My Mother Consort Is Still the Best!

Looking at the Mysterious Feather Dao Robe before him, Chu Xuanao wore a strange expression.

Was trading an Earth Fire Condensed Lotus for a Divine Weapon-grade Mysterious Feather Dao Robe a loss?

No, that wasn't right! I also gained a late-stage Celestial Phenomenon Realm expert under my command.

Hiss, that still doesn't add up. Duke Fu's Mansion belongs to him too!

Duke Fu's Mansion's thousand years of accumulated wealth—every kind of rare material and precious treasure, its intelligence network, its retainers, and the vast framework built over a millennium—he could now mobilize all those forces.

So, trading one Earth Fire Condensed Lotus for all that didn't seem like a loss after all!

Neither Chu Xuanao nor Yuan Tiangang was surprised by Duke Fu's Mansion's submission.

They had already gone this far. Those who had cultivated to the Celestial Phenomenon Realm were naturally no fools.

They had revealed their hand—there was no need to say more about Flying Eagle, the undercover agent.

They had displayed their might—wasn't Yuan Tiangang, a Heavenly Being Realm expert, personally coming to their door enough?

They had offered benefits—the Earth Fire Condensed Lotus, a supreme treasure, had been given to them to recover from their injuries, and a Heavenly Being Realm expert had even acted personally to raise their cultivation by another level.

Now, the hand that needed revealing had been revealed, the might that needed displaying had been displayed, and the benefits that needed giving had been given.

If they still failed to recognize what was good for them, they could blame no one else.

Chu Xuanao was not worried about any unexpected developments on Duke Fu's Mansion's side.

With Yuan Tiangang, a Heavenly Being Realm expert, present, Duke Fu's Mansion would surely recognize the situation for what it was.

Yuan Tiangang felt the same. If Duke Fu's Mansion had any other ideas, they were welcome to try.

He, Yuan Tiangang, had plenty of ways to make them spit back out everything they had swallowed.

"You've worked hard, Yuan Tiangang."

"This subject does not deserve such praise."

This Mysterious Feather Dao Robe was, in truth, Duke Fu's Mansion's answer.

Chu Xuanao stored the Mysterious Feather Dao Robe in the system space. For now, it was better for him to wear it less often.

At the very least, Chu Xuanao could not wear it with his current identity.

Xiao Dezi's voice suddenly came from outside the door.

"Your Highness, Consort Rong has sent someone."

Mother Consort?

Chu Xuanao blanked for a moment, then remembered that his mother consort had previously said she would send him some things.

Coming back to himself, Chu Xuanao strode outside.

When he reached the entrance and saw the Imperial Guard convoy before him, he cried out inwardly:

Holy shit! My mother consort hasn't skimmed any less over the years either!

One carriage after another entered the Prince's Mansion under Granny Hua's direction, and Chu Xuanao's eyes practically gleamed with gold.

My old lady has lived deep within the palace all this time and still managed to rake in this much.

And how much have I managed to rake in over all these years?

At most, it'd be twice what my mother consort has.

As for those who say that I'm at least a modern person, and that I could just pull out some skill or craft and never have to worry about money—

What do you expect a guy who slices potato shreds three times and cuts himself twice to do for you?

I'm the kind of person who can't even make myself a bowl of food without someone else. You expect me to build you a missile?

And even if you brought Newton here today, it would be useless.

Have him explain to me how Yuan Tiangang is standing in midair.

"Your Highness, everything Her Highness instructed us to deliver has arrived."

Granny Hua had already come before him.

"Granny Hua."

Chu Xuanao felt both respect and a trace of fear toward Granny Hua.

His respect was not merely because she was his mother consort's personal attendant, with every word and action representing his mother consort.

It was also because, aside from Xiao Dezi and the three personal attendants Qiuyue Shuangxue, Granny Hua had been by his side the longest since childhood. When he was still young, all matters concerning him had been handled by Granny Hua.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Granny Hua had raised him with her own hands.

As for the fear—he still remembered how, as a child, he had wanted to discuss the origins of humanity with a little palace maid. When he woke from a nap, the first thing he saw was Granny Hua bowing to him in greeting.

Afterward, Granny Hua had taken the palace maid and headed outside. He had tried to stop her, but Granny Hua, dragging the maid away, had merely left him with a cold sentence over her shoulder.

"Your Highness has grown up."

Then she took the girl and walked out.

He knew that had also been his mother consort's intention. Within the imperial family, the rules were stringent.

A young prince's words and conduct, what he studied and saw, what he ought to learn and when he ought to learn it—all of it was governed by rules.

Back then, he had not known how to say it. Shame, embarrassment, perhaps even timidity had kept him from expressing himself.

Granny Hua took out a yellowed piece of cloth from her sleeve and presented it with both hands.

"Granny Hua, this map is?"

"This is that treasure map."

Looking at the map before him, Bai Yi, who had just arrived, revealed a surprised expression. The Bai Family had asked about those things back then as well, but his daughter had not let a single word slip. He had never expected her to produce it today.

With such a great commotion, Chu Xuanao's Maternal Grandfather and Maternal Aunt naturally came to take a look.

Bai Feiyu looked at the dozen or so heavily laden carts before her, then at the guards straining as they carried the chests. Without even asking, she knew they were packed to the brim.

She could not help sighing over how truly deep her elder sister's coffers were.

"A treasure map?" Chu Xuanao was somewhat surprised.

"During the battle against King Wu, the first to break through was the force led by your mother consort. Everything in King Wu's Mansion fell into her hands.

By the time your Imperial Father arrived, your mother consort had even sold off King Wu's Mansion.

You could say she did not even leave a scrap of wall plaster for your Imperial Father.

When the army arrived, they gained nothing at all.

Every faction had demanded those things from your mother consort; even the Bai Family was no exception.

But your mother consort had long since sold whatever could be sold and hidden everything away. She simply gritted her teeth and refused to give them up.

In the end, it was only after your Imperial Father gave the final word that those things were declared to belong to your mother consort."

After hearing his Maternal Grandfather Bai Yi's account, Chu Xuanao's eyes filled with astonishment. All right! He had still underestimated his mother consort.

She had swallowed an entire King Wu's Mansion clean, not even leaving behind the land beneath it.

That was his mother consort for you!

After hearing Bai Yi finish, Granny Hua's eyes flickered uncertainly. As Bai Feiyan's close attendant, she knew all too well.

Could His Majesty really be so generous?

On the very night he declared those things to belong to Bai Feiyan, he had come looking for her and asked where she had hidden them.

But Consort Rong had been prepared long ago. That very afternoon, she had brewed three large bowls of medicinal soup, a specialty from her hometown.

The moment Chu Tianxiong arrived, he drank all three bowls in one go.

After one night, the next day he had to support himself against the wall as he left.

For three days straight after that, he still refused to give up and came every day to ask. Each time, Her Ladyship served him three bowls of the local specialty.

After the fourth day, he never again asked about King Wu's Mansion's inheritance.

"Your Highness, these things are outside Tingliu City in Taizhou. With the map, you will be able to find them."

Hearing Granny Hua's voice transmission, Chu Xuanao nodded slightly.

"Thank you for your trouble, Granny Hua."

After making the arrangements, Granny Hua and the group of Imperial Guards returned to the palace. Naturally, gratuities for Granny Hua and the brothers who had done the labor were indispensable.

In the blink of an eye, nearly a month passed. Only one month remained until the New Year, while less than two months remained before Chu Xuanao was due to depart for his fief.

Nothing much happened during that month. For Chu Xuanao, his daily routine was to enter the palace whenever he had nothing to do and ask his Imperial Father for a bit of support. Children who knew how to cry got candy—yes, exactly.

He would spend time with his mother consort and visit the little cabbage sister he had raised with his own hands.

Other than that, his life consisted of traveling between King Wu's Mansion and Flower Gazing Pavilion.

The only thing worth celebrating was that his "peerlessly gifted" younger sister had finally broken through to the Innate Realm before turning sixteen.

In a small city, reaching the Innate Realm before sixteen could indeed be called genius.

But she had been born into the imperial family and had never lacked all manner of cultivation resources. Even Chu Xuanao could not help shaking his head at his sister's talent.

He had thought his own aptitude was bad enough, but he had never expected his sister's aptitude to be so poor that even he felt ashamed by comparison!

Yet though her aptitude was poor, her heart in pursuit of martial arts was steadfast. Her whole mind was devoted to the martial path.

What could he do?

She was his own little cabbage; he could only spoil her.

To support his sister's path in martial arts, Chu Xuanao gave quite a few of his own resources to her.

By rights, his mother consort's talent was not bad!

Yet his and his sister's talents were worse than the other.

Mm, it was all his Imperial Father's fault.

With that Transcendent Realm cultivation his Imperial Father had piled up through resources, it felt as though he had completely dragged down his mother consort's genes.