Qi Mingyue didn't notice anything wrong with himself. He smiled at the tense Qi Xutian warmly, "You are worrying too much, I don't feel any discomfort."
"Han Ziqi is so deep-minded that he used someone else and still managed to make them willing to be used; such a person will never do unnecessary actions. Since he left, he must have a plan and if it's meant for you, then An Ruolan is in danger." If she was in danger then MingEr would be at even more risk. He could only hope that he was just worrying too much.
While waiting for news, Qi Xutian ordered people to pass on a decree. Qi Mingyue listened to him on the side and understood that Father was currently furious. Unfortunately, it didn't matter whether Han Ji was related to this matter or not, there was no being saved from the Imperial system. Who made him Han Ziqi's father? Since Han Ziqi escaped, he made his entire family pay for his actions.
Although ruthless, it had to be acknowledged that the role of Imperial power worked, what the monarch of a country needs isn't benevolence but control.
After a while, Chief Liu returned in urgency and when he saw Qi Mingyue sitting there unscathed, there was obvious shock on his face, "Your Highness is unharmed?!" For the first time, Liu Yi had such an obvious expression on his typically impassive face, his countenance informed everyone that something must have happened to An Ruolan.
"What's the matter?" Qi Xutian frowned. If something happened to An Roulan, then MingEr...
"Replying to Your Majesty, this minister arrived at the Underground Palace and everything was fine. The guards and shadow guards on both levels didn't have any troubles, but strangely, An Ruolan in the Scarlet Courtyard vomited blood on the ground and fainted." So he rushed back in a hurry, afraid that His Highness might have suffered from the poison's attack, however, unexpectedly, he found him sitting there calmly and unharmed, without even a hint of pain visible on his face.
"She vomited blood and fainted, but His Highness is unharmed?" Ying Ran listened on the side with a thoughtful expression.
"Could it be that Lianxin gu in His Highness has lost its effectiveness?" Hong Qui asked, beaming.
"Unfortunately, I don't think it's that simple." Qi Mingyue sat quietly and felt that the situation was quite strange. He really didn't feel anything unusual, but what was even more strange was... "Why would she vomit blood and faint in that room for no reason?"
Ying Ran pondered for a long time, then finally raised her head, "I'm afraid it is the technique of controlling gu."
"In order to control the gu in someone, the gu needs to be tampered with before it's planted and a connection has to be established, thereafter, through that connection, the gu can be stimulated. However, for this to happen, the host has to have no desire to suppress the gu within their body."
An Ruolan was sometimes clear-headed and sometimes foolish, she already showed signs of having gone insane and stupid; this was indeed a good time to control gu. Han Ziqi proved to be such an excellent schemer with a deep mind and such malicious methods.
"It seems that he came for MingEr." Since he now knew his intentions clearly, Qi Xutian calmed down, however, the darkness in his eyes intensified and a cruel smile emerged on his lips. This time, the game would be very fun. "I wonder if Ying Ran knows how he managed to control the gu and hurt An Roulan without even getting close?"
"It must have been controlled with sounds that normal people can't hear. Gu are different from humans, their hearing is extraordinarily sensitive and can be disturbed by sound, which can produce disruptions in the host's body, trigger the host's internal organs and cause severe trauma. The source of sound just has to be close; the closer it is, the better the effectiveness."
Liu Yi went on to add, "So he must have arrived near the Underground Palace and intended to use those sounds to trigger the mother gu within An Ruolan. As long as she dies, His Highness will be implicated."
Qi Mingyue listened, suddenly came to a realization and showed a confident smile, "Father Emperor, I know the reason why she vomited blood and fainted while I'm fine."
Under the burning eyes of everyone, he slowly said, "If he has tampered with and can control gu with sound, then so can I." A sneer flashed past his eyes as he looked at the zither on the side, "What a coincidence, I was practising playing the zither and also used Tianyin's Clear Heart Technique."
It could only be said that Han Ziqi was out of luck. First, he did not know that the Underground Palace was deep below the ground and the controlled gu failed to fully strike. Then, Qi Mingyue just happened to be practising the stringed zither with Tianyin's heart method which presumably disturbed the onset of gu poison.
Ying Ran exclaimed, "Your Royal Highness has learned Tianyin?"
"Yes, why are you so surprised? Although I have learned it, I haven't fully mastered it yet. I can only use the most basic Clear Heart Technique." Both Hong Qui and Ying Ran had been dispatched outside the palace to carry out an errand. When they returned, they learned he had been poisoned and still didn't know about Tianyin.
Everyone was surprised to see her behave like this. Ying Ran wasn't simply surprised at the moment but was both stunned and overjoyed enough to actually tremble with excitement and almost shed tears.
"Your Highness! Tianyin can suppress gu poison's attack!" Ying Ran took a deep breath, finally calmed down, and looked at him with joy.
"Are you sure?" Qi Xutian reacted first.
"I dare not speak nonsense, I have said before that there are a few mental techniques in the world that can suppress gu and can temporarily slow down its onset. I remember distinctly, Tianyin is one of them, however, it has long been lost and basically, no one remembers it. I thought since no one in the world knew of Tianyin anymore, I never spoke of it." She also didn't expect His Highness had actually learned Tianyin's Clear Heart Technique.
"It seems that I was quite lucky." It was indeed true that Tianyin could be used to intimidate people's minds and spirits, likewise, it must be effective against gu poison as well. Previously, he inadvertently used Tianyin's Clear Heart Technique while practising playing the stringed zither and in a fortunate turn of events, ended up evading danger.
Qi Xutian, who was standing beside him, felt relieved and hugged him tightly. "It's also my fortune."
Ying Ran warned on the side, "As long as the gu is not removed, Your Highness will be in danger of losing your life. Unless you are always regulating the Clear Heart Technique, you will eventually meet danger. Therefore, Your Highness must not be careless enough to give him a chance to harm you."
Now that they had something to counter with, it was time to settle things.
Looking up at Father Emperor's deep, dark eyes, Qi Mingyue caught a flash of bloodlust in them and his lips also curved into a small smirk.
•×•×•×•
After morning court ended, the civil and military officials came out of the main hall in groups of twos and threes, all whispering amongst each other with their heads bowed. They didn't dare to talk loudly, but everyone's eyes were filled with doubt and fear. In recent days, the palace really wasn't peaceful. First, Consort An attempted regicide and was imprisoned in the Underground Palace. Furthermore, General An Yuan reported being ill at home; it wasn't known whether he was really sick or pretending to be sick, or... They glanced back at the unoccupied seat high up in the main hall behind them, shook their heads, and didn't dare say anything else.
They didn't dare voice it from their mouths, but internally, their minds thought deeper and deeper. These mishaps came one after another in succession, was it because it was an unfavourable time for Cang He and civil unrest was coming? Or was it that the Grandmaster's words all those years ago were coming to pass and everything was because of the alien star?
When it came to the alien star, they had to think of the two princes; the Eldest Prince had always been ignored as if he didn't exist, they didn't know if he was the alien star. On the other hand, the Second Prince was gifted and favoured by His Majesty. Although he was implicated because of his Consort Mother and had most likely fallen out of favour, he appeared to be a disciplined and sensible person who behaved with the utmost propriety, besides, he bore the most resemblance to His Majesty's appearance and had an extraordinary bearing. In no way did he resemble the alien star who would kill his mother. So to speak, neither of them was the alien star? Did Tan Wu make a mistake?
They continued to shake their heads; they had come to know that the Grandmaster received a lot of the previous Emperor's favour in the early years and had never been wrong. Then, there must be no mistake this time either. They wondered whether these disasters were caused by the alien star or someone intentionally caused these disturbances.
Yesterday, His Majesty decreed for Lord Han of the Privy Council to be thrown into the Underground Palace. Everyone was aware that all those imprisoned in the Underground Palace were the ones who committed the capital offence of sedition. However, they heard that Lord Han's youngest son was missing from the harem, was His Majesty furious for this reason? Or was there something hidden in it? Although His Majesty was capricious, he wouldn't touch Han Ji of the Privy Council for no reason. How to say, it was a matter of Imperial secrets, otherwise, His Majesty wouldn't have issued an order to capture Han Ji's family and servants.
This eventful autumn coincided with the Great Field-Hunting Ceremony, it was the time of hunting sacrifice in the early autumn. The upcoming major event made people busy both inside and outside the palace, it was also a time when there would be a big crowd of people which made the occasion more prone to trouble. They hoped nothing would happen this time.
The ministers were worried about Cang He's future and also worried about the field hunting expedition that was in the near future. They sighed at their difficulties, prayed for there not to be any trouble during the event, and wished to be able to pass the period of field-hunting safely.
The palace people didn't care about those things and were just busy preparing for the festival. There would be various princes, nobles, and military generals that would hunt their prey, which would then have to be cleaned, sewn into fur or derived into meat, subsequently, the best ones would then be selected by His Majesty for sacrifice. It could be said that they were exceedingly busy rushing around preparing everything.
Han Ziqi hid in the shadows and looked at the busy figures of the palace people. Although he was being searched for by the shadow guard secretly, his eyes were still calm, his white clothes weren't messy and were clean without even a speck of dirt, it was as if he could just stand up at random and still be same Concubine Ziqi untouched by worldliness.
He used An Ruolan to plant the Lianxin gu in Qi Mingyue and intended to remove her later to incite the gu poison in Qi Mingyue's body to kill him. However, An Ruolan wasted the opportunity he made to kill Qi Xutian and ruined his plan by being sent to the Underground Palace for poisoning. Under those unknown circumstances, he wanted to wait a little longer to see if she would be interrogated, then killed for her capital offence and in turn, kill Qi Mingyue, however, he didn't see her getting executed and realised that the matter of gu must have been revealed.
He had already altered the gu just in case before planting it and further took a risk by sneaking close to the Underground Palace to trigger the gu poison in An Roulan's body, yet, even after such a dangerous move, there was no news of the Second Prince's death. There was nothing unusual in the palace and he determined that something went wrong again.
Hatred flashed in his eyes. Although Qi Mingyue was his goal, he couldn't let Qi Xutian go.
He recalled what happened several days ago. Father snuck into the palace to contact him, but before he could set things up, he was thrown into the Underground Palace last night. A mocking sneer appeared in Han Ziqi's eyes.
"Who told you to take matters into your own hands and arbitrarily poison Qi Xutian?! You know he's not an easy person! If you're so hasty and careless, he'll notice! And there is also that stupid woman whom you said was usable, now look at her! She didn't even accomplish anything! A complete waste of time and effort! You waste! You even uselessly boasted about being able to get close to Qi Xutian! Ultimately, nothing was achieved and it all went to waste!"
"Father seems to have forgotten who told me to enter the palace and who praised me for being handsome enough to attract Qi Xutian's attention? After becoming a concubine, who asked me to be well-behaved and interesting in bed to please him? Since you have the guts to collude with An Yang, why don't you have the guts to pull him down from the throne by your own abilities?! But it's me who had to go!"
"If it wasn't for the late Emperor's wish, why do you think I, Han Ji, would sacrifice my son to the beast who killed his own father? Qi Xutian killed all his brothers and sisters and in the end, he didn't even spare the late Emperor! I want to seek justice for the late Emperor!"
"Seek justice for the late Emperor? You might as well say that you want to be the Emperor; you secretly communicated with An Yang and listened to that man’s order to kill Qi Mingyue but you clearly know that if I actually kill him, Qi Xutian would find out what I did and kill me! You want your son to die in exchange for your delusions! Do you think that without Qi Mingyue, Cang He would be in chaos and you would be able to use that opportunity to find a place for yourself? Even if you're in charge of Cang He's military secrets, don't underestimate Qi Xutian's ability. You might be disembowelled by Qi Xutian before you can even start, would he wait for An Yang to work with you? What a joke!"
"You rebellious son! How dare you talk to me like that! You don't want to live anymore?! Only I can save your life right now and you dare to disobey me!"
"Father is really brazen. After planning for so many years, you finally sacrificed your son and got nothing, instead, you took the entire family's lives down with you. For you, I'm really not worth it."
"What do you mean? What did you say to Qi Xutian?"
"I don't need to tell you this, you already know that Qi Xutian isn't an easy person. Isn't it clear? Don't you know that the calmer he looks on the surface, the more dangerous your situation is? He knows that I have something to do with gu poison, will he let you go and patiently wait for you to take action? Don’t forget, Father, he is the Emperor of Cang He known for his cunning and fickle nature."
"You-- You wait! If I die, you won't get anything out of it!"
"Thank you, Father, for reminding me. I will kill Qi Mingyue for you and I won't let go of Qi Xutian either."
"As long as you kill them, the day I succeed, I will surely make you the Crown Prince."
Crown Prince? Who cares about the position of Crown Prince? Han Ziqi thought of his father's words that day, the coldness in his eyes grew even heavier; he killed just for himself.
Looking at the busy figures of the palace people from the shadows, his eyes returned to a state of calm indifference.
The time of field hunting was nearing.
Previous | Project Page | Next