It was already the twentieth child, and Zheng Yi was quite experienced.

After receiving greetings from a large group of people, he sat grandly on the main seat, quietly waiting.

"Your Majesty~ Consort Qing is blessed with great fortune, she will be fine."

The Empress, Lu Lin’er, whispered from the side, having heard some rumors over the years.

Your Majesty and several of the consorts are all engaged in cultivation.

For example, Noble Consort Cui, Consort Chan, Consort Yu, Consort Yinn, and now Consort Qing, who is currently in labor.

This gave her a sense of crisis.

Moreover, in recent years, nineteen princes and princesses had suddenly appeared in the harem, with nine of them being princes.

If Consort Qing were to give birth to a prince, then there would be ten princes!

At that point, the competition for her son Ji’er would be immense.

She had to find a way to ally with several consorts to garner some support for her son in the future.

The greatest threat to her now was undoubtedly Noble Consort Cui.

Noble Consort Yang was a convict and only had a daughter, posing little threat.

Furthermore, in the past two years, Your Majesty seldom visited their chambers.

On the other hand, Noble Consort Cui, Consort Chan, and Consort Yu were quite favored by Your Majesty.

The most crucial point was that each of them had a prince.

Vaguely, the three of them had formed a close alliance.

Then there was Consort Duann, Xu Qingluan, who had a son and a daughter, and supported by Xu Mujun, she also allied with Consort De, Li Changle, and others.

The prestige of Consort Duann in the harem was in no way inferior to hers.

In the entire harem now, she could only form alliances with Consort Yinn and Consort Qing.

"Hmm."

Zheng Yi nodded, but his thoughts weren’t entirely focused on Lu Lin’er’s words.

Once Consort Qing gave birth to a prince, his Yin Yang Treasure Mirror would be able to open up a second of the Three Thousand Worlds, who knows what kind of world it would be?

"Your Majesty, what do you think of the suggestion I made?"

"Hmm?"

Zheng Yi snapped back, asking, "What suggestion?"

Lu Lin’er said, "Now, half of the consorts in the palace are recuperating and unable to attend to Your Majesty, and the other harem women are all clumsy and Your Majesty also dislikes them. So, why not hold another nationwide selection?"

"You said, selection?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, it has been seven or eight years since the last selection, and that’s long enough."

Lu Lin’er continued, "According to tradition, the Royal Family holds a selection every three years. Although Your Majesty selected many Concubine Candidates during the first selection, the time has come for a second one..."

She mentioned this for two reasons.

First, with more newcomers in the harem, the number of times Your Majesty visited Noble Consort Cui and the others would certainly decrease.

Secondly, the Lu Family had been eyeing several outstanding young women, and if they caught Your Majesty’s favor, their influence and voice would naturally be enhanced.

Zheng Yi was stirred, if there was a selection, wouldn’t that mean his lifespan would extend even further?

The Blood Sacrifice Reincarnation Nine-child Fruit and the Spirit-devouring Insect obtained from the Zheng Family Treasure Vault both required a lot of essence blood, if...

After pondering for a bit, Zheng Yi shook his head.

The current priority was the second of the Three Thousand Worlds.

The matter of selection could be delayed for now.

Besides, with Great Yu fighting in the south and the Wu Country threatening the northern borders, how could he hold a nationwide selection at this time?

At the very least, he needed to wait for the political situation to stabilize before proceeding.

"This matter shall be discussed later. With the south still quelling rebellion and the north entangled with Wu Country, we shall wait until the nation is secure to consider it."

Lu Lin’er immediately responded, "Your Majesty is wise, your concubine is fearful."

Your Majesty did not permit it?

It seems they would have to wait a bit longer after all.

"Wah wah wah...~"

At that moment, a cry emanated from the chamber.

Zheng Yi stood up instinctively, "Has Consort Qing given birth?"

"Your Majesty...!"

At that moment, Liu Cheng’en walked in briskly, a joyous smile on his face.

"Your Majesty! A great victory, a great victory...!"

"Oh?"

Zheng Yi laughed, "What joyous news?"

"Your Majesty!"

Liu Cheng’en said, "A battle report from Qingzhou, Grand General Xu has led the troops to eliminate the White Lotus Sect, personally beheading the Holy Mother of the White Lotus Sect, and killed more than 300,000 of the White Lotus Sect followers."

"The remaining followers of the White Lotus Sect are either in disarray or have surrendered to the Imperial Court’s army..."

"More than 300,000..."

Upon hearing this number, Zheng Yi’s heart couldn’t help but twitch heavily.

These 300,000 people, the vast majority of them were ordinary folk.

Yet due to national turmoil, they were swept into the current of history, meeting with an unfortunate demise.

Part of the reason was because of him!

If it weren’t for his insistence on adding fuel to the fire for Great Yu, they wouldn’t have died so soon.

But...

The longer it dragged on, the more people would die!

Only by decisively dealing with the situation could a prosperous era swiftly be ushered in!

These thoughts flashed through Zheng Yi’s mind and were quickly cast aside.

"How are our casualties? What about Grand General Xu?"

Liu Cheng’en replied, "Thanks to the power of firearms, our casualties are less than 20,000, and we have taken control of Guangqing City, where we are recuperating."

"As for Grand General Xu, he was uninjured and is overseeing all matters in Qingzhou."

"Good!"

Zheng Yi laughed heartily, "Hahaha... Today is truly a day of double joy."

Liu Cheng’en smiled, "Your Majesty, there’s one more piece of good news~"

"Oh? What is it?"

"A few days ago, General Meng Guang killed a Cultivator in Yunmeng Marsh. That Cultivator’s body has already been secretly transported back to the Capital City. You see..."

Zheng Yi’s eyes glinted, "Oh? The body of the Qi Cultivation Middle-stage Cultivator from the Tuoba Clan?"

This battle had already claimed the lives of several Cultivators at the hands of the Great Yu Court’s army.

Xu Mujun killed a Cultivator from Nanyue County in Yunzhou, and Zheng Yi had ordered Xu Mujun to handle it as he saw fit.

After all, the magical artifacts of cultivators can be used by martial artists as long as they are willing to consume essence blood.

And now, the corpses of the cultivators from Yunmeng Marsh, who died at the hands of General Meng Guang’s army, have been transported to the Capital City.

"Excellent! A triple blessing, hahaha..."

At this moment, the door to the sleeping quarters was opened by the wet nurse, who came out holding a little baby.

"Congratulations Your Majesty, felicitations Your Majesty, Consort Qing has given birth, and it’s a prince!"

"Wow...!"

Suddenly, all the concubines and palace attendants present were too shocked to speak.

A prince.

Another prince.

A few years ago, the concubines in the harem consecutively gave birth to ten princesses.

At that time, it was thought that the Feng Shui of the Great Yu was off, unable to produce boys.

Who would have thought that after the world plunged into chaos, in just three years, the harem would suddenly give birth to ten princes!

This was undoubtedly a great celebration for the entire Imperial Court.

Zheng Yi laughed heartily, "Reward! Everyone is rewarded!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zheng Yi played with the child for a bit, then got up to check on Consort Qing in the sleeping quarters.

"Your Majesty~"

Although Consort Qing’s complexion was somewhat pale, her spirits undoubtedly were very good.

She was only seventeen, in the prime of her constitution, so the childbirth was not too burdensome for her.

"My beloved, please sit well, no need to rise to greet me."

Zheng Yi supported Consort Qing and let her lean against the blanket.

"I have fulfilled my duty, giving birth to a prince for Your Majesty..."

"My beloved has worked hard."

Zheng Yi caressed Consort Qing’s little cheeks, his eyes full of pity, saying many caring words.

He had said these words dozens of times before, but to Consort Qing, it was undoubtedly the first time hearing them, moving her even more, not wanting to let go of Zheng Yi’s big hand.

"Well, my beloved, I have already chosen a name for our child, don’t you want to know?"

Zheng Yi patted Consort Qing’s head, and she shyly raised her head to ask, "Your Majesty, what name have you chosen for our child?"

"Tai."

Zheng Yi succinctly said, "Tai signifies peace and stability, where heavens and earth intersect, and all things connect."

"Inner yang with outer yin, inner health with outer harmony, gentleman inside but rogue outside, gentleman way prospers, rogue way perishes."

"At the time of this child’s birth, Grand General Xu from Qingzhou broke through the Baiyu City of the White Lotus Sect, eradicating them, and our Great Yu is about to pacify the south, truly a double blessing."

"Therefore, I have named this child ’Zheng Chengtai,’ what does my beloved think?"

"Chengtai, Chengtai..."

Consort Qing murmured a few times, then hesitantly said, "Your Majesty, the character ’Tai’ could possibly be confused with ’Crown Prince,’ wouldn’t it be avoided?"

"Hehehe..."

Zheng Yi smiled gently, "My beloved, do not worry about this, I have considered it but what of it?"

"I have ten sons, who will be the Crown Prince is not yet certain."

"Perhaps in the future, there will be even more princes, hahaha..."

Or perhaps, there will only be a Crown Prince who lasts for a century, or even a millennium!

Consort Qing’s heart stirred, immediately bowing obediently, "Whatever Your Majesty commands, I will follow."

"Very well!"

Zheng Yi patted her head again, kindly saying, "My beloved, rest first, I have other matters to attend to."

"Farewell, Your Majesty!"

After leaving the Changqing Palace, dispersing the Empress, Zheng Yi headed towards Baiyu City.

He did not notice the odd gaze of Lu Lin’er behind him.

"Tai? Doesn’t this conflict with my Ji’er’s title as Crown Prince?"

"Is Your Majesty doing this unintentionally or intentionally?"

"Consort Qing’s maternal family is but a small official in the Ministry of Rites, what does Your Majesty mean?"

Zheng Yi did not pay heed to the speculations of those in the palace and instead arrived at Baiyu City, where he saw the corpse of Tuoba Qingtong sent back by General Meng Guang.

In the grand hall, there lay a massive stone coffin.

A Navy envoy carefully attended nearby, "Your Majesty, this is the cultivator’s corpse that General Meng ordered us to deliver."

"Along the way, we used lime and blue salt to ensure the corpse didn’t rot, please have a look, Your Majesty."

Zheng Yi said indifferently, "Open it."

"Yes!"

Several Imperial Guards came forward, opening the coffin together.

An acrid smell immediately wafted out, Zheng Yi waved his hand to disperse the scent and walked over.

Inside the stone coffin lay the corpse of a young man, about thirty years of age.

The young man was dressed in a blue robe, with a shocked expression, and around him was coated with a thick layer of lime and blue salt.

Zheng Yi examined carefully, discovering a storage pouch at his waist.

Besides that, there was nothing else.

"Your Majesty."

The envoy cautiously took out a wooden box from his bosom and respectfully handed it over.

"Inside this box is the flying sword of the cultivator, at the time of his death, the cultivator’s flying sword accidentally fell into the Yunmeng Marsh, and it took our soldiers three days and nights to retrieve it."

"Otherwise, this corpse would have been delivered earlier."

Zheng Yi nodded, "Present it."

"Yes!"

Liu Cheng’en briskly walked over, took the wooden box, and respectfully handed it to Zheng Yi.

Upon opening it, a faint mist dispersed.

At a glance, indeed, inside the wooden box lay a three-inch long flying sword, entirely blue and resembling crystal.

"The flying sword... and this spiritual qi fluctuation, it seems undiminished."

Zheng Yi murmured, but quickly thought of something.

Tuoba Qingtong had been killed by the Blood Moon Gu, too swiftly to resist.

Thus, this flying sword naturally suffered little loss.

It’s uncertain, though, what grade this flying sword belonged to?