Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Gao Zhen flipped over onto his stomach, spread-eagled on his pillow, feeling utterly humiliated by his perceived inadequacy. With Karma Points costing hundreds of thousands, he didn't even dare to dream of earning that much, let alone actually obtaining it. What was the system thinking, showing him such advanced goods when he was still so weak? Was it not clearly mocking his abilities?

So, Gao Zhen now seriously suspected the system was just toying with him—displaying so many natural treasures but making them unattainable, leaving him with nothing but envy. If it wasn't toying with him, did it have some special expectation of him?

But expectations were probably out of the question, right?

So, he was furious.

He hadn’t complained, broken down, or cursed despite being stuck in the cold palace, all out of respect for the Ninth Prince. The system, on the other hand? Not only did it fail to offer him gold, silver, treasures, or cannons, it even updated with this damned mall just to disgust him. Was it asking for a beating?

After letting out a few exasperated breaths, Gao Zhen angrily flipped over again, still fuming.

Somehow, though, the angrier he got, the clearer the Ninth Prince’s face appeared in his mind. His rage gradually dissipated, replaced by the memory of the Ninth Prince’s face—the kind that could make children cry at night.

Gao Zhen thought, *I might never have the chance to obtain those natural treasures in this lifetime, but there’s one thing I’m determined to get, even if I have to sacrifice everything.*

So, he closed his eyes, reopened the system, entered the Shennong Mall, and searched for: "Appearance Restoration Pill."

A pop-up appeared almost instantly: "Multiple items detected based on your search. Please select as needed or refine your search." Gao Zhen chose "By Need," and a list of products immediately appeared before him.

Gao Zhen skimmed through the list—most items were related to beauty, weight loss, or facial feature alterations.

It seemed his search was too broad, so he quickly changed it to: "Scar Repair."

This time, the system displayed a prescription, a box of ointment, a bottle of pills, and some medicinal ingredients. The list was still extensive, but Gao Zhen’s eyes were instantly drawn to the ointment:

**[White Silkworm Vanishing Ointment]:** Utilizes the principle of White Silkworm Cleansing Karma to transform the physical into the intangible, eliminating scars on the skin. Use with caution—strictly control the dosage. Overuse will cause backlash.

"White Silkworm Cleansing Karma"? What was that? Gao Zhen frowned. He’d heard of *báijiāngjūn* (white stiff fungus) and *báijiāngcán* (white stiff silkworm), where white stiff fungus parasitizes silkworm moths, and the processed remains are used in traditional medicine as white stiff silkworm. But he’d only heard that it could change the color of scars, not remove them entirely. He wondered what ingredients were added to this "White Silkworm Vanishing Ointment" to give it such transformative effects.

But why could White Silkworm "cleanse karma"? What was the principle behind it? Gao Zhen couldn’t quite grasp it, and the original host’s memories contained no information about karma.

After careful consideration, Gao Zhen decided to add the "White Silkworm Vanishing Ointment" to his cart. Among all the related products, this ointment was the most expensive. Based on the system’s relatively reliable logic in technical aspects, he inferred that this ointment should also be the most effective. So, without bothering to check the others, Gao Zhen clicked on the price of the "White Silkworm Vanishing Ointment."

500,000 Karma Points.

Gao Zhen stared at the number and told himself, "Starting tomorrow, I’ll work hard to earn enough—all to restore the Ninth Prince’s god-like beauty! Fight!"

Having accidentally set what seemed like an impossible goal, Gao Zhen suddenly felt an immense weight of pressure. But when he recalled his interactions with the Ninth Prince over the past days, he suddenly felt that this pressure was nothing. The Ninth Prince had been so kind to him, selflessly so. How could he back down in the face of such a minor challenge?

Unknowingly, that overwhelming pressure quietly transformed into unparalleled motivation.

Gao Zhen felt like he might be going crazy. In the dead of night, he actually wanted to go grind tasks? And he couldn’t wait another moment. What to do? It seemed like he was in for a sleepless night!

Unable to contain his burning enthusiasm, Gao Zhen reopened the system he had just closed and spent 500 Karma Points to exchange for five [Cloud-Piercing Sun Pills]. He used these five pills on character cards 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, obtaining five hints.

**Character Card 3:** She was framed for offending the emperor. While clutching his leg and begging, she was kicked in the chest by the previous emperor, her blood staining the imperial robe, and was sentenced to the cold palace.

Gao Zhen: *This seems to be about Beauty Feng? The "clutching his leg" part left a deep impression on him. I’ll try visiting her tomorrow. If I’m right, this character card will unlock.*

**Character Card 4:** He was the ninth child in his family and fathered two daughters for the previous emperor. His second daughter was set up to elope on her way to a political marriage. To protect his family, he voluntarily entered the cold palace as punishment.

Gao Zhen recalled Beauty Feng referring to Qin Lelang as "Qin the Ninth," and Qin Lelang had mentioned something about accumulating blessings for his daughter. *Could it be him? This was worth testing too. The more character cards unlocked, the higher the completion rate of hidden tasks.*

And all the elements driving the hidden tasks were absent from the original story. Perhaps by completing hidden tasks, Gao Zhen could even influence the original plot?

With this thought, Gao Zhen suddenly felt a sense of clarity, as if life was filled with hope.

However, after reading Character Card No. 5, Gao Zhen's hopes for the future were instantly shattered by the cruel reality. The hint read: **In the food chain of the cold palace, he is at the very bottom, looked down upon for having once served the Crown Prince but later gained the late emperor’s favor. His body covered in festering sores, he is beaten and kicked daily, isolated and helpless, trapped in despair.**

Gao Zhen took a moment to compose himself before opening the sixth character card. It stated: **She was once the late emperor’s most beloved; the person destined to become empress should have been her. But she fell into a trap, her efforts came to nothing at the last moment, and she was imprisoned in the cold palace, living a fate worse than death.**

*Could this be… Consort Ning?*

Gao Zhen was somewhat surprised. He had paid his respects to her through the door before and found her personality a bit difficult and unlikable. He never expected she was actually the late emperor’s top favorite consort. Unfortunately, times change, and no matter how favored she once was, everything has now vanished like foam.

The seventh character card puzzled Gao Zhen. It contained a poem: **"The Tanhua has always been free of worries, his fame spreads across the land in a single day. Who would have thought the palace walls soar so high, where wild geese return, lamenting many a sorrowful autumn?"**

*This seemed to lament a Tanhua imprisoned within the palace. But wasn’t a Tanhua the third-ranked candidate in the imperial examinations? A pillar of the state and a great talent—how could such a person be imprisoned in the palace? What kind of foolish emperor would do such a thing?*

*The late emperor? Or the current one?*

In any case, the original text never mentioned this. Both emperors were portrayed as power-obsessed and drunk on authority, only caring for power, and willing to do anything to consolidate their rule.

*Would such rulers really do something that would dishearten scholars throughout the land?*

Gao Zhen thought it unlikely.

*But what did the poem in the hint mean?*

*Perhaps he should find an opportunity to ask the Ninth Prince—he might know.*

That night, Gao Zhen tossed and turned in bed, his mind filled with thoughts of Karma Points.

Zhou Yunning also barely slept that night. He dug up a small bucket of pine oil he had buried in the west courtyard years earlier and worked by lamplight late into the night. Not only did he restore everything he had moved that day to its original state in the east room of the west courtyard, but he also took advantage of the quiet night to reinforce the stove in the room. It was past the hour of the Ox (around 2 AM) when he finally lay down on the couch to rest briefly.

Thinking of Gao Zhen, he felt an itch in his chest and slept restlessly, rising as soon as dawn broke. After replacing the charcoal in the egg box, he scaled the wall back to the other side.

The courtyard was silent; Gao Zhen was clearly still asleep.

The Ninth Prince gently pushed open the door to the north room and immediately heard Gao Zhen’s steady breathing. The corners of his lips lifted slightly as he walked to the bed, pulled back the covers, and lay down.

Gao Zhen smacked his lips, originally facing away, but now groggily turned over, mumbled "Your Highness?" and burrowed into his arms, falling into a deep sleep.

The Ninth Prince heard his own heart pounding, his nostrils filled with Gao Zhen’s scent. He quickly recited the Calming Incantation while holding Gao Zhen tightly.

He thought self-mockingly that if he hadn’t met A Zhen, he wouldn’t have known the Calming Incantation could be used like this.

The two slept until the sun was high in the sky, only waking when the outer door was loudly knocked.

"Probably the meal delivery," the Ninth Prince said as he got up and put on his shoes, advising Gao Zhen, "I’ll handle it. If you’re tired, sleep a bit longer."

"Mmm..." Gao Zhen rubbed his eyes and sat up, supporting himself with one hand on the bed. His dark hair cascaded over one shoulder, slipping past his slightly open collar, exuding a subtle allure.

The Ninth Prince quickly averted his gaze, coughed, and said, "Lie back down."

"Oh," Gao Zhen drowsily collapsed back onto the bed as if boneless, still managing to say something sweet to please him, "Sorry to trouble you, Your Highness. Thank you for your hard work."

The Ninth Prince stood by the bed without moving.

He gazed at Gao Zhen, who had retreated under the covers but left one pale, jade-like ear exposed, finding it utterly adorable. The itch in his chest returned, and he took two quiet deep breaths before pulling open the door and stepping out.

Outside the main gate, the person knocking was none other than the eunuch Little Chen, who had been made unconscious the day before. His hands hurt from pounding on the door, yet there was no response from inside. He couldn’t help complaining, "They must have been going at it all night—how can they not hear such loud knocking? Why don’t they just work themselves to death? It’d save us the troub—"

"Silence!" Imperial Physician He snapped angrily.

Little Chen immediately shrunk his neck and didn’t dare say another word. Had he turned around, he would have seen He Shurong’s hand, holding the food box, trembling with bulging veins, his entire body shaking with rage, though it was unclear what he was imagining.

"Kick the door open."

As soon as He Shurong finished speaking, he saw Little Chen turn around, looking astonished. Little Chen said with a mocking smirk, "Hey, Imperial Physician He, did you forget? I'm a eunuch, not some strong-as-an-ox guard. You want me to kick the door open? Do you really think I have the strength?"

"Move over, I'll handle it!"

He Shurong pushed Little Chen aside and lifted his foot just as the door was pulled open from the inside.

Standing across the threshold, the Ninth Prince appeared before He Shurong's eyes.

The morning breeze swept from behind the Ninth Prince, carrying his unique, signature scent, which wafted directly into He Shurong's face. At that moment, He Shurong's expression darkened instantly. He glared at the Ninth Prince, his eyes bloodshot.

The Ninth Prince frowned. "What are you doing?"

He Shurong lowered his leg, his entire body trembling. Fortunately, he remembered the lesson from yesterday and managed to maintain a superficially respectful demeanor. "This humble official is here to deliver Your Highness' meal."

The Ninth Prince glanced at him twice, noticed he was more restrained than the day before, then nodded and said, "Come in."