25: System settled! Summon Shen Wansan! Tianshan Zhemei Hand!

Chapter 25: System Settlement! Summon Shen Wansan! Tianshan Plum Hand!

Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.

Several eunuchs hung the calligraphy and painting "ode to snow" in the most conspicuous position, visible as soon as one entered the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.

Emperor Qing stood in the hall, examining it repeatedly, becoming more and more satisfied, "Good! Only the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests is worthy of this calligraphy and painting."

After the young eunuchs exited the main hall, Hong Sixiang walked in, bowing.

"Your Majesty, the Female Official from Guangxin Palace left with the calligraphy and painting and was immediately followed by the Brocade-Clad Guards from Northern Qi."

"The Brocade-Clad Guards were led by Wei Hua, Wei Bi's son, a fourth-rank Censor of the Brocade-Clad Guards, with a Cultivation of upper eighth-rank."

"The Brocade-Clad Guards and The Eldest Princess's people did not fight; it seems they know each other."

Li Yunrui's control of the Imperial Treasury and the smuggling with Northern Qi also began around this time.

Hearing that The Eldest Princess might be connected to the Brocade-Clad Guards, Emperor Qing calmly asked, "What happened to that calligraphy and painting?"

Hong Sixiang continued, "It was taken into the palace by the Female Official and should now be in The Eldest Princess's hands."

Emperor Qing's expression turned stern, saying, "I understand. During your trip out of the palace this time, did Prince Jing and Prince Yong show any abnormalities?"

Hong Sixiang's expression was normal, showing no hesitation about royal matters.

As the two most powerful martial artists in the Qing Kingdom, he was not afraid of anyone eavesdropping.

"Your Majesty, Prince Jing is still planting flowers and grass, with no changes."

"Prince Yong received a windfall, but he was attacked by the Brocade-Clad Guards last night."

Emperor Qing was enraged upon hearing this, "Wei Hua is incredibly bold! How is Prince Yong's Residence?"

Hong Sixiang continued, "Zhao Gao already has upper eighth-rank strength, and the eunuchs and palace maids he taught have also Cultivated to sixth-rank."

"Zhao Gao blocked Wei Hua, alarming the Prince's Residence guards, which repelled the Brocade-Clad Guards. Prince Yong is unharmed."

"However, Prince Yong is very angry. He declared that he would recruit Jianghu righteous individuals to protect his residence and vowed to learn martial arts."

In reality, Zhao Gao's Cultivation has now reached the Peak of ninth-rank, on par with Hong Sixiang.

Therefore, when Hong Sixiang approached Prince Yong's Residence, Zhao Gao had already detected him.

As for Li Chang'an's recruitment of righteous individuals and his vow to practice martial arts, these were all said for Hong Sixiang to hear.

Li Chang'an wanted to use the Brocade-Clad Guards' attack to bring the matters he had been doing in secret into the open.

Emperor Qing said, "Let him recruit; he's hyped up the calligraphy and painting to be so valuable, I'm afraid it will attract many Jianghu bandits."

Actually, Emperor Qing also played a part in the high price Li Chang'an's calligraphy and painting fetched; this was a major event for strengthening the Qing Kingdom's literary style.

"As for The Eldest Princess's connection with the Brocade-Clad Guards, find someone to keep an eye on it and see what Yun Rui is truly doing."

Hong Sixiang's face was impassive as he bowed and accepted the order, "This old servant obeys the imperial decree."

Shuning Palace.

Hong Zhu and a dozen eunuchs and palace maids, holding gold and silver, were kneeling before Imperial Concubine Liu.

Because of Li Yunrui's instructions, the familiar eunuchs and palace maids around Liu Shuyan were all to be replaced.

Liu Shuyan sighed, "You have followed me and Chang'an for almost six years, and now Chang'an has left the palace to establish his own residence."

"You are also leaving. Take this gold and silver with you; there are many places in the palace that need to be taken care of."

Hong Zhu comforted her, "Imperial Concubine, rest assured. When His Highness grows up, he will surely be able to bring you out to enjoy your golden years."

Whether an Imperial Concubine could leave the palace with a Prince was solely up to the Emperor.

However, given Emperor Qing's stubborn and suspicious personality, it would probably not be so easy.

Liu Shuyan said, "Alright, you may go. When you arrive at other places, you must perform your duties well."

After they left, Hong Zhu called a few young eunuchs into his room.

"Imperial Concubine Liu and Prince Yong have been so kind to us. If you hear any news that is unfavorable to them, be sure to tell me immediately."

These young eunuchs were not trained by Zhao Gao but were peripheral personnel developed by Hong Zhu.

They did not know Li Chang'an's secrets; they were merely acting as informers, like in conventional palace intrigue.

Hong Zhu and the others being expelled from Shuning Palace was an event that was bound to happen and was within Li Chang'an's expectations.

Otherwise, a talent like Hong Zhu would be wasted cooped up in Shuning Palace.

At Emperor Qing's behest, the Supervisory Council intentionally spread Li Chang'an's reputation: three odes at five, three masterpieces at ten, and three sages at twenty.

Coupled with the myth of an auction generating 560,000 taels of silver, Li Chang'an firmly established himself in the literary world.

After Prince Yong's Residence was attacked, Li Chang'an openly began to practice martial arts, and Emperor Qing was very supportive.

He even allowed Li Chang'an to choose martial arts Secret Manuals from the royal collection, and Li Chang'an naturally memorized all of them without hesitation.

However, after memorizing them, Li Chang'an discovered that these martial arts were significantly inferior to those provided by the System.

The martial arts Secret Manuals provided by the System were extremely powerful, even capable of killing enemies beyond one's rank.

Thereafter, at San Yong Pavilion, Li Chang'an would release one work every month.

However, these works either had paintings without poems or poems without paintings.

Rarity makes things valuable, and Li Chang'an deliberately controlled the flow of his calligraphy and paintings into the market.

If his calligraphy and paintings were ubiquitous, they would not be considered precious.

Even such paintings and calligraphy were all priced above 50,000 taels of silver.

Despite this, Li Chang'an's calligraphy and paintings still sold well in Northern Qi, gaining popularity in the Northern Qi literary world.

More than a year later, when Li Chang'an was twelve, he finally achieved a Breakthrough to seventh-rank.

Seventh and eighth-rank cultivators in the Joy of Life World were already considered experts.

A twelve-year-old seventh-rank expert was quite astonishing to hear about.

Li Chang'an sold magazines and calligraphy/paintings, accumulating three million taels of silver over the past year.

Therefore, his wealth ranking rose again, and his martial power ranking finally entered the top ten thousand!

[Your wealth ranking has risen to 1820th place!]

[Your martial power ranking has risen to 4500th place!]

Coupled with his literary ranking entering the top ten, the significant increase in Li Chang'an's influence finally triggered a System settlement.

[Your influence in the Joy of Life World has greatly increased, rewarding 10,000 Mortal World points!]

Li Chang'an had long decided on the character to summon and the items to redeem this time.

For the past two years, the Inner Court Department had been watching closely, and Hong Sixiang would occasionally drop by to check.

If not for Zhao Gao, a ninth-rank Peak expert, no one would have even noticed Hong Sixiang's prying.

Now that he had his first pot of gold, Li Chang'an needed someone to make money for him.

His energy needed to be focused on developing his abilities and Cultivating martial arts.

This person must possess extremely high business acumen, strong money-making ability, and most importantly, be loyal to Li Chang'an.

Li Chang'an wanted to use this person to establish a commercial Empire, accumulating wealth for him to support the Net.

Information and wealth are too crucial for a faction; there must be no mistakes.

Therefore, Li Chang'an decided to summon someone from the System's shop.

[Consume 5,000 Mortal World points to summon Shen Wansan. Shen Wansan will arrive at the host's side as quickly as possible.]

Shen Wansan did not possess martial arts, so the points consumed were a thousand less than for Zhao Gao.

Legend has it that Shen Wansan accumulated two billion taels of silver in his lifetime, making him as rich as an Empire!

Now, summoning Shen Wansan and giving him two million taels as initial capital should allow him to increase it more than tenfold in seven or eight years.

With the remaining points, Li Chang'an needed to redeem martial arts suitable for Bei Ming True Energy.

His lightness skill, "Lingbo Microstep," was about to reach Perfection, and he needed to learn offensive martial arts.

Relying solely on True Qi to strike people was not impossible, but it could not unleash the True Qi's maximum power.

The martial arts provided by the System were all adapted based on nuclear radiation rules, making them extremely powerful!

[Consume 5,000 Mortal World points to redeem top-tier martial arts "Tianshan Plum Hand" and "Tianshan Six Yang Palms"!]

The two sets of martial arts could be redeemed together; like Lingbo Microstep, they were the most suitable martial arts for Bei Ming True Energy!