“Your Majesty, your body is fine and you are as strong as a dragon and a tiger. You are truly a blessing to our Great Zhao.” The old doctor stroked his beard and smiled with his eyes narrowed.
“… Really, old doctor, please take a closer look. I was slightly injured when I broke through the siege… Maybe, there are some hidden injuries…” Zhao Hao heard the voice, but the anxiety and uneasiness on his face did not diminish at all. Instead, he continued to speak quickly.
"Your Majesty, I have examined your entire body, from the superficial skin veins to the deepest bone marrow... Everything is full of vitality, without any damage... It must be because your Majesty has a special physique and is strong and healthy, so it is reasonable that those superficial injuries healed without medicine..." said the old doctor upon hearing this.
Hearing this, Zhao Hao couldn't help but sigh in his heart, but on the surface, he tried to put on an expression of joy and said, "As expected, haha... I told you, I am the king of the Great Zhao, I have the protection of hundreds of spirits, how can a mere sword or gun on the battlefield hurt me? Well, there is nothing for you to do here, you can leave."
"Yes." The old doctor said, and turned to walk out. When his figure completely disappeared, the "joy" on Zhao Hao's face disappeared, and turned into anger: "What a famous doctor of Zhao! A waste! I thought I could rely on him to remove the poison, but I didn't expect that he couldn't even tell that I was poisoned. He is really just a name for nothing!"
After cursing, he seemed to let out a sigh of relief, calmed down, and his face turned melancholy again.
"well… "
"Is this the only way..."
He looked at the gorgeous decorations around him, thinking about the beautiful mountains and rivers of Great Zhao, and a strong sense of unwillingness rose in his heart...
Yes, just as Chu Tianxiao and the others expected, Zhao Hao did gradually develop other thoughts after tasting the sweetness of power...
You know, although the Southeast Territory was turned upside down by Chu Tianxiao, Da Zhao was the third largest country in China after all, and it was impossible for its main force to be lost in the blink of an eye. It can even be said that even at this point, Da Zhao's foundation in the Southeast was still there... In addition, although Emperor Zhao was dead, his golden finger was not destroyed. Just like the "prompt" of the Big Prodigal System at the beginning, after being "silent" for a while, it eventually passed Emperor Zhao's "semi-main position" to Zhao Hao, who inherited the throne of Emperor Zhao. Although he himself did not know this, those talents summoned by Emperor Zhao did transfer their loyalty to him!
Therefore, this led to a "good situation" in which not long after he ascended the throne, talented people and brave generals from all sides came to pledge their allegiance, and the city was like a snowball, and soon more than 100,000 Zhao troops gathered in the city...
Seeing that the power he held was becoming more and more "powerful", he gradually realized what kind of status "the king of Great Zhao" meant... Zhao Hao would naturally not be willing to surrender obediently...
However, that 'Heart-Losing Ten Thousand Insects Gu' was ultimately a thorn in Zhao Hao's heart. If it was not removed... Thinking of the miserable appearance of Emperor Zhao before his death, he subconsciously shuddered.
So these days, he secretly sought out extraordinary people and doctors from all over the place, trying to find a solution. Unfortunately... he wasn't poisoned in the first place, so how could he find out the cause
Thus, the situation fell into an endless cycle... After a final struggle tonight, Zhao Hao finally realized that he could not get rid of this nightmare...
"Forget it. Let me see the reaction of my ministers tomorrow morning. If everyone resists, I will give it a try and lead my army to Jindu to destroy everything together and force that prodigal son to hand over the method to cure the poison... Although it may be difficult to succeed, it is better than waiting to die!"
Thinking this in his mind, Zhao Hao tossed and turned all night and finally made up his mind. At the morning court the next day... he announced the matter directly.
Of course, he did not directly say the word "surrender", but rather euphemistically said that "for the sake of the overall goal of destroying the demons", the command of the Zhao army could be handed over to the Great Zhou...
Although his words were euphemistic, Zhao Hao believed that the group of important officials off the field were smart and should be able to hear the hidden meaning in his words...
Upon hearing this, some people immediately came out to object, but Zhao Hao didn't care about those little people... He only focused on the real key, which were the important officials left to him by his father...
"Your Majesty, have you made up your mind?"
After thinking for a while, several important officials looked at each other, and finally, they clasped their fists and said.
Zhao Hao's heart sank suddenly when he saw this, but at this moment, of course he had to pretend to be strong, so he nodded and said, "Yes, I have made up my mind!"
Hearing this, several important officials showed resoluteness on their faces and said in unison: "In this case, we will follow your Majesty's lead."
After hearing this, Zhao Hao almost got his nose crooked with anger!
"Well, you guys... You are so respectful to me on weekdays, as if you are willing to sacrifice your lives for the Great Zhao and for me... But when the time comes, you act like this? Humph! You say it so easily, I'm afraid you have already intended to surrender to the enemy, right?"
Zhao Hao didn't know that these summoned ministers were "absolutely loyal to Emperor Zhao". They might help Emperor Zhao complete strategies and correct some mistakes when discussing something... But they would never have any say in Emperor Zhao's personal decisions!
In fact, Chu Tianxiao had already noticed this - when he saw the evil concubines in Emperor Zhao's palace running rampant and the Merit Building wasted money and manpower, the group of summoned counselors did not react violently, and even the important officials did not give any advice...
After this, after so many things happened, he could finally conclude that these summoned talents were like excellent assistants. They would help their masters and point out their masters' mistakes when necessary, but they would never interfere with their masters' 'already clear' wishes, even if those wishes were extremely absurd.
To put it bluntly, these summoned talents are not real humans after all...
So-called absolute loyalty can sometimes become a fatal blow that leads to destruction...
However, Zhao Hao was not aware of these. He only saw that after he hinted at "surrender", these people did not resist at all, but instead spoke "nice words"... For a moment, he was filled with anger, but then he felt completely hopeless...
"It's fake... It's all fake... The swearing to die for the country, the dynastic hegemony, it's all a joke, it's all fake!"
Thinking this way, Zhao Hao couldn't help but have the idea of giving up on himself...
He looked tiredly at the "loyal" ministers who were clasping their fists in unison below him, and said angrily, "In that case... just surrender completely!"
In response to him, there were the hysterical voices of opposition from a group of insignificant officials, and... after a group of important officials hesitated, they said "extremely respectful"...
"Your Majesty, I will obey your command."
…
…
Autumn, the 316th year of the Zhao calendar.
Emperor Xian of Zhao issued the last letter from the Great Zhao.
The Great Zhao Empire surrendered and perished.
This is the "mystery of Emperor Xian" that historians of later generations could never figure out - according to the analysis of the environment at that time, although the Great Zhao was in bad luck, in detail, its strength and foundation were still there, and there was no direct threat of national destruction... So, for what purpose did Emperor Xian of Zhao "present" the beautiful mountains and rivers of the Great Zhao to the Great Zhou Empire
People in later generations would never be able to figure it out no matter how hard they tried.
But the situation in China eventually changed dramatically because of this.
…
"It's over..."
After learning that Emperor Xian of Zhao had sent a letter of surrender, Chu Tianxiao knew that the outcome was set.
Especially after receiving a certain "secret report" that will never be made public...
"Gong Han, the top think tank under Lu Xianhui, stepped forward to take the blame and committed suicide a few days ago. Major General Ying Hui disqualified himself in front of others and returned to Beijing for permanent imprisonment, which was considered to have exposed the matter on the surface... And Lu Xianhui himself will be given the important task of "pacifying the barbarians", and will be imprisoned in the barbarian land. Without an imperial decree, he will never be allowed to return to Beijing and will never be free..."
"It's either death or a life worse than death."
“… It seems that we have won.”
“Finally I won.”
Thinking of this, Chu Tianxiao let out a long sigh, then raised his eyes slightly.
In front of me, the sky is slightly blue.
Behind him, the defeated soldiers were like waves.
He smiled slightly, turned his head, and spoke in a light voice.
"… Then, let's go back."
—End of this volume