Ch. 81 - Zhong Yansheng: Black incense is not easy to find

Prince De marched in from Xihua Gate and led the rebels in a desperate fight, killing anyone he saw along the way.

The rain was getting heavier, but it couldn't cover up the bloody smell on the ground. The sharp weapons kept cutting through the long night.

The defense of the palace seemed weaker tonight than usual, probably because the two restless princes had already been punished, and the old man thought that everything was fine.

Prince De was surrounded by the rebels. He was drenched in the rain and looked even more disheveled. However, he was extremely excited at the moment.

Having witnessed the fate of his eldest brother, who was as beautiful as pearls and jade, Prince De had been deeply afraid all these years and tried hard to behave in the other extreme - he vaguely guessed that although his father doted on the crown prince on the surface, he actually hated the crown prince who was praised by countless people.

The old guy didn't expect that he would dare to rebel.

Prince De wiped the cold rain off his face and looked towards the direction of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity with crazy excitement.

When he reached the Yangxin Palace, he would make the old man immediately appoint him as the crown prince, and then lock the old man up so that he could also taste the suffering he had endured in the past few days...

That sinister villain, Prince An, will never leave the capital alive.

Prince Ding must also be killed. A dog who works hard for the Pei family dares to go against him.

And the one in Minghui Palace, the old emperor keeps a thing that looks like his elder brother, and he is not afraid that he will be scared to death in the middle of the night. He has sharp teeth and tongue, so just pull out his tongue and feed him to the dogs.

As he planned in his mind everything he would do after the success, Prince De's breathing became heavier, and he was shaking with excitement.

King Jing does not know how to do anything except eating, drinking and having fun, and King An is a villain who only knows how to backstab others. Apart from him, no one is more suitable to be the emperor.

When they passed the Wuying Palace and were about to continue their march towards the Yangxin Palace, the rebels, who had been advancing unhindered all the way, suddenly started to riot.

"Black-Black Armored Army?"

"Why are the Black Armored Army here?!"

"That's King Ding's black-armored army!"

Just hearing the three words "Black Armored Army", some people showed panic. King De was stunned and turned his head suddenly. Lightning tore through the sky. When thunder exploded, the Black Armored Army blended into the night and rushed over!

Prince De had also thought that Xiao Nong might intervene.

But he and his grandfather had planned a lightning attack to take over the Palace of Tranquil Longevity as quickly as possible. As long as they reached the emperor, all problems would be solved.

After tonight, he will be the one sitting on the dragon throne, and no one can disobey him.

But weren't Xiao Nong's black-armored soldiers stationed outside the city, and were they not allowed to enter without permission? How could they appear so quickly? !

With his brain drenched by the cold rain, Prince De's face turned pale. He came to his senses and suddenly realized that when his grandfather bribed the guards at the city gate and let in the soldiers from the Five Army Camps, who knew if anyone had sneaked in afterward.

Xiao Nong was certain that he would launch a coup, or rather, Xiao Nong was waiting for him to launch a coup.

It is even possible that Xiao Nong secretly helped him and his grandfather in the palace coup, so that they would have a reason to send troops into the palace!

No wonder the guards at the city gate are so easy to bribe!

The oriole is behind.

((Pointing at the proverb = the mantis stalks the cicada unaware of the oriole behind))

Prince De's face turned slightly grim.

His fight with his back to the wall is just to help Xiao Nong!

"Your Highness... Your Highness, what should we do? The Black Armored Army... We can't defeat the Black Armored Army!"

Even the barbarians were afraid of the Black Armored Army.

After Prince De's expression changed again and again, he pushed the guards around him forward fiercely: "Pretend to be me and cover me out of the palace!"

But the situation was not as good as he had imagined, and he could not get away from the palace.

When he turned around, he saw a sharp knife reflected in his eyes.

Outside the palace, there was a cold wind and rain, and the charcoal basin had gone out. The people downstairs had just added more charcoal, and it was not warm yet. Zhong Yansheng was wearing the fox fur that Xiao Nong had someone find for him, and he was held in his arms and put on the table, where he listened to his lecture obediently for a while.

The furry snow-white fox fur sets off his pretty little face, his lips are moist and red like petals, and his breath carries a faint and fragrant orchid scent. He looks soft and touching.

Xiao Nong lectured him three times, and couldn't help but stop and lean over to kiss him, then continued to lecture him with a stern face: "Don't act like a spoiled child."

　Zhong Yansheng: “?”

Zhong Yansheng was confused and aggrieved: "I didn't."

Xiao Nong snorted inwardly and tucked his fox fur collar again.

He even dared to write a letter to Lou Qingtang to scold him for being impotent. What else would this kid not dare to do?

The noise outside seemed to gradually subside.

Zhong Yansheng sat on the table, swinging his legs and looking out the window: "Is it over?"

Just as he finished speaking, Zhan Rong, his face still stained with rain and blood, walked in through the door, his face grim, and he bowed and replied, "Master, everything has been cleaned up."

Huo Shuang followed behind: "Your Highness, Yangxin Palace is safe."

As soon as the two finished talking, Wei Ling also stepped over the threshold: "Your Highness, Prince An is also being held down."

It was too chaotic tonight, with people from several parties gathered in the palace. Most of Xiao Nong's men were sent to deal with the thieves, and took over the guarding of the palace during the chaos.

The cleanup that Zhan Rong mentioned included not only the rebels, but also the old emperor's death squad guarding the Palace of Tranquil Longevity and the emperor's personal guards outside.

The rebels were fine, as they were no match for the Black Armor Army in a head-on confrontation. The personal guards protecting the Yangxin Palace had to rely on Huo Shuang and his men, who were most familiar with the place, to guide the attack.

In order to prevent Prince An from causing any trouble secretly, Zhong Yansheng also asked Wei Ling to keep an eye on Prince An to prevent any accidents.

When Prince An first realized something was wrong, he seemed to want to pass on a message to someone, but when he found out he was being watched, he stayed quietly in Prince An's mansion and did not move.

Everything is going well.

Zhong Yansheng finally let go of his worries and took advantage of the small movement of shaking his legs to quietly kick Xiao Nong.

Bad dog, for no reason he was said to be acting like a spoiled brat!

Xiao Nong didn't even raise his eyebrows, but accurately grasped his dangling ankle, stroking it without changing his expression, and asked calmly, "Where is Prince De?"

"My Lord." Zhan Rong's expression remained unchanged. "The Black Armored Army entered the palace and encountered the rebels. The rebels panicked and fled, running into a large number of guards rushing from the imperial city. The Black Armored Army did not move, so the rebels fought with the guards first, and both sides suffered losses. When I led the Black Armored Army to clean up the mess, I found the body of King De."

Prince De died with his eyes wide open.

The rebels were frightened by the Black-Armored Army and their morale was unstable. The guards of the imperial city were also in a panic because of the appearance of the Black-Armored Army. In the panic, he fell off his horse, and no one noticed at all. King De was hacked to death with his ambitions and good wishes to kill this and that.

No one could tell whether the people who hacked him to death were the rebels who joined the rebellion or the guards of the imperial city.

Although other people couldn't see it, Zhong Yansheng's ears still turned red from having his ankle grabbed in front of several people. He pulled hard but couldn't get it out. Just as he was about to kick Xiao Nong again, he heard a heavy, slow cough.

Zhong Yansheng's bouncy calves paused, and Xiao Nong let go of his ankles, folding his hands and looking at the couch.

The skinny old emperor lay lifelessly on the bed. It seemed that he had been awake for a while. After hearing Zhan Rong's report, he finally couldn't help but make a sound.

The old emperor seemed to be breathing with difficulty, wheezing, and lying straight on the bed. He seemed to want to get up, but he couldn't move.

Zhong Yansheng watched him struggle quietly for a while, and then explained to him in his soft voice: "I just checked you, you seem to be a little too anxious, you have hemiplegia."

The voice was light, but every word was filled with horror.

The old emperor's face turned ashen, and he uttered a few times: "Tian, ​​Tian Xi..."

Zhong Yansheng smiled and said, "Eunuch Tian Xi is not feeling well and is resting."

It would be fine if Prince De intended to follow the Crown Prince's example and force the emperor to abdicate.

Even the cowardly Tian Xi turned against us?

The old emperor's chest suddenly choked, and the feeling of sudden swelling and blood surging in his head came up again. A bloody smell spread from his chest to his mouth. After a long while, he sneered in a hoarse voice: "Good, very good, one by one... betrayed me!"

"Is there anything about you that deserves their loyalty?" Zhong Yansheng's tone turned cold, and his voice suppressed the softness in his accent, becoming clear and cold, completely different from the past.

Zhan Rong, who was guarding the door, couldn't help but look at Zhong Yansheng.

Hiss, after hanging out with the master for so long, even the young master has become so scary.

Zhong Yansheng was actually very angry. Before Xiao Nong arrived, he had already grasped the dagger and stared at the old emperor's throat.

If there weren't some things that required the old man to speak up, he would have already done it.

This old guy has committed so many evil things. He forced the late queen to death, killed his parents, poisoned Xiao Nong, burned to death everyone in the Eastern Palace, hanged the servants of Prince Ding's Mansion, and even the deaths of Emperor Shun and Prince Kangwen were most likely caused by him.

Letting him get away with it once and for all would be too easy for him.

His eyes were slightly red, and he clutched the dagger in his sleeve tightly, his fingers were shaking, and then he felt a hand reaching out and wrapping around his slightly trembling hand with a soothing tone.

Zhong Yansheng's throat felt a little blocked. After a while, he took a deep breath and sniffed: "Wei Ling, you guys go out and guard the door."

Wei Ling lowered his head in response, and when he turned around, he looked a little dazed.

There really was such a day when I could avenge myself and comfort the souls of the Crown Prince, Crown Princess and my brothers in heaven.

The old emperor had lost half of his feeling and was lying on the bed, unable to move. When he saw Xiao Nong approaching with a sword and Zhong Yansheng, his pupils contracted violently, and his voice became somewhat unclear**: "Someone... someone!"**

There was a hint of cold sarcasm in Xiao Nong's blue eyes: "No one will come."

Zhong Yansheng looked at the face with wrinkles like orange peel. It had completely lost the kindness it had pretended to have, revealing a gloomy underlying tone, twisted and gloomy.

Perhaps because he was too excited, the old emperor's breathing became more and more rapid and turbid, as if he was going to die on the bed in the next moment.

Zhong Yansheng whispered, "Prince Kangwen fell ill and suddenly died just when he was getting better. Was it you who did it?"

Hearing the words "Prince Kangwen", the old emperor's face twitched, and his bloodshot eyes looked at the person beside the bed. The lights were flickering in the rainy night, and the young man standing beside the bed was dressed as clean as snow, and he looked like an old friend.

"Kang Wen..."

Without the relief from the Wuxiang Pills, the old emperor was clearly in a trance. He mistook Zhong Yansheng for Prince Kangwen and looked fiercely at him, "You... lost to me. Even if you are better than me in everything, you still lost to me..."

Zhong Yansheng had no feeling that the old man on the couch was his grandfather. He felt even more nauseous. He rubbed against Xiao Nong and asked with a frown, "Back then, you were no match for Crown Prince Kangwen in everything and had no hope of becoming emperor. So, did you poison him?"

The poison used was a very strange one, leaving the entire Imperial Hospital helpless.

The old emperor made a strange and vague sound in his throat and stopped answering: "Wuxiang Pills..."

Xiao Nong picked up the small medicine bottle containing Wuxiang Pills from the table and tossed it casually: "Answer him."

After a dead silence, the old emperor let out that creepy low laugh again, and then said, "Yes, on the birthday of the emperor that year, the barbarian envoys came to Beijing to celebrate his birthday... I met with their elders in secret and obtained the barbarian voodoo."

As the crown prince of a country, Kang Wen's diet is strictly monitored.

But Kang Wen would not be on guard against the younger brother who always followed him quietly and grew up with him.

The poison of the barbarians is completely different from that of the Central Plains. No one thought that the prince was not sick, but the poison had penetrated into his bones. The man in the clouds was suddenly dragged into the quagmire, but even though Kang Wen became a disabled person due to illness, he was still favored and taken care of by Emperor Shun.

So after dragging it out for several years, the old emperor gave Emperor Shun a surprise and made Kang Wen look like he had recovered.

Then give him another big scare.

The same night that his condition improved, Kang Wen died.

There was no need to take any further action against Emperor Shun, as he fell ill and died from exhaustion, sorrow and joy.

Zhong Yansheng closed his eyes and took a deep breath: "After you ascended the throne, did you deliberately force the queen to death in order to change the wind in the court?"

His grandmother.

Her mother's family was a prominent family in Langya, and her father was the Prince's tutor. He had many students all over the world and had great influence both inside and outside the court.

After the empress passed away, the emperor was in grief and worry, and refused to choose another empress. The emperor and empress had a deep relationship... The literati praised them at random, and then deliberately erased them, and those past events seemed to be brushed aside with a stroke of the pen.

The pain and the black incense addiction came at the same time, but he couldn't even move his body. The old emperor's breathing became more and more rapid. After a long time, he finally understood what Zhong Yansheng said. There was a trace of regret in his old voice: "The queen... is the only person I feel sorry for."

That woman, a first-rate noble lady in the capital, was intelligent, kind, and virtuous. The only thing she had done wrong in her life was to choose the Third Prince between Crown Prince Kangwen and the Third Prince.

Hearing him say this, Zhong Yansheng's stomach churned violently, his beautiful eyes burned with anger, and he clenched his fists.

He was suppressing his surging anger when Xiao Nong suddenly raised his hand and slapped the old emperor in the face.

There was a loud and crisp sound with such force that even the secret guards outside the house popped their heads out to see what was going on.

Zhong Yansheng was also startled. He was stunned for a moment and asked hesitantly, "He didn't die from the beating, right?"

He hasn't even finished asking yet, and it would be a relief for him if he just died like this.

After Xiao Nong finished beating him, he wiped his hands with a handkerchief in disgust, then turned to him and spoke in a low and gentle voice: "Don't worry, I will control my strength and won't kill him."

It turned out that ‘someone’ else was being beaten.

Seeing that it was the emperor who was beaten, the secret guards retreated in peace.

The old emperor had been in power for decades, holding a high position. He had never been slapped in the face by anyone, as he had always knelt on the ground, slapped his own face and begged for mercy. His eyes were red with anger, and his drowsy consciousness was half awake. He gasped intermittently, glared at Xiao Nong and said hatefully: "How dare you... How dare you! I shouldn't have been so merciful in the beginning... I should have given you a cup of heartbreaking poisonous wine, and you wouldn't be here today..."

Xiao Nong raised his eyebrows and said indifferently, "You don't want to? You just don't dare. The imperial reinforcements took a month to arrive in Mobei, and no one in the court could guess who was the one who attacked the Xiao family. If something goes wrong between me and Xiao Wenlan, my father's old subordinates and the various vassal kings will have a legitimate reason to attack the capital city using the excuse you gave them."

Xiao Nong sensed that hypocritical kindness as early as when he entered the palace at the age of nine and saw the old emperor's kind eyes.

He also knew that the old emperor did not dare to attack him and Xiao Wenlan directly, so he drank the poison on behalf of Xiao Wenlan - at least the old emperor did not dare to poison him to death. There is no deadly poison that can delay its onset for several years.

After his true identity was exposed by Xiao Nong, the old emperor began to cough violently again.

Zhong Yansheng clenched his fists, and understood how the old emperor defeated the other princes: "Ever since Crown Prince Kangwen was still alive, you have been secretly communicating with foreign tribes. You were able to ascend the throne smoothly, perhaps because of them."

The old emperor coughed even more violently.

"You hate my father because he is very similar to Crown Prince Kangwen."

Most importantly, his father intercepted a secret letter from the old emperor, which stated that he intended to join forces with foreign races to set up a trap for the Xiao family.

So Crown Prince Pei Xi must die.

It was a dead end back then. No matter if they forced the emperor to abdicate or not, the knife would have fallen.

These dark secrets were hidden, and few people knew that the king of a country colluded with foreign races, forced the queen to death, killed loyal officials, and forced the prince to be killed.

The blood of so many people cannot fill the gap of his desire.

All this is because of the old emperor.

Zhong Yansheng could have had his own parents, and Zhong Sidu wouldn't have had to wander around for so many years.

"But my father would never be as dark and mean as you if you hadn't forced him to become a lunatic who doesn't recognize his relatives."

Zhong Yansheng clenched his teeth, thinking of the small box filled with bits and pieces of love left by his parents. His heart ached, his nose felt sore, his throat choked, and his eyes were wet, but he did not cry. It was as if the tears all poured into his heart, making his anger rise higher and higher.

"The reason is that you are despicable and incompetent, jealous and afraid of Crown Prince Kangwen. Even though Crown Prince Kangwen was harmed by you, you are still afraid of him and can't bear to see your own son so glorious. You...a rat in the gutter."

Zhong Yansheng clenched his fists tighter and tighter, and finally he couldn't bear it any longer, and punched the old emperor hard before he could speak in anger.

With a bang, the old emperor groaned and fell silent instantly.

The group of people outside were startled again. This time even Zhan Rong, Huo Shuang and Wei Ling popped their heads out to take a look. When they found that it was the emperor who was being beaten, they returned to their seats with peace of mind.

The anger that had been pent-up in my heart for a long time suddenly dissipated a little. Sometimes being a little rough really does make you feel more comfortable.

Zhong Yansheng has really endured this old face for too long.

Xiao Nong pulled his hand over, took out a handkerchief again, and carefully wiped each of his thin white fingers, frowning**: "Dirty."**

Zhong Yansheng's black eyelashes drooped. After calming down his anger, he realized what he had done. He was suddenly a little flustered. He looked at his hands, then at the old emperor who was tilting his head back and was silent. "Is he dead?"

Just now he tried to stop Xiao Nong, fearing that he would beat someone to death, but how come he became angrier and angrier as he talked and couldn't help but start fighting.

Zhong Yansheng had lived for almost nineteen years, and this was the first time he had hit someone.

It is not good to hit people, the teacher said, we should convince people with reason.

But this old guy is not a human being.

Xiao Nong rubbed Zhong Yansheng's head, poured out a Wuxiang Pill, and casually stuffed it into the old emperor's mouth: "Don't worry, he won't die."

The old emperor's breathing just now was so weak that it was like the wisps of white smoke coming out when a candle was extinguished. As soon as the Wuxiang Pills entered his mouth, the wisps of white smoke immediately burned up again. The effect was amazing.

The old emperor opened his bloodshot eyes and shivered as if he was cold. His voice was vague as he repeated two words: "Wu Xiang..."

A piece of black incense cannot relieve the addiction in his bones, and he cannot get complete satisfaction. He felt empty and painful when he is neither up nor down.

The old emperor felt more and more like ants were crawling all over his body, but his hemiplegic body could not move. Tian Xi, who used to follow him, was gone. The death warriors and palace servants trained in the Yangxin Palace were all dead. No one would come to serve the emperor respectfully when he said "someone come here".

He could only watch Xiao Nong playing a joke by throwing the bottle filled with life-saving medicine to him, and then taking it back in front of him.

Zhong Yansheng vented his anger, calmed down a little, and asked the most important question at the moment: "What exactly is the poison in Xiao Nong's body?"

The old emperor is on the verge of collapse now, so now is the perfect time to ask.

If he had asked this question just now, the old emperor would definitely not have answered.

He knew very well why Zhong Yansheng and Xiao Nong did not kill him immediately.

The old emperor's pupils dilated, his expression was slow and dull, as if he was in a dream: "Poison..."

Zhong Yansheng pulled Xiao Nong's sleeve tightly.

He knew it was a poison. The old emperor had connections with foreign tribes when he was young and had conducted secret transactions countless times. It was not surprising that he knew something as secret as this.

Zhong Yansheng knew how painful it was for Xiao Nong when his headache attacked. It could even make him lose his mind and become like a wild animal with only instincts left. He was overly worried and took a step forward in a hurry: "How to detoxify? Does it need my blood?"

When Xiao Nong heard Zhong Yansheng's last words, it was too late for him to interrupt.

This old guy has been sitting on the throne for decades and has become quite cunning.

Sure enough, the old emperor, who was confused just now, suddenly had his pupils condensed. His deep-set eyes looked at Zhong Yansheng, and he slowly revealed a creepy smile: "Ah, my little grandson... do you want to know the connection between Xiao Nong's poison and the birthmark on the back of your neck?"

Zhong Yansheng pursed his lips and looked at him for a few seconds, then snatched the bottle of Wuxiang Pills from Xiao Nong's hand, took a few steps back, and pretended to throw it into the charcoal basin: "Your Majesty, you'd better think clearly before you speak."

It was still a soft tone, but the words were quite harsh.

Xiao Nong couldn't help but recall the night in the cave in Chunfeng Valley. When he was about to kill someone, he was still worried about whether he would scare Zhong Yansheng, but Zhong Yansheng had already turned back to look for the murder weapon.

he couldn't help laughing and felt that the furry fox fur collar on Zhong Yansheng's cheek was so cute.

The old emperor was also silent for a moment.

The sound of rain outside the house stopped at some point, and the riot in the palace tonight ended silently.

The bloody smell was covered and diluted by the rain. Every court officials huddled in their home, blew out the candles, opened their eyes in the darkness, and wondered who the winner would be tomorrow.

The old emperor obviously didn't expect that Zhong Yansheng, who looked obedient and easy to bully, could do such a thing. He was silent for a long time, staring at the bottle of Wuxiang Pills, and said hoarsely: "Yes, this is the secret technique of the barbarians. Even among the barbarians, few people know it. What it is specifically... Ahem, I don't know either. It was offered by the barbarians..."

He raised his eyes to that beautiful face, was in a trance for a moment, and took a breath with difficulty: "I think you have guessed something... Before you were born, I ordered people to feed your mother the ‘mother Gu’, it won't cause any harm... Xiao Nong is infected with the son Gu, if the Gu is not cured, he will die of a headache in three years at most."

As he spoke, the old emperor seemed to sneer, "Xianwei... Have your headaches become more and more severe in the past two years? When they occur, you feel worse than death?"

Xiao Nong's expression was very calm, as if the old emperor was not talking about him. Hearing the old emperor's words, he raised his eyebrows, stretched out his hand to take Zhong Yansheng, who was looking at him with a worried face, into his arms, and kissed the top of his hair to comfort him: "Thanks to you, this king is very happy."

“…cough cough cough!”

The old emperor let out another series of violent coughs, and his skinny body almost fell apart. Fortunately, he had been stimulated once before, so he did not faint this time, but he kept his mouth closed and his face turned pale, and he no longer spoke.

Zhong Yansheng stayed obediently in Xiao Nong's arms, looking at the old emperor's expression, and pulled out the cork of the medicine bottle.

A strong sweet smell slowly emerged, and the old emperor's Adam's apple began to twitch. He turned his head desperately, and half of his face twitched uncontrollably, with a greedy desire on his face.

Zhong Yansheng, like a little fox who was bullying others, tilted the mouth of the bottle and raised his chin: "Black incense is not easy to find. You'd better be honest and tell me the method to cure the poison."

Veins popped out on the old emperor's forehead. After a long pause, he said with a gloomy face, "I... only know one way to cure the poison."

"What?" Zhong Yansheng stared at him.

The old emperor suddenly showed a strange expression that seemed to be both happy and gloating. "The barbarian who presented the medicine told me that only by removing the mother Gu can the child Gu disappear. Either one of them survives..."

Without waiting for him to finish, Xiao Nong decisively raised his hand and knocked him out with a punch.

The old emperor fell silent for the third time before he could finish his words.

In the silence of the room, Zhong Yansheng stared blankly at Xiao Nong, who shook his hands in disdain, and wiped his hands with the whisk left by Tian Xi. His handsome face looked like a demon in the semi-darkness, and he uttered four words expressionlessly:

"That's nonsense."

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