Before he could finish speaking, the Pangu Jade, which had been within his grasp, suddenly flew into the air. In the blink of an eye, a group of men in black appeared in the center of the hall, and the Pangu Jade was in the hands of the leader.
The court officials and their families all drank the spiked wine, and many of them had already passed out. Only a few skilled martial artists were still holding on.
However, several important people were unharmed, such as the Emperor and Empress Dowager, Prince Chen and his wife, some of their close confidants, and of course, Lu Baichuan.
The old emperor was well-prepared; today's banquet was a setup, so he wasn't too alarmed by what he saw.
But the Empress Dowager was different. Already old, she was quite frightened by witnessing such a shocking scene.
"What...what's going on?"
She gripped the Princess Consort's wrist, feeling both worried and angry. These people had dared to enter the palace so blatantly, and even attacked so many court officials!
Princess Consort Chen patted the back of her hand to comfort her, saying, "Grandmother, don't worry, we were prepared, nothing will happen."
Actually, the situation tonight is not suitable for bringing the elderly, but I was worried that these people might take advantage of the palace's lax security to harm the elderly, so I simply brought them along to ensure their safety.
The Empress Dowager, a seasoned veteran of palace intrigue, had witnessed many grand scenes. With just a few words from Princess Chen, she quickly calmed down and realized it was a trap.
But I was still a little worried. So many people had been poisoned, and the remaining ones might not be a match for those people.
Most importantly, the fact that they could come in unimpeded meant that the guards outside had probably fallen as well. Thinking about this, the old man became anxious again, worried that the children wouldn't be able to handle it.
At this moment, Prince Lin said to the leader, "You have obtained what you wanted. Shouldn't I get what's left?"
The other party did not answer immediately, but carefully examined the Pangu Jade in his hand and said with great satisfaction, "Of course, we have always been people who keep our promises."
They could have left now, but since they were already here, they couldn't just sit around doing nothing. Prince Chen and Lu Baichuan had caused the deaths of many people in their organization, so they naturally had to cherish this opportunity.
Most importantly, helping Prince Lin ascend the throne will save them a lot of trouble in the future, allowing them to live a few years of peace before finding the treasure.
"Fifth brother, are you trying to rebel?"
The old emperor narrowed his eyes, his gaze filled with murderous intent.
In fact, when he learned that the sorcerer was colluding with Prince Lin to kill him, he had already decided to kill him. However, his grand plan failed, so he spared the life of this rebellious son again and again. Then the incident of sending tea happened, and now he is even planning to rebel, kill his father and the emperor.
He really is his good eldest son!
He admitted that he was neither a good emperor nor a good father, but apart from Prince Chen, he had not treated his brothers too badly. But Prince Lin was trying to kill him. What difference was there between him and a malignant tumor?
Now that things have come to this, Prince Lin no longer wanted to play the innocent little rabbit. Hearing this, he merely sneered and retorted, "Father, isn't it already quite obvious?"
This was the first time the Empress Dowager had learned that Prince Lin harbored rebellious intentions, and she was quite surprised. Wasn't Prince Lin always a man of few desires, saying he was completely uninterested in anything and only wanted to be a carefree prince? How could he be so foolish as to want to rebel?
Moreover, he colluded with those who were snatching up ancient jade pieces. What exactly happened?
"Fifth brother, do you know what the consequences will be if you try to negotiate with a tiger?"
Prince Chen looked at him with a serious expression, thinking that his fifth brother was really stupid. Even if he really had the intention to rebel, there were many ways to do it. Why did he have to take such an extreme path?
The people of Dongting have blatant ambitions and have so many hidden dangers in various cities. How could they possibly be after just a piece of Pangu jade?
"There's no need for Third Brother to worry about that. Instead of worrying about me, you should think more about yourself! Starting tomorrow, the Northern Flame will change hands, hahaha!"
Prince Lin couldn't help but burst into laughter, feeling as if he had already won.
His mother came from a poor background, and her family couldn't offer much help. He also had little power from a young age. In order to survive, he had to conceal his brilliance and tell the world that he was just a carefree prince with no interest in court affairs. It was precisely because of this that his brothers didn't make things difficult for him.
Over the years, he has done a lot under the guise of traveling, promoting his maternal relatives one by one, and even his mother has gradually gained status in the palace.
After tasting the sweetness of power, he became even more unstoppable. He unexpectedly obtained a very powerful disguise technique, so he began to disguise himself as Lin Yiping to get close to Prince Jing and get his foolish younger brother to do things for him.
Even the people in Dongting were completely fooled by him and never found out his true identity.
But all of this was ruined by He Jiuniang. His disguise skills were reduced to clowns in front of her. No matter what he did, he could not escape her eyes. His identity was exposed, and his grand plan, which he had been plotting for many years, was abandoned halfway. That's why he had no choice but to take a risky step and get to where he is today.
Prince Chen found his crazed state rather irritating and had to remind him, "Don't be too happy yet. Aren't you curious why so many people have been infected, but we're fine?"
They thought Prince Lin would realize what was happening, but he didn't care at all, saying, "So what? You're only a dozen or so people, but the people outside are all my men, even He Jiuniang, she's now..."
"Hmm, who called me?"
Lin Wang originally wanted to say that He Jiu Niang was probably already dead, since the Dongting people had gone to great lengths to deal with her, hiring a team of assassins specifically to kill her. But a woman, no matter how powerful, was no match for so many strong assassins.
Before she could finish speaking, He Jiuniang's cheerful voice came from the doorway.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and found that He Jiuniang was just as she had been when she went to the toilet, not a single hair was out of place, as if she had not experienced any changes at all.
Seeing that everyone was looking at her, He Jiuniang seemed a little embarrassed and said, "You guys continue, don't worry about me, I'm just here for the ride."
He Jiuniang walked briskly to Lu Baichuan's side and sat down as if nothing had happened. She even poured herself a glass of wine and drank it down. She even picked up her chopsticks and took a bite of the newly served dish.
Hmm, not bad, it's still warm.
Everyone: ...
Xinran finally lost her temper and angrily said, "Could it be that those people took the money but didn't do their job?"
"Hey, don't say that!"
He Jiuniang hurriedly reached out and took the initiative to defend the assassins: "They were very dedicated. Even after I crushed their hand bones, they still went to pick up daggers to kill me. I was just in a hurry to eat a hot meal and didn't give them that much time."
As she spoke, she took another bite and whispered to Lu Baichuan, "These hot dishes are so delicious."
Lu Baichuan looked at her with a face full of doting and heartache, and asked, "Are you alright?"
"It's alright, I just don't know if these people are alright. Do your best later, and we'll try to get a third-class merit!"
Why not award them first-class merit? Because they are peasants from the countryside, and it wouldn't be good for them to steal the limelight.
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