Chapter 66 - 64: The Collapsing Dear Son Deserves a Good Comforting

Chapter 66: Chapter 64: The Collapsing Dear Son Deserves a Good Comforting

Zhao Ci surveyed the secret chamber, his heart filled with unease.

He had no idea what trick Gu Xiangzhu was trying to pull.

But since she had gone to such great lengths to explain herself, he figured he was safe for the time being. If she wanted to kill him, she would have done it already. There was no need to bring him to a secret chamber first. With that thought, he relaxed and followed her.

The passageway to the chamber was long, narrow, and dimly lit, making Gu Xiangzhu’s figure appear somewhat blurry from behind.

But that did nothing to diminish her visual impact.

Tall and graceful.

Although she had changed back into her palace attire, the image of her in a half-undone blouse was still seared into Zhao Ci’s mind.

Damn!

’How do I delete this image from my brain?’

’This woman is too damn cunning, using her allure to test my instincts.’

’What man could possibly resist a body like that?’

He truly couldn’t understand it. With such a bombshell right here in the Imperial Palace, how did that old geezer Zhao Huan manage to keep his hands off her?

Then again, given her status, she probably didn’t need to explain to him whether or not she was still a virgin.

’Truly strange.’

「A short while later.」

The two of them reached the end of the passageway and passed through a stone door into another secret chamber.

The walls of this chamber were inlaid with all sorts of gemstones, which were arranged in an intricate pattern to form a strange-looking Array.

In the center of the Array were two stone beds.

"What is this?"

Zhao Ci asked with a frown.

Gu Xiangzhu smiled faintly. "This is the purpose of the cooperation between your Father Emperor and me!"

[Gu Xiangzhu’s Current Wish]: Recruit Zhao Ci, or at least bring him into the same camp. Reward for Completion: Insight +1000, Life-sized Puppet x1.

Zhao Ci was speechless.

’Hah!’

’Goddammit!’

’So many high-level wishes have been popping up lately, but they’re all about either stealing my things or making me their underling.’

’Isn’t this just dangling a carrot in front of me?’

’Although, there’s a bug in the completion criteria I could exploit. For example, if I pretended to submit to her and made her believe it, it would likely count as the wish being completed.’

’But if I did that, I’d lose all my bargaining power.’

’To be precise, no matter which side I appeared to join, my own room for survival would be drastically compressed.’

’The losses from that would be far greater than what a mere Life-sized Puppet is worth.’

What he needed most right now was to hold onto his craft and remain neutral. That was the only way to minimize the danger and maximize his room to maneuver.

’I’ll just have to covet it for now and see if I can find a chance to complete it later.’

"Purpose?"

Zhao Ci’s brow tightened. He subconsciously took half a step away from Gu Xiangzhu. "How are you trying to slander my Father Emperor now?"

Gu Xiangzhu scoffed. "Slander? Your Father Emperor needs no slandering! Here, take a look at this!"

As she spoke, she pulled a long metal strip from her sleeve and tossed it to Zhao Ci.

The metal strip resembled a bamboo slip and was covered in all sorts of mystical patterns. Where the patterns converged, there was an exquisite piece of jade.

Zhao Ci recognized this Bronze Scroll. It was an object the Zhao Imperial Family used to store secret manuals. By simply pressing the jade to one’s brow, one could easily read the contents within. It was like directly downloading an installation package into the brain. Although the actual "installation" depended on one’s own comprehension, it drastically reduced the cost of learning, which was why it was something all Cultivators sought after.

This thing also seemed to originate from the ruins of a previous dynasty.

Currently, in the entire Great Yu, only the Zhao Imperial Family possessed the Secret Skill to create Bronze Scrolls. The supply of blank Bronze Scrolls was one of the resources the Imperial Family used to influence the major clans.

"This is..."

Zhao Ci hesitated.

Gu Xiangzhu said coolly, "You’ll know once you look."

Zhao Ci grew pensive, as if he had already guessed what was inside.

He immediately pressed the jade to his brow.

Just as he expected.

Familiar contents soon flooded into his mind.

’The Organ-Swapping Secret Manual!’

’It really is the Organ-Swapping Secret Manual!’

’This woman is trying to stir up trouble!’

The expression on Zhao Ci’s face shifted from confusion to shock, and from shock to growing gravity.

But when the contents were fully transferred and he lowered the Bronze Scroll, his expression had returned to one of calm indifference.

He looked at Gu Xiangzhu impassively. "I’ve seen it. Now what?"

Gu Xiangzhu’s gaze grew even more pitying. "Why are you still pretending not to understand? You are the Tenth Prince. You have nine older Brother Huangs. Besides the Crown Prince, the Fourth Prince, and the still-young Ninth Prince, are you truly turning a blind eye to what happened to the others?"

"That’s because they were incompetent and were crushed by my Father Emperor’s draconic aura!"

Zhao Ci slammed the Bronze Scroll onto the ground. The jade on it immediately fractured with numerous cracks. He roared, "I never thought you’d be so conniving as to use this to stir up trouble! You even fabricated something called the Organ-Swapping Secret Manual in a delusional attempt to slander my Father Emperor. Do you think I would believe you?"

The corner of Gu Xiangzhu’s eye twitched. She hadn’t expected him to still be deceiving himself, even at this point.

’Such a valuable Bronze Scroll, and he just smashes it like that?’

She composed herself and asked calmly, "You should be aware of how much energy it takes to record a single Bronze Scroll. You should also be aware that this stone chamber was not cheap to build.

"So, you think I knew long in advance that you would discover my identity, so I recorded a Bronze Scroll ahead of time just to slander your Father Emperor? And that I even took a huge risk to build a secret chamber like this one, right beneath the Imperial Palace?"

"You..."

Zhao Ci was, yet again, at a loss for words.

A flash of pain crossed his eyes.

He fell silent for a long time before gritting his teeth. "But my Father Emperor is already old and decrepit. If he really cultivated this Organ-Swapping Secret Manual, he should be very young."

"Just because you see him as old and decrepit, does that mean he truly is?"

Gu Xiangzhu let out a cold laugh. "You’ve always thought your Father Emperor was brilliant and powerful. So tell me, would a truly brilliant and powerful Emperor, in his old age, allow two of his Princes to fight so fiercely over the succession?