His face was radiant and his voice was full of energy; there was not a trace of old age in him.
Before the old emperor, a eunuch was kneeling respectfully on the ground, reporting something to him. This eunuch was none other than Chang Fu, the Grand Eunuch.
"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has been imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison. Apart from refusing to hand over the Dragon Pearl, he has made no other moves. It seems he has resigned himself to his fate and is probably no match for the Second Prince's influence."
Chang Fu spoke in a high-pitched voice, his tone full of regret.
"The eldest son should be chosen as heir. If it weren't for that second son harboring treacherous intentions, I would truly be... Alas..."
Hearing Chang Fu's words, the old emperor sighed with a hint of disappointment.
"On Your Highness's side, a powerful aura went there last night. We didn't hear any information, but the aura was familiar. It seems that only the Great Chu side could send someone of such strength to negotiate with it."
“Just now, Commander Yan came to relieve His Highness’s personal guards and activated the previously laid restriction formation—the Nine Palaces Luohe Formation. I have already ordered someone to secretly tamper with it, and once it is activated, it can be countered in an instant.”
After the old emperor finished speaking, Changfu honestly reported everything he had said. The old emperor seemed unsurprised, as if he had expected it, and simply looked thoughtful.
Only Gu Yifeng was startled and almost cried out. Although he covered his mouth in time, a trace of panic still escaped his lips.
Before he could react, the old emperor looked directly in his direction, his gaze fixed on the invisible Chang Fu. Chang Fu also stood up alertly, following the old emperor's gaze.
"Who is it! I have found you! Why aren't you coming out? Do you want me to capture you myself?!"
The old emperor's eyes flickered uncertainly, and his aura instantly spread out. His late-stage Opening Mansion Realm aura was almost suffocating, and the many palace maids and eunuchs serving him knelt down on the ground, not daring to breathe.
Gu Yifeng was naturally intimidated by the pressure. If he hadn't taken the Body Tempering Pill earlier, which had boosted his cultivation, he would be just like those palace maids and eunuchs now.
Even so, he could only manage to maintain his standing posture, tightly wrapping his cloak to prevent it from falling off and revealing his figure.
The air seemed to freeze for a moment before the old emperor's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly, and his oppressive aura dissipated, allowing everyone to breathe a sigh of relief.
Seeing that the emperor had relaxed, Chang Fu knelt down in front of him again, looking nervous.
"Your Majesty, were there any thieves just now?"
Chang Fu asked, his voice trembling slightly. The emperor's authority was unpredictable, and even the Grand Eunuch had to be aware of this matter at all times.
"Perhaps the recent overcast skies have confused my senses, causing me to misperceive. It's alright, please continue."
The old emperor waved his hand, then glanced around twice to make sure no one was there before sitting back down on the dragon bed and speaking slowly.
"Yes. The entire palace is now under His Majesty's surveillance. Apart from the Imperial Prison, which is guarded by His Majesty's personal guards, the Second Prince has already infiltrated about 70-80% of the other areas."
Upon hearing this, Chang Fu composed himself and quickly recovered from his panic, continuing to report to the old emperor.
"So, the second son's skills are a perfect ten, but unfortunately, his collusion with foreign enemies earns him at most a three. Changfu, remember this: now, how many points do these three rebellious sons have?"
The old emperor remained expressionless upon hearing this, simply waving his sleeve as he spoke.
"Your Majesty, His Highness the Crown Prince has a score of 60, placing him last; His Highness the Second Prince has a score of 80, placing him first; and His Highness the Third Prince has a score of 70, placing him second."
Upon hearing this, Chang Fu quickly took out a booklet from his wide sleeve, flipped through it, and then spoke.
Upon hearing this, the old emperor said nothing more, but simply closed his eyes and rested. Changfu naturally bowed and withdrew.
"Hiss... What a clever scheme. Such scheming, just to choose someone to inherit the throne? Being an emperor really requires cunning."
Gu Yifeng thought to himself that he had recovered after the emperor dispelled his oppressive aura, and to be on the safe side, he did not leave immediately.
As it turned out, this choice was correct. The old emperor did not pursue the matter, and he was safe. When he saw the scoring system, although he was astonished, it was exactly what he wanted.
As long as no one relies on him, he, as the crown prince, can stay in the imperial prison and develop his power in a lowly manner.
Gu Yifeng silently followed Chang Fu out of the Taihe Hall. With this two-faced lackey clearing the way, he returned to the Heavenly Prison without encountering any obstacles.
As for the Second Prince, he believed that the Grand Eunuch would definitely have ways to make him abandon the foolish idea of taking action tonight.
After removing his invisibility cloak and putting away his stand-in doll, Gu Yifeng stretched and yawned, taking advantage of the remaining one or two hours to get a good night's sleep and recuperate.
He took another bite of the black cornbread and then lay down on the weeds to sleep.
...
Nothing happened that night, and when Gu Yifeng woke up, it was already dawn.
The prison is dark, but the time can be determined by the chilly atmosphere inside.
Without the slightest hesitation, Gu Yifeng summoned the system and began checking in.
"Congratulations, host, for completing the daily check-in in the Great Heavenly Prison and receiving one Soul Summoning Stone and one bottle of Body Tempering Pill."
The system's cold voice echoed in his mind, and with a flash of light, a dark stone and a jade bottle fell into his arms.
"A soul-summoning stone? Interesting."
Looking at the stone, Gu Yifeng's lips curled up. He was just wondering how to make his second brother suffer a setback, and this system really was like a pillow delivered just when he was sleepy.
"System, system! Tell me how to use this stone first."
Gu Yifeng was too lazy to study this thing, so he directly called out to the system. He felt that it would be a disservice to his identity as a transmigrator if he didn't use his cheat system.
"When in doubt, channel your spiritual energy. Don't you know this basic cultivation knowledge?"
The system muttered a speechless complaint, then fell silent.
"Damn it, is this how you treat your host? Wait..."
Upon hearing this, Gu Yifeng instinctively retorted and wanted to say something harsh, but when he thought about his situation without the system, the rest of his words got stuck in his throat.
The feeling of having a fishbone stuck in his throat was unpleasant, so he could only shift his attention to the palm-sized, dark stone.
"Hopefully you'll be of some use; summon some useful souls."
Gu Yifeng muttered incoherently, and then his spiritual energy surged forth and poured into the stone.
With the activation of spiritual power, the originally dark stone instantly lit up with streaks of eerie blue light, slowly floating in mid-air, emanating a chilling aura as if it had emerged from a frigid hell.
Before Gu Yifeng could speak, a majestic voice emanated from the stone and reached his ears:
"Using spirit as a guide, one can summon the spirits within a ten-mile radius, without any choice; using blood as a guide, one can summon the spirits within a twenty-mile radius, and can call upon the spirits of one's blood relatives, or choose spirits with names and surnames to appear."
Hearing this, he was even more shocked. He never expected that the Soul Summoning Stone would have such a powerful function, able to summon the spirits within a ten-mile radius using spiritual power as a catalyst.
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