"Traitorous ministers and sons, you traitorous ministers, what exactly do you want? Let go, let go!"
The Third Prince Qi Junyi struggled and roared furiously. His movents were so ferocious that his splendid clothes were torn to shreds, leaving him in a very sorry state.
In fact, the Third Prince Qi Junyi was skilled in martial arts, and his abilities were quite formidable. But why was he captured?
That was not his fault. The main reason was the enemy’s despicable shalessness; they actually poisoned him! At this mont, the Third Prince was already poisoned. Not to ntion martial arts, his very life was at risk—didn’t you see his face turning black?
Li Qingmu was hiding in the shadows, watching the princes and imperial grandsons being detained and abused. He felt sowhat uneasy but remained unmoved, playing dead as always.
"Who are you? Speak, who exactly are you, and who is behind you?"
The Crown Prince Qi Junji roared. He was already over thirty, the oldest son of Qi Yun, born to his late first Empress Gao. He had a steady temperant and acted judiciously, supposedly the perfect candidate for Emperor. Yet, Empress Gao passed away early, and Queen Qiao rose to power, adopting the Crown Prince.
This Queen Qiao seed unassuming, but she had great tactics. Her thods were subtle yet powerful enough to make your hair stand on end. That’s why Qi Yun was always pondering whether the Crown Prince should succeed.
But if the Crown Prince were to succeed, the Qiao Family would grow dominant, coupled with the Crown Prince’s mild nature—external relatives would seize control of the court, which was not beneficial for the country or the people.
After that, Qi Yun fell ill, causing so unease among the ministers, as they felt imperial power was waning, leading to a divide among three factions.
Of course, back to the present—the Crown Prince was extrely furious, being the most hopeful to inherit the throne, yet soone wanted to overthrow the dynasty?
How could this be allowed?
"Imperial Army, Imperial Army, co!"
The Crown Prince shouted, but there was no response from around him. Those n in black eyed him coldly, as though watching a clown.
"Brother, stop shouting, it’s useless. They are all here. The entire Imperial Palace!"
A Prince cried out in fear and rage, looking nervously around at the black-clad n wielding long knives. He couldn’t help but shrink his neck, fearing that extending it would result in it being chopped off like a turtle head.
"Father, Father!"
Qi Junji called out, but Qi Yun just lay on the bed, muttering the sa words over and over, "Traitorous ministers and sons, traitorous ministers and sons..."
Everyone felt a chill in their hearts, a chilly, soul-draining cold!
"The Imperial Army, are all controlled by you?"
The Seventh Prince Qi Junchen, shrewd and tactical, sensed the tense atmosphere. He understood the dire situation—at the rcy of others—and was pondering how to turn things around.
At this mont, he thought of Cao Yin and the Princely Heir of Prince Lingjiang, who were outside battling. Perhaps they could save themselves, could rescue the Dazhou Dynasty?
Qi Yun’s princes, still with so pride, might not beco Emperor themselves, but wouldn’t hand over their ancestral land to outsiders!
But the situation was indeed unfavorable. What to do?
Delay!
Qi Junchen thought of delaying ti!
At the crucial mont, the Prince’s skills would reveal themselves.
Only by delaying ti, allowing Cao Yin and the Princely Heir of Prince Lingjiang’s troops to successfully converge, could this be stopped!
Slow, slow, slow, must slow the rhythm down!
Qi Junchen squinted at the n in black: "How did you achieve this? These imperial troops are loyal to Father, they would never betray! Who are you?"
"I know, it’s Chen Country; they are remnants of Chen Country!"
Among the crowd, a minister suddenly raised his head, shouting furiously in horror, "Chen Country, near the Western Regions, thrives on witchcraft, which includes poisonous insects. They must have used such insects to control people’s hearts! Rember Imperial Censor Li? He was frad by such ans!"
The crowd erupted upon hearing this!
If the Capital Governor Zhao ngran were present, he would surely slam the table in admiration!
Indeed, at that ti, such poisonous insects were found in two witnesses’ bodies, white and lifeless once removed!
Those generals had long been loyal to Qi Yun, as his trusted followers, how could they betray him?
Qi Yun treated them well, so the generals definitely wouldn’t. Thus, only this possibility remained!
For a mont, everyone felt a cold sweat on their backs.
...
"Quick, hurry, faster!"
In a carriage, Long Yue urged the driver ahead to hurry along the road.
She occasionally lifted the curtain to peer out; the grandiose shadow of the Imperial Palace slowly ca into sight, almost there!
"Zhuoya, after we get in, you must find an excuse to co out promptly, understand?"
Long Yue received news today that unfamiliar shadows snuck into Qi Yun’s Qianlong Palace at midnight last night. She judged that they must have acted!
By now, those people were surely controlled by such insects, the adversary used this to start the turmoil. She had to enter the palace quickly to extract the poisonous insects from their bodies!
As for why she couldn’t remove the poison earlier?
Her ntor said that poisonous insects have a connection with their mother body. If the mother body doesn’t receive signals from the offspring for a long ti, it will assu their death. Generally, this ti doesn’t exceed two hours!
In other words, when Li Qingmu ca up, a bug appeared from the quiet room. Although the bug died, Xue Mingzhu didn’t get the ssage promptly, allowing Pang Wenzheng to execute the plan ahead.
When realizing the bug couldn’t control people, all preparations were complete. The arrow already drawn had to be shot, thus forcing a palace crisis ahead of schedule.
So, Long Yue’s task now was to seize the mont and swiftly remove the poisonous insects before the enemy noticed, reclaiming control over the Imperial Palace!
By then, the enemies would be exposed, and she could team up with her grandfather and the Princely Heir of Prince Lingjiang to wipe them out in one swoop!
This plan was never disclosed to her by Li Qingmu; she had only heard about the poisonous insects from her ntor Duanmu Nan.
So, everything relied on her own conjecture!
Though lacking vibrant talents, her heart was enlightened, at this very mont, understanding her deep affection for A Mu!
No need for many words, not even eye contact, to guess each other’s intentions!
"Stop, who are you?"
At the palace gate, two guards stopped the carriage, snapping Long Yue out of her reverie.
As Yang Zhuoya’s personal maid, Long Yue naturally couldn’t speak, so she bowed her head silently.
Yang Zhuoya said: "My husband, Su Shi, is attending court today, but there’s an urgent matter at ho. Could you allow to enter and fetch him?"
Today’s court attendance by Su Shi was a pleasant surprise; previously Long Yue was pondering other excuses!
Yang Zhuoya spoke, handing over two ingots.
The guards’ salary wasn’t much—one ingot was equal to ten taels of silver, quite a hefty sum.
Unaware of the situation inside, the guards let her in.
The Dazhou Imperial Palace was divided into inner and outer palaces. The outer palace allowed courtiers’ families to visit, a gesture of generosity.
Yang Zhuoya lingered there for a while before hastily walking to the gate guards: "Guard brothers, my maid entered to call my husband but hasn’t returned. She might be lost. What should be done?"
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