Chapter 137 Encirclement and Capture...

Chapter 137 Encirclement and Capture

It was late at night, and the Emperor was still reviewing memorials. If she knew who the people were wondering who she loved most, she would surely answer them earnestly: her favorite was Consort Zhe (the memorials). No matter who else she spent time with, she never spent as much time with Consort Zhe. How could that not be true love?

Even now, she's still spending time with Consort Zhe.

Just as the emperor had almost finished reviewing the memorials, she heard faint noises outside—the sounds of fighting. From the sounds, she could tell the fighters were quite far away.

The emperor stretched and asked, "How is the situation?"

A man suddenly appeared in the imperial study. He was of very ordinary appearance and build, the kind of person who would easily blend into a crowd and go unnoticed. “Your Majesty, the fighting is still going on.”

"The sound is getting closer," the emperor said.

"Yes," the man replied, "over time, we got a little closer."

The emperor waved his hand, "Then send someone to go and resolve everything. I need to rest. By the way, life or death is irrelevant."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The man withdrew. He went to make arrangements, and then returned to the imperial study to guard the emperor.

As the sounds outside grew fainter and fainter until they finally disappeared, the emperor smiled and said, "The world has changed."

She didn't know Wu Ming would break into the palace tonight, but she knew that once he entered, he would be surrounded and captured by her men. The emperor was tired of those martial arts figures coming and going from her house, so she had started planning this long ago.

Poison, sleeping pills, crossbows, lightning bolts, and a group of highly skilled guards. From the moment he stepped into the palace, one trap after another was set; unless the opponent was not alive, no one could escape defeat. He should feel fortunate to have used such a force to capture Wu Ming.

Just then, a guard with minor injuries walked in and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

"Is it over?"

"Yes," the guard replied, bowing his head. "Only half of his body remains." They were quite generous with their use of thunder and fire bombs, and Wu Ming, who was being entertained, must have enjoyed it very much.

"Then I should rest as well." The emperor rose and walked out. "I believe tomorrow will be a good day."

Gong Jiu stood before Wu Ming's somewhat charred body, looking at him with a puzzled expression. He had never seen Wu Ming like this before, and a sense of curiosity filled him. He wondered what Wu Ming would think if he were still alive. He was curious. Unfortunately, he was dead and could not answer.

Yes, Wu Ming is dead, completely dead. But then again, with only half his body remaining, it would be strange if he were still alive.

Gong Jiu felt a pang of regret. He had only seen the disbelief on Wu Ming's face when he was surrounded, but he hadn't been able to ask him what he thought. What a shame. Thinking this, he stepped on Wu Ming's face and ground his foot down hard.

It's all because of him. If it weren't for him, how could I have lived in such pain all these years? How could I have… Gong Jiu's face twisted slightly, as if he were seeing Wu Ming alive. It's infuriating that he couldn't kill him with his own hands.

Just then, Gong Jiu stopped what he was doing and suddenly looked behind him. "What are you doing here?"

Gongzi Yu and Ling Hao, who rushed back, were also quite curious about what had happened. Why did it seem like the matter was already over when they arrived back?

Upon learning that Wu Ming was hiding in the capital, Ling Hao's expression changed drastically. She guessed that Wu Ming was planning to assassinate the emperor, and immediately rushed back with Gongzi Yu. The Prince of Taiping's martial arts skills were inferior to theirs, and he also had to lead his men and the tightly bound Beef Soup, so he could only bitterly abandon his idea of ​​following them.

The two headed straight for the palace. Because Gongzi Yu had a token, they didn't need to wait to report to the emperor and could enter the palace directly. They thought things would turn out badly, but unexpectedly, things developed in a direction they hadn't anticipated.

Ling Hao stared in disbelief at the scene before her. Wait, who was this dead man lying on the ground? Was it Wu Ming? Was it the Wu Ming who was described as terrifying and seemingly invincible?

Was he killed? Yes, it certainly looked like he was killed, and by someone whose martial arts were inferior to his. Although it was a group of people, and although they used other methods—most obviously, he only had half a body—Wu Ming was indeed killed.

This fact gave Ling Hao a feeling that was somewhat absurd yet somehow perfectly reasonable. No matter how powerful Wu Ming was portrayed, he was ultimately human, not a god. And all humans die, so Wu Ming's death was perfectly normal… Wait, did the emperor know Wu Ming would come to see her? And so he prepared "good things" to entertain him beforehand?

Gongzi Yu, however, understood what was going on after just a few glances. He knew that the emperor had never truly trusted the martial arts world, so it was normal for him to be prepared.

"Not going to speak?" Gong Jiu's gaze towards Gongzi Yu and Ling Hao was somewhat distorted. Even though Wu Ming was dead and some of the shackles on his heart had been loosened, he still disliked Gongzi Yu and Ling Hao.

Or to be more precise, he didn't like the wonderful atmosphere between them. Seeing it too often made Gong Jiu feel like a drowned rat caught in the rain and unwanted... a drenched chicken.

Gongzi Yu snorted coldly, "We came to see if you were dead or not. It seems you're still alive and well. What a pity." The pity he spoke of was not that Gong Jiu was still alive, but that Gong Jiu was unable to take revenge himself.

Oh, no, that's not right either. He wasn't really feeling sorry for Gong Jiu; he was just being sarcastic.

"It's no pity." Gong Jiu smiled. "Anyway, he's dead. Who cares how he died?" If he were to rely on himself, who knows how long he would have to live.

The two men stood not far from Wu Ming's corpse, exchanging words back and forth, taking their sarcastic and unsettling tone to the extreme.

Ling Hao, forced to watch: "..."

I think they're so childish, and their mouths are really sharp. If those two licked their lips right now, would they get poisoned? Probably.

Zhuge Zhengwo, who was already exhausted after a long day, was called in to clean up the mess: "..."

Looking at the scene before him, he felt a wave of dizziness. He was already so busy; couldn't these people please stop causing him trouble? This old man was practically dying from exhaustion.

Thinking this, Zhuge Zhengwo simply waved his hand and said, "You three, leave quickly. This place is dirty. I'll clean it up." Without those two childish people around, he might be able to clean it up faster and go back to rest sooner.

Seriously, making an elderly person stay up all night to do things is a bit too harsh.

"Ayu." Linghao took Gongzi Yu's hand. "Now that everything has been resolved and the Emperor wasn't injured, why don't we head back? Madam Zhu must be very worried about us not seeing us return. She might still be waiting for us. Let's go."

Looking at Zhuge Zhengwo's dark circles under his eyes, it's best not to cause him any trouble and let him rest properly. Ling Hao even started to feel sorry for Zhuge Zhengwo.

"Alright." Gongzi Yu nodded. "Let's go back."

"Uncle, we're leaving now." Linghao pulled Gongziyu to Zhuge Zhengwo to say goodbye.

"Alright." When Zhuge Zheng looked at Ling Hao, his eyes were full of affection. "Get some rest." Who wouldn't like such a thoughtful junior? "Tell your master not to wander around. I'll go see him when I have some free time."

Although Feng Qingyang came to Kyoto secretly, he's been there for several days, and he even brought Zhu Qiqi with him. It's difficult for Zhuge Zhengwo to pretend he doesn't know. Zhuge Zhengwo has wanted to see old friends for a long time, but unfortunately, old matters haven't been resolved before new ones arise, like tonight.

Zhuge Zhengwo sighed inwardly. Alas, he wanted to retire and return to his hometown. He used to never admit to getting old, feeling he was still capable, but now he had a longing to retire and return home. Ultimately, when there are too many things to do, even a workaholic will get tired, let alone Zhuge Zhengwo, who wasn't a workaholic.

“Yes, Uncle, I will definitely pass on the message to Master.” Linghao nodded in reply.

The two left under the moonlight, leaving no trace of them in the palace.

Zhuge Zhengwo looked at Gong Jiu, "Does the young master need to rest?"

"No need." Gong Jiu shook his head. "I want to watch." He wanted to see how Wu Ming was dealt with; it would be very interesting.

From childhood to adulthood, Wu Ming had always been arrogant, even when he put on the appearance of a kind and gentle old man; his inherent pride remained unchanged. Now, the arrogant Wu Ming could only be dragged away by others like a dead dog, a sight that was quite satisfying to watch.

A beautiful smile bloomed on Gong Jiu's face, but few people around him dared to look at him. His smile was so sinister that everyone was afraid, and no one dared to look at him.

Zhuge Zhengwo sighed inwardly once again. "The Prince of Taiping should enter the city at dawn."

"I know." Gong Jiu's voice was completely flat, as if he didn't care at all. And he really didn't care. Even if the hatred was a misunderstanding, Gong Jiu no longer had any feelings for Prince Taiping.

Whether it was love or hate, Gong Jiu had none left. For those ten-plus years, he only felt hatred towards Prince Taiping; when the truth came out, the hatred disappeared, but so did the love.

Seeing Gong Jiu like this, Zhuge Zheng felt very sad. Things didn't have to turn out this way.

Meanwhile, Shen Lang encountered Wang Lianhua and Xiongmao'er on the road. He originally wouldn't have been able to catch up with them, but they had gone to do other things beforehand, which is why he ran into them.

Shen Lang invited Wang Lianhua and Xiongmao'er to go to the desert with him to kill Shi Guanyin.

It was as if they had returned to that time, and the two of them immediately agreed.

"This is really interesting." Wang Lianhua gently waved his folding fan. "It feels like I've returned to that day."

It's a pity there wasn't a second Chai Yuguan for him to kill. Alas, it's such a shame.

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Author's Note: Youth has no price; Wu Ming went straight to the Huang family. Oh, the Huang of the Yellow Springs.