Chapter 143

“Young master, what… what is this…?”

When Mao Dongzhu returned to her palace, the scene before her eyes took her by surprise.

Empress Dowager Tana’s face was still flushed, her legs were a mess, and she lay on the bed as if she had no bones.

If it weren’t for the slight rise and fall of her chest, Mao Dongzhu would have almost thought that Nie Yun had committed a murder.

Although Nie Yun was already dressed, she was not an innocent novice and naturally knew what the scene before her meant.

“From now on, she’s my woman!”

Nie Yun continued to caress Tana’s soft, delicate breasts with a satisfied smile on his face.

Mao Dongzhu was startled and quickly replied, “Yes, your subordinate will do his best.”

Nie Yun shook his head and said, “You don’t need to worry about that. I will take her away when the time comes, and you can stay in the palace and be your Empress Dowager in peace.”

Mao Dongzhu breathed a sigh of relief. Although she hadn’t really mistreated Tana before, she had still incurred her deep hatred.

Now that Tana has become Nie Yun’s woman, keeping her by his side would be a real hot potato.

Nie Yun kneaded her hands vigorously a few more times, eliciting a soft moan from Tana, before she stood up and asked, “What did the little emperor say to you today?”

Mao Dongzhu dared not hide anything and respectfully said, “He said that he saw an interesting little eunuch in the cloth warehouse today. The little eunuch did not recognize him and even competed with him in martial arts.”

“oh?”

Nie Yun raised an eyebrow and asked, “What’s the little eunuch’s name?”

Mao Dongzhu recalled for a moment and said uncertainly, “It seems to be from the Imperial Kitchen, and his name is… Xiao Guizi.”

“Looks like the luckiest male protagonist from Jin Yong’s novels has arrived…”

A strong killing intent flashed through Nie Yun’s mind. In terms of martial arts, he could kill Wei Xiaobao with a single finger.

But this kid’s luck is simply heaven-defying. He turned so many desperate situations in the original story around in the end. Such a person is more terrifying than those martial arts masters.

In the words of cultivators: Supernatural powers are no match for destiny.

At this moment, Tana regained some of her composure, opened her eyes and looked at Nie Yun, her face filled with shame and indignation.

Nie Yun turned his head and chuckled, “How was it? Did you enjoy it just now?”

Tana was so angry that she wanted to get up and hit him with a pillow, but as soon as she moved, she felt soreness and numbness all over her body, and her lower body was also aching.

Nie Yun sat down on the edge of the bed and gently stroked her smooth chin.

Tana turned her head away, angrily saying, “You villain, I will tear you to pieces!”

Nie Yun suddenly lowered his head, looked directly into her eyes, and said gently, “Are you willing to do that?”

Looking into his deep eyes and handsome face, Tana felt the ecstasy of their passionate embrace return, and the words “What’s there to be reluctant about?” kept lingering on her lips, but she couldn’t bring herself to say them.

She awkwardly avoided Nie Yun’s gaze, thinking to herself, “What… what’s wrong with me?”

He did such a shameless thing to me… Why… why can’t I get angry at him?

In the darkness, even though Tana knew the man on top of her wasn’t the skinny monk, she still imagined him as a lewd and shameless scoundrel.

After Nie Yun carried her out, he launched a series of powerful attacks, so much so that she didn’t even have time to look closely at Nie Yun’s face before being overwhelmed by wave after wave of orgasms.

Seeing Nie Yun’s true appearance up close now, the man I had imagined as a sleazy has become the most handsome man I have ever seen, a stark contrast to the image I had in my mind.

This stark contrast suddenly gave Tana a feeling of “thank goodness it was him”.

Nie Yun stood up, formed several hand seals, and pointed his finger at her.

As Tana pondered, she suddenly felt a cool sensation spreading from the top of her head to her feet, instantly dispelling the sticky feeling left from the earlier hand-to-hand combat.

Mao Dongzhu’s eyes widened as she saw a crystalline halo slowly sweep across Tana’s body. The sweat and grime that it touched seemed to be absorbed by the halo and disappeared instantly.

“Oh my god!”

Mao Dongzhu couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, feeling even more awe for Nie Yun, and even regarding him as an immortal being.

In the previous world, Nie Yun gained more than just beautiful women and martial arts skills; his immense fortune greatly enhanced his physique.

The Mysterious Jade Disc also became increasingly agile, allowing him to access some genuine immortal magic.

The sword that had appeared and disappeared earlier was a spatial magic recorded in the Xuanling Jade Disc, called: Hunyuan Heaven and Earth.

This is a method that Fairy Yunxiao comprehended from the Hunyuan Golden Cauldron. When cultivated to a high level, it is comparable to the Qiankun in the sleeve of the Great Immortal Zhenyuan.

As for the method used to remove the filth from Tana, it was a very ordinary dust-removal technique that Nie Yun had just learned, so his speed was still a bit slow.

Once you’ve mastered it, you won’t need to form hand seals; a simple wave of your hand will do the trick.

Tana also noticed the changes in her body. Terrified, she got up, wrapped the blanket around her chest, and asked, “Who…who are you? Where did you come from?”

Nie Yun clapped his hands and said, “From now on, just remember that I am your man—Nie Yun!”

“Nie Yun…”

Tana silently repeated the question to herself several times, then whispered, “Now that you’ve succeeded, what are you going to do with me?”

Nie Yun did not answer, but said to Mao Dongzhu, “Go and write down the cultivation method of the Bone-Melting Palm for me, and give me all the ‘Forty-Two Chapters Sutra’ you have.”

“yes.”

Mao Dongzhu respectfully responded and went to the desk to begin grinding ink and writing.

“The Forty-Two Chapters Sutra?”

Tana exclaimed in surprise and quickly asked, “What do you need the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra for?”

Nie Yun glanced at her and said, “Naturally, we should retrieve the treasures from beyond the Great Wall. Those were things that the Manchu Tartars stole from us Han people, and now it’s time to return them.”

Tana was shocked and said, “No, you can’t do this!”

I…I won’t tell!

“It’s okay, we have plenty of time!”

Nie Yun sat down on the edge of the bed, reached out and pulled her into his arms, refusing to let go no matter how much she struggled. “From now on, you’re mine. I’ll slowly extract this secret from you.”

“Let me go!”

Although Tana had just felt something strange about Nie Yun, she did not give in. “Guards! Save the Empress Dowager! There are assassins!”

Nie Yun watched with a smile as she cried out for help, without doing anything to stop her.

Mao Dongzhu was reciting the Bone-Melting Palm cultivation method from memory when he heard it and became somewhat annoyed. He turned around and said:

“You don’t need to shout anymore. The young master’s methods are unfathomable. Your voice can’t carry at all. No one will come in no matter how much you shout.”

Tana called out several times, but there was still no response outside. After hearing Mao Dongzhu’s words, she felt even more desperate.

“This man is incredibly audacious and highly skilled in martial arts. Even that lowly maid is his subordinate, and he has so many unbelievable methods.”

If he finds out the secret, he will surely destroy the dragon vein, and then the Qing Dynasty’s empire will be ruined…”

Tana made a snap decision and was about to bite her tongue and commit suicide.

Nie Yun, quick-witted and agile, pressed her pressure points and whispered in her ear, “It’s just that shredded sheepskin map, is it really necessary for you to fight so hard!”

Upon hearing this, Tana’s eyes widened in disbelief.

She never expected that Nie Yun already knew this secret.

Nie Yun held her earlobe in his mouth and continued, “For a man who doesn’t love you, for the sake of their Manchu kingdom, you’ve suffered so much all these years. Was it worth it?”

Tana felt a pang of sadness upon hearing this, and tears slowly began to flow.

Nie Yun didn’t make any overly indecent advances. After licking her earlobe, he got up to cover her with the blanket and said:

“You are a pearl on the Horqin Grassland. You should not waste your youth in this cage, and you should not hold on to a man who has never had you in his heart.”

Think it over carefully. I’ll take you out of the palace in a few days. If you’re willing, I’ll send you back to the grasslands!

Leaving the palace… to the grasslands…

A hint of longing and nostalgia flickered in Tana’s eyes, and those beautiful memories suddenly surfaced in her mind.

Could this man bring me the happiness I once thought I would never have again?

“Eternal Heaven, what should I do?”

She silently prayed to the gods, hoping to get an answer.

However, the consecutive orgasms had already exhausted her, and she soon fell into a deep sleep.

Looking at her peaceful sleeping face, Nie Yun smiled and once again made the familiar gesture with his hand.

Nie Yun sat in the chair, looking at the three copies of the “Forty-Two Chapters Sutra” in front of him. The covers were yellow silk, white silk with red borders, and red silk with white borders, which corresponded exactly to the Plain Yellow Banner, Bordered White Banner, and Bordered Red Banner of the Manchu Eight Banners.

Seeing that there was no version of the Bordered Blue Banner from the original work, but instead a version of the Plain Yellow Banner that should have been in Shunzhi’s possession, he asked, “Then Shunzhi is really dead?”

Mao Dongzhu nodded and said, “Back then, in order to seize the ‘Forty-Two Chapters Sutra,’ I assassinated Consort Dong’e. The late emperor was deeply infatuated with that vixen and was naturally heartbroken. In addition, he had been weak since childhood, so he passed away not long after.

When he passed away, the Empress Dowager and I stayed by his side and witnessed him take his last breath.

The Empress Dowager lost her son in middle age and was devastated; I was in charge of all the funeral arrangements.

Nie Yun glanced at her and smiled, “Judging from your tone, you seem to have quite a few feelings for that Shunzhi Emperor…”

Upon hearing this, Mao Dongzhu’s expression changed. She remained silent for a long time, finally letting out a soft sigh before saying:

“In this deep palace, all I see every day is concubines vying for the emperor’s favor. Since I am impersonating the empress, I must also put on an act.”

Although the late emperor disliked the empress, he would still come to stay overnight on the first and fifteenth of the month out of respect for the empress dowager.

Even though his subordinates were ruthless towards him, sometimes they had to pretend to be serious…

My senior brother and I were already in love before entering the palace. After he learned about this, he never blamed me. On the contrary, he cherished me even more and often sneaked into the palace to visit me. I was moved and so… I gave birth to Jianning with him.

To prevent this from being exposed, every time my senior brother and I met, I would try my best to have sexual relations with the late emperor…

Life is like a play, and a play is like life!

Looking at her disappointed expression, Nie Yun felt a pang of emotion.

When he first read the original novel, he was very puzzled by the fake empress dowager’s behavior.

When Hai Dafu revealed that she had killed Prince Rong (son of Consort Dong’e), Consort Dong’e, Consort Zhen (sister of Consort Dong’e), and Empress Xiaokangzhang (Kangxi’s birth mother), she repeatedly called Consort Dong’e and Consort Zhen vixens, and was very resentful of Shunzhi’s decision to become a monk. She was clearly a jealous little woman.

She raised and taught Emperor Kangxi with great care, and never intended to harm him.

In the original novel, Emperor Kangxi himself said, “In the deep palace, the only ones who truly treat me well are probably this woman in front of me and this cunning and mischievous Xiao Guizi.”

If her only goal was to acquire eight copies of the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra, she had absolutely no need to do this.

However, if you look at it from the perspective of loving the house because of its owner, then it becomes understandable.

Hearing her words now, Nie Yun was certain that Mao Dongzhu was most likely taking the role of the empress too seriously.

Seeing that Shunzhi only had eyes for Consort Dong’e and could not let go of anyone else, she could not let go of her jealous nature as a woman and her status as Empress.

Besides wanting to seize the “Forty-Two Chapters Sutra,” she probably also had some intention of revenge when she killed Consort Dong’e, otherwise she wouldn’t have killed Consort Dong’e’s son and sister as well.

Whether it’s his becoming a monk in the original story or his death from illness in this world, it can be said that Shunzhi left because she killed Consort Dong’e.

Having personally seen off the man she had been pretending to like, Mao Dongzhu must have felt terrible. She channeled all her complicated feelings into her love for Kangxi.

Nie Yun changed the subject, saying, “You killed Consort Dong’e to seize the ‘Forty-Two Chapters Sutra,’ but why did you kill Emperor Xiaokang?”

Mao Dongzhu breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Nie Yun was no longer asking questions.

“She was Xuan Ye’s birth mother, so she was naturally closer to the emperor than I was.”

There is already an Empress Dowager in this palace. If there is another Empress Dowager, the subordinates will inevitably be hindered in their work.

Moreover, she was not a docile person; ever since she was honored as Empress Dowager, she had been vying for power and profit, however…

She hesitated for a moment, “When I was about to kill her, I discovered that she was already poisoned. Even if I didn’t kill her, I’m afraid she wouldn’t live for more than a month.”

“oh?”

Nie Yun raised an eyebrow, immediately perking up. “Did you see it clearly?”

Mao Dongzhu nodded and said, “It’s absolutely true. I grew up on… Shenlong Island, and I’ve been exposed to venomous snakes and poisons the most. Her eyebrows are bluish and her lips are purple, which means she has been poisoned.”

She paused, then continued, “Based on my deduction, it is highly likely that the Empress Dowager poisoned it.”

Nie Yun nodded and kept the matter in mind.

It was already midnight. Seeing that Mao Dongzhu looked exhausted, Nie Yun told her to go to the side hall to rest, while he lay down next to Tana, secretly thinking about the next plan.

“Crack! Splash!”

The sturdy square table shattered into a pile of wood chips as if it had been cleaved by a thousand sharp blades.

Mao Dongzhu’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. She had cultivated the Bone-Melting Palm technique to a minor level of mastery at the age of thirty, and felt that she was already quite good.

Unexpectedly, Nie Yun not only learned the Bone-Melting Palm technique in just one night, but also cultivated it to such a profound and unprecedented level.

This morning, Nie Yun simply clapped his hands lightly on the table and chairs, then said to Mao Dongzhu:

“I just used the Bone-Melting Palm technique. This chair will shatter in three quarters of an hour, and this table will take an hour to break. Keep an eye on the time.”

Although Mao Dongzhu didn’t say it, he didn’t believe it at all.

The characteristics of the Bone-Melting Palm are that it contains internal strength, appears soft on the outside, and explodes rapidly. It is an extremely difficult and insidious skill to master.

A person struck by the Bone-Melting Palm will initially feel nothing, but once the palm’s power takes effect, their bones will become as soft as cotton, breaking into pieces everywhere, and their internal organs will rupture, resulting in a terrible and incurable tragedy.

As for when it will strike, that depends on the skill and level of the person performing the attack.

The manual says that once this martial art is mastered to perfection, the palm force can be circulated at will, and the timing of the burst of power after striking a person can be controlled. It can kill instantly or last for a year or two, entirely at one’s own discretion.

However, the manual also uses days or months as units, and never mentions that it can be accurate to the hour or even the minute.

Mao Dongzhu had previously thought it was just an exaggeration, so when she heard Nie Yun’s words, she thought he was joking. She even thought that if the chair didn’t break, she would secretly smash it to save Nie Yun’s face.

Unexpectedly, three quarters of an hour later, the chair disintegrated without warning, perfectly.

Five quarters of an hour later, the table met the same fate.

“Young master is truly a divine being!”

Mao Dongzhu came to her senses and exclaimed in admiration.

Nie Yun smiled without speaking. Most of his palm techniques came from Shaolin and were extremely powerful and fierce. The Bone-Melting Palm was extremely soft and yin. Learning it could improve one’s martial arts cultivation.

If I use this martial art to ambush people in the future, it will be completely undetectable.

“With such great talent, why do you still want to rebel?”

A voice came from behind me.

Nie Yun turned around and saw Tana sitting on the bed, her slightly messy hair covering half of her face, her delicate eyebrows furrowed, and her hands tightly clutching the thin blanket covering her.

At this moment, the anger in her eyes when she looked at Nie Yun was gone, replaced by a look of confusion.

“That’s a strange question!”

Nie Yun came to her side, picked up her black, satin-like hair between his fingers, and twirled and played with it in his hand. “Why did the Manchus invade the Central Plains from beyond the Great Wall and slaughter countless people?”

“The incompetent emperors of the Ming Dynasty caused widespread suffering among the people, but our Great Qing…”

Tana bit her lip and tried to explain herself.

“It’s not your Qing Dynasty, it’s his Qing Dynasty. You are just a woman he reluctantly married because he couldn’t defy his mother.”

Nie Yun interrupted her directly, “A husband who can’t even tell the difference between his wife and his wife in bed, and you still defend him like this? I really don’t know if you’re stupid or just plain stupid.”

Tana’s face turned pale, and she felt as if she had been stabbed in the heart.

Nie Yun turned to Mao Dongzhu and said, “Find a way to get me a map of the Huang Palace; I need it tonight.”

Mao Dongzhu nodded and walked out.

Tana tightened her grip, pulling the blanket up to her neck, and said resentfully, “You’re going to torture me again!”

“No, I’m here to save you!”

Nie Yun rolled over and pinned her down, but did not touch her. He simply looked at her closely and said, “The reason for the previous rebellion was to drive the Manchus back to the border so that the Han people would no longer be oppressed by foreign tribes.”

But now, I have another reason, and that is you.

I want to see Tana riding a horse and singing joyfully on the grasslands, not an empress dowager slowly growing old in a cold, unloved palace.

Tana’s heart skipped a beat, and she almost burst into tears, but she still forced herself to say, “Nonsense! I have a noble status in this palace, live a life of luxury, and do not know how good my life is.”

“If it weren’t for that wretched maid, I would have been enjoying a life of leisure long ago. Why would I need you to save me? What a joke!”

She spoke louder and louder, as if trying to prove herself right.

“Oh? Then why did you keep crying last night and keep calling out ‘Mother, I miss you so much’?”

Nie Yun raised an eyebrow, directly exposing her insincerity.

Tana’s feigned pride vanished instantly, and she stammered, “You… what nonsense are you talking about?”

“I…I didn’t!”

However, she glanced to the side, not daring to meet Nie Yun’s gaze again.

Nie Yun pinched her chin and turned her head around, laughing, “You heard me right, I didn’t sleep a wink last night, I kept looking at you, just like this!”

When Tana met his eyes, she seemed to see the shimmering light on the water under the spring sun, gentle and captivating, mesmerizing.

Before they knew it, their lips slowly drew closer and finally pressed together.