Chapter 23: A Sense of Security
Translated by algoo | Proofread by algoo
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Outside the Winter Palace, Lin Xiu had a sudden thought. He now possessed the power of ice. If he had the chance to replicate Princess Minghe’s ability, would these two opposing forces clash within him, giving him a taste of both ice and fire?
Currently, this was just an idea. Lin Xiu had no opportunity to try, nor did he dare to.
Just then, Chief Steward Li said beside him, “Young Master Lin, we’ve visited the palaces of the Empress and the Four Consorts. Next, I’ll take you to the residences of the Nine Imperial Concubines…”
Lin Xiu’s face was pale, and he said weakly, “Steward Li, to be honest, those five palaces have completely drained me. I don’t have a single bit of Yuan Power left in my body.”
Steward Li patted his head and said, “It’s all my fault, it’s all my fault. How could I forget about this?”
He took out a white jade box from his sleeve, opened it, and retrieved a transparent crystal the size of a grain of rice. He handed it to Lin Xiu.
After receiving it, Lin Xiu carefully examined the object in his hand. It was a rhombus-shaped transparent crystal, seemingly smaller than a grain of rice. Recalling the records he had read in books, Lin Xiu exclaimed in surprise, “Could this be a Yuan Crystal?”
Mystical Arts were not exclusive to humans. Other races in this world, as well as some animals, also possessed special abilities.
People called beasts with special abilities Mystical Beasts. Yuan Crystals were the crystallized Yuan Power within these beasts. For humans, these crystals could be used to restore Yuan Power and aid in further ability awakenings.
The Yuan Crystal in Lin Xiu’s hand was colorless and transparent, clearly originating from the lowest rank of Mystical Beasts.
He held the crystal in his palm, feeling a surge of heat. When he opened his hand again, the colorless, rhombus-shaped crystal had vanished without a trace.
At the same time, the Yuan Power within Lin Xiu, which had been completely depleted, became incredibly abundant once more.
Lin Xiu had initially harbored some complaints. After all, he earned several hundred taels of silver daily. Now, summoned to the palace by the Emperor, he hadn’t received any compensation. Anyone in his position would feel disgruntled.
Unexpectedly, though working for the Emperor didn’t bring him silver, it did bring unexpected gains.
The Yuan Crystal couldn’t help him awaken immediately, but the process of Yuan Power depletion and instant replenishment was, in itself, a form of cultivation. Normally, this process was very slow. With the Yuan Crystal, the restoration of Yuan Power could be achieved instantaneously. The effect of this one crystal was no less than a full day of Lin Xiu’s arduous cultivation.
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The Emperor of Daxia, besides his Empress and Four Consorts, also had Concubines, Jieyu, Beauties, and Talented Ladies. Although the quota for these palace ladies wasn’t as high as that of the Empress and Four Consorts, their combined number could still drain Lin Xiu several more times.
Fortunately, he had the Yuan Crystals to recover. One crystal was equivalent to a day of his cultivation. He wished the Emperor had even more concubines so he could… acquire more crystals.
Tired as he was, after spending half a day in the Emperor’s harem, Lin Xiu’s mood was quite good.
The vast harem, from the concubines down to the palace maids, were all first-class beauties, each with her own unique charm. Even Lin Xiu, with his extensive experience and immunity to beauty, had to admit that strolling through the Emperor’s harem was truly a feast for the eyes.
Lin Xiu had two profound realizations today.
First, the Daxia Emperor had a definite preference for older women. Of the twenty or so concubines he had seen today, none were younger than thirty. Of course, Lin Xiu wasn’t saying that older women were bad, but with all the concubines being of the same type, wouldn’t the Emperor get tired of it?
Second, and most importantly – being the Emperor truly meant having absolute power.
Any woman he fancied, he could summon into the palace to become his concubine. This point made Lin Xiu extremely envious. This wasn’t just about riding horses; the largest horse farm in Daxia belonged to the Emperor.
The Emperor’s power was immense. With just a word, countless women would eagerly throw themselves into his arms.
And with just a word, Lin Xiu had to abandon his daily business of several hundred taels of silver to come to the harem and work for his concubines for free, without any compensation.
And not just the harem. After serving the harem concubines, Lin Xiu was taken to the Central Palace and began endless ice-making. The ice produced here was first sent to the Imperial Study and later bestowed upon some princes and nobles by the Emperor…
He was treating Lin Xiu completely as a tool.
It wasn’t until the sky completely darkened that Lin Xiu was allowed to leave the palace.
Although he had been busy all day, his Yuan Power drained countless times, his gains were also enormous.
Lin Xiu counted; he had consumed fifteen Yuan Crystals today, equivalent to nearly half a month of his cultivation. Lin Xiu wished this kind of good fortune would happen every day.
However…
Lin Xiu looked up at the pitch-black night sky. Ever since the assassination attempt, he had been returning home before dark every day. If Sun Dali wasn’t waiting for him at the palace gate, returning alone would be extremely dangerous.
After ruling out the Zhao family’s involvement, the identity of the person who instigated the assassination that night had become quite obvious.
Either it was someone who held a deep grudge against him but whom he didn’t know, or it was someone who wanted to marry Zhao Lingjun.
As long as Lin Xiu died, the marriage agreement between the two families would be canceled, and they would naturally have a chance.
However, there were countless people in the Royal Capital who wanted to marry Zhao Lingjun. Lin Xiu couldn’t pinpoint any specific target.
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As he hesitated about whether to walk back alone, a familiar fragrance wafted from behind him. Lin Xiu turned around and saw a figure approaching from the palace wall.
“Lingyin?”
“Why are you only coming out now?”
Lin Xiu didn’t see Sun Dali here, but he saw Zhao Lingyin.
“His Majesty just let me out of the palace,” Lin Xiu explained, then tentatively asked, “Were you waiting for me here?”
Zhao Lingyin didn’t look at him, simply saying, “Let’s go, I’ll escort you home.”
This simple sentence gave Lin Xiu an immense sense of security. A grown man needing a woman to provide him with a sense of security made him blush a little.
Zhao Lingyin handed him a wooden box.
Lin Xiu casually accepted it and asked, “What is this?”
Zhao Lingyin replied, “Your payment from the Moon Picking Pavilion.”
Lin Xiu hadn’t expected her to thoughtfully go to the Moon Picking Pavilion for him after he went to the palace. However, this money had nothing to do with him, and no matter how shameless he was, he couldn’t take it. Lin Xiu handed the box back, saying, “This money should be…”
Before he could finish, Zhao Lingyin waved her hand and said, “Family doesn’t need to be so particular.”
With that said, Lin Xiu could only silently accept the silver.
Her tone was resolute and unquestionable. When she said she didn’t want it, she truly didn’t want it. Lin Xiu sighed inwardly. He could only repay this favor later.
But then again, Lin Xiu lacked everything in his past life except money. Living two lifetimes, this was the first time he experienced the feeling of being a kept man.
No wonder so many pretty boys were willing to be kept by older, wealthy women. It had to be said, being kept was quite agreeable…
Lin Xiu and Zhao Lingyin walked down the street. It was still some time before curfew, and the streets were bustling. Passing a street-side wonton stall, Lin Xiu couldn’t help but stop.
He had been in the palace all day and had only eaten a few pastries brought by Steward Li. He hadn’t felt anything earlier, but now, smelling the aroma of wontons, he couldn’t move his feet any further.
Lin Xiu sat down at the wonton stall and said, “Boss, two bowls of wontons.”
Zhao Lingyin stood behind him and said indifferently, “I don’t want any.”
Lin Xiu didn’t turn his head, saying, “I know you don’t. I’ll have two bowls myself. I haven’t eaten much all day. I’ll go back after I’m full. You can sit here and wait for me…”
Lin Xiu always thought that street food was great – cheap, tasty, and filling. Places like the Moon Picking Pavilion, where a meal could easily cost dozens or even hundreds of taels of silver, were too extravagant for his tastes.
Even if he had so much money he couldn’t spend it all, he wouldn’t waste it in such a place.
The wontons at the small stall had thin wrappers and generous fillings. Lin Xiu ate two large bowls in a row, making the wonton seller beam with joy. Usually, her customers were commoners. This was the first time a young master dressed so lavishly had eaten her wontons. This was undoubtedly the greatest recognition of her skills, so she gave him even more filling than usual.
After eating two bowls of wontons for only ten copper coins, Lin Xiu strolled leisurely home with Lingyin, treating it as a post-meal walk.
Walking on the streets of the Royal Capital, Lin Xiu suddenly asked, “Lingyin, what kind of person is your sister?”
Hearing the word “sister”, a spark appeared in Zhao Lingyin’s eyes. She said, “She’s the best person in the world. The current you is not worthy of her.”
Lin Xiu could see that the little girl seemed to have some sister complex. But she was speaking the truth. Her sister was a prodigy of Daxia. The current Lin Xiu was indeed not worthy of her.
The Lin family’s decline was imminent. Even those declining noble families would probably be reluctant to marry their daughters to him.
The fact that the Zhao family was still willing to acknowledge the marriage agreement was already considered noble.
Lin Xiu didn’t continue to inquire about his fiancée. For now, the Zhao family seemed to truly regard him as their future son-in-law, and his parents were overjoyed. No one seemed to care about his opinion as the person involved.
He imagined that the Zhao family’s celestial daughter was also troubled by this marriage agreement. Ultimately, it was a matter between the two of them. As an insignificant individual, Lin Xiu planned to meet with her after she returned to the Royal Capital to discuss persuading their families to cancel this marriage that shouldn’t have existed in the first place.
The walk back to the Lin Residence was long. They chatted casually along the way, mostly Lin Xiu talking and Zhao Lingyin occasionally responding.
At this moment, a hundred feet behind them, two figures had been following them all along.
At some point, the two figures stopped. One of them said, “That woman has been by his side the entire time. It seems we can’t make a move tonight.”
The other person snorted coldly and said, “It’s all Shadow’s fault for alerting them last time, making them more vigilant. It will probably be impossible to make another move on him during this period. We can only look for another opportunity later…”
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