With Emperor Yong'an's imperial decree, his word became law.
The case of the Demoness of the Demon Country was now officially closed.
But Lu Mingyuan knew the curtains had not yet fallen. He was merely a scapegoat, but managing to keep his life was already the greatest reward.
It was impossible to find out who the real killer was right now. What was certain, however, was that the struggle for the throne no longer had anything to do with him.
Still, he couldn't let his guard down. Who knew if someone would target him from the shadows?
For the time being, he should be safe.
"Then I shall not disturb Your Majesty any further. This concubine will take her leave."
Although Wang Zhaoyan felt helpless, what was done was done. There was no remedy. She could only bow and take her leave, leading Lu Mingyuan out of Qianyuan Hall.
Lu Mingyuan let out a breath of relief. Supporting his mother, he dutifully said his goodbyes. "Your son will take his leave now. Father, please do not overwork yourself with court affairs."
As the two of them departed and their figures grew distant, Emperor Yong'an's gaze turned calm. He pondered for a moment.
"Guards."
"Have Fan Jie take my decree to the Advisory Platform Bureau tomorrow. Some of the voices in the Capital City are too unclean. I do not wish to hear any more such gossip."
"It's also time to rotate some of the Commanders in the Qilin Guard. It's truly not good to have the same few people in charge all the time."
His two simple sentences held extraordinary power and a thought-provoking meaning.
The eunuch receiving the orders buried his head low, his body trembling slightly.
Once His Majesty's command was carried out, who knew how many lives would be lost.
「A quarter of an hour later.」
Lu Mingyuan followed his mother to the Imperial Clan Court.
This was the place that recorded matters concerning the children of the Imperial Family—their lineage, names, and titles—as well as their crimes and transgressions.
After registering here, he would be assigned to a palace—the place where he would have to stay for the next thirty years.
Wang Zhaoyan watched helplessly as the official from the Imperial Clan Court recorded Lu Mingyuan's crime. In that instant, she embraced Lu Mingyuan, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Yuan'Er, it's Mother who has wronged you..."
"Mother, it's alright."
Lu Mingyuan could only comfort her in a low voice.
Just as the two of them stepped outside, they encountered a noble sedan chair adorned with a Nine Phoenix Pattern.
Inside the window was a kind-faced old woman, holding a scripture in her hand and squinting as she studied it.
The old woman wore a cyan Phoenix Robe, a green jade shawl over her shoulders, a nine-jade hairpin in her hair, and a jade belt with pearls. She looked exceptionally regal.
Lu Mingyuan immediately recognized her. This was the Empress Dowager of the Great Yan Dynasty, Empress Dowager Liu. When Emperor Yong'an was still young, she had ruled from behind a curtain for seven years. She was the first Empress Dowager in the Great Yan Dynasty to rule for so long and was no ordinary person.
Moreover, the current Emperor Yong'an was known for his filial piety and had an excellent relationship with the Empress Dowager. In his youth, he would occasionally consult her on important matters.
But as Empress Dowager Liu grew older and Emperor Yong'an consolidated his power and achieved great merits, these consultations became less frequent.
If he remembered correctly, this Empress Dowager Liu was nearly a hundred years old. She looked extremely old, yet her Essence, Qi, and Spirit were excellent, and her cheeks were rosy. She must also be a Cultivator; otherwise, her lifespan could not be so long.
It was just that her Realm wasn't very high. It only served to strengthen her body, a far cry from his father, the Emperor.
As far as he knew, in this world, the lifespan of a Martial Cultivator was not as long as that of a Daoist Cultivator, but they were still beings capable of shattering cities, sundering rivers, moving mountains, and filling seas.
"Mingyuan pays his respects to Grand Empress Dowager."
"Oh, it's Yuan'Er."
Empress Dowager Liu, who was absorbed in her book, suddenly heard Lu Mingyuan's voice and couldn't help but look over.
A smile appeared on her face when she saw it was Lu Mingyuan.
"It has been a long time, Grand Empress Dowager. I wish for your fortune to be as vast as the East Sea and your longevity to be as great as the Southern Mountain."
Seeing the smile on Empress Dowager Liu's face, Lu Mingyuan's heart settled.
'It's just as I thought.' In his memories, his older brothers like the Eldest Prince and the Second Prince rarely came to the Harem to pay their respects and keep her company.
Therefore, Empress Dowager Liu wasn't very close to them.
Only the Sixth Prince, who often came to the Harem to borrow money, would run into the Empress Dowager and stay to chat for a bit.
In his memories, this old woman, who was nearing the end of her days, always gave him a sense of loneliness and desolation.
Perhaps it was the affection that skips a generation; Empress Dowager Liu had always doted more on the younger princes since they were children.
Beside them, Wang Zhaoyan was a bit surprised to see her son so quick to greet her, spouting one pleasantry after another.
It wasn't the first time she had seen Lu Mingyuan meet with his grandmother. Although he would chat with her, this was the first time he had been so proactive and enthusiastic.
But this was a good thing, and she couldn't help but feel pleased.
'If he has the Empress Dowager's protection in the Cold Palace, things will clearly be much easier for him.'
Evidently, Lu Mingyuan was thinking the same thing.
'This is the Empress Dowager of the Great Yan Dynasty, the Emperor's own mother.'
'The person with the highest seniority in the Royal Family.'
'I'm going to spend the next half of my life in the Cold Palace. I have to get on her good side!'
'If I don't try to curry favor now, wouldn't I be a real idiot?'
"This concubine, Zhao Yan, pays her respects to the Empress Dowager."
"May your fortune be as vast as the East Sea and your longevity as great as the Southern Mountain."
Wang Zhaoyan also stepped forward to pay her respects to Empress Dowager Liu.
"Good."
However, Empress Dowager Liu merely gave a slight nod without even glancing at her, her attention completely fixed on Lu Mingyuan.
"Yuan'Er, why are you coming from the Imperial Clan Court? Did something happen?"
Lu Mingyuan hesitated, wondering if he should tell his Grandmother about the Witchcraft incident.
'Logically, something like this shouldn't be a secret.'
While he hesitated, Wang Zhaoyan spoke up first, recounting the entire course of the Witchcraft affair from beginning to end.
After hearing the story, Empress Dowager Liu took Lu Mingyuan's hand with her aged one and sighed softly.
"Sigh, I have heard about this as well. This is clearly a frame-up against Yuan'Er. How could His Majesty not see something so simple?"
"Father must have his own considerations. Grandmother, your grandson is already fortunate to have kept his life."
"In fact, Grandmother, you should rest well. Your grandson is still waiting to attend your hundredth birthday celebration. You don't need to worry about me."
By saying this, Lu Mingyuan was instead showing concern for his grandmother.
For one, he truly didn't want to get involved in the Nine Dragons Struggle for the Throne, so entering the Cold Palace was fine. For another, he didn't want the Empress Dowager to intervene, approach the Emperor to overturn the verdict, and ruin this perfectly good situation.
However, when Empress Dowager Liu heard his words, tears streamed down her aged face. She patted Lu Mingyuan's head, her expression one of great relief and her heart deeply moved.
"My Yuan'Er is still the most well-behaved, knowing how to dote on his grandmother. As long as you're alright, that's all that matters. What's so bad about the Cold Palace? Which of us concubines in the Harem hasn't been stuck in the palace for twenty or thirty years?"
Wang Zhaoyan nodded slightly. "Grandmother is right. This is a good chance to sort out your wandering eye and bad habits."
Within the deep courtyards of the Imperial Palace, even someone like the Empress Dowager was extremely lonely. The same was true for most concubines in the Harem. Aside from vying for favor, there was little else to their lives.
"You can sleep with women. It's fine to have a few more children for your grandmother to hold. But don't you dare harm your body or damage your foundation," Empress Dowager Liu instructed seriously.
Lu Mingyuan coughed awkwardly and nodded. "Your grandson understands."
"Your grandson won't trouble Grandmother any further."
Lu Mingyuan bowed again, preparing to bid the Empress Dowager farewell.
"In the Cold Palace, if anyone bullies you, just tell your grandmother."
Finally, Empress Dowager Liu didn't forget to add this reminder from her sedan chair.
Seeing that his objective was achieved, the smile on Lu Mingyuan's face grew wider.
「In the time that followed.」
Lu Mingyuan arrived at a desolate and remote palace named Qingzhu Hall.
It was the most remote, inconspicuous, and plainly decorated of all the palaces.
Aside from a redwood table and chairs, a golden thread-inlaid couch, a purple clay teapot, and a white beaded curtain, the hall had almost no other furnishings. It was spotlessly clean.
"To think they'd arrange a place like this! What was the Imperial Clan Court thinking?"
Wang Zhaoyan scanned the room and also found the place too simple and the space too small. It was truly the humblest of humble abodes.
Lu Mingyuan, however, was quite content.
'In my past life, I lived in a big city, paying exorbitant rent for a twenty-square-meter room, and I got through it just fine.'
'The conditions here aren't bad, but compared to the original owner's previous lifestyle and that of the other princes and concubines, it's a world of difference.'
"I'll go call for people to bring you some screens, gauze curtains, cotton quilts, and a change of clothes and other necessities."
Muttering to herself, Wang Zhaoyan left through the main gate and disappeared in a flash.
Lu Mingyuan, however, relaxed. He lay down directly on the cool mat of the couch, his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling and contemplating his future plans.
'To survive in this world, brains aren't enough. I also need the support of strength.'
'If I want to get stronger, my only option is Martial Cultivation.'
The body's original owner was pampered since childhood and couldn't endure any hardship. He believed that practicing martial arts was for crude people, so he had always been a Mortal, without a shred of Cultivation.
"In this world, Martial Cultivation is venerable. One refines the body externally and cultivates Primordial Qi internally to cross the Dragon Gate. Those who go even further can traverse the void, shatter city walls with a punch, split great rivers with a palm, become immune to all evil, and stand unopposed by a thousand-man army."
In Lu Mingyuan's mind, experts capable of traversing the void had to reach at least the Middle Fifth Grade.
But he hadn't even entered the Lower Seven Realms yet, which was a real headache.
Just then, a full moon peeked through thin clouds as a strong gust of wind swept through the treetops.
Lu Mingyuan was still lying on the bed, the palace lamps in the hall casting a faint yellow glow.
On the coiled-dragon-carved beams above, the blood-red image of a monster with a goat's body and a human face appeared, giving him a start.
The blood-red monster's body resembled a qilin, but it had two long horns on its head, its eyes were under its armpits, it had a tiger's teeth and human claws, and the human face on its abdomen was particularly bizarre.
After staring for a moment, he realized the blood-red monster wasn't moving. It was just a projection.
'Wait... where did a projection come from?'
Lu Mingyuan immediately did a carp flip to sit up. Following the source of the blood-red monster's projection, he discovered it was coming from the cool mat of the couch behind him.
He immediately lifted the golden-threaded cool mat and discovered the couch's true nature.
The wooden planks before him were covered in a dense array of blood-red text that formed a picture!
The characters seemed to be alive, glowing with a viscous light. If it weren't nighttime, this faint glow would have been impossible to see.
Lu Mingyuan began to read the content of the blood-red text. As he read, he found that the words were being carved into his mind as if by a knife and chisel, impossible to forget.
This was a Cultivation Technique.
Blood Glutton Celestial Fall Scripture.
That was the name of the Cultivation Technique.
Lu Mingyuan had a sudden realization. This might be his blue Opportunity.
After surviving the disaster of his imprisonment, he had been prompted that he would receive an Opportunity.
He just hadn't expected it to be in this form.
After a brief perusal, Lu Mingyuan discovered that the *Blood Glutton Celestial Fall Scripture* was actually a heretical Body Refining Dharma Gate. Once mastered, it would allow one to devour other things to nourish oneself, just like the Ancient Fierce Beast, the Taotie. It was divided into four major parts: the Abnormal Eating Chapter, the Sensing Chapter, the Primordial Spirit Chapter, and the Divine Venerable Chapter.
The more one ate, the faster one's Cultivation would increase. One meal was as effective as ten.
By cultivating to the later stages, one could even devour lifespan itself!
It didn't belong to any of the Three Religions, but instead resembled a technique of the Witch Sect.
...