There were a bunch of people kneeling in the hall, and their reasons were more ridiculous than the last. Especially when Zhou Xiqiong mentioned the three words "Ye Shengchen", the emperor suddenly felt like he was hearing a fairy tale. His temples were throbbing with pain, and his brain seemed to be about to explode. His brows were furrowed tightly: "Ye Shengchen?! Didn't he hide from the world several years ago? How could he suddenly appear?!"
Zhou Xiqiong also found this strange, and said in a solemn tone: "He was wearing a mask, so I didn't see his face clearly. If he hadn't accidentally exposed his unique sword skills during the fight, I'm afraid I wouldn't have recognized him. I don't know what happened in these years, but Ye Shengchen secretly joined the Yan Kingdom and worked for Ji Fan."
Zhao Su seemed to have guessed something, but did not say anything.
Yin Pojia now thinks Zhou Xiqiong is also a traitor: "There has been no news of Ye Shengchen for decades, how come he suddenly appears now? Lord Zhou is of the same rank as him, so they should be evenly matched. How could he be seriously injured and defeated?!"
He was not yet at the first level, so he did not know that there was a huge disparity in strength between the sword sects. A defeat of three or two moves was nothing to others, but for a master, losing half a move was already fatal.
Zhou Xiqiong had been defeated by Ye Shengchen twice, and he was already feeling bad. Suddenly, when he heard Yin Pojia's sarcastic remarks and questioning, he used his palm power to directly knock him back several meters. With a dull thud, Yin Pojia's back hit the Panlong Golden Pillar heavily, and he spat out a mouthful of blood with a pale face.
Everyone was shocked when they saw this.
Zhou Xiqiong waved his sleeves coldly: "Yin Pojia, if you don't believe me, go to Beishan and capture him. Ye Shengchen's martial arts have improved compared to a few years ago. One move can kill you! I can't tolerate any sand in my eyes. Don't make indirect accusations in front of His Majesty, and suspect others of treason all day long. In my opinion, you are the one who is afraid of chaos in the world!"
After she finished speaking, her eyes were filled with frost, and she bowed to Emperor Zhou and said, "I will take my leave!"
Xuanyuan Qing's first-rank strength has not yet been exposed, and Zhou Xiqiong is the pillar of Zhou. Even if she is rude in front of the palace, no one dares to blame her. On the contrary, Emperor Zhou has to comfort her with kind words: "Lord Zhou is seriously injured. Go find a doctor to see him. You don't have to accompany him for the next few days."
Zhou Xiqiong said "Thank you, Your Majesty" and turned away.
Yin Pojia got up from the ground in a panic, and he was completely embarrassed. Seeing the unpleasant look on Emperor Zhou's face, he immediately knelt down and pleaded guilty: "I have lost my manners in front of the palace, please forgive me. But the matter of the Crown Prince of Yan leaving the capital is not simple, and your majesty must investigate it thoroughly. Nalan Chun and the Crown Prince have always been close, and Princess Yannian is included. These three people are clearly forming a clique in secret. If they are not punished, it will be difficult to quell the rumors!"
Zhao Su thought Rong Xuan had guessed exactly what he had said, and Yin Pojia had indeed seized on this incident to make a fuss in front of the palace. She raised her hand and saluted Emperor Zhou: "Father, please understand. I have no dealings with Ji Fan, so how could I have colluded with him? It is really absurd."
She paused after she finished speaking, and then asked Yin Pojia back with Rong Xuanjiao's words: "You are now pointing at your Majesty's own sons, daughters, and nephews, saying that they are guilty of treason and asking your Majesty to punish them severely. But according to the Zhou Law, the crime of treason should be punished with the nine clans. Are you trying to drag my father to the prison and behead him together? Four clans of the father, three clans of the mother, and two clans of the wife. You keep saying that the Prince of Ruling is guilty of treason, but I heard that your Yin family also has a daughter who is married and is related to the Nalan Mansion. If it is true, she is also among the nine clans. General Yin is really impartial and selfless. I admire him very much."
This is the good thing about the nobility: they are so intertwined and intertwined with each other, and every family can have several relatives through intermarriage.
Yin Pojia's face turned pale and he was choking.
Princess Yongning also glared at him: "Princess Yannian is your sister, and Prince Ruling is your cousin. They are related by blood, and they are family. If they are not close, how can they be close to a foreign minister like you?!"
They were arguing so loudly that it was a headache to listen to. Emperor Zhou simply threw all the memorials on the table away with his sleeves and shouted angrily, "Enough! Shut up!"
The palace maids and eunuchs serving in the hall were so frightened that they fell silent and immediately knelt on the ground, not daring to even raise their heads.
Emperor Zhou couldn't possibly argue with Yan Fengchen and Zhao Yannian, two fools, let alone his only biological sister. His gloomy eyes fell on Zhao Su. Under the dragon throne, the five-level cloud steps abruptly separated an insurmountable gap, completely cutting off the last bit of family affection in the royal family.
"Prince, you have committed a serious offense before. I have pardoned you leniently out of consideration for the kindness between father and son. Therefore, I have not punished you severely. I have only confined you to the palace to repent and reflect on your past mistakes day and night. However, judging from your words and deeds, you are stubborn and have not changed. You have corrupted your younger siblings. How can you be a role model for the people? How can you inherit the century-old foundation of your ancestors and spread the teachings of the Great Zhou to the world—"
Emperor Zhou paused when he spoke here. He closed his eyes and remained silent for a moment. It was unknown what he was thinking. After a long time, he spoke in a deep voice, as if he had made a decision: "Crown Prince, you will move out of the East Palace and move to the outer palace from today. You will reflect on your mistakes. From now on, you are not allowed to go out without my order. The princess consort will have your food and fiefdom withheld for half a year. You will return to your palace to reflect on your mistakes like the crown prince. You can all leave now."
After he finished speaking, he seemed unwilling to see Zhao Su's reaction. He stood up and left. His back looked somewhat embarrassed.
Princess Yongning turned pale upon hearing this, she could not even kneel steadily, and fell to the ground in fear. What does "how can you be a role model for the subjects, how can you inherit the century-old foundation of your ancestors, and spread the teachings of the Great Zhou to the world" mean? What does "move out of the East Palace, move to the outer palace, reflect on your mistakes, and do not go out without my order in the future" mean
Your Majesty, are you going to... depose the Crown Prince? ! !
Princess Yongning subconsciously looked at Zhao Su with a panicked expression, but the latter was extremely calm, as if he had expected it.
Zhao Su slowly straightened his back, raised his head as high as he could, knelt down in the hall, and then raised his hands to salute the empty dragon throne, kowtowed and said: "Your Majesty, thank you for your grace..."
She did not stand up, but maintained the posture of kneeling, silently clenching her fingertips, bowing her head to the empty dragon throne for a long time, repeating word by word: "Your son—"
The voice suddenly rose, like a cold iron thrown to the ground, shattering several blue bricks, and even the thousands of years of imprisonment of this dynasty began to crack: "Thank you for your grace, father!"
His forehead hit the ground heavily, and the sound reverberated in the hall. Just outside, a group of birds flapped their wings and flew across the clouds, breaking through the sky, and the magnificent scene of the red walls of the palace and the sky began to become smaller.
Within a few days, the news that the Crown Prince of Yan had fled back to the country with his troops spread throughout the capital. At the same time, the Emperor of Zhou issued an edict to depose the Crown Prince, which caused a lot of discussion inside and outside the court. The officials and the people did not know that Zhao Su was a girl. They only knew that the Crown Prince had always been diligent and self-disciplined, and loved the people like his own son. His sudden dethronement caused an uproar.
Several old ministers knelt outside the palace and asked Emperor Zhou to withdraw his order, but Emperor Zhou remained indifferent and began to support the other princes. He was determined to depose the crown prince. He had no intention of keeping Zhao Su. This incident was just a fuse, but others could not understand it.
Ji Fan returned to Yan and Zhao Su was deposed. These two people not only affected the situation of the two countries, but also the situation of the world. The court declined and a new king was appointed. The bloody storm officially began.
For many years afterwards, Rong Xuan couldn't help but sigh whenever he recalled this period of time. Although he stayed in the inner courtyard most of the time to avoid the limelight, he could still feel the undercurrents outside.
Autumn turned to winter, and five months had passed without anyone noticing. The weather in Zhou was warm, with little snow, so when winter came, there was only the biting wind and the rustling of falling leaves.
Rong's mother's eye disease has been mostly cured, but she still needs to take the medicine. Under the eaves of the corridor, Rong Xuan was sitting on the steps pounding medicine. His movements were neither hurried nor slow, and it had become a habit, but he always liked to be absent-minded. His eyes were looking far away, waiting for news from someone.
Yan Fengchen crouched and approached quietly, ready to scare him, but before he was three steps away, Rong Xuan said abruptly without even looking up: "Why don't you go accompany the princess? Why do you always come to my place?"
Yan Fengchen paused when he heard that. Knowing that he could not scare him, he hugged the pillar under the corridor and spun around. With a somersault, he jumped directly in front of Rong Xuan and said, "His Highness asked me to protect you, so I have to come and see you from time to time. Otherwise, how can I explain to him?"
Rong Xuan was dressed in white, and his face remained unchanged, but the moment he looked up, Yan Fengchen always felt that he looked very much like Ji Fan: "He asked you to protect me, but he didn't ask you to keep an eye on me. You let the princess stay alone in the empty room every day, be careful that she will divorce you."
Yan Fengchen blinked in surprise when he heard this: "Divorce me? Since ancient times, only men have divorced women. How can a woman divorce a man?"
Rong Xuan grabbed a few herbs and continued to throw them into the medicine pot, half-seriously saying, "It's hard to divorce an ordinary woman, but it's different for a princess. If you make her unhappy, she will not only divorce you, but also keep another lover. Let's see what you can do."
Yan Fengchen was the most gullible person. He was so frightened that he was stunned. He scratched his ears and cheeks and didn't know what to say.
Rong Xuan smiled when he saw this, and then asked another question: "Is there any news from Yan State?"
Yan Fengchen shook his head: "It's too far away, the news can't be passed on. I only heard that Emperor Yan passed away, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Third Prince fought for the throne. The fight was very fierce, and I don't know anything else."
Rong Xuan paused after hearing this, and unconsciously increased his pounding of the medicine. He had no spies, and was not aware of the situation in Yan State. He had only visited Zhao Su privately a few days ago, and learned about Ji Fan's recent situation from the latter's words.
"He killed a lot of people..."
"He could have planned and strategized in a more prudent way, but he chose the most decisive path..."
"Love corrupts the heart, and this saying is true. The heart of the emperor is not immune to this..."
Zhao Su said at last: "Rong Xuan, he probably really wants to ascend the throne as soon as possible and take you back to Yan. You are better than my mother. As both are emperors, you bet on the right person, and she bet on the wrong life."
After hearing these words, Rong Xuan remained silent for a long time. The person he had wanted to protect so much was now back in that dangerous place. No matter how humiliated or injured he was, he was out of reach. It was not just the word "powerless" that could describe it.
Over the past five months, the data on the system interface that represented Ji Fan's degree of blackening had fluctuated, never settling in one place. When the degree of blackening suddenly increased, Rong Xuan, like the system, felt his heart rise to his throat, but when it fell silently, he finally put his heart back into his stomach.
The system was so moved that it hugged him and said with tears in its eyes: Host, you are still the best. Only you can understand Xiao Jin Gang’s feelings.
Rong Xuan has been in this world for too long, so long that he almost forgot that he was once from another world. Only the existence of the system reminded him a little. There are some things that he can't tell others, so he can only confide in the system.
Rong Xuan was always worried: "You said... Can Ji Fan succeed?"
The system shook its head in confusion: I am a hen.
Rong Xuan: "Aren't you a system?"
The system is justified: the system is not omnipotent.
Rong Xuan exhaled slowly, veins on his forehead throbbing. After enduring for five months, he was beginning to feel irritable: "Then you can comfort me, okay? If you hadn't sent me to this world, there wouldn't be so many troubles!"
Either he explodes in silence or he becomes perverted in silence. Rong Xuan feels like he is almost becoming a pervert.
The system flew around him and snorted: If it weren't for Little King Kong saving you, you would have died long ago! Little King Kong's energy was used to revive you! You stinky host with no conscience!
It was still not satisfied after it finished speaking, and rushed over like a small cannonball and hit Rong Xuan, causing the latter to see stars. He covered his head and groaned, and it took him a long time to recover.
Rong Xuan mourned for his deceased colleagues in his heart. What did they do wrong to be targeted by such an unlucky kid as the system? "There are so many authors in the world, can you bind them all?"
When Xiao Jin Gang heard him mention this, he suddenly felt sad again. He hesitated and hummed: The market has been bad recently, and I can’t find the next host, but the task targets assigned by the Interstellar Executive have not been completed yet.
Upon hearing this, Rong Xuan suddenly remembered a colleague of his. He suffered from narcolepsy and slept all day long. His memory was very poor. It was said that he would die in his sleep before the age of 35, but he didn't know if it was true.
He hooked his finger at the system: "Come here."
The system flew over with a simple tone: What are you doing
"Of course I'm recommending a host to you."
Rong Xuan lowered his voice and said something to the system. It was hard to hear clearly, but it was a name: "Anyway, if he dies young, you can bind him. Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda."
Rong Xuan felt that he was still very kind.
We are in the same industry, so we should help each other.
Xiao Jin Gang didn't know what he heard, he nodded repeatedly, and finally hugged Rong Xuan excitedly and said with tears in his eyes: Host, you are really good people. You always recommend people to me. It's worth our acquaintance.
"… "
Rong Xuan didn't say anything.
He finally knew how those authors in the circle died.
It turns out to be the Belt and Road Initiative.
Well, love is stronger than gold.
Rong Zhengqing just came out of the room and saw Rong Xuan sitting on the steps in a daze. He couldn't help but sigh secretly. He walked up quietly and patted Rong Xuan on the shoulder from behind: "Why, are you still thinking about Prince Yan?"
Rong Xuan subconsciously turned his head to look at him. He didn't deny what he said. He lifted the hem of his robe and sat a little to the side, making room for him. He looked into the distance and said in a low voice, "I'm just afraid that he will be bullied."
Rong Zhengqing was not stupid, and had already seen through what was going on between the two of them. He sat down next to Rong Xuan, stroking the long sword that he never let go of, and said earnestly: "A golden scale cannot stay in a pond, it will turn into a dragon once it encounters wind and clouds. You have already survived the most difficult stage, and the rest of the journey can only be walked by him. Xuan'er, you have to be patient."
Ji Fan had been dormant in the Great Zhou for seven years, and his character was beyond the reach of others. The road ahead was difficult and dangerous, and if there were a hundred steps, he had already taken ninety-nine of them, so there was no reason why he could not take the last step.
Rong Zhengqing could see it clearly, but Rong Xuan was confused as he was the one involved.
After a while, many things happened. First, Emperor Zhou practiced Taoism, but he swallowed too many golden pills, vomited blood and became seriously ill. Then the eighth prince was ordered to supervise the country, but he messed up the government, causing public resentment. The situation was a mess of internal and external troubles. Zhao Su, who had been lurking for a long time, finally took action and began to secretly add fuel to the fire.
On the other hand, in Northern Yan, no one knew what had happened there. They only knew that a piece of news had suddenly spread across the distant mountains of the northern border and spread like the wind to every corner of the four countries.
In the thirty-sixth year, Prince Ji Fan of Yan murdered his younger brother, King Jing, outside Beiming Terrace, and later ascended the throne as emperor, changing the country's name to Xuanhe.
“Cuckoo—”
A white carrier pigeon flapped its wings and landed on the eaves. Seeing that the people in the yard didn't notice it, it flapped its wings and flew back in, causing the treetops to tremble.
Yan Fengchen was dozing off when he suddenly saw a carrier pigeon approaching. He immediately jumped up and grabbed the pigeon in his hand. He untied the bamboo tube from the pigeon's leg and carefully examined it. Seeing that the seal was intact, he opened it to take a look.
It was unknown what was written on the paper, but Yan Fengchen read it quickly and immediately rushed into the house in ecstasy. He grabbed Rong Xuan, who was looking for herbs, and shook him, jumping up and down like a child, saying, "Great, great! Brother Rong Xuan, the prince has ascended the throne! The prince has ascended the throne! He will take us back soon!"
Rong Xuan's hands trembled when he heard that. The medicine bottles in his arms fell to the ground and shattered all over the ground. He was stunned on the spot: "What did you say?"
Yan Fengchen shouted happily in his ear: "The prince has ascended the throne! He won! He will lead his troops to take us back soon!!"
When Rong Xuan heard the news, it took him a long time to react. He felt like a huge rock hanging in his heart had finally fallen to the ground. In addition to being happy, he was more relieved.
He covered his heart and finally calmed his breathing. He subconsciously looked at Yan Fengchen, but saw an electronic screen appeared in front of him at some point, and a clear prompt sound from the system rang in his ears:
Ding! Please pay attention, the villain's blackening degree has been reduced to 1. Victory is just ahead. Please keep working hard~ Come on, come on, come on!