Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Chapter 237 has been discovered.

Under the cool moonlight, Chen Wanrong, dressed in a long black dress, sat gracefully in the pavilion. Even though she was wearing simple black clothes, she still radiated a fairy-like glow.

The moonlight shone on her, highlighting her icy demeanor, and the surrounding temperature seemed to drop considerably; the benches and stone table inside the pavilion appeared to be covered in frost.

Chen Wanrong rarely wore black clothes. She wore this plain black dress today mainly to sneak into the Northern Prince's mansion at night.

Her white clothes were too conspicuous, so they specially asked someone to make her a plain black dress.

The Gu worm of the Love Gu is about to hatch, so Chen Wanrong is trying to use the Gu on Lu Chen in advance. Since Lu Chen has already taken the powder of the male Love Butterfly, his feelings for her should have deepened.

If it were possible to administer a love potion to Lu Chen beforehand, that would be ideal. However, if Lu Chen's feelings for her were not yet strong enough to warrant administering a love potion, it would be equally worthwhile to let the worms become familiar with Lu Chen's scent beforehand.

As the moon rose to the center of the sky, Chen Wanrong got up and headed to where Lu Chen might be.

She had already asked Lin Wanyun to find out that Lu Chen had been working on government affairs in his study until very late every night recently, so Chen Wanrong went to the study first.

at the same time.

Xiao Huan, the maid who was guarding the study, was walking towards the courtyard gate so as not to disturb Lu Chen and to keep watch for him.

The maid Xiao Huan had already realized that not many people in the inner courtyard knew about Lu Chen and Lin Wanyun's affair. In addition, since Lu Chen and Lin Wanyun always did those things secretly in the study, she believed that Lu Chen probably didn't intend to let more people know.

As one of Lu Chen's personal maids, she naturally had to keep Lu Chen's secret and keep watch for him.

However, as soon as Xiao Huan reached the entrance of the courtyard, everything suddenly went black, and she lost consciousness and fainted.

After knocking Xiao Huan unconscious, Chen Wanrong placed her against the inner wall of the courtyard. Then, she used the technique her master had taught her to conceal her aura. The next moment, she seemed to blend into the courtyard.

Chen Wanrong then went to the window of the study and heard a woman's voice coming from inside. Chen Wanrong's eyebrows lifted slightly.

If there were other people in the study, it wouldn't be so easy for her to use a curse on Lu Chen.

Although it's unlikely she can use the Gu poison tonight, she can still let her cultivated Gu worms become familiar with Lu Chen's aura. In a few days, she'll think of a way to lure Lu Chen into her courtyard and then use the love Gu on him.

Thinking of this, Chen Wanrong raised her slender hand and gently poked a small hole in the paper window of the study, then looked into the room with one eye.

When she looked into the study, she froze, her mind went blank, and a look of astonishment appeared on her usually expressionless face.

She never expected that Lin Wanyun would be in the study, and that she had such a relationship with Lu Chen.

How could this happen...?

Chen Wanrong's usually cold expression turned somewhat unpleasant; she couldn't accept what she was seeing.

At that moment, the sound of two people talking could be heard coming from inside the study.

"Wanyun, how have you become so shameless?"

"You really want to get pregnant with my child?"

"If Miss Chen saw you like this, I wonder what she would think. Why don't we just tell her about our relationship sooner rather than later?"

Hearing Lu Chen's insults, Lin Wanyun protested with dazed eyes:

"No...don't..."

Upon hearing their conversation, Chen Wanrong's face darkened, and the surrounding air seemed to drop by more than ten degrees, with frost appearing on the windows.

At this moment, Chen Wanrong felt betrayed. The usually dignified and elegant Lin Wanyun had actually become like this. She had never seen Lin Wanyun like this before. She even suspected that the woman in the room was not Lin Wanyun, but some vixen in disguise.

Chen Wanrong was unaware that Lu Chen had already reached the Grandmaster realm. Although she had learned the technique of concealing her aura from her master, a Grandmaster's perception far surpasses that of an ordinary martial artist.

When Chen Wanrong arrived at the courtyard where the study was located, Lu Chen had already sensed her presence. However, he didn't care about her arrival at all. On the contrary, her arrival only aroused his beastly nature, making him even more brutal.

Unlike Lu Chen, Lin Wanyun was completely unaware of Chen Wanrong's arrival. At this moment, her mind was blank, and she had long forgotten even her own surname.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Wanrong finally left the study.

After returning to her courtyard, she was still in a daze. The scenes that had just happened in the study were still assaulting her mind. She simply couldn't understand why Lin Wanyun would betray her, become Lu Chen's woman, and commit adultery with him in the study.

After the Chen Kingdom was destroyed, she escaped from the Chen capital. If she hadn't met Lin Wanyun, she would likely have died.

It was Lin Wanyun who brought her to Xuan Yue Palace and treated her like her own daughter. Her growth to where she is today and her current status are entirely inseparable from Lin Wanyun.

She never imagined that Lin Wanyun would betray her one day.

But now...

Chen Wanrong suddenly felt a throbbing in her heart, and her body became unsteady. She quickly braced herself against the stone table, then sat upright in the pavilion and adjusted her internal energy.

After a while, the chaotic internal energy within Chen Wanrong's body calmed down, and Chen Wanrong herself also calmed down.

She was blinded by anger at the betrayal and couldn't think rationally for a moment.

But things are different now. After calming down, she began to analyze why Lin Wanyun did such a thing and why she had an affair with Lu Chen.

She still couldn't believe that Lin Wanyun would betray her. After all, they were like mother and daughter, and she didn't believe that all of Lin Wanyun's previous feelings for her were fake.

If Lin Wanyun didn't betray him, but instead chose to do *that* with Lu Chen, then it's highly likely that she was only doing it to poison Lu Chen, which is why she had to sacrifice her beauty to get close to him.

Thinking of this, Chen Wanrong was startled.

Thinking about it this way, Lin Wanyun did all this for me, and I actually doubted her just now?

Thinking of this, Chen Wanrong felt a deep sense of guilt.

To take care of her, Lin Wanyun still doesn't have a Daoist partner. Lin Wanyun is in her thirties this year. She is also a woman and has needs.

Chen Wanrong knew very well that any woman in the inner courtyard of the Prince's mansion who had even the slightest connection with Lu Chen would easily fall for him. She had long heard the maids and servants of the Prince's mansion gossip about Lu Chen's amazing qualities.

Lin Wanyun had suppressed her feelings for decades, and when she suddenly came into contact with such a handsome man, who was also very good at dealing with women, it's not surprising that she turned into the way she just now.

Although Chen Wanrong had no experience with matters between men and women, she was, after all, the mistress of Xuan Yue Palace, and she had some understanding of these things.

Xuan Yue Palace does not prohibit its disciples from finding Daoist partners; at most, it stipulates that disciples cannot have children. Moreover, in order to prevent disciples from becoming pregnant due to matters between men and women, Xuan Yue Palace's library contains some books on matters between men and women, especially on contraception, which Chen Wanrong had learned about before.

At this moment, the air in the courtyard seemed to grow colder and colder, and Chen Wanrong's face also grew colder and colder, as if her body was releasing cold air into the surroundings.

Her dignified and virtuous Aunt Lin had been treated like an animal by that man. Even though she understood that Lin Wanyun might have done all this for her own sake, she still couldn't forgive Lu Chen.

She had been standing at the study door for a while, eavesdropping on their conversation. Judging from their words, it was clear that this wasn't the first or second time they had engaged in illicit relations.

Moreover, Lu Chen's purpose was not pure. He didn't just want to possess Lin Wanyun's body; his real goal was to get her pregnant with his child, which was a major taboo in Xuan Yue Palace.

Besides, Lin Wanyun is already in her thirties, and Lu Chen still wants her to have his child. Is this man obsessed with procreation?

If he wants to have offspring so badly, once she succeeds in restoring her kingdom, she will lock him in her palace and find him hundreds of palace maids so that he can have offspring every day.

Thinking of this, Chen Wanrong clenched her fists.

A strange emotion arose within her, one she herself did not know what it was. This emotion made her somewhat irritable, and even though she had calmed down just moments before, that irritability quickly returned to her mind.

Chen Wanrong adjusted her internal energy once again, trying to stabilize her emotions.

And so, Chen Wanrong sat in the pavilion all night, while Lin Wanyun was scolded in Lu Chen's study all night.

As the first rays of sunlight touched the earth in the early morning, an exhausted Lin Wanyun returned to the courtyard. As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw Chen Wanrong in the pavilion.

Having just committed a misdeed, Lin Wanyun immediately felt guilty upon seeing Chen Wanrong. She tried her best to act as if nothing had happened and walked towards her room.

But just then, Chen Wanrong asked, "Aunt Lin, where did you go last night?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Wanyun stopped in her tracks, her mind momentarily blank.

After regaining her senses, Lin Wanyun immediately lied and said, "It was my shift last night."

Chen Wanrong glanced at Lin Wanyun's slightly disheveled hair and her somewhat torn dress, but she ultimately held back and did not ask any further questions.

From childhood to adulthood, Lin Wanyun had almost never lied to her, but because of that man, she lied to her, which made Chen Wanrong feel somewhat sad.

Seeing Chen Wanrong's icy face, Lin Wanyun felt a little flustered. She couldn't help but wonder if Chen Wanrong had sensed something.

Just as Lin Wanyun was thinking this, Chen Wanrong said calmly, "Aunt Lin, why don't you go and rest first?"

Then Chen Wanrong closed her eyes and continued meditating.

Seeing that Chen Wanrong didn't say anything, Lin Wanyun breathed a sigh of relief. She had thought that Chen Wanrong had discovered something, which had startled her.

Lin Wanyun then returned to her room, had her maid bring water, took a bath, and went straight to sleep.

at the same time.

On the other side, Lu Chen, feeling refreshed, came out of the study and saw his maid, Xiao Huan, leaning against the courtyard wall.

Lin Wanyun was the first to come out of the study. She also saw Xiao Huan, but she thought Xiao Huan was asleep leaning against the courtyard wall. It was common for maids to doze off. In addition, she needed to hurry back to take a bath so that no one would find out that she and Lu Chen had that kind of relationship. So she ignored Xiao Huan.

Lu Chen walked directly to Xiao Huan and then used the Rejuvenation Hand to wake her up.

After waking up, Xiao Huan looked at Lu Chen with sleepy eyes. The next moment, her eyes widened suddenly, and she jumped up from the ground.

"Your Highness...this servant...this servant..."

Xiao Huan didn't know how to explain. She was afraid that Lu Chen would suspect that she had fallen asleep last night.

"Your Highness, someone knocked me unconscious last night, I..."

Xiao Huan was about to cry. She didn't know who wanted to harm her, knocking her unconscious and leaving her here. How could she explain this now?

Lu Chen said with a smile, "I know who knocked you out. You don't need to explain further. Don't tell anyone about this."

Hearing Lu Chen's words, Xiao Huan was stunned. She didn't expect Lu Chen to know who did it. But since Lu Chen said so, she should not be punished. Thinking of this, Xiao Huan breathed a sigh of relief.

Lu Chen then turned and walked towards the main courtyard. He planned to take a bath and have breakfast before going to the council hall. Today, he still needed to finalize the division of counties in the Northern Kingdom, and there was still a lot to do.

As for Chen Wanrong coming to the study last night, Lu Chen wasn't worried that it would cause any trouble. Chen Wanrong's favorability towards him was already at 100%, so even if she saw him criticizing Lin Wanyun, she wouldn't hate him.

The matter between Chen Wanrong and Lin Wanyun should be left to the two women to resolve themselves.

When Lu Chen finished his bath and breakfast and arrived at the Council Hall, most of the officials from the Northern Kingdom had already arrived.

Lu Chen wasted no time. He took out the map drawn by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and hung it on the pillar of the main hall. Then he let the officials speak freely. He would listen to how the officials wanted to divide the area first, and then he would decide how to divide it.

After a morning of discussion, the new map of the Northern Kingdom was finally determined to be divided into six prefectures and eighteen counties, with all the grasslands from Tianguang City to Dayu City being incorporated into the Northern Kingdom.

After the map was finalized, Lu Chen roughly calculated the area. Excluding the Northern Kingdom, the area of ​​the entire Northern Kingdom now exceeded that of the entire Great Xia Dynasty.

Of course, the Northern Kingdom was also nominally part of the Great Xia Dynasty, so this can be considered a territorial expansion of the Great Xia Dynasty.

After finalizing the map of the Northern Kingdom, Lu Chen made no attempt to hide it. The Northern Kingdom was originally unclaimed territory, and if one wanted to occupy it, one had to assert sovereignty.

In the following days, the Northern King's Palace issued a notice informing the people of the Northern Kingdom that the Northern Lands had been incorporated into the Northern Kingdom. Lu Chen also personally wrote a memorial and submitted it to the Great Xia Dynasty.

I recommend a book called "Is It Reasonable for a Stunt Performer to Do Crazy Things?" Having amazing skills isn't real talent; it's all about creative and outrageous antics.

(End of this chapter)