Chapter 118 Pre-Battle
Jiang Xi's eyes filled with tears, revealing his admiration. Shang Yuji coughed lightly twice, then took his arm and walked towards the Gu box.
"But you have to pick one that looks good for me, nothing ordinary will do, and nothing ugly will be acceptable!"
"Okay~" He readily agreed, his earlier unease completely gone. Aji didn't care how powerful his Gu worm was; Aji said that she only wanted the Gu worm because of him.
Ah Ji! His good Ah Ji, the best Ah Ji in the whole world!
"You will be able to cultivate the Strange Gu, the Divine Gu, and the Gu King someday. You must believe in yourself. As for the rare treasures used to feed them, we will consciously collect some precious herbs, rare poisonous insects and plants in the future... Whether we need them or not, we will collect them first."
What other Gu practitioners have, she must also have in Jiangxi.
A sudden surge of fighting spirit ignited within me; how could I let Jiang Xiaoxi lose at the starting line!
Jiang Xi's ears had been red since earlier. Even though one of his arms was being held, it didn't stop him from getting close to her arm. His voice of thanks was filled with joy, and his bright, dark eyes were full of affection.
The two walked to the Gu box. Jiang Xi happily opened the box and carefully selected five good-looking and powerful Gu worms, arranging them neatly in a row, like soldiers about to be inspected, waiting for Leader Shang to choose his favorite.
Even though it was the Gu worms being inspected, Jiang Xi couldn't help but feel a little nervous watching Aji carefully examine each Gu worm.
If Aji doesn't like them, there are other Gu worms to choose from in the box.
Despite repeated self-suggestions, as Ah-Ji looked at each one without saying a word or asking if it was okay, and silently continued looking at the next one, her heart, which had finally calmed down, began to pound again.
The insects stood in a row under the eaves. Apart from two crustaceans and one long one, the remaining ones were a moth and a dragonfly.
She already had one with large wings behind her head, so to avoid homogenization, she finally chose the tiny green dragonfly that was less than a finger's length long.
Looking away from the lifeless, empty eyes painted on the gray moth's wings, Shang Yuji pointed to the green dragonfly beside her and said, "I want this one."
"!" Jiang Xi breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving the final verdict. She returned the other four to the Gu box, then paused her fingertip in front of the dragonfly. Its thin, transparent wings trembled, shimmering faintly in the dim light.
Shang Yuji looked closely and pointed to the hairpin, saying, "Let it rest next to the bead on the hairpin and make a dragonfly hairpin."
The jade dragonfly seemed to understand her words and sensed a familiar aura from her. Before Jiang Xi could speak, it fluttered its long wings and flew towards the place she indicated, landing on the hairpin and obediently disguising itself as a jade dragonfly hairpin.
"It understands me!" Shang Yuji exclaimed in surprise.
Jiang Xi explained with a smile: "Because Changtian and I have similar auras, it will think that Changtian is also the one who nurtured it."
Of course, it cannot be ruled out that when he was raising the Gu, he couldn't help but mutter to them, telling them that Aji was very, very important to him, and that no matter what happened in the future, he should put her wishes first.
He didn't know if this method, which seemed to be cultivating Gu worms for Aji, would work, but it did seem to be affecting the Gu worms' cognition.
At least they vaguely realized that they actually had two owners, although one of them didn't feed them much, but they were already familiar with her scent.
Shang Yuji guessed, "Maybe it's because we've spent so much time together that our scents have become one, so they mistook me for you?"
They were always inseparable and extremely close, so they would inevitably absorb each other's essence, at most in varying degrees.
Great! She can now painlessly command Jiang Xi to deal with the Gu worms in the Gu box. Her instructions are probably incomplete to the Gu worms, and they only understand them halfway, not as clearly as their legitimate masters, but they are good enough for them.
She doesn't usually use them much, of course, only if no one is blind enough to run into her.
Jiang Xi nodded in affirmation: "Yes, Changtian is right!"
Shang Yuji acknowledged his affirmation and then pointed to the dragonfly, asking, "By the way, what should I feed it?"
"Just like a white butterfly."
As for why butterflies and dragonflies are a recipe? The answer is the all-purpose little round pill of the Gu master.
Who knows if the meatballs inside are made of minced meat that has been kneaded into a ball, or dough with added ingredients?
Out of respect for the magical world of martial arts, Shang Yuji has always held the attitude that "it's best not to know the ingredients of these things for my own sake."
This is similar to drinking Chinese medicine but not asking about the origin of the ingredients.
In short, don't ask questions, just use it.
"Changtian doesn't need to worry too much about their eating; if they get hungry, they will find food on their own."
Shang Yuji asked curiously, "If someone accidentally touches them while they are foraging for food, will they be in danger?"
His expression suddenly froze, as if he had just realized that this was also possible: "...It seems so. Their toxins are too strong. If they are stimulated, they will fight back in self-defense."
The worms that previously foraged for food also contain toxins, but not enough to directly kill; timely intervention is sufficient.
But Ah Jifa's two wings could kill with just a flap of their wings.
Out of consideration for innocent passersby, Shang Yuji decided to feed them at the same time every day: "Tell them to fly over to me and hover around at mealtimes to remind me."
She even speculated wildly about how the animals would manage to crawl into the bag and eat on their own since her accident.
Then Jiang Xi was instructed to give them orders to avoid being seen by people when they went out to forage.
Once she was sure there was nothing else to add, Shang Yuji felt relieved and took the three Gu with her when she left.
Shang Yuji: I hope everyone can be friendly and not provoke her. She is now the most vicious woman in the entire Da'an.
Literally, self-proclaimed.
·
After the matter concerning the Tian family's relatives was handled properly, Zhou Ao entered the palace and was rewarded. However, no sooner had he received his reward and left the palace than the emperor suddenly fainted and lost consciousness.
Even though Zhou Ao believed it was an accident and had nothing to do with him, the timing was too coincidental, and some people always suspected that he had tampered with it. After all, no matter how you looked at it, the biggest beneficiary of the emperor's illness was him.
Because the emperor remained unconscious, the morning court session was temporarily suspended, and the capital city was like a stagnant pool, with no one daring to make any rash moves.
Seven days later, when the emperor awoke, the imperial physician said that the emperor needed to rest. Unexpectedly, a message came from the palace guards that night, and it was rumored that the emperor laughed for a long time after seeing the message, and the candles in his residence were lit all night.
The following day, Consort Shu was demoted to Beauty and banished to the Cold Palace.
The emperor suddenly stopped moving, and the atmosphere in the entire capital froze, making it hard to breathe.
Two days later, a disguised palace maid entered the Second Prince's residence at dawn, while everyone was still asleep, and brought him a secret letter.
He recognized the woman as a palace maid serving his mother, and the words written on the silk revealed her identity.
—The emperor knew about the people in the lotus garden.
How could this be!
He knew better than anyone who was in the Lotus Garden, and naturally he knew that if the emperor found out about this, he would definitely not have a good outcome.
A prince with a right to succession takes in a political enemy who lost the struggle for the throne with the emperor.
His intention to seize the throne was obvious, and it was not even a conventional way to seize the throne. His actions were an attempt to rebel, which is a capital offense that can lead to execution!
But he doesn't remember this happening. Where did things go wrong?
This matter dates back to when the Eldest Princess sent people to Hebei Province to investigate the Qi Prince's residence. After discovering something amiss at the Qi Prince's residence and reporting back to the residence, the advisors came up with a plan—to shift the blame eastward.
Although the Princess's residence and the Second Prince's residence had been fighting for many years and had long since reached a stalemate, this situation was actually created by the Emperor himself. He occupied the high platform and enjoyed watching the people inside the palace fight.
At the same time, it is obvious that as long as the balance fabricated by the emperor is broken, this seemingly stable but actually fragile situation will fall apart.
What they need to do is shift the conflict between the Second Prince's residence and the Eldest Princess's residence onto the Emperor. To do this, a crisis that is more urgent and pressing than the struggle between the two residences is required.
Speaking of Zhou Yun, apart from the four elders, no one understood the threat posed by his existence better than the emperor.
If Zhou Yun hadn't been seriously injured during the power grab, he might not have been the one to ascend the throne.
Thinking that he had completely stripped Zhou Yun of his power, and then rushed to Hebei Province, the emperor believed that Zhou Yun, having suffered a major setback, would give up the idea of competing for power. As time passed, the Qi Prince's Mansion indeed became quiet, and the emperor gradually felt relieved.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Yun may have taken a break, but he did not give up his idea of seizing the throne, and now he is even making a comeback.
If the palace guards hadn't discovered that the Princess's residence had slipped up while investigating the Prince of Qi's residence in Hebei Province, and hadn't followed the clues to uncover that the person hiding in the lotus garden of the Second Prince's residence was Zhou Yun, the emperor would never have known that Zhou Yun had been established in the capital for many years.
The emperor had no time to consider whether the failure of the Princess's secret guards was intentional. The urgent task at hand was to capture Zhou Yun and Zhou Ao before they could react!
The emperor acted too hastily, and even though he intended to conceal it, Zhou Yun still discovered that the imperial guards outside the capital were undergoing a large-scale reorganization.
At first, he was unaware of the emperor's intentions until he saw Zhou Ao show him the news that Consort Shu had been sent out by someone.
Zhou Yun knew his elder brother's character all too well, and immediately realized that the Imperial Guards were assembled for them!
The emperor already suspects the Second Prince's residence. They cannot sit idly by and wait for their doom. They must seize the throne before the Imperial Guards assemble.
It would take the Imperial Guards three days to assemble and then travel to the palace. They had already missed two days. Seizing the throne within a single day was of paramount importance!
Seizing the throne in a single day is not the same as the slow, gradual approach of "boiling the frog in lukewarm water"; they have no choice but to take a gamble.
The Second Prince's residence summoned three thousand soldiers from who-knows-where, their aim being the highest position in the imperial city.
Looking at the three thousand soldiers he could only command, Zhou Ao cursed inwardly. If the matter of the Yangzhou Quanshan military equipment had not been discovered, these soldiers would have been able to wear the hardest armor and wield the sharpest weapons. If Tian Mu had not been in trouble, with Tian Mu's command, not to mention three thousand soldiers, even thirty thousand soldiers could have been at his disposal!
If they had 30,000 soldiers, Zhou Ao couldn't help but think that they could even raze the entire imperial city to the ground.
At the break of dawn, three thousand soldiers set off from various parts of the capital toward the imperial city.
The emperor was forcibly awakened by the shadow guards. His frail body left him weak and powerless, and the imperial physician advised him to rest.
If he continues to rest, he will definitely not die from illness, but will be beheaded by these rebellious traitors!
Listen to this: three thousand soldiers are heading straight for the imperial city!
Without his decree, the soldiers were not allowed to stay in the capital without cause, but these three thousand men did not even enter through the city gates. Instead, they hid in the capital and waited for orders before showing themselves.
Hiding three thousand soldiers in the capital—isn't this a clear indication that they were prepared in advance?
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