Chu Zhiyuan stood before a massive white jade palace.
The palace was constructed from white jade, spotless and immaculate, blending seamlessly with the surrounding white jade plaza to form a sacred ground.
The three golden characters for "Reaching Heaven Pavilion" seemed poised to burst from the plaque and soar into the sky, alongside the dancing white cranes.
The hundred-meter-tall white jade palace stood majestically, as if directly connecting to the celestial realm.
He understood the origin of the name "Reaching Heaven Pavilion"; it truly felt like reaching heaven, as if connected to the heavenly palace.
He slowly approached the front of the hall, took out a waist牌 (waist牌 - waist token) and handed it to an old man in a rocking chair beneath the steps outside the hall.
The old man, short and thin, was dozing off.
Chu Zhiyuan sighed and coughed lightly twice.
The old man slowly opened his eyes, stretched, and yawned before taking the waist牌 (waist牌 - waist token), then handing it back to Chu Zhiyuan: "New here?"
"Chu Zhiyuan, Vice Director of the Zongwu Department," Chu Zhiyuan said with a cupped fist and a smile. "Please trouble Elder Xu to open the hall door."
Before coming, he had been reminded by his colleagues that Xu Wei Bian, who guarded the Reaching Heaven Pavilion, was an old grandmaster.
In his youth, he was an expert from the Surveillance Department. After retiring from the military, he came to the Ministry of Rites as a minor official, guarding the Reaching Heaven Pavilion for over fifty years.
There were also four grandmasters guarding the Reaching Heaven Pavilion. The Reaching Heaven Pavilion was adjacent to the Heavenly Treasure Department, where a great grandmaster was stationed. If anything happened here, the great grandmaster could arrive instantly.
Xu Wei Bian immediately understood and smiled: "So it's a VIP, please come in."
In the Great Jing Dynasty, there were no other families with the surname Chu besides the imperial lineage.
Chu Zhiyuan smiled: "Thank you for your trouble."
The entire hall was completely displayed in his mind, and the names and locations of all the books were also completely imprinted in his brain.
He could go back later to browse slowly and choose carefully.
He first searched in his mind and went directly to a bookshelf on the third floor.
This entire shelf was filled with various scripts.
From ancient times to the present, various strange scripts and records.
Chu Zhiyuan couldn't understand most of them, so he pulled out each book to look for characters similar to the two small characters hidden in the scabbard at his waist.
After flipping through half of the shelf, he smiled, finally finding the two small characters.
He continued to flip through the books, going through the entire shelf.
The two small characters were "Qing Ying."
He pressed his hand on the long sword at his waist and slowly drew it out.
A strand of true energy flowed along the Laogong acupoint in his palm into the sword hilt, and through the sword guard into the sword body, splitting into two, each entering a strange rose-like pattern.
Instantly, a strange feeling surged into his heart.
His heart seemed to sink to the bottom of a lake, transforming into a fish swimming in the lake, serene and agile.
The long sword seemed to disappear, light as nothing, becoming an extension of his own hand.
He pondered, was this the true unity of man and sword?
He tried to activate the Great Snow Mountain Collapse Sword Art, and the sword body suddenly disappeared from its original position, appearing in mid-air the next moment.
Chu Zhiyuan nodded in satisfaction.
It was fast before, but now it was twice as fast.
One sword after another, silently and swiftly, like lightning.
At the same time, his mind entered a strange state of calmness.
After reaching the Innate Realm, he was already practicing the Great Purple Sun Art.
The difference between the aura of the Great Purple Sun Art and the Small Purple Sun Art was like the difference between warm water and hot water. The true energy flowing in the meridians had a burning sensation.
This feeling would unconsciously affect his mood and mind. It was fine usually, but once he fought someone, he would become impatient and irritable.
But this Qing Ying sword just happened to counteract the influence of the Great Purple Sun Art, allowing his mind to remain calm at all times, which was truly wonderful.
After twenty-one swords, the dantian was empty, and the Earth Origin Art was activated.
The Yongquan acupoints on his feet were like whales sucking water, the surging aura rising along his legs, circling his waist, and finally returning to the dantian, already transformed into true energy, filling the dantian in an instant.
He shook his head.
The Earth Origin Art was so miraculous, but ultimately it was because his cultivation was too weak, and the true energy in his dantian was not deep enough.
However, since breaking through the First Heavenly Gate, his true energy already had the ability to expand the dantian, and the dantian was slowly growing larger.
—
At noon, when he returned to the Prince's mansion for lunch, he found Bai Ning Shuang and Chu Yi with strange smiles on their faces.
Chu Zhiyuan touched his face.
Chu Yi smiled: "Brother, someone else has come to propose marriage."
Chu Zhiyuan raised a sword-like eyebrow.
"Hehe, you're becoming popular, Big Brother!" Chu Yi said with a joyful smile: "Besides the Duke of Anguo, there's now also a Marquis of Ningyuan. This Marquis of Ningyuan is a very popular person now, with overwhelming power."
Chu Zhiyuan frowned: "A popular person?"
Chu Yi nodded vigorously: "This Marquis of Ningyuan is now the Deputy General of the Northern Border, and is expected to become the General."
Bai Ning Shuang smiled without saying a word, her eyebrows revealing joy.
Chu Zhiyuan shook his head: "Let's forget about the Marquis of Ningyuan."
"Why, Big Brother?" Chu Yi asked curiously.
Chu Zhiyuan said: "When a person is too popular, trouble is inevitable. It's best to avoid getting involved."
When a person is hot, their mentality will inevitably expand. This is human nature, and it is too easy to make mistakes.
As a marquis and the Deputy General, his future seems promising, but at the same time, his foundation is weak. Marrying into the Qing Prince's mansion is obviously to eliminate this point, thereby deepening the bond with the royal family, which is far less stable than the hereditary Duke of Anguo's side.
"Big Brother, do you want to marry that great beauty from the Duke of Anguo's family?" Chu Yi tilted her head to look at him, giggling: "That's right, the number one beauty in Yujing! Which man wouldn't be tempted!"
Chu Zhiyuan smiled and shook his head.
Zou Fang had already inquired about the Duke of Anguo's mansion.
The current Duke of Anguo is mediocre in talent, diligent but lacking in ability. He is the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and can be considered his superior.
The Emperor has always been very tolerant of such nobles.
He will not entrust them with important tasks, nor will he treat them harshly. The Left Vice Minister is a second-rank official, which is enough to establish himself in the court.
The Duke of Anguo's daughter, Xiao Ruoling, is known as the number one beauty in Yujing.
When he heard this title, he originally thought she was sociable and loved to show her face, but the fact was that this young lady from the Duke of Anguo's mansion usually lived in seclusion and rarely showed her face, so few people had seen her.
Even so, she still had the title of the number one beauty in Yujing, which was obviously due to her extremely beautiful appearance.
Bai Ning Shuang said: "I've inquired about it. The Duchess of Anguo passed away ten years ago. She lost her mother before she was even ten years old. This Miss Xiao is also a pitiful person."
"It's really pitiful to lose her mother," Chu Yi nodded vigorously.
Although the Qing Prince's mansion was sealed, both parents were still alive, and the whole family was complete, harmonious, and close, not feeling uncomfortable at all.
If her mother were gone, she didn't know how desolate it would be.
Bai Ning Shuang said: "This Duke of Anguo is also a sentimental person. He didn't remarry or find another mistress. The young duke in the mansion is still young, only twelve years old, and Miss Xiao is in charge of the mansion."
"That's really amazing!" Chu Yi exclaimed: "If Big Brother really marries her, Mother, you'll be able to relax, hehe, Mother, you won't be reluctant to let go, will you?"
Bai Ning Shuang snorted: "I can't wait for someone to take care of it for me. I'm breaking my heart all day long, it's too tiring."
"Then it's her, Big Brother?"
"No hurry," Chu Zhiyuan shook his head with a smile, changing the subject.
People at this time mostly had blind marriages, and the two sides had not even met before their parents decided to marry them.
As the heir apparent, he certainly didn't want to be so hasty.
A great man inevitably has an unvirtuous wife and unfilial children, but he wanted to become a grandmaster, so he didn't want to be distracted by too many other things. He needed a stable backyard without fires, and a virtuous helpmate.
Beauty was not that important. On the contrary, the four maids, Mo Yi, were already rare beauties, and they would all be brought into his room in the future.
So, before understanding this Xiao Ruoling, he didn't want to make a decision.
He would find a chance to observe this Xiao Ruoling before deciding whether to marry her or not.
