Having reaped the rewards, Lu Mingyuan was more than happy to continue. He immediately turned to the Purple Gauze Palace Maid beside him and commanded,
"Go get me some more food."
"Yes."
Quickly, the Purple Gauze Palace Maid returned from the kitchen with a platter of fresh mutton.
Lu Mingyuan had only taken a few bites when he noticed something was wrong.
'The rate at which my points are increasing has slowed down. It seems the energy from ordinary food is about to reach its saturation point.'
Previously, a certain amount of meat would increase an Attribute by one point, but now it took five times as much.
The requirement had increased fivefold.
As Lu Mingyuan ate, he wondered what else he could use to strengthen his constitution. 'Surely I don't have to use some Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object, do I?'
He couldn't get his hands on things like that, and it would probably be a great deal of trouble even for his mother to acquire them.
Soon, he noticed a pair of curious eyes staring at him.
"What are you looking at?"
Lu Mingyuan sucked the grease from his fingers and looked at the Purple Gauze Palace Maid, demanding harshly.
Just that one hostile question made the Purple Gauze Palace Maid's expression turn tense, and she immediately dropped to her knees.
"This servant's gaze has offended Your Highness. This servant deserves death!"
She was just curious why the rumored Sixth Prince could eat so much.
Between this morning and afternoon, he had already eaten more than ten pounds of mutton, yet he didn't seem the least bit full.
She hadn't expected to provoke his displeasure.
Seeing this, Lu Mingyuan was stunned for a moment.
He had only wanted to maintain his villainous persona, not expecting to provoke such a strong reaction.
'The Fifth Prince really has a knack for training people.'
Lu Mingyuan didn't consider himself a good person. His own situation wasn't much better, so naturally, he felt no sympathy for her.
In the endless machinations of the workplaces and drinking parties of his previous life, no one had ever sympathized with him either.
The main reason he chose to ask for this Palace Maid was to maintain the habits of his body's original owner and to get revenge for the previous incident with a Palace Maid.
The original owner's personality, one that sought revenge for the smallest grievance, would never have forgotten such a humiliation.
At the same time, it would prevent others from suspecting that the person in this body had been replaced.
At this thought, Lu Mingyuan rose from his seat. A predatory smile spread across his face, his eyes like those of a hungry wolf spotting its prey. He brazenly sized up her figure, his gaze lingering on her waist. Finally, he squatted beside the Palace Maid and tucked a stray lock of hair from her bangs behind her delicate earlobe, then asked,
"What's your name?"
The Palace Maid kept her head down, not daring to look at him. Her voice was very pleasant, melodious and faint, her posture extremely humble. "This servant does not have a name, only a designation from the palace selection. This servant's designation is Zi Yun."
She had long heard of the Sixth Prince's reputation outside the palace—the number one profligate in the Capital City, and an out-and-out lecher.
Therefore, his actions weren't surprising; in fact, she seemed resigned to endure them.
"Zi Yun."
"Mm, not bad. It's a nice name."
Lu Mingyuan nodded in satisfaction, then asked another question. "You're one of that dog Lu Mingkong's Guards, aren't you? What's your Realm?"
"Martial Arts Fourth Realm, Rebirth."
Zi Yun answered cautiously.
"Rebirth, huh…"
Lu Mingyuan pondered. The Rebirth Realm wasn't low.
Washing Marrow and Forging Bone, strengthening the heart's blood supply, transforming one's Powerful Qi, and cultivating it into Martial Dao Primordial Qi—this was what it meant to reach Rebirth.
After all, one had to reach the Third Realm, the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm, just to qualify for the Qilin Guard. The Moqilin Guard, established by his imperial father, was the most elite force in all of Great Yan, where every man was a match for a hundred.
A cultivator at the Fifth Realm, Refining Furnace, could even become one of the Officers in the army, provided they had sufficient merits.
Learning that Zi Yun's Cultivation was not low, Lu Mingyuan asked again, "Since you were able to cultivate to the Rebirth Realm, you must have a Martial Arts Technique, right?"
Zi Yun nodded honestly. "The Palace Bureau's training for Palace Maids is no less rigorous than that for soldiers. We are given the *Great Yan Military Seven Realms Martial Technique* from the Great Yan Army. It is a Cultivation Technique commonly used by Garrison Soldiers, and we are required to recite, study, and comprehend its fundamentals."
Lu Mingyuan was overjoyed upon hearing this.
'Right now, I need to learn some Basic Martial Arts first. The *Great Yan Military Seven Realms Martial Technique* is perfect. It's suitable for most people, and I can't learn the profound ones yet anyway. I'll build my Martial Dao foundation first, and once my Realm is higher, I'll ask Mother for some more powerful Cultivation Techniques to learn.'
On the surface, however, he said coolly, "Very good. You can read, I presume."
"Of course I can."
"This Prince commands you to copy a version of the Martial Technique for me tonight. Can you do it?"
"I can."
Zi Yun didn't overthink it and nodded obediently.
Seeing her so honest, obedient, and submissive, Lu Mingyuan's gaze fell on the purple gauze veil on her face, and his curiosity was piqued.
"Why wear a veil? Afraid to show your face?"
He reached out to pull it off, but Zi Yun instinctively recoiled to avoid him.
Zi Yun immediately kowtowed and begged for forgiveness.
"This servant is ugly and fears frightening Your Highness."
Lu Mingyuan rubbed his wrist, his expression impassive. "Come here on your own. No one has ever been able to stop this Prince from doing what he wants."
"Ugly? This Prince has seen countless women. I'd like to see for myself just how ugly you are."
Hearing this, Zi Yun's body trembled slightly, but she had no choice but to obediently move closer.
Lu Mingyuan nonchalantly ripped off the purple veil. When he saw the face beneath it, he froze.
Before him was a picturesque, radiant, and captivating oval face.
She had delicate eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, and lips like dots of crimson lacquer, with a pitifully endearing look in her eyes. However, the right side of her face near her forehead was marred by a large, gruesome scar, like a mass of writhing dead worms. It instantly dropped her beauty from a ten to a three.
Fearing he had seen wrong, Lu Mingyuan studied the woman before him once more.
Her waist was slender and her figure was excellent, giving her a very feminine air. Aside from the hideous scar on her face, she could still be considered a great beauty overall.
"Haha, so this is Lu Mingkong's type. I have to say, his taste is a bit extreme."
Lu Mingyuan leaned his head back, laughing without restraint.
A look of dejection appeared in Zi Yun's eyes. She used her pale, slender arm to pick up the veil from the floor, wanting to put it back on, but a large hand grabbed her wrist.
Her body trembled. She looked up and met Lu Mingyuan's intensely serious eyes.
"Remember, you are not to cover your face in front of me from now on."
"Yes…"
Zi Yun was incredibly surprised. She hadn't expected the Sixth Prince to not only be unafraid of her face but also to make such a strange request.
The Fifth Prince had detested her appearance. He had kept her by his side purely for the novelty at first, which was why he demanded she always keep her face covered.
'But what is the Sixth Prince's intention with this?'
Lu Mingyuan released her hand, stood up again, and said coolly, "You belong to Qingzhu Hall now, so I expect you to understand your position. Here with me, you cannot have a single secret. Do you understand?"
"This servant understands."
Zi Yun nodded in acknowledgment.
"Let me ask you, where has that fellow Lu Mingkong gone these past two days, what has he done, and who has he met? Do you know?"
Zi Yun shook her head. "The Fifth Prince takes a different Maid with him every time he goes out, so this servant does not know. I only know that he hasn't returned to his residence all day."
"You really don't know?" Lu Mingyuan narrowed his eyes.
"This servant truly does not know," Zi Yun hurriedly kowtowed.
Seeing her kneel again, Lu Mingyuan lost interest.
He walked to the window and began to ponder.
'I wanted to use this Palace Maid to get some information, but it seems that's impossible. Looks like that guy's security is airtight; not a single whisper has gotten out.'
'No wonder he was willing to hand her over to me.'
Lu Mingyuan waved a hand at her. "You're dismissed. Go get some more meat."
"As you command."
Just as he was looking out the window, he heard a commotion. Peeking out, he saw rows of tall Imperial Guards from the palace. They had been stripped of their swords and armor, dressed in thin white clothes with their hands bound behind their backs, and were being escorted onto the main road.
They happened to pass by his location, but one squad of Imperial Guards slipped into the palace and vanished from sight.
A long time passed, but there was no sign of anyone coming out.
At that moment, the Six-Yao Turtle Shell, which had been quiet for some time, suddenly stirred. It emitted a brilliant light as fiery sparks before his eyes rapidly assembled into words.
[Purge the internal traitors, the Demoness's lingering calamity. The situation is treacherous; decisiveness is paramount.]
Then, three balls of light flew out from the Six-Yao Turtle Shell.
[Middle Trigram of Good Fortune: An unexpected disaster. Proactively expose the traitor's whereabouts. By "killing with a borrowed knife," you can obtain the green Fate Grid (Reading the Room). Minor Good Fortune!]
[Middle Trigram of Evil: An undeserved disaster. Pretend not to see the traitor's whereabouts and incur the resentment of the Eldest Prince, Lu Changfeng. Minor Misfortune!]
[Lower Trigram of Evil: Trapped by one's own actions. Proactively expose the traitor's whereabouts, attracting the Imperial Commander to execute them. Great Misfortune!]
...