Because of his outstanding performance, he was highly valued by the late emperor, and later, by chance, he was assigned to the side of the crown prince.
He had already guessed his own background the moment he met Wei Huaixu.
His maternal grandmother had told him when he was young that he had a brother. But he never knew that his brother was actually the Crown Prince.
Even though I was only born a quarter of an hour later than him, our circumstances are so different.
How could he not hate that?
So from day one, he harbored the ambition to replace Wei Huaixu.
His first step, naturally, was to gain Wei Huaixu's trust and become his confidant.
This is actually not difficult to do.
Wei Huaixu not only appears kind, but is also very benevolent at heart. Having spent many years in the inner palace, he is cunning, wise, and decisive. He will try every means to achieve his goals, but he will not resort to unscrupulous methods.
Because he was born under the sun and bathed in its radiance.
This is the kind of life that Yin Shuli longs for but cannot have.
He admitted that he was somewhat jealous.
So he kept imitating him, trying to make himself more and more like him.
Qingying's appearance was an unexpected surprise for him.
It was common knowledge throughout the capital that the Liu family's daughter was sickly.
Before meeting Qingying, he, like everyone else, assumed she would be a weak and frail woman. He never imagined she was not only gentle, but also incredibly strong.
She was beautiful and radiant, like the most dazzling flower blooming on a branch. She was also the ray of bright moonlight he longed to reach out and touch.
He was watching from not far away every sweet and tender moment she shared with Wei Huaixu.
At first, he was disdainful, thinking that women would only slow down his ability to draw his sword. But later, he became envious. He envied Wei Huaixu for being able to stand openly by her side, while he could only peek at their happiness from a corner like a rat in a gutter.
Some say that twins are connected at heart, and their likes and dislikes are similar. Especially since he and Wei Huaixu look so alike, it's not surprising that they would fall in love with the same woman, driven by their feelings for each other.
He seemed to have found a perfect excuse for himself.
He thought that once Wei Huaixu died, he would no longer be affected.
Yin Shuli's second step in replacing Wei Huaixu was to remove the poison from his body inflicted by the Shadow Guards.
To prevent them from defecting, they all had to take a deadly poison before leaving the Shadow Guard camp. When the poison took effect, it felt like being gnawed by a hundred insects, causing excruciating pain. Therefore, every three months they had to return to the camp to take a temporary antidote.
He tried many methods to no avail, and finally sought help from Medicine King Valley.
It was the legendary physician Wang Hebai who cured him of the poison, using a different, deadly poison—fighting poison with poison.
Besides the pain of the poison taking effect, he also had to endure the torment of the two poisons battling within his body for three days and three nights. The consequence was a shortened lifespan and the inability to have children.
Wang Hebai asked him, "Have you thought this through? You won't regret it."
He said, "I don't regret it."
If he could exchange the rest of his life for a brief moment to stand in the sunlight, to stand beside her, he would have no regrets.
——
Since returning from Medicine King Valley, he has been working hard to find the right opportunity.
It wasn't until Wei Huaixu was on his way back to the capital after a great victory that he discovered someone had laid an ambush to assassinate him, and he took advantage of this opportunity.
Ordinary assassinations were no challenge for Wei Huaixu. He reacted instantly the moment the arrows flew towards him and dodged them. At the same time, he drew his bow and fired back, killing several of his opponents with a few swift arrows.
Yin Shuli seized the opportunity and secretly shot an arrow. Wei Huaixu was caught off guard and was hit by the arrow, falling off his horse.
At that moment, the army had just reached the edge of a steep hillside. After he fell off his horse, he tumbled down the hillside and into the river below.
There had been a heavy rain not long ago, and the river was raging. Wei Huaixu was swept away and disappeared in no time after falling in.
The deputy general immediately led his men down to search along the river.
The group scattered, and he ran downstream as fast as he could, finally finding Wei Huaixu, who was barely alive, clinging to a withered tree branch and floating on the water, before anyone else could reach him.
"Your Highness!"
“Ashu…”
Yin Shuli quickly jumped down and pulled him out.
After being rescued, Wei Huaixu fainted with relief. He looked at the face of the person in front of him, which was very similar to his own, and a dark glint flashed in his eyes.
He removed Wei Huaixu's silver armor, ran his hands over his body, and finally found the fine needle hidden under his skin.
The arrow itself wasn't the key; the important thing was the poisoned needle hidden on it.
Yin Shuli took out the poisoned needle and threw it into the rushing river, then prepared to change into his clothes.
Meng Shushu appeared at this time.
She had witnessed the whole thing; she wasn't stupid, and she almost immediately guessed his intentions. She had seen Wei Huaixu when she impersonated Shuoyue to attend the autumn hunt, and recognized him at a glance.
"Who are you? How dare you harm His Highness the Crown Prince!" Meng Shushu thrust her long sword at him.
He easily dodged to the side and quickly flashed behind Liu Shushu, striking her on the back of the shoulder with a palm strike.
Meng Shushu staggered forward and fell, barely managing to steady herself by plunging her sword into the ground. She then bent over, clutched her chest, and spat out a mouthful of blood.
She realized she had acted rashly this time; this person was highly skilled in martial arts, and she definitely couldn't defeat him.
Yin Shuli was stunned after seeing her face clearly.
He had seen this woman in Liu Chengfeng's portrait.
He overheard the conversation between the two brothers in the courtyard the night Liu Chenglin pushed Qingying into the water. Afterwards, he deliberately followed Liu Chengfeng and saw him take a portrait of a woman to the Prince Yu's mansion. If he guessed correctly, the woman in the portrait must be the true legitimate daughter of the Liu family who had been lost to the common people.
An idea popped into his mind.
He chuckled and said, "With your mediocre skills, you think you can pull off a sneak attack? Go back and train for another eight hundred years."
"You..." Meng Shushu was both embarrassed and angry. She gritted her teeth and said, "I may not be able to beat you, but I will stop you from harming His Highness the Crown Prince, even if it costs me my life!"
"Oh? As far as I know, His Highness the Crown Prince's fiancée is the eldest daughter of the Grand General's family in the capital. You're standing up for him like this, so who are you to him?"
"I...I'm not as despicable as you think. I just saw injustice and decided to help."
"Is that so?" he scoffed, "Don't think I don't know what you're up to. You want to save him, but that's not because you want to save him; you just want to save the Crown Prince."
"I...I don't understand what you're saying."
"If he weren't the crown prince, would you still stand up for him?"
Meng Shushu straightened her chest and said righteously, "Of course, as a doctor, I will naturally save him."
"A doctor? Tsk tsk, why don't you come and take a look first, and see how much longer he can live?"
Yin Shuli simply crossed his arms and stepped aside.
Meng Shushu glanced at him warily, then walked forward suspiciously, squatted down, and reached out to feel Wei Huaixu's pulse. She then examined his eyes, mouth, and nose.
Her expression grew increasingly cold.
It's a deadly poison, already spreading throughout his body. Perhaps only by reaching Medicine King Valley can he have a chance of survival. But even at top speed, it would take at least half a month to get there, by which time Wei Huaixu's body would be completely cold.
She collapsed to the ground with a thud.
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