Chapter 82 Chapter 82 “At least you waited for me to clean it up…
Shangguan Xu did have his suspicions about the death of King Zhao due to illness.
When the news of Prince Zhao's serious illness reached the capital, she felt that everything happened too suddenly. It was only a month from the time he began to feel ill to the time he became bedridden. However, even such an emergency doctor could not figure out the cause of his illness and only said that it was caused by the invasion of wind evil.
However, King Zhao had been in good health since childhood, and could be considered a prince who grew up on horseback. How could he be defeated by an evil disease so easily?
Shangguan Xu suppressed his bold guess and asked Zhou Jingzhi, "What did you find out?"
Zhou Jingzhi's eyes flickered over her eyebrows for a moment, then he lowered his eyes, nodded, and said "Hmm," "Third brother's illness wasn't caused by a cold that entered his body, but rather by someone poisoning him."
He looked up at her. "Su Wang wanted to firmly grasp power in his own hands. Killing me wasn't enough for him. He also needed a new ruler whom he could control. However, my father's descendants at the time consisted only of my third brother, fifth brother, and third brother's children."
"I had no children at the time. If I passed away, I would naturally have to choose an heir from within the royal family. According to etiquette, the heir must either be from my own lineage or from my father's lineage. So, given Su Wang's goal, he would definitely choose the former. However, choosing the former presents a problem—a biological father."
Zhou Jingzhi sighed and continued, "According to normal developments, even if the Crown Prince of Zhao were adopted into my family, the King of Zhao would still be alive, a powerful prince guarding the northern fortress."
Hearing this, Shangguan Xu spoke up, pondering, "The emperor's biological father was a powerful frontier prince, so it was often the emperor's biological father, not the prime minister, who held power. Even if Third Brother had no intention of becoming regent, Su Wang would never allow such a possibility to exist."
Zhou Jingzhi nodded. "So he would first target my third brother. After making sure he could completely control the next emperor, he would then target me."
"What he didn't expect was that during the time he poisoned his third brother, the Crown Prince, who was with his third brother day and night, was also harmed, which also led to the Crown Prince having an accident on his way to the capital."
Shangguan Xu murmured, "Then everything fits in. A Zheng's brother, as a tutor living with the Crown Prince of Zhao, naturally shares many similarities with him. Being of similar age, he's the most suitable candidate to replace him. Furthermore, he's young and doesn't remember many things clearly. With some gentle inducement, he'll subconsciously assume his identity is what others want him to believe."
Zhou Jingzhi said softly, "His reaction today when he recalled the past was so strong. I'm afraid it wasn't just verbal seduction, but also some drug manipulation."
The news came so suddenly that Shangguan Xu frowned and shook her head. "I never thought Su Wang would go this far for his own selfish desires. The annihilation of A Zheng's family must be related to this incident. What about the others?" She looked at him anxiously. "Are those who had taken care of the prince in the Zhao Palace also... or in other words, are all those who had met the prince like A Zheng and her family?"
Zhou Jingzhi looked at her deeply and nodded. "It was only when I was investigating A Zheng's background that I learned that those people in the palace who had so-called pursued their own careers and found other good masters were actually killed shortly after the Crown Prince was replaced. Those in the outer courtyard might have been spared, but those in the inner courtyard... none of them were spared."
Shangguan Xu's eyelashes trembled, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Sure enough, in his eyes, human life is like grass, like ants."
Zhou Jing knew: "So this time, we must expose his evil deeds to the world and make it impossible for him to do evil again."
Shangguan Xu frowned and responded softly.
Now, compared with a few years ago, the situation has changed drastically. Regarding the struggle with Su Wang, Shangguan Xu does not think that they will be as passive as before. On the contrary, she also feels that she has the confidence to win this victory. However, now, she is worried about another thing.
"How is your health...recently?" She slowly raised her eyelids and met his gaze.
"Why do you ask this suddenly?" Zhou Jingzhi was a little confused by her words. He had found an excuse to cover up his physical condition. Logically, she shouldn't ask this question suddenly.
Shangguan Xu didn't know how to start. Although she had learned from Xun Yang what he had concealed from her, she could understand why he did so by putting herself in his shoes.
Besides, Xun Yang said that the success of detoxification is closely related to the physical and mental condition of the person being detoxified. If she made it clear in front of him, would it increase the burden on him?
Shangguan Xu lowered his eyes and said, "I just remembered what you told me about the residual poison in your body, and I can't let it go."
Zhou Jingzhi smiled, bowed slightly, and placed his hands on her shoulders. He spoke in a reassuring tone, "Don't worry, I'm not completely poisoned yet, but I've been using poison-slowing pills, so my health is normal. Besides, you've seen Ziyang's medical skills. He's so amazing, so just imagine how skilled his master, who's going to detoxify me, must be. Anyway, I'm not worried at all. I'll just wait for the day when the poison is gone."
He always looked so relaxed when talking about these things in front of her, but she knew the truth clearly, so the more relaxed he appeared, the more she knew how much he had endured alone.
Shangguan Xu finally couldn't help himself: "Xun Ziyang has told me everything."
In an instant, the smile on his face disappeared, and he became a little helpless and flustered.
She met his gaze without blinking and said, "I know you hid those things from me because you didn't want me to worry, but how much more have you endured because of that? When you knew the truth, you still refused to acknowledge me. Wasn't it because you were afraid of the worst possible outcome, and of experiencing separation and death once again? But these are things we should have endured together."
She looked at his eyes, which were slowly turning sour. "You said we were together, so why do you have to bear all the pain alone when I'm right by your side? And if the worst happens, do you think I won't be sad and in pain?"
"I……"
She gently raised her hand and pressed it to his lips just as he was about to argue. She continued softly, "You mean to say that at least I'll be carefree and relaxed before the outcome comes? But I don't want that. I understand that you have your concerns about this matter, but I also have my own persistence."
She lowered her eyes for a moment, and when she looked back up, tears welled up in her eyes, and her eyes were red. "As you said, I've already lost you once, so this time, no matter what happens between you and me, even a little bit, I don't want to miss it." Her eyes were firm. "Even if the final result is really that unsatisfactory, I think we should have no regrets before that."
"It's certainly painful to lose you again after having lost you, but you're also my soulmate. I don't want you to shoulder everything during this crucial time for you, so I'll let you be the 'worry-free person'. On this journey, no matter the ups and downs, we should share them together."
After she finished speaking, she raised her eyebrows and looked at him with a smile in her tearful eyes.
He smiled back with mixed feelings, "You're right. We are husband and wife, people who walk hand in hand and weather the ups and downs together. Whether it's joy or suffering, we should share it together. I shouldn't hide the truth from you for the sake of a brief moment of peace like I did before. Otherwise, that would be unfair to you."
"So," he stood up straight, a smile on his face but in a formal manner, "In the coming days, Madam, I will have to trouble you to accompany a frail person like me to heal my illness and injuries."
Seeing his feigned seriousness, Shangguan Xu couldn't help but laugh: "You said that so quickly, and it doesn't seem like you've thought it through before. You had to make me go through so much trouble and waste so much time talking to you."
His eyes were sincere as he continued jokingly, "Well, the fact that I'm able to understand nature now is entirely thanks to Madam's guidance. Without Madam's words, I'm afraid I'd still be stuck in that quagmire of thinking."
Shangguan Xu glared at him and was about to raise her hand to hit him, but the next moment he held her waist and hugged her.
Her abdomen was pressed against his, her arms resting under his shoulders, feeling his heartbeat. She looked at him in surprise, and his eyes had softened.
His gentle voice and affectionate gaze enveloped me. "Because of what we experienced in those years, I was probably the one who was more worried about the joy of regaining what I had lost. Therefore, I have many concerns about many things. I know the pain involved, and I don't want you to suffer the same anxiety as I did. However, I forgot that the most important thing between us is that we are side by side."
"Xu'er, thank goodness you woke me up, otherwise I don't know how much more time I would have wasted between us." He smiled, his eyes sparkling as he smiled, "For the rest of my life, I won't do such a stupid thing again."
The palm of her hand on his shoulder moved upwards, and Shangguan Xu's lips curled up slightly, and she said playfully, "Then I'll wait and see."
He also readily accepted the advice: "I will check it at any time and I will not let my wife down."
There was a moment of silence, their eyes moving back and forth. He leaned over, she tilted her neck, and their lips slowly pressed together, moved by emotion and agreed from the heart.
The palm clasped at the waist became increasingly hot, and the hand originally resting on the shoulder slowly slid to the back. The clothes were gathered and clenched, and all the joy and peace of mind melted into this long kiss along with the surge of blood.
After an unknown amount of time, Xu Qing'an was brought back to his senses by the coolness under his nose. He opened his eyes and slowly backed away.
Shangguan Xu was awakened from her passionate embrace by his actions.
However, the next moment he was horrified.
Shangguan Xu's breath was still pounding: "You're bleeding from the nose again!"
She remembered that Xun Yang mentioned that he had suffered from nosebleeds many times recently. She took out a handkerchief and wiped it for him a few times before dragging him to see a doctor.
"etc."
But he didn't move. Instead, he stood there, holding his nose, and said a little aggrievedly, "You should at least wait for me to wipe it clean before leaving."
Shangguan Xu was helpless, feeling that it was more important to see a doctor right now. However, if he really didn't want to leave, she couldn't pull him away, so she could only let him wipe her. She then asked, "Are you feeling any other discomfort now? I heard that you've had several nosebleeds recently. I'm afraid it's the residual toxin in your body that's causing it. We should rush over and let them take a look while Xun Ziyang and the imperial physician are here."
Zhou Jingzhi continued to move his hands, the handkerchief and his palm almost completely covering the lower half of his face, revealing only his eyebrows and eyes. He said in a buzzing voice, "There are many reasons for nosebleeds, and it's not necessarily the poison."
Shangguan Xu frowned, confused.
Zhou Jingzhi saw it, his eyes wandered for a moment, then he lowered his head and looked down: "It could also be..."
Shangguan Xu thought of his reaction when they kissed just now, and her face flushed instantly. This time, she couldn't help but hit him on the shoulder and said angrily, "It's already this time, and you're still talking like this!"
This time she didn't let him do it anymore, she just took his hand and rushed towards the little emperor.
——
Outside the capital, at the foot of the West Mountain, about ten miles away from Chang'an City, Su Shang was standing on the official road on horseback.
He sat high on his horse, with a noble temperament, and listened silently to the sound of horse hooves coming from hundreds of steps away.
Until the man reined in his horse and stopped in front of him.
"Lord Su?"
Su Shang raised his head slightly, a faint smile on the corner of his lips: "Marshal Jie, long time no see."
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