: "It's been a month now, hasn't it?"
"...Yes." Zou Fang nodded slightly, a shade of blue showing on his face, suppressing his anger.
The Household Affairs Office is responsible for repairing royal residences. A month ago, Prince Qing Mansion requested they repaint the doors and windows, walls and tiles, and replace the lanterns.
The Household Affairs Office readily agreed, but claimed scarce craftsmen were busy elsewhere, needing a two-day wait.
Two days became two more, and now it's been delayed for a month.
The reason is known; clearly, it has been bumped in priority. These people from the Household Affairs Office are notorious for following power, but audacious indeed to be this bold.
Even with its decline, Prince Qing Mansion is still a Prince's Mansion, for them to neglect so would mean they indeed need some chastening!
Chu Zhiyuan shook his head, exhaled a stale breath, and stepped up the stairs, entering through the side door, past the Pine-Crane Longevity screen wall, into the expanse of a lotus pond.
The pond draws from hot springs, with thin mists swirling like veils upon the water, with pavilions and towers offering views of lotus and fish.
A chubby elderly man with a white beard floated over lightly, saluting: "Your Highness."
Chu Zhiyuan continued walking: "Where are Father and Mother?"
The guard leader Guo Chi had already retreated.
Zou Fang saluted the white, plump, mansion steward Feng Xi.
"His Highness is in the Cloud Light Pavilion speaking with Master Li Muhuai."
"Father has finally invited this esteemed master of painting to the mansion, fulfilling his wish... and Mother?"
"The Princess just returned from the palace, she's in the back garden."
"No visitors to the mansion today, I suppose?"
"...No." Feng Xi shook his head.
While conversing, Chu Zhiyuan kept walking.
Three days after the mansion's ban was lifted, yet no one has visited, a rather embarrassing situation.
In two more days, it might be the talk of all Yujing.
He waved a hand, signaling Feng Xi he need not follow, then walked alone through several courtyards to the lush back garden.
The hot springs kept the trees and flowers lively with vitality.
The clear small lake surprisingly had an expansive aura, with wisps of white mist steaming on its surface, dotted with pavilion and tower structures.
"Zheng zheng..."
Sounds of a zither came from a waterside pavilion.
He stepped into the corridor above the lake, winding through it to the front of the pavilion.
Two maids stood outside the pavilion, both exceedingly beautiful, saluting with smile-filled countenances as Chu Zhiyuan approached.
One smiled reservedly, the other with a playful charm.
Chu Zhiyuan nodded lightly and stepped into the pavilion.
A woman in a lotus-colored palace dress was bowed over a zither.
Her jet-black shining hair pinned with a gently swaying gold hairpin.
The silk of her lotus-colored dress threaded with gold threads that shimmered intermittently with any movement, reflecting luxury.
Her jade hand pressed the zither strings, instantly stopping the music.
She looked up at Chu Zhiyuan.
An exquisite face, with delicate brows and eyes like phoenixes, the arches of her brows harboring a sharpness.
She was Bai Ningshuang, Princess Qing.
"Mother." Chu Zhiyuan smiled: "Don't upset yourself over it, it's not worth it."
The zither music overflowed with resentment and discontent.
Because his awakening from Fetal Mystery did not replace his original self, both his past and present lives remained him, preserving familial bonds.
Their family of four had grown closer due to the prolonged sequestration.
"Zheng!"
Bai Ningshuang swept the zither strings vehemently with her fingers, angrily: "Why should I be angry? These heartless people, I foresaw this long ago!"
Chu Zhiyuan sat on the embroidery stool moved by the maid, laughing: "Mother, take a wider view, things are much better now than before. We can freely come and go, we always lived our lives behind closed doors, why trouble ourselves with others."
Bai Ningshuang snorted: "I'd rather have the mansion sealed than endure this humiliation!"
"Ran into other princesses at the palace?"
"They acted like I was invisible, it's infuriating!"
"..."
"Thirty years ago, they were ever so friendly, and now they turn their backs!"
"Even those palace maids and eunuchs, all putting on airs, serving evil masters!"
"You didn't lose your temper there, did you mother?" Chu Zhiyuan chuckled.
From the sound of it, it's an exaggeration, an overly sensitive interpretation, those eunuchs and maids wouldn't dare show a Princess any disrespect.
"I'm not that foolish!... Just the more I think the more stifling it becomes!"
Chu Zhiyuan shook his head.
Being in the palace's arena of fame and fortune, flaunting power and snubbing weakness is inevitable.
"Yuan'er, go to Mingwu Hall and make us proud," Bai Ningshuang snorted: "Don't be like your father, a nice guy who offends no one, suppress them ruthlessly if you can!"
To outsiders, an idle prince seems carefree and happy, yet not realizing even princes have hierarchies, being low-ranking means enduring grievances, full of hardships.
To escape the lowest ranks, one must wield power, and power originates from the Emperor.
The Emperor greatly values martial skills, and being the emperor's grandson, gaining his favor depends most quickly on martial cultivation.
Yuan'er is a martial prodigy, achieving Postnatal Perfection by twenty, moreover learned through self-discovery, surely will attract the Emperor's favor.
But a severe illness a year ago made Yuan'er mature and steady, losing his previous spirit.
Entering Mingwu Hall, he's bound to think the Prince Qing Mansion is now weak, best to hide his brilliance, wait in obscurity, avoid offending those prince and emperor's grandsons.
"Alright, I'll listen to you, Mother." Chu Zhiyuan nodded with a smile.
Bai Ningshuang snorted: "I've come to see things clearly, the more you yield, the more you suffer."
Chu Zhiyuan nodded in agreement, offering a few more words of comfort.
"Yuan'er," Bai Ningshuang suddenly lowered her voice: "Your Imperial Grandmother mentioned something."
"Oh—?" Chu Zhiyuan asked with a smile.
The Imperial Grandmother was the biological mother of Father Chu Minghou, Imperial Concubine Rou.
Thirty years ago, a mother was respected by her child's status, the child bolstered by the mother's nobility.
Thirty years later, it's the child's respect that glorifies the mother, and the mother elevated by the child's nobility.
Chu Minghou, as the third son, if he weren't unable to practice martial arts and thereby lacking status, Imperial Concubine Rou would have long become an Imperial Concubine, or even Imperial Noble Consort.
With the Prince Qing Mansion being sealed, her life in the palace wasn't easy.
Thus, once the mansion's ban was lifted, Bai Ningshuang as the daughter-in-law couldn't wait to visit the palace every day, with endless conversations.
Bai Ningshuang glanced sideways at the two maids.
Chu Zhiyuan looked at the maids with a smile, gesturing for them to leave.
Bai Ningshuang waited until she saw them close the pavilion door, then lowered her voice: "Your Imperial Grandmother said, in Mingwu Hall there's a Jade Lock Gold Barrier Skill, a breakthrough secret method created by the Emperor himself."
Chu Zhiyuan said: "Imperial Grandfather is the most talented in the Chu Family's history, creating a secret method isn't surprising."
"Your Imperial Grandmother said this secret method was formed by the Emperor combining ancient mysterious skills, it's an extremely potent breakthrough method."
Chu Zhiyuan frowned slightly.
After the Ninth Layer Postnatal Perfection, to step into the Innate Realm, one must break the tailbone, spine, and jade pillow three hidden barriers, truly connecting the Heaven and Earth Bridge.
The breakthrough secret techniques are extreme and dangerous methods, even a minor misstep can lead to madness, so cultivators often seek stability, preferring slow progress over haste.
The Emperor is a rare genius, creating a miracle technique isn't surprising, but completing a cultivation method requires time and accumulated wisdom.
It's like drug development in a previous life, requiring a sufficient number of trials and corrections.
This secret method suits Emperor Chu Qingquan but may not be suitable for others; a miracle technique for Chu Qingquan could be lethal for others.
"Has anyone practiced this secret technique?"
"Initially, some wanted to train in it but couldn't succeed. Later, no one tried, everyone kept silent about it. If not for your Imperial Grandmother mentioning, it would be unknown."
Chu Zhiyuan seemed deep in thought.
The princes and heirs certainly suspect something's amiss with this secret method, but cannot express it, to avoid angering the Emperor.
The best approach is to pretend ignorance and say nothing.
"If you can master this Jade Lock Gold Barrier Skill, surely your Imperial Grandfather would view you in a different light!... Yuan'er, you're a martial prodigy, others may not succeed, but you might."
"...Alright, Mother, I'll try to practice with it."
Chu Zhiyuan agreed with a smile, though inwardly unimpressed.
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