Mountains of Gold

His soul wore a tamed look as he bowed deeply to Emperor Zhou-not to the emperor, but to the Crown Prince's father.

Emperor Zhou had no interest in Chen Yu's soul.

He merely found the man far too staid, so staid that he was downright boring.

No wonder the Crown Prince disliked him.

Emperor Zhou put on a false smile. "Minister Chen's nephew is certainly a fine-looking young man."

Chen Yu put on a false smile as well.

"Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty."

His lowered gaze settled on Emperor Zhou's belt.

The belt was exquisite and regal, perfectly suited to Emperor Zhou's bearing.

But it was made with a meteorite.

The meteorite was a glossy black, set in silver at the center and surrounded by black jade.

Emperor Zhou wore a dark-purple, luminous gauze cloak and a belt of black jade, silver, and meteorite. Auspicious purple qi came from the east, lighting up the entire hall.

But there was a meteorite set into it.

Chen Yu could recall only one meteorite of that color.

In Zhou Wu Year One, a meteorite had fallen from the sky in Shanxi, bearing the heaven-carved inscription, "May the dragon's fortune flourish forever."

In his previous life, after ascending the throne, the Crown Prince had divided that stone into over a hundred pieces, giving one to every civil and military official at court.

Chen Yu had received the largest piece.

He had joyfully thanked the emperor, believing it a mark of imperial favor.

The sickly Son of Heaven had lifted his eyelids.

"Why stand on ceremony with me? I sincerely want you to die sooner. No need to thank me."

"I summoned you today because I have something important to entrust to you."

The two imperial declarations overlapped in his ears. Chen Yu came back to himself and saw Emperor Zhou take out a length of Red Cord. His eyes darkened.

He knew that Red Cord all too well.

"You are the Crown Prince's General Summoning. If he does not trust you and cannot open his heart to you, you cannot draw on the Human Emperor's fortune or use your ability."

"This length of Red Cord has two uses."

With motives known only to himself, Emperor Zhou casually dropped a crushing blow.

"The first is stealing fortune."

"That means taking another person's ability for your own use. It can revive a lineage, cure illness, and even conjure something from nothing, all without the victim noticing a thing."

"Jier is the heaven-ordained Human Emperor, blessed with incomparably abundant fortune. I fear someone at Jixia Academy might use this method to secretly harm him. That is why I am telling you. You must be vigilant against it in the future."

Emperor Zhou offered earnest reminders, looking every inch the loving father.

Chen Yu's expression was solemn. "This commoner will give his life to protect His Highness the Crown Prince."

Emperor Zhou nodded in satisfaction.

"Besides stealing fortune, the Red Cord has another use. It can link people's minds."

"Though only in one direction."

He deliberately led him on. "If you know what the Crown Prince is thinking, you can learn why he is displeased with you. Once you know why he is displeased with you, you can change."

"I will tell you how to use it. I hope you will assist the Crown Prince faithfully in the days ahead and bring renewed prosperity to our Great Zhou!"

It could link people's minds.

That function was truly tempting.

Chen Yu was tempted. He immediately accepted it. "This commoner thanks Your Majesty for your grace!"

Emperor Zhou nodded in satisfaction and explained how to use it. "You may go."

Once Chen Yu had left the Vast Sea Hall, Emperor Zhou's smile flattened and his eyes turned cold.

He spoke into the empty hall.

"If he uses it, kill him."

A General Summoning born alongside its master was more useful, but it was not as though he had no way to create one artificially.

Those blessed with powerful fortune had a keen sixth sense. Perhaps Jier disliked Chen Yu because Chen Yu had a rebel's bone in him.

Chen Yu understood perfectly well that Emperor Zhou's words were meant to lure him in, but the ability to link minds truly tempted him.

That belt surfaced in his mind again. The Crown Prince would not spare even Emperor Zhou, so why would he spare Chen Yu?

Chen Yu actually began to look forward to Wu Junji's revenge...

Their departure for Jixia Academy was tentatively set for two days later.

Whenever Wu Junji had nothing to do, he took turtles for walks.

He was a firm believer that life lay in staying still.

To accommodate the little Crown Prince's hobby, the Rare Beast Garden kept dozens of turtles, ensuring that whenever he wanted a walk, there would always be a turtle willing to crawl.

Though no matter how one looked at it, the turtles were the ones walking the Crown Prince.

The little Crown Prince squatted on the ground, watching a turtle laboriously crawl one step ahead, then caught up with a single duck-walking step and waited for it to crawl another.

If the turtle stopped moving, he prodded it with a little stick.

His leisurely pace made the palace servants anxious on his behalf.

His daily quota of two hundred steps required at least three turtles to satisfy his needs.

And then... it was time to eat.

Nanny Wang and Eunuch Qian both feared Wu Junji would make himself ill from being cooped up.

Yet whenever Wu Junji went out, he insisted on either being carried or riding in a sedan chair.

Ever since he had been able to eat solid food, his little snacks had never repeated from day to day, and every dish he ordered involved a terrifyingly complicated preparation. He wished he could make up, in a single year, for all the extravagant indulgences he had been denied in his previous life.

Old people always said that only those who had suffered hardship and hunger knew to cherish food and live frugally.

But Wu Junji had never suffered the slightest hardship in the modern world, only to have it all made up for in his previous life. Who could he possibly appeal to for justice?

That was precisely why he held grudges, why he was petty, and why he indulged himself with a vengeance.

Even the old geezer sometimes grumbled that Wu Junji was hard to provide for.

A single abalone dish required eighteen stages of preparation and an entire day and night, only to yield barely half a bowl of extracted juices to pour over chicken that had been marinated, steamed, smoked, and roasted.

Who could afford to feed him?

Wu Junji answered with a cold snort. With his little bundle on his back and his pet turtle tucked away, he turned heartlessly aside.

"Can I eat an entire mountain of your gold in one meal?"

"If you can't afford to keep me, don't. Plenty of people out there would be willing."

Emperor Zhou chased after him, scolding, "Outrageous! Am I not even allowed to criticize you anymore?"

Wu Junji shouldered his little bundle and strode forward.

"Just you wait, you penniless old geezer. I'll go eat back those twenty-five mountains of gold you lost!"

Emperor Zhou laughed and cursed. "You little hellion."