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nTranslator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

nConcubine Jing shook out the red belt for a little bit, getting rid of all the ashes that had attached to it. It was practically frozen by then. The atmosphere between her and Li Mu was very awkward at this time.

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nShe then poured some hot water into a wooden bucket and dropped the belt inside and soaked it for a while, waiting for the bloodstains to clear before she began washing it.

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nThe belt was then cooked in a bronze pot for half an hour before it was finally hung up to dry.

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nLi Mu learned a lot watching all that process.

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nSo, this is how ancient women dealt with their periods, eh?

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n“Xiaolizi, I’ve asked the eunuch in charge of the coal, and he said that no one has been sending more coal over. Where did all the coal come from?”

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n“Well… umm…it was the Ninth Prince who got someone to deliver some coal from outside the palace,” Li Mu lied.

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n“Yah. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him.”

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nShe wore a warm, happy smile right away.

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nBut the smile gradually turned into an expression of worry.

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nThe concubine missed her child.

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nLi Mu stayed quiet.

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nThe Ninth Prince was not allowed to enter the palace grounds if it wasn’t for a really important matter.

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nConcubine Jing had been confined to the palace for the rest of her life, and she was not allowed to step outside the Jingning Palace ever.

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nSo basically, the mother and the son were not allowed to see each other, and they could only think of each other from afar.

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nLi Mu had been around the concubine for a while.

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nHe now felt some warmth for her.

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nSigh~

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nWhy did a woman with such a large emotional capacity let herself get trapped inside the palace, eh?

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nThis is probably why she was condemned to a “cold” palace in the first place.

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nI guess the previous emperor had been protecting her in a way after all.

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nThoughts like these ran inside his head.

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nThey had to continue to live their lives.

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nThe Imperial Household Department never bothered sending another court lady to Jingning Palace.

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nIt seemed as if the department didn’t pay any attention to the Jingning Palace at all.

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nHe figured that no court lady would want to be attached to the Jingning Palace anyway.

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nConcubine Jing talked a lot in the days that followed.

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nIt was then that Li Mu learned that not only was the old court lady a court lady, but she had also been the concubine’s wet nurse as well.

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nShe’d watched the concubine grow up, and she had moved into the royal palace with her when she was married.

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nSo it was no wonder that she was willing to stay around when all the other court ladies from the Jingning Palace left.

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nIt had even gotten to the extent that she was willing to freeze to death just so that Concubine Jing would stay safe.

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nLately, he had indeed been busy taking care of Concubine Jing all on his own.

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nThe Jingning Palace had two compounds and tens of rooms to take care of after all.

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nAside from cleaning all the rooms and trimming the fauna, now he had to attend to the concubine personally as well.

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nAll that meant that he had much less time to train.

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nHe could only get on with his check-ins outside after midnight, when the concubine was asleep.

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n“I wonder how Yu is doing now, if he’s suffering out there.” Concubine Jing would say these kind of depressing and bleak things every day.

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n“The Ninth Prince will be fine, my lady. The Third Prince won’t act against him or do him any disfavor at all.”

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nLi Mu would always try to comfort Concubine Jing at such times.

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n“I can’t stop worrying if I can’t see him.”

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nHer thoughts got rather crazy one night.

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nShe, who had never been angry at anything, broke everything that could be broken in her bedchamber.

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nLi Mu stayed silent all the while.

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nConcubine Jing lived quite a miserable life after all.

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nOther than the son who she could never see, she had no other person dear to her.

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nThat was how sad her world was.

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nLi Mu got an idea all of a sudden.

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nPeople were beings of emotion after all.

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nHe left the Jingning Palace after he’d coaxed the concubine to sleep, heading outside the royal palace complex.

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nHe felt that it was time for him to start checking in on the areas outside the royal palace.

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nThere were fewer and fewer places that he could check in inside the royal palace after all.

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nThe rewards paled in comparison to what they had been before.

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nHe’d been able to get Minor Recovery Pills when he’d paid a visit to the Imperial Dispensary before, and currently he could only get Source Gathering Pills.

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nThe Source Gathering Pills used to come in a bottle, and, at present, he often only got a single pill. Plus, their quality had been downgraded from supreme grade to common grade as well.

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nIt was only the thought that he had yet to locate the Imperial Ancestral Temple that gave him any hope at the moment.

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nHe was quickly dumbfounded as soon as he got outside the royal palace.

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nThe royal palace was a huge place, and the imperial city around it was even larger. It was so large that even the capital city paled in comparison.

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n“Just where is the Ninth Prince’s place?” Li Mu scratched his head.

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nIt was late at night and a curfew was in place.

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nIt was impossible to even ask anyone for directions.

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n“Whatever, I’ll get on with the check-ins first.”

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nHe took a look at a compound that looked rather decent and made his way there.

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n“Check in.”

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n“Congratulations to the host for successfully checking in at Dali Temple. Laws of the State of Xia rewarded.”

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nLi Mu frowned.

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nHe then headed toward yet another compound.

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n“Successfully checked in at the Hanlin Academy. One jade ferule rewarded.”

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nJade ferule?

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nWhat am I supposed to do with this?

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nHe then continued checking in at other places.

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nLi Mu returned to the royal palace four hours later with a dejected look on his face.

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nThe city was just too huge.

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nHe’d visited ten avenues and 27 wards throughout the night.

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nHe sorted out his loot for the night and waited for the concubine to wake up in the morning.

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nHe was resolved to keep going out at night until he found the Ninth Prince’s residence.

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nHe deemed that he would one day know all of the places there were to know about the city.

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nLi Mu continued checking in outside during the night of the next day.

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nHe still failed to locate the Ninth Prince’s residence.

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nHowever, he had gained a lot on that night.

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nHe’d also heard some secrets when he was out doing check-ins.

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nThings were indeed different outside the royal palace.

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nThe contents of the chatter of notable figures was a whole lot richer.

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nIt was entirely unlike how it was within the palace grounds, where chatter between the court ladies and eunuchs simply revolved around the concubines.

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nHis vistas were widened, and he got to learn more about the world he was in.

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nHe learned that other than the State of Great Xia, there was also a State of Chen, a State of Qing, and others.

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nThe states had warred against each other throughout the years.

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nWorse still, all those wars had been fought between those of the same race. There were still other races outside those states.

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nLi Mu found the Ninth Prince in a compound in the east on the third night he ventured outside.

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nHe sat on the roof of the prince’s residence, and he was startled by what he found out.

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nThe Ninth Prince was picking up martial arts.

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nWhether back in the era of the previous emperor or now in the era of the current one, the Ninth Prince had never been allowed to practice martial arts.

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nThe kid is practicing the martial arts in secret then. Boy, the consequences would be unimaginable if someone else found out about this.

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nThe Ninth Prince had no backing from powerful noble clans. He was all on his own.

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nPicking up martial arts meant that he was thinking about seizing the throne.

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n“I’ll give you something then, seeing how we’ve know each other for years.”

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nThe key that led to this decision was that Concubine Jing had always been humble.

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nAnd the Ninth Prince, due to the influence from his mother, had hardly bossed Li Mu around at all when he was still in the Jingning Palace.

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nLi Mu was the kind who had always liked to return his favors in kind.

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nHe was able to humble himself like this and call himself a lowly servant due to it being Concubine Jing that he’d served throughout all these years.

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nHe would have long ago killed people if he had had to serve the others from the royal palace.

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nTreating each other as equals led to the emergence of emotions as equal beings.

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nThe sentiments between the old court lady and Concubine Jing had been equal and mutual.

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nLi Mu liked such equal give-and-take sentiments.

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nHe didn’t like when there was only one side that was giving all the time, while the other was only taking all the time.

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nIf that were to happen, it wouldn’t be all that different with how things were with the socialites back in my past life.

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nHe had been caught in such a predicament back then.

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nHe had been reborn as someone of low status in his current world.

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nSentiments with others being equals were hard to come by.

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nLi Mu mulled all of this as he leapt off the roof.

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nThere was a huge wooden barrel in Lord Yu’s study room.

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nA thick scent of herbs billowed from the barrel.

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nLord Yu was soaking in the barrel and training according to the methods that he had acquired at the moment.

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nHe had missed the best age to begin training in martial arts.

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nBecause of this, he had to expand his meridians through the use of medicinal baths at every step of the way during his training.

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nThe Ninth Prince toughed through all the pain that had affected his body.

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nHuff~

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nHe let out a sigh of relief.

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nHe’d finally finished a stage.

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n“Have you ever thought of the consequences if your training was exposed?”

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nSuddenly, a voice was heard.

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n“Who goes there?”

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n“You have no need to know who I am. Have you ever thought of the consequences of practicing martial arts?”

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nLi Mu sounded rather angry when he asked him that question.

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n“Death. What else do I have to lose?”

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nThe prince answered with his head held high, looking like he was ready to die at any moment.

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nThe fact that he was unable to locate the intruder meant that the other party was someone formidable.

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nHe had just never expected himself to be exposed as soon as he had gotten through the Warrior Realm.

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nHaving his cover blown meant that his death was imminent.

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n“Have you ever thought of what would happen to your mother if you died?”

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nThe questioning voice was heard once again.

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nThe prince couldn’t help but shudder.

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n“Hee, hee.” He chuckled and scanned the room, saying, “All right, go decide what you’re going to do with me. I’m the one who has decided to pick up the arts, and I’m doing so because I don’t want to end up being caged for the rest of my life. I want to head outside. That’s all there is to it.”

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