Chapter 182 (Final Chapter, Part 2)

Chapter 182 (Final Chapter, Part 2)

With Teacher Xiao X, this AI spy, Xue Jin'an received the complete content almost as soon as the emperor drafted the imperial edict.

With all the civil and military officials petitioning for the appointment, and several princes having already met with misfortune, the emperor was now in a difficult position. Indeed, as the Empress Dowager had said, even if he did not want to appoint a crown prince, he had no choice but to do so.

However, the emperor was a very unpleasant person. He agreed to establish a crown prince in court, but when writing the imperial edict, he was cunning. He praised Xue Jin'an, but only said that he had the qualifications to be a crown prince and could be a model for princes. He allowed him to participate in the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven as a prince in ten days.

He did what a crown prince should do, but he didn't even get a title, let alone any crown prince's seal or certificate; he didn't even see a trace of it.

Li Hechun, who came to read the imperial edict, frantically wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. Every wrinkle on his face showed bitterness. He forced himself to say, "His Majesty instructed me to tell Your Highness that the position of Crown Prince is rightfully yours. All the necessary items will be handed over to you at the grand ceremony of offering sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, in the presence of all civil and military officials and the people of the world."

Upon hearing this, Xue Jin'an knew that the emperor still wanted to suppress his arrogance, and he was afraid that the words "only you" were added by Li Hechun himself.

Teacher Xiao X said: "Congratulations, you guessed right. The emperor's original words were 'The position of crown prince has always been held by the virtuous, followed by the capable.'"

The implication is that although Xue Jin'an, this perfect young master, is exceptionally talented, he lacks both a good reputation and virtue, making him a second-best choice. He is not satisfied with him, so he withholds the imperial seal and observes him for ten days. If he is satisfied, he will give it to him at the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven. If he is not satisfied, the "ancestral spirits" at the sacrificial ceremony will manifest their power without the emperor's permission.

Teacher Xiao X summarized: "The emperor is CPUing you."

"This isn't the first or second time." The position of Crown Prince was obtained by accident, so whether he has it or not doesn't matter, and Xue Jin'an doesn't care.

Besides, he's about to change dynasties, so his status as the former crown prince is of no use anymore.

Xue Jin'an, the person involved, didn't care, but others did.

The first one is the Fifth Prince.

The Fifth Prince, who grew up eating poison since childhood, is truly resilient. When Xue Jin'an brought him out of the tunnel, he was already in shock. It was only thanks to Xue Jin'an's rough but effective first aid method that he regained his breath and was successfully sent to Cining Palace to wait for Granny Su to return and examine him.

As she treated him, Granny Su shook her head. "Many wounds are so deep that the bone is visible. His collarbone and ribs are broken, and some have even pierced his internal organs... An ordinary person would be barely breathing after being interrogated to this point. I don't know how he survived."

Having served in the palace for many years, Granny Su could tell at a glance that the Fifth Prince had been tortured.

"He has lost too much blood and has a persistent high fever. Whether he can pull through is up to fate." Granny Su sighed, then dipped a towel into a basin full of wine, wrung it out, and used it to wipe the Fifth Prince's body, trying to lower his temperature.

"This method comes from the common people. It is said that it was Hu Yuanzheng's apprentice who learned about your use of wine to save the Third Prince's life. He did a lot of research in private and came up with this method. It has a miraculous effect on high fever. I don't know if it's true."

Xue Jin'an knew about this, because Hu Yuanzheng had asked his young apprentice, the spy whom Fu Lu had painstakingly placed there, to join him. Although he was there as a spy, he had been diligent and conscientious all these years, never slacking off in his work at the Imperial Hospital. From doing odd jobs like sweeping and cleaning at the beginning, to being allowed to collect and dry medicinal herbs, he was quick-witted and eager to learn. In the process, he recognized many medicinal herbs and learned some basics of processing them. He caught Hu Yuanzheng's eye and served as Hu Yuanzheng's apprentice for a period of time before finally becoming Hu Yuanzheng's last disciple.

Hu Yuanzheng summoned him to deliver a message inquiring about the feasibility of using alcohol to lower body temperature and any precautions. He also presented him with several taels of silver and a contract. The silver was half of the fee his apprentice received for treating patients using this method, and the contract could be seen as a copyright agreement, stipulating that within ten years, all his apprentices and their descendants who used this method must hand over half of their consultation fees to Xue Jin'an.

In ancient times, the alcohol content was too low. Compared to sterilization and disinfection, physical cooling was indeed more effective and convenient. At that time, the Third Prince was not infected by the poison. To be honest, the effect of alcohol was actually very limited, so limited that it could be regarded as a placebo. It was the Third Prince's own immune system that was strong enough to keep him from getting sick.

Xue Jin'an accepted the money as payment for his inspiration and refused to sign the contract.

Although he was the first in this world to use the alcohol disinfection method, he didn't create it. He, as a publicity platform, wouldn't be entitled to collect copyright fees. Besides, with that unscrupulous capitalist, Teacher Xiao X, around, he's not short of money at all. There's no need for him to get involved in these karmic consequences. He can just consider it accumulating merit.

Xue Jin'an affirmed that the method worked and did not say anything discouraging, which reassured Granny Su.

Granny Su chuckled and teased, "If it's true, you've saved two lives. You're incredibly lucky to have been reborn as brothers with him. He should thank you properly."

"Just thank you isn't enough, how about I kowtow to you?" A faint voice came from the side, and the Fifth Prince actually opened his eyes.

The Fifth Prince had a high fever, and all his vital signs were unstable. Even after he woke up, his health had not returned to normal, so it's no wonder Xue Jin'an didn't notice.

"Oh! What a lucky man! What a lucky man!" Granny Su was overjoyed. She quickly reached out and touched his forehead, which was still burning hot. She then gave him some water to drink and helped him sit up.

Seeing that he was awake, Xue Jin'an turned to leave, but was stopped by the Fifth Prince. "According to your personality, you should have just left me in the tunnel. Why did you save me?"

“You gave me the information, I saved your life, we're even.” Xue Jin’an always valued fairness. He turned and calmly asked, “Is there anything else you want to ask?”

"Ahem, why are you in such a hurry? I've already told you so many secrets, isn't it worth you wasting your time for me? What happened to fairness?" The Fifth Prince habitually started his sarcastic remarks.

Xue Jin'an said seriously, "Save your energy for recovery. You must be able to get out of bed in ten days, otherwise we'll have to use a wheelchair to get you down."

The Fifth Prince was taken aback: "What? Where are you taking me?"

“I promised to take you to see the truth,” Xue Jin’an said matter-of-factly.

The Fifth Prince suddenly lost his voice. His already hot body seemed to burn even more intensely, making his ears ring, his head go blank, and his eyes burn red.

"Ha, how stupid are you? Dragging me along will kill you!" The Fifth Prince turned his head away, hiding the surging emotions in his eyes, and sneered, "Besides, those were just things he said when he was delirious. They were just meant to fool me. Why take them seriously? Didn't I tell you I'm Lu Bu? A double agent? You've never been tricked by me before, haven't you?"

“Even my own mother doesn’t take me seriously, so what are you agreeing to… You’ll be swindled out of everything sooner or later!” The Fifth Prince deliberately raised his voice at the last sentence, unable to hide his bravado.

The Fifth Prince couldn't remember how many times he had begged Xiao Shu to "not drink the medicine, okay?" When he was little, Xiao Shu would coax him and pretend to agree to trick him into drinking the medicine. But after a while, it didn't work anymore, so Xiao Shu started to force-feed him the medicine. She even kept the candied fruit after he drank the medicine. Later, he gradually learned to drink the medicine on his own initiative, learned to be outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant, and learned many words and methods to infuriate Xiao Shu.

Lying, sowing discord, being sarcastic... like an octopus spraying venom everywhere, he himself found himself quite repulsive, gradually losing the desire to speak and truly treating speech as a weapon.

It's been so long, yet someone actually took his words seriously, responded, and is willing to make them come true for him.

The Fifth Prince was somewhat bewildered and incredulous. His first reaction was that Xue Jin'an was incredibly stupid, so he couldn't help but curse.

Although Xue Jin'an didn't know what was wrong with him, he still respected the injured patient and responded to everything: "I'm only responsible for taking you there. I won't give you any money, not a single penny."

Fifth Prince: "..."

The Fifth Prince slid down onto the bed, pulled the blanket over himself, and buried his face in it. He muttered in a low voice, "Who wants your worthless money? Go away, go away, hurry up and leave, or you'll make me angry to death."

Xue Jin'an left, and Su Mama smiled, patted his quilt, and left as well, quietly closing the door and leaving the Fifth Prince with a quiet space.

"You two have such a good relationship, brothers in harmony," said Granny Su with satisfaction.

Hearing suppressed sobs coming from inside the door, Xue Jin'an: "?"

So, getting on good terms with the Fifth Prince means making him cry? I don't understand, but I respect it.

After that day, the Fifth Prince always treated Xue Jin'an awkwardly. He spoke with a sarcastic tone, saying whatever was offensive. Xue Jin'an had gotten used to it and didn't take it seriously. However, the Fifth Prince would show a look of disgust and turn his head to him, saying, "I was just talking nonsense. Just listen to it and don't take it to heart."

"?" Xue Jin'an, who had directly treated his sarcastic remarks as garbage data and launched them into the rocket, looked puzzled.

Upon hearing that the emperor refused to appoint a crown prince, the fifth prince exclaimed, "This is outrageous!" He was so angry that he searched everywhere for something to smash, as if he wanted to give the emperor a good whack.

Granny Su had tidied the room very cleanly. Within the Fifth Prince's reach, there was only his medicine bowl. He couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement: "Tsk."

The Fifth Prince could only resort to his poisoned words to the Emperor: "That old man is really good at pretending. He talks as if he had some kind of virtuous reputation before he came to power. The late Emperor has only been dead for a few years. Our ancestors are still here. Who doesn't know who? If you didn't know better, you would think that Xue Jin'an was the one who emptied the national treasury of ten years' worth of savings by implementing conscription reform! He is incompetent and lacks morality. Even a turtle on the throne is better than him. At least a turtle is only hard on the outside, not on the inside."

"...These days, even kidney deficiency affects the brain. Even Emperor Qiyuan, who has been dead for over fifty years, is better than him." The Fifth Prince was so angry that he dared to say anything, which frightened Granny Su, who had been smiling, to the point that she quickly covered his mouth with a "Hey, hey."

The other eighth prince was even more excited than the fifth prince, but the eighth prince kept it a secret, and no one saw him except for the ninth prince.

Consort Zhuang hid in Cining Palace with the Fourth Princess. As for the Ninth Prince, the two had not seen each other since he moved to the Princes' Residence. The Ninth Prince hated Consort Zhuang so much that he naturally wouldn't go to Chonghua Palace to pay his respects to her. Consort Zhuang simply sent a few nannies and maids to watch over him and prevent him from going out and causing trouble.

As time went on, Consort Zhuang, who had never paid much attention to the Ninth Prince, naturally relaxed her guards. The Ninth Prince, being somewhat clever, took the opportunity to bribe them and gain his favor.

The first thing he did after gaining his freedom was to find an ally against the Seventh Prince and the Third Prince—he had always held a grudge about what happened at the New Year's banquet.

However, the Ninth Prince was really unlucky. When he came out, the First Prince and the Second Prince were fighting fiercely. He wanted to find the First Prince first, thinking that since the incident at the palace banquet at the same time and Xue Jin'an's close relationship with the Third Prince, the First Prince would definitely not like him.

The Ninth Prince never expected that the First Prince not only disliked Xue Jin'an, but also him. The First Prince smiled and served tea to see him off that day, but the next day he could no longer enter the First Prince's residence. Fortunately, the First Prince got his comeuppance early and fell from power not long after. After the First Prince's death, he even condescended to go to the Ministry of Justice's corpse display site to admire the First Prince's charred body, which could be considered as easing some of his hatred.

Afterwards, the Ninth Prince went to find the Second Prince, but the Second Prince was arrogant and did not take Xue Jin'an seriously... Finally, the Ninth Prince discovered the Eighth Prince at the banquet in the Princess's residence.

The Eighth Prince coveted the Third Prince's power and was the one who most wanted the Third Prince to suffer. At the same time, the Ninth Prince noticed the Eighth Prince's subtle hostility, fear, and disgust towards the Seventh Prince.

From then on, the Ninth Prince became obsessed with the Eighth Prince, constantly badmouthing Xue Jin'an to him. The Eighth Prince would always scold him for "talking nonsense," but he never actually stopped him.

The Eighth Prince went mad because of the Seventh Prince's reputation as a perfect prince, and tore up and burned all the words he had written.

The Ninth Prince spoke up at the right moment, "With so many brothers, why Xue Jin'an? Father has always favored him, and I never expected that even the title of 'Perfect Young Master' could be bestowed upon him... As for me, I'm too young and have no chance of that position. It's just a pity for the other brothers. No matter how strong their abilities are, they can't compare to their birth."

"Who told him to be Consort Zhen's son?" the Ninth Prince said with a sneer.

The firelight reflected on the Eighth Prince's face, making his expressionless face appear somewhat distorted as the flames stretched and leaped wildly. He slightly raised his eyes, the flames flickering in them. "You don't think the Perfect Prince is Little Seven?"

“How old is he? And he’s never even been to the Imperial Study once. How could he have such abilities?” the Ninth Prince said. “To be honest, I think you, Eighth Brother, have more of the qualities of the Perfect Prince—hey, Eighth Brother, could it be that you really are the Perfect Prince?”

"Unfortunately, I am not." The Eighth Prince said coldly, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

“Eighth Brother, it doesn’t matter whether you are or not. If everyone thinks you are, then you are.” The Ninth Prince said with a meaningful smile.

The Eighth Prince looked up at him and asked, "What do you mean?"

The Ninth Prince leaned closer: "Eighth Brother, to be honest, I've come here today to act as a go-between."

"For whom? Second Brother?" The Eighth Prince knew that the Ninth Prince had once approached the Second Prince, and he sneered, "Second Brother is already in dire straits, what else does he want? To have me burn paper money for him after he dies?"

"Who knows, maybe this time next year, it will be you and me burning paper money for Xue Jin'an?" The Ninth Prince chuckled as he looked at the Eighth Prince's suddenly raised eyes.

The Eighth Prince simply didn't believe it. He didn't believe the Second Prince had the brains to do so. He bluntly said, "Xue Jin'an is both a scholar and a warrior, and his plans are flawless. How can Second Brother, a prisoner whose life is hanging by a thread, possibly deal with him? If it were with my elder sister, I might believe him a little."

“Second Brother isn’t good enough, but Eighth Brother is. Eighth Brother still has those Southwest Army soldiers under his command. Xue Langhuan is just a crippled good-for-nothing, what can he compare to you? Seventh Brother can do it, and so can Eighth Brother.” The Ninth Prince raised his hand to cover his mouth and whispered in the Eighth Prince’s ear, “Second Brother is just a shield. Let’s go all the way and pin all the blame on him after it’s done. Wouldn’t we be able to rest easy?”

"What do you want to do?" The Eighth Prince keenly sensed that this was no small matter and asked again.

“It’s not what I want to do, it’s what my second brother wants to do.” The Ninth Prince drew his hand across his neck. “The sacrificial ceremony to Heaven was imminent. On the way, the mountain collapsed in a dangerous place, and Father and the Crown Prince died on the spot. The Eighth Prince killed the traitor to avenge them. Although he was heartbroken, the country cannot be without a ruler for a day. So he put on the yellow robe and sacrificed to Heaven and the ancestors. A miracle occurred. It turned out that the Emperor had descended from Heaven and Ziwei had returned to his position. Since then, the weather has been good and the country has been peaceful.”

The Eighth Prince smiled. He had indeed felt a fleeting moment of attraction, but it was only for a moment.

He disliked the Seventh Prince and even harbored hatred towards him, but he hadn't reached a dead end yet. He still had the Southwest Army. As long as the Third Prince remained crippled, the Southwest Army would be his for the taking. Why should he get involved in this mess?

Partnering with idiots is a dead end.

*

"Master, take a look at this." Fu Lu, who was compiling and summarizing today's news, rushed out, holding a note with a special monogram in his hand.

Xue Jin'an immediately recognized the message as coming from Jiu Tianyi. Logically, news that would make Fu Lu rush over so urgently must be quite important, but judging from Fu Lu's expression—a mixture of barely suppressed laughter and amusement—it seemed more like he'd just seen a joke.

Xue Jin'an opened the note and found it was a joke: the Second Prince wanted to rebel and sent his men to Jiu Tianyi to discuss the plan, including some Rongdi people.

—Still in the hall, those Rongdi people, who weren't members of Jiu Tian Yi, were paid by the Second Prince's men. They added tens of thousands of taels to Jiu Tian Yi's revenue and had their waiters run errands to buy a bunch of food. They ate with grease dripping from their mouths while playing cards and talking.

Of course, the reason for being in the main hall was also because the fact that the Seventh Prince was a perfect prince had been exposed. People in the capital who still remembered the Seventh Prince's feat of intimidating the insolent Rongdi envoys came to check it out. There were also merchants who sensed a business opportunity and students from the Imperial Academy who knew that the Seventh Prince had stumped the entire court of civil and military officials... In short, the hall was packed to the brim, and there were simply not enough private rooms. It was like a dumpling pot being boiled.

As for those Rongdi people, they were people sent by the Khan when Galdan was detained in the capital. Most of them had returned, but a small number remained in the capital to gather intelligence. They usually hid very well, often disguising themselves as merchants from the Western Regions and blending into the crowd, so it was indeed surprising that the Second Prince's people were able to contact them.

In short, this group of people finished discussing the entire plan in the lobby. There was no need to inquire; the waiters with better internal skills in the shop had all heard it clearly. In the end, the credit for this information was given to the waiter who helped run errands and buy a table full of food. He was truly the only one who contributed to this information, and everyone else felt too embarrassed to take the credit.

Of course, the Rongdi spies were not entirely incompetent; they questioned whether it was appropriate to discuss such confidential matters in public.

The Second Prince's man said, "Don't you understand the saying 'the truly wise live in seclusion'? Who would have thought we'd be discussing these things here? Even if we did hear it, who would take it seriously?"

Rongdi spies: "...Let's find a private room. This is your Seventh Prince's territory, he..."

"We chose this location precisely because it's his territory. If something goes wrong, he'll be the culprit, understand?" The Second Prince's men thought their idea was brilliant and couldn't help but become smug, completely unaware of the lurking gaze that was subtly lingering on them.

"Let's find a private room," the Rongdi spies insisted, unable to remain nonchalant due to their lingering fear of Xue Jin'an.

The second prince's men grew impatient. "If there were private rooms, would I still be here? I paid for all your memberships. Give me back your money if you keep arguing. Ten thousand each!"

The Rong and Di spies, who made a living by dressing up as Western Region merchants and reselling goods, shut up.

And so, the news of the Second Prince's rebellion became known not only to Heaven and Earth, but also to everyone in the entire Jiu Tian Yi building.

In response, Fulu said, "As expected of the Second Prince's subordinate."

Fu Lu thought he already knew enough about how flawed the plans made by the Second Prince and his men were, but it turned out he still didn't know enough.

That very night, Xi Yun came to Zhaoyang Palace, and the Eldest Princess knew that the Second Prince was planning a rebellion.

The Second Prince's men spent a fortune issuing a rallying cry for the martial arts world, gathering a motley crew with high rewards. Together with the servants, retainers, and private soldiers of the Second Prince's residence, they totaled 473 people. Then, they spent a huge sum of money to take them to the blacksmith shops under the Ministry of Works to select weapons, bought out all the horses in several markets in the capital, and even had the women and young wives on an entire street next to the Second Prince's residence weave rattan armor.

If it weren't for the Princess's people covering it up, not only would the Princess know, but even the Prefect of the Capital would have had to mobilize to achieve the goal of "the plan was made in the morning, the person was arrested at noon, and the head was beheaded in the evening," breaking the record for the fastest case handling.

Fu Lu twitched his lips: "What kind of amateur troupe is this? It's too childish!"

Cui Zui was also speechless, but his focus was: "Didn't the Eldest Princess have a huge fight with the Second Prince? Why is she covering for him?"

“After all, they are siblings from the same mother. If the Second Prince rebels, she will also be implicated.” Lingzhi understood this point quite well. She frowned and said, “Your Highness, you and the Eldest Princess are not on the same side. This matter involves a great deal of people. It is best not to get involved.”

Xue Jin'an shook his head.

Shouquan thought he wanted to give the princess some face, so he quickly said, "The world is bustling with people coming and going for profit. Your Highness once said that there are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests."

Xue Jin'an said, "The Princess told me the news not because she wanted me to stop it, but because she wanted me to see this as an opportunity."

This was his chance to revisit Weiyang Palace.

The Second Prince's seemingly frivolous rebellion must not only succeed, but also be a resounding success.

However, even if this matter succeeds, there is a problem that needs to be solved: the Rongdi people. Those few Rongdi spies are not a threat, but they are backed by the Rongdi Khan. They made contact with him not overnight, and it is very likely that the Rongdi side already knows about this.

The Rongdi Khan has not given up his ambition to rule the Central Plains. He will not let this opportunity pass and will definitely take the chance to invade the border. We must keep them occupied.

The time has come to use Galdan as a thorn in our side.

Xue Jin'an opened the gray message page and sent messages to Helian Cheng and Lu Bingzhu respectively, instructing Helian Cheng to gather troops for a combat drill, making the movements secretive yet appearing impressive, while Lu Bingzhu would have Galdan inform the Rongdi Khan that the Northwest Army was preparing to attack the Rongdi.

All the Rongdi people regarded Galdan as a lackey of the Great Qi, and the more so, the more credible the news Galdan spread would be. As long as Galdan showed a strong enough greed for the Khan's position, the Rongdi Khan and his prime minister Bileg would believe him.

Their focus will then shift from invading the border to confronting the Northwest Army. Having finally gained the upper hand, they will certainly not give up this opportunity to strengthen the prestige of the Rongdi by stepping on the corpses of Helian Cheng. Even if the Rongdi Khan has doubts, the Prime Minister Bileg will do his best to persuade him.

The death of Weng Tianxin stands between Bileg and Daqi. Bileg's hatred for Daqi will only grow stronger over time. Weng Tianxin's death not only means that he has lost a grandson, but also that his plan to govern the Rongdi has completely collapsed. All his decades of hard work have been in vain.

He was too old; he had no time to nurture another Weng Tianxin, nor did he have time to wait for the next opportunity to exact revenge on Daqi.

Therefore, even if he had a feeling that there might be a trap, Bileg would not lower the flag to give the order.

Xue Jin'an will have Helian Cheng control the pace of the war. It would be best to start with a small defeat to give Rongdi Khan and Bileg some hope, then a major defeat to drive them completely mad, followed by a great victory to calm them down and make them return to caution.

However, at this point, Helian Cheng should strike at the heart of the matter, leading his main force to launch a surprise attack on the southern border and take control of it. Even if he cannot capture the capital of the southern border, he should control the passes to prevent anyone or any news from getting out.

As for Rongdi, I believe Irina, who has been watching closely, knows what to do.

Xue Jin'an, as the client, sent his requirements to the two of them and set a deadline.

Helian City was given ten days. No matter how the fighting went on, the task of besieging the southern border had to be accomplished while simultaneously containing the Rongdi tribes.

"Cui Zui, pack your bags and head to Qizhou tonight. Helian Cheng will need your help." Xue Jin'an, the kind client, still made things a little easier for Helian Cheng.

Cui Zui has no experience in leading troops into battle, so Helian Cheng wouldn't feel comfortable entrusting the main force to him, but he could still pull off the empty city stratagem.

Xue Jin'an gave Lu Bingzhu a deadline of tonight, giving him one night to gain the trust of Rongdi Khan and Bileg, and then return before the sacrificial ceremony.

With 8,000 troops, the secret passages and Weiyang Palace couldn't hold them all. Xue Jin'an would deal with this, while Lu Bingzhu would lead Xuan Shiyi and the others to find the remaining hidden forces and completely eliminate the emperor's power.

Of course, if the Gu people rely on brute force to kill, they will eventually die of exhaustion. But everything in the world has its counterparts, and even cell phones have weaknesses. Xue Jin'an doesn't think there is anything that can completely escape the mutual restraint of the five elements.

As for matters concerning Gu (a type of poison), one should naturally turn to one's uncle, Zhou Yushu.

The two met at Jiutianyi, and Xue Jin'an got straight to the point: "How do you kill a Gu person?"

"Gu people? How can such things exist?" Zhou Yushu's reaction was unusually strong. After his initial shock, he became furious, slammed his hand on the table, and sneered, "So, it was all a lie! I even believed him!"

Xue Jin'an immediately knew it was related to Zhang Jinghua. "What agreement did you make with Zhang Jinghua?"

"No." Zhou Yushu scratched his hair, looking somewhat agitated, clearly very resistant to the matter of Gu people. "You've met Chang Xia, so you should know about the Soul-Separating Gu he possesses, right?"

"I know," Xue Jin'an nodded.

Zhou Yushu frowned and said, "To be precise, that Soul Separation Gu was something that Zhang Jinghua and I researched together."

Zhou Yushu's creation of Gu was initially unintentional. He had been raising a kind of poisonous insect that liked to eat poisonous things, and Zhou Yushu fed it to it. As he fed it, it turned into Gu. It was truly an unexpected success.

However, although Zhou Yushu could make Gu, he didn't really like making them. He focused more on raising insects. He could raise any strange and unusual insects, which earned him some fame in a small circle, and he was called the Insect King.

"Back then, Zhang Jinghua went to Yunnan to find the insects used to make the Longevity Gu. These insects are extremely rare, found only in the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Yunnan. Their eggs are white, blending into the snow, and they absorb all the nutrients from their surroundings to sustain themselves. It takes three years for them to mature and emerge from their cocoons, and then three days to lay eggs and die. The offspring of the Longevity Gu can be matured by stimulating the eggs, but the mother Gu must be a mature insect that has not yet laid eggs. He spent two years in Yunnan before finally catching one, and it is said that it almost died."

Zhang Jinghua thought he had saved the insect by not killing it, but he didn't expect that the insect would become depressed. After it fell into his hands, it became weak and wouldn't eat anything. It was just a little bit away from death. He had no choice but to find someone to treat it, and that's how he found Zhou Yushu.

Zhang Jinghua was a strange and eccentric person. When he asked for help, he would poison Zhou Yushu, intending to kill him if he wasn't saved. The young Zhou Yushu was physically weak but had a tough spirit, so the two naturally had a falling out.

Finally, Zhou Yushu heard about the rarity of this insect and saw that he had never seen it before. He couldn't bear to see the insect die, so he took action. The method to save the insect was very simple: just look at plums to quench his thirst.

If this insect wants to mate, just find it a mate, then keep it hanging so it can see but not touch. Once it gets past its mate-rearing period, it'll be fine. After all, insects don't have brains; all their actions are driven by instinct.

Once Zhang Jinghua cured the worm, he immediately began treating the Gu. As mentioned before, raising Gu was very time-consuming and energy-intensive. Zhang Jinghua didn't want to start feeling sorry for himself again before the Gu was fully grown, so he stayed at Zhou Yushu's place where he raised worms. Zhou Yushu would occasionally help him treat other worms.

Zhang Jinghua then discovered that Zhou Yushu had a truly exceptional talent for raising insects. He seemed to have an innate understanding of the needs of insects. Zhang Jinghua's Gu insects were all raised by him to be plump and white, and their toxicity was enhanced. Among them, a Gu King even emerged.

Zhang Jinghua was furious when he learned that Xue Jin'an could make Gu poison but was only focused on raising insects. He then secretly fed all the insects Xue Jin'an was raising poison, causing them to mutate into Gu poison. This angered Zhou Yushu so much that he took out his own Gu poison to teach him a lesson. The two then began to fight with Gu poison. Although Zhou Yushu did not have as much experience as Zhang Jinghua, his talent was truly outstanding. He learned something from Zhang Jinghua every time they fought, and his Gu poison making skills improved by leaps and bounds.

Later, the two developed feelings for each other during their rivalry and became close friends despite their age difference. They began to study Gu worms together. Zhang Jinghua even treated Zhou Yushu, which effectively improved his health and accelerated his martial arts progress. Originally, given his physical condition, he would only be a third-rate martial artist for the rest of his life, but after his health improved, he still had the hope of becoming a first-rate master as long as he worked hard.

That Soul-Separating Gu was made by Zhou Yushu under Zhang Jinghua's guidance, using the rare insect from Jade Dragon Snow Mountain—which Zhou Yushu himself caught later.

He lay on the snow-capped mountain for three days and three nights, almost freezing to death and nearly going blind, before finally finding an insect egg. Luckily, it was about to hatch, and he used it to make a Soul-Separating Gu.

However, when Zhou Yushu discovered that the Soul-Separating Gu needed to devour human hearts to absorb nutrients in order to truly mature, he gave up on continuing to make it and sealed the Gu in a bamboo tube, not intending to let it see the light of day again.

Zhang Jinghua was furious and said, "If the Soul-Separating Gu is successfully made, it will be a wonderful thing that can bring the dead back to life and heal the bones. Others would beg for it, but you don't want it?"

Zhou Yushu disagreed with this statement and sneered, "What kind of saving a life is it to exchange one's life for another? Anyone who wants to use this method must have evil intentions, and evil intentions deserve to die."

“There are always people in this world who are suffering and need it to save their lives,” Zhang Jinghua said.

Zhou Yushu asked, "Is he a good person?"

Zhang Jinghua said, "I have never harmed anyone, but I have been plagued by misfortune and the cruel twists of fate. Should such a person live?"

Zhou Yushu blurted out, "If he really is a good person as you say, then he must be very sad. Even if he is saved, he will not be able to live. When a person wants to die, even a god cannot stop him."

“‘Fate is unpredictable, but life is constant. The meaning of a person’s existence lies not in the length of their life, but in the meaning of their life. If they have been happy and joyful, their life is complete. If you insist on adding anything more, it is superfluous. As an observer of their life, the only thing you can do is pray for them.’ That’s what I told him at the time.” Zhou Yushu sighed, “Now that I think about it, the person Zhang Jinghua was referring to was Consort Hui.”

Xue Jin'an nodded in agreement.

Zhang Jinghua seemed somewhat moved by Zhou Yushu's words. Although he did not give up on using Gu to save Consort Hui, he promised Zhou Yushu before leaving that he would ensure that there would be no more Gu practitioners in the world.

“Let’s just consider it… a prayer for her,” Zhang Jinghua said.

After that, Zhou Yushu never heard of any more Gu people causing trouble, and the Gu masters in the martial arts world also became much more low-key.

"I thought he genuinely had a desire to do good, and I was even pleased with that." Zhou Yushu slammed his fist on the table, gritting his teeth as he said, "But it turns out he's been even more outrageous behind the scenes. Eight thousand... In all those years when Gu people were rampant, the total number was no more than a hundred!"

Xue Jin'an still proved Zhang Jinghua's innocence: "The one who raises Gu poison is not Zhang Jinghua, but the emperor."

Zhou Yushu suddenly realized: "Rumor has it that Zhang Jinghua took in a disciple, and that he later expelled him from the sect, but everyone has only heard of him but never seen him, so everyone thought it was fake. Could it be that the emperor is him?"

"No, why would a supreme ruler like yourself learn such evil arts?" Zhou Yushu asked, puzzled.

"Don't try to guess what other people are thinking, especially bad people." Xue Jin'an said that he still doesn't quite understand humans. Everyone's logical thinking ability is different, and people's brains can sometimes suddenly go crazy and break down, so there's no need to understand them, just respect their thoughts.

Zhou Yushu thought of Chu Wenwan, Xiao Shu, and the princes... and silently patted Xue Jin'an's arm: "Living among a bunch of inhuman beings must be tough for you."

Xue Jin'an, who is truly inhuman: ": "

Wait, a longevity gu?

Zhang Jinghua went to the capital to search for his daughter, only to find that Consort Hui was seriously ill and there was no cure. The only cure was the legendary Longevity Gu, a miraculous medicine that could revive the dead and heal the wounded. Zhang Jinghua then devoted himself to researching this Gu, which was his most valuable possession.

The Soul-Separating Gu uses the same Gu worm as the Longevity Gu, and Zhang Jinghua also participated in the research. It is very likely that the Soul-Separating Gu is a branch of the Longevity Gu, or perhaps an incomplete version of the Longevity Gu. The Soul-Separating Gu has the characteristic of exchanging life for life, which is an inherent characteristic of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain Insect. Therefore, it is highly likely that the Longevity Gu also has such a characteristic.

Xue Jin'an realized that he had been overlooking a problem, or perhaps he had taken the original work too seriously.

In the original work, the emperor developed many of the problems that elderly rulers suffer from after he grew old, such as incompetence, sensitivity, and irritability. However, he did not pursue immortality or take elixirs. Is it possible that the emperor did not pursue immortality not because he did not want to, but because he clearly knew that there was no such thing as immortality in the world, or perhaps he had obtained so-called immortality?

Is the Longevity Gu, given its name, truly only capable of reviving the dead and restoring flesh to bones? If the emperor obtained the Longevity Gu from Zhang Jinghua, would he deliberately create conflict and disputes to raise it and prolong his own life?

Xue Jue, Crown Prince Zhang, the Second Princess... Xue Jin'an couldn't help but start calculating how many people had died inexplicably since the emperor ascended the throne, leading to even bolder speculations.

If the speculation about prolonging life is true, then the longevity gu must have other conditions for prolonging life, such as having a kinship relationship, and the closer the bloodline, the more effective it will be.

Therefore, it's highly likely that the person who truly tormented the original owner to death in the original story was the emperor. After all, the fact that the original owner could appear in Weiyang Palace meant that his decryption had reached its final stage.

Now that we're back to the present, who is the emperor's next target? The second prince?

Xue Jin'an couldn't help but raise his hand and rub his temples.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Yushu asked.

"It's nothing, I just find human selfishness truly terrifying." Xue Jin'an didn't elaborate, returning to the initial question, "How do we deal with the Gu people?"

“There is no cure for Gu people; the only solution is to kill them.” Zhou Yushu thought for a moment and pondered, “However, Gu people are essentially Gu themselves, and if there is a Gu King-level Gu, it can be suppressed.”

“I raise Gu not to kill people, nor do I like Gu that are too lethal. I focus more on the fun. The only Gu that I have raised that can become a Gu King is the Soul Separation Gu.” Zhou Yushu couldn’t help but rub his temples. “If I had known that I would be able to use the Soul Separation Gu one day, I would have kept it with me and fed it to the Chu family.”

"The Soul-Separating Gu has matured; it was fed to him by Helian Yong." Xue Jin'an hadn't expected the solution to be the Soul-Separating Gu. He immediately sent a message to Lu Bingzhu, asking him to go to the Northwest Army to get the Gu from Doctor Chang before returning.

Zhou Yushu was shocked. "Could it be that the previous turmoil in the Northwest Army was caused by that idiot Helian Yong? Luckily, the Soul-Separating Gu backfired on him. If it had parasitized someone else, I would have skinned him alive!"

After all, the Soul-Separating Gu was developed by Zhou Yushu. If it really harms innocent lives, he will probably never have peace of mind for the rest of his life.

"Besides the Gu King, are there any other forces that can suppress the Gu people? At least create some openings." It's impossible to keep eight thousand Gu people in one place; they will inevitably have to be divided into two or more groups.

“Well, I could try to make a replica of the Gu Bell, but every Gu Master’s Gu Bell is different, and I’m not sure if it will work…” Zhou Yushu hesitated. “And there might not be enough time.”

"It's alright, even if it only manages to subdue one, it'll still be useful." Xue Jin'an asked with a flash of inspiration, "What if I give you the actual data on the Gu Bell?"

“It can be done!” Zhou Yushu nodded in agreement.

"Okay." Xue Jin'an immediately produced the relevant data on the Emperor's Gu Bell. As for where the data came from, well, Teacher Xiao X was there to help!

Everything is ready now, except for the final push.

That evening, Xue Jin'an received news that Lu Bingzhu had completed his mission.

Two days later, the Rongdi tribes launched a surprise attack on the Northwest Army and won a minor victory.

Another day, the Rong and Di tribes set fire to the northwest army camps, drove the enemy back more than a hundred miles, and captured a city.

That night, Cui Zui, traveling 800 li by express courier, changed three horses and finally arrived at the Northwest Army's garrison. Helian Cheng immediately mobilized troops for a night raid on the Rongdi. The two sides fought for three days and nights, capturing four cities in succession. The Northwest Army was stationed in the oasis, its sword pointing directly at the Northern Desert Royal Court.

Helian Cheng transferred his main force to march quickly towards the southern border. Cui Zui, despite his empty city strategy, did not hold his ground. Instead, he gathered his forces to attack the capital. At the same time, he used roasted meat to attract the eagle that belonged to Irina, which was selected in the sky, to carry out a cooperative mission.

Irina led 50,000 troops to the city, while Cui Zui led his troops to retreat to Ancheng. With one side of the city surrounded, the Rongdi Khan abandoned the city and fled west at the suggestion of his crown prince Galdan. The prime minister, Bileg, committed suicide on the city tower, dying for his country.

...

Lu Bingzhu secretly returned to the capital before Cui Zui sang the Empty City Stratagem.

In his letter to Lu Bingzhu, Xue Jin'an specifically mentioned that Su Mama was injured while protecting the Empress Dowager. Lu Bingzhu was eager to return home, and even though he took a detour to the Northwest Army, he still returned within three days.

Relying on his profound internal strength, Lu Bingzhu used his lightness skill to travel day and night, and his speed was even faster than that of riding a horse.

After Lu Bingzhu returned, he made a nighttime raid on Weiyang Palace. He was very careful and avoided all angles that could trigger the Gu Bell's detection. The Gu Bell contained Gu worms that made Gu people. These Gu worms were hungry for human blood and flesh. Once they smelled the scent of fresh living people, they would become agitated, causing the bell to ring and waking up the Gu people. The Gu Bell containing the mother Gu of the emperor would also vibrate.

Lu Bingzhu specially had someone prepare corpse oil to smear on his clothes to cover the smell of living people. He held his breath and carefully sneaked in, but he still couldn't get into the main hall. He only pushed the door open a crack to peek in before immediately closing it completely.

The moonlight revealed a dense array of white threads, resembling a giant spider web, upon which countless figures in black robes lay silently.

“It seems we can’t get in through the main gate; we’ll have to go underground.” The Fifth Prince coughed, dipped his finger in tea, and drew a simple route map on the table, explaining in detail the route from Qian Yuan Palace. “However, this is just theory; we’ll have to go down there to find out the specifics.”

Since Lu Bingzhu failed to infiltrate Weiyang Palace, all that remained was to find the more than 7,000 assassins hidden by the emperor. Although Lu Bingzhu did not succeed in entering, he still counted the number of assassins in Weiyang Palace. With the addition of what the Fifth Prince saw underground, and Xue Jin'an's supplement, they confirmed that there were about 600 people in total.

However, Lu Bingzhu and his spies from the Imperial Guard searched the entire capital but could not determine where the emperor had hidden these more than 7,000 people. They only had a few suspects: the mountains near the capital, the largest imperial estate under the emperor's name, and the Imperial Guard camp.

Logically speaking, the most suitable people for Tibetans would be the Imperial Guards, since the Imperial Guards are numerous and 8,000 Tibetans would not be noticeable. However, these 8,000 people are not ordinary soldiers, and if they were to appear in the military camp, they would definitely be conspicuous.

Not to mention that Xue Jin'an now commands more than two thousand Imperial Guards. If there were any unusual events in the Imperial Guard camp, it would be impossible for him not to have heard a word. Therefore, this possibility is very small.

The most famous mountain near the capital is the one where Wanfu Temple is located. It's a continuous mountain range with lush forests and few people, making it ideal for hiding people. Moreover, the deep forests have plenty of grass, so feeding the horses is not a problem. However, there is one drawback: the temperature in the deep forests is low, which is an environment that Gu people dislike. Staying in such a place year-round will not only cause Gu people's bodies to become moldy, but also make the Gu worms' reactions sluggish.

Lu Bingzhu discovered the Imperial Estate. He knew that the horses Consort De raised were always transported from the palace to this estate, and no one ever saw them being taken out. Furthermore, the constant neighing of horses was a strange, unsettling sound. Lu Bingzhu sneaked in and checked; there were many horses, but not a single person in black robes.

"It's alright. The news of the Second Prince's rebellion will be revealed to the Emperor when the sacrificial ceremony procession sets off. The Emperor will definitely bring some bodyguards to protect him," Xue Jin'an said. "There will definitely be some commotion at that time."

The emperor knew this matter was of great importance, and he actually ordered that the second prince's death date be brought forward, and that he behead him during the sacrificial ceremony to offer him as a sacrifice to heaven and ancestors.

Soon it was the eve of the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven. Lu Bingzhu chose to stay at the imperial estate first, and did not see anyone until the emperor's carriage left the capital.

"It seems to be on the mountain." Lu Bingzhu immediately led his men up the mountain, each of them carrying a bag of bamboo tubes, half of which were filled with quicklime and the other half with saltpeter.

The mountain is damp, and quicklime will heat up when it comes into contact with water, while saltpeter will cool down when it comes into contact with water. The Gu worms will have problems in both low and high temperature environments. Of course, this is not the effect that Lu Bingzhu wants.

Besides these bamboo tubes, he also had a medicine that could cause the Gu worms to riot. He would use this medicine to lure the Gu person into a selected pool of water, then throw in a hot bamboo tube to make them heat up, then throw in a cold bamboo tube, repeating this hot and cold alternation several times until their host body collapsed.

Only someone with Lu Bingzhu's internal strength could do that; ordinary people simply couldn't escape these Gu people.

Incidentally, all of the above was prepared by Zhou Yushu. Ever since he learned that Xue Jin'an was going to go down that dangerous cave, Zhou Yushu had been researching medicine to suppress the Gu worms, fearing that the Soul Separation Gu would not be effective.

After all, even the most powerful Gu King only has one Soul-Separating Gu, while there are so many Gu people. It's possible that it might malfunction. When the Gu are fighting each other, the Soul-Separating Gu only has one mouth and can only eat one Gu worm at a time.

Xue Jin'an originally intended to give the Soul-Separating Gu to Lu Bingzhu, but Lu Bingzhu stated frankly that Gu worms have a certain distance range for suppression, and are best used in narrow, confined places like mountain caves.

And that is indeed the case.

However, the Gu Bell, which is suitable for large-scale operations, is still being made urgently. Zhou Yushu was working on it while yawning, and the commotion of the Second Prince's rebellion did not even make him raise his head.

*

As one of the main characters in the sacrificial ceremony, Xue Jin'an naturally had to travel with the convoy. When they reached the canyon, rocks suddenly began to fall and shouts of battle filled the air.

The second prince's prison cart was hacked open, and the prince emerged, draped in a yellow robe by his subordinates. His face was filled with a wild and triumphant smile: "Father, you never thought this day would come, did you? Hahahaha!"

The Right Censor-in-Chief rebuked him, "Traitor, cease your arrogance! You murdered your father and sister; you are not worthy of being called human! You will be forever infamous in the annals of history!"

"Alas! I am ashamed of you monkeys who engage in martial arts!"

"You're utterly inhuman; you could kill even your six-year-old twin sister. You'll never be emperor!"

"..."

The courtiers echoed their sentiments, their expressions filled with disgust.

"The victor is king, the loser is a bandit; history is written by victors like me!" The Second Prince showed no remorse whatsoever. He didn't think he had done anything wrong and sneered, "Anyone who kills an official of the fifth rank or below will be rewarded with ten taels of gold; anyone who kills an official of the third rank or below will be rewarded with one hundred taels of gold; anyone who kills a cabinet minister will be rewarded with one thousand taels of gold; anyone who kills a prince or member of the imperial family will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of gold; anyone who kills the emperor will be granted the title of Duke!"

He pointed his knife directly at the emperor's head and roared, "Kill!"

The promise of a great reward always attracts brave men. For a moment, the rebels were all shaken, and the word "kill" they echoed almost burst from their chests, only to be interrupted by the sound of arrows piercing the air.

"Whoosh—" An arrow flew past the Second Prince's head, startling him so much that he almost dropped his sword. Looking up, he saw the Third Prince sitting high on his horse, his hand still holding the bow in a shooting motion, the bowstring vibrating slightly.

"Second Brother, I've been waiting for this opportunity for a long time." The Third Prince grinned, looking even more like a villain than the Second Prince. He took an arrow from his quiver and nocked it again. "Tell me, where should I shoot the next arrow?"

In an instant, the Second Prince's mind flashed back to the days when the Third Prince had blocked his way out of the door. He instinctively flinched, and then, realizing what had happened, became furious and embarrassed.

"Kill him! Kill him! Whoever kills the Third Prince will be granted a first-rank official position!" the Second Prince roared, his voice cracking, as he swiftly hid behind someone else.

The rabble under the Second Prince's command were naturally somewhat afraid, but the Rongdi people mixed in among them were not. That's how it is in a group fight; once one person makes a move, the others have no choice but to follow suit.

"Good! You've come at the perfect time! I was just thinking that killing you directly would be too easy and wouldn't satisfy my hatred! Tiger Warriors, follow me to kill the enemy!" The Third Prince slung his bow and arrows over his back, drew his saber, squeezed his legs tightly around his horse's belly, and charged straight into the enemy ranks, fighting with incredible ferocity and fearlessness!

"Yes!" All the Southwest Army generals acted faster than their minds could process, rushing out of the crowd.

The Eighth Prince's face was extremely ugly.

Xue Jin'an lifted the carriage curtain and gave a signal, and his Imperial Guards immediately rushed out as well.

Xue Jin'an, taking advantage of the chaos, quietly left the carriage, found the horse he had hidden beforehand, and sped back towards the palace.

When Xue Jin'an arrived at the abandoned palace, the Fifth Prince had already been waiting for a while. He stood there obediently, carrying Xue Jin'an's cloth bag on his back. If you ignored the strange powder on his head and body, he looked like he was on a spring outing.

"Something that can mask the scent of the living. Don't worry, it's not corpse oil." The Fifth Prince tossed over a small bottle. "Apply it from head to toe, including the soles of your feet."

Xue Jin'an did as he was told without uttering a word of nonsense, took out a tinderbox and said succinctly, "Let's go."

The Fifth Prince hesitated instead. "Wait, are you really going to take me? I have no internal energy right now, and my body is very fragile. I can barely walk, I..."

"Since we're already here, let's go!" Xue Jin'an grabbed the Fifth Prince by the collar and strode inside.

Once inside, the two immediately held their breath and pressed themselves against the stone wall to lower their body temperature. They carefully made their way forward, and when they passed an intersection, the Fifth Prince tugged at Xue Jin'an's arm. He then took out a bottle of powder that could attract Gu worms from his bag and smashed it into the other side of the path.

The two did not leave immediately, but hid in the crevice of the stone wall, holding their breath and waiting. The Fifth Prince held the water containing saltpeter that he had prepared in advance in his palm. The cold temperature made his fingers stiff, but he remained motionless against the stone wall.

They didn't see anyone on their side, but they heard faint sounds coming from the other side of the road.

The two waited a while longer before quietly leaving and continuing on their way.

Whenever he reached a place where he needed to choose a path, the Fifth Prince would do this once, leading the black-robed men in the vicinity to that side. However, there were times when he would fail. If Xue Jin'an hadn't intervened in time, the Fifth Prince would have physically lost his face.

Xue Jin'an's first move was a killing blow. He then swiftly activated the security protection system, strangling the virus. The Gu person suffered brain death and collapsed. Xue Jin'an caught him and carefully placed him down, without making a sound throughout the entire process.

After walking for a while, the powder on their bodies gradually lost its effect, and the man in the black robe became increasingly agitated, teetering on the edge of losing control.

Xue Jin'an directly unleashed the Soul-Separating Gu. As soon as the aura of the Gu King appeared, the restlessness of the Gu people clearly subsided, and they stood there obediently and quietly, as harmless as if they were asleep.

"Just in case." The Fifth Prince pressed the low-temperature bamboo tube to his face, trying hard to keep his voice from trembling, and said in a low voice.

Xue Jin'an had the same idea; killing one less meant less pressure on them, and if they really got out of control, they would be easier to deal with. Xue Jin'an killed all the Gu worms in their bodies, sending them to their deaths.

The Fifth Prince trusted Xue Jin'an's data. He calculated the number of people remaining based on the number of corpses and asked Xue Jin'an, "Should we go to Weiyang Palace? If we can go directly in, we can avoid a lot of detours."

Qianyuan Palace and Weiyang Palace are the two largest palaces in the imperial palace. The underground passages are interconnected, and changing routes requires taking a long detour and is very time-consuming.

"I'll find a place to hide and won't hold you back," the Fifth Prince said.

This time, Xue Jin'an did not refuse.

Before the two arrived at Weiyang Palace, the Fifth Prince once again used the same method to lure a few more creatures to the other side with the attractant. The Fifth Prince hung four ice bamboo tubes on his body, pressed his back against the stone wall to hide himself, clenched his trembling teeth, and carefully breathed through the slight pain coming from his bones.

Xue Jin'an used the Soul Separation Gu to successfully enter the area beneath Weiyang Palace, only to find that the entrance had been filled in. Xue Jin'an roughly checked the time of the filling and found that it was done after the late emperor's death, so it could only have been done by the emperor.

Xue Jin'an calculated the ground elevation and the palace's location, concluding there was a secret chamber here. Unfortunately, he couldn't use a thunderbolt; the distance to the ground was too short. A thunderbolt could break open the passage, but there was also a 50% chance it would collapse the secret chamber, alerting those on the ground.

After Xue Jin'an dealt with the Gu people, he went back to find the Fifth Prince. The Fifth Prince's face had turned pale, and his whole body was trembling from the cold. He almost fell off the stone wall because his muscles were spasming from holding on for too long.

"I...can't hold on any longer..." The Fifth Prince knew that his current physical condition didn't even allow him the strength to hide against the stone wall any longer. But this was only the beginning. The Gu people underground had been mostly dealt with, but there were still a bunch in Weiyang Palace.

The medicine was almost used up, and the medicine used to conceal their presence had completely lost its effectiveness; he couldn't leave.

“If… don’t take me away, let me stay here. This is the closest place to the truth,” the Fifth Prince said, pressing his hesitant arm, trying to sound as relaxed as possible. “Perhaps this is my destiny.”

He spoke of fate, but his eyes were full of resentment, a clear case of hypocrisy.

"Understood." Xue Jin'an withdrew his gaze, directly shoved the Soul-Separating Gu into his hand, held a knife in one hand and a sword in the other, and said calmly, "Just charge in."

The Fifth Prince paused, then murmured with an expression that was both crying and laughing, "I think I understand."

I think I understand why someone like Third Brother would willingly become your supporter.

"Tsk, Xue Jin'an, I really hate you." The Fifth Prince said this, but a carefree smile spread across his face. His eyebrows and eyes were relaxed, without any gloom. He looked like a handsome young man next door with red lips and white teeth, full of spirit and enthusiasm.

It's hard to imagine that the supposedly mad Fifth Prince from the original novel actually has such a sunny and carefree smile.

For a moment, Xue Jin'an had a strong urge to tap his head to see if something was wrong inside.

"I'll be a hero today, and you'll climb over my dead body to get there," the Fifth Prince said, raising the Soul-Separating Gu and striding towards the Qian Yuan Palace.

Xue Jin'an silently watched his back, turned on the music and played a majestic and stirring background music for him, turning the volume up to the maximum so that even the Fifth Prince, who had lost his internal energy, could hear it.

Xue Jin'an's choice of song was excellent; the rhythm of the drums stopped the Fifth Prince in his tracks, effectively trapping him in place.

The Fifth Prince turned around, his eyes filled with three parts resentment, three parts disappointment, and four parts ferocity: "...Xue Jin'an, shut your mouth!"

The suppression of the Soul-Separating Gu is limited. Or rather, the laws of nature are bloody and cruel. A hyena will not provoke a lion, but a group of hyenas dare to besiege a male lion. The Gu user is that group of hyenas, and the Soul-Separating Gu is that male lion.

When he was still a meter away from the entrance, the Fifth Prince deliberately squatted down and looked outside. He could vaguely see the cold, gleaming silk threads crisscrossing like spider webs, and the black-robed man lying peacefully sleeping on them.

"I'm leaving." The Fifth Prince mouthed to Xue Jin'an, took a deep breath, and disappeared. Countless dark shadows covered the sky, turning daytime into night.

Even though he had expected it, he still froze for a moment.

"Get out of the way!" Xue Jin'an's voice came from the cave. The Fifth Prince subconsciously did as he was told and rolled on the spot. Almost instantly, his wide-open mouth brushed past his scalp and crashed directly into the knife that pierced out of the cave, making a "thud" sound.

Xue Jin'an pulled out a dagger and stabbed it hard into the top of the stone wall, using it as a grip. His whole body swung in the air, and using the momentum, he kicked the struggling and twisting Gu man blocking the cave entrance away. He released the dagger he was holding and slid out like a fish.

Xue Jin'an drew a soft sword from his sleeve and flicked it, wrapping it around the Gu man's neck like a snake.

Turn on security software and delete viruses.

The Gu worm that had been struggling to bite him at his feet fell silent, crashing onto the pillar with a "thud," motionless like a corpse.

Just before the collision, Xue Jin'an used the force of swinging the soft sword to pull himself up, took two steps forward, and pulled the knife out of the Gu man's mouth.

The Fruit Ninja game has been updated. Do you want to open it?

Xue Jin'an nodded, and his magic power overflowed from his body. Instantly, the world before him turned into a pure white space, and all the Gu people turned into fruit.

Ten consecutive hits grant an explosive reward, thirty consecutive hits grant a speed reduction reward, and fifty consecutive hits grant a screen-clearing reward...

[Game over! Congratulations on successfully completing the level! A perfect combo earns double the score bonus, and the record has been broken!]

Xue Jin'an blinked slowly. The white space transformed back into a palace, but his vision was red. His palms were so slippery from being stained with too much blood that he could barely hold the knife.

Looking at his weapons again, the lotus sword was broken, the knife was chipped, and the soft sword, which he had used like a USB so much, was bent into a curved shape, and the thin blade even had a nick.

With a slight flick of Xue Jin'an's wrist, it snapped in two and crashed to the ground with a thud.

Looking at the person covered in blood before him, the Fifth Prince experienced the feeling of dread for the first time. He swallowed hard and asked in a dry voice, "Seventh Brother, are you alright?"

"Hmm, it's nothing." Xue Jin'an threw away all the weapons in his hands, massaged the muscles in his arms that were exhausted to the extreme, and his tone and expression were very calm.

The Fifth Prince was used to his seemingly harmless killing manner. Seeing that he was really alright, he pursed his lips and went into the inner palace to look for clues.

He stepped inside, but two seconds later he backed out and said in a strange tone, "We've found a clue."

The clues were indeed as conspicuous as Consort Zhuang had said; anyone with eyes could have noticed them, since the entire inner palace was filled with them!

The ground, walls, pillars, tables... everywhere you looked was covered with words, densely packed. Where a knife could be used, it was used; where a knife couldn't be used, it was written with a pen. The ink included cinnabar, ink, and even... blood.

No wonder the emperor sealed off Weiyang Palace; it was impossible to hide it, and anyone would know there was something wrong.

"Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, when practicing the profound Prajnaparamita... what are all these?!" The Fifth Prince felt his head was spinning. He could find such obvious clues at a glance, but he couldn't understand them at all no matter how he looked at them!

“These are Buddhist scriptures,” Xue Jin’an replied matter-of-factly, quickly matching the scriptures with the data.

“Of course I know this is a Buddhist scripture. What I mean is, can you understand what she is trying to express?” the Fifth Prince said. “Let me make it clear first, I know absolutely nothing about Buddhist scriptures. I can’t understand them at all.”

Xue Jin'an could understand it, and even figured out that the Empress was using the words to convey a code. It could be deciphered by using the corresponding codebook, but the problem was that Xue Jin'an had no idea what the codebook was.

"Requesting assistance from outside the venue." The last time Xue Jin'an encountered something like Buddhist scriptures was in Chu Wenwan's Buddhist hall. At that time, he sought help from Yuansheng, a disciple of Master Cen. This time, Xue Jin'an sent the request for help without any hesitation.

It's no wonder Xue Jin'an targeted this one person; it's just that this was the only one left on his list who understood Buddhist scriptures.

Taoist temple

Master Cen, unable to bear it any longer, looked up at his disciple who had been circling in front of him since morning and asked, "Don't you have anything to do?"

"Yes, Master, I'm cleaning!" Yuansheng said with a grin, showing off the rag in his hand.

Master Cen was so angry that he raised his hand and smacked him on the forehead. "You've been cleaning all around my table, you've wiped the legs so clean you can see my face reflected in them! Tell me, what are you here for?"

“No master, I just feel…” Yuansheng hesitated for a moment, then chuckled and said, “I might have a lucky opportunity coming to me, right here on this table, Master.”

"An opportunity?" Master Cen grabbed his ear and sneered, "Come on, an opportunity, is it? If you don't find that damn opportunity on this table of mine, I'll make you die today!"

Yuansheng immediately slid to his knees: "Master, I was wrong, I will never dare to do it again, I—Master, Master, the Ancestor has appeared! See, I told you there was a chance!"

Suddenly, words appeared out of thin air on the blank paper on the table. Master Cen leaned closer in surprise, thinking to himself, "This kid actually guessed right. Could it really be some kind of stroke of luck?"

Yuansheng chuckled and joined in.

The master and apprentice stared intently at the inscription, and after understanding what it contained, they fell into a long silence.

"An opportunity?" Master Cen looked at his disciple with a leisurely air, his hand already touching the Floating Dust Sword. "It seems that your impure heart towards the Dao has been seen through by the Ancestral Master. You unfilial disciple, what else do you have to say?"

"You old ancestor, you've ruined me!" Yuansheng gave Master Cen a bear hug, sobbing, "Master, although Master Huiming next door is really a good person, although the vegetarian food next door is really delicious, although the incense next door is really thriving, although... but, my heart for the Dao is as clear as heaven and earth, as clear as the sun and moon, Master! Waaaaah, Master, waaaah—"

Master Cen's ears hurt from his noise. "Alright, let's leave today's matter alone. Stop yelling and hurry up and tell me what the Seventh Prince is doing with all this."

“Let’s decipher the code.” Yuan Sheng blurted out, his eyes, as if guided, immediately fixed on the character used as the code. “Look, the character ‘观’ is missing a stroke, but the one in the next line is missing too, and there’s more…”

Before Master Cen had finished reading, Yuansheng had already finished reading the entire page of coded messages. He translated all the words into Sanskrit in his mind, then into phonetic versions, found the corresponding phonetic symbols according to the missing strokes, combined them to get new Sanskrit words, and then translated them into Chinese characters and put them on paper.

Master Cen couldn't understand how he derived the characters from the text. Yuan Sheng had already accurately pulled out the next page, without making a mistake even though the two pages contained different scriptures. He didn't hesitate at all, as if he had studied it a thousand times and already knew the content by heart.

"Have you seen it?" Master Cen asked.

"No," Yuansheng denied.

Master Cen was skeptical. "Then how do you know their order so well?"

“I clearly didn’t become a disciple of Wanfu Temple, yet I can recite Buddhist scriptures fluently. Master, I was only seven years old when you found me. Although I have no memory of it, I can’t possibly know all this at the age of seven, can I? I’m not the seventh prince.” Yuansheng said casually, “Perhaps I was some kind of holy son of Buddhism in my past life.”

Master Cen: "...Then Buddhism is doomed. No wonder you were reborn into my family in this life. You've committed many sins."

...

Xue Jin'an sent all the Buddhist scriptures over, and seeing the system notification that the files had been received, he did not close the chat window.

Logically speaking, at human speed, it would take quite a while just to find the coded messages, and then it would take even longer to match the patterns to the codebook. It shouldn't be that the answer is so quick. But Xue Jin'an just had a strange intuition that it wouldn't take long.

Fifteen minutes later, Xue Jin'an received a translated letter, a final letter from Empress Xiaojingyi Zhongyan.

The contents of the letter corroborated Xue Jin'an's conjecture, but there were a few differences: First, Zhang Jinghua did not take the emperor as his apprentice; the emperor learned it by stealing information. Second, Consort Hui committed suicide. Third, the emperor wanted the longevity gu not for immortality, but because he needed to prolong his life.

Consort Hui did indeed give birth successfully that year, but she was weak after childbirth and her body gradually lost its vitality. It was also true that the late emperor disliked that child. The reason he spared his life was that he wanted to exchange his son's life for Consort Hui's life. Consort Hui eventually learned of this and committed suicide.

It is worth mentioning that Zhong Yan described this event from the emperor's perspective throughout, only mentioning it after he finished writing: "He spoke as if he had seen it with his own eyes. I believe that the Consort committed suicide, but I cannot believe that he was innocent."

In other words, Zhong Yan believes that the Emperor played a role in Consort Hui's death. Xue Jin'an saw Consort Hui in the form of a ghost princess in the abandoned palace, and from her words, it can be inferred that even if she committed suicide, it was not a willing act.

Moreover, the late emperor had already switched the children, so he shouldn't have told Consort Hui the truth about the longevity poison. Therefore, it's very likely that someone told her about it and used it to threaten her. In despair, Consort Hui had no choice but to end her life.

As for the emperor's need to prolong his life, it all started with his secretly learning Zhang Jinghua's Gu techniques. Zhang Jinghua's character is evident in how he managed to turn all of Zhou Yushu's insects into Gu worms after Zhou expressed his unwillingness to learn Gu.

When Zhang Jinghua entered the palace, the emperor was young and lacked the cunning and shrewdness of an adult. It would have been easy for him to be discovered for secretly learning the art. Zhang Jinghua was not a good person, and it was very possible that he deliberately tampered with the Gu techniques that Zhang Jinghua had secretly learned. Even if the late emperor knew, he would not have cared, but Zhang Jinghua probably suffered some consequences.

Perhaps it was for this reason that the emperor took action against Consort Hui in retaliation against Zhang Jinghua and the late emperor.

Zhong Yanxin said that the emperor was initially just curious about the longevity gu and did not necessarily want to possess it. It was only when he discovered that he could not give birth to a healthy child that he realized that his incorrect methods of making gu had caused him to accumulate a lot of gu poison in his body. This poison had not yet endangered his life, but it would be fatal to the infant.

This is why the emperor's children couldn't stand up for several years after he ascended the throne.

The emperor tried many methods to cure the Gu poison in his body, but they could only provide temporary relief. As he grew older, the Gu poison in his body was spreading. The emperor could only place his hopes on Zhang Jinghua and agreed to many conditions. Zhang Jinghua lived up to his reputation as a divine physician. With one move, he relieved most of the Gu poison in the emperor's body, and he finally had a healthy prince, Xue Zhang.

However, Zhang Jinghua's Gu poison had been in his body for many years and had dissolved into his blood, making it impossible to cure. To survive, he had to undergo regular acupuncture and bloodletting. When bloodletting no longer worked, it meant the poison had penetrated his lungs and was beyond cure.

The emperor was naturally unwilling to give up and asked him, "Can the longevity gu that brings the dead back to life and heals the bones be cured?"

Zhang Jinghua told him very clearly: "Even if I did create the Longevity Gu, let alone now, it wouldn't be for you."

The two parted on bad terms, and Zhang Jinghua went to Yunnan for three years, where he met the young Zhou Yushu.

In the letter, Zhong Yan was unaware of what had happened to Zhang Jinghua during his three years in Dianzhou. He only stated that on his return journey, Zhang Jinghua visited all the major Gu Master settlements except for the Southern Frontier, killing all the surviving Gu practitioners and burning all related books on Gu making. Furthermore, despite obtaining the worm for creating the Longevity Gu, Zhang Jinghua hesitated to act.

The emperor originally planned to wait until the longevity gu was made before seizing it, but now that the progress has stalled, he didn't want to live in fear any longer, so he stole a gu egg and once again learned how to make it himself.

At that time, the emperor only had one child, so the only option for this curse was to be placed on Xue Zhang.

Xue Zhang died, bleeding from all seven orifices and dying of heart failure. Xue Zhang's death made Zhang Jinghua aware of the emperor's foolish actions. It was the first and last time Zhong Yan saw Zhang Jinghua. The clever Zhong Yan quickly realized something was wrong and began to investigate. At that time, she did not suspect the emperor at all, but only felt that Zhang Jinghua was the problem. As a result, she discovered that there was a secret passage under the palace, and that Consort Hui, who should have been laid to rest, was actually buried in the underground of Weiyang Palace.

Zhong Yan felt a chill run down his spine and immediately went to the emperor to explain the situation, with the outcome being predictable.

During her time recuperating in Weiyang Palace, Zhong Yan gradually uncovered many truths and was horrified to discover that she had never seen Zhang Jinghua again.

When winter came that year, Zhong Yan, who had not seen the emperor for a long time, vaguely sensed that her death was approaching. She felt that she must leave something behind, so the entire hall was filled with Buddhist scriptures, the scriptures containing the brilliant and splendid story of her burning self.

Xue Jin'an knew everything that followed.

The Fifth Prince frowned throughout, especially when he saw Xue Zhang's death. He sneered, "Only today do I realize that Xiao Shu is a loving mother."

“If it’s just a self-confession, I’m afraid it won’t be enough.” Although the Fifth Prince didn’t know that Xue Jin’an wanted to change the dynasty, based on his understanding of Xue Jin’an, he couldn’t possibly let go of the opportunity of the sacrificial ceremony to expose all the emperor’s ugliness to the public.

Xue Jin'an remained silent, his gaze lingering on the few sentences about the secret passage in the article. He then returned to the outer hall, pinpointed the location of the sealed secret chamber, squatted down, and tapped it with his fingers. Sure enough, it was hollow.

"I'll find something to dig it open." Realizing something, the Fifth Prince immediately got up to find tools.

"No need, just blow it up." Xue Jin'an held three thunderbolts between his fingers and threw them out. At the same time, he grabbed the Fifth Prince with his free hand and rolled backward.

Boom! The explosion shook the entire palace.

"Cough, cough, cough, how can this be so powerful, cough cough cough..." The Fifth Prince was covered in soot and choked by the smoke, unable to open his eyes, but still asked, "How is it? Is there anything inside?"

Xue Jin'an looked at the woman in the ice coffin, dressed in the empress's robes, who had been dead for many years but still looked lifelike as if she were asleep. He then looked at the skeleton of a man sitting next to the ice coffin, which was none other than the late emperor's favorite concubine, Consort Hui, and Zhang Jinghua.

He answered amidst the footsteps of the Imperial Guards rushing in: "The Emperor is finished."

*

Xue Jin'an carried a knife to the sacrificial ceremony. It was a knife that Zhou Yushu had made and given to him, and the pattern engraved on it was the spider lily, which symbolizes the underworld.

Zhou Yushu once said he wanted to use the murderer's blood to sharpen this knife. That was because he believed the real culprits, Chu Wenwan and Xiao Shu, were already dead, and he only felt sorry for them.

Today is the perfect time to use it.

"I want to go too! Take me with you!" The Fifth Prince was so excited to see such a great show that his back pain, leg pain, and arm strength returned. He felt like he could hold on for another day.

"I won't wait for anyone." Xue Jin'an spurred his horse and galloped away.

"Don't worry, I definitely won't fall behind!" The Fifth Prince nimbly mounted his horse.

When the two passed by the landslide site, they saw the Second Prince's decapitated and mangled corpse, especially his head, which looked like a rotten tomato that had been crushed.

"Judging from his posture, he must have been fleeing on horseback when an arrow pierced his throat with incredible speed. He probably wasn't dead yet, but his body fell off the horse's head and was trampled by the startled horse... Tsk, I used to joke that my second brother had no head and my third brother had no legs, but I never thought it would actually come true." The Fifth Prince had a gloomy expression on his face.

"Let's go." Xue Jin'an didn't say anything more, and once again rode his horse towards the sacrificial site.

When the two arrived, the emperor was dressed in a black court robe and preparing to light incense. The civil and military officials did not expect that the crown prince, who was supposed to appear in the second stage, would appear at this time. He was covered in blood and galloping in from outside, carrying a gleaming knife.

"Your Highness, please dismount and change your clothes!" A line of Imperial Guards blocked the way, and an official from the Ministry of Rites stepped forward and whispered.

"I'm not here to offer sacrifices, I'm here to settle accounts," Xue Jin'an said calmly.

Before anyone could react to what he meant, Xue Jin'an turned his horse around and rode back a short distance before turning back again. He tightened his grip on the horse's flanks, flicked the reins, and cracked the whip, shouting, "Giddy up!"

The horse neighed in pain and galloped wildly, leaping up and bounding over the human wall and steps, landing directly on the altar to everyone's astonishment.

The emperor's heart skipped a beat; a bad premonition lingered. He gripped the Gu bell hidden in his sleeve, ready to shake it and summon his assassins if things went wrong. He demanded, "Baoning, what are you doing?!"

Xue Jin'an looked down at him and immediately launched into a proclamation: "Xue Sheng, the false emperor of the Great Qi Dynasty, was born of humble origins. He is outwardly gentle but inwardly ruthless. He once held the position of Crown Prince under the protection of the Empress Dowager, but he has not appreciated her kindness. He is outwardly treacherous but inwardly arrogant. He has secretly learned evil arts and poisoned his body without realizing it. He is eloquent and flattering. The late emperor's concubine committed suicide without him feeling ashamed. His children died in infancy due to misfortune. Later..."

The emperor's expression changed drastically when he heard the first sentence. He thought the altar was very high and large, and it would be difficult for human voices to travel far. He remained calm and only glanced sharply at the people on the altar.

Li Hechun's head was almost touching his chest, and he felt a chill on his neck, wondering if he could keep it up. Commander Wei looked astonished, completely dumbfounded. Only the Minister of Rites was left, and the tray in his hand had already been smashed on the ground.

However, what the emperor didn't know was that Xue Jin'an had already planned it out. Before he even spoke, he had already found the voice chat software that otaku often used when starting large-scale online games and turned on his microphone directly in the capital square. Not only could the people there hear it, but everyone in the capital today who had ears and could hear a sound could hear it too.

Xue Jin'an's goal is to tear the emperor's skin off and make him die without any mercy.

When everyone heard Xue Jin'an's voice enter their minds, they were first startled, and then they all sighed that the Seventh Prince's internal strength was truly profound. He could transmit his voice so secretly and over such a wide range. He was simply a martial arts prodigy. Only a few people who knew that the Seventh Prince did not have internal strength but could still use his brain were puzzled.

After hearing the Seventh Prince's words clearly, he was shocked and looked up at the Emperor on the altar in disbelief.

Xue Jin'an began to recount the people the emperor had directly or indirectly caused to their deaths: "...My mentor starved to death in the underground palace, my eldest son was murdered while still a child, my first wife was trapped and died in the empress's palace, my second daughter drowned, and my ten sons died of illness..."

Consort Min, who was drinking alone in Yongchun Palace and had no idea what day it was, suddenly trembled, and her wine cup rolled to the ground and shattered.

"...They abolished the honest and upright administration, wasted ten years of the people's blood and sweat, and achieved nothing in twenty-nine years. Instead, they used evil magic to raise more than eight thousand assassins, disfiguring their faces and damaging their minds, turning them into Gu people..."

Hearing this, the crowd below finally couldn't help but murmur amongst themselves. The emperor immediately noticed something was wrong and shouted at Xue Jin'an, "Shut up! Shut up!"

The emperor grew anxious and immediately took out the Gu Bell and started shaking it. However, no matter how much he shook the bell until it shattered, there was no sound at all.

"What's going on?" The emperor shook the bell vigorously.

"Your Majesty, don't waste your energy." An aged voice floated down from mid-air. The emperor looked up and saw that a person had somehow appeared on the sacrificial flag planted on the altar. He was dressed in the blood-red robes of the Imperial Clothing Office, and his white hair was adorned with specks of blood. For a moment, one could not tell whether he was dressed in red or if his clothes were simply stained red with blood from killing too many people.

The emperor shouted sternly, "Lu Bingzhu, what are you doing here?!"

"This servant has come to report to Your Majesty. When I returned from Yunshan, I saw that there were people using Gu poison there, so I took them all away, for fear that they might harm Your Majesty." As Lu Bingzhu spoke, she opened her hand, and a Gu bell exactly the same as the one in the emperor's hand appeared.

"Yunshan? You killed the Gu master? No, impossible!" The emperor's first reaction was to deny it.

"What's impossible? No matter how much pain a Gu person feels, they won't be able to get up even if they're beaten into mincemeat, right?" Lu Bingzhu asked with a smile. "What do you think, Your Majesty?"

The emperor shivered, instinctively taking two steps back, his lips trembling as he cried out, "Protect me! Protect me!"

Commander Wei instinctively tried to move, but an arm grabbed his throat—Oh no! He had been distracted by the Seventh Prince's words and hadn't realized that the Third Prince had somehow gotten behind him.

"Not only that, look around." Officers from the Imperial Guard, the Imperial Army, and the Southwest Army took over the order and blocked the area below the altar. There was also Lu Bingzhu "in the sky," so even if he tried to ride his horse like the Seventh Prince, he wouldn't be able to get in.

The Third Prince said in a low voice with a proud expression, "Three or four thousand men are not enough for a battle, but they are more than enough to hold off the enemy for half an hour. My Seventh Brother has a brilliant plan and has been waiting for you."

Commander Wei said with difficulty, "This is regicide!"

"I don't want a father like that, but you do?" The Third Prince's words silenced Commander Wei.

The Third Prince chuckled and pulled him back: "Commander Wei, using your brain isn't for us roughnecks. We'll just stay here and wait for things to finish."

The emperor called out several times on the altar, but no one came up. His sons watched coldly, some even with mocking smiles.

Xue Jin'an finished reciting the last paragraph of the proclamation: "He has no imperial majesty, no royal bearing, no sonly conduct... I have only witnessed a fraction of his many misdeeds. His numerous evil deeds are too numerous to recount. He is a beast in human form, his crimes are unforgivable, and the whole world should condemn him!"

Xue Jin'an raised his knife and pointed it directly at the emperor.

"No, Bao Ning, this is regicide! You can't do this! I am your father, I—" The emperor turned to run, calling out in his mind, "Little X teacher! Uh—"

Xue Jin'an's knife was fast and heavy, striking him directly in the back and flipping him over. He seemed to hear the gurgling sound of blood surging through his body.

"One cut." Xue Jin'an counted, then raised the knife again, aiming it at his wrist.

He still remembers how the original owner died in the original story, and he will return it to him one by one.

Xue Sheng tried to crawl away, but Xue Jin'an stepped on him and said, "Don't move. Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't die before I finish cutting you."

"No, no—" Teacher X, save me! Teacher X! Teacher X!

Teacher Xiao X is online: "I'm here, dear."

Xue Sheng was in so much pain that he was delirious, unaware of how many times he had been stabbed. His body was convulsing, but his mind was a complete blank. His lips moved, and he murmured, "Help...help me..."

Help me! I can give you more offerings, I can erect a monument and cast a golden statue for you, for you—

“We’re not on the same side, why should I help you? How can you be so stupid? Haven’t you figured it out yet? How do you think your Gu Bell data was leaked?” Teacher Xiao X suddenly switched to Xue Jin’an’s voice and said, “Also, this is my original voice, don’t you remember?”

Xue Sheng's unfocused gaze sharpened as he stared intently at Xue Jin'an: "Xue Jin'an? You're Xue Jin'an..."

You've been lying to me all along! You've been lying to me all along!

"Who lied to you? I never told you I wasn't." Teacher Xiao X chuckled. "Since you've provided me with emotional support, I'll tell you something."

"The Longevity Gu is just a hoax; at least until this world completes its expansion, it doesn't exist." This world has a limited capacity; even those who practice magical martial arts can only break through to the next realm and ascend when they reach a certain level. How could there be anything far beyond that?

Teacher Xiao X, having taken over Xue Jin'an's database, knew the original ending: the emperor in the original story also died young, not even living as long as the Empress Dowager who died of natural causes.

Xue Sheng's eyes widened, unwilling to believe this fact: the Longevity Gu doesn't exist? How could it not exist? If it doesn't exist, then what has he been doing all these years...?

Teacher X weighed the cost of the money he had paid and calculated the karmic consequences he had incurred. He decided to be on the safe side and give him some extra good news: "By the way, let me tell you something else. You're very lucky! Your death was timed perfectly. The underworld module can be updated now! You'll see many familiar faces down there. Aren't you happy? Unexpected?"

"Pfft—" The emperor spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes wide as he stared at the sky, his body convulsing.

"It's a pleasure to provide you with one last service. The software is now being uninstalled. See you next time... no, I mean in the next life." Amidst the cheerful electronic voice, he stopped breathing.

In the end, it seems he was angered to death by Teacher Xiao X... Oh well, it doesn't matter. Anyway, he's dead. In a way, Teacher Xiao X was a faster version of him, so you could say he killed him.

Thinking this through, Xue Jin'an silently shut down Teacher Xiao X's data transmission temporarily, pretending that he knew nothing.

Xue Jin'an walked up to Li Hechun, who was holding a tray. Li Hechun immediately reacted, knelt down, and raised the tray with the dragon robe in his hands high above his head.

Xue Jin'an draped the dragon robe over his shoulders, turned his head to look down at the crowd, and asked in a flash, "I wish to ascend the throne as emperor. Who agrees? Who opposes?"

The world fell silent for a moment. Just as Zhou Yushu was about to step forward, Grand Secretary Jiang Wen lifted his robes, knelt down, and prostrated himself, shouting, "Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"

Zhou Yushu, a beat behind: ...No wonder you're the Grand Secretary.

On the 18th day of the 11th month of the 29th year of Jiahe, the false emperor Xue Sheng was executed at the altar, and the Qi dynasty perished. On the same day, Xue Sheng's seventh son, Xue Jin'an, ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, establishing the state name as Gan, the imperial surname as Zhou, and the era name as Xinyuan.

This day is also considered the end of the martial arts era and the beginning of the cultivation era.

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