Chinese monarchic system

  On the eighth day, news came from the palace that Wang Meiren could not bear the pain of her illness and had chosen to die by swallowing gold. The specific reason was unknown. Emperor Ling ordered Wang Meiren's body to be cremated, apparently fearing that her strange disease would spread to others in the palace.

  As for the Second Prince Bohai King Liu Xie, the Emperor let Empress Dowager Dong adopt him. After that, Empress Dowager Dong and the people of the Dong family began to support Crown Prince Liu Xie, gradually causing dissatisfaction from Empress He, and the palace was once again set ablaze with conflict.

  Liu Bian had already received the news, because the system prompted him that his temporary task was completed, and with Wang Mei's death, Liu Bian's branch task progress reached 70%.

  Liu Bian received the reward for completing the temporary task, upgrading his martial arts by a small level, 500 merit points, 10 faith points, and randomly giving away a strange object, the harvest was also considerable.

  As Liu Bian has not yet reached E-level, the effect of this small upgrade in combat power is not obvious, and it only raised him from F9 to E1. If he waits a few more days until he reaches E-level and then receives the reward, he will be able to take a big step forward.

  Merits and beliefs Liu Bian now has no use for much, except for exchanging some wealth, he plans to keep it in exchange for some powerful skills, because now his twelve regular meridians have been opened up four, if according to the current speed, by the end of the year should be able to open up all the meridians, reach the small achievement of Pure Yang Tongzi Gong, and then can get married.

  As for the last reward, it is a mysterious object randomly sent by the system, worth over a thousand merits or hundreds of faith points, so no matter what Liu Bian draws, he will be very happy.

  But the result came out, Liu Bian was even more delighted, because he drew a versatile mechanical beast, which is like a fist-sized model in peacetime, and will become one zhang high down when used.

  Moreover, the name of the versatile mechanical beast is not called in vain. It can change into at least several forms, from mechanical man, mechanical tiger, mechanical eagle to mechanical fish. It can become a land runner and also a sky flyer, it's simply incredible.

  What's most important is that inside the mechanical beast, there is a space where Liu Bian can hide and control it, so from now on, with the mechanical beast, whatever he wants to do will become very easy.

  That night, Liu Bian rode the mechanical beast to the Xiyuan Forest and spent most of the night there, familiarizing himself with its various operating methods. He didn't return to the Shi Manor until just before dawn, without anyone knowing he had gone out.

  Two days later, Liu Bian moved back to the Xian De Hall in the imperial palace. He brought with him a few maids and young eunuchs, as well as one hundred loyal Imperial Guardsmen from the Feathered Forest Army. Huang Zhong was left behind by Liu Bian to lead these Imperial Guardsmen.

  Liu, Guan and Zhang remained temporarily in the Shi manor. Although Liu Bei was somewhat absent-minded, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were thinking of helping Liu Bian. Later, they could not withstand Liu Bei's persuasion and agreed to follow him to join Liu Yu's army, participating in the war to annihilate Zhang Jue and Zhang Bao in Puyang. After making a name for themselves, Liu Bei became the magistrate of Pingyuan County and began recruiting soldiers and buying horses, planning to make a big move.

  After Liu Bian entered the palace, Empress He indeed sent Diao Chan to Xian De Hall to serve Liu Bian's daily life, and also went to comb the empress's hair every day.

  For the next period of time, Liu Bian spent half a day following Cai Yong to learn, and the other half of the day was spent in his own practice and training. At night, he would practice operating mechanical beasts in the backyard.

  On the first day of the seventh month of autumn, it was Cai Yong's fifty-fifth birthday. Many officials in the imperial court were friends with Cai Yong, so they all came to his mansion to celebrate his birthday. As Liu Bian was his disciple, he naturally came personally to congratulate his teacher.

  Cai Wenji was the child that Cai Yong obtained in his old age, so she was still quite young. However, her intelligence and cleverness were renowned, and at a very young age, she already had a great reputation for literature. In front of her father's old friends and relatives, she was also extremely poised and outstanding.

  When Liu Bian arrived, the people who had already come to Cai's mansion included Minister of Works Lu Zhi, General Who Conquers the South Yuan Yi, General Who Defends the West Huangfu Song, Minister of Justice Cui Lie, Junior Mentor of the Heir Apparent Fan Ling, Grand Administrator of the Capital Cao Song, Imperial Secretary Liu Tao, Minister of Justice Chen Dan, Chamberlain for Attendants Xi Xiang, and Gentleman-Consultant Xun Yu, Zheng Tai, etc. The scene was lively and extraordinary.

  After Liu Bian wished the teacher a happy birthday in front of everyone, he was taken to the study by Cai Wenji. Some court officials made fun of them behind their backs, saying they really looked like a couple, and when Cai Wenji heard this, her face turned bright red.

  She stole a glance at Liu Bian, but found that Liu Bian was smiling at her, and she couldn't help but blush even more. However, she pretended to be nonchalant and led Liu Bian into the study room before asking:

  "Should I address you as His Imperial Highness the Crown Prince or as Your Majesty?"

  "Call me whatever you want."

  "Then can I call you Liu Bian?"

  "Of course not, at least you should call him Brother Liu Bian or even Teacher Liu Bian."

  "Alas, you've moved into the palace now, it's hard to see you even if I want to. I really don't know when we'll have another chance to meet again."

  "I have an idea, which can make you see me often."

  "What's your idea? Tell me about it."

  "I'll tell Mother and bring you into the palace as my queen, then you can see me every day."

  "Pfft, who wants to be your queen?"

  Cai Wenji resisted, pounced on Liu Bian and wrestled with him. Liu Bian suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her over. Cai Wenji's body softened and fell into Liu Bian's arms. The two locked eyes, their breathing intertwined, and for a moment, neither of them spoke.

  "Mr. Xun, the old master's study is this way, please go this way."

  Just then, a voice suddenly came in, and the two of them hastily separated, each grabbing a book from the desk and sitting down in a position beside it. At this moment, someone pushed open the door to the study and walked in.

  Liu Bian looked up to see a middle-aged man over thirty years old, who was somewhat thin and wore casual clothes, it was clear at a glance that he was not an official of the imperial court.

  This man gave Liu Bian a very refined feeling, with an ethereal gaze and extremely rich spirit. He saw Liu Bian and Cai Wenji in the room at a glance, and after being slightly stunned for a moment, he naturally nodded and smiled towards them.

  "Mr. Xun, this is His Highness King Hongnong, and this is my daughter, Miss Zhaoji. Please take a rest here for a while, Mr. Xun."

  "Thanks for showing me the way, you go ahead and busy yourself, I'll just stay here and read a book, it's also a rest."

  Highly recommended: