"The throne will never belong to a bastard!"
Shi Feifei sneered.
She and the ruler, Lin Changqing, had a son too!
"That bitch has gone to the God Realm, and we can't deal with her. But surely we can deal with a little child?"
Su Ying continued to stir the pot. "When that bastard was just born, we went to the Heartwarming Pavilion to visit him, and he had his bitch of a mother strike you. Even then, I thought that bastard was no good!"
"I've never forgotten that grudge!"
Shi Feifei gritted her teeth, but she hadn't lost her reason. "That bastard has a marriage contract with the Great Xia Imperial Clan. If we kill him, the Great Xia Imperial Clan might react!"
"You're worrying too much, Principal Consort!"
Su Ying curled her lip. "Now that the little bitch who was invincible in the God Realm is gone, the Great Xia Imperial Clan would surely be delighted if something happened to him!"
"Besides, we don't have to kill him. We just need to cripple him!"
"His marriage contract with the Great Xia Imperial Clan stipulates that if he doesn't reach the Martial Emperor Realm before he turns thirty, the contract will be void!"
"We can turn him into a cripple. Then the ruler won't value him anymore, the Great Xia Imperial Clan will abandon him, and he won't have any chance of competing for the throne in the future!"
Shi Feifei nodded and smiled.
At the Heartwarming Pavilion.
Lin Heng sat in the study in a daze, still thinking about his mother, Liu Ling'er.
"Little Prince, Lady Goddess's ascension to the God Realm may not be a bad thing."
Hong San comforted him. "Ascending to the God Realm has always been the ultimate dream of cultivators of every race. If the demon and devil races hadn't joined forces to scheme against her, how would Lady Goddess have had the chance to ascend to the God Realm?"
Hong San wasn't worried about what would happen to Liu Ling'er in the God Realm. What worried him was the little prince's situation.
"Mm!"
Lin Heng thought for a moment, then suddenly held out his right hand to Hong San.
A red pill lay in his palm.
"Little Prince, this is..."
Hong San was utterly bewildered.
"This pill is called the Ninth-Grade Body-Reshaping Pill. I imagine you've heard of it, Eunuch Hong."
"Ah?!"
Hong San's eyes widened at once.
Of course he had heard of the Ninth-Grade Body-Reshaping Pill!
It was a divine pill!
In fact, he had been longing for one for a long time!
With this divine pill, he could restore his body and become a real man again!
"My mother left it to me. I don't know how she got it either."
Lin Heng lied. "She told me to give you this divine pill to repay you for taking such good care of me!"
"Thank you for your gift, Lady Goddess!"
Hong San immediately fell to his knees and kowtowed repeatedly, his expression filled with excitement.
"Take it!"
Lin Heng pressed the divine pill into Hong San's hand. "It should be able to restore your Divine Body too!"
"Thank you, Little Prince!"
After thanking him, Hong San swallowed the Ninth-Grade Body-Reshaping Pill without hesitation!
He then left the study and returned to his quarters in the Heartwarming Pavilion.
It wasn't until the next morning that Hong San appeared before Lin Heng again.
Today, Hong San looked especially vigorous. His complexion was rosy and glowing, as if he had grown twenty years younger, with no trace of his former decline!
"How is your Divine Body recovering?"
Lin Heng asked as he ate breakfast.
"Little Prince, this old servant's Divine Body has yet to recover completely!"
Hong San replied respectfully, "This old servant burned the essence blood of his Divine Body, and the loss of divine blood was far too severe. Even with the help of the Ninth-Grade Body-Reshaping Pill, it will take quite some time for my Divine Body to recover completely!"
"Oh?"
Lin Heng frowned, clearly a little dissatisfied.
"Little Prince, this old servant is already very satisfied. Without the Ninth-Grade Body-Reshaping Pill, not only would I have no hope of restoring my Divine Body, but I would also die within a few years!"
Hong San smiled. "Now, at the very least, this old servant can live another twenty years and watch you grow up, Little Prince!"
"Just watching me grow up isn't enough!"
Lin Heng held out his right hand to Hong San again.
This time, another red pill lay in his palm.
Flickers of firelight glimmered around the pill, each like a tiny phoenix!
"A Nirvana Pill?!"
Hong San cried out in surprise.
After all, he had once been the chief steward of the Chishui Royal Palace and a Quasi-God powerhouse, so he was naturally well informed.
Even though Hong San had never seen a Nirvana Pill, he knew what one looked like!
"That's right. This is a Nirvana Pill, also left by my mother!"
"Little Prince, are you going to... give it to this old servant?"
"That's right!"
"Little Prince, you absolutely mustn't!"
Hong San fell to his knees and kowtowed as he spoke. "The Ninth-Grade Body-Reshaping Pill is of little use to you at present, Little Prince, so this old servant accepted it. But the Nirvana Pill is different. In the future..."
"It won't be of much use to me in the future either!"
Lin Heng cut him off impatiently. "If you won't take it, get lost right now! Without enough strength, what will you use to protect me?"
"Little Prince, did Lady Goddess leave you many divine items?"
Hong San asked.
"Lots and lots, more than you can imagine!"
"No wonder!"
Hong San finally understood why Liu Ling'er had been able to become invincible in the God Realm so quickly. She must have been lucky enough to obtain an extremely heaven-defying great opportunity!
"Take it!"
Without waiting to see whether Hong San would accept it, Lin Heng flicked his right hand, sending the Nirvana Pill flying from his palm.
Hong San hurriedly caught the Nirvana Pill and, after thanking him profusely, swallowed it and returned to his quarters once more.
After breakfast, Lin Heng wandered around the royal palace and signed in as usual.
At the entrance to the Ancestral God Temple, he ran into Su Ying.
He never paid this woman any attention, and today was no exception.
Whenever they had met before, Su Ying had always taken the initiative to greet him respectfully.
Today, Su Ying spoke first again, but her former respect and courtesy were gone.
"Little Prince, by seniority, I'm your elder. When you see an elder, how can you not offer a greeting? Do you understand royal etiquette at all?"
"Etiquette?"
Lin Heng scoffed. "I remember Consort Su really did understand etiquette before. Every time you saw me, you'd crouch down and greet me first!"
"So you know that was before!"
Su Ying raised an eyebrow.
"What, my mother has only been gone to the God Realm for a few days, and you're already showing your true colors?"
Lin Heng said contemptuously.
"Tch!"
Su Ying said disdainfully, "Without your mother, you still dare to be so sharp-tongued? Be careful someone doesn't slap your mouth to pieces and knock your teeth out!"
"Consort Su, let me give you a warning too."
Lin Heng sneered. "My mother and I aren't the same. I won't be as merciful as she was!"
With that, he entered the Ancestral God Temple, completed today's sign-in, and left.
Watching Lin Heng swagger away, Su Ying hated him so much that her teeth itched.
"Little bastard, let's see how many more days you can keep strutting around!"
Outside the Hall of Longevity, Lin Heng was stopped by Xi Zhaoqu.
"Little Prince, the ruler is discussing important state affairs with many officials. You cannot go in!"
"I remember the ruler once said that, no matter when, I could freely enter and leave any part of the royal palace."
Lin Heng reminded him, displeased.
"That was before!"
Xi Zhaoqu said the same words Su Ying had just said.
"Has the ruler ordered my movements restricted?"
Lin Heng asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Not yet."
"The ruler hasn't given any such order, yet a dog slave like you dares block my way?"
As Lin Heng spoke, he suddenly leaped up and swung his hand, slapping Xi Zhaoqu hard across the face!