Zong Zixiao didn't exaggerate. After Wuji Palace was under martial law, it was very difficult to enter and exit without Zong Zong's permission. Zong Ziheng is now under house arrest, and he doesn't know the situation of the outside world. It's like years.
One late night, Zong Ziheng was tossing and turning on the bed, when he suddenly heard a slight noise in the room, he raised the blanket vigilantly, grabbed the sword beside the bed with one hand, followed the sound, and saw the bed covered with silvery white moonlight. On the ground, there is a small figure.
Very small, less than the size of a palm.
"... Brother Xu?" Zong Ziheng lowered his voice and asked uncertainly.
That little person suddenly turned back to a normal person, it was Xu Zhinan.
Xu Zhinan put Gong Shuji in the Qiankun bag, made a "shh" gesture, closed the window tightly, and searched the surroundings with spiritual power. After confirming that no one was there, he returned to Zong Ziheng's bedside.
Zong Ziheng said excitedly: "That's how you came in?"
"If you don't do this, you won't be able to get in at all." Xu Zhinan said, "I don't know what the emperor is afraid of. The entire Wuji Palace is now surrounded tightly. You must be grounded."
"It is said that I am allowed to recuperate, but in fact, it is true that I am not allowed to go out."
"How is your injury?"
"It's all right."
"I heard that Li Buyu gave you the True Essence Jade Alchemy."
"Um."
"He can only get one elixir a year." Xu Zhinan was somewhat puzzled, he had never heard Zong Ziheng say that he had any friendship with the Wuliang Sect, but everyone knew that the Wuliang Sect was the empress' natal family.
"I've saved him before, but it's actually just a little effort, but he always wants to repay the favor." Zong Ziheng looked at Xu Zhinan, "What's going on outside? Is it a mess?"
"Chaotic, very chaotic." Xu Zhinan said solemnly, "The whole world of cultivating immortals is panicked."
"Yan Shu, Lu Zhaofeng, do you have any news?"
"A monk at the master level can paint someone else's face and hold a magic weapon of the level of a mountain whip. Unless he comes out by himself, no one will be able to find him."
Zong Ziheng frowned deeply.
"You didn't tell anyone what happened in the underground palace, did you?"
Zong Ziheng said bitterly: "The people I saw after waking up are all the people I want to hide."
"Meng Sheng and I didn't disclose a word, this matter is far more involved than we imagined." Xu Zhinan stared straight into Zong Ziheng's eyes, "Are you prepared?"
Zong Ziheng secretly tightened his grip on the quilt. He could understand the deep meaning of this sentence, but he was afraid that even if he spent his whole life, he would not be able to prepare for his biological father to harm him.
There is a look of sadness in Xu Zhinan's brows: "It has been nearly three hundred years since the daimyo Zong family ruled the world of cultivating immortals. In the past three hundred years, there has been no war in Kyushu, but under this calm, there are dark tides and turbulent waves. Maybe there will be huge waves soon. monstrous."
"Outside, what's going on?"
"Hua Juncheng killed all seventeen Wuyunmen disciples who followed Yan Shu to the Jiaolong Society."
Zong Ziheng's expression froze.
"Not only that, but the Huaying Sect also demanded that Wuyun Sect hand over all the monks of Yan Shu's sect. Liu Zheng is now temporarily acting as the head of the sect. He wants to cut off seats with Yan Shu, but he does not agree to be liquidated according to the standards of the Huaying Sect. Disciple of our sect, Huaying sect accuses Wuyun sect of being a cult that specializes in stealing alchemy, and owes Huaying sect two lives, if this continues, the two factions are likely to go to war."
"How does my father reconcile?"
"The emperor is obviously partial to the Wuyun Sect, but the Huaying faction has too much resentment, so far, it seems impossible to reconcile."
Zong Ziheng felt his head start to hurt again.
"Ziheng, tell me." Xu Zhinan's voice was as calm as water, "Did the emperor really collude with Yan Shu and eat my junior brother's pill?"
Zong Ziheng didn't dare to look into Xu Zhinan's eyes: "I don't know."
"Does Dijun really want your pill?"
"I don't know!" Zong Ziheng growled. He really didn't know what to believe. As a courtier, he still had a faint but unquenchable hope in his heart, hoping that everything was Lu Zhaofeng's conspiracy. So he didn't dare to tell Xu Zhinan about his uncle, he knew that if he did, at least in Xu Zhinan's eyes, everything would be confirmed.
"In the past few days, I have thought a lot, from beginning to end, everything, and I realized that we were inadvertently involved in a conspiracy, and this conspiracy was aimed at the most powerful people in Kyushu. In short, there are many, many people who are just a group of pond fish that have suffered."
"you mean… "
"What Yan Shu said must not be completely believed, but regarding his life experience, I have sent people to investigate these days, and there is almost no discrepancy. According to what he said that day and what he did, I think his You should have guessed the ultimate goal."
Zong Ziheng nodded stiffly.
"He wants His Highness the Ninth Prince to be the Emperor Zong. For him, the best revenge is nothing more than this."
"I will never let him use Zixiao." Zong Ziheng said angrily, "I can't let him ruin Zixiao."
"It's too late." Xu Zhinan said, "If he hadn't revealed his identity in front of you, then his plan would still be carried out in secret, but not now."
"But I won't tell anyone." Zong Ziheng stared straight at Xu Zhinan, "You and Envoy Feiling also promised me that we won't tell anyone."
"Ziheng, you are deceiving yourself and others." Xu Zhinan said bluntly, "Yes, Mengsheng and I promised you, and we will never break our word. But even if the three of us don't say anything, Lu Zhaofeng will take action sooner or later. One day, the whole world will know the life experience of His Highness Ninth Prince."
"..."
"If you really want to protect His Highness the Ninth Prince, you must prepare early. Once this matter is exposed, His Highness the Ninth Prince will be thrown into the whirlpool. At that time, you will not be able to protect yourself, let alone..."
"No matter what happens." Zong Ziheng's eyes were extremely determined, "Even if I risk my life, I will protect my brother."
Xu Zhinan said softly, "Lu Zhaofeng wants to give your pill to His Highness Jiu."
"I know."
"If His Highness Jiu knew the truth, what would happen to him, have you ever thought about it?"
"He will be with me." Zong Ziheng said without hesitation, "Even if Lu Zhaofeng is his biological father, he will not betray me."
Xu Zhinan looked at Zongzi Heng for a while, and sighed secretly: "It is a great fortune among misfortunes that His Highness Ninth Prince has you as his elder brother."
"He didn't do anything wrong. He has a boundless journey to immortality. How can he be innocently affected by the grievances and grievances of adults."
"His Highness Ninth Prince is indeed innocent, but it's a pity that he can't be alone after all."
Zong Ziheng was speechless.
The two were relatively silent for a while, and Xu Zhinan said again: "I came today to ask you for an explanation."
"I see."
"Do you want to know if the emperor has ever eaten the human pill?"
Zong Ziheng's heart tightened: "Do you have a way to prove it?"
"There is a way." Xu Zhinan's eyes became colder, "I learned one thing from Chen Xingyong, if the emperor really took Yanzhi's pill, he would have the ability of some people who practice Yuanyang Kung Fu."
"really?"
Xu Zhinan nodded: "As long as you eat the human pill, you can get part of the cultivation base and abilities of the owner of the golden pill, but the monks in the world are mainly sword cultivators, and they are both sword cultivators. Eating the human pill will only increase their spiritual strength and cultivation level. , there will be no other obvious difference, only Yuanyang Gongfa is different, it can change the human body."
"I see no obvious change in Father's appearance."
"It's not about appearance." Xu Zhinan stretched out his arms, and rolled up his sleeves on both sides, revealing two slender and muscular forearms, but the skin color of the two arms was different.
Zong Ziheng suddenly realized: "You mean..."
"Yanzhi has already cultivated enough to be able to regenerate his body. If the emperor eats his pill, he should have this ability." Xu Zhinan looked at Zong Ziheng and said, "This is the only way I can think of right now."
"Do you want me to go..." Zong Ziheng turned his face away, "Who in the world can hurt the Emperor? Besides, he is my father."
"It's really hard to verify." Xu Zhinan said lightly, "I won't ask you to violate filial piety, I will find a way myself."
Zong Ziheng said in surprise: "Brother Xu, what do you want to do?"
"Actually, it doesn't need a big injury, as long as a small injury, if the wound heals much faster than ordinary people, it must be due to the contribution of Yuanyang Gongfa."
"Brother Xu, don't be impulsive, this is too risky!"
Xu Zhinan looked at Zong Ziheng, his eyes were like cold autumn rain, which could penetrate people thoroughly: "Are you worried about me, or your father?"
Zong Ziheng was dumbfounded.
"Everyone in the world knows how he treats you, mother and son. Although I'm not sure whether what Yan Shu said is true or not, I'm not surprised that he really wants to poach your pills."
Zong Ziheng's face became paler and paler.
It turns out that even outsiders think so.
"I will never let my disciple of the Chunyang Sect die in vain. He is the emperor and the emperor, and he will not stop me from seeking justice for my junior brother." Xu Zhinan looked at the eldest son Heng, "If the emperor is really as Yan Shu said , is the Demon Cultivator of the Man-eating Pill, will you still defend him?"
Zong Ziheng's eyes were red, like a little beast that had been cornered.
"The emperor broke the law and committed the same crime as the common people. If he is a human emperor but commits the evil deeds of a demon cultivator, he is not worthy of being a human emperor, right?"
Zong Ziheng thought of Gutuo Town where he almost died, thought of his uncle, and thought of Zong Minghe's treatment of their mother and child in the past, his thoughts were turbulent.
Xu Zhinan stood up suddenly, then knelt down on one knee in front of Zong Ziheng.
The eldest son Heng's expression changed: "Brother Xu, what are you doing?"
"Your Majesty, do you still remember what I said?" Xu Zhinan refused to get up. He looked up at Zong Ziheng, "I see that there is only one way out of this matter, which can restore the peace of the immortal world. Kyushu needs a benevolent and upright co-lord, no one It is more suitable than His Majesty, and the name change is justified."
"Brother Xu, get up quickly, you can't say that..."
"Why not?" Xu Zhinan's eyes sparkled, "Mengsheng has the same idea as me. As the eldest prince, you are extremely talented, young and promising, and you have the support of Chunyang Sect and Cangyumen. Who are you?"
"I… "
Xu Zhinan said sternly: "Don't you understand, you can only protect His Highness the Ninth Prince if you become the Emperor!"
Zong Ziheng froze on the spot, his blood seemed to freeze at this moment.
Many years later, when Zong Ziheng looked back at his short life, he saw a pair of commanding hands in the dark, constantly pushing him into the abyss.
Volume Three