Xu Mu entered a state of deep focus, refining pills oblivious to his surroundings. A few hours later, he snapped out of his concentration.
He had managed to produce quite a few pills this time.
Suddenly, he remembered the Fire Dates he had refined earlier; he still hadn't given them to Song Nuanyang.
So, he sent her a message.
Not long after, Song Nuanyang called him, saying she was already at his door.
Xu Mu opened the door and looked at the Song Nuanyang standing before him in surprise.
Song Nuanyang hurriedly covered her slightly flushed cheeks with her hands and asked softly, "Is it really ugly?"
She hadn't powdered her face white like she used to; instead, she revealed her natural wheat-colored skin.
Coupled with her straight black hair and long eyelashes, it gave her a unique kind of sexiness.
It turned out that this skin tone really depended on one's facial features.
"Excessive modesty is just arrogance. How could someone so pretty be ugly?"
Xu Mu asked with a smile.
[Affection +15]
Song Nuanyang's face remained calm, but her heart was already bursting with wild joy.
Growing up, this was the first time someone had praised her for her skin color.
"Here, these are the pills I refined for you. Besides the Fire Dates, I also added Blood Yam to enhance their efficacy."
Xu Mu took out a red pill. "After you take this, there's a high chance you'll break through to the Transcendent Mortal realm."
[Affection +20]
Looking at the pill in her hand, Song Nuanyang's face was filled with gratitude.
If she could really enter the Transcendent Mortal realm, she would owe Xu Mu a massive favor.
"Words cannot express my gratitude. I'll head back first."
Song Nuanyang put the pill away and bid Xu Mu farewell.
After seeing Song Nuanyang off, Xu Mu returned to the house. Looking at the time, Ye Tong should be getting off work soon.
Just then, Xu Mu's phone rang. He took it out and saw it was a call from Fu Jinyu.
"Sister Empress, what's up?"
Xu Mu answered the call and walked toward the living room.
"I have to thank you for your treasures this time. I have good news for you. I finally broke through the mid-stage of the Transcendent Mortal realm, which I've been stuck at for years."
Fu Jinyu tried to keep her tone calm, but her voice still trembled slightly.
"Congratulations."
Xu Mu was genuinely happy for her. After all, Fu Jinyu had experienced a life-and-death situation with him before.
Her advancing to the late stage of the Transcendent Mortal realm would be very beneficial to him.
"Just a simple congratulations?"
Fu Jinyu asked coldly from the other end.
"Holy crap? You used the heavenly treasures I gave you to advance, and you expect me to throw a banquet for you?"
Xu Mu was a bit speechless.
"Sorry, you're right. I'll treat you to a meal next time."
"Just treat me to a cup of milk tea. Keep the milk and the tea separate. After I drink the milk, I want to use your cup to pour the tea."
Xu Mu laughed into the phone.
"Alright, that's a small matter."
Fu Jinyu hung up after saying that.
Xu Mu tossed his phone onto the sofa. He had just stretched when his phone rang again.
He picked it up and saw it was Fu Jinyu again.
"Hello, Sister Empress!"
"Damn you! Just you wait!"
Fu Jinyu hung up again after shouting.
Xu Mu couldn't help but laugh. This Sister Empress was still too innocent. Even after being teased by him for so long, she was still a beat too slow to catch on.
...
Not long after, Ye Tong and Ye Yu returned together.
"Brother-in-law!"
Seeing Xu Mu waiting at home, Ye Yu immediately smiled and pounced on him.
[Affection +10]
Xu Mu caught Ye Yu, spun her around once, and then tossed her onto the sofa.
He walked up to Ye Tong and smiled. "You're back? A bit late today, isn't it?"
"Since Little Yu is starting school soon, I went with her to buy some school supplies."
Ye Tong explained with a smile.
Xu Mu nodded, having completely forgotten that Ye Yu was about to start college.
Just as Ye Tong was about to go make dinner, their doorbell suddenly rang.
Xu Mu swept the area with his perception and couldn't help but frown. Why were those two together?
"I'll get it."
Ye Yu jogged over and opened the front door.
Feng Yue walked in, bringing Shi Fumeng along with her.
"Feng Yue, who is this?"
Ye Tong noticed Shi Fumeng at a glance.
This woman was young and beautiful; she might just be her husband's type.
She looked about the same age as Ye Yu, but the two were completely different types.
Ye Yu was more on the cute side, while Shi Fumeng looked more youthful and radiant.
"You'd better let her explain it herself."
Feng Yue had already planned to let Shi Fumeng take the lead as the guinea pig.
She had relayed what Ye Tong told her to Shi Fumeng. Although she was being quite scheming this time, it was also a disguised way of helping her.
"Are you Xu Mu's wife?"
Shi Fumeng looked at Ye Tong and asked, marveling inwardly.
This woman was so beautiful. No wonder she could be Xu Mu's wife.
"That's right. And you are...?"
Ye Tong asked curiously.
"Could I... become your younger sister? I mean, I want to be Xu Mu's minor wife."
After saying this, Shi Fumeng's cheeks flushed so red she was too embarrassed to face anyone.
However, what Feng Yue said made a lot of sense.
She had previously given Feng Yue a rough account of what happened between her and Xu Mu.
Feng Yue hit the nail on the head immediately, saying she was too honest and shouldn't have been so transparent about certain things.
For instance, the matter of revenge—why bring it up directly?
Doing so made it seem like she was negotiating terms with Xu Mu, and using her body to do so at that. No man would like that.
All she needed to do was peacefully become Xu Mu's woman.
In the future, if they really found her enemies, she wouldn't even need to say anything. Wouldn't a man like Xu Mu avenge his own wife?
Shi Fumeng felt suddenly enlightened, finding Feng Yue's words incredibly reasonable.
Feng Yue also told her that Ye Tong, the main wife, had always wanted Xu Mu to find a concubine, and she was perfectly suited for the role.
Shi Fumeng agonized over it for an hour or two before deciding to go through with it.
She had originally thought of this possibility before coming, so naturally, she didn't mind.
Besides, her mindset was different from Feng Yue's. No matter what, she was a royal member of the Gonggong clan.
She could endure being a concubine; what she couldn't endure was having no official status and being a hidden mistress who couldn't show her face in public.
"Huh? What did you say?"
Hearing this out of the blue, Ye Tong was completely dumbfounded.
Beside her, Ye Yu was also wide-eyed and tongue-tied. What was going on? There was actually a woman volunteering to be a minor wife?
Wait, no. Ye Yu shook her head. She herself was exactly that kind of woman.
But she was Ye Tong's biological sister, so being the younger sister made sense. Who the hell was this woman?
Feng Yue kept her eyes glued to Ye Tong's expression; she had to observe carefully this time.
Whether Ye Tong's previous chat with her was sincere or just deliberate passive-aggressiveness would finally be settled.
"I want to be..."
"Be your grandma!"
Xu Mu frowned from the sidelines. "Shi Fumeng, what the hell are you up to now?"
"Hubby! Don't interrupt, this is between us women."
Ye Tong wore a solemn expression.
She had been searching for so long, and now someone had suddenly showed up on her doorstep, bluntly asking to be a minor wife.
How could she possibly let this opportunity slip by?
"No, honey, she..."
Xu Mu pointed at Shi Fumeng. "Forget it, I won't say it. Shi Fumeng, confess your true identity right now."
He believed that once Ye Tong found out Shi Fumeng was actually an old woman, she would definitely reject her on the spot.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
lan, the Luo family, tracked him down - along with the babies in their arms. Mo Xuan stared pensively at the paternity test results from over a dozen top institutions, both domestic and international, showing a 99.99% match between himself and the two baby girls. At 23, Mo Xuan, a doctoral student, had become the father of two three-year-old children. The kicker? The mothers weren't even the same person! He gradually realized he was being lured step by step into an elaborate trap designed by these two yandere sisters. "Be good, little Xuan. Sister's life belongs to you entirely." "Brother, if you try to run away, I'll have no choice but to tie you up." Mo Xuan: "Do whatever you want, ladies. I give up."
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ts me of treason?" "Correct. The host must return to the capital and gradually build up influence." "Wait—I have half a million soldiers, and you want me to go back to the capital to 'build influence'?" "Host, you are currently the Northern Garrison General, loyal to the Great Xia Dynasty." "Of course I am loyal to Great Xia! Absolutely loyal!" "But you keep referring to yourself as 'We'..." "Never mind the details! Summon all the regional commanders and military officers! We suspect treacherous officials are manipulating the court! They shall march with Us to the capital and purge the corrupt!" "......"
