When he woke up the next morning, Murong Jie was already long gone, leaving only a mess of tangled sheets on the bed.
Within the bed curtains, besides the lingering trace of Bedchamber Incense, there was also a faint, elusive musky scent—the masculine aura left behind by a man. It was clear just how wanton last night with Murong Jie had been.
"Heh, ran off that fast."
Though it was to be expected. Murong Jie couldn't stand him, so why would he stay to sleep beside him?
As for Lu Yunqi, he'd had a thoroughly enjoyable night, and waking up, he could be described as refreshed and invigorated.
He stretched lazily. Hearing the commotion outside, Yunhua led two young maidservants in to attend to his washing and dressing, a smile on her face that she couldn't hide no matter how hard she tried.
Lu Yunqi rapped the young maid on the head with his knuckles and asked, "What are you grinning about? Is this young royal prince so amusing?"
Yunhua let out a chuckle and said, "Sixth Master already told us—the Heir Apparent requested the Emperor to grant you and Sixth Prince a marriage." Now the whole capital knows about it, saying that you, Young Lord… are quite fortunate!"
Lu Yunqi clicked his tongue. "Truly, good deeds never leave the house, but bad deeds spread a thousand miles. Fortunate my ass—they're probably all cursing me for being dissolute and indiscriminate with men and women alike, aren't they?"
Yunhua thought to herself that the curses were far harsher than that. Not only were they cursing the Young Lord, but this time even the Nine Thousand Years was being dragged into it.
They said the Nine Thousand Years doted on his son to the point of madness, and that the Lu family would sooner or later be ruined by this good-for-nothing second-generation heir.
But Lu Yunqi didn't care. He dawdled through his morning meal, then heard a eunuch outside shout in a shrill voice: "An imperial edict has arrived! Prince Cang, receive the edict!"
Murong Jie was already kneeling in the courtyard waiting to receive the edict. Lu Yunqi also swayed lazily as he knelt down.
Fuhai proclaimed the edict in a loud voice: "By the grace of Heaven, the Emperor decrees: Our sixth son, Prince Cang, is virtuous in conduct, gentle and respectful in bearing. He has diligently assisted in court affairs, aided in state counsels, and acted with fairness in all matters; he has cultivated his person, harmonized with his kin, and served as a model for the imperial clan. We hereby issue this gracious decree, bestowing upon Prince Cang a princely residence, ceremonial regalia, an annual stipend of ten thousand taels of silver, ten thousand hu of grain, fifty bolts of silk, four chests of assorted jewels, and eighty personal guards and attendants. Let this be proclaimed to all under Heaven, that all may know!"
Murong Jie slowly performed a bow and said, "Your son accepts the edict and thanks the Imperial Father."
But Lu Yunqi snatched the edict first, read through it once, and then asked, "Eunuch Fuhai, did His Majesty say which residence would be granted to Prince Cang?"
Fuhai bowed and scraped obsequiously. "His Majesty instructed that of the eight vacant residences in the capital, Prince Cang may choose any one he pleases. His Majesty also bade me to tell the Sixth Prince to be sure to attend to Young Heir Lu properly and fulfill his duties as the Heir's Consort. There will be additional rewards for that."
Lu Yunqi gave an "oh" and pointed at the neighboring property. "That residence across the way—I think it looks quite good. Fix it up and let the Crown Prince's consort live there!"
Fuhai was taken aback and said, "This…Your Highness, that doesn't quite conform to regulations! The residence across the way was originally His Majesty's residence before he ascended the throne—it should be the Crown Prince's residence. But Sixth Prince…"
"What? It's just a residence. It's not like living there would actually make him the Crown Prince. He's my crown prince's consort—it's inconvenient for him to be too far away. Isn't this place just closer?"
Fuhai flattered, "What you say is right, Heir Apparent." I'll report back to His Majesty right away and do my best to secure it for you."
Lu Yunqi said nothing more, but pulled out a stack of banknotes—a full five thousand taels—and stuffed them directly into Fuhai's hands. "Then I'll be counting on you, Eunuch Fu."
Fuhai quickly thanked him: "Oh! This is too generous! Rest assured, Young Lord, I will do my utmost to handle this matter for you."
After seeing off the eunuch who had delivered the edict, Lu Yunqi surveyed the various gifts and ceremonial regalia with satisfaction, along with the eighty attendants standing outside the residence. He gave a cold snort. "At least this old Emperor knows what's good for him!"
Normally, a prince had sixty-three attendants. That Murong Jie was given seventeen more was entirely out of respect for the Nine Thousand Years' household.
He turned to look at Murong Jie, who was still kneeling there, and tilted his head. "Stop kneeling. Go with Liubao to the residence across the way and get your attendants and regalia settled."
Liubao said with difficulty, "But… but, Your Highness, that residence hasn't been assigned to us yet. We don't have the keys, so we can't get in!"
Lu Yunqi clicked his tongue. "Are you stupid? Knock down that wall on the east side, build a nice big moon gate, and enter from there. Don't worry—within today, the old Emperor will definitely have it arranged. It won't do to have all these people just standing around outside the residence. Go handle it now!"
Liubao chuckled twice and replied, "Yes, Heir Apparent, I'll go take care of it right away!""
Then he looked at Murong Jie. "Prince Cang, please follow me."
Murong Jie's brow furrowed slightly, but in the end he said nothing and followed Liubao.
Liubao was efficient in his work. He directly demolished the eastern wall and built a beautiful moon-arch gate with a flower wall, then arranged all of Murong Jie's attendants and regalia inside the residence.
After everything was settled, Liubao respectfully bowed to Murong Jie. "Please rest well, Your Highness. This servant will take his leave now."
Murong Jie said nothing. It was only after Liubao had left that he circled around to the back courtyard and said in a low voice toward the rockery, "Come out!"
A young man in black emerged from behind the rockery and saluted him. "Master."
Murong Jie said, "How is the matter I instructed you to handle coming along?"
The young man in black replied, "Rest assured, Master. Five thousand elite cavalry of Yuezhi stand ready at a moment's notice. With a single command from you, we can take the Hexi Corridor!"
Murong Jie nodded. "Good. In three days, take the Hexi Corridor. No need to press forward recklessly—just hold the ground."
The young man in black acknowledged the order but did not leave. Murong Jie asked, "Is there something else?"
The young man hesitated for a moment, then said, "Master… the rumors in the capital lately… are they all true?"
Murong Jie furrowed his brow, thinking that whatever rumors were circulating outside were probably not pleasant to hear.
Seeing that he did not answer, the young man in black said angrily, "I'll go kill that Lu Yunqi right now, to avenge you and wash away this humiliation!"
Murong Jie stopped him. "Don't stir up trouble at a time like this!"
Besides… things are not what you imagine, and I was not humiliated either…
Come to think of it, Lu Yunqi really was sick in the head. He had gone to all that trouble, only to have himself abused by Murong Jie. Perhaps the man was simply a pervert by nature, with a taste for such things!
As for last night…
No one knew that after tempering his body with the Nine Deaths One Life Divine Art, he was immune to all poisons. Not even the small aphrodisiac incense—let alone something as lethal as the throat-sealing crane's crest poison—could do much to him.
The reason he had acquiesced was not because of that man's threats. Even he himself did not know his original intention.
Perhaps, like that man, he too was simply a pervert with a taste for such things by nature!
At this moment, Lu Yunqi still had no idea that the tricks he had devised to disgust Murong Jie were, in fact, rewards to him.
He had already returned to his Wanping Wasteland and was staring contemplatively at the one mu of land that had been reclaimed. The NPC was still pushing the mower to cut grass, and when it saw him coming, it waved at him from afar. "Master, one mu of land has been reclaimed, but there are no seeds. What should we plant next?"
Lu Yunqi looked at the perfectly leveled land the NPC had reclaimed and curled his lips into a smile. "Not bad, not bad. Let me see what to plant."
He had not expected that so much land could be reclaimed.
With that, he opened the system, and a system prompt sounded: "Congratulations, Host, on completing the task of having an NPC reclaim one mu of wasteland. Your current land holdings are two mu. You have received the task reward: Beauty 99 Strawberry seeds. The Farm Tools Market has been unlocked."
Lu Yunqi tapped open the Farm Tools Market. He had assumed it would be things like hoes and shovels, but the moment he opened it, he was stunned—it was all modern equipment!
Lawnmowers, drones, drip irrigation technology, soilless cultivation, plastic greenhouses, seedling beds, and so on.
Looking at this dazzling array of modern agricultural equipment, could he not establish a modern farm right here?
Lu Yunqi excitedly scrolled through the farm tools. However, he only had one NPC for now, so he could not use that many things yet. He would have to exchange for them gradually later on.
He wondered whether these farm tools were time-limited. If they all were, then using them might be rather inconvenient.
But it was not a big problem. As long as he had enough System Points and System Coins, he could exchange for tools without limit.
Still, curiosity got the better of Lu Yunqi, and he asked, "Little System, why are there so many modern tools now? Didn't you say modern tools cannot exist in ancient times?"
The System Sprite Xiao Jiu jumped out and replied, "Master, it's like this. Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"
Lu Yunqi: ??
Now he could be certain—he had indeed been played by the system.
Lu Yunqi gritted his teeth. "Tell me the truth!"
Xiao Jiu chuckled and said, "The reason no one has ever chosen this system is because its completion difficulty coefficient is a bit high. Not only does this system have absolutely nothing to do with the target of this world's quest, but mainly it is actually… a long and arduous road ahead!"
Lu Yunqi said angrily, "Aren't you the Idle Ger Planting System? Why is it a long and arduous road now? I want to file a complaint for system fraud!"
Xiao Jiu replied, "That doesn't count. After all, you really are quite idle! You only need to give orders—you barely have to do anything yourself, right? With so many NPCs, as long as you complete tasks, someone will naturally help you finish the planting tasks. If that isn't being idle, what is?"
Lu Yunqi had no strength to argue. He asked again, "Then where is the long and arduous road?"
Xiao Jiu sighed: "Do you know that among the three thousand worlds, ours is the most backward World Line? The civilizations in other World Lines have at least developed to 0.7-1.0, and some have even reached 1.2-level civilization. Only this World Line remains stuck at 0.4-level. It must at least develop to 0.7-level civilization to pass, otherwise the entire World Line will be erased. The Heavenly Dao of this World Line secretly hid a golden finger in the World Mission Guide, and the Great Sovereign tacitly allowed it. But he cannot artificially interfere with the guide's choices. In the previous tens of thousands of attempts, this insignificant system was never chosen. Only you, our dear master! You are the first and only one!"
Lu Yunqi: …If I regret it now, is it too late?