He didn't know the contents of the book. The emperor had visited the library before to look for books, so it wasn't surprising.

Sheng Jingyu flipped through two more pages and found the Emperor's words about eliminating sins, as well as the five-story worship platform.

It does indeed record that one could have someone guide them, but the process was complicated, and the body could not be buried afterward. Moreover, some of the body could be used as materials for alchemy...

Sheng Jingyu carefully put the book away and hurriedly left the palace.

It turns out that the emperor was not only bewitched by the two of them, but also by this book.

The book wasn't given by the two of them; the emperor found it himself, which makes it even more credible.

The Emperor is definitely poisoned now; it's just unknown how long he can hold on.

I'm afraid we won't even be able to wait until the abdication, and the emperor doesn't intend to abdicate either, so we can only... establish a crown prince first.

When Sheng Jingyu returned to the Prince Chen's residence, Su Wenyuan was sitting in a daze, processing the news she had just received.

Yuexiu told him that Su Wenyuan had just met with Nian Huaizhong.

"You knew all along?"

Su Wenyuan nodded: "It's amazing that they came up with this idea. They poisoned themselves and used their corpses as raw materials for alchemy. The Emperor then refined the pills and ate them himself, willingly becoming indirectly poisoned. Even if it comes to light, it will all be the Emperor's own choice, and no one will be suspected."

Without suspicion, it's impossible to find out about Nian Huaizhong and others.

He only learned all this when he received their last letter at the end of his life.

Those two were really good at hiding; by the time Nian Huai finally received the letter, they were already dead.

The letter recounted the whole story, from the moment they tricked the emperor into believing that the elixir had cured his illness, the emperor came to believe that there were truly extraordinary people in the world.

Then the emperor himself found the ancient book on seeking immortality and enlightenment.

It's astonishing that the Emperor was able to find such a wicked book in the palace library.

He became engrossed in reading it, and with the encouragement of the two imperial physicians, he began to devote himself to its study.

The credit for that seclusion didn't go entirely to the two of them; it was the Emperor himself who wanted to focus on alchemy.

The two of them secretly read the book, devised a new plan, and completely fooled the emperor.

He then used the methods described in the book to poison the emperor, thus clearing himself of suspicion. It all seemed to be the emperor's own doing.

"His Majesty was truly cooperative. Even now, people still believe that the two of them were highly skilled individuals who had no choice but to become imperial physicians. They were also moved by his sincerity and were willing to die, sacrificing their lives and their own flesh and blood."

"But the corpse was poisoned!" Su Wenyuan felt nauseous just thinking about it.

Sheng Jingyu didn't want to say anything. The emperor had always been indecisive and easily deceived since he was a child. Now he had found someone to rely on, and no amount of persuasion would help.

Did Nian Huaizhong say how much longer he had to live?

"I don't know, what do you think?"

"I don't think he'll even make it through tonight."

Sheng Jingyu believes it's a miracle that the Emperor has survived this long!

He handed the book to Hua Ling, who flipped to the last alchemy recipe and discovered that it was full of slow-acting poisons. If one took it for several years, death would be certain.

The emperor ate for a short time, but the amount consumed was enormous.