Chapter 167
Qu Watanabe admitted that he was confused for a moment when he heard about his uncle's legs.
But he calmed down immediately.
He picked up the imperial black dragon dagger on the table, exerted a little force, and the dagger came out of its sheath.
A sharp cold light flashed, with a scarlet blood groove on it.
This cannot be faked, it was undoubtedly bestowed personally by Emperor Chongzhao.
Even if he had doubts, he could write a letter to the capital to ask whether Lao Deng had given him the power to execute first and report later. Cui Rong would not lie to him about this.
But this poison...
No matter how petty Lao Deng was, he would never bring the matter to him and ask him to choose between him and his uncle.
If he guessed correctly, the dagger was given to him by Lao Deng to reassure him and let him not care about the heated discussions in the capital, and to awkwardly ease the relationship between father and son.
To take a step back, even if Lao Deng had no feelings for him at all and really wanted him to make a choice, there would be no delay in the supply of food and fodder.
He is leading his troops to fight a war now. What good will it do for Lao Deng if his soldiers go hungry?
Qu Dubian: "Eunuch Cui, you said you came here on orders, but whose orders were you following?"
"Although you denied that the medicine was the choice given to me by His Majesty, and only said 'I think', you are His Majesty's confidant. If it were someone else, they would only think that His Majesty was using you to say what he wanted to do."
"But I don't believe it."
Cui Rong's expression calmed down a little as he looked at the little prince who was able to analyze calmly in this situation.
He sighed silently in his heart.
As fate would have it, a word from the Astronomical Bureau made the Seventh Prince bear the name of an illegitimate child. He was disliked by His Majesty and his health deteriorated, and he was ill for so many years.
If he had grown up like the other princes and was so brilliant, who else could have been the crown prince of the Great Zhou?
Qu Dubian didn't notice his distraction, "Eunuch has been by His Majesty's side for so many years, it is time for him to retire. Just do your duty and you will have a peaceful and healthy old age."
"What is there to take such a risk, father-in-law, that you dare to——"
"Falsely convey the imperial decree."
These four words came out of the boy's mouth calmly.
With a click, the imperial dagger was pressed on the table. Qu Dubian raised his eyes and said, "Eunuch, can I kill you with this imperial dagger?"
Cui Rong stood up, took a step forward, knelt down beside the cushion, and bowed respectfully to Qu Dubian.
When he looked up again, his face was filled with sorrow.
He took two steps on his knees, grasped the hem of Qu Duanbian's clothes with both hands, and said in a voice that couldn't be any lower, "Your Highness, please save my daughter!"
"Two days before I set out from the capital, my daughter was taken out by my mother to buy food for the journey, but she never came back. Soon, I received a letter asking me to do what the letter said. After the matter was completed, my daughter would naturally wait for me at Shanming Pass. From then on, the affairs of the court had nothing to do with me."
After hearing this, Qu Dubian didn't know whether to believe it or not. "You have been the head of the East Factory for so many years. Don't you think you are stupid for believing the words of the person who threatened you? Aren't you afraid that the other party will abandon you after you have done your job? After all, only the dead can keep their mouths shut."
"If His Majesty knew about this, neither you nor your daughter would survive."
Cui Rong smiled bitterly: "I know, so I told His Highness everything now, just hoping to find a way to survive in the cracks."
Qu Watanabe: "Do you know who is behind you?"
Cui Rong shook his head. "I am old and about to retire. I have not been directly involved in the affairs of the East Factory for many years. I didn't expect that someone would take advantage of the situation at the last minute. The only people who might have taken action in the capital are the factions of the Second Prince, the Fifth Prince, and the Sixth Prince."
Qu Watanabe: "Do you know where your daughter is?"
Cui Rong: "I don't know. But they will definitely let me see it. They are afraid that I will be in trouble."
"I don't know anything. You asked me to save your daughter. Am I a god?"
"You just need to cooperate with me," Cui Rong said anxiously. "I will tell you that someone wants to harm you and let you be prepared. You just need to pretend to eat it."
"Although there is no antidote to the poison that destroys tendons and bones, you can use internal energy to disguise the pulse symptoms. I can teach you."
"It takes three months for the poison to take effect. For those with strong internal strength, it may take even longer. During this period, my urgent need has been solved, and Your Highness no longer needs to worry about the conspiracy in the capital."
His eyes were earnest and bloodshot. After he knelt down, he never got up again. The hand that was clutching the corner of his clothes seemed to be grabbing the last straw.
Qu Dubian asked: "If I hadn't discovered it, and believed that it was His Majesty who gave me the medicine, would you not have confessed it to me? After all, it was His Majesty who wanted to depose me because I was too powerful, so I would never tell anyone, and it would become the emperor's private secret, a secret that cannot be seen in the light of day."
As for secrets that are not known to the public, naturally there is no question of spreading the imperial decree.
On the way here, the former factory owner had thought about these two situations and how to respond in them.
He calculated the maximum possibility that both he and his daughter could survive.
Cui Rong did not respond, but simply said, "Your Highness, what is your choice?"
Qu Watanabe: "After all, your business has nothing to do with me."
There was a knock on the door.
Their conversation was too quiet and lasted too long. Tang Yisu was a little impatient. "Your Highness, Eunuch, is it settled?"
Qu Watanabe: "Oh, I remember now, Lord Tang also said he wanted to talk to me. Eunuch Cui, what he wanted to tell me is about me."
"For example, food and fodder."
"If I don't take this poison today, will there be an accident with the food supplies, or will it be delayed indefinitely?"
Cui Rong was silent for a moment and nodded.
Qu Duanbian: "If something unexpected happened to the food and fodder, who should be held responsible?"
Cui Rong replied: "The Fifth Prince was the military supervisor of the two routes' grain and grass this time. When the grain and grass got in trouble, the first person to be killed was Tang Yisu, and the second person to be implicated and severely punished was the Fifth Prince."
The fifth brother was brought up again.
Who is the person behind Tang Yisu, or who is involved in this?
Qu Watanabe played out the situation in his mind.
First, the mastermind behind this was the second brother. After all, his father-in-law was the water transport envoy, and Tang Yisu was the second brother's man, but he hid it very well and no one knew about it.
Second, the mastermind behind this is the Sixth Brother. After all, the Sixth Prince’s party has a lot of people, and Tang Yisu is the Sixth Brother’s man. It would be a good idea to take a gamble now to prevent him from shaking the Sixth Brother’s position after returning to Beijing.
Third, the second brother and the sixth brother joined forces and formed a private alliance, and also pushed the fifth brother out to be the supervisor of the two armies. In this way, even if something happened, the fifth brother would be there to take the blame.
but……
As the fifth brother is between the second and sixth brothers, will he take the initiative to serve as the military supervisor so that one of them can believe in his position?
Even the fifth brother has been entangled in hatred for half his life. Will he really not do something more outrageous because of hatred?
Anyone is possible.
According to his speculation, no one can completely believe it.
The more he guessed, the more he felt there was a dark vortex under his feet, and the dirty calculations emanating from it were swallowing up his ankles bit by bit.
The coldness clung to the skin and slowly seeped into the flesh and bones.
Qu Dubian stopped thinking, he liked the warm sunshine and just wanted to stay away from this feeling.
Cui Rong whispered, "The water in the capital is too muddy right now. Maybe the people who took my daughter away are not the same group as the people behind Tang Yisu. They just discussed it together."
The emperor's order to poison and delay the supply of food and grass were two deadly moves. Cui Rong couldn't believe that there was anyone in the world who dared to be so ruthless.
Qu Watanabe: "What you said at the beginning was also false."
Cui Rong: "What?"
Qu Watanabe: "My uncle's legs were crippled by your majesty."
"This is true," Cui Rong said, "The Xu family was the most powerful in the past, and Commander Xu was trained by Marquis Chijian as his successor. Your Majesty has long been wary of the military power in the Northern Frontier, so how could he allow Marquis Chijian to have such an outstanding successor?"
"At that time, Commander Xu made a minor mistake, and I was ordered to lead the execution. After the execution, Commander Xu's legs were crippled."
Qu Watanabe fell silent.
To put it bluntly, Cui Rong said so much, but the only thing he cared about from beginning to end was his uncle.
I had asked Xu Tingfeng two or three times before why his legs were like that, but my uncle never gave me a direct answer. He just said that he had violated military regulations and was punished with a beating.
It turns out that this is the violation of military regulations and the punishment is beating.
You have to know that the original owner's mother was still in the harem at that time and had not died.
Emperor Chongzhao loved Xu Yueqing, but this love did not prevent him from crippling his uncle's legs in order to consolidate the imperial power.
His uncle probably never told anyone about it because he didn't want to destroy the family relationship between him and Emperor Chongzhao.
But even if this thin relationship between father and son exists, how much weight can it have?
Qu Watanabe: "So you are not lying."
He looked at the green bottle on the table. "I am a prince, he will not hurt me, but my uncle may not be. If I go back safely, whether it is because His Majesty does not want the Xu family to have military power in Zhennan Pass or to pave the way for his heir, my uncle will be suppressed and demoted to the limit, or even abolished again."
If he doesn't use this poison, there is a chance that he will appear in front of his uncle after the war is completely over.
Of course, it may be replaced by other poisons.
Cui Rong could not refute.
After all, Your Majesty did this once when he was young.
At this point, Qu Dubian finally had a clear understanding of the matter.
It's nothing more than brothers scheming, fighting for power, and the emperor's suspicion...
He suddenly laughed out loud.
There was no anger in his smile, instead he seemed to be genuinely happy.
Cui Rong felt uneasy, "Your Highness, what are you laughing at..."
Qu Watanabe: "I laugh, you are too anxious."
After he brought his elder sister back this time, he would not do anything in the court. He would just go back to being a happy sickly man.
Just didn't expect it.
While he is still at the northern border, there are already so many hands that are eager to lend a helping hand and throw him out of the vortex of the fight for the throne.
He didn't know what to say to someone so helpful.
Tang Yisu knocked on the door again: "Your Highness, Eunuch, are you done with the negotiation?"
Cui Rong took out another small green porcelain bottle and spoke faster, "This contains the honey water that my daughter likes. Your Highness, pretend to use it, and I will teach you how to fake your pulse."
Qu Watanabe: "Eunuch Cui, how can I believe what you said about faking the pulse? Maybe it can be faked at the beginning, but the pulses in the middle and late stages of the poisoning are completely different. Can this be faked?"
Cui Rong's body stiffened slightly.
Maybe Cui Rong intended to help him, but in the end he only helped himself.
A batch of food can last for a month, and they will not be able to break through the royal court within a month.
When Cui Rong achieves his goal and he is exposed, the situation will be very unpredictable.
Will the second and third batches of food for the soldiers arrive smoothly?
Who knows what kind of tricks are waiting for him.
Qu Watanabe: "Besides, Father-in-law, do you think that the person who kidnapped your daughter would not think of what you can think of?"
Cui Rong: "What?"
Tang Yisu outside couldn't wait any longer, so he called out and pushed the door open and walked in.
Qu Dubian quickly stuffed the honey water given by Cui Rong into his sleeve and opened the bone-breaking medicine in the small porcelain bottle.
As Cui Rong's astonishment turned into pity, he drank up the liquid.
Tang Yisu happened to see this scene.
Qu Dubian placed the empty bottle on the table, his expression instantly becoming sad, angry, and depressed: "Tell His Majesty that I have received the reward, and there is no need to give it to others."
He suddenly started acting, and Cui Rong almost didn't react. After catching a glimpse of Tang Yisu's clothes, he immediately maintained his expression: "Don't worry, Your Highness."
"Your Highness, please keep this dagger. After all, it is a gift from the emperor."
Qu Dubian said coldly: "This is natural."
The poison entered his body, and the meridians where his internal energy was flowing spasmed for a moment. He used his internal energy to forcefully suppress the spasm and relieve it. After the spasm was relieved, the meridians relaxed, and an indescribable sense of comfort climbed along the meridians to his limbs and bones.
Qu Duanbian couldn't help but close his eyes, his fingertips were trembling.
[Destroys tendons and breaks bones: A toxin that acts on the vital energy meridians. After taking it, the meridians will spasm. When the meridians relax after the spasm, it will bring extreme pleasure.
The symptoms recur, once a day, at midnight, for about three months, and the meridians lose their toughness. After the most pleasant relaxation of the meridians, the poisoned person will experience the most painful onset of the poison, with the meridians broken and unable to walk.
Tang Yisu hurried over to support him, and his fingers inadvertently grasped Qu Dubian's pulse point.
Then a gleam of light flashed in his eyes.
He said worriedly, "Your Highness looks a little pale. Did you talk to Eunuch Cui about something? Are you feeling unwell?"
The young general paused for a few seconds, as if trying to hold back something: "... I'm talking about why the food and fodder haven't arrived yet."
Tang Yisu hurriedly said, "I'll be there right away! I promise I'll be here the day after tomorrow at the latest!"
"The road is indeed slippery. If it weren't for Eunuch Cui saying that he wanted to give you the imperial dagger as soon as possible, we wouldn't have left the team and come here early."
Qu Dubian let him support him, took the imperial dagger, and stood up by supporting himself on the table.
He said to Tang Yisu, "Don't you have something else to say to me?"
Tang Yisu: "It's getting late. What I said was just nonsense. It doesn't matter whether I say it or not."
Qu Watanabe: "Don't wait until the day after tomorrow. If there is no food tomorrow, I will use this dagger to kill you first."
Tang Yisu's expression became serious: "I obey your command!"
Qu Dubian slowly brushed his hand away and left the room.
Tang Yisu waited until he left before standing up and checking the remaining liquid in the bottle on the table.
Without getting his hands wet, he held a small white flower that is unique to northern Xinjiang. If this flower is mashed into juice and applied to the body, it will cause red bumps to those who come into contact with it for the first time.
But it also has another effect. When exposed to most toxins, the small white flowers will turn black and purple.
Watching the little white flower turn black, Tang Yisu smiled.
"You made the Seventh Prince take the medicine before it was my turn to speak. It seems that Eunuch Cui's identity can win people's trust."
The problem can be solved by using his Majesty's identity. Cui Rong is in the front, so there is naturally no need for him to appear. If he can play the role of a good guy, who wants to play the role of a bad guy?
Cui Rong: "He did it for Xu Tingfeng."
"Whatever the purpose, the goal has been achieved."
Tang Yisu said, "You two talked in there for so long, I thought you would collude with the Seventh Prince to deceive me, but I didn't expect you to really drink it."
Cui Rong: "Maybe I really lied to you."
Tang Yisu said, "My inner strength is weak, but I have a little unknown ability. If it is fake, I can feel the pulse. If the Seventh Prince is a disguise... Eunuch, don't you want to know what will happen next."
Cui Rong felt a little cold on his back.
He said: "If you continue to work so hard for the people behind you, you will not have a good ending either."
Tang Yisu took a step back and shrugged: "I don't need it. As long as the people I follow can reach the top, then why not be a stepping stone?"
He was originally a pawn. If Eunuch Cui failed, he would appear and use food and supplies as bargaining chips to trade with the Seventh Prince.
If the Seventh Prince could bear to watch the border soldiers starve to death, as they all failed, he would naturally drag the Fifth Prince to bear the blame together.
Cui Rong was silent for a while. "Now that things have come to this, you can tell me where my daughter is. If anything happens to her, or if I die, don't blame me for completely tearing my face off. The news that the Seventh Prince was forced to take poison will spread all over the world in an instant. By then, you can guess whether His Majesty will be furious and how much trouble will be stirred up in the capital."
Tang Yisu: "I will naturally do what I promised you."
-
[Toxins that break bones and tendons are detected in the host's body. Should we simulate it? 】
【yes. 】
【Please set the simulation time limit. 】
【Three and a half months.】
Qu Dubian thought for a while before deciding on this time.
He took the medicine, and the simulator can eliminate the toxins in his body after a round of simulation, but the simulation must be completed.
He could use the simulator to shorten the simulation time, for example, compress it into one day and write a paper at the same time.
But he had just experienced an initial attack of the poison.
That feeling... He could still endure the pain, after all, he had so many years of experience in simulators.
But what is scary is the feeling of horrible pleasure in the body's meridians being transmitted to the brain and pushing it to the peak in an instant.
He was worried that after experiencing the extreme version one day, he would be unable to resist hurting himself to suppress the pleasure that made his body tremble.
Qu Watanabe likes to think calmly. No matter what he does since he was a child, he has his own set of behavioral codes.
He was able to get used to writing his paper steadily despite the pain, but he resisted the feeling of losing control.
It would be more convenient to set the simulation time to the normal duration of the poison taking effect. This would not waste simulation times, nor would he have to worry about what would happen if Tang Yisu or someone else inadvertently verified whether he had taken the medicine again next month. He would have to prepare in advance.
If the truth is revealed, those people in the capital might do something weird.
Qu Watanabe: [Let's make a deal. This simulation takes so long, with three stages: early, mid, and late. I'll submit three papers. Can you calculate the lifespan of the three simulation rewards?]
The life span obtained from three simulations is 270 days, which is almost a year! Even if some is deducted in the middle, there are still 100 to 200 days.
Make a fortune.
Simulator: [The process of stage submission and review and scoring will be more rigorous.]
Qu Watanabe understood: [Deal.]
【Stage submission has been set】
[The simulation has begun. I wish the host a long and healthy life.]
Anything that doesn't kill him will make him live longer.
Qu Watanabe moved his wrists and felt that his body was no different from usual.
He never took the bottle of poison seriously from the beginning, nor did he take Cui Rong's so-called "fake pulse" seriously.
He doesn't need it at all.
The first reason he chose to take the medicine was that he intuitively felt that Tang Yisu did not completely trust Cui Rong and might have a backup plan. If he pretended to take the medicine, a scene that he did not want to see might occur.
The second reason is that after the war, the possibility of my uncle being demoted at most and being deposed was almost zero.
The third reason is to go with the flow.
After taking the medicine that breaks his bones and muscles, at least during the battles at Zhennan Pass and the border, there will be no more plots against our side.
The soldiers can have enough food and everyone can have peace for the time being.
He even saved himself the trouble of racking his brains to figure out how to get sick in the future. It was a one-time solution.
It's a bit of a joke from hell, but in a sense, it's really like a pillow brought to you when you're sleepy.
As for the rest...let's see as we go.
Qu Dubian walked out of the yard and saw Yi Twelve standing far away under a tree, waiting for him with his knife in his arms.
Seeing his own prince coming out, Yi Twelve stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, you have been gone for a long time."
Qu Dubian raised the imperial dagger in his hand and said with a smile: "Of course, I took this."
Yi Twelve's eyes narrowed, obviously recognizing what it was.
"The dagger bestowed by the Emperor, kill first and report later."
"Yes," Qu Dubian explained, "It was Eunuch Cui inside. His Majesty asked him to pass it to me, saying that if there were any more incidents like the Supervisory Office, I would just kill them."
“That’s a bit long.”
Qu Dubian squinted his eyes and looked at the sky. It was still early morning when he came here, but now it was almost noon. When he returned to Zhongyi City, the sun should have set.
"It's a bit long. Go back quickly so you can make it in time for dinner."
His personal guards greeted him: "Your Highness, we bought you a cake to eat on the way."
Qu Watanabe raised his eyebrows: "Thank you."
The soldier of the Royal Guard was embarrassed and said, "What's the big deal?"
"Come on, get on the horse."
The team left just as they had come, nothing had changed.
-
As expected.
We didn't stop for a moment and when we arrived at Zhongyi City, the sun was about to set.
Qu Du looked around but couldn't find Xia Fuyang. He didn't know where this guy was going.
He simply finished his meal, put his hands behind his back, and strolled up to the city wall by himself.
"Hello, Your Highness!"
"Hello, General!"
"The young general is here."
“…”
Qu Watanabe has many names in the military camp.
He waved and greeted everyone along the way, and inexplicably felt like a teacher walking among the crowds of students on campus.
It wasn't until we reached the top of the city wall and there was no one around that things calmed down.
He stretched and looked into the distance.
This was the scene Xia Fuyang saw when he came.
The setting sun filled the sky with blood, and the end connected to the sand and grassland of the northern border, desolate and vast.
The young man stood lazily on the city wall, his ponytail tied high, his dark hair ends blown up by the wind, the hair tie and hair tangled together.
A soft dark orange light enveloped him.
Behind him are the standing city flag and the Great Zhou battle flag.
Xia Fuyang watched for a while and thought, this guy is very sunny and cheerful when he smiles, but when he doesn't smile or is in a trance, a hint of coldness overflows from the corners of his eyebrows and eyes.
Perhaps it's because of his appearance, he has eyebrows like distant mountains, the ends of his eyebrows are long but light, his eyelashes are long and thick but not curled, and when he gets angry and has no expression on his face, he looks very cold and scary.
Perhaps it is also because of the battles on the battlefield. With blood on his hands and evil spirit all over his body, his temperament has changed invisibly.
He walked to Qu Dubian and asked, "How is the food supply?"
Qu Dubian hummed: "I will go out and the food and grass will arrive tomorrow."
If he can’t reach it, don’t blame him for turning the table over.
Xia Fuyang: "That's good."
Qu Watanabe: "Where did you go? I didn't see you when I came back."
"Hey, hey," Xia Fuyang winked, turned around, and stretched out his hand to fan himself, "Can you smell what I smell like?"
“…”
Qu Du Bian could not hear or see it.
He glanced at the guy who was fanning himself, "Tell me now, or I'll beat you up."
Xia Fuyang: "Can't you smell such a strong meaty aroma?"
He thought Qu Dubian was too lazy to guess, so he stopped playing tricks and took out a roast duck wrapped in paper from his arms, along with two roasted duck legs and duck wings, which were roasted till crispy and juicy, and stuffed them into Qu Dubian's hands.
"I hunted these while I was out patrolling the city. I didn't touch the food in the city, so I secretly roasted them for you as a snack. The city has been short of food these days, and the soldiers are in need. I heard from Liuliu that you haven't eaten much."
"Eat quickly, eat quickly."
Xia Fuyang looked at him happily.
Qu Watanabe inexplicably had a vision of a white thing coming back from hunting and bringing it to him.
He tore off some oil paper, wrapped it around the duck leg, and took a bite.
"Not bad, you have good skills," Qu Watanabe praised.
Xia Fuyang was satisfied: "By the way, I also want to ask you why Tang Yisu wants to see you."
Qu Dubian: "Actually, it was His Majesty who asked Eunuch Cui to give me the imperial dagger. They didn't want to delay, so they came early." He simply repeated to Xia Fuyang what he had said to Liu Liu.
"Eunuch Cui, it's time to retire."
Qu Watanabe: "Well, I don't know where he will go after this time."
"Oh, I have this too." He suddenly remembered that he also had some snacks. He put the duck leg back into the oil paper, rummaged through his clothes, and took out the small bottle of honey water. "This is the honey water that Eunuch Cui gave to his daughter. I begged for a bottle. I'll give it to you."
He was curious on the way, so he dipped a little and tasted it. It was sour and sweet, very good. He didn't want to eat other people's food for free, so he just considered it an exchange.
Xia Fuyang didn't think much about it. He took the small green bottle, looked at it for a while and said, "It's quite exquisite. I don't know which one is more valuable, the bottle or the sugar water."
He first sniffed it, then tasted it a little.
He found that it was indeed delicious, and only felt relieved to finish it after he realized that Xiao Qi was not playing a prank on him.
Just a small sip, sip it for a few seconds and the feeling is gone.
"Hey, that's good. Next time I go back to Beijing, I'll look for the store that sells it. But there's only this. If you finish it for me, you won't have any left."
Qu Du was biting a duck leg and looking at the front of the city wall.
"It's okay, I drank it."
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