I really don't want to be a traitor

Chapter 554: Training to be like a crane

"Hurrah!"

“That’s great!”

Outside the Jinshen Temple, there were large vats filled with scarlet blood.

The smell of blood wafted inside and outside the palace, making people want to vomit.

Emperor Jiajing in the temple was lying on the dragon bed, his face up to the sky, dancing with excitement.

I’m about to start refining the elixir!

He seemed to see himself regaining his glory and seeing all the heroes in the world kneeling before him.

“Good alchemy!”

"Quickly make the elixir!"

"I have practiced until my body is like a crane, and I have two boxes of scriptures under a thousand pine trees."

"I came to ask Wu Yu, the clouds are in the blue sky and the water is in the bottle!"

Emperor Jiajing looked a little weird and crazy. Even Chen Hong couldn't help but think of some manic patients he had seen before, and he couldn't help but tremble with fear.

Outside the Jinshen Temple, a dozen men who looked like alchemy practitioners were kneeling.

They were people from the former Imperial Master's Mansion and had once worked with Lan Daoxing to refine pills.

After Lan Daoxing's death, the alchemists with higher status in the National Master's Mansion were also implicated and killed.

The dozen or so people who were still alive were of low cultivation and usually only did heavy work such as sweeping and cooking. It was too far-fetched to arrest and interrogate them, so they were released and luckily managed to save their lives.

Even so, they lost their livelihood in the Ming Dynasty, and since everyone was only at the Qi Refining Stage, they once became beggars.

But today, Chen Hong was ordered to come here and ask them to continue making elixirs for His Majesty.

The alchemy practitioners looked at each other, all in a trance.

Alchemy?

They knew each other well and knew that no one could refine the [Nine-Transformation Golden Pill].

Even if the pill recipe was handed to him, he would not dare to refine it.

But looking at the large vats filled with blood and the mountains of spiritual roots and exotic herbs in front of him, as well as the gaze of Emperor Jiajing that was sometimes expectant and sometimes murderous.

"Brother..." A young alchemist swallowed his saliva and said in a trembling voice: "Let's make the elixir!"

"Refine...Refine the elixir?"

The other person who was called senior brother was a little older and his cultivation level was at the fourth level of Qi Refining Stage.

He looked at his junior fellow apprentice in a daze, and then suddenly realized!
If you fail to make the elixir, you will die. If you refuse to make the elixir, you will die even more

In this case, why not try to refine it according to the recipe, what if it works? !

"Okay, okay, okay, let's make the elixir."

When Chen Hong heard that the alchemists were about to start working, he was very happy, and his mouth was as sweet as honey.

The words spoken were particularly kind.

"The gods only care about making elixirs."

"Any work like fetching water, chopping wood, burning fire, or grinding medicine can be handed over to our godsons."

As they were talking, dozens of young eunuchs stood in front of the alchemy practitioners and spoke in unison.

"The servants serve the gods in refining elixirs."

These young eunuchs are not ordinary people. Each of them is an elite, otherwise they would not be worthy of being Chen Hong's godson.

His cultivation level is at least at the Golden Core stage.

The alchemy practitioners who were only at the Qi Refining Stage but were called "immortals" were immediately frightened to the point that their hands and legs became weak.

Chen Hong stood aside, thinking that as a high-ranking eunuch in charge of the imperial seal, he certainly didn't have to do the work of fetching water or chopping wood.

But, if I don’t show some performance in front of His Majesty, am I worthy of living in the palace?

If there is no work, find work for yourself.

"Come a few people."

"Follow me to the blood collection room and pick out a few palace maids with sufficient blood and keep them outside the Jinshen Jingshe."

As soon as Chen Hong finished speaking, seven clever little eunuchs came over.

One of them even smiled flatteringly and said, "Dear father, have you thought of something new to help His Majesty?"

Chen Hong smiled proudly and looked at the young eunuch with admiration.

"The blood collected and put into the jar is all dead blood."

"The blood that has just been released from the body is the active blood."

"It's a big deal to make an elixir. Can dead blood be more useful than living blood vessels?"

"When we serve our master, we must not only use our heart but also our brain. Only then can we serve our master well."

Chen Hong showed off his "experience", which immediately attracted the admiration and flattery of the eunuchs around him.

The so-called blood collection room is actually a remote and cold palace.

Nearly a thousand palace maids were imprisoned here. Even though the cold palace was originally spacious, it became very crowded now.

In particular, Chen Hong's blood collection method was rough and cruel, and had caused the loss of many lives.

Among the surviving palace maids, hundreds were seriously injured or disabled.

As soon as Chen Hong appeared, the incessant crying in the cold palace came to an abrupt end.

Everyone looked at the eunuch.

There is fear, panic, and confusion.

But deep in their eyes, without exception, there is a trace of hatred that goes deep into their bones!

But Chen Hong didn't mind at all.

He sneered and glanced at the palace maids.

"Why are you all so listless?"

"Your health is so poor?"

"Don't forget that you are all slaves in the palace just like us, not concubines of the royal family."

"If there are still able-bodied people, come out sixteen of you and I will take you to serve the Emperor."

After he finished speaking, no one answered.

In the past, these innocent and beautiful female officials and palace maids would have been eager to go to Jinshen Jingshe to serve Emperor Jiajing.

If you are lucky enough to be favored, you will become a phoenix and a concubine, and your life will be completely different from then on.

But right now, who dares to believe what Chen Hong says?
Blood drawing has killed many people.

If I go to Jinshen Jingshe again, I don’t know what terrible things will happen!

"Are you all dead?"

"When I ask you a question, why don't you say a word?"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk."

Chen Hong shook his head.

"The master is usually very good to the servants in the harem."

"You ungrateful people, is this how you repay your master's kindness?"

Most of the palace maids still chose to remain silent.

But in the silent crowd, sixteen figures finally stood out.

They had just gone through the cruel blood drawing, and their faces were pale, but their expressions were resolute.

"it is good!"

"great!"

Chen Hong clapped his hands and laughed.

"Write down their names. I promise to ask the master to reward their families handsomely!"

Although they came forward on their own initiative, Chen Hong still carefully inquired about their family background.

"Yang Jinying, your uncle is Yang Xi, the Imperial Secretary, and a student of Chen Yiqin?"

"Su Chuanyao, your brother is Su Guangjin, the sixth-rank official of the Ministry of Rites, and a disciple of Gao Gong?"

"Liu Miaolian, Guan Meixiang, Huang Xiulian... well, their fathers and brothers all serve as officials in the Prince's Palace."

"Not bad."

"It's because the prince's people have a high level of awareness, and each of you is a female official, your status is much higher than that of a palace maid."

"The ladies-in-waiting are willing to sacrifice themselves. The master will be very pleased if he knows about this. Hahaha!"

In the blood collection room, only Chen Hong's obscene laughter echoed.

No one agreed.

Because even the young eunuchs who came with him were infected by the miserable situation of the palace maids, and were so nervous that they could not speak.

"Let's go!"

Chen Hong flicked his sleeves and led sixteen palace maids away.

The door to the cold palace was closed again.

The remaining ladies-in-waiting and maids were still not free, and could only wait for the next cruel blood-drawing.

Chen Hong returned to the outside of Jinshen Jingshe and saw the alchemists busy with their work. He didn't want to ask about their progress.

But when I saw that several blood vats had been emptied, I thought that the progress was going smoothly.

Considering that the female officials he brought with him were not needed for the time being, he placed them in the empty room next door.

"Master, this slave is back."

Chen Hong walked into the temple to see how the emperor was doing.

On the dragon bed, Emperor Jiajing was lying on his back, seemingly asleep, with a slightly disordered breathing rhythm.

Chen Hong knelt and listened for a while, then boldly stood up and went to the dragon bed to check.

When he saw this, he immediately frowned!
"It's really going downhill." Chen Hong sighed in his heart.

Looking at the skinny Emperor Jiajing with white hair and beard, where is the trace of the former number one man in the world?

It is clearly a sign that one's lifespan has run out and his energy has run out!
Chen Hong himself has now reached the upper level of the Hedao realm. Although he has not yet entered the Mahayana stage, his vision is already extremely high.

"What kind of rubbish formula can those Qi Refining Realm alchemists out there use to make medicine that can really bring the emperor back to life?"

Chen Hong didn't believe it.

Since I didn't believe it, I became more eager to find another way out.

Fortunately, my godson has paved the way for me to go to the Prince's Mansion. I guess the Prince has already had a good impression of me.

"oops!"

"There are sixteen ladies imprisoned in the next room. I am going to bleed them to make medicine!"

"They all have backgrounds in the Prince's Mansion. If they die, will our family offend the Prince?"

Thinking of this, Chen Hong wanted to slap himself!

"These sixteen ladies cannot be touched at all!"

"Let them stay for one night. I'll find an excuse to send them back to the blood collection room tomorrow... Ugh! They can't even go back to the blood collection room. Send them back to where they came from. Don't let them suffer any more!"

Chen Hong was very glad of his quick wit.

He lost interest in the half-dead Emperor Jiajing lying on the dragon bed, and immediately turned around and left the Jinshen Jingshe, calling over a few eunuchs who were responsible for serving the imperial meals.

"Dear father, are you hungry?" asked a young eunuch with a smile on his face.

"I've been fasting for so many years, how can I be hungry?" Chen Hong said unhappily, "Hurry up and go to the imperial kitchen and ask the imperial chef to prepare supper for the sixteen ladies in the next room. Remember, it must be medicinal food that can replenish blood and qi!"

"what?"

"Give them royal food?"

The young eunuch looked bewildered. It was no surprise that Chen Hong dared to command the imperial kitchen without authorization.

This kind of thing is not worth mentioning at all to the eunuch who holds the seal.

He just didn't expect that the sixteen female officials who were treated as medicinal materials were also qualified to serve the imperial meals?

"Stop talking nonsense!" Chen Hong kicked his godson and said in a low voice, "Listen, they are not medicine tonight, but your ancestors from eighteen generations ago! You must serve them carefully, otherwise Dad will fill the medicine jar with your blood tomorrow!"

The young eunuch was so frightened that he trembled all over and immediately ran to the imperial kitchen to prepare the most high-end palace medicinal food.

After half a stick of incense.

The medicinal food was served to the sixteen female officials.

The eunuchs' attitude, which was rude at first but respectful later, also surprised the female officials a little.

They looked at each other, their only worry being that the medicinal food was poisoned.

Finally, the leading female official named Yang Jinying stood up.

"I'll eat first."

"You all watch."

The eunuch who served the food didn't understand why sixteen people didn't eat together.

But Chen Hong had instructed in advance that the sixteen female officials should be served as they would be their ancestors' own grandmothers, and the young eunuch kept this in mind.

Yang Jinying was a heroic woman. Although she came from a scholarly family, she looked like the daughter of a military general.

Her cultivation is also quite good, having reached the seventh level of Golden Elixir.

Yang Jinying tasted all the medicinal foods at a very fast speed, then immediately sat on the ground and began to regulate her breathing and practice qigong.

The most worrying situation, poisoning, did not occur!
On the contrary, the medicinal power of the imperial meal was so strong that it almost completely recovered from the damage caused by blood drawing.

This imperial meal is actually comparable to taking a heavenly-grade elixir!
Yang Jinying opened her eyes and nodded to the fifteen female officials who had known her since childhood and were as close as sisters.

The female officials started eating without any hesitation.

Even Yang Jinying picked up the chopsticks and spoon again and ate heartily without caring about her image.

A sumptuous imperial medicinal meal, enough for thirty people, was gobbled up by fifteen female officials!

"If you need anything else, just tell me." Chen Hong's godson said with a flattering look on his face.

Only those who have lived in the palace for a long time understand what this sentence means.

That is to say, including the chief eunuch Chen Hong, everyone in Jinshen Jingshe wanted to curry favor with him.

why?
Yang Jinying and other palace maids didn't understand what made the eunuchs change their positions so quickly.

But this situation is good!
Compared to the worst-case scenario I had imagined, it seemed like a dream!

"Thank you, father-in-law."

Yang Jinying lowered her head slightly, her expression and tone respectful and humble.

"We don't need anything anymore. We just want to have a quiet night's rest."

People in the palace understand people in the palace best.

What Yang Jinying really meant was that she didn't want to be disturbed, and even more so, she didn't want to be monitored.

If possible, please ask the eunuchs to stay away from this side room where they rest.

This is a presumptuous and even excessive request!

But the young eunuch didn't mind. He just wanted to complete the task assigned by his godfather Chen Hong and serve the sixteen female officials well.

"Please rest assured, ladies. I guarantee that your room will be absolutely quiet tonight. Not even a mosquito will dare to disturb you."

The young eunuch said this and left the side room.

Soon, Yang Jinying discovered that all the eunuchs outside the side room had withdrawn, leaving them with an absolutely quiet and absolutely free night.

I'm afraid that if they leave Jinshen Jingshe now, no one will jump out to stop them!
This is the palace.

This is the rule of the palace.

Serving a small group of people without principles and bottom line is the only rule in the palace from ancient times to the present!
"Incredible..." a female official finally couldn't help but say.

Yang Jinying also fell into a brief silence.

suddenly!

She stood up, her eyes determined.

"Sisters."

Yang Jinying only said three words, and the other fifteen female officials immediately stood behind her.

The look was also resolute, but also showed a determination not to return!

The night is very deep and very quiet.

Sixteen women took off their shoes and socks, and walked barefoot without making any sound, through the side room into the Jinshen Jingshe.

They formed a circle around the dragon bed.

On the bed, the skinny Emperor Jiajing occasionally murmured with pleasure.

"Practice... practice the crane form..."

"A thousand pine trees... two boxes of scriptures..."