Even a demon would feel pain. The painted demon screamed in agony while being tortured to death.

Hearing his screams and seeing his painful face, the onlookers felt extremely happy.

“Serves you right!”

"God damn monster! Killed so many people!"

"It's too easy for him to die once. He deserves to be cut into pieces!"

…

The more miserable the painted monster looked, the happier the people were. The panic that had arisen because of the painted monster gradually dissipated.

And this is exactly the effect that Emperor Jinghuan wanted to achieve.

After the painting demon died, his figure disappeared without a trace. At the same time, the beauty in his painting scroll also became dim.

Then, a fire set the scroll on fire, and the painting monster was completely destroyed.

After the real murderer Hua Yao was executed, a question was put before Emperor Jing Huan.

He had previously issued an edict that whoever captured the real murderer would be made crown prince.

He did this with the intention of testing his sons. At the same time, he issued strict orders to the Jingzhao Yin, Dali Temple, Ministry of Justice and other judicial departments, requiring them to capture the real culprit as soon as possible and not let the princes get ahead of them.

In fact, it is a disguised refusal to appoint a crown prince.

But now, one of his sons has really done it. A king’s words are not a joke. If he does not make the fifth son the crown prince, wouldn’t he be contradicting himself?

Helplessly, Emperor Jinghuan had to appoint Xiao Jue as the crown prince.

However, the crown prince can be appointed or deposed.

When Xiao Jue became the crown prince, Emperor Jinghuan and Xiao Jue were no longer father and son, but rivals.

Emperor Jinghuan always wanted to depose Xiao Jue from the position of crown prince. In order to achieve this goal, he handed various difficult tasks to Xiao Jue, such as rectifying the corruption-ridden bureaucracy in the south of the Yangtze River, collecting grain in places where taxation was difficult, and providing disaster relief in places where the people were tough.

It can be said that he tried his best to suppress Xiao Jue.

Of course, to outsiders, he said that this was a training for the prince.

But what made Emperor Jinghuan furious was that Xiao Jue completed every task very well, even exceeding the target. While completing the tasks, he also won the love of the local people.

Wherever he went, Xiao Jue's good name spread.

Later on, compared to the emperor, the people supported Prince Xiao Jue more and hoped that he would ascend the throne as soon as possible.

The other princes who missed the chance to become crown prince were always thinking of pulling Xiao Jue down and taking the throne themselves. When they learned that Xiao Jue was loved by the people everywhere, they immediately spread rumors, saying that people only knew the crown prince but not the emperor. In short, they implied that the crown prince had rebellious intentions.

As a result, Emperor Jinghuan became even more wary of Xiao Jue.

There was also panic.

Because he felt that he was becoming increasingly incapable of doing things, he was often mentally exhausted, physically weak, and his health was deteriorating, and he was even unable to favor his concubines.

Emperor Jinghuan was anxious and panicked, and his temper became more and more violent. He would smash things and kill people at will. The atmosphere in the palace became more and more depressing and tense. No one dared to breathe, for fear of angering the moody emperor.

At this time, the fourth prince introduced a man to Emperor Jinghuan. The man was a sorcerer named Zhang. He claimed that he had lived in seclusion in the mountains and rivers before, practicing the art of alchemy with all his heart. Now he finally achieved something, so he came out of the mountains to serve the emperor.

When Emperor Jinghuan heard the word "alchemy", his eyes lit up and he was obviously very interested. If he could take the elixir of immortality, wouldn't he be able to be the emperor for thousands of years?

But he didn't show any anxiety on his face, just said "Oh?" lightly.

Zhang Shushi was not in a hurry. He presented a golden pill on the spot and said, "This is the Golden Spear Invincible Pill. If Your Majesty takes it, you will surely be able to display your virility and make your golden spear invincible."

Emperor Jing Huan was filled with humiliation and anger at being exposed. He slammed the table and said, "How dare you! How can I allow a rural sorcerer like you to dictate my affairs in my bedroom? Come, drag him away and chop him off!"

Zhang Shushi was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected his flattery to backfire. But judging from the emperor's face, he knew this wasn't right. Shouldn't offering him this kind of elixir be exactly what he wanted? Why was he still angry?

Then he came to his senses. Oh yes, it was because he had touched his sore spot that he was angry.

He quickly winked at the Fourth Prince, who stepped forward to plead, "Your Majesty, calm down. Master Zhang, why don't you apologize to Your Majesty? Didn't you say earlier that you had refined an elixir that could rejuvenate people? If not now, when?"

The four words "rejuvenation" instantly caught Emperor Jinghuan's ears. Is there really such a magic medicine in the world?

Seeing that the emperor seemed to have been persuaded and did not give any further orders, the guards who were about to come in to arrest people retreated again.

With a look of pain on his face, Master Zhang took out a small porcelain bottle the size of a thumb from his bosom and presented it to the emperor. Eunuch Qin walked down the steps, took the pill and presented it to the emperor.

The emperor temporarily suppressed his anger and poured out the pills in the bottle.

The pill was the size of a soybean, milky white, round, and exuding the fragrance of herbs. Just the smell of it made him feel refreshed.

Emperor Jing Huan couldn't help but wonder, could this elixir really have the miraculous effect of reversing aging?

Warlock Zhang spoke up, "Your Majesty, I've refined this anti-aging elixir using three hundred and sixty-five rare medicinal herbs over a period of ninety-nine and eighty-one days. It will take effect in less than half a day. I originally wanted to present it to you on the Millennium Festival, wishing you prosperity and a long life. But now that you know, why not take it today? Try it today. If I tell you a lie, you can chop off my head later."

Emperor Jinghuan glanced at Eunuch Qin, who understood and immediately left the hall and asked his godson to call the imperial physician.

After the imperial physician arrived, Emperor Jinghuan handed the elixir to him and asked him to verify it.

The imperial physician carefully scraped off a little bit of medicine, tasted it, savored it, and then read out the medicinal ingredients used in the pill one by one.

Unfortunately, he could only identify a dozen or so species, and he really couldn't identify the remaining more than 300 species.

Finally, he came to the conclusion, "This medicine is non-toxic."

As long as it is non-toxic.

Emperor Jinghuan swallowed the medicine.

Then, something magical happened.

Under the gaze of the people in the hall, his white hair turned green and became very shiny, the wrinkles on his face seemed to be smoothed out, becoming much lighter, and his skin became plumper.

All of a sudden, he became several years younger.

"Your Majesty, you, you have really become young again!" Eunuch Qin said excitedly with tears in his eyes.

Emperor Jing Huan looked at his hands, which were no longer covered with age spots, and touched his face. "Quick, get a mirror!"

The mirror was brought quickly. Looking at his much younger self in the mirror, Emperor Jing Huan was in disbelief and ecstasy beyond words.

It really can rejuvenate you!