Liang Zhu, beaten into a pig's head, screamed as he hugged Wu Shixiong. “Heir Apparent, save me!”
Wu Shixiong fearfully glanced at the Princess, then cast a sympathetic gaze at Liang Zhu.
Everyone in the Imperial Dynasty knew how willful the Princess was, and Wu Shixiong was no exception.
Wu Shixiong handed a brocade box to Liang Zhu. “Eunuch Xiao Zhuzi, this is a small token of my appreciation. The green mountains remain unchanged and the green waters flow forever. Until we meet again!”
After saying that, Wu Shixiong quickly disappeared.
Liang Zhu held the brocade box and looked at it. This should be a book.
As soon as he opened the box, he saw four large characters written on the cover.
The ancient seal script was rather complicated. Liang Zhu could recognize only the last three characters: ...Sunflower Manual!
Liang Zhu flipped open the book and immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.
The first page bore five large blood-red characters: “Become unrivaled in martial arts, Castrate oneself with a sword!”
Liang Zhu screamed. “Damn it, it really is the Sunflower Manual!”
He opened the second page, which read: “Even if you castrate yourself, success is not guaranteed!”
Thank goodness he had not cut it off in one stroke...
Liang Zhu casually tossed the 《Sunflower Manual》 aside.
The Princess picked up the book curiously. “What book is this? 《Sunflower Manual》? Is this a martial arts manual?”
Seeing the Princess’s curious expression, Liang Zhu’s heart stirred slightly.
The Sunflower Manual could not be cultivated by men, and Liang Zhu was unwilling to let eunuchs cultivate it either. In that case, he might as well give it to a Woman!
As for what the old teacher’s novels said about the Sunflower Manual causing boiling desire after cultivation, that had nothing to do with him.
In any case, it was better for a fellow Daoist to die than for him to die. The Princess was already crazy enough; adding a little seasoning would not hurt.
Liang Zhu directly tore out the first two pages, then opened the Sunflower Manual. “Come, Her Highness the Princess. Let us learn something useful...”
The Sunflower Manual, a wondrous manual that men could not endure after cultivating it and women could not endure after cultivating it, was thus put into practice by Liang Zhu.
This strange book had several distinctive features.
First was its speed. Back then, Lin Pingzhi had cultivated it for only three months before he could defeat the Sect Master of the Qingcheng sect and take revenge.
Second was its strangeness. After cultivating the Sunflower Divine Skill, one would develop intense desire. Thus, the brave predecessors of that time could only make one quick snip and be done with it—the Princess would not have that problem. At worst, she could deal with it herself later.
Third, the more one cultivated the Sunflower Divine Skill, the more femininity one developed. Had no one seen how even Sect Master Dongfang had begun embroidering? After the Princess cultivated it, she would surely become much more virtuous and domestic, right?
In conclusion, no one but the Princess could cultivate this book...
The Princess’s aptitude was also quite good. In one morning, she completed the basics of guiding qi and establishing her foundation, and now had a small amount of true qi circulating within the body.
Liang Zhu was extremely satisfied. Within three months, the Princess would be able to surpass Chuchu’s strength.
Within one to three years, the Princess should be able to reach the high-level realm and become an existence like a sword immortal or an Overlord.
A martial artist of this level, if placed on Earth, would be equivalent to the master of a sect or the Sect Master of a school.
As the saying went, some families rejoiced while others grieved.
Although Wu Shixiong had been quick with his gift, it still attracted someone else’s attention.
That person was Long Baitian.
Long Baitian held sway over the court. He sent someone to investigate, and soon learned of Wu Shixiong’s small movement.
“That bastard Wu Shixiong.” Long Baitian angrily slapped the table. “I risked my life to save him in the Imperial City, yet he went to thank and curry favor with a little eunuch! What an ungrateful ingrate who can never be raised properly!”
Long Baitian said bloodthirstily, “Those who are not my people should no longer be allowed to live... Long Wu, go make the arrangements. Later, kill that brat Wu Shixiong for me.”
A sharp-looking man in his thirties clasped his fists and accepted the order.
Long Baitian also had strategists like a strategist under him. A scholar with triangular eyes came over to advise him. “Lord, Wu Shixiong is the Heir Apparent of the Prince of Zhenxi’s residence. If you send someone to kill him...”
“Who said I killed him?” Long Baitian said with a cold laugh. “That brat Wu Shixiong went outside the city to play by himself, encountered bandits, and was killed. What does that have to do with me? Besides, Prince of Zhenxi does not have only one Son. Surely he would not come seeking revenge over such an incompetent thing, would he?”
The strategist sighed and said nothing more.
His patron, the Imperial Court’s big shot Long Baitian, relied on an aura of charging forward without hesitation.
The current Long Baitian killed any man who blocked his path and annihilated any god who stood in his way. However, if he showed tolerance and weakness over the matter of Wu Shixiong, his aura would suffer.
As a strategist, he dared say nothing and ask nothing. He could only hope that Long Wu would act a little more discreetly.
Long Wu was not reckless either. He did not truly bring a group of assassins to kill Wu Shixiong.
Long Wu chose to carry out a kidnapping in the middle of the night.
Although Wu Shixiong had several capable masters around him, they were far inferior to Long Wu.
That night, Long Wu led his men in slaughtering all thirty-plus masters in Wu Shixiong’s luxurious residence. He also left behind a kidnapping letter stating that Prince of Zhenxi was to bring three million taels of silver to Ten-Mile Slope outside the city to ransom Wu Shixiong.
Deep in the night, a guard of Prince of Zhenxi who had been lucky enough to survive dragged his dying body all the way to the Imperial Palace to seek aid from the Empress and the Imperial Court.
The Empress hurriedly threw on her clothes and rose, then read the blood letter concerning Wu Shixiong’s kidnapping.
Outside the Imperial Study, Chief Eunuch of the Imperial Palace Wei Jiuxian hurriedly arrived.
For some reason, the handsome Little Pillar followed along with exceptional enthusiasm.
No, this was not Little Pillar’s style!
This little eunuch was usually lazy and slippery. How could he possibly be proactive about coming to help?
The Empress stared at Little Pillar and asked, “What did you come over for?”
Liang Zhu put on an expression of concern for the country and its people. “Your Majesty cares for the whole world. As your younger brothers, we must also worry before the world worries and rejoice after the world rejoices, devote ourselves wholeheartedly to Your Majesty, and die only after our work is done!”
Everyone who heard this got goosebumps.
Anyone capable of saying such things was either a Great Sage or a great villain.
There was no doubt that this guy, Little Pillar, was the latter...
The Empress secretly rolled her eyes and solemnly asked, “Tell me the truth. Why exactly did you come here?! If you do not tell the truth, tomorrow I will send you to clean the latrines!”
Little Pillar screamed, “Your Majesty, actually, I accepted one thousand taels of gold from Wu Shixiong, and I felt a little guilty about it. When I heard that something had happened to him, I wanted to come and help him...”
Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air.
Good heavens, one thousand taels of gold!
The Empress asked with an ambiguous smile, “Very well. Tell me, how do you view Wu Shixiong’s kidnapping?”
In truth, why would Liang Zhu care whether Wu Shixiong lived or died?
While Liang Zhu was sleeping in the middle of the night, he suddenly received a mission prompt.
【Mission prompt】Random Mission triggered: Rescue Wu Shixiong!
【Mission prompt】Wu Shixiong has been kidnapped and will be brutally murdered in six hours! Host, proceed to rescue him as quickly as possible!
【Mission prompt】If the mission fails, the fake eunuch identity will be exposed!
All right, this mission really was...
Liang Zhu did not want his identity exposed and to be pursued and killed by the Imperial Palace, so he hurried over to rescue Wu Shixiong.
Now that the Empress was asking Liang Zhu what should be done, Liang Zhu could not be bothered with rules such as eunuchs being forbidden from interfering in government affairs. He let out a wail. “Your Majesty, Wu Shixiong absolutely cannot die!”
That shout made it sound as if Wu Shixiong were the biological Son of her Little Pillar, moving enough to make even a tiger shed tears.
The Empress had originally been indifferent to whether Wu Shixiong lived or died. Hearing Liang Zhu’s wail, she asked in surprise, “Why can he not die?”