The old emperor has become reckless with his words.
What was happening before his eyes was beyond his comprehension, leaving him powerless to cope.
The bodyguards who usually protected him seemed to have vanished, and hadn't come out for a long time.
At this moment, Murong Lie came out.
Upon seeing his son, the old emperor's eyes widened in fury.
"Murong Lie, what are you doing? Whose side are you on?!"
He felt a sharp pain in his chest from anger.
Seeing the old emperor was so angry he was about to go mad, Murong Lie smiled slightly and said, "Father, please stop shouting. I have already subdued your secret guards."
No matter what, being reborn still has its advantages.
Those secret guards from his previous life all became Murong Lie's men after the old emperor died.
The secret order to manage those bodyguards was handed to him.
It was only then that Murong Lie realized that the emperor was able to control those secret guards with just a token.
Whoever receives the secret order becomes the master of the secret guards.
When the old eunuch beside the old emperor handed him the secret order, he repeatedly instructed him to keep the token safe.
Murong Lie didn't take it seriously. He was too careless at the time and didn't care about anything. So much so that before he could completely bring the secret guards under his control, he was forced to drink a cup of poisoned wine and died unexpectedly.
Now that he has a second chance and is going to help his mother seize the throne, he naturally has to consider all the details that need to be taken into account.
The old emperor usually kept a close watch on that secret order, but his obsession with beautiful women would ruin his life.
Murong Lie simply sent a beautiful woman to steal the secret order.
Those secret guards are no longer the old emperor's men, so why would they obey his orders?
Murong Lie smiled and took out the secret order.
"Father, do you recognize this?"
The old emperor's face drained of color: "You, how did you obtain it?"
"Father, don't worry about it. Just surrender quickly and don't waste everyone's time," Murong Lie smiled at him. "As long as you drink this cup of wine, you will be given a grand funeral."
Upon hearing the words "a grand funeral in a single day," the old emperor turned deathly pale. It took him a long time to react: "Murong Lie, you are my son! What are you doing?! Don't forget, you are a descendant of the Murong family!"
"Are you blind? Can't you see? I am the Empress Dowager's right-hand man, and now I am also one of her generals."
Murong Lie said slowly and deliberately.
The old emperor looked utterly devastated: "Murong Lie, you've truly lost your mind! You've helped the Zhao family conquer the world! Have you forgotten who you are?! If there's no mistake, you are the future emperor! You'd better turn back before it's too late!"
The old emperor wasn't stupid; he knew how to sow discord.
Unfortunately, his attempt to sow discord was too clumsy, and Murong Lie simply smiled.
“Father, why don’t you understand? I have already submitted to the Empress Dowager. How could I possibly betray her in the face of battle? I don’t care what my surname is, nor do I care what the surname of the whole world is. As long as someone I trust ascends the throne, I will definitely support them with all my might.”
"You and your mother were husband and wife. You should know how intelligent and suitable she is to be an emperor."
"Nonsense! You're possessed by a demon! She's just a woman; how could she possibly become emperor!"
"Yes, I know you won't accept it, so I suggest you drink that wine and let my mother try it out. If she doesn't do well, she can talk to you about it after she passes away."
Murong Lie's words made the old emperor so angry that he rolled his eyes.
Zhao Yuanning glanced at the old emperor and finally spoke calmly: "If it weren't for the Zhao family's support, your throne wouldn't have been secure. To stabilize our family, you gave us an empress's position, yet you still framed the crown prince. Do you think everyone in the world is a fool?"
“A person like you, if you hadn’t been born into the royal family, would have died eight hundred times over. I’ve tolerated you for a long time. If you had been a little nicer to Lie’er and hadn’t schemed to harm him, maybe my son and I wouldn’t have thought of usurping the throne. Blame yourself for never being able to see things clearly. Are you going to drink this cup of wine or not? If you don’t, I’ll go and kill your concubine.”
The old emperor's face turned ashen: "I won't drink no matter who comes. Don't think you can control me by threatening the imperial concubine. Zhao Yuanning, you're not that powerful. When my guards arrive, you and your son will be finished. I'll cut you into a thousand pieces!"
"So, you don't care about the Imperial Concubine's life?"
"What is a concubine? Don't bring up irrelevant people at this critical juncture!"
The old emperor was provoked by Zhao Yuanning and his fighting spirit was stirred up.
At that moment, a mournful cry of "Your Majesty!" echoed in the hall.
A beautiful imperial concubine appeared.
"Your Majesty, how can you be so cruel?" The Imperial Concubine asked, her face streaked with tears.
The old emperor hadn't expected the imperial concubine to appear. Instead of panicking, he angrily rebuked her: "At this critical juncture, why are you still thinking about these things? My life is more precious than yours!"
Zhao Yuanning looked at the Imperial Concubine: "You see? The old emperor doesn't care about you at all. What has your compassion brought you? You originally wanted to poison the emperor, but you kept waiting. Now, what's the use?"
"Your Majesty loves you more than a blade of grass!"
The imperial concubine's face changed, and so did the old emperor's expression.
What does it mean that the imperial concubine wanted to poison him?
The Imperial Concubine was his favorite concubine; how could she possibly harm him?
At this moment, Zhao Yuanning said to the old emperor, "Your Majesty, do you know that I have investigated many things these days? If you knew some of these things, I might not even need to make you drink alcohol, because you would have no face to live in this world. For example, your most beloved third prince, the prince you want to support to the throne, is not actually your child."
“He is the son of your imperial concubine and her childhood sweetheart. At least you look human. You know what your third prince looks like.”
"The Imperial Concubine wanted to cover up this matter and also wanted her son to ascend the throne. She was constantly vying for favor. All she wanted was for you to change the name of the Third Prince to Crown Prince. Later, when you hesitated to do so, she had other ideas—such as putting medicine in your daily food."
The old emperor was so angry that his lips had turned purple.
"The Imperial Concubine is so charming, and you had no guard against her at all. Didn't that just let her get away with it? She said that in another year, you will die of an epileptic stroke. The medicine she gave you wasn't very potent, but if this continues, no one can save you. I'm just hastening your death."
"Your concubine, your most beloved child, are the ones who truly want to harm you!"
As soon as Zhao Yuanning finished speaking, a loud "bang" was heard.
The old emperor was so angry that he fell straight down, his head hitting the ground. It was unclear whether he was unconscious or dead.
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