Su Renzhong chased for four or five hours, from dusk till dawn, until the afternoon, before finally catching up with the Xiliang army.
However, it was still daytime, so he didn't dare to go and investigate rashly.
Su Renzhong followed the Xiliang army from a distance until nightfall, when he secretly infiltrated their temporary encampment.
Just as Su Renzhong was about to go find the person who harmed Duanmu Junyu, he suddenly heard a soldier shout, "General, General, what's wrong with you?"
Su Renzhong frowned and instinctively flew towards the direction of the shouts.
He crept behind the tent, quietly made an incision, and peered inside. He saw a woman clad in armor lying on the ground, foaming at the mouth and bleeding from her seven orifices, seemingly on the verge of death.
Su Renzhong recognized the woman; she was the great general of Xiliang, and she was clearly poisoned.
The soldiers in the tent were clearly panicked and immediately shouted, "Quickly, go and fetch the army doctor! And also, quickly go and invite His Majesty over!"
Upon hearing them say "Your Majesty," Su Renzhong outside the tent suddenly frowned.
His Majesty?
Are they talking about Duanmu Junyu?
But Duanmu Junyu is clearly in their Eastern Chu camp right now!
Su Renzhong was completely confused by them, but he remained hidden and waited. He wanted to see who this "Emperor" they were talking about really was.
Before long, several Xiliang soldiers rushed over with a woman.
The woman was dressed in golden armor and wore a golden mask, making it impossible to see her face.
But Su Renzhong was very familiar with her golden armor and golden mask.
This entire outfit belongs to Duanmu Junyu. For the past few months, Duanmu Junyu has been wearing the same outfit during her battles with her. But when she fell off the cliff, this outfit clearly landed at the bottom. How did it reappear on this woman now?
However, the issue of her attire is easily explained. Perhaps Duanmu Junyu didn't simply have more than one set of golden armor and a golden mask. As the Empress of Western Liang, she likely possessed many such outfits.
But who is this woman who is wearing Duanmu Junyu's outfit and impersonating her?
Without even thinking, Su Renzhong already guessed who she was.
It's that woman who plotted against Duanmu Junyu before. She's really ruthless. Not only did she harm Duanmu Junyu, but now she's impersonating her. She's trying to completely take Duanmu Junyu's place!
Su Renzhong was right; the person wearing Duanmu Junyu's outfit was indeed Duanmu Shenghua.
Because she knew she couldn't gain the Vermilion Bird's approval, she could never ascend the throne of Western Liang as Duanmu Shenghua. Since the Vermilion Bird only recognized Duanmu Junyu, from this day forward, she was Duanmu Junyu!
Duanmu Shenghua walked to Shao Yichen's side and gave her a cold look: "What's going on? Why is the General acting like this all of a sudden?"
The soldiers were also quite frightened by the situation, and they all shook their heads.
A soldier who served Shao Yichen spoke tremblingly: "This servant does not know either. Today, the General ate some dry rations and said he felt dizzy and wanted to go into the tent to rest. When this servant entered the tent, he found the General in this state. This servant immediately sent someone to fetch the military doctor and His Majesty."
As they were talking, several military doctors arrived.
"His Majesty."
The group bowed to Duanmu Shenghua together.
Duanmu Shenghua gestured with her chin toward Shao Yichen on the ground: "Go see what's wrong with her?"
Several military doctors were quite frightened when they saw Shao Yichen's condition, and they all went forward to check on her.
They were all startled upon seeing this. After a careful examination, they all looked regretful and said, "Your Majesty, the General is dead."
The moment the medic uttered those words, the tent erupted in chaos.
"What?"
How could this happen?
"What happened? How could the general have died so suddenly!"
"Everything was fine before, what happened? How did the general die?"
Duanmu Shenghua frowned deeply: "How exactly did she die?"
The military doctor had just examined the body and bowed, saying, "According to our examination, the General must have died of poisoning, which is why he was foaming at the mouth and bleeding from all seven orifices."
"Poisoning?"
Upon hearing the medic's diagnosis, the soldiers immediately started making noise again.
"Did someone poison the General?"
"Someone is deliberately trying to assassinate the General!"
"Your Majesty must apprehend the murderer for the General!"
Duanmu Shenghua narrowed her eyes and looked at the soldier serving Shao Yichen: "What did the General eat and drink last night? Or has she come into contact with anything else strange?"
The soldier quickly shook his head: "No, the general didn't touch anything strange. He only ate a piece of dry rations and drank a couple of sips of water."
"Is there any dry ration left?" Duanmu Shenghua asked again.
"No, the general ate all of that ration; there's nothing left." On a military campaign, food was scarce, and the general hated waste; how could there be any leftover rations? Then, remembering something, the soldier added, "The general still has water."
The soldier quickly went to fetch the bamboo tube that Shao Yichen used for drinking water.
Duanmu Shenghua gave the military doctors a wink, and they immediately began examining the bamboo tube.
A moment later, a military doctor shouted, "There's poison in this bamboo tube!"
"What?" The soldier was stunned for a moment, looking at the bamboo tube in disbelief: "Impossible! I personally filled the water in this bamboo tube for the general. The general has been drinking it for two days. There can't be any problem."
If the water in the bamboo tube was the problem, the general would have been in trouble long ago; it wouldn't have waited until now.
As if she had finally discovered the culprit, Duanmu Shenghua looked at the soldier with icy eyes: "So it was you who poisoned the General! Guards, arrest her!"
The soldier was completely stunned upon hearing this, and frantically shook his head in fear: "I didn't, I didn't harm the general, I didn't poison the general, and the water in the bamboo tube couldn't have been poisoned. I've been framed!"
She was the general's personal guard, and the general was her only support. How could she possibly harm the general?
Duanmu Shenghua ignored her explanation and said coldly, "Since you keep saying that the water in the bamboo tube is not poisonous, then give her the water in the bamboo tube to drink!"
"Yes." The surrounding soldiers responded and took the bamboo tube from the medic's hand.
Several people stepped forward together, some grabbing people, some gagging, and some pouring water down their throats.
No matter how much the soldier struggled, she couldn't withstand the violence inflicted on her by so many people.
Soon, the half-full jar of water in the bamboo tube was poured into the soldier's mouth.
The soldier immediately collapsed to the ground, convulsing all over. Soon after, he began foaming at the mouth, and then blood began to flow from his seven orifices.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the soldier stopped moving and was clearly no longer alive.
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