Chapter 1299 - 1135: Prince Jing Gravely Injured
Chapter 1299: Chapter 1135: Prince Jing Gravely Injured
The Emperor glanced at the panicked Shen Shikang, and Shen’s preparations were hasty with three or four thousand men at their command, which was already an overestimation.
He actually couldn’t understand why the Shen family was in such a rush. They had just emerged in the Capital, yet were ambitiously aiming for the throne.
Could it be that just because he was nearing the end of his life, the Shen family couldn’t wait any longer? But even if he was gone, Zhao’s empire couldn’t be tainted by others.
If Ye isn’t capable, and if he’s unreliable, he would rather choose among his brothers or nephews, rather than letting Zhao’s empire fall into the hands of others. Their Zhao family can’t fall into disgrace under his watch.
So what exactly gave the Shen family the illusion that without him, Zhao Dun, they could aspire to control the world?
"Your Majesty, I sent people to surround the Shen Mansion, but unfortunately the Shen Mansion was prepared, and there are many masters protecting it. Currently, the Shen Mansion is not under my control!"
Lang Ping looked a bit embarrassed, with the Shen Mansion surrounded like an iron fortress. It would take quite some effort to take it down.
Upon hearing this, Shen Shikang realized that the Emperor had been prepared from the start. He didn’t expect that his assumption of catching the Emperor off guard was just their own imagination.
"Brother?" The Empress Dowager took a step back in shock, her hand trembling slightly as she held the Imperial Desk. She had never imagined that the Shen family would have such audacious thoughts.
"Brother, I trusted the Shen family so much, never expecting that among the aristocratic families in the Capital, the first to have such audacious thoughts would be the Shen family. You’re digging at the grief of the Empress Dowager! The Shen family is my maternal family. If any family in the Capital had such desires, I wouldn’t be surprised. But the Shen family, how could they..."
The Empress Dowager’s lips trembled, becoming somewhat incoherent.
Looking at the elderly Shen Shikang in front of her, she suddenly felt that the person before her was somewhat unfamiliar. Once upon a time, this elder brother who always defended her; who said that the Shen family would always be her family; who said that if she were bullied by her husband, he would definitely stand up for her—where had he gone?
When did he start to change?
The Empress Dowager looked at Shen Shikang in a daze, perhaps due to shedding too many tears recently, she found herself unable to cry.
Perhaps since the day she got married! Her brother thought the Emperor had great potential, which turned him into an ambitious politician, forgetting the promises made in the past.
Shen Shikang’s face turned ashen, continuously regretting inside, not daring to lift his head to look at the Empress Dowager. He was indeed possessed by evil thoughts, and at this moment he found it unbelievable as well, wondering why he had come up with the idea of Shen’s replacing Zhao’s. When did it all start?
Suppressing the throbbing in his head, memories of those words kept flashing in his mind, "My Lord, the Emperor’s time is almost up! If there’s truly no cure for the Emperor, you must plan for the Shen family!"
"My Lord! Our Shen family is so glorious now, who knows if in a few years it will still shine so brightly."
"My Lord! Don’t you want to protect the Shen family? Then... why not replace them?"
"No, you shouldn’t feel guilty! If there’s blame, it should be on Zhao’s descendants being useless, unable to guard the empire. Zhao has protected this great land for decades, perhaps it’s time for a change. This world has always belonged to the able."...
Who was it? Who was continuously whispering in his ear, and later openly tempting him?
Shen Shikang suddenly opened his eyes wide, it was Zhang Chongjing! Yes, it was Zhang Chongjing! It started with him continuously whispering in his ear, saying so many tempting words, otherwise how could he have such absurd thoughts.
"It was Zhang Chongjing, it was him!" Shen Shikang collapsed onto the ground, realizing he had fallen into someone else’s scheme. This scheme of using someone else’s weapon to kill was truly formidable!
...
"My Lord! Prince Gong and Prince Jing fought to a stalemate, and I heard that Prince Jing was seriously injured!" Ming Mo enthusiastically entered the study, seeing Gu Chengyu practicing calligraphy, immediately reporting the good news.
"Oh? Quickly, tell me in detail!" At these words, Gu Chengyu immediately perked up. After days of arrangements, finally, there was some result.
"You guessed right, Prince Jing truly has strategic ability. Even though Prince Gong faced him with an army of a hundred thousand, they only fought to a draw. Except that Pei Shu under his command heavily injured Prince Jing, they couldn’t breach Fengqing Prefecture. Now both sides are in a stalemate, Fengqing Prefecture has closed its gates, Prince Gong ordered Liu Dong to guard the outside while he left first."
"How could Pei Shu heavily injure Prince Jing?" Gu Chengyu was puzzled by this point, Prince Jing doesn’t practice martial arts, naturally wouldn’t personally go to the battlefield, so how could Pei Shu heavily injure Prince Jing?
"My Lord! You would never guess!" Ming Mo smiled mysteriously; it was rare to see his lord not predict an event. He found it very refreshing, it was indeed rare.
"You wouldn’t say Prince Jing practices martial arts, would you? But before, I didn’t sense any Inner Strength from him, his aura was clearly that of an ordinary person." Gu Chengyu shook his head, finding it unlikely.
"Well, you guessed wrong this time, Prince Jing does practice martial arts, and his skills aren’t bad! His Inner Strength is also very pure, I saw it with my own eyes! Of course, he is still far inferior compared to you!"
Ming Mo didn’t keep it a secret, at the time he saw Prince Jing personally entering the battlefield, it shocked him.
Prince Jing leaped down from the city tower, and his Qinggong was quite impressive. Though incomparable to the lord, it wasn’t worse than himself!
"That’s indeed surprising!" Gu Chengyu was truly astonished this time. Ming Mo had personally witnessed it, so naturally, it couldn’t be false.
The previous rumors of Prince Jing’s frailty, although he knew they were false, it was true he had been born with a congenital poison. After all, the late Emperor’s edict had also mentioned it.
It’s unclear when Prince Jing recovered, and in all these years, the late Emperor had monthly visits from the Imperial Physicians to Prince Jing Mansion to feel the pulse, why did those physicians not notice?
"However, his martial arts moves compared to his Qinggong have some gaps. His Qinggong is outstanding, almost on par with me. His killing moves are neat, not cumbersome, immediately lethal on execution. But perhaps he lacks a good secret martial arts manual, thus during combat, there are many disparities in his moves."
Ming Mo was merely objectively analyzing that if Prince Jing had obtained a good secret martial arts manual, he might even surpass him and Ming Yan.
At this moment, he was secretly relieved to know that the martial arts secret manual the lord gave to him and Ming Yan was of the highest level.
Gu Chengyu pondered for a long time, speculating that Prince Jing might have obtained some breathing cultivation technique to alter his aura. Usually acting so weak, as if he couldn’t walk without coughing, made it ingrained in people that his body was indeed frail.
Gu Chengyu and Prince Jing had only met a few times, could be counted on one hand. They never had physical contact before, so regarding the other’s health, Gu Chengyu truly hadn’t paid much attention.
"So Pei Shu’s skills are good?" Gu Chengyu recalled Pei Shu who heavily injured Prince Jing, having heard before that this person had some skills.