BXBX NOVEL Chapter 51: Chapter 51 Lu Chen Has Another Special Identityi
Chapter 51: Lu Chen Has Another Special Identityi
Originally, his focus was only on North City because his strength was not yet formidable, and he did not want to draw too much attention.
Moreover, at that time, he had just arrived in North City and was quite poor. Even if he had issued a notice for the selection of concubines, it was not certain that beautiful girls from other territories would come to North City.
Now, the North Prince Mansion’s soap and perfume products had spread throughout the Great Xia Dynasty, and many people knew of the North Prince Mansion’s wealth.
At this time, issuing another notice for the selection of concubines would definitely interest many influential families, prompting them to send the beautiful girls from their families to the North Prince Mansion.
Only with a sufficient number of participants would there be some who scored above ninety points.
After a moment of silence, Lu Chen said to Mu Zixuan, “Alright, let’s do as the consort has suggested.”
Seeing Lu Chen agree, Mu Zixuan immediately said, “Prince, may I take charge of the selection of concubines?”
Lu Chen, holding Mu Zixuan close and stroking her hair, said, “You’ve just given birth, you should properly rest and recuperate.”
Even though Lu Chen was a scoundrel, he wasn’t so beastly as to have his own wife, who had just delivered a child, run around busily, let alone involve her in the process of taking additional concubines. What would that look like?
Mu Zixuan said, “I wish to share the burden with the Prince. Please let me handle this matter.”
At this, Mu Zixuan gazed intently into Lu Chen’s eyes with her bright and charming eyes.
Moved by Mu Zixuan’s look, Lu Chen found it hard to refuse, and so he could only say, “Well then, I’ll trouble the consort with the matter of taking in concubines, but I will need to be present on the day of the selection.”
Seeing Lu Chen consent to let her oversee the matter of taking in concubines, Mu Zixuan felt very happy inside and immediately said, “Rest assured, Prince, I will definitely have you personally choose during the selection.”
A few days later.
The North Prince Mansion issued a notice for taking in concubines, open to the entire Great Xia Dynasty.
No sooner had the notice for concubines been issued than Lu Chen was verbally abused by the common people of the Great Xia Dynasty.
The people of North City, however, did not think much of it, since, after all, the North Prince had not done anything to trouble the commoners since his arrival.
Moreover, it seemed that the North Prince Mansion had recently developed a seed capable of yielding a thousand catties per mu, and it had already been trialed in various places of North City.
If this crop called “potato” were to be widely promoted, then North City would no longer suffer from a shortage of food; hence, the common people of North City were tolerant of Lu Chen’s indulgences.
Most crucially, the common people in North City lived on Lu Chen’s territory. As the king of North City, no one would dare to curse their own lord on his land, unless they no longer wished to live.
The rest of the territories were different. Many commoners of the Great Xia Dynasty considered the North Prince indulgent in debauchery and incompetent.
They had long heard that the North Prince kept many beauties in his mansion, indulging in pleasure-seeking day and night, in a debauched and dissipated lifestyle.
The North Prince already had so many beauties, yet he still wanted to take in concubines, and not just locally but from all over the Great Xia Dynasty.
Could it be that the North Prince had already gone through all the beautiful girls of North City, grown tired of them, and now sought to harm the daughters of other seigniors’ territories?
Upon thinking of this, some of the upper-class scholars and poets grew very angry. If the North Prince took all the beautiful girls to the North Prince Mansion, what would be left for them to choose from for concubines?
Instantly, literati and scholars from various places started writing critiques against the North Prince.
At the same time, there were also talks of impeaching the North Prince on the Great Xia’s royal court.
Of course, when the imperial censors impeached the North Prince, it was not out of concern that he would steal their women; issues that escalated to the royal court typically had political motives.
Those impeaching the North Prince were mostly officials from Prince Lu Shuyun’s faction, and the main reason was to denigrate Lu Chen.
Although the Chu Family had basically ceased contact with the North Prince, as long as that blood relation existed, the officials aligned with Lu Shuyun would never pass up any opportunity to slander the North Prince.
They didn’t think that by impeaching Lu Chen the Prince would be stripped of his title.
In the Great Xia Dynasty, the title of Seignior was not so easily stripped away, unless they were to rebel or engage in treason against the Great Xia Dynasty.
North Princes who did not act outrageously in their own territories but simply indulged in pleasure-seeking within the confines of their own Prince’s Mansion, like the North Prince, were not a concern for the court; the Sum Emperor would actually prefer all the princes of the Great Xia Dynasty to be like Lu Chen.
If all the Seigniors of the Great Xia Dynasty were like Lu Chen, then the Sum Emperor could control the entire Great Xia more easily.
In the face of the censors’ impeachment of Lu Chen, the Sum Emperor didn’t take it seriously at all; the recent events in the Capital city were what mattered most. As for the North Prince, as long as he did not rebel, whatever he did in North City was of little concern to the court.
After the court assembly, the Sum Emperor went to the Royal Garden.
The Sum Emperor brushed aside the chaos of the court proceedings, for the time after the assembly was when real matters were handled.
At this moment, the State Preceptor Situ Ce was already waiting in the pavilion.
Unlike the other ministers of the court, the State Preceptor was not required to attend court assemblies; this was a privilege of a Grandmaster.
When the Sum Emperor appeared at the pavilion, a Shadow Guard clad in black armor came before him, “Your Majesty, I have ascertained that the remnants of Chen Nation did not enter the Imperial Palace to assassinate you but were looking for something.”
Ever since the remnants of Chen Nation had entered the Imperial Palace, the Sum Emperor had sent people to investigate their purpose.
He did not believe the remnants of Chen Nation were so foolish as to dare enter the Imperial Palace to assassinate him, under the protection of only two Half-step Grandmasters which was no different from courting death.
On hearing the Shadow Guard’s words, the Sum Emperor’s eyes narrowed slightly; it was just as he had thought—the remnants of Chen Nation were not there to assassinate him, but had another purpose.
At that time, the Sum Emperor asked Situ Ce inside the pavilion, “State Preceptor, what do you think the remnants of Chen Nation entered the Imperial Palace to find?”
Situ Ce said, “The item that would prompt the remnants of Chen Nation to risk so much by entering the Imperial Palace can only be the Imperial Jade Seal of Chen Nation.”
“It is said that Chen Nation’s Imperial Jade Seal is the key to their treasury. After the Great Xia overcame Chen Nation, the location of Chen Nation’s treasury was never found. However, I believe those royal remnants of Chen Nation surely know of it.”
“If Chen Nation wishes to restore their rule, they will need funds to raise an army, so they would likely want to open the treasury and take the gold and treasures within.”
After listening to Situ Ce, the Sum Emperor snorted coldly and said, “Even I don’t know where the Chen Nation Jade Seal is located; the mere idea that they would come to the Imperial Palace to look for it is ludicrous!”
At this point, the Shadow Guard in front of the Sum Emperor continued, “Your Majesty, I have also discovered something else.”
The Sum Emperor said indifferently, “Speak.”
The lead Shadow Guard immediately said, “I have discovered that the remnants of Chen Nation seem to be connected with the Mysterious Moon Palace. After the remnants of Chen Nation disappeared, the last place they were seen was where a disciple of the Mysterious Moon Palace appeared.”
Upon hearing the three words “Mysterious Moon Palace,” the Sum Emperor’s face instantly darkened. It was as if those words had touched upon some past events he would rather not recall.
The Sum Emperor then said, “I understand.”
With that, the Sum Emperor immediately asked, “How are things on Prince Lu Chen’s side?”
The lead Shadow Guard replied, “After Prince Lu Chen went to North City, he has spent his days seeking pleasure in the Prince’s Mansion without any anomalies. Furthermore, a few days ago, Prince Lu Chen’s wife gave birth to a Princely Heir.”
After hearing the report from the lead Shadow Guard, the Sum Emperor said nonchalantly, “Very well, you may leave.”
“Yes, Your Majesty, 1 shall take my leave.”
After the lead Shadow Guard had left, the Sum Emperor, with his hands clasped behind his back, gazed at the fish swimming to and fro in the lotus pond and said, “State Preceptor, why do 1 have the feeling that the Grandmaster by Prince Lu Chen’s side was not sent by Chu Xiong, but rather seems to have been planted by the Mysterious Moon Palace?”
Lu Chen’s mother, who was Chu Yue, had once been a member of the Mysterious Moon Palace and even the Goddess thereof.
At first, the Sum Emperor had not thought of the Mysterious Moon Palace, but it was only after the lead Shadow Guard mentioned it just now that he realized Lu Chen had a special identity..