Chapter 89 Only when Ku Jiu returns will there be rest.
Who is Zheng Songzhang? How could she have gotten involved with him again!
She has even less dignity than him!
Xu Heng's expression stiffened, and he stopped being polite. He strode away quickly, his limp quite noticeable.
After finishing, the two dressed and got off the bed in an orderly manner, with Zheng Yangzhi standing in front of Wang Yuying.
Xu Heng snorted coldly, gritting his teeth: What right does this adulterous lover have to protect another man's woman?
He should have been killed with a single sword strike back then!
Their eyes locked, exchanging glances. Zheng Yangzhi thought back to the days when, if the emperor had killed him, or even severed ties with him, he would still have shown the emperor some respect.
As for himself, although Tonghua Temple was willing to save Yingniang, it was an utter disgrace between men!
Xu Heng had arranged to meet Zheng Yang that very night, his mind filled with tender affection and longing for the warmth and fragrance of a beautiful woman. He had not brought any weapons. So he curled his five fingers, his claws like eagle hooks, intending to strangle Zheng Yang's throat.
Zheng Yangzhi remained protective of Wang Yuying, standing as still as a wall. However, Wang Yuying reached over Zheng Yangzhi's shoulder from behind and thrust diagonally with a soft sword.
The sword clashed with Xu Heng's palm, and the cold, sharp blade instantly sliced through his flesh, leaving a long gash in his palm from which blood gushed forth.
He looked down at his injured palm, the blood dripping not only onto the ground but also seemed to splash into his heart.
Even now, he still can't believe it, his eyes filled with pain: she actually went so far as to kill Zheng Yangzhi to protect him?
Xu Heng suddenly jolted awake, glaring fiercely at Zheng Yangzhi, then glancing at Wang Yuying: Could it be that Zhao Hui is Zheng Yangzhi's child?!
His hand remained raised in the air, maintaining a defensive posture as he stared at her, his chest visibly heaving.
"Whose child is Zhao Hui?" Xu Heng's breathing could be clearly heard in the room, each breath extremely heavy.
Wang Yuying did not answer, and Zheng Yangzhi also pursed his lips and remained silent. Xu Heng tried to find the answer himself, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the two faces, but he could only see indifference, disdain, and even a hint of the judgment of a victor.
Xu Heng grew angrier the more he looked at them. They were truly shameless and despicable!
"When did you two reconnect?" Xu Heng suddenly looked around. "Have you always been here? Or somewhere else?"
How long have they been hiding this from him? How many times have they been together? Do they always get intimate whenever they get the chance?
When they're together, do they feel particularly excited, like they did just now?
What can Zheng Yangzhi satisfy her? Does she demean herself by being unable to live without a man for even a moment?
Then why not look for him?
Wang Yuying remained silent. At this moment, she had no desire to answer Xu Heng. She watched him go mad with nothing but disgust in her heart.
Xu Heng looked into Wang Yuying's eyes. What did she take him for? A ridiculous, hysterical madman?
Xu Heng's heart suddenly tightened; it hurt so much that he couldn't breathe. His heart pain had clearly returned.
He didn't want to think about it anymore, but his mind kept wandering uncontrollably: She's been doing this right under his nose, has she ever considered his feelings?
He was a living, breathing human being with flesh and blood and feelings!
After more than twenty years of marriage, she betrayed and hurt him time and time again!
Xu Heng suddenly raised his palm and struck Zheng Yangzhi again, intending to kill the adulterer who had seduced her!
Wang Yuying raised her sword to block again, but Xu Heng naturally wouldn't use his body to block the sword this time. He dodged to the side and warned in a fierce and unyielding tone, "I want to depose Zhao Hui, and I will depose her today!"
Wang Yuying slowly curled her lips. His love for Zhao Hui was indeed all a lie. She was not surprised at all: "If Your Majesty has the ability, then go ahead and depose him!"
As he spoke, his sword never stopped moving.
Xu Heng leaped up to dodge, his heart tightening. He had been furious, but now he was filled with fear: why hadn't Chu Xiong shown himself yet?!
He tried his best to remain calm on the surface, and moved nimbly: "I am the Son of Heaven, and I have the sole authority to decide the fate of the world. How dare you interfere in the matter of deposing and establishing emperors!"
Xu Heng retaliated, flicking his sleeve with a fierce palm strike—look at her slightly raised chin, narrowed eyes, and curled lips, what right does a shameless and immoral woman have to act so high and mighty?
He's disgusting!
Wang Yuying also glared at Xu Heng while fighting him; his ferocious expression and venomous eyes were truly hideous.
Bang—
A crisp, loud bang.
Xu Heng froze, and Wang Yuying was also stunned—she had intended to hurt Xu Heng, but instead of harming him, she had accidentally cut off the white jade pendant at his waist.
Half of the jade pendant fell to the ground, followed by several crisp sounds, and then shattered into pieces.
The other half was still dangling from Xu Heng's waist.
Xu Heng instantly forgot about Chu Xiong, took out the coin he had been longing to find for Wang Yuying, and threw it at her forcefully: "It seems you've forgotten that if you marry someone else, you'll never have a good end in this life!"
Zheng Yangzhi blocked the attack steadily, and the jade hit him, falling to the ground and shattering, with a fragment flying everywhere.
Wang Yuying didn't even glance at Zheng Yangzhi, but stared straight at Xu Heng and retorted: "Then you have wronged me countless times in this life, with three wives and four concubines, abandoning your wife and remarrying, you should have died a violent death long ago!"
All three moved to different positions, and Wang Yuying ended up standing under the revolving lantern. The generals were still fighting in circles, relentlessly. The lantern shone so brightly that it seemed as if she herself was radiating light. Xu Heng's gaze moved from Wang Yuying's face to her smooth neck, and his mind inexplicably flashed back to the image of their intertwined white bodies he had just seen, her soft moans as she tilted her head back. He felt like he was going crazy; at this moment, he felt desire for her.
He regained his composure and prepared to strike again, only to find that he couldn't even lift his hand, let alone his arm. With lightning speed, Wang Yuying circled behind Xu Heng and delivered a heavy blow to his back, sending him sliding forward until he hit the edge of the bed and fell face-first onto it.
The white marks on the mattress were particularly glaring. Xu Heng could still turn his neck stiffly and barely, looking back at Wang and Zheng: "What did you do to me?"
Neither of them responded, and Xu Heng could no longer turn his neck. He turned his eyes to glance at the incense burner—it was incense, and the burning incense contained a drug that weakened muscles and dispersed energy. These two adulterers had taken the antidote beforehand!
Xu Heng felt that he was not only rapidly losing control of his body, but also rapidly declining. Something was wrong; they had done more than just this incense stick to him.
What other poisons were used? When were they used?
Daring to commit regicide and rebellion...
Xu Heng struggled to shift his gaze, locking it onto Wang Yuying. Once his eyes were fixed on her, he gritted his teeth and said, "If I truly die here today, I will haunt you even as a ghost! Past, present, and future, I will be entangled with you." He was already incoherent. "Didn't you love to settle scores and seek revenge? I'll be waiting for you down there. In the next life, I will surely seek revenge on you, and you can seek revenge on me in the life after that, to fulfill your long-cherished wish!"
He wanted to be entangled with her for all eternity!
Wang Yuying was startled at first, then turned her head to avoid Xu Heng's gaze, blinking twice.
Xu Heng sneered inwardly: Ha, she's feeling guilty...
He finally regained some of his pleasure and was about to speak again when he suddenly saw Zheng Yangzhi move to extinguish the incense and open the window. He immediately closed his lips in alarm. Before he could speak again, Wang Yuying quickly walked towards Xu Heng and sat on the edge of the bed.
Xu Heng glared angrily. What were these two traitors planning to do now?!
The incense in the room quickly dissipated, and the door was opened again. Instead of Chu Xiong, Qing Fu, or the guards Xu Heng had expected, the Crown Princess, Chu Ying, and one official each from the Crown Princess's faction and the Zheng faction entered.
Without hesitation, Wang Yuying placed her hand over Xu Heng's hand and held it firmly: "On the night of the Double Seventh Festival, His Majesty's old heart disease flared up suddenly, and he died in extreme pain. Before his death, he issued a will, appointing the Crown Princess as his successor. I and Prime Minister Zheng will jointly assist the new emperor, and the court and the people will follow this order to jointly protect the peace and tranquility of the country."
Xu Heng trembled even more violently with anger—yes, he was indeed in excruciating pain, but he wasn't dead yet!
He thought that she finally didn't mind his dirtiness and took the initiative to touch him, but... but... He felt a deep desolation and wanted to strangle the last bit of reluctance in his heart. He forcefully shook off Wang Yuying's hand, but he could no longer control his body and couldn't make a sound. Only tears kept overflowing from his eyes. His eyes couldn't move either, and he could only hear the voices of Zhao Hui, Zheng Yangzhi and others rising and falling in his ears.
Zhao Hui shouted, "Your subject obeys the decree and will certainly not fail the late emperor's trust!"
Zheng Yangzhi also stated firmly: "We, your subjects, will follow the late emperor's last edict and will certainly assist the new emperor, work together to support the country, and devote ourselves wholeheartedly to repay the late emperor's kindness and protect the stability of the country!"
"Bullshit! Bullshit!" Xu Heng's eyelids twitched; he was going to kill them! Kill them all!
Xu Heng suddenly realized that the man who was like a cinnabar mole in Wang Yuying's heart was not him, the man who bore her children was not him, and the man who would continue to stay by her side in the future was not him either... None of them were him, none of them were him!
What have I been busy with all my life?!
Xu Heng opened his eyes and died.
Noticing that the emperor had stopped breathing, Wang Yuying's shoulders trembled. She hesitated for a moment, then, without glancing at Xu Heng again, let go of the bed and got off.
Zheng Yang stepped forward, stared at the corpse, raised his hand and stroked Xu Heng's face, telling him to close his eyes.
The emperor's body was transported back to the Forbidden City and placed in a coffin that very night.
The coffin was temporarily placed in the Shoude Hall for mourning.
On the fourth day of the eighth month, the night was dark and the night was midnight. It was the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth day since the late emperor's death.
On the altar in the outer hall of the Shoude Hall were displayed sacrificial offerings of the highest rank and fresh fruits and grains. Monks and Taoist priests were performing a nine-altar ritual, burning incense and burning prayers, or playing cymbals and wooden fish. In the center of the inner hall, Empress Dowager Wang Yuying, dressed in white mourning clothes, knelt before a huge coffin made of golden nanmu wood.
She had been frequently replaying Xu Heng's last words in her mind lately, feeling uneasy and her heart pounding—she didn't want to have any further entanglement with him! She never wanted to see him again in this life or the next!
Xu Heng was to be buried in the imperial mausoleum at dawn, and any further delay would be too late. In order to sleep soundly in the future, Wang Yuying finally made up her mind and waved her hand.
Upon receiving the order, the trusted guards in the palace immediately obeyed and opened the coffin lid. A monk and a Taoist priest, who had been standing by the pillar, untied their bundles, took out their tools, and used cinnabar to draw talismans on yellow silk, which they then pasted all over the inner walls of the coffin. They then sprinkled silver powder, jade, and sandalwood on Xu Heng's body, forming lines like star trails, creating a magic array that would condemn him to eternal damnation.
After the coffin was resealed, a nine-tiered lotus-shaped lighthouse was erected in the open space in front of the hall and burned for a full hour to ensure the formation was successful and foolproof.
White banners and candlelight cast a dim glow, with the occasional distant sound of a water clock.
The east is turning white.
At the third quarter of the hour of Chen (7:45 AM), the funeral bell tolled nine times, and sixteen strongmen dressed in white mourning clothes steadily entered the hall, carrying the late emperor's coffin out of the Shoude Hall. The Empress Dowager, her face covered with a white handkerchief, led the funeral procession alongside the Empress. After the coffin was placed in the imperial mausoleum's underground palace, the doors were sealed, and everything was completely settled.
The funeral music had stopped, but the white banners still fluttered, and paper money filled the air like snow. The Empress Dowager and the Empress were about to return to the palace by carriage, walking side by side, when the Empress Dowager suddenly called out softly, "Your Majesty."
The female emperor immediately took the empress dowager's arm: "Mother, what's wrong?"
She prefers to call her "mother" rather than "empress" in private.
Wang Yuying pressed down on the back of the Empress's hand: "I would like to ask Your Majesty for a favor: to summon the General of the Western Garrison back to the capital to report for duty."
The queen remained silent for a moment, then nodded in agreement. That month, an imperial edict was issued, ordering the generals of the four routes—east, west, south, and north—to return to the capital in rotation to report on their duties. This was to acknowledge their long service on the frontiers and to allow them to rest from the hardships of military campaigns and discuss national policies.
This imperial edict was known throughout the land, and naturally it also reached the residence of Prime Minister Zheng in Chongwen Lane.
Zheng Yangzhi sat silently behind the table for a long time, his cheeks taut, his brows furrowed yet raised at the ends. The attendant beside him, who had served him for many years, saw his master's sharp and cold eyes and couldn't help but say, "Young master, perhaps on the way..." The attendant made a throat-slitting gesture towards Zheng Yangzhi.
Zheng Yangzhi stared at him with a somber expression. He did instinctively want to do this, but he had too many concerns. As a regent, he deeply feared being autocratic and having too much power. Secondly, if he eliminated Jing Ye, there would be absolutely no chance for him and Wang Yuying to get back together.
But when he thought about what would happen when Jingye returned... Zheng Yangzhi closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and couldn't swallow it. He really couldn't swallow it. They had already experienced each other's uniqueness, and no man would want to share it with someone else.
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