The sage was right; someone had indeed drugged him.
It's not a highly toxic substance, but rather a slow-acting medicine.
Excessive emotional excitement can lead to sudden death or stroke.
The person who administered the drug was not the Empress Ashina, whom the sage had recognized, but rather A-Miao, whom he trusted most!
Consort Xiao's feelings towards the emperor were complex, containing both love and hate.
Don't forget, Consort Xiao was abducted to the Northern Dynasty by the Emperor.
She was originally a noblewoman from a Southern Dynasty clan, but she encountered war when she went to Jiangling to visit relatives.
Even now, more than twenty years later, Consort Xiao has never forgotten that nightmarish night.
The sky was dark and the moonlight was hazy. Suddenly, a bloody storm broke out on the once calm river.
Groups of Northern Dynasty soldiers, like wild beasts, roared and charged across the river.
Her guards (private soldiers) and her servants were all killed.
She, the eldest daughter of the prestigious Lanling Xiao clan, was bound hand and foot and thrown onto a horse like an ox or a horse.
The journey was bumpy, and all I could hear were shouts of killing, pleas for mercy, and screams of agony.
Consort Xiao thought she was going to die, and felt a sense of fear and despair as if she were in purgatory.
She's not dead!
Because of her unparalleled beauty, the soldiers who abducted her presented her as a tribute to Helian Gui, who was still a prince at the time.
Consort Xiao was terrified, but her survival instinct made her endure the shame and try to please Helian Gui.
She cannot be sent back to the military camp.
Her personal maid was tortured to death by a pack of hungry wolves of soldiers in the military camp!
Consort Xiao tried her best to please him, even if it meant being a lowly concubine.
Fortunately, her beauty, her talent, and her gentleness and temperament captivated Helian Gui.
Helian Gui did not send her back to the military camp, but took her back to the Northern Dynasty.
From then on, Consort Xiao was forced to leave her hometown and relatives. In order to survive, she had to be timid and obsequious, losing all the dignity and pride of a noblewoman!
In the early years of the Northern Dynasty, Consort Xiao suffered greatly and endured much humiliation.
If she had been even slightly more vulnerable, or even slightly more "resolute," she might have already taken her own life.
Consort Xiao gritted her teeth and endured it—
I don't want to die!
I didn't do anything wrong!
I have never hurt anyone.
Even if someone were to die, it wouldn't be my turn.
Xiao Zhaoyi endured and persevered, gradually becoming Helian Gui's favored concubine, and finally living a life of honor and stability.
She also seemed to have great respect and love for her husband, Helian Gui.
But only Consort Xiao herself knew that she hated Helian Gui.
Putting aside the grudge of the robbery back then, Helian Gui knew about the torment that Consort Xiao had suffered in the early years.
However, for various reasons, he chose to let Consort Xiao endure it.
He only needed to say one more word or slightly elevate her status, and she could have avoided all that suffering.
Helian Gui, however, did not!
"Ha! What love and romance? It's all bullshit!"
Consort Xiao finally understood that the emperor's favor was nothing but a mirage, and that real power was the most reliable thing.
So this time, knowing that Helian Gui was going fishing, Consort Xiao secretly drugged him.
Consort Xiao's original plan was to have Helian Gui die suddenly or fall seriously ill, and then push Sanlang to the throne.
Unfortunately, Sanlang disobeyed and made decisions on his own, causing Xiao Zhaoyi's plan to fall through.
"...It doesn't matter! I still have Liulang!"
Consort Xiao was very decisive and gave up on Sanlang directly.
Even the youngest son isn't the only option.
If the Sixth Prince cannot ascend to the throne, she has one last option—Helian Jue!
...
A miraculous "fall from the sky" unfolded in the capital. Without delay, Helian Jue led three thousand vanguard soldiers straight to Tangquan Palace.
"The three gentlemen, the eldest princess, and the King of Yue are deeply moved by their filial piety towards their royal father."
Meanwhile, at Tangquan Palace, after Helian Jue "flew" away, Empress Ashina said to Yongchang and the three prime ministers, "Heaven was also moved by the King of Yue's filial piety and bestowed such a divine artifact upon him."
"King Yue was originally the crown prince, but he was deposed for making a mistake. Fortunately, he realized his mistake and corrected it, and he is also so filial. It seems that Heaven also hopes that he can be reinstated!"
Those present were all cunning old foxes, so Empress Ashina didn't mince words.
She repeatedly emphasized that Helian Jue's "miracle" was ordained by Heaven.
The three prime ministers, Wang, Cui, and Zheng, still did not believe in any miracles, but they could not explain why Helian Jue was floating in mid-air.
"There must be some kind of magic that allows His Highness the King of Yue to fly in the air!"
The three prime ministers were secretly speculating.
Although they didn't know the reason, they thought about it from another perspective: it might be because Helian Jue had capable people under his command!
"It seems that His Highness the King of Yue has made quite a few gains in Lingnan."
"Not only that! The previous sugar-making secret recipe must have also come from the Yue Prince's Mansion."
"In addition, there's sea salt! I don't know how he managed to sell sea salt at 30% below market price."
"...In the past three years, the Yue Prince's Mansion has made a fortune from just the sugar and salt businesses."
The three prime ministers exchanged glances, communicating silently.
What they didn't say was that this was only the business that the Yue Prince's Mansion was openly operating.
They must have other businesses operating in secret.
Helian Jue, a deposed crown prince who was exiled, had only eight hundred guards from his palace, cobbled together from various sources, when he left the capital.
As a result, in just three years, he had the power to expand his territory.
The known situation in the capital is that he has already occupied Huangzhou and Jiaozhou.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
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