87: Enter the Emperor

Chapter 87: Entering the Emperor's Party

"Indeed... Spiritual Roots!"

He thought excitedly.

The Yin Yang Treasure Mirror could indeed grant him Spiritual Roots.

Cui Xiabing's dual water-earth Spiritual Roots had all been acquired by him.

Not only that, but also magical power.

At this moment, he could clearly feel a cool thread darting around inside his body, finally wandering to his Dantian and quietly hovering there.

With a stir in his heart, a pitch-black space appeared, hovering with several misty vapors like clouds.

Looking closely, they were like colorful clouds or floating ribbons.

Roughly counting, there were a full 12 of them.

This was magical power.

Converted from Spiritual Qi, it was also an important symbol of a cultivator!

From this moment on, he was also a cultivator.

Among these magical power clouds, there actually existed other different mists, which were gradually absorbed by these twelve magical power threads to strengthen them.

These were Internal Energy.

The Internal Energy cultivated from martial arts manuals such as the Hundred Battles Blood Fiend Saber and the White Lotus Reincarnation Divine Skill was gradually being absorbed by these twelve magical power threads.

Although Internal Energy was strong, compared to magical power, it was much inferior.

Before long, his First Grade Realm Internal Energy had completely vanished, all absorbed by these twelve magical powers.

However, it was a pity that the Su Nü Yin Sha Gong cultivated by Cui Xiabing was not inherited by him; instead, it was converted into 10 points of magical power.

"Is it because of physical differences that I cannot Cultivate the Su Nü Yin Sha Gong?"

"And were all the Internal Energy obtained from Dual Cultivation previously absorbed by the Spiritual Qi generated by the Su Nü Yin Sha Gong?"

"This... is truly miraculous!"

With a thought in his mind, lines of text appeared on the Yin Yang Treasure Mirror once again.

[Life Revered Master: Zheng Yi]

[Talent: Yin and Yang]

[Lifespan: 25 / 1885]

[Spiritual Root: Water (Low Grade 6 / 100), Earth (Low Grade 4 / 100)]

[Magical Power: 11 / 100]

[Comprehensive Strength: Innate Early Stage]

[innate spiritual energy Progress (First Order): 5 / 10]

Innate Realm?

Have I broken through to the Innate Realm?

So fast!

Only then did Zheng Yi react; all the Internal Energy in his Dantian had now completely converted into magical power.

The energy generated by magical power converted from Spiritual Qi was dozens of times greater than ordinary Internal Energy.

Moreover, even the martial arts Cultivation Technique regarding his own attributes on the Yin Yang Treasure Mirror had completely vanished.

Replaced by them were the Spiritual Root and magical power columns.

Water and Earth dual Spiritual Roots, but both were Low Grade.

There was subsequent progress; as long as he continuously engaged in Dual Cultivation with Consort Cui, he could improve the quality of his Spiritual Roots.

At most, just like Cui Xiabing, both the water and earth dual Spiritual Roots could be promoted to High Grade!

This...

For Zheng Yi, this was simply a monumental benefit!

"Cui Xiabing has water and earth dual High Grade Spiritual Roots, and in my imperial palace, there is another woman with Spiritual Roots!"

Zheng Yi muttered: "Yuechan!"

"She harbors Gu arts, and wants to control me with emotion Gu. I must find a way to eliminate her guard and then obtain her body... Oh no wait, her Spiritual Roots!"

With his mind surging, his hand involuntarily exerted a bit too much force.

"Your Majesty~!"

Cui Xiabing let out a coy cry and woke up.

As expected of a cultivator, even her Physique was stronger than ordinary women.

Zheng Yi's heart stirred, and he asked: "Binger, does the Su Nü Yin Sha Gong·Qi Refining Chapter taught to you by your Revered Master have written records?"

"There are..."

Cui Xiabing hesitated and said: "Does Your Majesty want it? But that Cultivation Technique is specially meant for women to Cultivate. Could it be that Your Majesty wants to give it to the other sisters in the palace to Cultivate?"

"No, it is not."

Zheng Yi shook his head and said: "Your Revered Master also lived in the palace for a period of time, yet she only took you as a Disciple. It seems that throughout the entire imperial palace, perhaps only you alone possess Spiritual Roots."

"My idea is... whether the Su Nü Yin Sha Gong can be cultivated by eunuchs."

"Eunuchs?"

Cui Xiabing widened her eyes: "Perhaps... it won't work."

"Aren't eunuchs men? Why?"

Zheng Yi said: "Why not try? If I have a batch of eunuchs under my command who can Cultivate..."

Speaking up to this point, Cui Xiabing still hesitated for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, Revered Master once said that the Dharma is not passed to six ears, and now the entire Great Yu Cultivation World is withered and desolate. Dharma gates are hard to enter and extremely rare."

"This concubine also made a heavy oath before Revered Master before she imparted the Dharma to me. This matter is something I must ask Revered Master about first."

"Beloved Consort is right; it was I who acted rashly."

Zheng Yi hugged Cui Xiabing and said: "Since Beloved Consort has made a heavy oath, then forget it. I will look for other methods."

"Your Majesty..."

Watching Zheng Yi fall into thought, Cui Xiabing leaned against his shoulder and softly said: "Do not be discouraged, Your Majesty. When Revered Master returns, this concubine will definitely implore Revered Master to bestow the Dharma gate."

"Mhm mhm..."

Zheng Yi replied perfunctorily, while his mind was already thinking about how to deal with Yuechan and how to excavate the mausoleums of past emperors.

The next day.

Above the imperial court, Zheng Yi did not appear; instead, he had Liu Chengen promulgate an imperial decree.

"By heaven's mandate, the emperor decrees: Lord Cui Jinghao has diligently served the people and protected Great Yu... Considering his meritorious service to Great Yu and the state, his request for retirement is granted. In addition, two hundred thousand mu of crime-expiating fields shall be assessed!"

Below the grand hall, Cui Jinghao tremblingly knelt on the ground and shouted: "This subject thanks Your Majesty for the boundless grace!"

One million mu of property for crime-expiating fields finally became two hundred thousand mu.

Although it was still a lot, at least it did not reach the point of hurting the bones and muscles.

After announcing it, Liu Chengen said again: "By the emperor's oral command, the former Junior Vice Minister of the Ministry of Punishments, Liang Fan, shall temporarily act as the Minister of the Ministry of Punishments!"

"This subject, Liang Fan, accepts the decree and thanks Your Majesty for the grace!"

A middle-aged man walked out quickly and knelt to thank for the grace.

The eyes of the remaining court ministers kept flickering.

This Liang Fan was Cui Jinghao's Disciple.

That is to say, although the emperor punished Cui Jinghao, he did not severely punish him.

The Ministry of Punishments remained under the control of the Cui Family.

"Court dismissed!"

The grand court withdrew, and the 'Five-Year Plan' previously discussed by Zheng Yi, the Grand Secretariat, and the ministers of the Six Ministries was gradually rolled out under their vigorous promotion.

Crime-expiating fields.

Establish a navy.

Propaganda Department.

Military merit system.

And other new departments and new systems were gradually unfolded.

The first to be revealed before everyone's eyes was the rule of crime-expiating fields, which made all officials terrified yet caused them to raise both hands in agreement.

With this rule, as long as the descendants and servants in their mansions did not commit capital offenses like murder or treason, they could escape by surrendering land!

But for small households and ordinary commoners, this crime-expiating rule was deeply detested!

The reason was very simple; large landlords and great aristocratic families completely cared nothing about dozens or even hundreds of mu of land.

As long as they were willing, they could easily produce thousands or even tens of thousands of mu of property to escape punishment.

Some people even shouted that crime-expiating fields should be changed to crime-expiating silver, where any crime could be exempted from punishment just by paying money.

Unfortunately, Zheng Yi had long explicitly forbidden it; crime-expiating fields could not be replaced by gold and silver.

After this rule was issued, within just a few days, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue responsible for implementing the crime-expiating fields had confiscated a full tens of thousands of mu of property, all of which were crime-expiating fields contributed by aristocratic scions and officials' sons!

This did not even count the two hundred thousand mu of property handed over by Cui Jinghao!

Besides Cui Jinghao, there was another person who paid a full one hundred thousand mu of crime-expiating fields.

Zhao Jingyi!

This person, serving as the Central Army Garrison Commander, secretly took a Wu Country woman as his kept mistress, which was exposed by Zheng Yuantao.

Not only did he surrender one hundred thousand mu of crime-expiating fields, but he also lost his official position and was directly demoted to a humble pawn guarding the city gate, looking utterly miserable.

And these confiscated properties were transformed into military merit fields through another round of operation!

The soldiers of the Shenji Camp and the Imperial Guards who breached Yan City were the first batch of soldiers to obtain military merit fields.

And just as many officials and commoners were heatedly discussing the 'Five-Year Plan' issued by Zheng Yi, Zheng Yi himself came to White Jade Capital and received another group of people.

Shadow Guard.

More than forty Shadow Guards who had long been executing missions were all summoned to this place, accompanied by another three hundred or so children.

These children were the Shadow Guard reserves personally selected by Chen Liancang over the past two years.

But today they received the emperor's order to gather here.

Besides these Shadow Guards, there were actually several other people.

Chen Liancang, Liu Zhongyi, Chen Hongxiu, Zhao Tieshan, Meng Guang, Lu Lian, and others.

These few people were the young and promising military faction valued by Zheng Yi, as well as soldiers loyal to Zheng Yi.

Actually, there were several other people Zheng Yi also wanted to recruit into the Emperors Party, such as Wang Anshi, Shen Xing, Li Ziyang, and others.

Unfortunately, time was hasty, so he could only prioritize this group of people first.

Zheng Yi sat straddling the dragon chair in a grand manner, and behind him appeared a special flag.

The whole thing presented a golden-yellow color, but upon it was embroidered another pattern.

A coiled circular dragon pattern, exquisitely shaped, entirely blood-red, with every detail distinct, fierce, and domineering.

This was the flag of the Great Yu Dynasty personally designed by Zheng Yi.

At the same time, it was also the flag of the Emperors Party!

Today, Zheng Yi summoned this group of people here for the establishment of the Emperors Party.

He was going to hold the first admission ceremony for the Emperors Party.

For the first batch of people, Zheng Yi only selected the Shadow Guards and his personal eunuchs.

The purpose was for safety and secrecy.

Zheng Yi sat before the dragon chair, while Chen Liancang stood before Zheng Yi, and below stood more than three hundred Shadow Guards.

"Kneel!"

At the order, more than three hundred Shadow Guards knelt down one after another.

Chen Liancang's hoarse voice sounded: "We were originally Shadow Guards, and should have sworn to the death to be loyal to Your Majesty!"

"Yet our emperor is merciful, allowing you all to join the Emperors Party!"

"Once entering the Emperors Party, you shall be the sons of the Emperor, must consider things for the Emperor in all matters, decide for the common people of the world, and live to protect the realm of Great Yu!"

As soon as his voice fell, the three hundred-plus people shouted in unison: "Dedicate our lives to Your Majesty!"

"Rise!"

With a sound of "swish", the three hundred-plus people immediately saluted.

"I swear!"

"I swear!"

Amidst Chen Liancang's respectful and solemn voice, the remaining three hundred-plus people chanted in unison.

Within the crowd, Chen Hongxiu, Zhao Tieshan, Meng Guang, and others looked at each other in dismay.

They received the emperor's decree and took advantage of the troop deployment to come to White Jade Capital to accept the admission ceremony.

Originally they thought it was something like sacrificing a banner before a large army set out, but they didn't expect it to be such a bizarre ceremony.

Dozens of Martial Artists who were obviously eunuchs, but whose auras were extremely feminine.

Among them, Meng Guang's eye twitched uncontrollably. The martial arts cultivation of these forty-plus eunuchs present was actually all Third Grade Realm Martial Artists!

The auras of several of them had even stepped into the First Grade Realm.

In the emperor's hands, there was actually such power!

Besides these eunuchs with feminine auras, there were actually over three hundred children who looked to be only eight or nine years old.

Were these children also coming to participate in some kind of Emperors Party swearing ceremony?

With another "swish" sound, the three hundred-plus people all clenched their right fists and tightly pressed them against their hearts.

"We join the Emperors Party of the Great Yu Dynasty!"

"We join the Emperors Party of the Great Yu Dynasty..."

Chen Liancang spoke word by word, and the others chanted sentence by sentence.

The oath was very short, and it was finished reciting in just over ten breaths of time.

"... Willing to sacrifice everything for the Emperor and Great Yu!"

"... Willing to sacrifice everything for the Emperor and Great Yu!"

The voice was high-pitched and powerful, especially for those three hundred-plus children; their eyes at this moment had changed from confusion and panic to sharpness and radiance.

Children of poor families take charge early.

Let alone this group of children displaced by famine and drought.

Ever since the moment Chen Liancang adopted them, they were no longer human, but killing machines!

And now, Zheng Yi had given them another path, another path full of light.

For them, it was even more of a redemption.

Their future would dedicate everything to Zheng Yi and the Great Yu Dynasty!

Even Chen Hongxiu, Zhao Tieshan, Meng Guang, Lu Lian, and others, after reciting the oath, experienced changes in their state of mind and vision.

The original sense of loyalty to the sovereign now appeared even more obvious.

Loyalty to the sovereign meant loyalty to Zheng Yi!

That meant loyalty to Great Yu!

"Mhm, very good."

Zheng Yi slowly stood up and said: "Lords and gentlemen, congratulations on successfully joining the Emperors Party."

"From today on, you are our own people."

A row of little eunuchs walked up quickly holding trays, and on the trays were rows of exquisitely shaped... badges.

Zheng Yi personally picked up the badges and pinned them one by one onto the chests of this group of people.

The ceremony was solemn and dignified, and some people had tears of excitement in their eyes.

His Majesty personally pinned the badges for them, and affectionately spoke with each member of the Emperors Party, encouraging and comforting them.

For them, this was simply... too blissful!

His Majesty's grace could never be fully repaid in a lifetime!

Not only me, but even my children and grandchildren could never finish repaying it!

"Gentlemen, Great Yu is entrusted to you all!"

"How would we dare not dedicate our lives to Your Majesty!"