northernbook Chapter 163 The Useless Prince's Power Seizure (41)
Chapter 163 The Useless Prince's Power Seizure (41)
This time, 6058's emergence has also uncovered some inherent problems in this world.
[6058: All resources are controlled by the imperial power, class divisions are solidified, and these resources flow down the power network, with the most insignificant commoners becoming the sacrifices.]
[6058: These common people were exploited on one hand, and relied on imperial power for survival on the other. The popular folk tales all told stories of people who entered the palace, gained the favor of nobles, and lived lives of wealth and luxury.]
[Jingli: That's why they were sold into the army during the spring hunt.]
[6058: That's correct.]
The previous two worlds had a relatively high degree of freedom, and there were also many people who pursued power and wealth.
With the upward mobility channels in this world blocked, this pursuit will only become more frenzied.
Not to mention, imperial power was also associated with "gods".
Temples dedicated to the gods are scattered throughout the countryside. It is said that as long as one sincerely worships, one may move the gods and gain extraordinary encounters.
And that seems to be the case.
Every now and then, "divine intervention" would occur, such as a gambler finding a bag of silver, a seriously ill person living a few more days, or a hungry person receiving alms from a kind person and having a full meal.
These "miracles" are merely small favors bestowed by the power of the world, yet they have undeniably changed the fates of these people.
The more devout a gambler is, the better, but in the end, they will empty their pockets and their families will be ruined.
The seriously ill pray more sincerely, hoping to alleviate their pain, but they cannot live and cannot die.
The starving are grateful to the gods, waiting for their prey to come to them, begging along the streets, and harboring hatred as they leave their corpses to rot in the streets.
Jingli barely understood the contradictions among the people outside the city, and why this dark shadow that blotted out the sky had come.
Unable to satisfy their catalyzed desires, people can only place their hopes on so-called faith and so-called miracles.
[6058: I also found some information in some picture books about Yu An's father, Yu Yin.]
Jingli listened attentively.
[6058: After he left the palace, he didn't just sit idly by.]
[6058: When he fled to Jiangnan, he realized the cage of power and tried to lead the people there to self-sufficiency and seek a new way to survive.]
[6058: This actually echoes the original timeline. In the original timeline, Yu Yin succeeded to the throne and developed agriculture and light industry in the Jiangnan region, which boosted local development and exports.]
However, he failed in this timeline.
This may represent a clash between world consciousness and pseudo-world consciousness.
Jingli quietly watched the piglets swimming in the "divine water," feeling slightly depressed.
But he quickly regained his composure.
[Jingli: Their power won't last much longer.]
The slow-acting poison has been administered, the array formations existing in this world have all surfaced, and Jingli's status as the crown prince is now a certainty.
The next step is to integrate resources and wait for the right opportunity.
Jingli retrieved the piglets from the "divine water" and put them back into the system.
Then, he took out nine talismans that sealed the shadows and arranged them around the "divine water".
[Keiri: Let's test the waters here.]
As soon as he finished speaking, the nine talismans vanished as if they had disappeared.
The next day, Jingli used the excuse that she was too tired from being out and gathered her three companions to set off back to the palace.
Inside the carriage, Yu An looked around and asked softly, "Your Highness, your little bird..."
"Shh," Jingli gestured for silence, "it's right next to me."
Yu An didn't see the bird and was a little puzzled, but he kept quiet and didn't mention it again.
Five days later, the bird appeared in Jingli Palace once again.
Yu An was secretly surprised. It seemed that the opportunity that the young prince had obtained was quite remarkable.
Jingli met Shangyu An's gaze, narrowed her eyes, and smiled at him.
At this moment, 6058 was frantically pecking at the water in the small white porcelain birdcage.
In reality, the bird's body was merely a vessel for him; as long as his spirit existed, he would be fine even without food or water.
But today is a bit special.
[6058: Flying this far, I'm exhausted! Silly boy, Mommy has a suggestion for you, how about we... research a spatial talisman?]
After careful consideration, Jingli finally replied: "With my abilities... it seems unlikely."
Then, he said seriously, "I'll try harder! I'll look into it a bit more, maybe I can do it in the future!"
6058 was joking at first, but seeing how serious he was, he laughed along.
【No need, this Swiftness Talisman is still very useful!】
Jingli, however, fell into deep thought.
If they could truly understand the power of space, perhaps they could also gain some control over traversing smaller worlds.
Seeing that he was lost in thought, 6058 called out again in the system.
[6058: Little Fish, snap out of it. Everything that needed to be done at the palace has been done. Can you check if there's any reaction from this cold spring?]
Jingli nodded, gestured for Yu An to step back, and then went to Lengquan alone.
He had previously left talismans near the "divine water" in the palace, but he wouldn't be foolish enough to release those shadowy figures on the day he left.
Releasing too many shadows at once might alert the emperor, while releasing too few might affect him due to the formation, making it impossible for him to see the effect.
Therefore, after leaving Jingli, 6058 remained by the water wearing an invisibility cloak, controlling the movement of the shadows to ensure they were slowly released and dissolved into the divine water.
At the same time, 6058 also had a backup plan.
After the shadowy figure was fully released, he left behind a spark, which ignited a clump of trees next to the "divine water".
In this way, if the emperor really sensed something was wrong, he could explain it away by saying that the fire had brought in something unclean.
Jingli also set up an illusion array at Shenshui. After 6058 confirmed the fire, he gave Jingli a signal, and Jingli then removed the array.
By the time the palace staff discovered it, the area around Shenshui was already engulfed in flames.
6058 stayed until the palace servants extinguished the fire, ensuring that no innocent people were harmed, before finally flapping its wings and returning.
Whether it was the effect of the world consciousness or the pseudo-world consciousness that discovered something, just as the fire was subsiding, a bolt of purple lightning suddenly struck down from the sky.
As luck would have it, the lightning struck the tree where 6058 was hiding.
However, the 6058 bird was small and more agile with the help of the speed talisman. The lightning didn't strike it, but instead ignited a new sea of fire.
That's great, now we don't even need to find an excuse to commit fire.
The flight back was absolutely exhausting!
Thunder rumbled in the air; it might rain soon.
Jingli withdrew her gaze from Lei Yun, wrapped the little piglet in energy, and put it into the cold spring, her pink eyes lighting up at the same time.
The "roots" growing from the round jade inside the piglet's body were still intertwined, and Jingli calmed down, carefully sensing this control.
As he suspected, the control seemed weaker than before.
Yu An, who was sitting on the eaves, sat up straight.
Just now, he felt a mysterious power. He clenched his fist and frowned—his strength didn't seem to have changed much.
He looked at Jingli again.
Every time the young prince comes to soak in the cold spring, a little pig will always appear out of thin air, but he himself never goes in.
It's the same today.
The difference is that today he showed off his pink eyes.
Those pink-eyed princesses had once shone brightly before him, and their appearance differed depending on whether they were seen from afar or up close.
His young prince, standing beside the misty, cold spring, was like a banished immortal.
Perhaps, the mysterious feeling I had just experienced came from him.
At this moment, the young prince had already gotten up from the small spring beside him, and the little piglet disappeared without a trace as he waved his hand.
Yu An smiled and shook his head.
When he first saw it, he was worried that the guards might see it.
Looking back now, I realize that this scene was probably only visible to myself.
only myself.
Upon hearing those four words, Yu An felt a sudden itch in his heart.
Jingli also heard the announcement from the counterfeit system.
[Congratulations, host! Mission target's favorability +3.]
[Affection Level: 156/200, Second Stage Goal: 200 (Note: Affection level cap will increase as the mission progresses)]
Since Yu An's favorability rating broke through the second stage, it has been increasing by two or three points every now and then.
Whenever this happens, Jingli knows that Yu An is watching him.
There hasn't been much movement in the corruption value yet, but it might be brewing something big.
After all, Lang Yue's situation hadn't been communicated to Yu An yet.
With that thought in mind, Jingli happily draped a cotton towel over herself and left the area around the cold spring.
As expected, Yu An came forward before Jing Jing and wrapped up Jing Li's wet hair ends.
Jingjing stood by, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
After his trip, His Highness and Xiao An's relationship has grown even better. If Her Majesty knew this, she would be even more at ease.
·
Just as Jingli was drying her hair and preparing to rest, the emperor in the bedchamber suddenly opened his eyes.
"Eunuch Wan!"
"Your Majesty, the servant is here."
The emperor's urgent call was so urgent that Eunuch Wan knew what was going on without even asking.
Eunuch Wan immediately picked up a lamp, the two exchanged a glance, and hurriedly walked towards the secret passage.
"There's something wrong with the holy water."
Before even reaching the location of the formation, the emperor spoke first.
Eunuch Wan was startled: "But it's the Third Prince..."
"No, Li'er has been back for several days, and he went to Lengquan today. I did not notice anything unusual."
"That is……"
Before Eunuch Wan could finish speaking, the emperor began to cough uncontrollably.
Eunuch Wan said with a worried expression, "Your Majesty, please rest well these days. The Third Prince is still young, so please don't hurt him... his health."
The emperor coughed so hard he couldn't speak, but he simply raised his hand slightly to signal Eunuch Wan not to say anything more.
It took him a long time to recover, his face flushed an unnatural red from the violent coughing.
"I have already consulted the imperial physician to examine your pulse." He shook his head. "It seems your body is still a bit weak."
He had experienced this feeling of helplessness before, so he knew what it meant. He didn't say anything more and sat down in the formation once again.
This formation was personally set up by a celestial being when he descended to earth, and it can help him fight against fate.
Therefore, this formation must not go wrong.
He frowned as soon as he sat down.
"With the great formation broken, the vitality in the eastern corner is extremely unstable."
Wan Gonggong understood and replied, "This servant will immediately send someone to investigate; something must have happened."
After speaking, he cautiously looked at the emperor: "Your Majesty, is there any repercussions?"
The emperor shook his head: "The power has only been slightly weakened. The formation set up by the gods would not be so fragile."
Grandpa Wan nodded, took out a piece of paper, wrote something down, and put it into the secret passage where he had previously taken out the box.
The emperor sat in the center of the formation, vaguely sensing that something was different, but since there was a problem with one of the sacred waters, it was to be expected that something would be different.
With this in mind, the emperor held his breath and sat in the formation for another half an hour.
·
Beyond the world, on a nearly pure black sphere, several vortexes constantly surged and receded, attempting to encroach upon the few translucent areas on it.
However, one of the vortices suddenly disappeared.
The man next to the sphere cursed under his breath: "Damn it!"
He tried to sense the world through the puppets, but found that the vortex seemed to have been destroyed because of his overreaction.
"Gods above..."
He murmured to himself, but his hand merely turned the sphere around, concealing the vanishing vortex from view.
"The power of the gods is boundless; we will ultimately triumph."
It's as if I'm hypnotizing myself.
·
The next day, after the emperor finished his court session, he summoned Jingli to his presence.
Seeing the dark circles under his eyes, Jingli felt a slight stirring in his heart, but his face remained respectful as he cupped his hands to the emperor and said, "Father."
"Li'er, come here."
The emperor beckoned, and Jingli went to his side and knelt at his knees.
The emperor's large hand gently stroked Jingli's head, giving Jingli an inexplicable feeling of being licked by a wild beast.
The emperor looked at him with pity and asked:
“Li’er, do you know that a natural disaster has occurred where the eastern palace is located?”
Jingli thought to herself: They really came.
He looked puzzled and pondered, "The imperial palace in the east? Which imperial palace?"
The emperor laughed and said, "That was the last place you rested before returning to the palace."
Jingli frowned at the opportune moment and asked with concern, "Has something happened? What are the losses?"
The emperor laughed and said, "Why don't you ask if anyone is injured?"
Jingli pouted: "What do I care about those palace servants? There are plenty of people who want to enter the palace. If they get injured, we can just replace them."
The emperor smiled and shook his head, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
"The losses are considerable. First there was the lightning strike and the flood, then the landslide." The emperor paused. "That palace collapsed halfway."
Jingli stared wide-eyed at the emperor, seemingly oblivious to the implications of the statement.
In fact, he was also quite shocked.
When 6058 returned, it only brought news that the lightning strike had aggravated the fire, but unexpectedly, a landslide also occurred!
The emperor sighed softly and said, "A house can be repaired if it collapses, but that divine water..."
Jingli straightened her back at the right moment; this time, she wasn't acting, she was genuinely curious.
They set the fire earlier only as a pretext to confuse the emperor about his experience of absorbing the divine water mixed with the shadows; they had no real hope of destroying the formation.
But hearing the emperor say that, perhaps...?
Jingli concealed the expectation in her eyes, replacing it with worry: "Divine water..."
"The place where the sacred water was located has collapsed."
Jingli's eyes trembled slightly.
It just...collapsed like that?
Jingli really didn't know how to react, so she simply followed her shock and asked in surprise, "Then... what about the divine water?"
The emperor shook his head: "No more."
He didn't see any flaws in Jingli's reaction, so he lifted Jingli up and let her lean against his dragon throne.
"This divine water is the sweet rain that fell when the gods descended. There are only a few places in the world where it is found," the emperor said slowly. "The less there is, the less divine power it possesses."
He gave Jingli a deep look, his words laced with seduction: "Li'er, you must have felt the power of that divine water. If you want to reach the same level as before, you'll probably have to rely on repeated use to make up for it."
Jingli nodded: "Li'er knows, Li'er soaks in that pool for a long time every day."
"Good boy."
·
[Mini-drama - How Gods Live Off Women]
Yu Yuanyuan: My wife is so beautiful...
Yu Yuanyuan: Huh? Power? It's back!
Yu Yuanyuan: (Thinking deeply) (Suddenly realizing how clever she was)
Yu Yuanyuan: My dear wife! Please grant me strength!
Fish: Making soft rice...