At this moment, Marquis Changxing was trembling with fear. Was it too late for him to go and tie up that brat and apologize to the Second Prince?
The emperor seemed to sense something and glanced in their direction. Marquis Changxing quickly pulled the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonial into the crowd, his face pale with fright. He hadn't figured out how to face the emperor yet! No, no, he'd better go home first, tie up that brat, and apologize to the Second Prince!
Marquis Changxing turned and left. Seeing his aggressive demeanor, the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies knew that Chuanwu was in trouble, and his mood for watching the show improved even more.
The emperor turned around but didn't see anything, which made him feel strange. He had felt like someone was staring intently at him.
Sigh! Never mind, let's deal with this spendthrift son first!
The emperor's unfriendly gaze fell on the second prince at his feet.
However, the second prince was completely oblivious to his father's death stare. His attention was entirely focused on the burning house. As soon as the fire was extinguished, he quickly stood up and ran inside to find his elixir.
After searching for a long time, I found nothing but a dusty mess!
"How could there not be? That's impossible!" the Second Prince muttered to himself.
Just when everyone thought he was finally about to realize he had been tricked, the Second Prince collapsed to the ground, exclaiming, "I know! It's still not the forty-nine days yet, the elixir hasn't formed!"
Everyone: ......
Emperor: This child is no longer safe!
The message reads: 【Hahahaha...】
The emperor ordered the people from Wuhoupu to stay and check the area to prevent the fire from reigniting due to the wind, and then took the second prince back to the palace.
The second prince was not spared a beating. After the beating, he was thrown into his residence in the palace, the gate was locked, and he was confined to his quarters.
The emperor's exact words were, "Don't go out and embarrass me!"
The Taoist priests and novice priests who had refined elixirs for the second prince were also brought into the palace. After the emperor dealt with the second prince, he ordered them to be brought in for questioning.
The emperor looked at the group of people, who all looked timid and cowering, and did not seem to have any otherworldly air about them.
Actually, it's not surprising that they were there. They were right next to the alchemy furnace when it exploded. Although they were lucky enough not to be seriously injured, they were all stunned by the explosion. While they were still in a daze, the whole house caught fire. After being rescued, they hadn't recovered from the shock when they were taken into the palace and heard the Second Prince's screams. How could they not be afraid? Some of them were even trembling.
The room was quiet as the emperor frowned, pondering how to subtly inquire about the elixir of immortality.
Although the Second Prince was deceived this time, he can't be deceived every time. These Taoist priests might actually know something.
But the people kneeling below thought the emperor was thinking of ways to punish them: beating them with a rod? Or beheading them? Or even skinning them alive!
Each of them trembled more and more as they thought about it, and the more they sweated.
The quieter the room was, the less they dared to breathe!
Suddenly, a strange smell wafted out.
The emperor frowned and heard Chuanwen's complaints.
[What kind of pose is the emperor striking here? It's terrifying!]
Chuanwen didn't even dare to crack sunflower seeds. She couldn't stand the atmosphere anymore. It felt like being called to the teacher's office to wait for punishment when she hadn't done her homework, and the teacher was just staring at her without saying a word. She couldn't stand this kind of uneasy feeling.
Usually at this point, Chuanwen starts to take a risky approach. She might kick over a chair on the spot and yell, "I didn't write it, so what!"
Although the likely outcome is being punished by running laps on the playground or having their parents called, it's still much better than just waiting around like this.
So at this moment, she really wanted to suggest to those men, "Since things have come to this, why don't we just grab our weapons, kidnap the emperor, demand money and a carriage from them, and then run away as fast as we can..."
The emperor was shocked!
Yin Shuangwei and Zheng Yan straightened their backs, fearing that those people might really take the risk as Chuanwen had said!
One of them had barely moved when Yin Shuang pressed a sword against his neck, the blade gleaming coldly.
Okay, another one got scared to death!
The smell of urine wafted over, and Yin Shuang frowned. He didn't think these people had the guts to actually do it...
"Your Majesty... spare us! We... we were desperate, that's why we... we lied to the Second Prince! Please, Your Majesty, spare us!"
The middle-aged man with a black beard, whose neck was held by a sword, finished speaking tremblingly, tears streaming down his face. The others quickly followed suit and begged for mercy.
The emperor was completely bewildered, his thoughtful face filled with great doubt. He had deceived the second prince!
It turned out that this group of people were refugees who had fled to the capital. At first, wealthy people provided them with porridge, which allowed them to barely have enough to eat. Later, the imperial court said it would arrange accommodations for them. They were refugees from the same village, and they were taken away one after another. The refugees were quite happy for their fellow villagers. However, after they were also taken away, they realized that the imperial court was not going to provide them with accommodations so that they could live a good life, but rather to send them to work as laborers in a quarry.
When they arrived at the quarry, they were not only not given enough to eat, but they were also whipped if they didn't work hard enough. Many of the older workers died after only a few days. These few couldn't take it anymore and managed to escape with their wives and children.
As they spoke, one of the younger ones was already sobbing uncontrollably. His parents had lured away their pursuers to avoid being caught, and they had hidden in the bushes, watching helplessly as his parents were stabbed to death by those men. He didn't know how much willpower he had used to keep from rushing out. In front of him were his parents, who were about to die tragically, and behind him were his skin and bones wife and children. What choice did he have?
My parents' words, "Even if we escape, we won't live much longer anyway, so we might as well give you a chance to live," still echo in my ears. Their relieved gaze as they passed away is still vivid in my mind. They were relieved that they could exchange their lives for the lives of their children and grandchildren, but it made those who survived suffer even more.
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