Chapter 191: Chapter 187: What on Earth Happened That Night?
 

Prince Liang Chu was overjoyed when he learned of the effects of the Willpower Empowerment Talisman, as if he had received divine assistance.

Lately, he had indeed been feeling somewhat overwhelmed.

He often suffered from sore waist and back pain, night sweats, and gasping for breath.

With the Willpower Empowerment Talisman, he could once again rejuvenate his vigor and find his confidence!

After obtaining the Willpower Empowerment Talisman, Prince Liang Chu couldn’t even wait until evening before calling several concubines to his room to join him in celebration!

At the same time, the ancient ancestor from the Divinity Transformation Realm in the palace was full of worry.

Previously, the emperor had vanished suddenly, and the ancient ancestor had no choice but to leave his retreat to oversee the situation.

Since the palace could not be left without a ruler for a day, he had no option but to instruct several eunuchs to impersonate the emperor in the emperor’s sleeping chambers.

Later, this trick was likely seen through, leading to Prime Minister Qin Wentao’s ancestral worship ceremony pressuring the palace.

But fortunately, a group took advantage of the situation to attack the ancestral tomb, which not only distracted the attention of civil and military officials but also gave a reason for “Emperor of Liang” to be “furious and heart-stricken” and “unable to rise due to illness.”

By now, they had temporarily managed to cover up the emperor’s absence.

However, the matter was far from over.

“Emperor of Liang” had to designate a “Crown Prince” to take on the role of the next Emperor of Liang.

This was supposed to be a task for the ablest person.

But because the beam above was not straight, the beams below were also not “able.”

They were basically crooked melons and cracked dates, each with their own ugliness.

The slightly better ones were a few princesses.

But a female emperor, the ancient ancestor stated he could not accept.

He Liang Heng had painstakingly protected the kingdom of Great Liang for more than a thousand years. To protect it so just to give it to someone else’s son, that was certainly not acceptable.

If they were to choose a prince, they still needed to choose from among the princes.

It was just that he was having difficulty making a choice.

As a Divinity Transformation Realm powerhouse with a long standby time and strong Divine Sense, Liang Heng actually knew many of the sordid affairs of the palace, including those of the princes.

Things like a liking for beautiful women, coveting someone’s wife, or enjoying playing cards were all minor faults.

Actions like colluding with enemy states, conspiring with Demonic Tao, or regarding human life as grass, these also didn’t constitute major problems.

As long as they had the ability to stabilize the situation, confront the Cabinet, and strive for the interests of the royal family, they would be considered a qualified Emperor of Liang.

But the problem was that these “bottom line requirements” were all lacking in the five princes.

Putting them on the throne would be like “sending heads” to Prime Minister Qin Wentao, letting the Cabinet develop early and become invincible in group fights later on.

This multiple-choice question was too difficult.

Liang Heng kept pacing in the ancestral temple within the palace’s forbidden grounds.

Here were placed the Spirit Lamps of hundreds of main royal family members. The emperor’s disappearance and ultimate death were also known through the extinguishing of his Spirit Lamp.

At this moment, the Spirit Lamp belonging to “Liang Luan” suddenly moved without wind, its light flickering uncertainly.

Liang Heng’s gaze sharpened, and he instantly located Prince Liang Luan through the Spirit Lamp, then sent a stream of Divine Sense over.

A moment later, after roughly understanding the situation, Liang Heng revealed a smile.

Not bad, not bad.

Having flaws as an emperor is acceptable, but what’s frightening is the lack of ambition.

“Jiang Cheng, where are you?”

Bai Xiaohe’s voice came through the communication talisman.

“I’m at Miaodan Workshop’s Fuyang Road Store, what’s wrong, He?”

Jiang Cheng’s voice was as ever, kind and steady.

“Our store’s Willpower Empowerment Talismans are selling out again. Can you send over more stock?”

“Of course, but today’s Miaodan Workshop’s new store opening should divert quite a few clients interested in the Willpower Empowerment Talisman. Your store should be much better tomorrow.”

Bai Xiaohe sighed and said, “The last time Miaodan Workshop opened a new store, you said the same thing.”

When Jiang Cheng was preparing to invest in Miaodan Workshop, he had discussed it with Liu Qing, her, and Yue Linger.

At that time, Miaodan Workshop was at a low point, even suffering from the debuff of being fined and sanctioned by the court, and normal people would not have been optimistic about Miaodan Workshop’s future.

But Jiang Cheng said, “Investing, huh, where is there a surefire business?”

Bai Xiaohe thought about it and concluded; if they were to incur a loss, so be it. Relying on Jiang Cheng’s talent for drawing talismans, earning five million low-grade Spirit Stones again would not be a difficult task.

As it turned out, Bai Xiaohe’s judgment was absolutely correct.

The sales of the Willpower Empowerment Talismans were incredibly booming, and the sales figures climbed to new records every day. The Tongbao Pavilion at Huayuan Road Store was at a level where they sold as much stock as they had.

Now the only option was to urge Jiang Cheng to supply more goods to their Tongbao Pavilion.

After all, he now had his feet in two boats, having taken on another talisman distributor—Miaodan Workshop.

Previously, Bai Xiaohe’s pressure mainly stemmed from Tongbao Pavilion’s lifeless business, but now with the hot sales at Tongbao Pavilion, an additional layer of pressure landed upon her—Shen Menghan.

No matter how good business was at Tongbao Pavilion, they only had one store. However, Miaodan Workshop could keep opening new stores.

Over time, Tongbao Pavilion’s position in Jiang Cheng’s view would undoubtedly decline. This in turn could indirectly lead to her position by Jiang Cheng’s side being gradually replaced by Shen Menghan!

“No, I have to think of a way to become the manager of the Capital’s flagship store,” Bai Xiaohe murmured softly.

“He, what did you just say?”

From the other side of the communication talisman, Jiang Cheng’s voice came through.

“Oh, it’s nothing, nothing. The talismans are selling quite well,” Bai Xiaohe said, her face flushing red.

“Yeah, the sales are indeed pretty good. But I always feel like they’re selling a bit too well? I remember calculating the Capital cultivators’ demand for pills back then, and based on those estimates, I placed orders with Ocean Talisman Studio to draw the talismans. It shouldn’t be this red-hot, right?”

“It’s good that business is good; don’t think too much about it,” she reassured.

“Hmm, I hope this time they will sell for a longer period,” he responded.

Bai Xiaohe comforted him in a soft voice, “Don’t be so pessimistic. It can’t be that every talisman you draw brings trouble, right? That would be too coincidental.”

The next day, rumors of Prince Liang Chu dying from using a talisman swept through the Capital.

The Palace, atypically, chose not to suppress the news of Prince Liang Chu’s death through talisman usage but allowed it to ferment and spread freely.

Most people speculated that the Emperor was still outraged over the previous ancestral tomb incident and had not yet recovered.

Nevertheless, after two days of spreading, the news had reached every corner of the Capital.

No matter what, a prince was still a prince, and it was death by the usage of a talisman.

Bai Xiaohe immediately used a communication talisman to reach out to Jiang Cheng.

“I am fine,” Jiang Cheng said, “You should be more concerned about how today’s business is going. If there’s a drop in sales, I’ll need to contact Ocean Talisman Studio to reduce production.”

Bai Xiaohe urged anxiously, “You still have the mind to worry about business? Aren’t you afraid the authorities will come to arrest you?

“There’s nothing to worry about; it’s definitely not the talisman’s fault,” Jiang Cheng said confidently.

Being unable to convince Jiang Cheng, Bai Xiaohe could only go downstairs to check whether today’s business at Tongbao Pavilion was affected by the rumors about Prince Liang Chu.

Then she discovered that today’s sales were more than double what they had been the day before.

No customer complained about their talismans being expensive anymore. If it hadn’t been for Tongbao Pavilion’s purchase limit policy, those customers would have loved to buy dozens of Willpower Empowerment Talismans each.

“Tao Fang, what’s going on?” she asked.

“It seems related to the news from the Palace,” Tao Fang replied.

Bai Xiaohe voiced her astonishment, “Yeah, didn’t someone die? Why are sales still so good?”

Tao Fang said somewhat awkwardly, “Yes, there was a death, but manager, do you know how the Fourth Prince died?”

Bai Xiaohe answered, “They said he died in bed.”

Tao Fang shook his head and said, “Not quite accurate. To be precise, he died of exhaustion.”

“Died of exhaustion? How could that even…”

“An old ox, plowing dozens of acres of land in one night without even pausing to catch its breath—if it were you, you’d die of exhaustion too, right?”

Bai Xiaohe’s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth.

Although she had never experienced such a thing, she understood some basic common sense.

There’s an old saying: no field is too tough to plow, only oxen that die of exhaustion.

It fittingly describes the relationship between the field and the ox.

If the Fourth Prince truly plowed dozens of acres in one night, dying of exhaustion was indeed entirely possible.

“Manager, now you understand why so many people are queuing to buy talismans, right?” Tao Fang lamented, “With the Fourth Prince’s death, who knows how long we can still sell these talismans. And with such effective results, people are worried they might miss out on buying them.”

But what Bai Xiaohe was concerned about right now was not the matter of the “death from exhaustion,” but Jiang Cheng.

If the Fourth Prince really did die from exhaustion, then the Willpower Empowerment Talisman must have a flaw.

In that case, wouldn’t Jiang Cheng be in trouble…

He could be facing calamity!