Chapter 202 Death
When Commander Li led Qi Wuhan over, the Crown Prince had just emerged from the palace, looking sorrowful. He then suppressed his grief and walked over to say, "Father is waiting for you, come in quickly."
After Qi Wuhan followed Eunuch Liu in, he heard heavy breathing sounds, as if there was phlegm stuck in his throat, and he was wheezing so hard that even breathing was difficult.
Every breath seems to be fighting for time with the King of Hell.
Ever since the emperor fainted from anger at the morning court last time, his health has taken a turn for the worse. Now he is at the end of his life and there is no way to save him.
Previously, Qi Shou and his junior brother used the Soul Seal to cast forbidden techniques on the emperor. Although they temporarily controlled the emperor's mind and manipulated him to depose the crown prince and release King Rui, it caused great damage to the emperor's body and mind. If the emperor died suddenly, it would certainly arouse suspicion. So Qi Shou refined a life-extending elixir for the emperor to take, but the effect of the elixir was very strong. Although taking one could make people sober up temporarily, it was like drinking poison to quench thirst. It would only make the body more and more deficient. By the time the medicine ran out, even the immortal in the world would not be able to save him.
When Eunuch Liu brought Qi Wuhan over, the emperor was lying on the bed, staring at the void above his head. His eyes looked empty and blank, as if he had temporarily lost the ability to think. Sometimes he narrowed his eyes slightly, as if he saw some phantom.
"Your Majesty, the Marquis is here." Upon hearing Eunuch Liu's voice, the emperor's vision gradually focused, as if he were coming to his senses. The emperor slowly turned his head, his sunken eyes becoming cloudy, but the moment he saw Qi Wuhan, they became clearer, and the wheezing sound in his throat stopped.
"Greetings, Your Majesty." Qi Wuhan bowed and saluted.
The emperor raised his hand with great effort and waved to Eunuch Liu, "You go down first."
Eunuch Liu took his leave and left.
The emperor stared at the face, his eyes sometimes clear and sometimes confused, as if he couldn't remember why he was called here. After a while, he asked, "Why did you come back?" His voice sounded a little hoarse and his tone was desolate.
Qi Wuhan replied calmly, "Because my last name is Qi."
The emperor was slightly moved, and his eyes looked blankly at the void above his head again. He was silent for a while, and when he spoke again, his tone became more desolate... as if one foot was about to step into the grave.
"Don't you hate me?"
Qi Wuhan smiled faintly and said, "Your Majesty spared my life, and now we are even."
"We're both clear..." His Majesty muttered, "Don't you have anything to ask me?"
Qi Wuhan bowed and said, "Your Majesty, please restore the reputation of the Black Armor Army."
The emperor looked at the void above his head, his vision gradually lost focus, his eyes became empty and blank again, and suddenly he became motionless.
"Your Majesty?" Qi Wuhan shouted, raising his voice slightly.
The emperor finally responded, his gaze refocusing, as if suddenly coming back to his senses from a blank moment, and asked, "What did you just say?"
"Your Majesty, please restore the reputation of the Black Armor Army." Qi Wuhan repeated his request.
"The Black Armored Army..." His Majesty looked dazed, as if lost in memories, and he spoke slowly, "It's been almost thirty years. I still remember when that person came to the palace as a hostage. It was just after a heavy snowfall in the capital. Zhaoyang said she wanted to go to the Plum Garden to see the plum blossoms, and asked me to go with her and pick the most beautiful plum blossom for her..."
Having said this, the emperor's gaze lost focus again and he became silent.
"Your Majesty?" Qi Wuhan shouted again, raising his voice slightly.
After the emperor came to his senses, he asked, "Where was I just talking about?"
"His Majesty said he wanted to pick the most beautiful plum blossom to give to someone." Qi Wuhan reminded.
"Yes, Zhaoyang loves looking at plum blossoms the most." The emperor continued to talk about the past. "That day, I took Zhaoyang to the plum garden to see the plum blossoms. We met that man in the garden. He was standing under a tree admiring the plum blossoms. Zhaoyang fell in love with him at first sight, saying that he looked as beautiful as an immortal in a painting standing under the tree. I also felt a strong connection with him and took care of him everywhere in the palace. But he took advantage of my trust and tricked Zhaoyang into secretly marrying him... cough cough cough..."
At this point, His Majesty got so excited that he started coughing violently. Qi Wuhan went over and poured a cup of tea, helped His Majesty up and took a sip slowly. When he helped Him to lie down and was about to put the cup away, His Majesty suddenly reached out and grabbed him, saying excitedly, "He deceived me. He promised to marry Zhaoyang and make her his queen, so I lent him troops to help him return to the Northern Desert and seize the throne. But he broke his promise and abandoned Zhaoyang. He turned around and married someone else as his queen, and repeatedly sent troops to attack the border. The thing I regret most in my life is that I trusted the wrong person."
At this point, His Majesty's cloudy eyes suddenly fixed on Qi Wuhan's face, as if mistaking him for someone else. "You betrayed me!"
"It's not me." Qi Wuhan reminded.
The emperor stared at his face for a while, then sadly loosened his grip on his clothes. His head fell back onto the pillow. After taking a few breaths, he calmed down a bit and said slowly, "When Zhaoyang told me that she was pregnant with that man's child, I asked her to abort it."
Hearing this, a ripple flashed across Qi Wuhan's eyes, but his expression became even calmer, like an abysmal deep sea, dark, cold, and incomparably calm. Even if a slight ripple appeared, it would soon disappear.
"But she refused, insisting on giving birth to the child no matter what. She threatened me with death, but I couldn't bear it, so I let her give birth to the child. Then I arranged for someone to secretly send the child to the Qi family and told her that the child was dead at birth. From then on, she didn't want to see me again. Sigh..."
At this point, the emperor sighed, his gaze turned again, and lingered on Qi Wuhan's face. "You look like him. Every time I see you, I want to..." At this point, the emperor was silent for a moment, and then coldly said three words, "Kill you."
Hearing the last three words, Qi Wuhan smiled faintly, "Then Your Majesty will have nightmares every time he sees me at night, right?"
The emperor also smiled. "You were just a young boy back then. Why should I be afraid? I still remember how naughty you were when you were little. Not only did you skip classes yourself, you also encouraged the Crown Prince and the others to do the same. You also loved to tease the Fifth Brother. The Fifth Brother was afraid you would beat him, so he didn't dare to come and complain to me."
At this point, the emperor laughed heartily and asked him to come over. Qi Wuhan came over and squatted down. The emperor propped himself up and reached out to grab his shoulders, his skinny fingers holding very tightly, "Promise me, withdraw your troops." The emperor said the last two words very seriously.
Qi Wuhan didn't say anything.
But the emperor got the answer from his eyes and tapped his shoulder with his skinny fingers.
After Qi Wuhan helped His Majesty lie down, His Majesty said with his last bit of strength, "I am tired, you go back." The skinny hand waved gently and repeated, "Go back..."
The palace door opened, Qi Wuhan walked out, and then Eunuch Liu went in.
Not long after he entered, Eunuch Liu hurried out and called the prince in. The prince had a bad feeling and stumbled after Eunuch Liu in.
After a while, the prince's crying could be heard from inside. Eunuch Liu came out with a grief-stricken face and announced:
"His Majesty has passed away!"
Qi Wuhan stood outside the door and looked up at the sky. His hands behind his back suddenly clenched. He took a deep breath and slowly released his clenched fists.
When Prince Fu and all the civil and military officials came crying, he had already left.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
