Imperial Cultivation

Leaving Qing Wang Manor, he slowed his pace, breathing a sigh of relief.

They, as siblings, had taken etiquette lessons when they were young.

But at that time, they were under house arrest, unsure if they would ever be free, so learning was pointless, even somewhat rebellious, and they didn't study very diligently.

It was fine for ordinary occasions, but formal and solemn events inevitably revealed their inexperience.

Attending the Prince's birthday banquet was alright, but the New Year was approaching, and it was tradition for princes and their sons to celebrate the New Year with the Emperor in the Imperial Palace.

They couldn't go in previous years, but this year they probably would.

Having Chu Yi relearn etiquette would not only give her confidence but also prevent her from making a fool of herself.

There were still many rules in the palace.

He first went to the Ministry of Rites to sign in, then went to the Audit Department two hundred meters away.

Exiting the Imperial Palace, the prince's residences were to the west, and the Six Ministries and various departments were to the east, all within a close area.

Wearing his official robes, he was not stopped when entering the Audit Department.

Stepping into the Audit Department's gate, he immediately felt a distinct sense of strictness and busyness; the officials coming and going were all in a hurry, completely different from the leisurely pace of the Ministry of Rites.

Zou Fang had already inquired about the location of the person they were looking for and went straight to the outside of a courtyard, with Zou Fang going in first.

After a moment, Zou Fang came out with a thin, middle-aged man.

The thin, middle-aged man cupped his fist in salute from afar: "This humble official, Song Shinian, greets the Heir Apparent."

"Master Song, I apologize for disturbing you," Chu Zhiyuan returned the fist salute with a smile, "Has my merit been tallied?"

"Rest assured, Heir Apparent, this humble official has placed those two commendation memorials at the very front, giving them expedited processing; it is estimated that there will be results within three days."

"Then I must thank Master Song," Chu Zhiyuan smiled and gave Zou Fang a look.

Zou Fang stepped forward and slipped a silver note into Song Shinian's sleeve.

As a Grandmaster, the movement was elegant and precise, not giving Song Shinian time to react; the silver note was already in his sleeve.

"This…" Song Shinian hesitated.

Chu Zhiyuan waved his hand: "Eighteenth Uncle is Eighteenth Uncle, I am I; I don't have the habit of letting people work for nothing, so I won't disturb Master Song any further."

"…Heir Apparent, please."

Song Shinian personally escorted Chu Zhiyuan out of the Audit Department.

The Audit Department was a prestigious office, with a detached status, and was directly under the Emperor, not subject to the control of the Six Ministries and other departments.

External forces found it difficult to interfere with its operation, but this did not include the princes.

This Song Shinian was a relative of Chu Mingxuan and dared not bend the rules to change the results; that was a capital crime, and no one dared to mess around.

However, changing the order of priority was still possible.

Originally, it would have taken a month or even longer, but now, with a change, results could be obtained in three days.

This was already the fastest possible.

After all, someone had to be sent down to review it, not allowing any errors, otherwise heads would roll.

Chu Zhiyuan left the Audit Department and headed towards the Tianbao Department.

The Tianbao Department was adjacent to the Tongtian Pavilion, on the easternmost side of the Six Ministries and various departments area, at the intersection of two long streets, with access in all directions.

From the outside, the Tianbao Department's facade was no different from the other departments, solemn, dignified, and unadorned, but there were so many people coming and going that it was comparable to a top hospital in his previous life.

The moment he stepped into the Tianbao Department's gate, he felt an inexplicable pressure.

The hair on his body stood on end, reminding him to escape quickly.

His extrasensory perception landed on an old man in front of a flower bed under the base of the wall.

Chu Zhiyuan glanced at the top of his head and suddenly felt dazed.

Before his eyes was a vast starry sky, with seven particularly bright stars, burning and twinkling, their starlight connecting to form a long sword.

The old man was standing in the void, holding this long sword formed of starlight, making a downward slashing motion, as if to shatter everything in the world.

Just as his heart and mind trembled, a cool aura suddenly came from the palm of his hand, and the Qingying Sword awakened him.

He was already covered in a layer of sweat.

The last time he probed a Grandmaster was Chu Qingfeng, and because they practiced the same origin method, he was not attacked.

This time, if it hadn't been for the Qingying Sword's assistance, his mind might have been injured.

He was secretly horrified and quickly retracted his extrasensory perception to avoid the old man, following the crowd towards the main hall, arriving at the spacious hall.

The noisy crowd entering this hall was like a group of ants, appearing particularly small inside the hall.

The hall was not as noisy as the outside, but rather very quiet.

A wide, sandalwood high platform formed a semi-enclosed ring, behind the platform were the Tianbao Department's clerks, both men and women, each with a serious and indifferent expression.

Chu Zhiyuan personally stepped forward and handed over a silver bright token.

This was a ninth-grade meritorious service token, one side carved with nine epiphyllum flowers, the other side printed with his portrait, as well as his name and age.

The Tianbao Department clerk behind the platform was a young man, with an average appearance and a cold expression; after taking the token, he first glanced at him, then looked at the token, and said indifferently: "What do you want to exchange for?"

"A Small Marrow Cleansing Pill."

"Wait a moment."

He pressed the token into the red seal ink box next to him, then pressed it onto the white paper next to it, then flipped the token over, pressed it into the ink box again, and pressed it onto the paper.

The front and back sides were neatly imprinted on the paper, then he picked up a pen and wrote the four characters for Small Marrow Cleansing Pill and turned to leave.

Chu Zhiyuan waited for about a minute, then the young clerk returned and handed over a turquoise porcelain bottle.

Chu Zhiyuan opened it, revealing a smile, nodded, and then dipped his index finger in the red seal ink and pressed it onto the paper again.

He had already gone through the process once, so there was no need to remind him.

Putting the Small Marrow Cleansing Pill into his sleeve, he left the Tianbao Department with Zou Fang and Guo Chi, and then went to the adjacent Tongtian Pavilion.

After reading for a day, he went directly to Chu Yi's courtyard after returning to the manor in the evening.

Stepping into Chu Yi's small courtyard was like stepping into another world.

A riot of colors, fragrant and overflowing.

All kinds of exotic flowers and rare herbs were distributed in different locations in the courtyard, some forming small flower beds, some located on artificial mountains swaying in the wind, and some located in small streams, forming a world of exotic flowers and rare herbs.

And in the open space between the flower beds, Chu Yi was balancing a bowl of water on her head, her upper body still, her feet moving lightly forward.

Two middle-aged palace maids were supervising her, one occasionally pointing out mistakes, the other occasionally demonstrating one or two, while Chu Yi's little face had a look of pain as if she would rather die.

Chu Zhiyuan wanted to laugh when he saw it, but he held it back.

The two palace maids saw Chu Zhiyuan appear, gave a light salute, their posture elegant, showing the beauty of extremely good deportment.

Chu Zhiyuan cupped his fist in return: "Thank you, two aunties."

The two palace maids smiled respectfully and gracefully took their leave.

Chu Zhiyuan cupped his fist and watched them leave gracefully, taking out a small wooden box from his sleeve and handing it to Chu Yi, who had a face of resentment: "Look what this is?"

Inside the wooden box was a small flower, each petal of a different color.

"Seven Rainbow Flower!" Chu Yi immediately went forward in surprise, carefully holding it up to look at it, revealing a fascinated expression.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled: "With it, you can practice etiquette properly, right?"

"Practice, what's the big deal," Chu Yi's gaze seemed to be firmly attracted to the Seven Rainbow Flower, replying absentmindedly.

She only had the Seven Rainbow Flower in her eyes now.

Chu Zhiyuan chuckled and went straight out of her small courtyard, returning to the quiet room, preparing to see if he could break through another level.

But when he took out the Small Marrow Cleansing Pill, just as he was about to start, he suddenly stopped and frowned.

He had a subtle intuition.

Intuition told him that this time would not be successful.

One Small Marrow Cleansing Pill would not be enough; at least two were needed.

He shook his head helplessly and put away the Small Marrow Cleansing Pill.

… …

In the early morning, when he went to the Mingwu Hall to practice, he thanked Chu Mingxuan, and as he was about to leave, Chu Mingxuan came over and pulled him aside, inviting him to come over for dinner in the evening.

"I've made another jar of medicinal wine," Chu Mingxuan said smugly, smiling: "Also, the third son has returned from the Northwest, so it's also a welcome banquet for him."

Chu Zhiyuan was stunned.

He knew this was the Third Son, Chu Zhiyao, the heir of the Fourth Prince, Prince Xuan.

Chu Mingxuan said: "Speaking of your generation, now there are only three of you who are Innate experts; don't you want to meet him?"

Chu Zhiyuan said: "Who else is attending?"

Before him, among the "Zhi" generation heirs apparent, only the Third Son Chu Zhiyao and the Sixth Son had become Innate experts and then entered the army.

Chu Zhiyao was twenty-four years old, four years older than him, and had left the Mingwu Hall two years ago to join the border army.

Entering the army provided more opportunities to gain merit, and more spiritual pills and elixirs could be exchanged, leading to faster progress.

It was just unknown if he could progress faster than himself.

The Jade Lock Golden Barrier Technique, while not allowing him to become a Grandmaster overnight, coupled with the Heaven Origin Technique and Earth Origin Technique, gave him an incredible cultivation speed.

But the world was vast, and there were endless wonders; there were always people better than you, so Chu Zhiyao might have had a stroke of luck, causing his cultivation to soar.

"There's also the Ninth and Tenth, no outsiders."

"Alright," Chu Zhiyuan nodded in agreement.

He, Chu Zhiting, Chu Zhichuan, and Chu Mingxuan had formed a small group, and their relationship was becoming increasingly close.

After leaving the Mingwu Hall, he went to the Ministry of Rites to sign in, and then excitedly went to the Audit Department.