The Evil Emperor's Favorite: The Sickly and Poisonous Concubine Goes Crazy

That afternoon, the news that Prince Chen was escorted away by the Imperial Guards and the Dali Temple in public because of the Empress Dowager's assassination case spread throughout the capital.

The next day, the crown prince personally brought an imperial edict to suspend Prince Chen from his duties. The Emperor of Zhou also ordered that the real culprit of the Queen Mother's assassination had been brought to justice and that no one should mention the matter again. Rumors spread in the capital that Prince Chen was involved in the Queen Mother's assassination. Seeing this, the court officials who had originally intended to side with Prince Chen were all recruited by the crown prince within a few days.

Perhaps because of this incident, the Prince of Chen stayed in his house and did not go out. He even did not show up on the day when Shen Zhiyi, who was granted the title of Princess Changping, married in Nanyue.

On the day when the South Vietnamese delegation left Beijing, the Su family happened to be ordered to return to the northern border for defense. Su Jingning left home early in the morning to see the Su family off. She stood on the city wall and watched the winding army go away until it disappeared from her sight.

"How's the situation in Qushu County?" she asked softly to Yun Qing behind her.

"The Crown Prince has made all the arrangements. Lord Jiang and An Xia will be in the suburbs of the capital in three days. Someone will secretly take them to the capital by then. The Queen Mother and Prince Chen also thought that they had dealt with the people."

Yun Qing paused and said, "It's just that there has been no news since His Royal Highness left Qu Shu."

Su Jingning lowered her eyes, thinking of the letter sent to the mansion from the palace the night before he left Beijing. She shook her head, her voice calm, her eyes a little colder, "It's okay, have someone keep an eye on Prince Chen's mansion first, and send a copy of the news sent by Prince Chen's mansion these days to the palace in the name of Mo Linyuan Tianji Tower, don't let anything go wrong."

"Yes."

The sound of music and ceremony from the tower gradually approached. Yun Qing looked down and saw Zang Shuo, the second prince of Nanyue, riding a horse in front of the delegation, with the wedding sedan following behind him. Even the soldiers accompanying them had red flowers tied around their waists. The delegation and the wedding procession consisted of hundreds of people, and it was a prosperous procession. However, the winding procession in the desolate winter day seemed a bit more desolate.

Su Jingning looked at the team coldly. In her previous life, she also stood on the city wall to see off the Nanyue delegation, but the person sitting in the wedding sedan was the Princess of Chen, Miss Jiang Heling, who was knocked unconscious and sent away. Now, the person sitting inside was the conferred Princess Changping, Shen Zhiyi.

Jiang Heling did not have a good ending when she married into the South Vietnam, as she died on the way. What's more, the Shen family is now regarded as a thorn in the eyes of people in high positions, and Shen Zhiyi is regarded as a pawn by everyone.

"Let's go, go home."

Su Jingning withdrew his gaze indifferently, glanced at the gradually darkening sky, tightened his snow fox cloak, his eyes were cold and indifferent, and he sighed lightly.

There's going to be a snowstorm in the capital.

Chief of the Netherworld Guards.

Ever since the Netherworld Envoy An Gui was dismissed, Cheng Zong was promoted and temporarily took over the position of Netherworld Envoy. He even took the initiative to dismiss all of the Queen Mother's confidants in the Netherworld Guards in order to protect himself.

The Nether Guards have been much more restrained during these days under his command, and have no longer caused chaos like they did before, such as bullying court officials and disrupting the imperial court.

"Sir! You are here!" In the hall of the Netherworld Guard headquarters, a new Netherworld Guard saw Cheng Zong finally coming and hurried to greet him.

"What's going on? Do you need a doctor?" Cheng Zong was hurriedly brought back from outside the city.

It was said that all the senior deputies of the Netherworld Guard were unconscious, as if they had been poisoned.

The Netherworld Guard stammered and was unable to utter a word, while Cheng Zong walked into the hall without stopping.

As soon as he entered the hall, he saw the person sitting in the main seat, looked surprised, and stopped.

He was the protagonist of rumors in the capital a few days ago.

"Your humble servant greets His Royal Highness Prince Chen." He bowed.

Prince Chen Mu Heng was leaning on the main seat, with one hand resting on his chin and the other hand playing with a dark red box out of boredom. When he saw him coming, a sinister smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Oh? Deputy Envoy Cheng is here so quickly?"

Cheng Zong calmly glanced at the senior deputy envoys lying around the hall with purple faces, and seemed to understand something.

"What does this mean, Your Highness Prince Chen?" He frowned and asked Prince Chen vigilantly.

Prince Chen glanced at him, then stood up slowly with a smile on his face.

"What do you mean? Hasn't Deputy Envoy Cheng seen it? In less than half an hour, the Netherworld Guards' trusted followers that you worked so hard to train and promote will die."

"You poisoned them! The Netherworld Guards were appointed by the late emperor himself. Your Highness, do you want to murder the imperial officials?"

Prince Chen seemed to have heard something funny, and his laughter echoed in the hall.

"Deputy Envoy Cheng, please don't rush to convict me. When it comes to killing court officials, who can compare to our Netherworld Guards?"

"Besides, I didn't use poison. I wonder if Deputy Envoy Cheng has heard of the heart-eating poison?" He bent down slightly, approached Cheng Zong and whispered.

Then he turned around and said to himself, "Deputy Envoy Cheng, you may not know that Nanny Bai Lan who is beside the Royal Grandmother is from Nanji and is the best at making poison. She personally gave you this Heart-Eating Poison. It's a pity that Nanny Lan is now blind and disabled and can no longer make the Heart-Eating Poison. There are only a few copies of the antidote for this poison in my hands."

As he spoke, he gently shook the silver bell on his wrist twice. Cheng Zong's face instantly turned pale, cold sweat broke out, he clenched his chest tightly, and almost fell backwards to the ground.

"you….."

"Don't worry, Deputy Envoy Cheng. As long as you do one thing for me, I will give you the antidote. Oh, by the way, I almost forgot, and your child too. What do you think?" Prince Chen looked a little crazy, leaning over and looking at Cheng Zong, who was curled up on the ground in pain, and bewitched him.

Cheng Zong's heart and lungs were broken and he even had difficulty breathing. Seeing the appearance of Prince Chen, he wanted to tear him to pieces. Not only did they bring disaster to his family, they even spared no effort for the children!

He only has one five-year-old son, and the child is his weak spot. He thought he had hidden it very well, but he forgot that their master always liked to "take care" of children for them. Chen Xu was the best example.

"... I agree." He endured the pain that gnawed at his bones and nodded with difficulty.

Prince Chen smiled with satisfaction, took off his iron mask with his own hands, and stuffed the antidote into his mouth.

Cheng Zong swallowed it whole and took a few deep breaths, which slightly relieved the pain.

"Where is my child?" he asked nervously.

Prince Chen smiled and said, "Don't worry, Deputy Envoy Cheng. The Empress Dowager has sent someone to take good care of him. When the matter is settled, we will naturally let you meet."

Cheng Zong clenched his hands and asked in a hoarse voice after a long while, "What does Your Highness want me to do?"

"It's very simple. Deputy Envoy Cheng just needs to open the west gate and let some people into the city during His Majesty's birthday banquet seven days later." Prince Chen said calmly.

Cheng Zong raised his head suddenly, his face horrified: "Open the city gate?!"

Prince Chen is planning a rebellion! This is a capital crime punishable by the death of all nine generations of the clan!

"Yes, I want the Netherworld Guards to tear a hole for me at all costs at the West City Gate. Deputy Envoy Cheng must have extraordinary abilities to have climbed to his current position. I believe you can do it. Right?" Prince Chen raised a threatening smile at the corner of his mouth and pulled out a bamboo dragonfly from his arms, playing with it casually.

Cheng Zong's expression suddenly turned a little ugly. That was the dragonfly he had made for the child himself. He glanced at his trusted colleague who was still unconscious, and finally nodded.

He has followed the Queen Mother and the Dark Ghost for many years, and no one knows their methods better than he does. If he dares to have any disloyalty now, his child will surely not survive.

"Your Majesty, take your orders!"

Seven days later.

As in previous years, Emperor Zhou's birthday was usually organized by the Palace's Internal Rites Department, with the emperor and his ministers enjoying the occasion together. To show the emperor's grace and virtue, a grand banquet was held in the palace every year on Emperor Zhou's birthday, and court officials and their families would be summoned to attend the banquet.

Royal Zen Temple.

The empress dowager was sitting on a soft chair in the courtyard in a black and red dress, with a dark ghost with a scarlet ghost mask on his face standing beside her, which was out of place in the plain and quiet Zen temple.

"Have you arranged the people?" She lowered her head and looked at the nails that were carefully maintained and painted vermilion.

"People have already set up an ambush on the outskirts of the city. All the hidden agents have been deployed. We will take action at 11:00 p.m. tonight." The dark ghost's voice was low and hoarse, with an inexplicable indifference.

"I will be away from Your Majesty for a while. If no signal is sent out from the palace at Chou time, please leave Beijing immediately. There will be people to meet you along the way. My people will be waiting for you in Beiyan." An Gui stood behind the Queen Mother and looked up at her.

"If the plan fails, the Great Zhou's southern border defense map will be delivered to the Nanyue Imperial Master in three days."

The Queen Mother did not speak, but only looked towards the direction of the Imperial Palace, and said in a voice that did not allow for argument: "No one in the palace can be your opponent, An Gui, I believe you can come back."

"As long as his son dies, the Zhou Dynasty he built will collapse and perish like a crumbling building."

"Yes." The dark ghost lowered his head slightly and responded in a low voice.

Looking at the brightly lit Great Zhou Imperial City, the Queen Mother's eyes were filled with madness. She murmured in a low voice, as if talking to herself:

"My late emperor, you have to watch carefully from heaven as the world you are so proud of and the son you are so proud of are destroyed in my hands. Watch carefully how the person you dislike the most destroys the thing you will never let go of until your death... You have to watch carefully!"

The Imperial Palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Imperial Study.

Emperor Zhou stood with his hands behind his back under the window, while Prince Beiyang sat cross-legged beside the stove in a dark python robe, looking down at the chessboard. This game that had been set up for more than ten years should end tonight.

The two of them remained silent. It seemed as if there was a ferocious beast hiding in the dark night, ready to devour them at any time.

"Your Majesty, it's time to attend the banquet." After a long time, King Beiyang placed the last black piece, finalizing the game, and stood up and said to Emperor Zhou.

Emperor Zhou sighed, nodded, and walked towards King Beiyang: "Let's go, tonight should have an ending."

King Beiyang followed Emperor Zhou half a step behind, and together they walked out of the palace and into the dark night.

In the Taichen Palace, the invited court officials had already arrived. His Majesty had not yet arrived, and the Crown Prince was warm and friendly, so the ministers were not so restrained, and they chatted with each other, with civil officials in one place and military generals in another. The atmosphere was quite harmonious, and even the Duke of Qing, who had been sick for many days, sat in his seat with Shen Feng, who had just entered the Hanlin Academy.

The Shen family is weak now, and the Shen father and son seem much less present than the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Liu who are talking around the ministers.

But Duke Qing, who used to have the best reputation, did not show any displeasure. He just sat in his seat without saying much.

Su Jingning entered the palace with Prince Beiyang early in the morning, and then entered the banquet hall with Mu Xi. Prince Beiyang was worried that there would be chaos tonight and someone might hurt her, so he transferred a maid from the palace to accompany her.

Shen Feng, who was beside Duke Qing, heard Princess Xuyang enter the palace, so he raised his head and looked at her, but immediately noticed the delicate figure in the light blue fox fur beside Mu Xi.

It's her! How could she be in the palace?

Su Jingning noticed someone staring at her, and she followed that gaze without making a sound. When she saw the owner of that gaze, she suddenly thought of something.

Shen Feng? He had seen me in Fengting Tower!

Su Jingning glanced at him, then looked away indifferently. As Mu Xi sat down, he sat in the seat next to Mu Xi, not paying attention to Shen Feng who was staring at him.

However, Mu Xi, who was standing by, noticed that something was wrong with Shen Feng, and stared back at him with a sharp, warning look.

Shen Feng looked away and called the maid next to him: "Who is that person next to Princess Xuyang?"

He grew up with Xuyang since childhood. The only person who could sit with her was the nerd in the Grand Tutor's Mansion.

The maid glanced at Su Jingning. Although she didn't recognize the woman, she knew that the position was reserved for the prince's consort of Beiyang Palace. She lowered her head and replied:

"Your Excellency, that is the Crown Prince's Consort of the Beiyang Palace."

Shen Feng's eyes darkened as he recalled the rumors about the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion and the arrow she shot in the East Territory that almost took his life. How could a weak and delicate young lady who never left the house have such terrible archery skills, and she also had to be protected by the master of the Ten Thousand Poison Valley. Even the master of Fengting Tower was related to her.