The empress had barely left when a stream of palace maids filed in behind her.
There were twelve of them in total, each only fifteen or sixteen, with exceptional looks and figures.
The leading maid knelt on the floor and said in a crisp voice, "This servant is Shen Linghui. By the empress's order, I have led my sisters here to serve the Eighteenth Prince."
Wang Xuan swept his gaze over them. Twelve palace maids, twelve faces, each beautiful in her own way.
It seemed that, given his current standing, the empress had begun placing her bets on him. Perhaps the emperor had a hand in it as well.
He waved a hand. "Rise. Shen Linghui will stay. The rest of you may leave first."
After the palace maids withdrew, Chun Tao stood off to the side with her head lowered, nervously twisting the corner of her clothes between her fingers.
Wang Xuan glanced at her. "Go prepare the side hall. I'll be entering seclusion. Without my orders, no one is to disturb me."
Shen Linghui froze for a moment, then hurriedly acknowledged the order.
Wang Xuan rose and headed for the side hall. Reaching the doorway, he paused again. "Oh, right. Tell the others that while I'm in seclusion, they should continue doing whatever they normally do. If anyone asks, say that I'm studying the Dao Scripture."
"Yes." Shen Linghui answered respectfully.
The doors of the side hall closed.
Wang Xuan sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion and closed his eyes.
His consciousness sank into his body. All three hundred and sixty-five spatial apertures trembled at once, each one like an independent little world filled with dense heaven-and-earth vital energy.
His consciousness arrived at the Yellow Court Aperture.
Located beneath the dantian, the Yellow Court Aperture was the core