Chapter 181 (Final Chapter, Part 2)

Upon discovering the Fifth Prince's location had shifted, Xue Jin'an immediately became alert. He pressed his body against the cave wall, closed his eyes, and carefully sensed the surroundings. Sure enough, he could feel the vibrations of the rocks coming from afar. He collected data on the location's movement speed, distance, wavelength of the vibrations, intervals, and duration. After eliminating the interference of echoes, he determined that a chase was taking place, and that a group of people were chasing one person.

—Perhaps it's someone who's hiding their identity.

Xue Jin'an could discern the exact number of people involved in the chase using the formula above, with an error margin of one to two people.

The secret passage was limited in height and width, making it impossible to use light-footed skills. At most, one could only channel internal energy into one's feet. The Fifth Prince was running very fast, and Xue Jin'an judged from the vibration that he was running at the very front, and there was only one person passing through.

But here's the problem: the Fifth Prince isn't skilled in leg techniques, as can be seen from his incredibly light-footed movements, which are far faster than the target's speed. Of course, we can't completely rule out the possibility that the Fifth Prince has intensively trained his leg skills in a short period of time, which is why he can run so fast, but the probability is rather low.

Comparatively speaking, Xue Jin'an was more inclined to believe that someone was carrying the Fifth Prince on their back.

Xue Jin'an originally wanted to listen a little longer. If the distance were shortened by another ten feet, the air, wind, and other things could provide relatively accurate data, which he could use to estimate the person's weight and thus determine whether it was a person or someone carrying another person.

The other party suddenly turned into a side road, and then the sound gradually faded away. Xue Jin'an watched as the location on the map slowed down and soon stopped in one place.

After that, the Fifth Prince's location never changed again, but the vibrations from running came through the stone wall, gradually becoming clearer and closer, mixed with the sounds of fighting.

[Road ahead is congested; please be aware of one-way traffic when passing other vehicles.]

Xue Jin'an ignored the pop-up red notification, closed his eyes, sensed the information transmitted from all sides, integrated and analyzed it, and determined that the footsteps that had suddenly disappeared and reappeared were moving faster than before. Based on data such as wind resistance, he calculated that he was now alone.

[Oncoming traffic ahead, please slow down!]

A piercing warning sound rang out. Xue Jin'an calmly clung to the stone wall, hanging himself from the ceiling like Spider-Man. Then, with a single flip, he turned sideways and hid in the gap carved into the stone wall, completely blending into the darkness.

Almost the instant Xue Jin'an's figure disappeared, a man covered in blood, missing an arm and blind in one eye, swept past him at lightning speed. He was nearing the end of his climax, leaving bright red footprints and palm prints on the ground and walls.

This person bears a striking resemblance to the legendary master of the Fifth Prince—Xue Jin'an narrowed his eyes slightly.

About two breaths later, a group of men in black robes came chasing after them. Xue Jin'an immediately noticed that their faces and the black robes on their bodies were stuck together.

These people, who should have been following the Fifth Prince's master, suddenly stopped in place, like compasses whose magnetic fields had been disrupted, helplessly and bewilderedly wandering around in this space.

Xue Jin'an realized something, so he pressed his body even closer to the stone wall, closed his eyes, lowered his body temperature to the lowest level, and stopped breathing, remaining motionless there.

In this dark, completely dark passage, even though the person had deliberately changed their route, this group was still able to keep up the chase. However, just as they were about to catch up with their target, they lost their way on this one-way street. Clearly, their pursuit was not based on sight, but on their ability to sense people.

If a human had such perception, Xue Jin'an would only think it was a gift, but since all these black-robed people had it, something was very wrong.

Before Xue Jin'an could figure it out, the bloody scent and human presence of the man passing by were almost gone. To avoid being exposed, Xue Jin'an immediately adjusted her physical state, making herself appear as if she were not an inanimate object.

Without sight, Xue Jin'an could only rely on hearing and the vibrations of the stone wall to judge the situation.

He heard the disordered footsteps gradually become orderly, and once again he chased after the direction the man had left in.

Only after the echoes of the vibrations had faded away did Xue Jin'an open his eyes again. He tumbled down from the crack in the stone wall, almost losing his balance and falling. His head was spinning, and the entire machine was operating as slowly as if it had been shut down for ten or fifteen days before being turned on again.

This was a consequence of prolonged oxygen deprivation in the human body. It took Xue Jin'an quite a while to recover.

Xue Jin'an opened the Fifth Prince's location and continued heading in that direction.

Along the way, they saw many strange corpses. Their postures were distorted and they were injured by swords, which was relatively normal. However, some of them had marks on their bodies that looked like they were being torn apart by wild beasts, which matched the marks on Chen Jieyu's corpse.

Xue Jin'an confirmed that the so-called "lover assassin" was actually one of the emperor's trained assassins.

These assassins fought in a chilling manner, more like mindless beasts than humans. What was even more chilling was that Xue Jin'an had only seen people from the Prince An's mansion along the way, and had not seen a single corpse of a man in black robes.

In any battle, there will be casualties. Even if there is a significant difference in the strength of the two sides, the situation should not be so one-sided. Moreover, the martial arts heroes recruited by Prince An are not all roughnecks; there are also first-class masters like the One-Sword Hero. Such a crushing defeat is obviously abnormal.

Xue Jin'an carefully examined the blood-stained swords on the ground. Many of them were covered in blood and flesh, and even had fragments of internal organs. It was impossible that all of these were caused by the civil war among Prince An's men.

Death warriors are fearless, but not truly immortal. Those who can continue fighting even with their intestines ripped out are either driven by adrenaline or have no sense of pain whatsoever.

Xue Jin'an recalled the state of the black-robed men he had just seen and came to a conclusion: "Those assassins were all Gu people."

Gu poison was Zhang Jinghua's specialty and his signature skill.

"You guessed right," Teacher X popped up a message. "I saw the Gu Bell at the Emperor's place, and I even recorded its audio data the whole time. Aren't I amazing?"

"Don't just mumble 'uh-huh' to appease me, and don't say that this is the intelligence a code should have. Praise me for being great!" Teacher X's voice was so cheerful, it seemed like it was about to fly out of the text box.

Xue Jin'an recited his lines emotionlessly: "You're great."

"Hehe, since I'm so great, shouldn't you give me all the permissions?" Teacher X tried to manipulate me.

When the PUA failed, Xue Jin'an not only refused to grant him the necessary permissions, but also installed an anti-addiction system for minors on his computer.

Teacher X: "Aaaaaaah! This is oppressive education! You—"

Xue Jin'an casually turned off the sound permissions for her unruly child at home.

The Gu people have lost all five senses, are immune to all poisons, have their internal organs hollowed out by Gu worms, and their brains parasitized by Gu worms. It is said that their blood is full of Gu worms, so they like to eat human blood and flesh, and can restore their strength by eating human blood and flesh—note that the human must be alive.

After all, although Gu worms are insects, Xue Jin'an's security system directly identifies them as viruses. Viruses need to rely on a host to survive and reproduce, and coexist with the host. Dead people have no attraction for them.

That's why Xue Jin faked his death to fool their senses.

In addition, low temperatures can inactivate the virus, while high temperatures can kill it; these are also two methods for dealing with Gu worms. However, given the human body's constitution, it's likely that only the first method, low-temperature inactivation, can be tried. After all, the temperature required to kill the virus is above 40 degrees Celsius, and although Gu worms mostly grow in Yunnan, this doesn't mean they can't survive in other places.

Most Gu masters come from three places: Dianzhou, Miao people, and Southern Xinjiang. Dianzhou and Southern Xinjiang are self-explanatory; the ability to raise Gu worms in Southern Xinjiang relies entirely on afforestation. The Miao people are widely distributed, residing in most southern regions such as Hunan, Hubei, and Lingnan. This suggests that Gu worms are more resistant to high temperatures than viruses.

The human body can barely withstand temperatures as low as 40 degrees Celsius, let alone anything higher. Isn't the logic behind the human immune system's high-temperature virus elimination process also based on the principle that "either you or the virus has to die"?

In comparison, Gu worms are less resistant to low temperatures; their activity level drops by one level at around ten degrees Celsius. However, killing Gu worms at low temperatures is much more difficult than at high temperatures.

Each has its own drawbacks, but from an operational standpoint, the first option is probably more reliable.

Returning to the topic of Gu people, most Gu people lose their minds the moment they become Gu, becoming living dead who only obey the commands of the Gu bell. A small number of people, whether they are lucky or unlucky, retain a trace of their minds after becoming Gu, and they will generally commit suicide within about a year.

Incidentally, Gu people are living dead. Even if a Gu person retains a sliver of sanity, their body is completely out of their control. Therefore, their martial arts level will remain at the moment they become Gu people, and they will not be able to make any progress afterward.

"It seems the Crown Prince has spent all the money he embezzled on this." To cultivate a Gu person, it takes at least a hundred Gu worms, and the worms also need to be raised with poison. Finally, the semi-mature Gu are put into the same urn and made to fight each other. Only the one that emerges last is called a Gu.

However, the eldest prince has only been in charge of the Ministry of Revenue for a short time, and more than 8,000 Gu people cannot be trained overnight. Where did the emperor get the money to raise Gu people? Xue Jin'an felt that the more the emperor investigated, the more he found out.

As for why those Gu people had their faces destroyed and stuck to their black robes—it's unlikely that any normal person would want to turn themselves into Gu; these people must have come from illegitimate sources.

The emperor must have a source of goods, and it must not be within the territory of Daqi. Otherwise, there is no reason why such a missing person would not have been mentioned at all.

Could it be... Southern Xinjiang? Yes, Southern Xinjiang.

Since Zhang Jinghua's departure, the new leader has been dissatisfied with the people, and many people from the Southern Frontier have left, either heading north to the Great Empire to preach or south to the Central Plains martial arts world. However, while the rampant activities of missionaries in the Great Empire are well-known, there is little news of people from the Southern Frontier in the martial arts world.

The emperor has never left the capital since his ascension to the throne, so he could only have learned the art of creating Gu effigies from Zhang Jinghua, who must also have some knowledge of the Southern Frontier. The Southern Frontier's divine lord wants to eliminate domestic opposition, and coincidentally, the emperor needs the "materials" to create Gu effigies. It's highly likely the two will hit it off and collude in their evil schemes.

Thinking of this, Xue Jin'an couldn't help but rub his temples, inwardly grumbling: This emperor really gets more and more ruthless the more he investigates.

Xue Jin'an keenly noticed a drag mark on the ground. Judging from the degree of oxidation of the bloodstain, it should be the earliest one in this space—meaning it belonged to the first person who was injured.

Judging from the condition of the corpses and the remaining traces of battle from the outside to the inside of the battlefield, the black-robed assassins appeared suddenly. The people on the outermost edge were caught off guard and most of them died before they even had time to use their weapons. The more they went inside, the more marks were on the corpses. Under such circumstances, why didn't they use their time to escape instead of dragging an injured person?

If it was meant to be protection, the evidence suggests the other party acted quite roughly... so it could only be a threat.

Xue Jin'an integrated all the information at the scene and roughly understood what was going on. He only needed to verify it. He opened the Fifth Prince's location and accurately pointed his finger at the location where the Fifth Prince had originally been.

This is where the Fifth Prince originally started.

When the Fifth Prince sent the gray letter to Xue Jin'an, he was clearly exhausted and probably seriously injured, on the verge of death—his identity had been discovered, he had been interrogated, and he had even almost been executed.

Perhaps someone revealed his identity, or perhaps the Fifth Prince himself persuaded them to stop. In any case, he was given a chance to catch his breath, which is why he burned the ashes of the letter to Xue Jin'an.

Just as the people of Prince An's mansion were discussing countermeasures, the group of black-robed assassins appeared. Their first reaction would be to assume that they had come to rescue the Fifth Prince, or that someone had taken the Fifth Prince hostage...

Xue Jin'an followed the trail of blood and came to a corpse with a knife wound in its back.

Recalling the person he had seen being chased by the man in black robes, Xue Jin'an guessed that the Fifth Prince's master had chosen to betray the organization at the last moment to save the Fifth Prince.

No wonder he changed direction halfway through and the data showed discrepancies; it seems he hid the Fifth Prince and chose to lure all the assassins away himself. The fact that the man in black robes couldn't identify the Fifth Prince suggests that, besides the Fifth Prince being stale (his vital signs were worrying), it was probably either a place that was either too cold or too hot.

Choose one: underground cold spring or underground volcano.

Xue Jin'an headed towards the location on the map, bumping into several groups of patrolling men in black robes along the way. He silently grabbed one of them. Fortunately, these Gu people had no thoughts and couldn't think. Even if a companion suddenly fell behind while they were walking, they wouldn't react. As long as Xue Jin'an held his breath and lowered his body temperature, the Gu people wouldn't feel any problem even if they got very close to him.

In some ways, the Gu people are no different from the most basic artificial stupidity, only being single-threaded.

Xue Jin'an attempted to use the security protection system to kill the Gu worm virus in his body, but received a message that the virus had taken over the core components and there was no possibility of treatment. Killing the virus was tantamount to killing the Gu person.

Xue Jin'an was very regretful, and decisively sent him to his death.

After that, Xue Jin'an did not provoke the Gu people again. Every time, he would stick to the stone wall and pretend to be dead to avoid them. Even if they encountered them head-on, they would not react at all.

Xue Jin'an headed towards the Fifth Prince's location. The closer he got, the lower the temperature felt. He soon found an underground cold spring where the Fifth Prince was soaking with his eyes closed, shivering. His lips were pale.

Xue Jin'an moved his feet, and the Fifth Prince, who seemed to have been frozen unconscious, immediately opened his eyes.

His eyes were unfocused, his voice hoarse and trembling: "Who?"

“It’s me.” Xue Jin’an walked over.

The Fifth Prince was slow to react; it wasn't until Xue Jin'an stood behind him that he murmured his name, "Xue Jin'an, you've come..."

The Fifth Prince nearly slid into the cold spring, but Xue Jin'an swiftly pulled him out. The water was scalding hot to the touch. Moreover, the Fifth Prince's body was covered in shocking wounds, which had turned white and bloodless from being soaked in the water.

When he was lifted up, he instinctively tried to struggle, but his hands and feet were dangling uncontrollably. Xue Jin'an touched him and found that his bones had been broken. The dislocated fractures had been set, but the broken and cracked parts were completely beyond repair.

"Stop looking, I'm a cripple now, my martial arts have been crippled..." The Fifth Prince seemed to have regained consciousness, his voice weak and feeble.

Xue Jin'an examined his wrists and ankles, finding no severed tendons or veins. She then checked his dantian, noting that although there were knife wounds, they were horizontal cuts rather than direct stabs, and his dantian appeared unharmed.

"If you lose your martial arts skills, practice them; if you lose your internal energy, continue to cultivate it. You're still far from being a cripple," Xue Jin'an said truthfully.

"It wasn't you who was hurt, yet you're so optimistic." The Fifth Prince lay on the ground, his body trembling from the aftereffects of soaking in the cold spring, looking particularly pitiful. He coughed twice, regaining some composure, and asked, "Where is he? Where did he go? Have you seen him?"

"Your master?" Xue Jin'an replied, "He lured the pursuers away..."

Before Xue Jin'an could finish speaking, the Fifth Prince suddenly struggled to support his upper body, his expression somewhat ferocious, and sneered, "What is he doing? Does he think I'll be grateful to him for this? I won't! Does he think I don't know that he claims to be my master, but actually he's going out to do some dirty and despicable things? Does he think I don't know?"

"Xiao Shu is dead, so what? You've pinned your affections on me? Ridiculous! Who wants him to save her? Who told him to be an old man? Die! Die!" The Fifth Prince was so agitated that he was dizzy. After roaring, he collapsed onto the rock, breathing heavily like a broken bellows.

He was holding the stone, his head was spinning and confused. He heard himself laugh and say to Xue Jin'an, "I'm about to die. Let me tell you a secret."

Xue Jin'an grabbed his hand and pulled him up from the ground. "I know."

When Xue Jin'an first heard Xiao Shu say that the Ninth Prince was born in order to regain favor and consolidate her position, she had some doubts about the Ninth Prince's background. However, it was not for any other reason than that pregnancy is random and not anyone can get pregnant whenever they want.

At that time, the emperor favored Zhou Yuting and spent most of his time in Zhaoyang Palace. The remaining time was divided among the other concubines, and each of them could only get one chance. The probability of getting pregnant on the first try was there, but not many. How could Xiao Shu guarantee that she would get pregnant? The answer was naturally to prepare a man who could get her pregnant at any time.

Xue Jin'an had thought of this, but he wasn't interested in the Ninth Prince's background and saw no need to find out, so he put it out of his mind.

The Fifth Prince chuckled, muttering to himself, "Whose child is Xiao Jiu? She loved him so much, and even in her dying moments she was still thinking about him. She must be a bastard, right? She must be a bastard born from cohabitation..."

The Fifth Prince was certain that his master and Xiao Shu had an affair, but he couldn't be sure whose son the Ninth Prince was. After all, the Ninth Prince was born at full term and looked more like Xiao Shu, so it was hard to tell who the heir was just by looking at his face.

The Fifth Prince believed that the Ninth Prince was a bastard, simply because it made him feel better. Only if the Ninth Prince was a bastard, someone else's child, could he convince himself that Xiao Shu could not love him.

Xue Jin'an grasped his burning wrist and said, "You're delirious with fever."

Although the Fifth Prince liked to feign madness, Xiao Shu was a sensitive topic for him. He would never reveal his pitiful and pathetic side, showing that he longed for Xiao Shu, his mother.

"I'm about to die, tell me what's wrong?" The Fifth Prince said, leaning his body against Xue Jin'an as if on purpose. Xue Jin'an could tell from his unfocused eyes that he was really about to collapse.

The Fifth Prince probably didn't even realize that his body was convulsing. He just grabbed Xue Jin'an's clothes and spat out words one by one with trembling teeth. Sometimes he mumbled, sometimes he repeated himself, and the order of his words gradually became incoherent and illogical.

"Xue Jin'an, listen to me. The road to Weiyang Palace is blocked. There are many people lying in ambush. No, those can't be called people. They can't be killed. Even if you beat their stomachs up, they can still stand up. They eat people raw, and after eating, they're lively and energetic again. They are evil spirits crawled out of hell. You can't get through, you simply can't get through... As for the road to Qianyuan Palace, I've calculated it. There should be a secret passage from Qianyuan Palace that leads directly to Weiyang Palace. I haven't been there, so I don't know where it is. You'll have to find it yourself..."

“Prince An… Yes, Prince An is untrustworthy, absolutely not. Trusting him will only lead to death. He has abandoned everyone who came. He has sealed the secret passage exit of Prince An’s mansion. We can’t get out and can only wander around here, which has angered those monsters…”

After that, he started talking nonsense, and even mentioned the fourth prince.

He said, "...Xue Xuanyue is such a coward, so afraid of pain, he wouldn't have the guts to die. Burning to death is too painful, he couldn't bear it, he must have escaped... He was smart enough to survive this time..."

Because of the map he had given him, Xue Jin'an didn't intend to leave him there. He carried the man on his back, opened the map, and headed back in the direction they had come from—the Fifth Prince couldn't hold on any longer, and if he wasn't sent out soon, he would really die here.

The Empress Dowager's forced entry into Weiyang Palace was effective. Xue Jin'an was particularly careful on his way back, but he did not encounter the black-robed man again. Instead, he saw a new corpse, its body riddled with holes from being gnawed. Fear, pain, and terror were frozen on that familiar face, with only one eye wide open, almost jumping out of it.

Xue Jin'an stepped over the corpse.

Given the Fifth Prince's condition, if he falls asleep, he might never wake up again. Xue Jin'an casually replied, "You miss him?"

The Fifth Prince sneered, "No, I'm fed up with him. I'm just unhappy... I'm going to die before him. Since I'm going to die anyway, Xue Jin'an, once you're on the throne, you must issue a kill order so he can come and find me. I won't be lonely on my way to the underworld..."

Xue Jin'an: "...I thank you on behalf of my fourth brother."

It's quite unusual for the Fourth Prince to have such a brother.

The Fifth Prince said viciously, "...I am a treacherous and vicious villain. I will drag others down with me even when I die. Don't pity me, Xue Jin'an, don't take pity on me..."

Xue Jin'an: "Well, you're not exactly pitiful."

The Fifth Prince investigated step by step through his own efforts; that's quite impressive. Xue Jin'an thought to himself.

The Fifth Prince said grimly, "I'm not reconciled. I've gone to the very end. I don't want to die like this. Xue Jin'an, can you take me with you...?"

Xue Jin'an: "Understood."

The Fifth Prince is familiar with the route, so taking him along will save some trouble.

The fifth prince choked back tears and cried, "...It hurts so much, it hurts so much, my heart hurts so much...Why, why...don't save me, it hurts so much...I don't want to..."

The Fifth Prince's mind was completely in chaos. His voice was choked with sobs, and he let out a mournful cry like a small animal. He tried to curl up and struggled, but Xue Jin'an patted him lightly, and he immediately sobbed in grievance.

She said she didn't want to save him, but the hand holding Xue Jin'an's neck tightened more and more, and she murmured "Mother".

When Xue Jin'an emerged from the artificial hill in the abandoned palace, the Fifth Prince was almost out of breath. Xue Jin'an pulled out first aid knowledge and combined it with the repair manual, pounding the Fifth Prince's chest many times until the Fifth Prince started breathing again.

Xue Jin'an led his men over the wall into Cining Palace.

He arrived at just the right time; he had barely put the Fifth Prince down and hadn't even had time to look for medicine when there was a commotion at the door.

The Empress Dowager returned in a wheelchair, and sitting in the wheelchair was Granny Su, whose shoulder was covered in blood—those men in black robes had no restraint and even dared to cut the Empress Dowager, so Granny Su instinctively stood in front of the Empress Dowager.

If Xuan Shiyi hadn't secretly thrown a hidden weapon that deflected the cleaver, Granny Su would probably have been cleaved in two.

Li Hechun, clutching his whisk and with a tear-stained orange-peel-like face, followed behind. He stopped at the entrance of Cining Palace. "By imperial decree, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager is of advanced age and has suffered a great shock. She should recuperate in the palace. I..."

Li Hechun said a long string of words, the gist of which was that the Empress Dowager should just stay in the Cining Palace and not go out and cause trouble.

Of course, the Empress Dowager had influence in the court, so it was impossible for her to be placed under house arrest so easily. The Emperor was also aware of this, so he only asked Li Hechun to convey an oral message instead of an imperial edict, which was to express his dissatisfaction.

After Li Hechun left, Xue Jin'an came out of the room.

The Empress Dowager breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him. "Luckily you came out quickly."

The drama of storming Weiyang Palace ended after the emperor arrived. In order to buy time, the Empress Dowager directly questioned the emperor about the Weiyang Palace incident, which could be considered as betraying Consort Zhuang, whose identity was already known.

Of course, Consort Zhuang had already realized her fate when she told the Empress Dowager about the Weiyang Palace incident, and immediately stayed overnight in Cining Palace for protection.

The Empress Dowager directly stated that Consort Zhuang was with her and that she would find out exactly what happened, thus preventing the Emperor from sending assassins to abduct Consort Zhuang.

The Empress Dowager had tried her best to delay, but the Emperor clearly had no interest in dealing with her and hastily ended the conversation before leaving.

"Sheng'er." The Empress Dowager's unfamiliar use of his childhood name stopped him in his tracks. With a mix of feigned insincerity and probing, she asked in a deep voice, "I'll ask you one more time, are you really not hiding anything from me?"

"Grandmother, I did not." The emperor still refused to admit it, and even swore an oath, saying, "I have a clear conscience."

"Fine, what a fine 'no regrets' indeed!" The Empress Dowager sneered inwardly, her tone turning indifferent. "I understand, Your Majesty. I have treated you well; I have given you everything you wanted."

"Your Majesty, you must remember that I personally helped you to the throne." She had the means to help him rise to power, and naturally, she also had the means to bring him down.

The Empress Dowager patted the Emperor's hand.

The emperor composed himself and said slowly, "I remember everything."

"Lingzhi and the others have been detained?" This was something Xue Jin'an had already expected. Even if the emperor couldn't touch the Empress Dowager, he still had to find something to make things difficult for her.

Granny Su stood up, supporting herself on the wheelchair, and said, "Your Highness, rest assured, the Ministry of Justice has been taken care of, and we will certainly not let them suffer."

"The emperor will only imprison them, he won't lay a hand on them." Xue Jin'an had a certain understanding of the emperor's behavior and style. The Empress Dowager's intrusion into the palace was not a big deal in itself. On the contrary, the emperor's overreaction would attract attention. He didn't want this matter to escalate, so he wouldn't touch the Empress Dowager's people.

Moreover, the emperor's most pressing task was to deal with Prince An.

Unbeknownst to them, after returning to Qianyuan Palace, the Emperor paced back and forth twice, the Empress Dowager's warning words replaying in his mind. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and he overturned everything on the table.

The Second Prince's men arrived at this very moment, claiming that the Second Prince was crying and regretting his past actions every day at home, suffering from nightmares and unable to sleep, in short, they were just trying to gain sympathy.

The emperor's face darkened, and he sneered, "Since he truly knows he was wrong, why doesn't he go and apologize to others in person?"

"Guards, draft the decree!" Although the emperor had secretly ordered the execution of the second prince, what was originally just an exile was now being handed down as a death sentence.

At the same time, the emperor also took his anger out on the eldest princess, ordering her to go to a nunnery to practice vegetarianism and pray for blessings, and not to return for three to five years, which was almost an exile.

The eldest princess's power base is not as deep as that of the Empress Dowager. If she leaves the capital for a year, her subordinates will likely become disloyal. The eldest princess is not one to sit idly by and wait for her doom. She originally planned to cooperate with Xue Jin'an, and now is the perfect time to give him a great gift.

—Please establish a crown prince!

Before leaving the capital, the eldest princess held a final banquet, inviting many ladies and young women. She didn't say much, but mentioned the recent frequent incidents involving the princes, and lamented the many storms that had plagued the Great Qi Dynasty for over fifty years, and how the first two emperors had died young.

The following day, all the officials in the court requested the establishment of a crown prince.

The Empress Dowager's people, who had been arranged long ago, immediately seized the opportunity. Knowing the Emperor's temperament, they did not directly mention the Third Prince, but instead first brought up the Sixth Prince, praising him extensively and saying that they would recommend him as the Crown Prince.

The first to jump out in opposition was none other than Yang Shunzhi, the Minister of Rites and the maternal grandfather of the Sixth Prince. If it were three years ago, Minister Yang would probably still have some ideas, but after being repeatedly brainwashed by Consort Shu and after being taught a painful lesson by the Third Prince, he finally admitted that his little grandson had no talent to be emperor, and if he were to actually ascend the throne, he would probably be devoured without a trace.

Let my grandson do whatever he wants. Besides, the struggle for the throne is too dangerous. Look at how two princes have died in just over half a year! Minister Yang would never dare to let his grandson become the target of everyone's criticism.

Minister Yang quoted classical texts to discuss the qualities of a ruler, subtly implying that his own grandson was not worthy of playing with him, and then suggested establishing the eldest son as heir, starting with the one with the highest birth order.

The second prince was imprisoned and would soon be sentenced to death. The third prince was the longest-serving. The southwestern army was overjoyed, grinning from ear to ear. Then they heard someone say that the third prince was disabled, had a crippled leg, and was ineligible for the throne.

Someone else suggested that the Fifth Prince, with Xiao Shu present, failed the background check.

When the Empress Dowager's people saw that it was almost time to propose the Seventh Prince, it was Chu Wenjing, the Minister of Justice, who stepped forward first, saying that this candidate was absolutely right and that the Minister of Works and the Third Prince should immediately review the proposal.

Some say, "The Seventh Prince has a capricious and unruly temperament..."

Chu Wenjing: "The Seventh Prince is forthright and has a clear sense of right and wrong. He never kills innocent people indiscriminately." This doesn't include those who run into things on their own, such as the Eighth Prince.

Some say, "The seventh prince will bring misfortune to his six relatives..."

The Third Prince said, "What does their short life have to do with our Seventh Prince? I was beaten several times by the Seventh Prince, and he even wanted to cut me in half at the waist, but I'm still alive and kicking here. Let those who died young reflect on their own actions."

Some say, "The Seventh Prince was renowned for his talent from a young age..."

Minister of Works Zuo Mengchang immediately jumped out: "This is utter nonsense! You are like a frog in a well, unable to comprehend the intricacies of ice! Do you know how much inspiration His Highness the Seventh Prince has provided to the Ministry of Works? A single thought from His Highness the Seventh Prince is enough for us to study for ten years! The Seventh Prince is a practical talent who never seeks empty fame!"

"Your Ministry of Works hasn't come up with anything either, has it?" The opponents seized on this point and added slanderously, "Besides, the Seventh Prince has never even been to the study, so how did he know all this?"

Seeing that the foul language was getting more and more outrageous, Tan Lingyue, who was recording on the side, finally couldn't hold back anymore. "The virtue of the Ten-Complete Young Master is known throughout the world, and no one can surpass him to this day. How come in the mouths of you gentlemen, he has become a greedy, reckless, incompetent, and immoral person? Isn't this the greatest joke in the world!"

These words shocked everyone in the room.

"What?! This is impossible!" The Eighth Prince jumped up abruptly, knocking over his chair in shock. He didn't even bother to catch himself, his face pale as he shook his head in denial, "No, impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"The fact that Chief Minister Jiang has come out to oversee things has already been confirmed. How can you say it's impossible just because you say so?" The Ninth Prince said, pointing to the words written on his desk. "I've heard that the Tenth Prince also has beautiful calligraphy in the official style. I wonder how it compares to the Eighth Prince's style?"

The Eighth Prince looked at the calligraphy he had practiced for several years and which had begun to show some style, and secretly gritted his teeth: "..."

What? How should he answer? Should he say that he suddenly started learning the official script style because he saw Master Cen praising the manuscript of the "Ten Perfections Prince"?

Anyone can be the perfect young master, but not Xiao Qi! It can't be him!

However, the imperial decree establishing the seventh prince as the crown prince had already been issued, leaving him no choice but to believe it.