156: Kill Jing Ge! Capture Fei Jie! Emperor Qing massacres Guangxin

Chapter 155: Kill Jing Ge! Capture Fei Jie! Emperor Qing Massacres Guangxin Palace! (13)

Suburbs of the Capital.

On the essential path from the Capital Road to Dongshan Road, a hundred black-armored cavalrymen were galloping.

These men were the Black Knights of the Supervisory Council’s Fifth Bureau, and among them, an elderly man with a portly figure and disheveled hair was being escorted.

The Black Knights, under the command of Chen Pingping, the King of the Night, were reputed to be the most valiant cavalry in the world.

The old man escorted by the Black Knights was none other than Fei Jie, the director of the Supervisory Council’s Third Bureau, known as the world’s foremost poison master.

Fei Jie had just completed a major task and was on his way to Danzhou Port, from where he would take a ship to Eastern Yi City.

Then, via the sea route from Eastern Yi City, he would travel to another continent in this world.

“Whoa! Whoa!”

Suddenly, the knight galloping at the very front reined in his horse and stopped.

Fei Jie exclaimed, “Commander Jing, who is that ahead?”

The one personally escorting Fei Jie off this continent was Jing Ge, the commander of the Black Knights.

A hundred zhang ahead of the Black Knights, two white torrents slowly converged, blocking the essential path to Dongshan Road.

The newcomers rode white horses, wore white armor, carried silver spears and long swords, and were equipped with powerful bows.

Their white horses were robust, with clearly defined muscles on their bellies and thighs!

The gleaming spearheads reflected the light, making these white-armored, white-horsed knights appear like celestial beings!

Jing Ge looked at the general riding at the very front and his expression immediately turned grave.

“Marquis Polu, Ye Wan!”

“The Great Snow Dragon Riders of the Prince of Qin!”

After the Triumph Ceremony, Ye Wan was enfeoffed as Marquis Polu, and Shang Shanhu was enfeoffed as Earl Pingyuan.

This was because Shang Shanhu was a surrendered general, while Ye Wan had a pure lineage.

However, Shang Shanhu didn't care at all; he only respected capable individuals in his life, first Han Xin, and later Li Chang'an.

As for being a marquis or an earl, Shang Shanhu genuinely didn't care; two thousand-mile raids had already fulfilled his lifelong ambition of resisting foreign tribes.

Now blocking the Black Knights were two hundred Great Snow Dragon Riders personally led by Ye Wan.

“Teacher Fei of the Supervisory Council, after committing such a monumental deed, are you just going to sneak away like this?”

Fan Xian’s teacher, Fei Jie, had concocted a unique medicinal pill for His Highness, the Crown Prince.

This pill could treat venereal diseases, which were difficult to cure in this era, but it also contained a large amount of potent, dangerous herbs.

The palace maid delivering embroidery, the palace maid going to Guangxin Palace, and the palace maid stealing the jade pendant were all arranged by Li Chang'an through Hong Zhu.

In truth, that palace maid truly only delivered the embroidery and truly only stole the jade pendant; she knew nothing else.

However, Emperor Qing, who was astute, suspicious, perceptive, and arrogant, still uncovered the Crown Prince’s illicit affair himself.

What Li Chang'an did was the same as what Fan Xian did in the original story.

He merely lit a small spark, and Emperor Qing’s flames of suspicion ignited on their own.

Fei Jie researched the pill formula, which was then sold by his Disciple to the Hall of Returning Spring, and subsequently handed over to the Crown Prince by a noble of the imperial clan.

The entire chain was personally overseen by Chen Pingping, all to promote the incestuous relationship between the Crown Prince and Li Yunrui.

Chen Pingping had already begun a comprehensive investigation into Li Chang'an, just waiting for the fervor of Li Chang'an’s great achievements to pass before he would begin to accuse Li Chang'an of rebellion.

This was both Emperor Qing’s intention and Chen Pingping’s true desire.

Chen Pingping facilitated the affair between the Crown Prince and The Eldest Princess to seek revenge on Emperor Qing.

Chen Pingping also facilitated the internecine conflict between Emperor Qing and Li Chang'an, also to seek revenge on Emperor Qing.

This madman, who swore to kill all members of the Li imperial family, had only just begun to execute his plan.

Fei Jie’s involvement in concocting the aphrodisiac was absolutely confidential.

In this world, only Chen Pingping, Fei Jie, and the prescient Li Chang'an knew about it.

Chen Pingping continued to act as Emperor Qing’s blade against Li Chang'an, and Li Chang'an also had to find a way to deal with Chen Pingping.

Jing Ge didn’t know what Fei Jie had done, nor did he know why they were confronting the Prince of Qin’s men.

“General Ye, you should know that the Black Knights represent Your Majesty!”

Ye Wan sneered, “Wrong! This troop of Black Knights only represents Chen Pingping himself.”

“These privately hidden Black Knights, brought out from Shijia Village, do you dare let Your Majesty know about them?”

Upon hearing these words, Jing Ge already understood the current situation: it was a fight to the death!

The Prince of Qin already knew about Chen Pingping’s private concealment of the Black Knights.

Jing Ge gripped the long spear in his hand, “More talk is useless. Let’s settle this!”

Ye Wan raised his right hand and directly initiated a charge!

Archers in the rear fired, while the front ranks charged, the Snow Region Divine Steeds galloped forward, and in a blink of an eye, they were clashing with the Black Knights.

Jing Ge was horrified to discover that all of these Great Snow Dragon Riders were of the Sixth Grade Upper, and their collective fighting power was astonishing.

The gleaming silver spearheads, forged from unknown Materials, effortlessly pierced through the Black Knights’ armor.

The rapidly thrusting silver spears stabbed through the hearts of one Black Knight after another!

Then came close-quarters combat, with blades clashing; the Black Knights’ sabers were notched by the Great Snow Dragon Riders’ long swords!

The Black Knights, already at a numerical disadvantage, quickly fell into an inferior position.

Fei Jie had already turned his horse around and was galloping towards the rear.

However, after galloping for less than a li, he saw a figure approaching with iron chains.

That person’s movements were agile, clearly a skilled individual accustomed to apprehending criminals.

“Fei Jie! Stay!”

Xing Yusen, who was already at the Ninth Grade Mid-stage, easily bound Fei Jie tightly with iron chains.

“Fei Jie! The Prince of Qin asked me to give you a message!”

“If you dare to commit suicide, the Shadow Guard will flay Fan Xian alive!”

“Wu Zhu is not in the Capital, so this won’t be difficult to accomplish.”

Upon hearing these words, Fei Jie immediately erupted in fury.

“Xing Yusen, it’s a shame you’re also a divine catch of Great Qing; how can your actions be so despicable!”

“When Director Chen and I planned this, we completely excluded Fan Xian; this matter has nothing to do with him!”

Xing Yusen chuckled, “However despicable I am, I didn’t give the Crown Prince an aphrodisiac.”

“You know His Highness, the Prince of Qin’s methods well; it’s best not to harbor any illusions.”

“If you come back with me honestly and confess thoroughly, I guarantee Fan Xian will be safe.”

Fei Jie, the world’s foremost poison master, unmarried and without children, had only his Disciple Fan Xian as a weakness.

But having just one weakness was enough to doom him irrevocably.

Within a quarter of an hour, nearly all one hundred Black Knights were killed, leaving only Jing Ge.

“How on earth did you know the Black Knights’ movements?”

Jing Ge, with several long spears pressed against his throat, still didn’t know how the Black Knights, whose movements were top secret, had their whereabouts leaked.

The Net began infiltrating the Supervisory Council four years ago, and the last major internal turmoil in the Supervisory Council even helped many Net members rise in rank.

Moreover, Li Chang'an only planted secret agents, usually not activating them, but only deploying them at this critical moment.

Ye Wan did not answer him, but instead gave the order, “Send Commander Jing on his way!”

Several long spears thrust simultaneously, and Jing Ge, the commander of the Black Knights, met his end in the Yellow Springs.

The Great Snow Dragon Riders dragged the bodies of the Black Knights into the mountains and buried them, ensuring no one would find their traces for a long time.

Secret stronghold of the Net in the Suburbs of the Capital.

Fei Jie was escorted by Xing Yusen into an underground dungeon, where he saw Wu Zhu walking towards him as he entered the cell.

Wu Zhu had his acupoints sealed by Li Chang'an with True Qi and was now a cripple.

Fei Jie and Wu Zhu had done many dirty deeds for Chen Pingping.

Unearthing just a few of them would be enough for Emperor Qing to have Chen Pingping slowly tortured to death.

Xing Yusen pressed Fei Jie into the cell, ordering him to confess the things he had done with poisons over the years.

Fei Jie was surprised that Xing Yusen had no coercive interrogation methods; he simply presented Fei Jie with some pre-written confessions to read.

After reading the confessions, Fei Jie was utterly dumbfounded!

Some of the unsavory things he and the Third Bureau had done were all written down clearly.

Some were provided by informants within the Third Bureau, while others were known by Li Chang'an through his prescience.

“Fei Jie, take a look, and then press your handprint.

Or should I knock you out and press your handprint for you!”

Fei Jie angrily retorted, “Nonsense! I haven’t admitted anything, so why would I press my handprint?”

Xing Yusen was not in a hurry, “Old man, take your time to think. Is struggling useful? Is resisting useful?”

Then Xing Yusen walked out of the cell, not forgetting to say as he left, “If you dare to commit suicide, I’ll go flay Fan Xian!”

Wu Zhu arrived in a spacious room where Li Chang'an was sitting behind a table.

“I never imagined that His Highness, the Prince of Qin, would actually be that Great Grandmaster!”

Last year, when the Southern Qing envoy delegation went to Qi Country, in a battle at the border stone forest, Wu Zhu was directly knocked unconscious by Li Chang'an using True Qi.

Wu Zhu discovered that the opponent was a Great Grandmaster, but he kept it a secret.

Li Chang'an said calmly, “It was very clever of you not to tell Chen Pingping about discovering a new Great Grandmaster.”

“Are you thinking that since the Great Grandmaster spared your life, he might help you kill Si Gu Jian to avenge yourself?”

Wu Zhu did not deny it, “Since the Great Grandmaster concealed his identity, wouldn’t I be asking for trouble if I spoke out?”

“As for the revenge you mentioned, I do indeed have such thoughts.”

“I joined Chen Pingping’s command to conceal my identity and find an opportunity for revenge!”

Wu Zhu’s enemy was Si Gu Jian, the Great Grandmaster of Eastern Yi City.

Si Gu Jian’s mother was a maid in the Eastern Yi City Lord’s manor, and he suffered discrimination in Eastern Yi City from a young age.

Later, guided by Ye Qingmei, Si Gu Jian’s martial arts greatly improved, and he even achieved the status of a Great Grandmaster.

Thus, Si Gu Jian, partly for revenge and partly to Break Through his martial arts limits, massacred the Eastern Yi City Lord’s manor.

However, he spared his younger brother, who is Wu Zhu.

Wu Zhu’s entire family was killed by his older brother, so he vowed to seek revenge.

Li Chang'an said, “Chen Pingping can help you conceal your identity, but he doesn’t have the ability to help you get revenge.”

“Chen Pingping’s successor, Fan Xian, has Wu Zhu by his side, but Si Gu Jian and Ye Qingmei have a friendship, so Fan Xian also cannot help you get revenge.”

Killing Si Gu Jian for revenge had always been Wu Zhu’s obsession.

“Your Highness, the Prince of Qin, is willing to help me. What are your conditions?”

Li Chang'an said to Xing Yusen, “Show Fei Jie’s confession to Wu Zhu.”

Xing Yusen handed several copies of Fei Jie’s confession to Wu Zhu.

Wu Zhu and Fei Jie both worked for Chen Pingping separately and didn't know what the other had done.

“Director Chen is finished. Just the matter of giving the Crown Prince an aphrodisiac means Your Majesty can no longer tolerate him.”

Li Chang'an said, “Wu Zhu, I’m giving you two paths.”

“First, like Fei Jie, confess everything you’ve done for Chen Pingping, and I will help you get revenge.”

“Second, continue to be Chen Pingping’s loyal dog and go to the Yellow Springs to meet your family.”

“After all these years, the kindness he showed in taking you in has been repaid almost entirely.”

Wu Zhu suddenly sneered, “If I confess, will I still have a way to live?”

Li Chang'an said, “You are different from Fei Jie; you still have utilitarian value, and I will arrange for your escape.”

Li Chang'an believed that Wu Zhu wanted to live, wanted to survive to avenge his family.

Therefore, he would confess sooner or later.

The Sixth Bureau Swordsmen were all trained from a young age, and Li Chang'an had not planted any informants among them.

Therefore, Wu Zhu had to confess himself.

In the Imperial Palace.

Last month, the Crown Prince’s personal imperial physician died suddenly, and the Crown Prince thought it was an accident.

But this month, the noble who delivered his medicine fell from his horse and died, and the pharmacy where the noble bought the medicine caught fire.

Even if he was dull-witted, Li Chengqian knew something had happened.

And it was the one thing he least wanted people to know!

But he didn’t know who was investigating, nor did he know what they had found out.

He dared not even go to Li Yunrui to discuss what to do.

He truly couldn’t imagine how furious his imperial father would be if he found out about that matter!

For the past month, the Crown Prince always felt that his imperial father’s gaze upon him was particularly cold.

As various signs connected, Li Chengqian’s ominous premonition grew stronger and stronger!

In these few days, three palace maids committed minor errors. Li Chengqian, already suffering from neurasthenia, directly beat them severely and drove them out.

What he didn’t know was that these three palace maids were all members of the Net.

Li Chang'an had secretly withdrawn all the people he had placed in the Eastern Palace because it was about to face Emperor Qing’s wrath.

In Guangxin Palace.

Several palace maids who went out for errands never returned.

Li Yunrui concluded that they must have been captured and interrogated by the Emperor or by people from the Supervisory Council.

In fact, they were all spies from the Supervisory Council or the Net, and had received orders from their respective masters to evacuate Guangxin Palace as soon as possible.

The Net members who escaped from the Eastern Palace and Guangxin Palace were all immediately sent to the Northwest, far away from the Capital.

Li Yunrui, equally unsettled, was slightly more composed than the Crown Prince.

She believed that her Emperor brother would not kill her, because she was still useful.

Suddenly, urgent footsteps were heard from outside the palace gates.

Female Official Bai Ling rushed in, “Your Highness, Eunuch Hong has arrived and has surrounded Guangxin Palace!”

Immediately after, both heard screams from outside.

All the palace maids and eunuchs had their heads chopped off the moment they tried to speak.

This was Emperor Qing’s command: whoever spoke, died.

The palace gate opened, and Hong Sixiang bowed and walked into the hall.

Several personal Female Officials of the seventh and eighth ranks had their chests crushed by Hong Sixiang’s palm, dying instantly.

Until only Li Yunrui and Bai Ling remained in the entire grand hall.

Bai Ling knew she was no match for Hong Sixiang and desperately pleaded, clinging to Li Yunrui’s thigh.

“Your Highness, save me, Your Highness, save me…”

However, Hong Sixiang suddenly appeared before Li Yunrui like a ghost.

Expressionless, he grabbed Bai Ling’s hair and, before she could resist, twisted her head off.

In the vast Guangxin Palace, all thirty-plus Inner Court attendants and palace maids were killed.

Hong Sixiang still maintained a respectful demeanor, “Your Highness, The Eldest Princess, the palace is still short a few palace maids.”

Li Yunrui sneered, “Perhaps you can ask Chen Pingping.”

Hong Sixiang said nothing more, but instead walked out of Guangxin Palace and stood guard at the palace gate.

He watched as the Inner Court guards lifted the palace maids’ bodies onto carriages and sent them to the cremation ground.

Blood flowed in gurgling streams along the carriage’s path, and the young eunuchs following behind covered the blood with yellow earth, carefully cleaning up.

A moment later, the carriages departed, leaving no trace where the blood had flowed.

Li Yunrui collapsed to the ground and said sharply, “Eunuch Hong, I want to see Her Imperial Majesty!”

In the nearby Hanguang Palace, the Empress Dowager had been asleep for an hour.

A young eunuch from the Net secretly took out some medicinal powder and sprinkled it into the incense burner with calming incense in the hall.

Tonight was destined to be eventful; let the old Empress Dowager sleep a little longer.