This martial saint's health bar is too thick

Chapter 498 Nightfall
December 7, late at night.

Lanling City, Imperial Palace.

Inside Qingde Palace, the prince was reading the telegram in his hand.

The contents of the telegram are all related to the southern border.

On the evening of July 7, after the eldest prince and Prince Li arrived at the southern border and began their operation, Lanling City had already received the news.

But they were thousands of miles away, so even if they got the news, Lan Lingcheng would not be able to change the final outcome.

Send reinforcements?
With King Li around, hastily asking the nearest province to send troops or strong men over would only be courting death.

Notify the soldiers in various parts of the southern border to retreat quickly?

All it takes is a traffic jam on a major road and most people won't be able to escape.

Order the soldiers in the southern border to resist firmly?

It is true that some people choose to resist with death, but it cannot change the overall situation.

In the end, all Lanling City could do was to let some determined soldiers who could not leave resist firmly, and destroy most of the weapons, equipment and resources, leaving them nothing for the rebels.

Then let a small number of elite troops evacuate and leave the southern border through a small path.

Of course, some people were asked to pretend to surrender in order to serve as internal support.
In just two days, the prince and a group of ministers had made a lot of arrangements.

The prince has not rested since he received the news.

His eyes were bloodshot and there was anger that could not be concealed in them.

He had anticipated what the eldest prince might do.

But he had never expected that King Li would suddenly rebel and stand on the side of the eldest prince.

The other party has not been keen on power for many years and has only focused on martial arts.

It hasn't changed for more than a hundred years, how come it suddenly changed?
Moreover, King Li chose to support the eldest prince. What was the difference between this and dying with him? Where did the other party get the confidence to think that he could succeed by relying on the eldest prince?

If there was no King Li, how could the entire southern border be in mutinied with only a crown prince?
From the evening of July 7th to July 5th.

In just two days, too many changes have taken place in the Southern Territory, and too fast!
With the eldest prince's power and management alone, even with the threat of a martial saint, the crown prince did not think that the other party could control the entire southern border so quickly.

There must be other forces involved!
Sure enough, he soon received news that Lu Wenzhen and Xu Jing had also rebelled.

Lu Wenzhen's forces outside Feng Province were almost completely "encircled and wiped out", but within Feng Province, the other party still had a strong control.

With the addition of Hongyi University and Grand Master Xu Jing, the entire Feng Province, except Datong Prefecture, may fall into the hands of the enemy.

Feng Province is located in the southwest. Next, the eldest prince and King Li will lead their troops north. If they want to take the fastest route, they must pass through Feng Province.

By controlling Feng Province, we can obtain a large amount of supplies, and we can attack or defend.

The rebels have gained an additional strategic location!
At this point, the prince was actually already secretly dissatisfied with Li Fei.

In his opinion, if Li Fei had not pressed him step by step and left no chance for Lu Wenzhen to survive, the other party would not have risked "defection" and followed the eldest prince to risk his life!
Unfortunately it's too late to say anything now.

Even without Li Fei's reminder, the prince would not give up Feng Province easily.

In the short term, the only grandmaster who could be sent to provide support was Yan Shangzhen, the president of Meiyun University in Meiyun Province.

But the other party did not move for a long time, instead, the master of the Gouchen Sword, Bo Chen, appeared in Feng Province.

After receiving this news, the prince felt even more depressed.

The eldest prince had another trump card that he had not expected!
In his opinion, since the master of Gouchen Sword had gone to Feng Province, Shi Caiming would definitely die, and Feng Province could not be defended.

"Your Highness, urgent news! From Feng Province!"

Outside the hall, a eunuch came running over, holding a wooden box in his hand and said.

The prince's hands trembled.

All the telegrams he received during this period were bad news, which dealt him heavy blows one after another.

So now when he heard the new telegram, he began to feel a little scared.

Afraid of receiving worse news.

".Bring it here."

The prince took a deep breath, calmed himself, and then spoke.

Soon, the wooden box was presented.

The prince opened the wooden box and took out the telegram inside.

After just one look, he showed a look of surprise, and then ecstasy!

"Li Fei killed Xu Jing!"

"Join forces with the others to kill Hook Sword Master Bo Chen!"

The prince's hands were shaking as he held the telegram. He read it several times, and after confirming that he had read it correctly, he looked up and said to the eunuch who had delivered the letter:
"Go and confirm immediately whether the contents of this telegram are true. I want more details!"

"Yes, Your Highness."

After the eunuch left, the prince stood up and paced back and forth in the hall, finding it difficult to calm down.

Ten minutes later, more detailed information was delivered:

Li Fei first killed two martial arts masters of Qingshan Sword Sect, and then killed Xu Jing one-on-one!

In the end, he joined forces with Shi Caiming and others to kill Bai Chen, and played a key role in the battle!

"Hahaha, okay! Well done!"

The prince's loud laughter rang out in the hall.

At this moment, he had only one thought in his mind:
"Father is wise!"

He was extremely grateful that the emperor had stopped him from testing Li Fei, and he was also grateful that he had taken the initiative to send a martial arts master to Xingcheng to secretly protect Li Fei's adoptive parents.

At this moment, looking at the telegram in his hand, he saw Li Fei’s incredible performance.

The prince had to admire the emperor's vision!

Same late night.

Lanqing Palace, the emperor's bedroom.

A violent cough sounded in the bedroom.

Grand Marshal Wenren was sitting beside the bed with a gloomy expression, while the emperor was lying on the bed.

Compared with half a year ago, his complexion is worse and he is so thin that he is just skin and bones!
As the Son of Heaven, his 'medical treatment' is naturally top-notch. As long as it is useful, he can find any kind of natural treasure.

But the emperor's health continued to deteriorate, simply because he was not ill.

But the deadline is approaching.

For more than forty years since the emperor ascended the throne, he would take the longevity pills sent by the Daluo Sect every year.

But in fact, Qingxu and Qingding had tampered with the elixir a long time ago, so the elixir the emperor took for a long time did not actually have the effect of prolonging his life. Instead, part of the dragon energy was secretly absorbed.

The matter of Daluo Sect's longevity elixir has already caused hidden dangers to the emperor's health.

Next, Qingxu rebelled, causing serious damage to the fortunes of the Da Lan Dynasty!

The emperor's life is closely connected with the fortune of a country. If the fortune is strong, the emperor's life span will naturally be longer.

If the luck is seriously damaged, the emperor will also be affected.

Afterwards, the Northern Barbarians started a war, and a heavy snowstorm and Qiming took advantage of the situation to break through.
These events all have an impact on your fortune.

Although he later used military force against the Northern Barbarians, destroyed a tribe, killed two great elders, expanded the territory, and his luck increased.

But 50% of the increased luck was used on Li Fei, and the remaining 50% was used to kill Qiming, which was still not enough.

In order to kill Qiming remotely, the Da Lan Dynasty also consumed some extra luck!

In just a few years, the emperor's luck declined drastically, completely detonating the hidden dangers in his body!

If the emperor is strong and healthy and still in his prime, then it will be fine, at most he will suffer a serious illness.

But he is already old, 76 years old this year, which has exceeded the upper limit of normal life expectancy in this world.

So after killing Qiming, he gradually couldn't hold on and his health became worse and worse.

By now, King Li, who was a martial saint of his country, and the eldest prince had rebelled together, causing the entire southern border army to fall into civil strife.

The country's destiny was affected again.

If the crown prince had not been appointed as regent, he would have shouldered most of the country's destiny.

This turmoil may directly cost the emperor his life!
Even so, he now finds it difficult to get out of bed.

"Feng Province. Any news?"

On the dragon bed, the emperor asked weakly after coughing.

Wenren Zheng said softly, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister are watching you, you shouldn't worry about these things anymore, just take good care of yourself."

The emperor shook his head, his gray beard trembling slightly:
"Li Fei."

Wenrenzheng knew what the other party was concerned about. He was worried that Li Fei would act on impulse and rush to Feng Province regardless of everything.

"Don't worry, I just received news from Feng Province that Li Fei killed Xu Jing."

Wenren Zheng gave a brief account of the battle that took place in Feng Province.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

After listening to this, the emperor opened his mouth slightly and started coughing violently again.

Wenren was continuing to transfer his strength into the other person's body to help him calm down.

"Is it true?"

The emperor grabbed Wen Renzheng's hand tightly and asked.

Wenrenzheng nodded: "Your Majesty, it's true, the news is true!"

Compared to others, he can accept such an incredible achievement more.

Because when Qiming attacked Li Fei, he was right next to him, and he witnessed with his own eyes how Li Fei, at the Dao Foundation stage, was able to withstand Qiming's full-strength attack!
Qiming suspected that Li Fei was the legendary Dao body, and Wenrenzheng had the same guess.

So when he learned that Li Fei, as a martial arts master, had defeated a grandmaster, he was not that surprised.

"Haha. Haha." The emperor laughed.

Even though the laughter was weak, it couldn't hide the joy in it.

"Your Majesty has a keen eye for talent, which is admirable."

Wenren was speaking.

The emperor still had a smile on his face, and said with some difficulty:

"This child has a pure nature and is a person worthy of trust."

Born in an imperial family, he has been accustomed to intrigues and the evil hearts of people since childhood.

After becoming emperor, he saw all kinds of people in the court.

Some people seem to be loyal, but in fact they cannot stand the test.

Some people may seem slick and cunning, but they can remain true to themselves in times of crisis.

The most important thing for a person who controls others is to know how to judge them.

The emperor had met all kinds of people in his life, and he understood one thing very well:
Between life and death, one can best see a person's true heart.

Back then on the Northern Barbarian battlefield, the commander Bai Yan died suddenly, the situation collapsed, and it was a life-or-death situation.

Li Fei, who was entrusted with the fate of the country by the emperor, did not take the opportunity to escape and save his life, but chose to fight back at the first opportunity!

Later, when he was being hunted by Qiming, Li Fei also risked his life to turn back to save Qiu Zian, and then attacked Qiming.

These actions allowed the emperor to truly see the heart of Marquis Jing'an.

Although he possessed the greatest talent in history and a bright future, he repeatedly put himself in danger and was not afraid to risk his life.

How many people can do this?

So when the emperor let the crown prince act as regent, he chose Li Fei to be the regent.

Now that Feng Province has been in turmoil, Li Fei has also fought back without hesitation to save Shi Caiming.

This choice made the emperor once again confirm that he had not made a mistake in choosing the right person.

So he said to Wenren Zheng: "This child is worthy of trust."

"At the beginning, I asked the national teacher to read a fortune for Li Fei, and the hexagram said, 'Safety and danger change, and misfortune and fortune are born together.'" (See Volume 43, Chapter for details)
The emperor said slowly.

Wenrenzheng nodded: "It is indeed appropriate."

'Safety and danger change, and fortune and misfortune arise from each other', if this hexagram is used on a certain minister, the meaning is very simple -

If the right person is employed, this minister will be beneficial to the country and bring good fortune.

If used improperly, this minister may cause confusion and bring disaster to the country!
Obviously, the emperor is a typical example of using people properly.

"It's a pity that the emperor's uncle finally chose this step."

The emperor's expression suddenly darkened and he sighed.

When it comes to employing people and managing subordinates, he believes that he is not bad among all the kings of the Great Blue Dynasty.

In the past, there was the Prime Minister Ye Ze'an. With his full support, the emperor and his ministers cooperated, and thus the "Ming Xin Reform" came about.

Later, there was Li Fei, Marquis of Jing'an. He vigorously promoted him, trusted him and gave him full trust, in return for Li Fei's full repayment.

But in the matter of King Li Qin Mingli, the emperor felt that he had a certain responsibility.

The responsibility does not lie in not looking favorably upon King Li, thus giving him the opportunity to rebel.

In fact, the court's "strict defense" against King Li has reached its limit. If there are more, it will really be actively forcing the other party to rebel!
The imperial court cannot completely defend itself against a top-level warrior who is determined to launch an attack.

So is purity and emptiness, so is enlightenment and brightness.

The same is true of King Li today.

Even if we had realized in advance that King Li might rebel, it was only a possibility.

Are we going to take the initiative to force the opposition just for this uncertain possibility, and then kill another top-level warrior at the cost of national strength?
It might be possible to consider it at another time, but given the current situation of the Great Blue Dynasty, it is obviously not possible.

Therefore, whether it is the emperor or Ye Ze'an, there is actually not much they can do regarding the matter of King Li.

Do not do anything extreme, and do not try too much.

If the other party does not rebel, no matter how much the eldest prince makes trouble, the situation in the southern border will not change.

If the other party rebels, that will naturally be the worst outcome.

In this situation, the emperor could only blame himself for not having the heart to get rid of this person in advance before he broke through!

This is the point where the emperor reflected and blamed himself on this matter.

"We can only blame Qingxu for allowing him to see the possibility of taking the next step."

Wenren was comforting.

If it weren't for the changes brought about by Qingxu, with Qin Mingli's character and the affection accumulated over so many years, the other party would not have reached this point today.

At the beginning, the emperor tacitly allowed Qin Mingli to ask Wen Renzheng for advice on martial arts training and allowed the other party the possibility of breaking through. He also saw in Qin Mingli's character that he did not care about power.

The country will have one more martial saint, and the royal family will have one more top-notch warrior. As long as they are used properly, the benefits will outweigh the disadvantages.

But later no one expected that the Western Continent would invade, which made people see the possibility of true unification of the world and hope at the top.

No one could have expected Qingxu to rebel and bring about so many variables.

"Pure and empty."

The emperor read out the name again with a complicated expression.

To a certain extent, the fate of the Da Lan Dynasty, his fate, and the fate of many people were all changed by Qingxu!
"Cough, cough, cough!"

The emperor started coughing violently again.

"His Majesty."

A trace of sadness flashed across Wenrenzheng's eyes, and he used his strength to calm the other person down:

"It's time for you to rest."

The emperor was about to nod, but Yun Shu’s hexagram appeared in his mind again - safety and danger change, and fortune and misfortune are interdependent!

His eyes changed, and he finally spoke:

"Wenren, go get some paper and pen."

The inner city of Lanling City.

Under the moonlight, the sounds of piano, flute and drums play together.

By the lake, a dozen beautiful girls wearing bright long skirts, revealing their snow-white long legs, each holding a round fan, danced to the music.

"it is good--"

The third prince sat in a pavilion, drinking and cheering loudly.

He drank quite a bit of wine, and his pair of almond-shaped eyes were a little blurry, making him look even more graceful.

The maid Xiaohua stood quietly behind the third prince, like his shadow.

She did not pay attention to the beauties dancing by the lake, but was silently sensing the prying eyes in the dark.

After the eldest prince fled Lanling City, the surveillance of the third prince became even more severe, even to the point where it was not concealed at all!
Moreover, undercurrents began to surge in Kyoto, and many forces affiliated with the Third Prince were affected.

Previously, because of the case of Zhengfa Pavilion reselling exotic beasts and various materials, the Third Prince’s power in various provinces suffered a serious blow!
Now his power in the capital city must either be eliminated or he must choose to "turn to the light".

It seems that this prince who once had a hope of becoming the crown prince is now powerless and can only sit and wait for death in his mansion.

And the Third Prince's behavior was indeed like that—

He spent the whole day drinking and watching dances at home, indulging himself in pleasure. It seemed that he had given up on himself and was completely lying down.

The dance lasted until late at night, and the third prince returned to the house with several women in his arms.

The noise continued until late at night, when the house finally quieted down.

In the room, the third prince was sleeping on the bed with his upper body naked.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared next to him.

Xiaohua appeared silently in the house using the magical power of [Infinite Distance].

She moved her fingers slightly, and a completely transparent silk thread fell on the third prince.

The next second, Xiaohua appeared in the heart lake of the third prince.

"Your Highness, Xu Jing is dead, and Bo Chen has lost a 'body'."

Xiaohua reported the situation in Feng Province.

After hearing this, the third prince showed no surprise.

In the conscious world, he seemed very indifferent, without showing any emotion:
"Let Gouchen Sword Sect start the action. Bochen will go from the open to the covert and wait for the opportunity."

"Yes."

“Continue to move forward as planned.”

"Yes."

After a moment, Xiaohua disappeared silently in the room.

On the bed, the third prince, hugging two beauties, had a smile on his face, as if he had a sweet dream.

July 7, the 8th year of Hongguang.

The eldest prince Qin Zihong and Prince Li Qin Mingli completed their control over the southern border and issued a statement to "clear the court"!

The internal strife during the mutiny in the southern border resulted in some casualties, and in addition to the existing vacancies, some people still needed to stay behind.

Therefore, the army that the eldest prince and King Li actually took with them was only a little over 50,000 soldiers.

This team, under the name of "clearing the court of corrupt officials", claims to have an army of 100,000!
On the same day, when the southern border troops were preparing to move north, Li Fei was also "moving north".

He set out from Datong Prefecture and went alone to the provincial capital of Feng Province.

Xu Jing is dead, and half of the revenge has been taken.

For the remaining half, it’s time to report it!
(End of this chapter)